RHWHEG – Chapter 56 Radio

The recipes of the post-apocalyptic era had long since changed beyond recognition. With Penguin Farm’s continuous output added in, the rations of the neighborhood’s outgoing teams were especially distinctive.

Yu Qunqing and the others first got the fire going, shoveling a pile of dirt to one side so they could extinguish it at any time. Then they took thick-skinned soybeans from their backpacks and buried them in the soil. Once they were roasted through, they dug them out, split the pods in half, and found the beans inside had been roasted soft and crumbly. They mashed them with a spoon, added a bit of water, and that became their staple food. It tasted like tofu—Lin Luyi added salt, while Sun Min added sugar. Sun Min asked Lin Luyi, “Why can’t you pull some honey from the queen bee?”

Lin Luyi said, “I don’t know how to communicate with it. 060, can you?”

“It’s a bee,” 060 said, rather speechlessly, taking small bites of the soybean mash. “I’m a fish.”

Eating just soybean mash was a bit bland, so Yu Qunqing took out some vegetarian-meat fruit. It also came from Flame Farm and was considered a higher-end food. When cut open, the inside was dry, filled with fibrous strands like those of loofah. Cooked together with mulberries, it could produce a gluten-like food with a meaty flavor, and the gluten soaked up the broth. Yu Qunqing also added dried rabbit meat to the pot. The rabbit meat came from the research department in Building One of the neighborhood—those college students had already mastered a variety of rabbit-breeding methods.

When a pot full of gluten and meat soup was finished, its fragrance carried for miles.

In the apocalypse, there was no need to worry about smells. According to everyone’s experience, disaster monsters were the least sensitive to scent, so Yu Qunqing let the aroma spread freely.

Everyone ate their fill. The crocodile ate its fill too.

The crocodile then developed a new need—it wanted to go for a walk to aid digestion. Its reasoning was perfectly sound: it had a garden of over ten thousand square meters to stroll around in back at the neighborhood, and it was already used to that routine.

060 had originally wanted to take the crocodile downstairs for a walk, but Yu Qunqing told Lin Luyi to do it instead, reasoning that Lin Luyi already had experience walking the queen bee, so walking one more crocodile wouldn’t be a big deal.

Thus, the injured people in the shelter on the first floor stared wide-eyed as Lin Luyi’s vines led a crocodile and a gigantic bee, slowly making their way down the stairs.

The crocodile was still… alive?

And that bee was… the queen bee?

Lin Luyi said in an old-man-like tone, “I’m just here to digest my food. You all do as you please.”

Digest… food?

The injured felt that their own meals suddenly became even harder to swallow. Just how full did you have to be to need to digest afterward? You even had feed for a crocodile?

Were the benefits in the downtown neighborhood really this good?

Watching Lin Luyi leave with the two animals, everyone couldn’t help but feel a chill. The people from that neighborhood were truly unfathomable.

Meanwhile, Li Yuebei finished organizing his medical kit. He had no intention of hoarding medicine—the strength of this group was far too terrifying, and he couldn’t afford to leave behind any leverage against himself. Besides, treating patients was his duty as a doctor. He tidied his appearance and said to the injured in the shelter, “Even if something happens to me, do not get into conflict with them. Being able to stay alive is already a blessing.” With that, he went upstairs.

This stretch of stairs felt unusually long. He rarely felt so uneasy, unsure of what kind of future awaited him. He chewed on a precious mint leaf to clear his mind.

When he reached the stairwell, the lingering aroma of food made him discreetly swallow before he could deliver his prepared opening remarks.

He said, “I’m here to fulfill my duty. As survivors after the catastrophe, our positions may have differed in the past. But as a doctor, I will treat all my patients equally. Please trust me.” His words were sincere and earnest, his demeanor refined, making him seem like a good doctor whose actions matched his speech.

This set of remarks had always worked for him, but this time he felt two gazes pierce straight through him. He recognized them—it was that wanted criminal. It seemed Yu Qunqing was not only the core of their combat strength, but also their leader.

Li Yuebei continued, “To better allocate treatment plans, I will first measure each patient’s radiation level.”

Yu Qunqing nodded in agreement.

Li Yuebei first approached Sun Min and Dong Changxin. At a glance, the two were clearly suffering from burns—most likely from an explosion in the ruins. Li Yuebei took out a test tube and brought it close to them.

The bottom of the test tube was lined with some black powder, ground from disaster stones of a calamity creature known as the “Shadow Gecko.” Its characteristic was that it would change into different colors when exposed to different levels of radiation, making it the shelter’s primary tool for measuring the intensity of cellular cosmic elements.

When the test tube was brought near Sun Min and Dong Changxin, the black powder immediately turned blue, with a faint hint of green. Li Yuebei understood at once—both were LV1 and close to leveling up. He hadn’t expected that even the members who looked the most harmless possessed such outstanding abilities.

Li Yuebei carefully applied burn ointment to them and bandaged their wounds. Seeing how many bandages he used, Sun Min felt a little embarrassed.

Next was 060. Li Yuebei likewise measured the radiation level first; the black powder turned half-blue. 060 had always stayed within the neighborhood, receiving far less radiation than the others, yet even so, she was the least human-like of everyone present. Li Yuebei had seen many similar cases—high cosmic element intensity did not necessarily mean deviation from a human form. There had even been a case with a cosmic element intensity of only 11%, where the entire body turned into slime—
that case had died very quickly.

Li Yuebei examined the wound and found that although it was also a burn, it was clearly caused by a much higher temperature. The edges were charred black—it should have been caused by lightning. Was there still electricity in this place?

“Does it hurt?” Li Yuebei asked while bandaging it.

060 shook her head.

“It seems your physical durability is also very high,” Li Yuebei said as he kept jotting down notes. “The muscles in your neck are consistently very solid—looks like your bite force is strong as well.”

060 touched herself in slight confusion. At this moment, she finally began to face her own abilities—she seemed to possess some kind of unbelievable potential…

Her twin tails lifted slightly. This was a sign that she was unconsciously activating her ability.

However, when her peripheral vision swept toward Yu Qunqing’s direction, it felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over her heart. The shadow of the earlier battle still hung over her. She thought instead that she didn’t want to know what abilities she had at all—she just wanted to be a senior barista.

Li Yuebei looked toward Yu Qunqing and She Lulang.

Yu Qunqing said, “We don’t need anything. Just leave the radiation level tester and you can go.”

Li Yuebei replied, “Since you let me treat you, please trust my ability. Do a check first.” He glanced at the test tube in his hand. When it was aimed at She Lulang’s direction, the black powder immediately turned emerald green—an LV2 peak powerhouse!

And when it was aimed at Yu Qunqing—

The black powder instantly turned red!

Li Yuebei’s expression changed at once. Red meant over 55%. Different shades of red represented different grades of natural disasters. The red in the test tube wasn’t very stable yet, but Yu Qunqing was definitely a natural disaster!

“Meow—” A meow came from the backpack behind Yu Qunqing.

The next second, a black bird snatched away Li Yuebei’s tester.

She Lulang said, “If you’ve heard of me in the shelter, you should know I don’t like repeating myself.”

Li Yuebei said, “I’ll leave immediately.”

Yu Qunqing, ever one to strip even passing geese of a feather, added, “Leave the medicine box too.”

Li Yuebei did as told. Anyway, he had already said he would betray the shelter, so it didn’t matter where the medicine box ended up.

He went down to the first floor and saw that all nine injured people were lying there safe and sound. He felt a weight lift from his heart—if everyone was still alive, then there was still hope for the future.

At that moment, Lin Luyi came back from walking the crocodile and was stopped by Li Yuebei under the pretext of an examination. Lin Luyi hated doctors the most and directly refused. All Li Yuebei knew was that Lin Luyi’s level was stuck right at the very top of LV1.

Lin Luyi’s expression didn’t look good, and the shelter’s injured people were somewhat worried that a conflict might break out. But Lin Luyi only snapped back with a couple of remarks and showed no intention of taking action—much gentler than most ability users in the shelter.

One injured person looked at the big-eyed crocodile and whispered, “Does your residential area give preferential treatment to protected animals too?”

“It was originally a protected animal?” Lin Luyi was shocked.

The little crocodile: “Ying!”

Lin Luyi thought for a moment. “In our residential area, it really is a big shot.” With that, he grumpily led the crocodile away.

Although this group from the residential area looked pretty scary, their tempers seemed… not too bad?

Everyone thought uncertainly.

“It’s late. Everyone get some good rest,” Li Yuebei said as he extinguished the oil lamp. The first floor of the ancestral hall merged into darkness. He groped around and pulled out several wooden bars, bracing them against the entrance. The ancestral hall’s first floor had no main door—using a bar at least provided some warning against enemies.

“I wonder if the shelter has any new news,” someone said, pulling out a radio from their backpack. “We’ve never gone this far before, but we should be able to receive the shelter’s broadcasts. Our shelter’s signal transmitter is top-grade equipment.”

“I want to listen too. Turn it up a bit,” another person said. “I hope we can still make it back to the shelter…”

As soon as the radio was turned on, an extremely unfamiliar female voice came through:

“This is the City Center Residential Area—

We welcome all survivors!”

The person holding the radio froze in his breathing, finding the broadcast a bit jarring. Wasn’t this plagiarizing their shelter? Their shelter was the one that welcomed all survivors, having already taken in over ten thousand people—truly a light in the apocalypse.

“Can you even tune the frequency?” the injured person next to him complained. “Switch it back to our channel.” They had been on several expeditions and knew that some inexplicable small factions liked to run little ads.

The person with the radio adjusted it, and the next channel broadcast:

“Good news! Our City Center Residential Area has successfully developed shredded-cloth cool windbreakers! Now available in the trading center—buy one, get one! Place your order now!”

“Why do they even have a shopping channel?” The injured person’s tone carried a hint of sourness he didn’t even notice himself. Probably because the voice on this channel was very young and energetic—completely different from the shelter’s.

“They already have a trading center…” Li Yuebei caught this point.

“Next channel!”

“This is the Ecological Ethics Foundation channel. We are now broadcasting the characteristics of nearby natural disaster monsters. Currently discovered: G-grade natural disaster, ‘Man in the Fog.’ Its form is gaseous, immune to blades and firearms, immune to firepower. Its methods of attack are blood-sucking and suffocation. If you see a mass of white fog wandering the road, remain highly vigilant at all times… The methods of dealing with it are as follows…”

“This channel exists in our shelter too,” an injured person said, stroking his chin. “But the Ecological Ethics Foundation? I remember they’re on the shelter’s list of hostile forces. They actually…?”

He tuned to the next channel.

“This is the Polar Bear Corporation substation. Up next is our storytelling segment. After the music, we will tell the story of Grand Aristocratic Family: Major Events, Episode Six. Friends who’ve been waiting, please get ready…”

“They even have audiobooks for entertainment?” Everyone was shocked. It felt like thinking others were country bumpkins, only to discover they’d long since built a luxury villa in the countryside.

The level of development of this City Center Residential Area was far beyond what they had imagined…

“Stop listening to other people’s stuff—why hasn’t it tuned back to our own yet?” someone shouted.

“I’m trying,” the injured person muttered. But no matter how he tuned it, it was all news from the residential area. Had their signal been overridden by the residential area’s?

The person operating the radio extended the antenna and tuned to a higher band. Finally, he heard fragmented words from the shelter.

“This shelter refuses to provide services to this area—repeat—this shelter refuses to provide services to this area—”

The cold mechanical voice echoed through the first floor.

It took the injured person a while to react. Perhaps due to opposing the City Center Residential Area, the shelter had stopped its broadcast service. But everyone knew that many people were still stranded in wild shelters because they couldn’t cross the natural disaster barrier to reach official shelters, relying on shared radio information to survive. When an official shelter stopped this public service, it meant it had abandoned the survivors in this region.

The injured people felt a jumble of emotions, trying hard to find excuses for the shelter, yet deep disapproval still surged in their hearts.

Second floor of the ancestral hall.

Yu Qunqing took out the cat carrier, fed himself and fed the crocodile—next was feeding the cat. He said to She Lulang, “I’ll take watch tonight.” He wanted the vice-captain to get a good rest.

There were many secrets between the two of them, but the second floor of the ancestral hall was rather cramped, with no real privacy—hardly a good place to talk. Being alive was enough; there was no need to speculate about things too far ahead.

She Lulang sat beside Yu Qunqing as a way of resting.

Yu Qunqing poked at the outer shell of the cat carrier, actually feeding the cat inside. The Klein Bottle’s blood volume had recovered to 55/100.

He thought about the next plan. Establishing a new server would require greater energy—his own ability level wasn’t enough. Perhaps he could make use of Eight-Legged Frostfall?

In Shajia Ancient Town, Eight-Legged Frostfall had only awakened “one leg.” It stood quietly, like a Sword of Damocles hanging over people’s hearts. No one knew when it would move again, where it would move to, or when it would finally disappear.

Several dark clouds drifted toward Eight-Legged Frostfall, as if rain were coming. But everything was hidden in the darkness of night, and for the moment, no one noticed.