Just as Qin Yourong said, after the news that Chen Yan was going to treat everyone to a good meal was passed on, everyone in the small group couldn't help but cheer on the spot as soon as they heard the news.
Since they are all awakened, Chen Yan has to prepare a large amount of food in order to ensure that everyone can eat their fill.
However, the portable warehouse only contained biscuits, cakes, and instant noodles bought from a 24-hour convenience store. Chen Yan was somewhat worried that such a variety of food would make the other members of the small group feel monotonous.
However, when Qin Yourong showed Chen Yan the food that the people in the small group usually ate, Chen Yan's worries immediately disappeared.
That's a grandpa-level can!
Although canned meat and canned vegetables are available, theoretically, people in the small group should not lack nutritional intake.
But the problem is... the can is really too old...
All the canned foods were produced before the catastrophe, which means they have been stored for at least fifty years!
This was discovered in an underground air-raid shelter by a small group of people when they explored it ten years ago.
There were millions of cans of various military canned goods stored in that air-raid shelter.
Aside from the canned fruits which had been stored for too long and were therefore no longer edible, the remaining cans of luncheon meat and vegetables were still edible!
From then on, the small group's food source basically became canned food!
Although these cans are still edible, decades of storage have caused the food to lose a lot of nutrients.
At the same time, the changes in protein structure make the taste of canned food completely difficult to describe.
In short, military canned food uses much stricter sterilization technology and higher-quality sealing technology than civilian canned food, which ensures that these cans are still edible after being stored for decades.
But it’s just edible...
At least Chen Yan did not vomit on the spot after tasting the can of luncheon meat that Qin Yourong opened specially for him out of curiosity. This was all thanks to the powerful control over the body of a second-level awakener.
"Is this your food?"
Chen Yan looked at the can of luncheon meat in his hand and asked in shock.
Qin Yourong shrugged and said, "I knew you wouldn't be used to it. However, even canned food like this would still be a popular and sought-after item if it were sold at the survivors' camp. At least these cans are contaminant-free due to their proper preservation. This alone makes them much more advantageous than other currently available foods."
As for the taste... For most survivors, filling their stomachs is already a luxury, so how can they even consider whether the food is good? When starving, they'll eat anything. Therefore, we've been able to live comfortably these past few years by trading water and canned goods, which allows us to obtain many supplies we wouldn't be able to collect on our own.
Chen Yan pondered, "That can of food will eventually run out, right? Not all of those millions of cans are edible. Excluding the inedibles and the ones you traded, how much of the rest is left after you've been eating them for ten years?"
Qin Yourong smiled bitterly and said, "We can probably hold out for another three months or so. In fact, we've been working on a solution to this problem since a year ago. However, due to our own awakening level, the area where we can safely operate is very limited.
We've already conducted a thorough search of the limited area, but haven't found any similar underground bunkers. Furthermore, everyone in our team is awakened, and their food needs are much greater than those of ordinary people.
Previously, we were lucky enough to get a lot of canned food, which allowed us all to buy genetic medicines and gradually become awakened. This greatly improved the team's strength and also made a qualitative improvement in our survival ability.
It was the right decision at the time. If we hadn't done that, none of us would have survived all these years. But now, with the cans running out, it's become a crisis for us; we can't find enough food."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yan's heart was moved slightly. He frowned and said, "Can I understand that the difficulty of obtaining food is actually the fundamental reason that restricts the number of awakened people? I was wondering before, the trading value of level one and level two potions doesn't seem particularly exaggerated, but why are the low-level awakened people in that survivor camp so rare? Could it be related to this reason?"
Qin Yourong nodded and said, "That's right. Awakeners have a much greater need for food than ordinary people. The higher the gene unlocking degree, the higher the demand for food. Although becoming an Awakener will improve their physical fitness and ensure that they can more easily hunt ordinary zombies and mutant creatures, unless there is a stable guarantee of obtaining food, it will still be difficult to fill their stomachs by exchanging crystals for food.
For example, even though our team unexpectedly acquired a massive canned food reserve, we only exchanged it for a Level 3 potion for Brother Xu. My own attempt to exchange for a Level 3 potion has never materialized because we haven't found a new, stable food source. As for higher-level Awakeners, they must form a true faction and rely on it to gather food.
Chen Yan blinked, and a rather absurd feeling suddenly emerged in his heart.
"So, the Blackthorn Company that rules the camp we visited yesterday actually exists solely to keep its supreme ruler well fed?"
Qin Yourong chuckled softly with her hands covering her mouth at Chen Yan's reaction and said, "You can understand it this way. Of course, the real situation is that not only the rulers of Blackthorn, but also several directors, supervisors, and those Awakened executives of Blackthorn, have to rely on exploiting the entire camp to fill their stomachs.
Therefore, Blackthorn Company does not care about the occasional death every day, but if too many people die at once, Blackthorn Company will inevitably intervene. Because if the number of survivors in the camp is not guaranteed, it will ultimately affect the stomachs of all the awakened people in Blackthorn Company.
At the same time, the size of the camp will also limit the scale of the Blackthorn Company itself. The entire camp can only support so many awakened people at most. If the number of awakened people increases, a war for food will ensue. When faced with hunger, people often become the most cruel beasts.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
