The Post-Apocalyptic Big Farm Owner

Chapter 34: That Bastard

Crawling through the gap in the security bars, Li Ba quickly made his way inside. The room was quite spacious; even with a large stockpile of grain and ham piled up, it still felt empty. As soon as his feet touched the floor, an echo reverberated. Walking over, Li Ba first took a good look at the mutated dog lying on the floor. The dog was indeed dead, but it hadn’t been long—the body hadn’t started to decompose yet. Up close, he could see that the creature looked incredibly fierce: its fangs were bared, its fur stood on end like a lion’s mane, and its eyes were wide open, as if it had died with a look of defiance. Its body was covered in scars. Judging by the wounds—if Li Ba was correct—they were likely the handiwork of that mutant zombie. The fatal wound was on its neck; its windpipe was exposed. A large pool of blood lay on the ground. “Logically speaking… with a hunk like you, that thing shouldn’t have stood a chance!” Li Ba shook his head and looked up. The corpse of a woman in her pajamas hung from a crossbeam. She, too, appeared to have died only recently; her body hadn’t yet begun to decompose. Given the post-apocalyptic weather, she must have died just within the last couple of days. The woman looked very young. She had committed suicide; her ashen face was contorted, yet it betrayed a hint of relief. “If I’d gotten here a few days earlier, maybe I could’ve saved your life!” Li Ba sighed softly. In the post-apocalyptic world, many mentally fragile people, unable to adapt to survival, would rather take their own lives than live in despair. Up ahead, a pile of burlap sacks filled with grain was stacked in layers, blocking the front door. Li Ba walked over and, on top of the stack, found a cell phone, a set of keys, and a flashlight. The phone was a new Apple model, but the battery had long since died. On the back of the phone was a Polaroid photo showing a young couple, their faces pressed together, both beaming with happy smiles. Li Ba could see clearly that the woman was the one currently hanging from the beam; as for the man… if he wasn’t mistaken, it must have been the mutated zombie that had nearly taken his life just moments ago. The cell phone, the flashlight, the mutated dog, the woman who committed suicide in her pajamas, and the mutated zombie that emerged from the backyard and nearly took his life. Putting it all together, a picture formed in Li Ba’s mind. On the night of the outbreak, a young couple heard loud barking from the backyard. They came downstairs from upstairs with a flashlight to investigate. They didn’t find any intruders, but just then, a family member was infected by the virus and mutated into a zombie. The couple was lucky enough to shut the backyard gate in time and lock it from the outside with a key. They thought they’d escaped unscathed, but unexpectedly, the husband began to mutate. Panicked, the wife took their big yellow dog and hid in the pantry. She watched in horror as her husband turned into a zombie and wandered outside the door. Overcome with despair, she found herself trapped inside by her own husband, unable to escape. Fortunately, the room had plenty of food and a large water jar, allowing her to survive without starving to death. Day after day passed, and her husband, now a zombie, continued to wander outside. The water jar was gradually running dry; without drinking water, she would die of thirst no matter how much food she had. Break out! She decided to take a chance. Of course, she was no match for the zombies on her own. The moment she stepped outside, she feared she would be torn to pieces by her own husband, now a zombie. The only reason she felt confident was because her big yellow dog had also begun to mutate—its body had grown several times larger, resembling a lion. Even after the mutation, the big yellow dog remained as docile as ever. It obeyed every command from the woman who had raised it. The woman sprang into action, directing the big yellow dog to charge out. In the end, after a fierce struggle, both emerged battered and wounded. According to Li Ba’s speculation, given the extent of the yellow dog’s mutation—its lion-like bulk and sharp claws and fangs—it should have been no match for even the most formidable mutated zombie. Perhaps… it had caught a whiff of its master’s scent on the mutated zombie and held back, which is why it ended up severely injured. Later, the big yellow dog died from its severe injuries. The woman, overcome with despair—unable to escape and with her water supply cut off—chose to end her own life. With a soft sigh, Li Ba put away his cell phone and flashlight. As for the woman’s body, he left it untouched. Too many people had died in the apocalypse; though he sympathized with her plight, he wasn’t about to waste his energy collecting her remains. Every part of a mutated beast is valuable. Although this mutated dog’s corpse had begun to rot and its meat was inedible, its fur, claws, teeth, bones, and the crystal core inside its skull were all prized items. At the settlement’s market, weapons crafted from the materials of mutated beasts were incredibly sharp and immensely powerful; even the cheapest one cost over a hundred jin in grain coupons. Given the sheer size of this mutated dog, its claws, teeth, bones, and fur were undoubtedly worth a fortune. Just as Li Ba was about to store the mutant dog’s carcass in the space within his bracelet, he suddenly caught a glimpse of something wriggling inside its abdomen. The mutant dog was female, and her belly was swollen, as if she were pregnant. A thought struck Li Ba. He drew his dagger, intending to slit open the mutant dog’s abdomen to see what was inside. The sharp dagger slashed at the fur, but to his surprise, it couldn’t pierce the mutant dog’s coat—even on its softest part, the abdomen. It took all his strength for Li Ba to finally cut through a patch of fur the size of a fingertip; cutting open its belly was proving to be quite a challenge. After a moment’s thought, he flipped his wrist and retrieved a pair of rubber gloves from the space within his bracelet. These were supplies he’d scavenged earlier—likely used by housewives to do laundry before the apocalypse. Li Ba put on the gloves, reached behind the mutant zombie’s hindquarters, inserted his hand into its reproductive tract, and began feeling around inside. Before long, his hand came into contact with a round, plump object. He pulled it out and saw that it was a puppy—palm-sized, plump, and covered in slime. However, the puppy was already dead, its corpse emitting a faint stench of decay. Let’s try again! Li Ba reached in again. Before long, he’d pulled out six puppies in a row—all of them dead. “There must be a live one!” He didn’t give up. He’d clearly seen movement in the mother dog’s belly just a moment ago. He kept digging. The last puppy was pulled out. This little guy was the biggest, plump and round, with pink skin covered in a fine layer of black fur. When Li Ba pulled it out of the mother dog’s belly, it actually kicked its legs a couple of times. However, its eyes were tightly shut, its breath was faint, and it looked like it wasn’t far from death either. “You little bastard, you’re lucky as hell to have run into me!” Li Ba was overjoyed. This was a mutant puppy—once raised, it would undoubtedly become his most loyal enforcer. When the apocalypse struck, triggered by an unknown virus, wild and domestic animals underwent genetic mutations, becoming ferocious. Yet their natural instincts remained—especially in domestic animals. Unless provoked, they wouldn’t attack on their own, and there was even a chance they could be tamed. He’d learned this from the market; there was an Evolver in the settlement whose pet dog—raised before the apocalypse—had mutated and remained fiercely loyal, always by his side. Li Ba hurriedly pulled out a towel to wipe the slime off the little guy’s body, then took out a bottle of Spatial Spirit Spring to feed it. As soon as he held the mineral water bottle to the little guy’s mouth, it opened its mouth as if by reflex, stuck out its pink tongue, and began to lap it up. “You little rascal—you’re clearly a starving ghost reincarnated!” Li Ba’s face was beaming with a smile. He tilted the bottle slightly, and the Spirit Spring slowly trickled out. The little guy took a sip, seemed to get a burst of energy, opened its mouth wide to wrap around the entire bottle opening, and began sucking vigorously. Before long, the entire bottle of spiritual spring water was drained. The little guy seemed to have regained some strength; he actually opened his eyes and let out a meow-like cry directed at Li Ba. It was starving—it wanted more to eat! Li Ba wasn’t stingy; he filled another bottle with spiritual spring water and fed it to the little one. Afterward, the little one actually let out a contented belch, narrowed its eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. The miraculous power of the spatial spirit spring was beyond doubt. The fact that this little creature had managed to survive so long inside its mother’s womb meant its constitution was undoubtedly stronger than that of its siblings. After drinking two bottles of spatial spirit spring, its little life was certainly saved. The bracelet’s spatial pocket couldn’t hold living creatures. Li Ba wrapped the little one in a towel and tucked it into his embrace. Then, he began gathering the food and supplies scattered around him—sacks of rice, rapeseed, and sesame seeds, as well as large hams. With a wave of his hand, they all vanished. Finally, he stowed away the corpse of the little one’s mother—that mutated yellow dog. With all that done, Li Ba, his face beaming with delight, strode out the door. A quick estimate showed that from this single household alone, he had acquired over ten thousand jin of grain, plus more than a thousand jin of ham. Not counting other supplies, these items alone were worth two or three ten thousand jin in grain coupons—a massive haul. “Wealthy households are a different story. If this village had a few more families like this, the little debt Yan Yan owes wouldn’t amount to a damn thing!” As he stepped through the gate, the space inside Li Ba’s bracelet was already packed with all kinds of supplies. He’d temporarily set aside quite a few appliances and pieces of furniture, prioritizing grain and daily necessities to take with him first. He could always come back later to haul away the remaining items. He glanced at his watch—it was 4:15. He decided to head back. The space inside his bracelet, spanning over ten square, was packed with supplies. A tricycle certainly wouldn’t be able to haul it all in one trip; it would take several trips. He wanted to get back as quickly as possible and aim to bring all the supplies he’d gathered today home before dark. Li Ba hoisted two chicken cages onto his shoulders. Upon reaching the village entrance, he made sure to round up the flock of plump ducks from the puddle and bring them back as well. Afterward, he mounted the motorcycle he’d already chosen, with the chicken cages hanging on either side, started the engine, and sped off into the distance.