Chapter 1
The sun was scorching, the air was distorted by the heat, the girl's tightly closed eyelashes were trembling violently, her eyeballs were rolling restlessly, and her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.
"Bang!"
With a muffled sound, she suddenly stepped back as if she had stepped on air, and woke up from the nightmare in an instant. When she saw the unfamiliar scene in front of her, her pupils suddenly contracted.
Jiang Zihan, a junior student in the medical school, took advantage of the holiday three days ago to go camping in the wild with a tent to relax after the final exams. However, who would have thought that the plank road had been in disrepair for a long time and broke down halfway.
The cliff was steep, and when the feeling of weightlessness came over her, she knew nothing.
She propped herself up tremblingly, her skinny wrists covered in bruises, her clothes ragged, and her heart tightened - this was not her body!
Was she dreaming? But soon her stomach lurched violently, and a strong hunger pang came out. Only then did she feel a shudder of surviving a disaster. At least she was still alive.
Jiang Zihan climbed up from the ground, holding her stomach. There were broken walls and ruins all around her, and the cracked ground was covered with traces of gnawing. She suddenly found that there was a faint earthy smell in her mouth, and she couldn't help but be silent for a moment.
Did she travel to some famine era?
[Ding——Welcome to the Age of War Beasts! ]
[The host has successfully arrived at the mission world. The world background information is loading——]
Jiang Zihan paused, and a floating light screen popped up in front of her eyes. It had white text on a blue background, and the interface was clean and simple, but it made her breath stop. Could this be the legendary system?
War beast... Her eyes fell on the bite marks again. The size was indeed not like that of human teeth. She silently took a half step back.
Just as she was in doubt, the dinging sound in her mind resurfaced, and a cold mechanical voice prompted:
【The data has been loaded. Do you want to read it? 】
She hesitated for a moment, then raised her finger and nodded "yes".
In an instant, a huge amount of text poured into her mind like a wave. Her eyes began to spin, and her vision was filled with dense text everywhere.
She stood there, trying very hard to understand the meaning, but the more she read, the tighter her brows furrowed, and finally turned into a hint of bitterness at the corner of her mouth.
It turns out that this is a world where superpowers and war beasts coexist, but it is on the verge of collapse due to the invasion of an unknown virus. This virus causes distortion, not only driving war beasts crazy after infection, but also eroding the human spirit.
At this time, the world was already on the verge of destruction. Once all the war beasts fell, the core of the world would be completely destroyed, and her hard-earned second life would also be reduced to ashes.
Jiang Zihan's throat tightened. "Then...how many war beasts are there that haven't completely transformed?"
[According to statistics, there are only 35 war beasts in the entire galaxy that still retain self-awareness.]
Jiang Zihan's heart skipped a beat. In the entire galaxy! Only 35 of them were left? They were already considered an endangered species!
She clutched her clothes tightly around her chest, took a deep breath, and asked, "Then how can I stop the distortion? Just talk? Can't you give me some magical tool like a golden finger?"
[The system will provide additional supplies, which the host only needs to redeem with points. It has now been detected that the host's mental power has been upgraded and has reached the awakening conditions. You can get a free awakening opportunity once. Do you want to use it?]
Jiang Zihan said without hesitation: "Wake up immediately!"
[Gurgle——]
There was a rolling sound coming from the system in his mind. Jiang Zihan took a closer look and wondered, this awakening was in the big turntable mode?
The light screen in front of him flashed, and the pointer of the turntable stopped on the icon of a silver knife.
The mechanical voice announced again: [Congratulations to the host for successfully awakening the "Super Scalpel" skill! This skill extracts distortion energy and converts it into system points. Please use it with caution to avoid excessive consumption of your own mental energy.]
Jiang Zihan's eyes flashed. If all the war beasts lost their consciousness, the world would be destroyed. On the other hand, as long as there was one war beast that remained conscious, she would be safe.
"That is to say..." A hint of cunning flashed in her eyes, "I just need to find a war beast with a long enough lifespan and regularly clear the distortion value until the other party sends me away." As for the world after that, it is not something she, who is in eternal sleep, can control.
She looked at the sparkling coastline in the distance and nodded with satisfaction. The plan worked.
Jiang Zihan looked at the system panel. The current system level was clearly marked as level 1. There were only two icons on it: "Personal Center" and a gray "Warehouse". The system initially gave her 10 points. She currently had two choices: one was to improve her physical fitness, or to open a warehouse.
Her hand froze in mid-air. No matter which option she chose, she would become completely penniless. But after just a moment, her calves began to feel weak. With a bad feeling in her heart, she trembled as she clicked the "Personal Center" button. The message bar that popped up almost made her eyes go black:
Name: Jiang Zihan
Race: Human
Physical fitness: F-
Ability: Super Scalpel (C-Rank)
Mental strength: A-level
The corners of her mouth twitched violently. With this physique, let alone surviving on this deserted island, she could only take a few steps to catch her breath. If she didn't improve, she would probably collapse completely before she found a place to spend the night.
She resigned herself to her fate and exchanged 10 points for physical fitness. However, along with the upgrade light came a detailed explanation: this physical fitness required 10 points per day to maintain, otherwise the health points would be reset to zero.
[Note: Since this is the first time you upgrade your physique, you will be given the [Golden Bell Cover] buff for 7 days, during which you will be immune to all external damage.]
The glimmer of hope in his eyes was completely shattered.
She clenched her fists. The physical leap from F-level to F-level was not big, but it gave her some strength. Forget it, she should take a look at what was around her first.
…
The Star Network Live Broadcast Center is connected to countless channels, and the sky is full of hanging light screens. Various barrages of comments flash by quickly, but no one is interested in the picture of Jiang Zihan.
[Hurry up, this round of escape is about to end, let's see who is unlucky this time! ]
[How boring! There haven't been any new faces in the livestream room for ages. Can't they just banish a bunch of people?]
[What nonsense is the above person talking about? Only deformed and contaminated war beasts and humans can enter the Land of Exile. Are you cursing the heroes on the battlefield?]
The comment above is really interesting. Everyone's watching this livestream, but how dare they criticize from a moral high ground? If you're so kindhearted, why not give more financial support to the indigenous people and help them get more supplies?
Xiao Zhao behind the screen was furious. He came to watch the live broadcast not for entertainment. A while ago, a new batch of war beasts with deformation were sent in, and among them there happened to be one he knew. Although he knew that deformation was difficult to cure, he was still worried and wanted to check on the other party's condition.
He slapped his head suddenly. Yes, why should he bother with these keyboard warriors? The most important thing is to find the war beast first!
The Land of Exile is an island full of mutants. Initially, all-round monitoring was carried out just to better track war beasts, but it has evolved into a product of entertainment, which is really sad.
Xiao Zhao rubbed his eyes and began to try to salvage it from the ocean of light screen.
…
Jiang Zihan walked aimlessly, chewing a handful of pale red berries. This was the only thing she could find to reduce her hunger.
The surrounding scenery was desolate and there was no one in sight for a long time. After circling along the coastline and passing several dirt slopes, we finally saw traces of houses.
The wooden house was not big and there was a big hole on the roof. She pushed the door open without hesitation. In such a remote place, it was already very good to be able to shelter from the wind and rain.
The house is empty. Although it is a little shabby, it is still habitable. The only problem is the roof. We have to find a way to block it, otherwise if something crawls in in the middle of the night, it will be a big trouble.
Jiang Zihan climbed up the windowsill. Since there was no wood, she first filled the hole with a thick pile of large leaves, and then covered it tightly with stones. She patted the dust off her hands. The city should be able to hold out for a while like this.
The housing problem has been solved, and the only thing left is food.
There was a wasteland around the wooden house. Jiang Zihan stood on the roof and squinted his eyes to look around, and finally found a low bush a few hundred meters away.
When I walked over and took a look, I saw that the branches were densely covered with dark green thorns, which hid a few yellow fruits among them like fangs protecting food.
Jiang Zihan stretched out his finger tentatively, but just as it was about to touch the fruit, he suddenly retracted it: "Hiss!"
A drop of blood oozed from the wound. At the same time, a bright red number flickered in the visual field: [Contact with a distorted object detected, distortion value +1.]
"What?" She stared blankly at the twisted and hideous bushes in front of her. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the branches were indeed covered with dark red veins like blood vessels.
She couldn't help but lick her lips, and instinctively urged her mental power. A silver-white scalpel appeared out of thin air, and the system panel popped up:
【Variety: Mutated sea buckthorn (moderate infection)】
[Distortion value: 55]
I didn’t expect that this shrub is also a deformed object. These are points that come right to my doorstep!
The blade flashed, severing the densest branches. A sticky black liquid oozed from the broken ends, and the numbers on the panel jumped:
[Distortion value -10]
[Distortion value -15]
…
Not until the blood color on the branches faded did the system prompt sound belatedly:
[Ding——Points +5.5]
Jiang Zihan looked at the number and almost laughed out loud: "10:1 exchange rate? Why don't you just go and rob it?"
When she looked at the fruit with a stern face, there was no sign of distortion in her vision. She said softly, "Huh?" The fruit was not infected or deformed?
Jiang Zihan wrapped herself in clothes and rubbed off the thorns on the surface of the fruit. The moment she bit it, the sour juice burst out, making her temples throb.
She spat out the piece of fruit pulp with a distorted expression. "Just because it's not deformed doesn't mean it's delicious. With this flavor, it could probably be used as vinegar if soaked in water."
After complaining for a while, he still grabbed a handful of food by pulling the hem of his clothes. In today's environment, being able to eat is already a treasure.
She went around to the other side to continue processing the deformed branches, earning another 6 points before heading back. After all, she needed to prepare the points for tomorrow's registration first so she could sleep peacefully.
[Congratulations to the host for reaching 10 points. You will be given an Iron-level treasure chest upon completing the novice mission. If you open the treasure chest 10 times in a row, you will also be given an additional Bronze-level treasure chest. Would you like to open it immediately?]
Jiang Zihan's hand trembled. Although she coveted the gift of bronze treasure chest, she was still very curious about what was inside the iron treasure chest. After hesitating for two seconds, she clicked "Yes".
【Congratulations on getting "Bandage" +1. 】
Her face instantly turned expressionless. Well, if she had known this system was stingy, she shouldn't have had any expectations.
It was no use relying on the system. The light was gradually getting dim. It was too dangerous to go out at night. Eating only these fruits at night was not enough. She had to find a way to stock up on some edible food first.
Live by the mountain, live by the mountain; live by the sea, live by the sea. It would be a shame not to make use of such a good geographical environment.
Jiang Zihan gathered a bunch of vines, quickly made a fish cage, picked up some dead fish and put them in as bait, then pulled the long line down to the crevice between the reefs.
While waiting for the harvest, she ran a little further and picked up all the useful things within a radius of several hundred meters, such as iron buckets, discarded cans, rolls of waterproof cloth, etc.
She washed all these things with sea water, then carried a bucket of water back to the cabin, intending to clean the house and cover the roof with a waterproof cloth.
As soon as I opened the door, a strange smell hit me in the face. The smell was very fresh, like something was festering.
Jiang Zihan's steps faltered. She had been gone for half a day, and something had already entered the house? Her back tensed. The room was so narrow she could see the end, but it made her heart beat faster and faster.
The unknown is the most frustrating thing.
She moved forward cautiously step by step, and at this moment, a silver light flashed and rushed straight towards her throat.
Her heart skipped a beat, and a golden light flashed across her body. This was the passive buff of [Golden Bell Cover] taking effect. She was certain in her heart, closed her eyes and reached forward, directly controlling a furry object in her palm.
The furry and wet thing struggled violently, and a faint smell of blood wafted out.
Jiang Zihan quietly opened one eye and looked over, only to see that the tiger's mouth was stuck tightly in the thing's throat. Only then did she control her movements. She used too much force and almost pinched the little guy so hard that he rolled his eyes.
She was stunned. This thing, not much bigger than an egg, was a hamster?
But she had never seen such a strange hamster. Its ears were almost as big as its head, its tiny claws flashed with cold light, its teeth were unusually large, and its mouth was full of small sharp teeth, making it look very fierce.
She carefully lifted the other person up. The little thing had a fierce look in its eyes, with a hint of blood in the bottom, and it kept baring its teeth at her.
As his eyes dropped, Jiang Zihan's heart tightened. He saw that the animal's fur was soaked in blood and it looked extremely miserable. It was a miracle that it could still be so energetic after losing so much blood.
The little hamster struggled frantically, and the wounds on its body opened deeper. Its claws scraped against her hand, leaving several bloody marks.
"Hiss!" Jiang Zihan felt pain, "The claws are quite sharp."
She took out a belt and tied it up, "Be good, don't move anymore. If you move, you will be the one who gets hurt."
At this time, some viewers who saw this scene couldn't help but click in.
[Are you going to use this as food reserve? ]
[Ahhh, this person is too cruel, how can he abuse small animals! ]
[Wake up upstairs! Look at the claws, then look at the teeth. This is clearly a deformed creature! How dare you eat this? You're not afraid of your life.]
Seeing the girl pull out a knife from somewhere, Xiao Zhao, who finally found his target and clicked into the live broadcast room, was so scared that his soul almost flew away.
[Spare the rat from the knife! ! ! ! ]
A silver light flashed, and Xiao Zhao covered his eyes involuntarily. Oh no, oh no! If his cousin knew that Zhizhi died in such a short time, he would definitely faint from crying.
After waiting for a few seconds, he couldn't help but look at the screen through his fingers. The bloody scene he imagined did not appear. Instead, he saw the girl anchor shaving off Zhizhi's hair bit by bit.
Does this mean you have to shave the hair before eating it?
Xiao Zhao hurriedly prepared to call his cousin, hoping to use the power of the war beast's original owner to get the official to stop the anchor from harming the war beast. Although he might be punished, it was better than endless regret.
However, when he saw the host's next move, his hand couldn't help but stop.
She slowly scraped away the rotting flesh from the wound. The knife looked incredibly sharp, but the struggling rat slowly calmed down. Its frantic eyes calmed down a bit, as if it had realized this human had no ill will towards it.
Jiang Zihan smiled slightly when she saw this: "Does it hurt a little? Don't be afraid, if you remove the bad flesh, the wound will heal faster."
On the light screen that outsiders cannot see, the distortion value of the big-eared mouse is slowly decreasing.
Xiao Zhao swallowed his saliva, thinking of the scene when his cousin almost fainted from crying after being separated from the war beast. Since Zhizhi was not going to be eaten, he would not contact him for the time being, so that he would not rush to the island in a fit of emotion.
Once a war beast is deformed, it is irreversible. Neither the Federation nor the research institute can allow the deformed creatures to walk around outside, so all highly deformed creatures are imprisoned on isolated islands. With the coastline as a barrier, even if they become vicious beasts, they will not harm innocent people.
If the war beast owner disobeys orders, he will also be sentenced.
Wait a little longer, Xiao Zhao put down the laptop and began to look at the screen seriously.
Jiang Zihan bandaged the big-eared hamster's wound with a clean bandage, and finally tied a bow on its head and let out a long breath.
“Done!”
I've just used up the bandage I just got, and I don't know how long it will last.
[Ding—Detected that the host has rescued a low-level war beast. Distortion value reduced by 10, points +10, Iron-level treasure chest +1. Please keep up the good work.]
Huh? Jiang Zihan paused. The war beast's distortion value and points are converted 1:1?
How can this system still be speciesist?
She lowered her head to meet those round eyes, only to see that the big-eared hamster was staring at her with its head tilted to the side, its ears twitching, and its original vigilance had mostly disappeared.
Originally, she thought that a war beast was a tall and mighty wild beast whose roar shocked the whole area. But it turned out that this little thing that was not even as big as her palm was also a war beast. Jiang Zihan began to doubt whether this world was reliable.
If all war beasts are such small creatures, then will the plan of raising a long-lived war beast be aborted?
She clicked on its information bar:
Species: Big-eared mouse
Distortion value: 75
The stats of the surviving war beast in the corner also jumped from 35 to 36.
Jiang Zihan squatted down and stretched out her hand tentatively. The big-eared mouse twitched its little nose, as if tempted, and came closer to sniff her fingertips.
Her eyes lit up, and she couldn't help but poke its little head. Its fur was a little frizzy, but warm and soft. It closed its eyes slightly and allowed her to stroke it obediently, completely different from when it was struggling.
Her bad mood, which had been caused by the double blow of falling off a cliff and crossing the river in a short period of time, suddenly brightened up. Forget it, since it is so cute, it may as well live a long life.
She picked up the big-eared mouse with a smile and said, "Are you going to follow me? Then should I give you a name?"
It tilted its head, suddenly made a "squeak", and quickly ran to the corner of the cabin, digging at something. A moment later, it came back with something in its mouth.
Jiang Zihan took it and saw that it was a piece of metal. The writing on the upper part had been worn away, but the two words "Zhizhi" could still be vaguely seen.
She asked tentatively, "Zhizhi?"
The rat immediately squeaked actively.
She suddenly realized that this was probably its ID card, but since its owner was away, it might as well keep her company.
Jiang Zihan put Zhizhi on his shoulders and said, "Let's go! Let's go find something to eat."
[Oh, the host didn't actually kill me. Boring. Let's go.]
[This girl doesn't look like a deformed person either. Look, she doesn't even have a livestream bracelet on her hand?]
[Indeed, this live broadcast room is mobile. If she changes location, the live broadcast room will also change.]
[Hmph, just trying to attract attention. She can barely make a living, yet she still wants to raise a war beast to attract attention? I'd like to see if she cries later.]
…
Jiang Zihan went to the beach carrying a newly woven wicker basket and couldn't help rubbing her belly.
This body is too thin. Although it has been upgraded to F-level, it becomes strenuous after walking just a few steps. If it goes hungry for a few more meals, the life that was finally saved will be lost again.
If the fish trap yielded nothing, she would have to continue eating fruit to fill her stomach.
Jiang Zihan tightened the cane and nervously peered inside. When he saw the dancing shadow inside, his whole body was filled with joy. He quickly poured out the spoils inside: a lobster and two small fish. Now he wouldn't have to worry about going hungry!
She put the fish cage back into the water and put a big rock under it to prevent it from being washed away by the waves. She looked back with satisfaction when suddenly a "whoosh" sound came from the sky and the strong wind instantly messed up her hair.
She immediately covered her shoulder with Zhizhi, who was shaking from the wind, and squinted her eyes to look up. The rapidly rotating propeller brought up a gust of wind. It was clearly a helicopter!
Jiang Zihan's eyes flashed violently, and he began to run towards the helicopter, waving his arms wildly: "Here! Here! Help! SOS!"
The helicopter's door opened, the pilot threw out a square box, and then left without looking back.
Her joy was instantly frozen, and the smile froze on her face.
Why?
The other party clearly saw her, why didn't he react at all?
Jiang Zihan suddenly realized that this place might not be a purely deserted island.
She ran in that direction and found a square metal box on the ground, only the size of two palms.
When I opened the box, there was a note on the top that said, "[Master of Keeping Balance] gave you 10 small loaves of bread as a reward."
Reward...
A light bulb went off in Jiang Zihan's head. Could this be the live escape broadcast described in the novel?
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