Su Ziyu linked arms with Jiang Wu, and the two chatted and laughed as they walked to a spot a few dozen meters from the lake.
Compared to the desolation outside, the lakeside is full of life.
The mutated plants have spread and grown along the lake, stretching as far as the eye can see.
Countless birds soared among the enormous plants.
The vast expanse of water, where the sky and water merge into one, makes the boundless lake appear as wide as the ocean.
Every now and then, huge fish leap out of the water, creating waves.
Whether it's plants, birds, or fish leaping out of the water, everything looks enormous.
Some female survivors, in small groups, cautiously approached the lake.
Every now and then someone would pick something up from the ground and run back as fast as they could.
Jiang Wu took a closer look.
They discovered it was something like a giant snail.
Before the apocalypse, snails were the size of peanuts, but now they are much larger than a fist.
Only a few people benefit from it.
Most people found nothing.
If there is any disturbance by the lake, they will stop and slowly lie down on the ground.
Then, they would carefully observe the surrounding movements and cautiously approach again.
Suddenly, a giant bird with a sharp beak took flight and swooped down on a group of survivors.
"Watch out! A giant bird is coming! Run!"
Upon hearing the warning, the group disregarded everything else and ran back as fast as they could.
However, they are much slower than birds.
Even though that giant bird with a wingspan of more than three meters was very large, its speed was still beyond their reach.
Soon, an unlucky fellow was pounced on by the giant bird. Before he could even struggle, the bird's sharp beak pierced the back of his head.
While the giant bird was devouring its companion, everyone else ran far away, huddled on the ground, and remained motionless.
Their faces were filled with fear, sorrow, and the relief of escaping death.
The giant bird ate only the brain and some of the internal organs before flying back to the giant plant by the lake.
It completely disregarded the rest.
The survivors carefully observed everything around them.
Feeling there was no other danger, they cautiously made their way back to the lake.
The body of his companion who had just died was lying there.
Nobody cared.
After seeing this scene, Jiang Wu felt that all the good mood he had just enjoyed from seeing the beautiful scenery had vanished.
This is not an isolated case.
In the distance, there were two more unfortunate souls who had been killed by birds.
One woman was even caught by a bird, taken to the lake, and thrown directly into the lake.
There were several hundred people in the area.
Three died; the death rate was almost one in a hundred.
This is only in this short period of time, and only in this area...
Jiang Wu frowned, feeling a tightness in his chest.
After standing on a high point and looking around, Jiang Wu walked over to the women hiding in the pit.
They were currently tallying up their companions' spoils.
On the ground, a dozen large snails and some water hyacinth leaves were neatly arranged.
Upon seeing Jiang Wu and Su Ziyu slowly approaching, they all grabbed the sharpened wooden sticks beside them and watched the two warily.
Jiang Wu stopped a few meters away from the woman and asked, "You guys, are you willing to risk your lives for this little bit?"
The several thin women remained silent, only raising their wooden spears and staring warily at Jiang Wu.
Jiang Wu frowned.
Several men carrying guns walked over and shouted sternly, "You two, get out of the way! This area is under our protection!"
Jiang Wu looked up at the men and asked calmly, "Who are you protecting? Where were you when those giant birds were attacking people?"
A man roared, "If we attack the giant birds, they will only retaliate fiercely, and even more people will die. We are here to protect these people's spoils from being stolen by others! People like you!"
The other man carefully examined Jiang Wu and Su Ziyu.
Seeing Su Ziyu's pure and beautiful oval face, his eyes flashed with amazement and greed.
But when he saw the two men's crocodile-skin trench coats, he suddenly remembered something and asked hesitantly, "Are you from the lakeside camp?"
Jiang Wu said expressionlessly, "Tell me properly what's going on here, or I'll give you a free ride."
The men's expressions changed drastically, and they raised their guns, pointing them at Jiang Wu.
Before Jiang Wu could make a move, Su Ziyu suddenly moved.
She took a few steps forward, grabbed a rifle, and with a forceful tug, snatched it from her hand.
Then he kicked the man more than ten meters away.
The man lay there motionless, his fate unknown.
When the other man tried to fire, Su Ziyu covered the muzzle with her hand and pushed forward forcefully. The gun handle slammed into the man, sending him flying several meters away.
The remaining man stared blankly at the scene.
Suddenly, he cried out in horror, "A new human! You are a new human!"
Jiang Wu asked calmly, "Can we speak properly now?"
The man immediately dropped his weapon and shouted, "I'll talk, I'll talk!..."
Jiang Wu quickly understood the specifics of the situation.
Women and children now only have a daily allowance of one or two meters, which is simply not enough.
Besides relying on men and selling their bodies, there is another way to obtain food.
That is, some forces often organize these women and children to come to the lake to pick up anything edible.
These forces would take about 40% of the profits as protection fees and organization fees.
The remaining food was divided equally among the women and underage children who had risked their lives.
Like a snail the weight of a fist, one pound of it can be exchanged for three pounds of rice from those powerful forces.
If you're lucky enough to get your hands on some good stuff like hairy crabs weighing dozens of kilograms, that's equivalent to hundreds of kilograms of rice.
However, high returns come with high risks.
Ordinary birds are one thing, they generally don't eat human flesh.
In other words, when the mood strikes, I'll kill a few.
But once the river monster comes ashore, it's not just one or two people who die.
It's quite normal for dozens or even hundreds of people to die at once.
In the past month, at least a thousand people have died by the lake.
Yet, many desperate women and children still come to the lake.
They risked their lives in hopes of obtaining the precious food that would allow them to survive.
Jiang Wu said coldly, "They risked their lives for this, and you still want to take a 40% tax on it??"
The man sensed the murderous intent in her words and turned pale with fright.
He immediately knelt down and said, "Brother, spare my life! These are the rules set by the higher-ups, and I have no power to resist!"
Jiang Wu frowned, glanced back at the lakeside, and asked, "How many people like them, risking their lives by the lake, are there in the base?"
The man racked his brains for a moment and said cautiously, "Brother, I'm not entirely sure, but right now, there should be at least two thousand, because people die every day, and every day desperate people come to us or other forces to sign up, so the numbers are hard to count."
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