“It might be because the food we just ate stimulated our stomachs to become more active.” Chang felt the same as Pang Zi. He laid down for a while, then sat up while rubbing his right eye. “Although we’re still hungry, at least we’ve had something to eat and regained some strength. Let’s take advantage of this and go out and do something, otherwise we’ll starve to death.”
“You’re right. It seems like the military doesn’t have much food in their reserves either. Even now, the portions of food are a mere drop in the bucket.” Qing Shui analyzed. “The crackers can probably last longer than the canned food. I suspect the canned food will perish soon. At that time, we’ll be in the worst situation. We really should go out to look for our own food if we want to survive.”
“Although it’s dangerous outside of the base, the plants and animals are flourishing. I don’t think it will be a problem for us to find food in this situation.”
“I agree, the stems and branches of plants are edible, and so is animal meat. How about this…” Chang lowered his voice when he heard Qing Shui’s suggestion to go out to look for food. “Teacher, you’re more familiar with plants, so it won’t be a big problem for you to distinguish which one is edible. You can bring Pang Zi and Lin to collect plants in and around the base. I’ll go out with Jing to see if we’re lucky enough to run into some small animals so that we’ll have meat for dinner. Hopefully, we’ll find something to eat if we split up this way.”
“You’re hunting by yourself?” Pang Zi shook his head as he heard Chang, “That’s too dangerous, bring me with you. I don’t know anything about plants anyways.”
“Well…since you’re chubby, you’ll become a big target. It’s not safe for both of us if you follow me.” Chang made a joke to turn down Pang Zi’s kindness. “Go with Mr. Li, it won’t be too much of a problem for me as long as I’m with Jing.”
“No one can be sure about that.” Qing Shui shook his head too. “Jing didn’t detect the danger until the tentacle of the monster came out from the urinal.”
“He’s right,” Jing also shook her head. “I didn’t sense it until its tentacle reached out.”
“Does that mean that you sensing abilities can be blocked?” Chang frowned. “But that’s not a big deal, is it? After all, only a few monsters live underground. We’ll just look for animals around the base. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be dangerous.”
“But…” Pang Zi was going to express his concern, but Chang interrupted him. “That’s it, I’ll be going around the base with Jing to look for small animals. There’s no need to be sentimental; just wait for the big dinner tonight.”
Chang held onto Jing’s small hand as he spoke.
“Let’s go.” They walked out of the room and walked through the base; the world was still drowned in this mysterious red fog.
However, the base wasn’t silent; it was filled with civilians because it was the time that the soldiers were distributing food. Even though the base wasn’t bustling with noise and excitement, it wasn’t as quiet as the outside world either.
They passed over the crowd and walked out of the base. Chang found out that there were still many civilians trickling into the base for shelter.
“The number of refugees is still increasing, and with that many people, the military will soon have many more problems.” Seeing the stream of people peeking into the base, Chang pulled Jing aside to avoid the crowd.
Despite being in an apocalypse, there were barely any mutated organisms in this area. This was a phenomenon that other species had learned in order to avoid an excessive population that could threaten their survival. After all, it was part of an animal’s instinct for self-preservation.
“We’ll go around the base and try not stray too far from it. Jing, please tell me if there are any dangerous animals circling around us, as well as any large groups of small insects.” Chang told Jing earnestly. “If you notice an organism that has a high danger index or is really big, hide first, then pat my back to let me know. I won’t go too far from you.”
“Understood,” Jing nodded determinedly.
“Okay, let’s go.” Chang went out first and pulled out his scalpels and held one in each hand. They started hunting for the first time in their lives.
"Right now, we’re at a pretty quiet area; it’s best not to move too far away from here, and make sure you pay attention and scout out dangerous creatures around here, since this is a large area." Liu Chang led the little girl while reminding her, "if the danger value of a creature is too high or a large number of creatures appear, make sure to get yourself in a safe hiding spot, and then we can signal each other by tugging on our clothes. I won’t leave you too far."
"Our goal for hunting is to find an individual animal with a danger value of 1 or less. Is that clear?
"Yeah, I understand." The little girl nodded energetically.
"All right, let's go." After finishing his sentence, Chang headed out. With the two scalpels in his hand, he had officially begun his first hunt.
Chapter 25: Waiting
Chang and Jing walked towards the north. The military base was at the south of the city, so if they went further south, they would reach the uninhabited land.
There were very few people living in the area before the red fog, and now it was even more dangerous.
Therefore, Chang chose to go in the direction of the city center which was relatively safe compared to the south. However, Jing felt something unusual when they had just taken a few steps.
“Two 0.8 level organisms are approaching us.”
“0.8?” Chang squatted on his heels with Jing after he heard her and they hid in nearby bushes. “It seems we’re pretty lucky.”
Clenching the scalpels tightly, Chang carefully observed the surrounding through the grass.
“Are they right in front of us?” Chang pointed to the front with caution.
“Here, they’re moving slowly towards us.”
“Okay, thanks.” Chang nodded and held his breath.
Chang knew that even the slightest breath could reveal himself to animals that had acute senses. As a hunter, lurking was always an important skill.
Time passed by and Chang coped with his nervousness before the hunt by counting his own heartbeats.
When he reached a hundred, Chang saw the grass at the far front slightly shake, and then two figures showed up.
“Damn.” When Chang saw them, he swore with a low voice and stood up from the grass. “Jing, we don't need to hide in the grass; they’re two humans.”
“Really?” Jing also stood up as she heard Chang, “Are they two girls?”
“Yes.” Chang looked at them in the distance. They looked like they were seventeen or eighteen years old. Chang’s voice scared them, but since they could only see within three meters, they didn’t know where Chang was.
“Who is it? Is someone there?” It was scarier for them when they could see nothing but the fog, they stood rooted and shouted.
“We are just passing by, don’t worry,” Chang responded.
“Let’s go.” Chang patted on Jing‘s head after he replied. He didn’t even pay attention to what they said afterwards. He left with Jing to look for a new prey.
However, the hunt didn't go as smoothly as they thought it would be; they had still not found any suitable prey even after three hours of searching.
Within three hours, they had encountered other humans seventeen times, detected organisms above level 5 fifteen times and had also managed to avoid large groups of insects three times. Unfortunately, they just didn’t run into any prey they desired.
“It’s passed noon, yet we still have nothing,” Chang sighed. They sat on the curb and leaned on two-meter-high bushes.
“Tired?” He rubbed Jing’s hair and asked.
“Yes, but I can bear with it.” She nodded; the cut on the face had formed a scab. “Are you hungry, Mr. Liu?”
“Hahaha, don’t call me that. I’m not that old for you to call me mister; I jus
t graduated from high school.” Chang laughed when he heard Jing. “I don't look that old, do I? Just call me Chang. And to answer your question, I’m very hungry!”
“I see… Fortunately, I hid a piece of food in my pocket.” She took out a piece of the cracker from her shirt. “I didn’t eat all the food I got; I have a piece leftover. You can have it, since you definitely need more strength to fight the animals.”
“Hahaha…” Looking at the cracker, Chang laughed again. “I’m very surprised that you actually saved a small piece from that half pack of hardtack. I don’t believe that you were full from just eating that little. You have it yourself!”
“Uh…” Jing stared at Chang blankly as if she didn't expect his answer. Her eyes revealed a look of astonishment, but her hands were still raised up stubbornly.
“Well, since this is from your kindness, I might as well take it.” Seeing her face, Chang couldn’t help but laugh. He took the cracker and stuffed it in his mouth.
The unique taste of hardtack filled his mouth.
“It tastes so good; I guess everything tastes good when you’re hungry.” He took a sip from the water bottle to moisturize his mouth. Chang stood up, “Let’s go, since I got a piece of cracker from you, I’ll make a return to you tonight with a piece of meat!”
“I’d love to have that.” Jing smiled happily at Chang.
In the afternoon, they’re bad luck gave them a hard time, but now their luck started to kick in.
They wandered around for 10 minutes and walked past a group of humans when they found their target – a stray dog.
It was a large dog that happened to be alone. Though it looked like it had evolved due to the red fog, it didn’t change as much as the other animals they encountered.
Level 1.5 was the information that Jing gave to Chang. That meant that the dog wasn’t much stronger than an adult male. But due to its instinct, it was harder to deal with compared to humans.
Hence, Chang quickly and gently squatted down without saying anything – he knew how sensitive a dog’s hearing was.
In the bushes, Chang waved and gestured at Jing to stay away. Then, he held his breath and took advantage of the tall grass as he slowly approached the dog.
However, things never went like he planned. Although he was extremely cautious, a slight creaking sound was made when he gently stepped on the grass.
This caused the dog to be alerted.
Its sensitive hearing immediately told it where Chang was at. A pair of scarlet eyes scanned around and finally locked onto Chang who was three meters away from it.
Its face distorted to show its fangs, and its throat surged and threated Chang with a unique sound.
However, Chang was no longer the kid he was a few days ago. As one of the few humans who had undergone an evolution, though he didn’t have a significant physical improvement, he wasn’t someone who was scared of a dog either.
Chang stood still and confronted the dog with his hands clenched. He didn’t want to move first because he knew it was difficult to achieve the desired results due to how humans usually stood and moved.
Human were taller than dogs, but dogs were more flexible since they ran with four limbs. If he were to attack first, he needed to do many things, such as taking out his scalpels. These movements would cost his balance, and if the first strike wasn’t successful, he would be gnawed by the dog.
In such circumstances, he wanted to wait for his opponent to attack first. With an animal’s instinct, the dog would most likely attack his neck to choke Chang of damage his arteries. Even though it didn’t want to attack Chang’s neck, its instinct would still drive it to do so.
Chang believed in the dog’s natural animal instinct.
Therefore, he was patiently waiting!
Chapter 26: Slaughtering and Fleeing
The confrontation between the two sides went on for a long time, with both sides exerting caution. During this long battle, Chang had maintained his best attack position and was highly concentrated, waiting for the moment the stray dog attacked.
He pointed the scalpel’s tip at 75 degrees and was ready to thrust it into his opponent’s chest the moment it jumped on his body.
Chang knew that hunting was definitely not a contest. It would probably take a long time, but what determined life and death was at that critical moment. For both sides, the first attack would determine the winner of the battle, because the second attack would be much harder.
Therefore, as Chang stared at its scarlet eyes, it also did the same. A dog and a human stood still, not moving even the slightest bit.
In the end, Chang’s patience beat the dog’s. When his arm gradually became stiff because of how long he had kept his position, the stray dog leaped at him.
From its sudden leap into the air, the dog easily jumped over 2 meters; saliva was dripping from its teeth and as Chang predicted, and it was aiming at his neck. This leap showed off its extraordinary jumping ability and strength.
His scalpel met a thin barrier as it pierced the dog’s chest, then he felt a spring of warm liquid covering his fist. Chang knew that he had successfully pierced the dog.
However, the dog didn't stop as it struggled and tried to bite Chang’s neck. Hence, he pressed the blade forward with pressure – the warm and sticky feeling on his hand became even more intense.
His attack succeeded.
However, as he was delighted, he felt a surge of pain coming from his chest – although he avoided a fatal bite, it was inevitable that he was also injured by the dog’s attack.
“Woo…”
“Ah…”
His groan and the dog’s whine came together, then they both fell to the ground from the momentum.
As Chang fell, the back of his head hit the ground first. He immediately blacked out for a few seconds.
Although the stray dog was severely injured, he landed in a better position than Chang, so he recovered first. It shrugged off the pain coming from the long cut in its chest because its survival instincts told it to run away as far as it could with a painful whine.
“Sh*t.” In that second or two, the dog almost disappeared from his sight. Chang laid on the ground and witnessed it fleeing into the thick grass. He immediately jumped up and chased after it.
With just a glimpse, he knew how much damage he dealt to the stray dog – that cut was about 15 centimeters from its chest to its stomach. Even though it wasn’t severe enough that its organs would fall out, it was definitely a fatal wound. It shouldn't be able to run very far.
Chang was about to follow the trail of blood to look for the stray dog.
“Don’t go after it, Chang!” Jing shouted in hurry.
“Why?” Chang didn’t turn around, nor did he stop chasing. He followed the dots of blood, but he soon realized how much he had underestimated the running ability of the dog. Even though it was severely injured, it still wasn’t the kind of animal that a human could catch up to.
But at this time, he wasn’t in a hurry at all. After all, that cut was deep and long enough to cause blood to keep dripping onto the grass. No matter where it went, the trail of blood would sell it out.
Hence, Chang stopped – he was too far from Jing and was worried about her.
Jing showed up and breathed heavily, “Don’t...don’t chase after it.”
“What do you mean by don’t chase after it?” Chang frowned.
“A level 8 animal went to where it disappeared.” Jing pointed at the trail of blood.
“Level 8?” Chang’s brows knotted tightly.
“Yes, and its moved very fast; it must be a large animal.” Jing closed her eyes, imagining what it looked like in her brain.
“How did it come? I thought it was only me and the dog.”
“Um… I guess it stayed outside my perception range and suddenly ran as fast as lighting.” She opened her eyes, “We should go; a level 8 animal is certainly much more powerful than us.”
“No…no! I can’t quit now. If we can’
t get food now, we’ll become weaker very soon; I can just imagine us dying from starvation. This is our very first day, and my physical condition is at its peak. If we can’t obtain anything now, we won’t get anything the next few days either, and we’ll get hungrier. To be honest, the worst situation is that we all die; I would rather die under its paws than die from starvation.”
They were so close to getting some meat; nobody would be willing to give up at this point. Therefore, Chang pondered for a few seconds and stomped his feet. “Anyways, I have to see where it went.”
“But…”
“Don’t worry about me. My perception is sensitive enough to allow me to observe from far away; it won’t notice me.” Chang parted the grass as he said so, “Don’t follow me and stay here. I’ll come back for you.”
Chang followed the direction of the blood. But just as the trail of blood grew larger to the size of puddles, he heard a crisp whine; this kind of whine was exclusive to dogs. It was the sound they emitted when they cried in pain.
Because the whine was so short and had ended abruptly, Chang knew – his prey had died.
There was no need to distinguish the blood on the grass. Chang rushed the sound, and finally, he saw that poor stray dog.
It was dead, and a giant white cat held its body with its mouth, with blood staining its white beard messily.
“What a large cat…” Standing seven meters away from the animal, he didn’t know whether he should’ve called it a cat or not.
It was a 4-meter long giant cat and had splendid white fur. With a quick glance, the cat was definitely larger than any tiger Chang had seen in his life. Its tail was long and furry; it was curled onto its on tummy as if it was a delicate white pillar.
“Who? Who was the owner of this cat? They definitely didn’t keep an eye on their cat after the red fog. Damn, today isn’t a lucky day for me.” Chang completely gave up on his prey after he saw this giant creature. Unlike canines, felines were more flexible and better hunters. Their forearms were flexible enough to allow them to capture small animals with ease. The size of this cat and its possible mutations made it so strong that no one would doubt that it could fight against tigers. Clearly, Chang wouldn't put his life at such a large risk.
Global Evolution Page 11