by Tai Baiyang
“Oh yeah, bro, you’re right. I must’ve lost my mind just now. Once on shore, one prays no more, huh. Back then, we had nearly rushed out with that arrogant water-type evolver. If you hadn’t pulled me back, I’d have died long ago. I never seem to be able to learn my lessons.” Knocking himself on his head, the lean guy said, irate and grumbling, “but we can get a lot in return! Just one piece of information is worth the amount that we painstakingly earn at the base for a whole month. I’m starving! The amount of ration we receive from the leader is so small that we need to eat frugally. We also need to work so hard on top of that. Exactly how are the food we’re getting going to fill us at this rate?”
It actually wasn’t Wang Liang’s fault though. It was because there was too little food in stock. As a result, he had to plan where every kilo of grains went carefully. His base would run out of food within two days if he let everyone feast extravagantly.
“We shouldn’t blame Boss Wang. We can clearly see the amount of food we have at the base; we only have that much and the awakened evolvers have priority.” Qin Feng consoled the distressed lean youth as a light flitted past his eyes, “However, if it is just to poke around for some information from a distance, the situation’s not as hopeless as they seem.”
Actually, the both of them were evolvers as well. However, they were in the same situation as Zhang Mu. They were the most basic and ordinary evolvers and only their physical strength and agility had slightly increased.
Nevertheless, if it was only scouring for information, it was possible for them to accomplish the tasks with their abilities if they were cautious.
After they received their pay, the hundreds of kilograms of food and water would be enough to support them for a long time. It was seriously annoying to only feel half-full!
Right now, this was definitely an opportunity for them!
When not engaged in direct combat, there wasn’t much of a differences between an awakened evolver and them. When battling in close quarters however, their injury and death rate was very high.
After listening to Qin Feng’s analysis, the youth’s extinguished enthusiasm was immediately rekindled, “Alright! Bro Qin, I’ll listen to what you say.”
“By the way, do you know anything about Boss Zhang? He seems to be a deep-pocketed man, sharing his tens of thousands of kilograms of food without hesitation. He even dares to take advantage of those mutated beasts, and a large one it seems yet here we are fretting about them coming to attack us.”
Qin Feng looked at the words on the big blackboard again. They were written in a powerful penmanship, a transcription of Zhang Mu original words, and emanated extreme confidence. Qin Feng smiled bitterly. “Right! There already exists a large gap between the awakened evolvers’ abilities and ours. But now, it seems that Boss Zhang is thinking that there are insufficient of numbers in our base for him to make use of.
“It is a truth that there would always be someone better than us. Here we are, struggling to find food and clothing in order to survive, while he’s already preparing to expand. How remarkable!”
Similar conversations sounded in every corner of the base. Zhang Mu’s sudden notice whipped up a huge thunderstorm in this quiet base, luring into its whirlwind every single man tempted by the profits.
If it hadn’t been Wang Liang’s instructions that all evolvers must finish clearing the walking dead before they do individual missions, even they would have dropped their tasks at hand to complete that assignment.
The hundred kilos of food and twenty kilos of water represented an immense fortune even to evolvers, more so to the ordinary people. What’s more was that if they could wear the set of standard equipment, they’d gain another layer of protection in this dangerous world. After all, not all menace could be warded off with only abilities.
In the meantime, the Boss Zhang that was been mentioned in every conversation was standing on the rooftop of a high-rise building. He stood close to the edge and watched Luoyang City under his feet, no one knew what he was thinking.
This time, Yuan Rui wasn’t beside him. It was Wang Liang who climbed this tall building with him. He complained to Zhang Mu in frustration. “Brother Mu, I issued that notice like you wanted but the evolvers who worked under me are almost all lured away by you. Even I, the leader of this base, wants to work for you now.”
“It’s sure good being rich!” Wang Liang said with a sigh.
Zhang Mu only smiled and said nothing in reply.
“However, Brother Mu, won’t the expenditure be very high? Are you able to afford the thousands of kilos of food at the moment?” Wang Liang asked Zhang Mu with anxiety. Although he had no idea of how much food the latter had on hand, he knew that Zhang Mu had made deals with the leaders of other bases as well as himself. Did he have lot left? If Zhang Mu wasn’t able to pay up, it’d be a big blow to his reputation.
“Don’t worry. As of right now, I’m able to cover this amount of food easily.”
After which, he glanced knowingly in a direction and said slowly. “Besides, after seven days, I can give you as much food as you want.”
Chapter 72: Running Around Trying Everything
First, Zhang Mu rode on the mutated wolfdog out of the Luoyang City and tried to find the trace of the mutated animals, but found nothing after searching for a whole afternoon. She even wondered the wolfdog had something wrong with its nose.
However, after seeing the wolfog's innocent eyes, he had left with a sigh. There was no mutated animal in this direction. It was time to return to the gathering place now.
Fortunately, after returning to the gathering palace, Wang Liang offered Zhang Mu a list of the locations where mutated animals had appeared. Zhang Mu felt lucky. After all, seeking for information wasn't something about power. The two hundred old people, children and women were indeed more useful than his mutated wolfdog at this point.
As it was getting darker, Zhang Mu gave up to go out of the city this time.
He looked through the notes which recorded the information about mutated animals, from time to time, he marked several places and planned to search these places first. After deciding the first five locations he would go to investigate, Zhang Mu turned off the light and went to his bed.
...
The second day, Zhang Mu took out a ton of food and told Wang Liang to give them to the people who had offered him the informations. He would give them the whole rewards after actually finding mutated animals at these places, and the foods were just their basic wages.
After all, in order to look for mutated animals for him, these people didn't work in the gathering place. If they had no food, they would be starved to death before they obtained the rewards from Zhang Mu.
Quickly, this good news comforted all people in the gathering palace. They didn't expect that Zhang Mu would give them food before confirming their news.
In case some people offered fake information for food, Wang Liang warned the people in the gathering place. He said once Zhang Mu found no trace of mutated animals in the places they had reported, the gathering palace would expel the people who dared to offer fake messages.
After hearing Wang Liang's warning, no one dared to deceive Zhang Mu, because they didn't think that they could bear Zhang Mu's fury.
When the people in the gathering place were in full wing, Zhang Mu was having a headache. He did find the traces of mutated animals at the first four locations, but he didn't witness any of them. Perhaps it was because ordinary people didn't dare to get close to the mutated animal. They just saw several mutated animals from a distance, then quickly returned to the gathering place and reported their findings.
But a day had passed. None of these mutated animals still remained where they were.
Zhang Mu felt really annoyed, but he didn't want to blame these ordinary people, because they were also taking the risk of their lives.
Now, the small village in front of Zhang Mu was the last place where there was a possibility to find mutated animals. If
Zhang Mu still couldn't find any of them, he thought that he had to run around to try his luck.
Zhang Mu didn't go into the village directly, because he didn't know what kind of mutated animal he would see in the village. The person who found this place said that he saw dozens of mutated animals in the village. If it was true, Zhang Mu thought that he must be careful.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
As the roaring came from the village, Zhang Mu clenched his fist and looked at the village with bright lights in his eyes.
Finally, I found you!
There should be dozens of mutated animals in the village. That was sufficient!
Zhang Mu got excited. If there was no accident, he would harvest dozens of animal cores soon.
Zhang Mu didn't have a better method than to let the mutated wolfdog to provoke them. Zhang Mu wouldn't straightly go to fight a group of unknown enemies. He wasn't so arrogant. Unlike the mutated wild pigs who didn't have strong aggression, these mutated animals should be at the top of the food chain of the natural world even before they were mutated.
The mutated wolfdog was pushed forward by Zhang Mu with reluctance. It walked to the entrance of the village and hesisted for a while, finally it howled loud as if it given up on itself.
"Woof! Ruff!!!"
Zhang Mu was surprised. The mutated wolfdog's sound did sound like a wolf. Was it going to evolve to be a wolf? Zhang Mu was looking forward to its performance.
Anyway, Zhang Mu had told it that it only needed to provoke the mutated animals in the village and didn't need to fight. Plus he promised a lot of crystals and beast cores to it, so it worked so hard.
Instantly, the roaring in the village stopped after the mutated wolfdog's howl.
The mutated wolfdog pretended to be calm. It put its claws on the ground and glanced back at Zhang Mu's location.
At this time, the sounds of footstep came from from far and coming closer.
Zhang Mu looked up and took a deep breath.
There were about a hundred mutated animals! None of them was shorter than the mutated wolfdog and although their bodies had had a great change, Zhang Mu still realized that they were the monarchs of all beasts, tigers!
A hundred tigers! Perhaps all the tigers from the zoo were here.
The mutated wolfdog’s body shook like a leaf as being stared by a hundred tigers. Although it was also a strong leader-rank mutated animal, but... they were a hundred tigers!
However, it still followed Zhang Mu's order: don't move before the enemy moves.
At the same time, the tigers in the first row gave way to a white tiger. The white tiger was a head taller than other tigers, and its white fur made it look dignified.
Looking down from a height, the white tiger took a glance at the mutated wolfdog. It didn't expect that it was such a weak enemy.
It just walked a step forward, the mutated wolfdog had ran away at its full speed, as if it would die at any moment if it stopped.
The white tiger was astonished. It thought that although the wolfdog was weak, but did have some nuts. However, it just made a step forward, the mutated wolfdog had run away crazily. What a coward!
The white tiger sniffed and lost interest soon. It growled and gracefully stepped back to the village.
After hearing the white tiger's growl, five tigers walked out of the crowd and chased along the way where the mutated wolfdog ran away. Other tigers also fluttered away.
Chapter 73: Let the Hunt Begin
Zhang Mu laughed hiding behind a mound. He didn't expect that the mutated wolfdog was such a talented "performer".
But it wasn't the right time to mock the mutated wolfdog. Zhang Mu quickly adjusted his mood and waited for the wolfdog in silence.
The mutated wolfdog was only eight hundred metres away from him. At its current speed, it would arrive at his place within 30 seconds.
When the mutated wolfdog turned back and started to run, Zhang Mu had summoned the Bloodvine Demon Lotus and ordered it to lurk in the soil. After a few seconds, the Bloodvine Demon Lotus had perfectly made a trap under the ground and awaited the prey.
At the same time, the mutated wolfdog had sprung out a hundred metres in the blink of an eye, but it immediately remembered Zhang Mu's task and his threat of "reducing the reward by half" if it didn't perform well, so it slowed down till it heard the tiger roars behind it. Under its control, the distance between itself and the tigers was reduced.
Although the mutated wolfdog wasn't smart enough to understand Zhang Mu's real intent, it still executed Zhang Mu's ask strictly.
After a few seconds, the mutated wolfdog already saw Zhang Mu's hiding location, and the mutated tigers were very close to it. It carefully listened to their footsteps and calculated the distance between them.
Finally, the mutated wolfdog saw Zhang Mu and howled excitedly, but Zhang Mu warned it with his eyes and hid behind the mound again.
The mutated wolfdog remembered Zhang Mu's words. It stopped and slowly turned back, looking at the five fierce tigers with cruelty in its eyes.
Stupid tigers. Do you really think that I would be scared by five of you?
Of course, the five mutated tigers didn't know what the mutated wolfdog was thinking. They just looked at each other in confusion, wondering why the big dog stopped.
Has it exhausted? Or is it finally ready to have a fight?
It shouldn't be the former. But when they saw the mutated wolfdog baring its teeth with a fierce look, they were provoked. How dare a dog challenge the dignity of the monarchs of animals? We will tear it into pieces and eat it!
A tiger took a step forward, but the mutated wolfdog didn't make any reaction, which really provoked them. They didn't believe that the mutated wolfdog was strong enough to challenge them five altogether, so there was only a tiger walking forward and the others surrounded around the mutated wolfdog, in case that it ran away.
What is tiger? Tiger is the monarch of all beasts, the proudest predator. They disdained to hunt the mutated wolfdog together.
The mutated wolfdog stared at the mutated tiger fiercely. It wouldn't be scared if it was a battle one on one, since it had its dignity as a leader rank mutated animal.
With this idea in its mind, the mutated wolfdog forgot Zhang Mu's words and was ready to exert the utmost strength. It bared its teeth as its saliva continually dripped on the ground. It prepared to teach the mutated tiger a serious lesson.
Gradually, the tiger lost patience and walked around the mutated wolfdog, trying to find out its weakness. However, the mutated wolfdog always moved as the tiger walked, staring at it with threatening growls.
"Woof!"
Surprisingly, the mutated wolfdog launched an attack first. It howled and rushed to the mutated tiger, opening its mouth wide biting at the tiger's head.
The tiger was dumbfounded because of astonishment. How dare the mutated wolfdog attack it proactively!
The mutated wolfdog was even more pretentious than itself!
In a flash, the mutated wolfdog had bit on the tiger's throat. Blood spread in the air as the tiger roared in pain.
The tiger immediately fought back, slapping the mutated wolfdog's body with its big claw. But the mutated wolfdog didn't feel any pain, because it was prepared for it. Its earth-type energy insidiously formed a sharp thorn and pierced through the tiger's thick claw easily.
The tiger emitted a much more painful howl, but it didn't dare to attack the mutated wolfdog with its other claw. Too treacherous, the mutated wolfdog was too treacherous!
The tiger didn't move, because the wolfdog had gripped its throat with its sharp teeth firmly dug inside. If it moved, the wolfdog's teeth would pierce through its throat, but although it didn't move, its blood was slowly flowing into the wolfdog's mouth.
The mutated tiger was really in a dilemma! It was really facing a life-or-death crisis!
The other four mutated tigers were shocked by the mutated wolfdog's behavior. It dared to attack their strongest partner first, and
it succeeded!
Even though the four tigers all pounced at the mutated wolfdog, it still had no intention of letting the mutated tiger go. At the last moment, Zhang Mu moved.
Between the mutated wolfdog and the four tiger, suddenly, countless vines broke through the soil and formed a green wall, blocking all the four tigers' attacks.
Seeing Zhang Mu, the mutated wolfdog immediately became alive and kicking again. As if its body suddenly gained a new and strong strength, it finally gnawed through the dying tiger's throat.
Before Zhang Mu went to save the mutated wolfdog, he was waiting and calculating the time the remaining tigers in the village would take to reach this place. He was waiting for the right time.
And now, it was the right time!
Chapter 74: Erode
After failing to break through the defense of the Bloodvine Lotus after several attempts, the mutated tigers finally realised the severity of the situation. As they continued to fruitlessly struggle, Zhang Mu summoned the Bloodvine Lotus to constrict their throats before the mutated tigers could make a sound.
However, there was a reason why the mutated tigers were famous. They were indeed impressive. It didn’t take long before they used their claws and sliced off the vines of the Bloodvine Lotus, which were hard and durable.
However, even after they ignored the injuries to the soles of their feet and sliced the vines off, a new vine would grow and continue to choke them. It was to make sure that they couldn’t make any sound at all.
At this moment, the mutated wolfdog threw away the body of a mutated tiger and circled to Zhang Mu’s side. It barked sadly a few times, as though complaining about Zhang Mu’s delay in lending a helping hand.
Zhang Mu shrugged and helplessly said, “There were over ninety-plus tigers left, and also the White Tiger. Why don’t you take care of it? You seem very confident.”