The buzzing in my head is still going on, but the giant mosquitoes seem to have stopped chasing me. I don't know how many of these giant mosquitoes there are, but the ones I've killed could probably be counted in tons by now.
We were so focused on escaping that we didn't notice that behind us was a thick carpet of giant black mosquito corpses stretching for miles.
These giant mosquitoes may look big, but their body structure is supported by only one exoskeleton, which is only one or two times stronger than an eggshell.
A simple exoskeleton structure can effectively reduce the body's weight, which is a crucial factor for flight.
The exoskeleton contains a large number of muscles used for flight, which is why their disproportionate body structure allows them to fly quickly with their seemingly thin wings.
However, every advantage has its disadvantage. This exoskeleton structure is relatively fragile, and once the outer layer of defense is breached, death is almost inevitable.
My shotgun fired a single shot, and at such close range, it could penetrate at least twenty meters before the power of the giant mosquito swarm diminished.
These giant mosquitoes are numerous, and they swarm in large numbers when they move out. My shotgun is a wide-area weapon, and after a while, even the huge number of giant mosquitoes can't withstand our attrition.
The giant mosquitoes that had been swarming out have now fallen silent, and the sudden quiet around us feels strangely eerie.
Seeing that the giant mosquitoes had stopped chasing me, I stopped my arm, which had been numb from the impact. The gun barrel was now scalding hot, as if it had just been taken out of a fire.
We collapsed onto the ground, strangely without any heavy breathing or soreness in our limbs, but our bodies felt extremely empty, as if we had overindulged in excessive sexual activity.
Every cell in the body is now sending out alarms; they desperately need energy to function.
Now I can even feel my body fat being consumed at an extremely fast rate, and I can clearly sense something disappearing rapidly from my body.
If someone asks how many days a person can survive without food, the answer is generally about seven days. However, in our special circumstances, we could only last for less than twenty minutes before we were on the verge of starvation.
If this absurd conclusion were to get out, it would surely shock a lot of people.
We need to eat right away, but now both I, a young native, and Top only have a little strength left to crawl.
I stared at the corpses of the giant mosquitoes on the ground and fell into a brief moment of contemplation, but I only hesitated for a second before making my decision.
I divided a giant mosquito killed by the metal jet into three portions and gave them to Top and the young native. Pat didn't need to eat, because his wing was injured, and the native carried him the whole way.
If it weren't for such an extreme environment, I would never choose to eat these extremely risky meats raw.
But now we are on the verge of starvation, and we don't have the extra strength to gather firewood to start a fire. The only option left is to eat raw food.
Even knowing the risk of getting sick, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and gnaw on the white muscle inside those black exoskeletons in order to survive.
The taste was beyond my expectations. It didn't have that strange animal flavor; instead, it had a subtle sweetness, somewhat similar to the texture of salmon.
The young indigenous people around them naturally eat raw animal organs, such as hearts and livers, to supplement their bodies with trace elements.
Now, eating these giant mosquitoes is no longer a psychological burden for them; they just grab them and stuff them into their mouths in big gulps.
At this point, Top was probably starving. It was a picky eater, but now it was eating raw meat and it felt like it was part of a Manchu Han Imperial Feast.
The young native quickly finished eating the giant mosquito carcass in his hand, and he wanted to reach out and grab another one to start gnawing on.
I stopped him immediately. We were eating when we were extremely hungry, and our brains became less sensitive to the concept of fullness. We could easily overeat.
Then all of the body's energy will be diverted to the stomach to digest food, leaving the body with very little energy left.
The energy from the food may not have been broken down and utilized by the body yet, and the brain and other organs in the body may have already slowed down or even stopped working due to a lack of energy supply.
The indigenous people and Top didn't react much when I insisted they stop eating. Right now, they just felt very tired and wanted to rest.
Top lay down on the ground to sleep, just like the Turks who would doze off even while sitting.
Seeing this, I immediately pulled them up and told the natives that we needed to leave this place as soon as possible.
Although the young indigenous man was somewhat unwilling, he knew the dangers of the place, so he reluctantly stood up and we walked slowly, supporting each other.
I told everyone to set off immediately, partly because of the potential dangers.
But more importantly, it was to save everyone's lives, because resting immediately after eating when extremely hungry is a very deadly act.
At this point, a person will feel tired and only want to sleep. However, once they fall asleep, most of their organs may be at risk of going into hibernation.
Many people starved to death during the Long March of the Red Army, but many others died of organ failure in their sleep after eating their fill.
Later, when the troops received food, it was distributed in rations, and each person could only eat half full at most, and they were not allowed to sit down or lie down to rest immediately.
Generally, you should walk at a low speed for a while to give your body a buffer period to digest the food. Only after your body's functions have returned to normal can you sit down and rest.
Our bodies are still very weak, but fortunately, after eating something, the hunger in our stomachs is no longer so intense.
The danger here has exceeded our expectations, and given our unfamiliarity with the terrain, I've decided that leaving as soon as possible is the wisest choice.
Worried about further trouble on the way, I decided to go back along the original route.
The vegetation here is dense, and most of it looks the same. It's easy to get lost in this kind of terrain, but we killed a lot of giant mosquitoes on our way here, and now these giant mosquitoes lying on the ground serve as the best waypoints.
We soon returned to the vicinity of the pool we had seen earlier.
The crocodiles had vanished without a trace, and the giant archerfish had disappeared as well. The entire pool was eerily silent.
If it weren't for the faint smell of blood still lingering on the surface of the pool, it would be hard to believe that not long ago, several forces were fighting fiercely here.
I don't want to care about that anymore. Ever since I found out there were crocodiles in the pool, I haven't even had the thought of getting close to those guys.
If you don't court death, you won't die. You only have one life, and excessive curiosity can kill you at any time.
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