by Tai Baiyang
Zhang Mu couldn't do anything about the Obsidian Beetle’s indolence, so he let it do what it wanted. After all, he could take all the crystals for himself as he didn’t need to feed the Obsidian Beetle.
“It seems to have the energy needed for us to evolve. After all, Little Black loves it. I think that it should be useful for people like us who developed special abilities,” Zhang Mu explained to Yuan Rui.
However, Yuan didn’t pay attention to what he said at all. She just looked at the upside-down vehicles and the deformed wreckage on the side of the road with curiosity. She was afraid that a zombie would suddenly jump out from the car, but she also had a glimmer of expectation because Zhang Mu looked so handsome when he fought against the zombie with a knife. To any little girl like her, it was irresistibly charming.
Zhang Mu had an ominous premonition that a large-scale invasion by the zombie was coming soon since there were so few on the road.
All of a sudden, the Obsidian Beetle began to move restlessly as if it sensed something dangerous. Alarmed by its anxiety, Zhang Mu quickly climbed to the top of a commercial car. He looked far in front and gasped.
“Oh my god! Now, this is big!”
Yuan Rui couldn’t see what happened as her sight was blocked. She could do a thing but ask Zhang Mu anxiously, “What happened? Tell me! Hurry up!”
Zhang Mu squatted down to help Yuan Rui climb up. After having a clear look at what was happening up front, Yuan Rui was so scared, she nearly fell down.
At the corner of the highway, several trucks fell and formed a circle at the intersection. What had scared Zhang Mu was within the circle. He finally understood why there were so few zombies on the highway.
There was a herd of mutated pigs with erect hair and large, disgustingly yellow fangs sticking out of their mouths and were bent upwards.
Zhang Mu instantly understood. Those mutated pigs probably considered the circle of trucks as a pigsty. They hunted and ate zombies when they were hungry and rested in the circle when they finished eating.
Now they just laid down and hummed while flapping their long ears now and then. If not for the blood staining the corners of their mouths, Zhang Mu would have thought that they were just normal and lazy pigs.
Yet, Zhang Mu knew clearly how horrible these mutated pigs could get when they went crazy. Once, there had been a survival base that tried to domesticate the mutated pigs. In the end, out of negligence, their pigs escaped and all their breeders were eaten without a single bone left.
Later, there were no bases that dared to raise mutated pigs unless they hired a tamer-type evolver because it would be a catastrophe if the mutated pigs were to go out of control while the zombies launched an attack.
Suddenly, an idea came to Zhang Mu’s mind.
If he couldn’t go through the circle, he could try slipping past from the side.
He could bypass the mutated pigs and avoid confronting them.
The opponent was more than 20 first-ranked pigs. By no means did Zhang Mu want to start a conflict with them.
He and the Obsidian Beetle shared a glance and quickly understood each other's thoughts.
He had intended to let Little Black bring Yuan Rui and fly over these pigs. It was not difficult for an Obsidian Beetle to fly at a high altitude for a short time, but Zhang Mu worried that these mutated pigs would be woken up by the flapping sound of Black Beetle’s wings.
Zhang Mu awkwardly pulled Yuan Rui down from the top of the car, then touched his nose and said, “Yuan Rui, we will slip away while they are asleep, so you must keep quiet.”
“Uncle Zhang, you are scared, aren’t you?”
Yuan Rui tittered with her hand covered her mouth. She was mocking Zhang Mu as she had never seen him get embarrassed.
Zhang Mu said nothing and smiled bitterly, pulling Yuan Rui forward.
The closer they walked, the louder the breathing of the pigs got. They were worried that those monsters would wake up suddenly.
If it really happened, it would cause big problems for them.
The stink was getting stronger and thicker. Yuan Rui couldn’t stand it and got nauseous as she covered mouth and nose with her cuff, but it was useless.
Seeing this, Zhang Mu sped up. They quickly walked into a crevice between the outer edge of the trucks and the fence.
Just as they were going to bypass the motorcade, Yuan Rui couldn’t stand the smell anymore and began to vomit.
“Are you ok?!” Zhang Mu asked her.
Yuan Rui was too sick to say a word. Even the Black Beetle couldn't stand it and had drilled into Zhang Mu’s clothes to avoid the stink, let alone Yuan Rui, a little girl.
Zhang Mu had no choice but to lift her up and tiptoed out of the motorcade.
Right at that time, one of the mutated pigs moved a little. It seemed to smell Yuan Rui's scent and suddenly opened its bloody eyes!
“Roar!”
All the mutated pigs woke up and looked towards Zhang Mu.
Zhang Mu was frightened. He immediately fished out Little black and threw Yuan Rui on its back, shouting, “Run!”
After seeing the Obsidian Beetle fly high, Zhang Mu quickly ran off.
Chapter 33: The Longmen Grottoes
The roaring pigs quickly rushed out of their 'pigsty', but Zhang Mu ran so fast, he quickly disappeared. Little Black also tried its best to fly as high as possible.
Thinking that it was difficult to hunt them, the aggressive pigs roaring at the very front became hesitant. They just yelled a few times towards the direction Zhang Mu disappeared to and returned inside their circle to continue sleeping.
After using so much energy to fly high, the Obsidian Beetle soon got tired and landed slowly. Zhang Mu pulled Yuan Rui whose face was deathly pale down from the Obsidian Beetle’s back and let it land on his shoulder to have a rest.
Yuan Rui had just vomited and she had to sit on Little Black`s back and fly up so high right after. In order to protect them from the possibility of the mutated pigs possessing long-ranged attacks, Zhang Mu asked the Obsidian Beetle to fly high enough.
Yuan Rui looked at Zhang Mu apologetically and said with a low voice, “Uncle Zhang, I didn’t do it on purpose, I really couldn’t stand the smell anymore.”
Seeing the lively Obsidian Beetle so tired, Yuan Rui felt guilty for having caused troubles. She was afraid Zhang Mu would blame her.
Yet, Zhuang Mu just laughed and touched her head slightly, “It's ok! It doesn’t matter! We are safe and sound, aren’t we? You tried your best. The smell really was horrible. Even a boor like me can’t stand it, let alone you. Even Little Black had to hide inside my clothes. You have done all you could! Who would have thought that the mutated pigs had a keen sense of smell? Just let it go! Moreover, even if we were besieged by them, both Little Black and I have the ability to cope with them. I just wanted to bypass them because it would take too much of our time and energy to fight against them.”
Out of worry for Yuan Rui, Zhang Mu said that. Actually, he knew that they couldn’t have escaped unscathed with only his and the Obsidian Beetle’s power. However, he didn’t want Yuan Rui to feel guilty. Besides, it was also because his plan wasn't thorough enough. He had just thought about dealing with the zombies without taking the mutated animals into consideration, especially not a bunch of pigs.
Through this event, Zhang Mu had a sense of crisis. Thinking carefully, except for an agile body, some skills, and instinct forged by his past life, he had no other advantages in the apocalypse.
His ability only allowed him to deal with the dumb zombies. But if he met mutated animals with developed intelligence, he could do nothing but escape. Life would be hard for him who didn’t develop special powers.
Moreover, the advantages Zhang Mu owned in the early days of the cataclysm decreased when he faced evolvers.
While he thought up to there, the group of three had left the toll station of the highway.
“We finally get out!”
Zhang Mu turne
d back and looked toward the dilapidated toll gate farther away from him. He still felt it to be inconceivable that all the zombies on the highway had become the mutated pigs’ food. It made it so that they didn’t meet massive armies of zombies.
The latter half of their journey was very easy which was out of his expectations. They hadn't stopped on their way except for when they met Zhan Hong, which allowed them to save a lot of time.
Zhang Mu could not tell whether he was lucky or not. They did save a lot of time, but if they hadn’t escape immediately when the pigs woke up, they would've become food for the mutated animals.
It was late. The sun set slowly in the west and the temperature lowered.
Zhang Mu quickly asked Little Black to go back to his normal size and carry Yuan Rui as they left the highway and headed for their destination, the Longmen Grottoes.
The Longmen Grottoes was dug in the Dynasty of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei. As it had existed for a long time, most of the Chinese population knew of it. From south to north, it measured up to one kilometres. Inside were more than 100,000 statues of Buddha.
As Zhang Mu gazed at the Longmen Grottoes, many thoughts came to his mind. The cave had been damaged seriously even before the cataclysm began. Afterwards, people couldn't even protect themselves, no one cared about preserving the Grottoes. It was then damaged wantonly by mutated animals in the mountains. It was by luck that an evolver found the surprising secret hidden inside the Longmen Grottoes.
Seeing that Zhang Mu was looking at the scenic spot in a daze, Yuan Rui interrupted his contemplation. “Uncle Zhang, we are here now! Can you tell me what's the matter?”
“Eh, I don’t know either. I just feel that there must be some treasures. Maybe, it's an evolution ability of mine.” Zhang Mu didn’t tell Yuan Rui that he came from the future. It would frighten her. So he had to make his knowledge of the future into an ability to prophesy the future.
After hearing that, Yuan Rui quickly took the hint. She was immune to all kinds of unthinkable things after she witnessed the supernatural energy she owned and Zhan Hong’s Dragon Scales.
“Uncle, not only can you tame Little Black, but you can also foresee the future! You are so great!”
Seeing Yuan Rui’s look of worship, Zhang Mu nodded and admitted brazenly. It was awkward for him to tell a little girl that he actually didn’t have any evolutionary ability and couldn't even stand equal to her.
Yet, this time, there was a chance, a chance to change his fate and life. Given this, he must get the treasure at all costs.
“Let’s go, get on Little Black’s back! Let's go now!”
Because it was the off-season for tourism, there were not many people in the Grottoes before the cataclysm happened. Outside, there were only dozens of zombies and most of them had been local residents. Zhang Mu knew that the zombies outside didn’t pose any threat. The reason why the Longmen Grottoes’ secret hadn't been found earlier was that the evolvers didn’t dare to come in. The Grottoes contained too many ferocious mutated animals.
Inside, there are massive amounts of mutated monkeys. Unlike other mutated animals, what bothered Zhang Mu was that the mutated monkey had high IQs and evolved nonstop. Their imitative ability, under the stimulation of the evolutionary factor inside their bodies, had developed to a horrible level.
As for human beings, the world’s mutation was catastrophic, but also full of opportunities. However, the beneficiaries of the mutation were not just human beings. As such, the humanity’s hegemony was shaken.
Chapter 34 The Mutated Monkeys
“Little Black, watch out and don't be lazy! There are a bunch of monkeys that are very difficult to deal with dominating this place.”
At first, the Obsidian Beetle didn’t take things seriously and thought that Zhang Mu was just scared by the mutated pigs, but when it felt the quick change of his internal energy and his violent mood, it realized that his owner was serious.
Then, Little Black began to study the residual scents in the air.
Zi! Zi zi!
After a while, the Obsidian Beetle looked up and turned towards the northeast, flapping its wings quickly.
“The smell is coming from that direction. It is where the Great Buddha is located.”
Zhang Mu had a certain intuition that the treasure was in the cavern of the Great Buddha rather than on the road.
After realizing that, Zhang Mu frowned and said to himself, “Unexpectedly, they had occupied the Great Buddha so early? The treasure shouldn't have come out so early. Don't tell me they realized something was there and guarded it? It would explain why there were survivors that came out of the Longmen Grottoes in the future. Or else it would be impossible for the powerful monkeys, after cleaning out the zombies during the debugging period, to spare the lives of survivors in their territory. So they had been guarding in the vicinity of the Great Buddha from the very beginning. This showed the importance they attached to this treasure.”
“Yuan Rui, you and Little Black stay at here. I'll go and see what happened.”
Zhang Mu didn’t dare to leave Yuan Rui by herself. He was just going to investigate, and by no means did he need Little Black’s help. Little Black would do better staying here and protecting Yuan Rui.
Little Black enjoyed this arrangement while Yuan Rui refused. She was going to cry and said, “Uncle Zhang. Let me follow you. You said you would take me. You can't leave me alone, I’m scared.”
She clung to Zhang Mu’s sleeve and refused to let him go.
Zhang Mu felt awkward. He removed Yuan Rui’s hand and said, “I'm not going in to fight the monsters. I'm just going to investigate the terrain and see how many mutated animals are in there and how powerful they are. Besides, you are not alone. Little Black will stay with you. Don’t worry! Little Black is strong. At the very least, it can carry you and fly away. If you follow me, we may get in trouble if we ever meet an emergency. I’d better go alone. Be good!”
After that, Zhang Mu glanced at the Obsidian Beetle and said seriously, “Don’t try to save energy, how much can you consume anyway? Quickly turn big and let Yuan Rui sit on your back. Wait for me right here. Is that clear?”
Zhang Mu didn’t care about Little Black’s feeling at all and slapped it. Obsidian Beetle slowly become big while its sad eyes stared at Zhang Mu.
Touching Little Black’s back, Yuan Rui calmed down. After seeing Zhang Mu’s firm eyes, she said with her head down, “Uncle, you must be careful.”
Zhang Mu answered, “Remember, if you are in danger, run away quickly. Don’t wait for me. Little Black and I know where each other are.”
Zhang Mu nodded and raised Yuan Rui on Little Black’s back. His left foot pushed against the ground slightly and he left them.
It had gotten dark outside, but inside the cavern of the Great Buddha, beams of light were lit, making the statue of the Great Buddha seem particularly prominent against the walls of the cave.
As Zhang Mu got closer, he gasped.
"Who would've known that the mutated monkeys have learnt to make use of torches to patrol. They are indeed the first animals to develop intelligence. Only on the second day of debugging period and they have already made such a great progress. Unbelievable."
Looking at the mutated monkeys that had grown up to be even taller than human beings, Zhang Mu was shocked. However, the most horrifying thing was that they had learned how to divide the work and to use wooden sticks as their weapons.
There was a guard at every five steps around the Great Buddha sentry. Even during the night, they did not slack.
Moreover, they seemed to have formed a special team for hunting. They held several zombies as they walked back into the cavern. It seems that they were going to present the zombies to their leader.
Only the human base in the future had such organized arrangements. At the beginning, people didn’t take sentry work seriously. They thought that they could sleep without anxiety as many evolvers were around them.
Only
the veterans who had survived through war and blood understood how important a sentry would be. So in the future, the evolvers who had special abilities like Clairaudient, Clairvoyant, and Night vision would serve as the first line of defence for the bases.
The mutated monkeys in front of him were clearly suppressed by a strict hierarchy, but they were still ready to drive out the enemy. Even though nothing could threaten them, they never slacked.
The light of the torches nearly illuminated Zhang Mu. When a mutated monkey turned back, Zhang Mu quickly hid in the grass without making any noise.
All of a sudden, an idea was drawn in his mind. He called on the Black Beetle in his mind.
"Woosh! Woosh!"
10 minutes later, a delicate figure came out from the dark with Little Black on her head.
Of course, it was Yuan Rui.
Yuan Rui’s mouth was covered by Zhang Mu the moment she intended to say something. They were crawling in the grass. She blushed as Zhang Mu got close to her. She heard Zhang Mu's warning, “Don't make any noise. The goal is a bit tricky.”
At the same time, Little Black also noticed the dangerous situation and got frightened. It asked Zhang Mu to withdraw because they had no ability to deal with this situation. Zhang Mu patted it on its head and laughed, “Of course, we can’t defeat them right now. But 30 minutes later, the debugging period will be over. At that time, we can defeat them easily.”
Zhang Mu didn’t know whether or not Little Black’s power would decrease the debugging period ended and yet he was sure that both the intelligence and physical strength of the mutated monkeys would decrease a lot. They would be in their weakest state because they won't be able to adjust to the change so quickly. That was what Zhang Mu was waiting for.
Chapter 35 The Debugging Period Is Over
