Chapter 34 Let's have a picnic and barbecue
"Where did you pick them? Can you take me there?"
Lu An stayed in the car in case the RV stalled or other emergencies occurred, while she could explore the surrounding area.
Since there are mutated plants, we might be able to find mutated herbs or mutated animals. Some mutated animals taste much better than ordinary ones.
The development of official or military bases in various regions is still in the construction phase, and the capital base is no exception. However, it will soon enter the research and development phase. Once the extreme cold ends, these mutated herbs from the extreme cold period will disappear.
She also possesses a large number of mutated herbs from the extreme cold period, which she can exchange for a large amount of sub-crystals.
Isn't it more enjoyable than exchanging your hard-earned food for crystals?
Just thinking about it makes me happy.
As long as she can find the mutated herbs, she is confident that she can make a move at the most opportune time to exchange for the maximum amount of sub-crystals.
"Of course you can, but do you want to go into the shadows? It's a paid service, a paid experience."
He Liang discovered that shadows could carry people, opening up a new world for him, and he strongly recommended his "rickshaw".
He can provide transportation services in the future. It will only take a little effort to travel 100 kilometers, but the key point is that it is all-natural and cost-free!
Moreover, there's no need to endure extreme cold weather. If the base needs rescue, it can also provide paid rescue services, which I'm sure many people would need.
I just don't know what the maximum number of people a single trip can carry is.
If it can carry dozens of people at a time, isn't it just a post-apocalyptic bus? It can take people on a smooth journey through the apocalypse.
Then we can find another car to put in the shadow and drive it, which will also give us a speed boost. Brilliant!
Yu Miaomiao also discovered that He Liang's Shadow Movement ability had an absolute advantage over her spatial ability: it allowed him to move. When she entered or exited the space, she always returned to the same spot.
In extreme situations, once you hide in a space, it's difficult to determine whether the space is safe before you come out.
He Liang's shadow only needs to hide inside and run away; as long as Blue Star doesn't explode, he can survive indefinitely.
If she enters He Liang's shadow and then enters the space, wouldn't she be able to exploit a bug, move around, and enjoy the perfect mobile castle in the apocalypse?
However, she does not intend to reveal her spatial abilities now, nor will she easily try them in He Liang's shadow.
If other spatial ability users appear after entering the base, she can then infiltrate them and register her ability at the base.
The later the exposure, the safer it will be.
"Want one? It's a fixed price, just two bottles of drinking water for a round trip."
A smile crept onto He Liang's lips, a glimmer of anticipation rising for his future life in the post-apocalyptic base. This method of exchanging supplies seemed feasible.
He wasn't completely useless after all; he could at least make a living in the apocalypse.
He Liang guessed that they must have plenty of supplies, and should not lack water and food.
I originally wanted to ask for a pound of food, but then I felt it would be too dishonest, like a swindler asking for too much and being refused. So I tried asking for two bottles of water instead, just in case.
"One 350ml bottle of drinking water for one round trip."
"make a deal."
Excited at successfully selling his first service order, he invited Yu Miaomiao into the shadows and strode away.
The shadow follows the person, and because it moves by its shadow, there is no need to worry about avoiding obstacles or steep mountain paths. It travels straight along the shortest distance from point to point, and soon arrives at the place in the forest where there are mutated fruit trees.
Yu Miaomiao sat cross-legged in the darkness, and just as she adjusted to the pitch-black environment, she heard He Liang speak.
Pushed out of the shadows by He Liang, a vibrant scene suddenly appeared before his eyes. Seeing fruit hanging all over the branches in the extreme cold was still somewhat delightful.
Yu Miaomiao walked to the ice cake tree and found that some of the fruits had been eaten, which proved that there should be mutated creatures in the forest, and some of them were harmless herbivorous mutated animals.
However, to be on the safe side, it's best not to linger and make the trip quick, as it's quite cold.
I opened my backpack, quickly picked out some good-looking ones and put them inside. Under the cover of the backpack, I picked at least a hundred and put them into my storage space.
After selecting the ice cakes, Yu Miaomiao went to the side to look for ice berries. Ice berries are low shrubs that grow in shady and damp places, usually near the roots of tall trees.
I easily found a bush where iceberries were growing. I had just picked an iceberry when I suddenly noticed some subtle, almost imperceptible movement in the bush next to me. I tiptoed over and gently parted a bush.
"Coo...coo coo..."
Mutant wild pheasant!
It's one of the few mutated creatures that's edible, and its taste and texture are superb. It doesn't have the gamey or fishy smell of typical wild game, and its meat is tender and juicy, making it a top-quality food.
However, they are difficult to capture. Once you get close, they will fly away quickly, making it almost impossible to catch them alive. But killing them and bringing them back is still easy for Yu Miaomiao.
She took out a crossbow from her spatial storage, ready to kill it, when suddenly a pair of hands emerged from a dark shadow on the grass next to the mutated pheasant, grabbing its wings and disappearing into the shadow in the next second.
"Six, you've really mastered the use of your special ability. But you dare to steal my prey?"
"Hahaha, I see you're going to take action, so I guess you can eat a lot. Everyone who sees it gets a share, and we'll split it equally. What do you think?"
Yu Miaomiao, whose prey had been stolen, wasn't really angry. Instead, she suddenly felt that He Liang had a promising future and might be worth developing into a good teammate.
I had never heard of this ability in my previous life; it might be a rare, one-of-a-kind ability.
"There should be more than one around here. These mutated wild pheasants usually appear in pairs. The brightly colored one we just saw was the male. We can find the female and make soup for tonight."
He Liang had no interest in listening to Yu Miaomiao's rambling; all he heard was, "Aba aba aba... stewing soup..."
He hadn't had chicken soup since the natural disaster. Well, now he was determined to search the entire forest and catch that female mutated wild pheasant.
Both of them entered the shadows. He Liang searched the surrounding area thoroughly and found another mutated wild pheasant. It was not as brightly colored as the male and looked more like an ordinary pheasant. It was also not as big as the male and was nestled in a grassy hut.
After describing it to Yu Miaomiao and confirming that it was a female mutated wild pheasant, he quickly took action.
Following the same capture procedure, they successfully caught the pheasant. To their surprise, they also found several eggs of the mutated wild pheasant. The whole family was together, and they had an extra meal that night.
During this time, Yu Miaomiao was also pleasantly surprised to find several mutated Coptis chinensis plants with chicken claws. The small branches were smooth and hairless, the leaves were thin and leathery, the leaves were elliptical to oblong, with serrated teeth, and white frost on the bottom. The roots were shaped like chicken claws, so it was called Coptis chinensis with chicken claws or Coptis chinensis with chicken feet.
This chicken-claw-shaped Coptis chinensis has the effects of clearing heat, detoxifying, and healing sores. It can be taken internally or used externally, and its medicinal effects are even stronger after mutation.
This trip was very fruitful, and He Liang also learned a lot about mutated plants and animals from Yu Miaomiao.
However, He Liang had no interest in herbs, so they all ended up being given to Yu Miaomiao.
She would never tell you how valuable these herbs would be in the future.
She planned to dry some of the herbs in the sun and take the rest to the medicinal field in the space to see if they could survive.
On the way back to the RV, Yu Miaomiao didn't go into the shadows while searching for herbs along the way.
"You have to give me a discount, I didn't even take a car on the way back."
"This service is provided by me, so you don't have to blame anyone else. No refunds, though."
!
Okay.
On the way, they encountered a mutated wild rabbit. Yu Miaomiao only needed to gently tell He Liang that it was edible without him having to lift a finger. He Liang then moved to the side with ease and caught it without hesitation. The rabbit was still confused when it was grabbed and pulled into the shadows.
Me, Rabbit, won't be home for dinner tonight.
Yu Miaomiao couldn't help but sigh, "The Shadow Walker is the only superpower that's truly essential for both home and travel."
It's even more useful than her personal space at times like this.
Have you ever played whack-a-mole?
Yu Miaomiao pointed to the holes on the ice. They were different in shape from the holes made by the mutated rats. The holes made by the mutated rats were irregular and had messy scratch marks around them, while these holes were round and smooth, probably made by mutated ground squirrels.
The mutant hamsters feed on plant fruits, so they are not aggressive.
But it tastes good; it's similar to guinea pig meat, but the texture is more like pork.
"What rat? A mouse? There are some here too? They've tracked you all the way here? Then run!"
He Liang thought of those buck teeth with green sap dripping from them, and the hairs on his arms stood on end instantly, his blood surging with the urge to run.
So he grabbed Yu Miaomiao and pulled her into the shadows, then ran away.
Before Yu Miaomiao could speak, He Liang ran two miles in one breath, panting heavily.
"Phew...did you shake them off?"
"No! It's a gopher! The kind you can eat!"
"I... huff... huff... why didn't you say so sooner!"
"First, I asked you if you could play whack-a-mole from the beginning. Second, you didn't give me a chance. Programmers have stamina comparable to athletes. If I didn't know better, I would think you were a long-distance runner."
He Liang was devastated, but since he had already missed it, he might as well let it go. After all this trouble, even if he went back the way he came, he might not be able to find it.
Let's just go back to the RV and meet up with Lu An.
"An'an, let's have a camping picnic and barbecue tonight! We caught a pheasant! We'll roast the male and make soup with the female!"
Yu Miaomiao's voice came before she even got close.
"Okay, I'll go get the stove and prepare the ingredients. You two are in charge of setting up the tent."
The barbecue smell is too strong, so we definitely can't eat it in the car. If we eat it outdoors, we need to set up a tent to keep out the wind and heat while also allowing for ventilation. Most importantly, we don't want He Liang to come into the RV.
"no problem."
Yu Miaomiao pretended to get into the car to look for a tent, but actually took out the tent from her space and then moved it out of the RV. She also took a bottle of mineral water and tossed it to He Liang.
"fare."
"Thank you, boss. You're very generous."
He was actually a little embarrassed, since he hadn't been charged when other people gave him a ride in their RVs.
With this in mind, He Liang became very diligent in everything he did.
One person took on the task of setting up the tent by himself and quickly completed the task. He then used a hammer to drive the tent pegs into the ice, and that was it.
Lu An had already processed the mutated wild pheasant's internal organs, cleaned and cut it into pieces. The female was used to make soup, and the other was placed directly on the portable gas stove to roast.
The chicken soup was made with scallions, ginger, and shiitake mushrooms, and it smelled delicious after cooking for about ten minutes.
The roasted chicken was split in half, brushed with cooking oil on both sides, and roasted over fruitwood charcoal, leaving a smoky aroma on the meat that was more intense than that of ordinary charcoal roasting.
Flip it over and bake until the surface is browned and crispy. Sprinkle with salt and cumin, and it's ready to enjoy.
Finally, a handful of chili powder was added, and the aroma filled He Liang's nostrils, making him swallow hard.
It was already dark when the three of them sat around inside the tent, with chicken soup bubbling on the stove.
Such blissful moments are hard to come by.
When He Liang took his first bite of roast chicken, tears welled up in his eyes.
"It's so spicy."
Using spice to cover up the fact that she was crying.
Before the natural disaster, my parents came to Ningcheng to visit me. They even said they would go eat local barbecue and spicy crayfish together.
However, because of the continuous overtime work, the boss refused to approve the leave to visit relatives.
During the few days my parents came, I spent no more than half a day with them in total. Most of the time, I would come home from get off work and my parents would already be asleep.
Now... I'm afraid we'll never see them again.
After the internet was cut off, he could no longer be contacted. He was already struggling to survive, and his parents were both over sixty years old... The chances of survival were extremely slim.
I only regret what I did back then.
"Try the chicken soup. An'an's chicken soup is absolutely amazing."
Without making a sound, I handed him a bowl of chicken soup. Nowadays, no one can comfort my soul; I can only hope that food can warm my stomach.
It's not hard to see the pain and regret in He Liang's eyes. Under natural disasters, everyone is burdened with the pain and regret of losing relatives and friends, regretting that they didn't live in the moment and didn't spend more time with their family and friends. He Liang must be the same.
"It smells so good! This flavor is much richer than any chicken soup I've ever had."
"Mutant pheasants aren't easy to find. You were really lucky to run into two today, and you even managed to catch them by sheer luck. Mutant animals are usually very difficult to approach. But your special ability is their Achilles' heel; they can't detect your presence at all in the shadows."
"So that's how it is. I thought it was a useless skill that could only be used to escape. I didn't expect that everyone has their own unique talents."
Eating roast chicken alone wasn't enough, so Yu Miaomiao went back to the RV as cover and took out some pre-made skewers she had bought earlier, including beef skewers, lamb skewers, enoki mushrooms, corn, eggplant, and so on.
After baking, he didn't hesitate to share the delicious meal with He Liang.
They've gotten along quite well these past few days. Yu Miaomiao and Lu An have talked about it privately, and they both have a good opinion of He Liang.
In fact, He Liang's Shadow Walk ability allows him to enter the interior of the RV. After agreeing to go with him, Yu Miaomiao and Lu An were careful and had carefully selected the supplies inside the RV.
However, He Liang never had any ulterior motives, so he temporarily passed their test to join the team. If he tried to enter the RV or did anything underhanded, Yu Miaomiao would kill him immediately.
If he wants to team up with them now, they probably won't refuse.
However, whether or not they can become teammates ultimately depends on their own wishes; they won't force them.
Even if we can't be teammates, being friends is still good; at least I can offer a ride at a friend's price.
When they were enjoying the meal, He Liang contributed his last three cans of beer, and the three of them raised their glasses.
"May we all have this day every year, and may we all get through this damn apocalypse safely. Cheers!"