Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 33: The Other Party Doesn’t Want to Talk to You

Based on the information available now, the most powerful beings in all of human society are the Evolvers. And just like the mutated zombies and corpse beasts, human Evolvers arise only through specific, random probabilities. In fact, current human technology cannot even explain why genetic mutations occur in Evolvers; scientists can only resort to various methods to attempt to trigger them. Those high-risk Evolution Serums are the result of such attempts. However, nearly all evolution serums come with side effects and carry an extremely high mortality rate; creating Evolvers artificially is, quite literally, a life-or-death gamble. Furthermore, even if a new Evolver is created, how to ensure they continue to evolve and grow stronger remains an unsolvable problem. For now, the only options are to rely on luck, genetic mutations, and the stimuli generated by life-and-death battles. If humanity ever masters a method to neutralize the toxins in mutated plants and enable the Evolved to continue evolving, it would be a revolution on par with the Biohazard crisis! Zuo Chen grasped the significance of this almost the very moment he tasted the green potato and felt the energy of evolution. “You must have sensed the presence of this evolutionary energy as well, so there’s no need for me to spell everything out. Until you’ve developed sufficient self-defense capabilities, I hope you’ll understand the importance of keeping this a secret,” Zuo Chen wrote in the sand. Several of his subordinates immediately nodded repeatedly, indicating they understood. Having survived this apocalypse this long, none of them were fools. They naturally understood that if this matter were leaked, His Majesty the Beast King could simply walk away, while they would likely be captured for experimentation—and even a live dissection would be the better outcome. Now that they knew this secret and had consumed the ingredients that would allow them to evolve, their fates were inextricably linked to that of the Beast King. Zuo Chen nodded in satisfaction and let the matter rest. Only he knew the cooking method—especially the process of using mental energy to blast the ingredients. Even if Erzi and the others had seen it, they wouldn’t have been able to figure out what he was doing, so he wasn’t worried about the method getting out. By now, the former vegetable greenhouse had been completely ransacked; the ground was littered with green-rooted sweet potatoes, as well as fist-sized iron-wire wheat, blood-striped melons, and gem tomatoes picked from nearby. “Gurgle…” A series of stomach growls echoed, and everyone began to feel a bit hungry. They hadn’t eaten a single meal since leaving the ruins of Yancheng. Zuo Chen was hungry too. He glanced at the recipe book and noticed that the preparation method for each ingredient was different—some were even more complicated—but the method for the green-rooted sweet potatoes was actually the simplest. “Let’s have the Bigen sweet potatoes. Anyone who doesn’t want them can have canned food,” Zuo Chen said, looking at the group. By now, the numbing sensation had mostly worn off, and he was able to speak again. However, if they ate the sweet potatoes, they’d end up numb and unable to move their faces again later. “I’ll have the Bigen Potatoes too—thank you, Great King, for your generosity!” Erzi said with eager anticipation as he stoked the fire. The others nodded in agreement. As Evolvers, they understood all too well the power of these sweet potatoes—even if they only increased strength by one ten-thousandth, it was a tangible evolution. In a life-or-death struggle, even the slightest difference in strength can mean the difference between life and death! Even if it meant being numbed to the point of paralysis later, they were willing to accept it. Zuo Chen nodded and immediately had everyone take the mesh bags of Bigen Potatoes and start passing them around in a circle again. Once the rotation was complete, he silently unleashed his mental energy onto the sweet potatoes, completing the initial processing. Next, they moved the blazing campfire aside, revealing the red-hot stones beneath. They arranged over ten kilograms of Bigen Potatoes on the stones and covered them with scorching-hot ashes. Before long, the aroma of the sweet potatoes began to waft through the air. Although they knew the sweet potatoes would make their mouths numb, the thought of gaining evolutionary energy still made everyone’s mouths water. Soon, the Bigen sweet potatoes were ready. They pushed aside the scorching ashes and stones and retrieved the sweet potatoes from beneath. As expected, the Gourmet System showed no reaction; clearly, to it, this was merely simple food preparation and didn’t even qualify as cooking a dish. But at that moment, Zuo Chen couldn’t care less about that. Ignoring the scorching heat, everyone peeled off the sweet potatoes’ skins, dipped them in a bit of salt, and began devouring them in big bites. They didn’t chew at all—nor did they want to. Everyone, including Zuo Chen, simply wolfed them down. Afterward, they began to carefully sense the evolutionary energy surging within their bodies. The more impatient among them immediately started sparring with each other, eager to see just how much stronger they’d become. Mo Xiaoqing exclaimed in delight, “Great King, I feel that if I keep eating these Bigen sweet potatoes for just ten more days, I’ll be able to reach Level 5 Zan Power right away! Ze Dongxi Si is at Level 4—woo woo woo, aaaah aaaah…” Before she could finish her last sentence, the numbing sensation from the Bigen Potatoes had already set in. This was nothing like when they’d just tasted a single piece earlier; everyone had eaten their fill, so the numbing sensation hit quickly. In the blink of an eye, they were all sitting there with their mouths half-open and tongues hanging out, unable to speak. “Meow, this numbing sensation is way too strong…” Although energy kept surging through his body, Zuo Chen was secretly getting a headache. He’d have to figure out a way to get rid of this last bit of toxin when he had time—otherwise, every meal would leave him half-dazed for hours, which would be a total pain in the neck. Fortunately, this stuff only numbs the mouth and face; it doesn’t affect the movement of other limbs. After stowing all the Dark Energy ingredients from the ground into his storage space, the cat and the eight people all stood there with their mouths agape, tongues hanging out, staring at each other in disbelief. “Ah-ah-woo-woo-woo…” Mo Xiaoqing tried to gesture, only to realize that no one understood her at all. Just as she was about to write something on the ground, she suddenly saw Zuo Chen snap his paw up and make a shushing gesture. Everyone immediately froze in place, realizing something was up. Zuo Chen planted all four paws on the ground and pressed his ears against the ground, immediately sensing a faint set of footsteps steadily drawing nearer. The footsteps were coming from the direction of the meteor crater. “Ten people—put on your helmets,” Zuo Chen wrote on the ground. Erzi and the others quickly put on their helmets. Just as they closed their visors, they saw ten fully armed soldiers emerge from the bushes—the three in front were wearing the combat uniforms of the Shennu Squad, while the other seven were ordinary soldiers! Mo Xiaoqing immediately signaled to Zuo Chen. It was them! This squad was from another Shennu Squad. On the chest of their combat uniforms, directly beneath the kneeling emblem, the numbers “87” were clearly visible.