Chapter 65

Lin Yuan explained with a smile, "The peregrine falcon has the personality of a lone wolf and usually doesn't call for help. The other one was seriously injured just now and definitely won't dare to come back anytime soon."

After the fight, most of the mutated creatures dared not approach. In addition, this place is on the outskirts of the Rotten Head Forest, which is relatively safe and has enough room to move around, making it a good choice.

Since Lin Yuan had already said that, Professor Ning didn't say anything more.

Seeing that the two professors had no objections, Lin Yuan looked at Gu Kaizhi and said, "Let's rest here."

Gu Kaizhi glanced at Jiang Shan and the others, and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll tell them."

The group quickly got to work.

Jiang Shu and his sister were nominally part of Luo Yonghui's team, so they naturally felt embarrassed to let their teammates do the work.

After greeting Jiang Shan and Lin Yuan, the two returned to the convoy.

The military tents provided by the base looked much sturdier than the siblings' tents, and they had a pungent smell.

Jiang Zhi guessed that it was coated with a paint that stimulated the sense of smell of mutated organisms.

The brother and sister went over to help Wu Bing and the others.

When Wu Bing saw that everyone had returned, he nudged Jiang Shu on the shoulder with a gossipy look on his face: "Little brother, what did you guys talk about with Captain Lin just now?"

Wu Bing was a big guy, and the impact made Jiang Shu wince. He hissed, rubbed his shoulder, and muttered, "Uncle Wu, you're too strong."

"Tell me quickly, what did you all talk about?"

Jiang Shu: "We didn't talk about much, just asked if my dad was scared, and then asked Brother Lin to take care of my dad."

Wu Bing clicked his tongue. "With Captain Lin around, what are you afraid of? Among all of us, staying by his side is the safest."

Jiang Shu: "That won't do. My dad is just an ordinary person. Even if Captain Lin is incredibly capable, I still wouldn't feel at ease with him."

Wu Bing shrugged him, "You're a young man, why do you worry like an old woman?"

Jiang Shu didn't care what he said.

After setting up the tents, Luo Yonghui walked back from the direction of the two neighboring teams and said to the group, "I just discussed it with them. Each team will send two people to take turns on duty tonight. Who's going to do it tonight?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu immediately looked at Jiang Zhi. Seeing his younger sister nod, he said, "Uncle Luo, Zhi and I can't help much during the day. Let's take turns tonight. We can catch up on sleep in the car during the day."

Luo Yonghui hesitated for a moment, then agreed.

“Okay, it just so happens that your special ability makes it easy to detect.”

Wu Bing took out some dry rations, which were several flatbreads. Following the principle of "why not refuse if it's free," Jiang Shu accepted them without hesitation.

Taking a bite, you can tell it's made of genuine white flour and has meat filling inside; you can't tell what kind of mutated animal it is.

The taste was so-so, and it was a bit hard, but Jiang Shu still thought it was pretty good; at least he hadn't eaten wheat flour in a long time.

Wu Bing grinned and said, "How's it going? Haven't had white flour in a long time, have you? Our mutant team's food is pretty good, isn't it? Want to join us?"

Hu Yang sat silently to one side, not saying a word. He hadn't forgotten the taste of the fried noodles with aphids from before.

They are living much better than them.

Jiang Shu chuckled along, "It's so-so, not as good as my mom's."

As he spoke, Jiang Shu took out an enamel mug that he had specially put in his backpack to avoid attracting attention. "This was prepared by our mother. Here, have a try."

When I opened it, it was covered with mutated crayfish, and they were even spicy!

The smell was so strong that Chen Shaoting and the others, who were sitting a meter away, could smell it.

Jiang Shu never expected that it would be the spicy crayfish that he had originally wanted Ye Qingyun to make.

He felt a sudden pang in his heart, and remembering his mother's face, he acted faster than he thought.

He simply tucked the enamel mug into his clothes.

Everyone was stunned.

Wu Bing was displeased and shouted, "What? Didn't you say you'd let us try it? You can't play tricks on us!"

Those crayfish looked delicious; his mouth was practically watering just looking at them.

I didn't expect this brat to eat better than them.

He's been in the exploration team for so long, and he's never eaten a mutated crayfish yet!

Looking at it this way, the treatment isn't that great.

Jiang Shu cleared his throat. "My mom put this in an extremely spicy sauce. I doubt you guys can handle it. Why don't you eat something else?"

As he spoke, Jiang Shu took out another rice ball that could be kept fresh even with a palm-leaf fan.

Upon opening it, the top layer was surprisingly a giant salamander rice ball.

Ye Qingyun made it look like eel rice from a sushi restaurant, with a dark, special sauce drizzled on top.

The staple food was still glutinous rice.

He couldn't resist opening the remaining palm-leaf fan boxes, only to find they were all filled with glutinous rice balls, with only two portions being dog-tail tassel dumplings.

For a moment, Jiang Shu felt a little uncomfortable.

These are all his favorite foods.

His father has a sensitive stomach and doesn't like eating glutinous rice, which means that all of this was prepared for him and Jiangzhi.

Given that the family only had 50 jin of glutinous rice, why would Ye Qingyun be so willing to part with it? Could it be that he knew they were leaving the base with his father today?

The thought flashed through his mind, but before he could think about it further, Wu Bing leaned over and asked, "What kind of rice ball is this?"

Jiang Shu regretted showing it off.

There's nothing I can do now that I don't want to share.

He said reluctantly, "This is a giant salamander."

Wu Bing licked his lips. "Didn't you say you wanted us to try some? How about this?"

Because of the palm leaves used for preservation, the rice balls were still warm, and the special sauce had a subtle flavor that made everyone present drool.

Hu Yang subconsciously swallowed.

Jiang Shu very stingily divided the two rice balls into five portions, one small portion for each person, and said, "Here you go."

Looking at the amount he received, Wu Bing pouted, "This is far too little."

Jiang Shu said sternly, "Give it back if you're not going to eat it."

Even with all that, he still felt it wasn't enough to eat.

Upon hearing this, Wu Bing immediately stuffed it into his mouth.

The tender fish meat is coated in a thick sauce, and when you bite into it, it's soft, sticky, and the sweet and salty flavor goes straight to your throat.

The glutinous rice at the bottom soaks up the soup, making every bite oily and fragrant.

After finishing his food, Wu Bing smacked his lips, feeling that it wasn't enough to even fill his teeth. He said with lingering satisfaction, "Young Jiang, this is so delicious! How do you make this sauce? If you made it and sold it, a lot of people would buy it!"

Jiang Shu had no idea; he guessed it was something Ms. Ye had concocted out of boredom.

After Chen Shaoting finished the small piece in her hand, her eyes brightened considerably.

"This...it looks like the eel rice we used to eat, except the eel has a firmer texture."

Hu Yang squinted his eyes in satisfaction; the taste was still so good.

Luo Yonghui isn't the type of person who has a strong appetite, but even he has to admit that the rice balls are delicious.

The mutants in Zone C usually eat in the base's specially supplied canteen.

Occasionally, they would cook a little something extra, but they didn't often manage to make the mutated beast meat taste good.

Insufficient ingredients are a big problem.

There are very few people like Ye Qingyun who develop new ingredients.

Wu Bing nudged Jiang Shu on the shoulder. "Hey kid, how about we sell you your bento box? I'll give you 1000 points."

Jiang Shuhao snorted arrogantly, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who lacks those few points?"

He stood up. "These are homemade bento boxes made with love by our mothers. They're not for sale!"

"Hey!" Wu Bing chuckled. "Look at how smug he is."

The brother and sister handed the lunchbox to Jiang Shan.

Jiang Shan's expression softened considerably when he saw that the dishes inside were his favorite cuisine. "I've already spoken to Captain Lin, and I'll call your mom later to let her know."

Jiang Zhi pursed her lips. "Dad, Mom probably already knows."

Jiang Shan was taken aback. "What's going on?"

Jiangzhi took a note out of the lunchbox basket.

Jiang Shan took it and looked at it for a long time without saying a word. He had a thousand words to say to his wife, but in the end, he suppressed his unusual emotions.

Jiang Shu peeked over and saw the words "Take care of yourselves, I'll wait for the three of you to come back," and he felt a mix of emotions.

So Ms. Ye knew about their plans all along...

They even thought they were clever enough to fool everyone.

Yeah, that's their mom after all...

Thinking of Ye Qingyun, who was busy until the early hours of the morning last night.

I wonder what their mother was feeling at the time.

Jiang Shan suddenly laughed and said, "Your mother's birthday is in twenty days. You should prepare a gift for her then."

The brother and sister exchanged a glance, then nodded solemnly and said, "Okay!"

Jiang Shan: "Alright, give me all the bento boxes your mom made for me. Don't come over here unless it's absolutely necessary. You guys should be more careful."

Jiang Zhi glanced at Gu Kaizhi, who was chatting with his teammates ahead, and said, "Dad, why don't you come over to our side?"

Jiang Shan refused, saying, "It's more advantageous for us to separate now, and besides, it wouldn't be good to do this during the mission."

Jiang Zhi was just mentioned casually; there was no insistence.

The three chatted for a while longer before the brother and sister left.

After Wu Bing and his companions had filled their stomachs, they built a campfire in front of the tent.

Several vehicles were arranged in a circle around the tent, so that there would be vehicles to act as a buffer in case of any incident.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone sat down to rest by the campfire.

The wilderness was eerily quiet, with the occasional chirping of mutated insects and birds, and the crackling of the campfire.

Wu Bing and the others didn't dare to be presumptuous. They only chatted quietly for a few minutes before returning to their tents to rest.

Luo Yonghui was worried about the brother and sister, so he gave them a few more instructions.

Seeing Jiang Shu's unreliable attitude, I couldn't help but ask, "Jiang boy, have you remembered everything I said?"

Jiang Shu nodded vigorously: "I've got it! I've got it!"

Seeing that Jiang Shu truly cared, Luo Yonghui turned and went into the tent.

The neighboring squad and soldiers also quickly went into a resting state.

For a moment, the camp fell silent.

Jiangzhi added some wood to the campfire.

According to Luo Yonghui, the mutants in the exploration team often had to undergo such field exploration work.

The base also developed a set of survival rules through the exploration and summarization of the mutants in the exploration team.

The period from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. is when mutated creatures are most active.

The mutated beasts are not afraid of fire, but their sense of smell and hearing are generally stronger.

During nighttime rest, there is a certain chance of encountering mutated creatures that can confuse the mind and spirit, so be sure to wear earplugs before resting.

...

These unspoken rules have always been the guiding principles for these exploration team members, so although each squad has its own survival habits, they are still quite in sync.

Jiang Zhi couldn't help but recall the times they used to survive in their wilderness camps.

For a long time, they lived in a dark and gloomy basement.

Only when they ran out of food and had no other choice did they muster the courage to explore outwards little by little.

The survival principles that Luo Yonghui mentioned overlap to some extent with their past experiences.

The brother and sister adapted well to this.

Jiang Shu glanced around, exchanged a look with Jiang Zhi, and then climbed onto the roof of the car to keep watch.

As the only woman in the team, Chen Shaoting closed the car door, put down the car seat, and lay down directly. Before leaving, she asked Jiang Zhi, "Jiang Zhi, do you want me to keep watch?"

Jiang Zhi refused.

With her improved mental strength, Jiangzhi now only needs to rest for 3 hours a day.

She stays up late at night, but has enough time to rest during the day while on the road.

This amount of labor was nothing to her.

Seeing this, Chen Shaoting didn't insist and simply closed the car door.

The area fell silent again.

Jiang Zhi sat by the campfire and scanned all the special items on everyone present.

Putting everything else aside, most of these mutants are elites among elites, and the special items they carry make Jiang Zhiguai envious.

Luo Yonghui carried four or five special items with him. Jiang Zhi looked at them one by one and found that they were all very practical and powerful weapons and defensive items.

"Beep—Golden item found: Gravity Bull's tail. Using it can generate over a thousand pounds of gravity."

"Beep—Golden item detected: Soundwave Cicada. Using it will stun creatures within a 100-meter radius for 2 seconds."

"Beep—Golden item detected, mutated mosquito. Use to lock onto target."

...

She carefully scanned the gold items on the people around her, and each one made Jiang Zhi's eyes water.

These mutants are incredibly wealthy.

Compared to the special items she wore, they were simply insignificant.

Although she knew that most of these golden items were borrowed from the base, Jiang Zhi still couldn't help but feel tempted.

As Jiang Zhi scanned Lin Yuan, she clearly sensed seven or eight golden items on his body. But as soon as her mental energy touched him, Lin Yuan felt a sudden, tingling sensation on the back of his neck, as if someone had gently rubbed him with cat fur.

His gaze suddenly swept towards Jiang Zhi, but he only saw that delicate little face illuminated by the campfire.

Seemingly sensing the other person's gaze, the girl raised her eyebrows and looked over.

Lin Yuan showed no sign of frustration at being caught, nodded at the girl, and then looked away.

No one knew that just a moment ago, Jiang Zhi was startled by Lin Yuan's keen perception and broke out in a cold sweat.

Unexpectedly, the other party's mental energy was able to detect her mental energy.

Thinking of the abilities Lin Yuan had previously displayed, she pursed her lips.

He suspected that the other person's special ability was related to mental strength.

She carefully shifted her attention elsewhere, knowing that unless someone deliberately tried to spy on her, the other person wouldn't notice the dashboard.

Jiang Zhi then turned her attention to Gu Kaizhi.

This person had more than ten special golden items on him, most of which were defensive.

Jiang Zhi pursed her lips, "They've really prepared thoroughly."

However, when Jiang Zhi glanced at the golden item in the other person's hand, her expression immediately turned serious.

"Beep - Golden item found: Toad Skin Gloves. Use to freeze the target you touch for 2 seconds."

This golden special item is simply incredible!

The only downside is that you need to touch the target.

This thing might be a bit useless against mutated creatures, since many mutated creatures are killed before anyone can even get close.

However, the limited effectiveness against mutated organisms does not mean it is ineffective against humans.

This thing is simply a stealth weapon.

The ginger twig sent a chill down my spine.

If she hadn't had some kind of cheat code, she might have actually fallen for this person's trick.

She wrote down all the special golden items in Gu Kaizhi's hands, planning to discuss them with Jiang Shu later to find a solution.

Just then, a rustling sound came from next door.

That's the direction Lin Yuan is in.

Jiang Zhi didn't dare look in that direction; the sound made it sound like someone was taking off their clothes.

This man is too particular; he even changes clothes in the wild.

Realizing she had been eavesdropping, Jiang Zhi felt a little embarrassed and quickly tried to distract herself.

Perhaps the aura spread by Lin Yuan and the mutated peregrine falcon during the day had intimidated the nearby mutated creatures, because nothing special happened that night.

Even Gu Kaizhi didn't show anything unusual.

During this time, Luo Yonghui, still feeling uneasy, secretly rolled up the tent flap to check on them several times.

Jiang Zhi pretended not to know anything.

After 3 a.m., everyone got up on time to pack their luggage.

After washing her face with the car's water tank, Chen Shaoting handed Jiang Zhi a small spray bottle.

Jiang Zhi took it with a puzzled look: "What is this?"

Chen Shaoting: "The base makes its own mouth freshener."

Jiang Zhi asked with some curiosity, "These things still exist?"

Chen Shaoting was also somewhat helpless upon hearing this, "There's nothing we can do. People like us often have to survive in the wild for three to five days. We can't rinse our mouths, and I'm embarrassed to even speak because of the smell in our mouths."

Jiang Zhi couldn't help but chuckle, thinking of the novels she had read before, in which the protagonists were all innocent and pure.

Unlike them now, who, apart from being in this dangerous place, live a truly down-to-earth life.

I took a sniff of the ginger; it had a faint, refreshing herbal scent.

Jiang Zhi asked with a smile, "Then you wouldn't have a way to take a bath in the wild, would you?"

Chen Shaoting: "There really isn't one."

It was still dark, and the pale red glow of the moon shone on everyone.

Hu Yang and his group packed up their tents and prepared to set off.

Luo Yonghui and the other two team leaders went to Lin Yuan's place to discuss the rest of the journey.

The two professors meant to arrive at the agreed-upon location with the southern base within the specified time.

So no matter where you go or how you get there, they don't care.

Once you leave Ancheng, road obstacles will increase exponentially.

To reach Hunan Province by the agreed time, one must advance 50 kilometers every day.

This is undoubtedly fraught with difficulties.

This is where Jiang Shan's role becomes apparent.

Even though the terrain was affected after the cataclysm, it still retains some of its former features.

Huang Xianming asked, "Professor Jiang, this is an old map. Can you see if you can determine which areas are easier to traverse?"

Jiang Shan's time at the research institute wasn't wasted.

After analyzing the data, Jiang Shan and the researchers of mutated organisms at the base summarized some patterns.

For example, what kinds of mutated creatures will appear in what kinds of terrain?

The Rotten Head Forest, for example, formed a small hill after the cataclysm. Judging from the terrain, this section of the road is likely to contain low to mid-level mutated creatures.

To the right front is a low-lying area, completely occupied by mutated plants. Compared to the immobile mutated plants whose mutation direction is uncertain, the rotting head forest, which can move, is less risky.

However, the birds in the Rotten Head Forest are very difficult to deal with, and aerial combat is the weakness of most mutants, so it is not a very good choice.

After this analysis, only the path on the left remains.

Jiang Shan pointed to the map: "If we want to go from the left, we have to go over this small hill."

Looking at the map, if they go to the left, they will enter the new city near Ancheng.