Chapter 6 Testing Strength <TOC> Chapter 8 Wasteland Currency
Translator: SumTLMan
In the crackling bonfire, branches snapped and popped.
The firelight elongated Zhou Yi’s shadow.
He pulled out a black-covered diary, flipped to the latest page, and saw a list of goals:
——Collect juvenile Warrior Crabs (crossed out)
——Fatten up the first Warrior Crab (crossed out)
——Train the Warrior Crab (crossed out)
——Find raw materials in the surrounding environment to craft basic weapons (crossed out)
…
The newest entry hadn’t been crossed out yet:
——Return to land to live and make contact with the new human society.
Returning to the surface wasn’t difficult for Zhou Yi.
The challenge was finding a place near abundant Dead Sea resources.
For most land-dwelling lifeforms, the Dead Sea is a forbidden zone; even the Light Absorber species of the land rarely venture into it.
In the Dead Sea, vast amounts of Dead Light blend with the air. These endlessly branching light fluid streams, resembling tree limbs, are baffling in their patterns. They create high-pressure zones, Dead Light explosions, and surging torrents.
In high-pressure zones, all movements slow down; being within them not only makes movement difficult but also permanently reduces the body’s defense value. The longer one stays, the greater the physical degradation.
A Dead Light explosion appears like a bursting high-intensity flash grenade; its high-energy radiation indiscriminately harms everything nearby, causing life value to decay regardless of defense. Zhou Yi worked hard to increase his health bar mainly to withstand these explosions, ensuring he wouldn’t be instantly vaporized.
Surging torrents resemble floods flickering with electric light. If one fails to evade and gets absorbed, it will drain the body’s energy. Without quick escape, one will eventually deplete all energy and become a drifting weed.
Notably, these phenomena have no effect on dead objects covered by a light membrane.
Surface creatures have no experience dealing with such disasters.
Only the Light Absorber species that survive in the Dead Sea can adapt to these extreme environments.
Moreover, the Dead Sea harbors a wide variety of Light Absorber species; powerful creatures emerge one after another. They mostly appear in the middle and upper layers of the Dead Sea. Seemingly weak lifeforms can pose significant threats, the Jumping Snake is one such example.
When land species enter the Dead Sea, the mortality rate is extremely high.
On the other hand, Light Absorber species in the Dead Sea grow faster. The concentration of Dead Light here far exceeds that of the land, making it an area of fiercer competition and quicker cycles of life and death.
For Zhou Yi, the most important aspect is the legacy of human civilization within the Dead Sea.
All kinds of supplies are sealed in those skyscrapers.
Due to the special effect of the Dead Sea’s light membrane, various tools and even packaged food remain usable. By removing the surface light membrane, they can reconnect with the outside world, allowing materials to resume normal activity.
This sea area contains numerous urban buildings, natural treasure troves ready for exploitation.
Therefore, Zhou Yi considered settling nearby.
Although the Dead Sea is dangerous, his many years of living experience made him more intrigued by the unfamiliar and curious state of the new human society on land.
—
In the darkness, a point of light caught Zhou Yi’s attention.
The light approached continuously, gradually revealing the figure of a boy wearing a duckbill cap and holding a glowing stick.
It was A Jin.
“Master, I’m here.”
Zhou Yi looked at the stick in his hand.
It was a smoothly polished branch with several luminous insects tied to the tip.
When Zhou Yi inquired, A Jin said: “Master, when we go out at night, we either use prism lamps or glow sticks.”
“Prism lamps are made from prism stones that form along the shores of the Dead Sea. They absorb light during the day and emit light at night. Prism lamps are heavy, expensive, and rare. We’ve collected all we could find; most are still in the dangerous Dead Sea.”
“The glow stick is what I’m holding. We use fireflies for illumination. During the day, they rest; at night, feed them some leaves, and they’ll glow.”
So it’s biological illumination.
Zhou Yi recalled prism stones; those glowing stones weren’t very bright but were gentle and steady.
He asked again: “Don’t you use torches?”
“Master, we lack fuel here.”
A Jin shook his head: “To the west of Grub Grain Town is the desert; only this oasis belt provides branches, leaves, and dry grass for burning. We have to use them sparingly. Using torches is too wasteful; going out for one night would burn up a thick piece of wood, no one can afford that.”
Zhou Yi nodded: “How is your foot injury?”
“Much better.”
A Jin pointed to his re-bandaged right leg: “It’s just a bit swollen and hot, but it’s normal for wounds to hurt. Washing it with water twice more should help. Once my leg adapts, it’ll be fine.”
Swelling and heat?
Zhou Yi frowned: “Let me see the wound.”
The boy was puzzled but still unwrapped the cloth on his leg, revealing a red, swollen wound filled with blood and a large amount of pus.
It was an abscess caused by infection, likely already serious.
Zhou Yi sternly warned him: “This hasn’t improved. If the wound further ulcerates and worsens, you might lose this leg.”
A Jin was stunned, his face showing fear: “But… but… Mr. Gong said this is normal recovery… Will I lose my leg, Master?”
Zhou Yi opened his backpack, took out a bottle of iodine to disinfect the wound, then unpacked some cotton cloth for bandaging. Finally, he found a box of amoxicillin capsules and had A Jin take two with water.
“Come see me again at this time tomorrow; I’ll check if the wound has improved.”
A Jin finally realized: “Okay, okay, Master, you’re actually a doctor!!”
Originally, Zhou Yi wanted A Jin to go back and rest, but A Jin insisted it was fine and volunteered to take him to visit Grub Grain Town.
The two walked the whole way, escorted by a squad of Warrior Crabs, passing through the oasis and arriving at the hilly area where the town was located.
Along the way, Zhou Yi learned from A Jin about the local people’s customs and conditions.
The entrance to Grub Grain Town was a mountain cave.
Beside the cave entrance were piles of stones, and blood marks resembling fish or insects were painted on the outer walls.
After entering the cave and descending at an angle, they soon reached a three-way junction where people holding glow sticks sporadically came and went.
“This is our underground cave.”
A Jin held up the glow stick and said.
Zhou Yi looked back at the cave entrance behind them: “There are no defensive structures or shelters, nor any guards on patrol. Aren’t you afraid of monsters rushing in?”
“The residential caves inside are very narrow; Claw Boars can’t get in. During the day, monsters are busy absorbing light and don’t have time to waste digging underground.”
A Jin explained: “If we encounter danger, we’ll escape through another safe exit.”
Grub Grain Town was even more rudimentary than Zhou Yi had imagined.
For the outsider’s arrival, the locals mostly just glanced at him, appearing curious yet somewhat reserved toward this stranger, then hurried on their way.
The residents were basically teenagers; there were almost no people in their twenties or thirties.
“Master, nighttime is precious; everyone has gone out to collect materials. Mainly branches, leaves, and some dry grass. They are not only fuel but also make the caves warm and safe. If we’re lucky, we can find dried dung, carrion, and bones.”
Back in his hometown, A Jin was much more talkative.
He lived in the eleventh cave on the left; the first ten caves ahead were uninhabited, with only some stones piled inside.
“This is my cave.”
A Jin lifted the grass curtain used as a door and installed the glow stick on a branch rack on the cave wall.
The interior stone walls were covered with overlapping intertwined branches; the ground was layered with thick dry grass, resembling a giant bird’s nest.
On one side of the cave’s branch wall hung tools: claw-shaped wooden hooks, ropes twisted from dry grass, a wooden-handled stone hammer, a backpack, several tattered and mended bags, and some bone needles and thread. Below were piles of branches and deadwood.
The bonfire was in a separate corner inside the cave, surrounded by a circle of earthen walls, with an exhaust vent connected to the outside above.
Despite various measures to keep warm, the cave still felt chilly.
Zhou Yi now understood that this environment indeed required a large amount of firewood.
“Master, what do you think? Sleeping here is no problem; I can build you a cave just like mine, even better and cozier!”
A Jin volunteered enthusiastically.
Zhou Yi’s face twitched, completely abandoning the idea of settling in Grub Grain Town.
This was practically a reenactment of cave-dwelling life.
It’s not even as good as the smoggy, light-polluted Dead Sea apartment…
Forget it.
Better to build my own house.
Do it myself, and I’ll have plenty to eat and wear!
Chapter 6 Testing Strength <TOC> Chapter 8 Wasteland Currency