Chapter 2
When Jiang Zihan dragged his tired feet back to the wooden house, it was already completely dark.
It got dark so quickly, as if the entire sky was covered by a thick curtain, not even a ray of starlight could get through.
The metal box that had just been brought back was casually placed in the corner. The shelf life of the small bread was relatively long, so it could be put aside for now. The live broadcast and other things could also be put aside. The most important thing right now was to fill my stomach.
Jiang Zihan brought back some stones and built a circle on the open space to make a simple stewing oven. He also removed the lid of a can, fixed it with branches, and sharpened the edge so that it could serve as a makeshift knife.
She cleaned the small fish and lobsters she had caught, hung them in the stove one by one, then sat aside and began to organize her thoughts by the light of the fire.
The island is full of ruins, but one can vaguely tell that it was once a city. No one knows what kind of disaster it experienced to become so desolate.
All the supplies nearby have been looted. If she wants to survive, she has to store enough food and fresh water as soon as possible, and at the same time get survival points from those distorted creatures.
She sighed secretly. Fortunately, she had experience camping in the wild, otherwise even making a fire would be a problem.
Jiang Zihan rubbed his palms which were red and stinging from being rubbed, but making fire by rubbing two sticks together was still too tiring. He would go for another look tomorrow. It would be even better if he could find a fire stick.
In fact, she can also use live broadcast to get rewards. Her eyes swept across the metal box and then drifted around. Since it was a live broadcast of real people, there must be a camera.
The rules of live streaming were still unclear, and she had no previous experience in live streaming. Putting all her hopes on strangers was ultimately too passive.
Her eyes focused, and sure enough, she found a miniature camera in the shadows, silently flashing a red light.
Having found it, she slowly smiled.
In the firelight, the girl's face was thin, but it couldn't hide her large, bright eyes. She looked directly into the camera, her smile barely reaching her eyes. The next second, the screen suddenly went black.
Jiang Zihan neatly covered the camera with a large leaf and hummed softly.
Are you kidding? It’s fine if she just broadcasts live outside, but she does it in her rest area. Does she still have any privacy?
A wisp of sweet fragrance emanated from the cracks in the stone stove. Jiang Zihan immediately jumped down from the wall and impatiently lifted the covering banana leaves.
In an instant, a rich and fresh aroma hits you in the face, the heat dissipates, the golden and crispy skin of the grilled fish is sizzling, and the lobster shell is glowing with an attractive orange-red luster.
She swallowed silently and carefully broke off a piece of snow-white fish meat. Her tongue was immediately amazed by the salty and fresh taste. The saltiness was just right, perfectly bringing out the sweetness of the seafood itself.
Zhizhi squatted on the side, holding a piece of shrimp meat in her little paws and chewing it happily, her big eyes narrowed into slits with happiness.
After eating seafood and pairing it with some ripe berries, even the sea buckthorn water tasted just right. She rubbed her stomach, leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh.
The sound of waves came from afar and the bonfire cast a warm light. She suddenly felt that this unexpected rebirth didn't seem so bad.
…
The next day, Jiang Zihan first filled a metal box with sea water and boiled it.
There was no seasoning around, and eating only the original seafood was not enough. It was quite novel at first, but later it became a bit boring. In the second half of the night, she still couldn't help but ate two small pieces of bread.
After the seawater is boiled, filter it several times to get the salt out first.
She put Zhizhi in her pocket and planned to go to a farther place to search for supplies and see if there were any other people.
After walking for a long time, we finally arrived at a place that looked like a shopping mall.
Searching for treasures in the ruins was the most exhausting thing. The surroundings looked like they had been looted, with almost no daily necessities left. Finally, she pushed a rusty bicycle into an empty warehouse and picked up some cloth and needles and thread. These were all she could find.
Jiang Zihan gritted her teeth. This was worse than the end of the world. What if they left her another pot?
After searching through several more garbage piles, she finally found a fire stick, a stainless steel washbasin, and a few expired canned fruits. She breathed a sigh of relief, at least she didn't return empty-handed.
After returning home, she cleaned the glass jar, cut a hole in the plastic bottle to connect it, heated it and started collecting distilled water.
Zhizhi stood aside, passing a piece of firewood from time to time. Jiang Zihan couldn't help but rub its head: "So good."
She was out for the whole morning and didn't see a single person, nor did she find a second camera. It was indeed a world of superpowers, and the settings were quite secretive.
Once she got busy, she completely forgot about the livestream and began to gather rattan and weave fish cages. Yesterday's catch had made her feel good, so she decided to stockpile more fish in a few areas. Any leftovers could be dried and stored.
The system's warehouse icon has not been lit up yet. It costs 10 points to open one grid, and the storage fee must be settled at the end of the month. Although this warehouse can stop time, for Jiang Zihan at the moment, points must be saved for life-saving, and the rest can be postponed.
Since she couldn't use the warehouse to preserve food, she could only make more dried goods, such as dried fruits and dried fish, as much as she could.
Throughout the day, the audience either watched her drying sea salt or weaving rattan. The remaining vines around were almost pulled out by her. In addition to fish cages, she also made a lot of rattan frames. The largest one was tied to the back seat of a bicycle, so it could carry more things.
After the sun was not so strong, the girl climbed onto the roof and spread the waterproof cloth all over. Now she no longer had to worry about leaks when it rained.
Amidst the clanging sounds, the barrage gradually became confused——
Am I watching a live stream of Exile? Can anyone tell me what the streamer is doing?
[You don't understand this? She's just surviving.]
[But she worked so hard but didn't get much food. Wouldn't it be faster to please the audience?]
[Upstairs, if she tries to please you, what will you give her as a reward? Can she eat better than she does now?]
Damn, the grilled fish she's eating looks delicious, fresh from the sea! I've never tasted anything so fresh!
[She ate it without processing it. Isn't she afraid of it getting deformed?]
Now all the animals and plants outside are fenced off, and edible ones must be tested by the research institute before they can be purchased. This has caused prices to soar, and many people have switched to drinking nutritional supplements.
The audience felt a little unbalanced. They originally wanted to reward the small bread, but changed their hands to the nutritional supplements. They also wanted the host to taste this artificial flavor.
After a tiring day, Master Jiang brought up another fish cage, but this time her luck was not so good. There was a big hole in the cage and all the bait inside was looted, but she didn't even catch a crab.
Jiang Zihan threw down the broken cage with a lack of interest and started digging on the beach.
Going to the sea doesn't guarantee a good harvest. If there are no fish to eat, she still has clams.
Soon the beach was dug into pits, but she harvested a basket full of clams, and a wave came and restored it to its original state.
Finally, she picked up a small stone slab and took it back, then swayed her bicycle back to the wooden house.
Although grilled food smells delicious, you can't eat it every day. She plans to think of something else to eat.
While Jiang Zihan was building a new stove, he welcomed today's helicopter.
The pilot stared at her at the door for several seconds, then dropped a metal box that was several times larger than the one from yesterday.
"Brother, wait a minute! What is this metal box made of? Will I be poisoned if I boil water in it and drink it?" Jiang Zihan asked in a hoarse voice, covering her messed-up hair.
The other person turned around and said something to the people inside. He raised his hand to catch something. The next second, the thing was thrown down, the hatch closed with a "snap", and left quickly.
What fell to the ground was obviously a large stainless steel bowl.
Jiang Zihan: ...
The rice grains on top have not been cleaned up yet. You are so careless.
As soon as she opened the supply box, she immediately became happy again. In addition to bread, the reward also included several packets of instant noodles! As for the packets of liquid, she ignored them because she didn't recognize them.
She took the water that she had extracted with great difficulty today and boiled it, and finally took out the nutrients under the expectant gaze of the audience.
Jiang Zihan looked at the instructions curiously. What was a nutritional supplement? Could it be taken directly?
Curiously, she opened a yellow package, cut open a hole, and took a taste. Her eyes immediately lit up. Although the artificial flavor was a bit strong, wasn't that the flavor of cheese?
The cheese flavored instant noodles are also super delicious!
She didn't know where the camera was, so she smiled, turned 360 degrees on the spot, and thanked him.
When the water boiled, Jiang Zihan put in the dough, sprinkled some freshly dried sea salt on it, and then poured in the cheese-flavored nutrient. The fragrance soon wafted out.
She put away all the seasoning packets. This is a good thing and should be used sparingly.
There was also some baked clam meat on the stone slab on the other side. It was a very satisfying meal with both noodles and meat.
The audience opened their mouths and fell silent as they looked at the nutritional supplements in their hands. They began to frantically look for the instant noodles at home in disbelief. Could it really be so delicious?
Many people couldn't resist the temptation and involuntarily picked up their laptops and opened the food delivery software, suddenly wanting to eat seafood.
But they were also a little confused. There were no instant noodles in the reward column of the live broadcast room. Where did the host get those packets?
…
Island tower.
In the dim light, the live broadcast interface on the light screen glowed, illuminating the man's well-defined profile.
He leaned back in his chair, the collar of his flight suit slightly open, and he looked a little tired.
The door was opened with a swish, and the room suddenly became bright. The ten-square-meter room was visible at a glance. Apart from a camp bed, an alloy table piled with weapon parts, and the creaking swivel chair under him, there was only one thing left.
"Boss!" The man rushed in, his combat boots stomping on the floor.
The man didn't even raise his eyelids, but silently turned the swivel chair half a circle, facing away from the light outside.
"Hey, Boss! Why did you give that anchor instant noodles? If the higher-ups find out, you'll be punished again!"
The man said calmly, his eyes slightly opened as if icy, "Does that mean I won't be punished if I don't do anything?"
The man was suddenly speechless.
Being banished to this remote island was a disguised form of exile. No matter what they did, it would be magnified. His voice gradually faded away. "But...but you're being too obvious."
Today you gave some snacks to this anchor and some instant noodles to that one. Do you think you are here to provide disaster relief?
"Those things were about to expire. Can't I just dispose of them casually? Besides, I'm not embezzling public funds. Get out and don't disturb my sleep." The man turned back, his gray-blue eyes like a deep pool, and said coldly, "If you dare to tell on me, all the snacks will be confiscated."
The younger brother pursed his lips and closed the door with a bang. The residual sound shook off a piece of wall.
The man looked back at the live broadcast interface with a calm expression, reached out to turn up the volume, and his eyes fell on the big-eared mouse war beast named "Zhizhi".
This war beast was one of the mutants he had taken over before, and its condition was much worse than it is now.
But now, it is nestled in the host's neck with a submissive expression, with no trace of the madness it had at that time.
No war beast has ever regained its sanity after being deformed, otherwise the Land of Exile would not exist, but it still happened.
The live broadcast interfaces of all anchors were under the surveillance of the high tower, and the outermost circle happened to be under the responsibility of his team. He did not choose to report the abnormality and decided to observe it for a while longer.
If this isn't a fluke, does that mean there's still hope for other deformed people to recover?
…
As soon as the sun rose, Jiang Zihan rode his bicycle out.
I've been sleeping on the floor for two nights in a row and my whole body is sore. I have to find something to sleep on today.
As usual, Zhizhi went to rummage through the garbage dump and picked up a bag of seeds. She even dug out a solar panel, tried it briefly, and it actually worked!
She felt that her good luck was coming.
It would be better if she could get a refrigerator or something, so she wouldn't have to dry fish every day.
Jiang Zihan stood up and looked at the increasingly strong sunlight. He couldn't help but walk into the nearest empty house to take shelter for a while. The sunlight here was not as strong as in autumn. He was lucky not to get sunburned after going out so frequently.
This room was supposed to be a supermarket, but now the shelves are all over the floor, and there is a lot of rice and flour scattered around. It has been almost eaten by insects, and the remaining ones are moldy.
It was rare to find a few bags of flour in the warehouse, and they were surprisingly well preserved. She gritted her teeth and generously opened a grid in the system warehouse to put the flour in. As long as it didn't go bad, it should be enough for her to eat for a long time.
Jiang Zihan reached out and patted the metal rack. The dull "bang bang" sound was particularly clear. The material was thicker than she had imagined. She would collect more and more supplies in the future, and she couldn't just pile them all on the ground. If she could move this rack back to the cabin, it would save a lot of space.
Just as she bent down to look for disassembly tools, a strange "snoring" sound suddenly came from not far away.
Jiang Zihan immediately became alert. After listening carefully, he found that the sound was like some kind of wild beast tearing flesh and blood, with the sticky sound mixed with the crisp sound of broken bones.
She stiffened, her fingers unconsciously clenching around the tool.
Zhizhi's small body stretched like a bow, and she jumped onto her shoulders, staring at the source of the sound.
Run away! A string in her brain suddenly tightened, and her reason told her that this place was very dangerous!
But the sound was not far from here, and if we went out now, we might be discovered by that thing.
Curiosity was stirring, and even if it was dangerous, she had to know what she was facing. She held her breath, tiptoed up the stairs, and lay on the window sill on the second floor to peek out.
Not far away, a hunched black figure was lying on the ground, gnawing on something frantically.
This angle happened to be a blind spot and she could only see the back. She squinted her eyes and found that there was an extended platform next to her, so she bravely moved over little by little.
When the angle changed, the blood in Jiang Zihan's body instantly solidified. That was not a beast at all!
A ragged "man" was kneeling in a pool of blood, tearing at a broken corpse with his hands. His face was rotten and deformed, the corners of his mouth were torn almost to his ears, and his teeth were stained with blood and flesh, and they made a creepy chewing sound as they opened and closed.
She covered her mouth tightly and stuffed Zhizhi into her pocket, for fear of leaking any sound.
Is this... a cannibal?
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