Chapter 60 A Bountiful Harvest
Once again on the familiar road, Xiao Bao was incredibly excited, running ahead the whole way and, unusually, not holding anyone back.
Zuo Shan felt her jogging speed had been reduced to a medium pace, but seeing Xiao Bao so happy made her happy too.
Achen Baby seemed very happy. Zuo Shan could often sense its emotions. For example, it liked Xiao Bao very much, but every time Xiao Bao came up to it and acted cute, Achen Baby seemed quite unhappy and would puff up its cheeks in protest.
This child, even before being born, already knows how to compete for favor. Zuo Shan feels deeply helpless about this.
After a heavy rain, the mutated plants grew wildly, and several sections of the path that was originally passable were blocked by horizontal branches. Left with no other choice, Zuo Shan had to use a cutting knife to clear a path and, incidentally, test whether the plants were edible.
Unfortunately, the new branches and leaves that sprouted from this highly radioactive rain were almost all highly radioactive.
Zuo Shan speculated that it was because these mutated plants absorbed the high radiation from the rainwater that the residents of District 50 were not surrounded by high radiation.
After finally overcoming all obstacles and entering the bamboo forest, Xiao Bao immediately ran wild and climbed up a tall bamboo stalk, waving his chubby panda paws at her, signaling her to climb up too and play together.
Zuo Shan didn't have the strength to climb high with it; she was pregnant now, and it was already quite difficult for her to keep running and exercising with her protruding belly.
Her target today is still bamboo rats, or more precisely, bamboo rat cubs.
Adult bamboo rats exposed to the wild eat highly radioactive bamboo leaves and shoots, and over time their meat naturally becomes highly radioactive as well.
However, since bamboo rat pups drink milk, which is metabolized and transformed by the mother rat, the radiation level is greatly reduced. Therefore, bamboo rat pups are more likely to be edible.
Bamboo rats' nests are relatively well hidden; if it weren't for the bamboo shoots in the forest, they would probably be hard to find.
The advantage is that the number of bamboo shoots breaking through the soil will increase significantly after the rain, and the growth rate of bamboo shoots will also be particularly fast.
Ordinary bamboo shoots on Earth can grow to about 9 inches a day at their fastest growth rate, let alone these mutated bamboo shoots from the wasteland. Along the way, she found bamboo shoots that had grown to several meters tall!
With so many bamboo shoots sprouting, she was sure she could attract even more bamboo rats.
Zuo Shan wandered around in the bamboo forest alone, and sure enough, he soon spotted a bamboo rat.
There are usually no people in the bamboo forest, and very few other kinds of mutated beasts, since there are very few mutated beasts that like to eat bamboo.
This bamboo rat was chubby and bigger than a house cat. It was roughly estimated to weigh more than 7 kilograms, which was larger than the bamboo rat she had seen before.
Zuo Shan assessed her own combat strength and figured that dealing with it shouldn't be a problem. The difficulty lay in its incredible speed, and she didn't want to waste her efforts.
Just as she was figuring out how to make her move, she heard a gust of wind coming from behind her. She instinctively tried to dodge, but first she smelled Xiao Bao's familiar scent.
This guy, I thought he went off to have fun by himself, but I didn't expect him to be following her quietly the whole time. However, she was walking on the ground, while Xiao Bao was jumping from one bamboo stalk to another.
The fat bamboo rat was gnawing on a tender bamboo shoot that had just sprouted from the ground when it was suddenly attacked. A furry paw slapped it hard on the head, knocking it unconscious.
Zuo Shan could tell that Xiao Bao's palm strength had improved recently. He probably didn't use his full strength in this palm strike, otherwise the fat bamboo rat would have been splattered with blood on the spot.
"Waaah!" Xiao Bao jumped in front of her, begging for praise.
"My little treasure is the best!" Zuo Shan took out a rope, skillfully put it around the fat bamboo rat's neck, woke it up, and watched it frantically try to escape, but it could never escape her control. Finally, it led her to its nest. Zuo Shan smiled happily.
Xiao Bao climbed up the bamboo again. It couldn't stay by her side, otherwise the bamboo rats would smell their natural enemies and run far away.
As the sun began to set, Zuo Shan and Xiao Bao worked together to raid six bamboo rat burrows, capturing 42 bamboo rat cubs. Of these, 26 were moderately irradiated and edible, while the other four, which were newborn and hadn't even opened their eyes yet, were only mildly irradiated!
Zuo Shan was surprised that so many bamboo rats could gather in this bamboo forest, but thinking about it, it makes sense. Bamboo rats reproduce very quickly, producing 7 or 8 litters a year, with 5 or 6 rats per litter.
Even though the wild environment is harsh and the survival rate is low, the only natural enemy in this bamboo forest—Xiao Bao's mother—is dead, so the number of bamboo rats naturally increases.
She couldn't bear to throw away the highly radioactive bamboo rats. She learned from chatting with Uncle Wu Qiong that the highly radioactive mutated animal hides could be taken to a specialized fur processing place. For a small fee, the fur could be tanned and the radiation level reduced.
It's a pity that food cannot be processed in the same way, otherwise the humans of the Green Algae Planet would not have to worry about food and drink.
Dragging three heavy burlap sacks, Zuo Shan was somewhat worried.
To keep an eye on Modilan Shield, she didn't bring Chestnut today. Although Xiaobao could help drag the sacks, it was still too young, and she couldn't bear to exploit a child laborer.
Recently, Zuo Shan discovered that his strength had also increased, and if he dragged it slowly, he could also drag these three sacks back.
But dragging three such large sacks home is tantamount to announcing to all the scavengers in District 50 that she has obtained a lot of food in the wild, so wouldn't she become an obvious target?
If Boss Tong saw this, he might even try to rob her directly. She wasn't willing to work for nothing.
After much deliberation, she finally decided to wait until dark before going back.
Although this is riskier and there is a possibility of encountering low-level mutated beasts, it is still better than being coveted by those scavengers who have no bottom line for food.
As darkness fell, Xiao Bao began to show signs of unease. After all, it was just a cub with weak fighting power. If it encountered a larger mutated beast, it would only be easy prey.
Zuo Shan picked the mutated mugwort that could mask the odor early on, crushed the leaves and mixed them with the bamboo rats in the sack, so she didn't have to worry about other wild animals coming to snatch her prey by following the scent.
Zuo Shan dragged three large sacks and slowly walked back.
The journey was quiet, and she didn't encounter a single scavenger, which reassured her a lot. As long as the wanderers all went home, she could get home smoothly without being discovered.
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