Chapter 110: A Certain Intuition

Collecting the carcasses of alienated beasts once again—if this could continue indefinitely, people would naturally be more than willing and delighted. But who could say when it would end? Such a thought was unrealistic.

However, the food problem was temporarily solved. For the refugees, as long as there was something to eat, no one cared where it came from. They only thought about taking things one step at a time, leaving the profound questions to people like Yang Fan and Li Qiang.

For this massive transport operation, Li Qiang had called upon the majority of the people—nearly four or five hundred. Five people carried one carcass, and everyone continued to stuff their backpacks. Once Fu Gaobin filled his pack, he couldn't help but say while standing over an alienated beast, "How great would it be if all this experience belonged to us?"

"Indeed. If it were all ours, we wouldn't even care about equipment or anything else. At the very least, we could level up a dozen or even twenty times," Wang Cheng said with a hint of exaggeration. Li Qiang, however, was indifferent. He felt that there was no point in dwelling on such uncertainties; rather than daydreaming here, it was better to get to work and hurry to collect more carcasses to serve as food.

This time, the carcasses of the alienated beasts were two or three times larger than before. Yang Fan had Fu Gaobin and Wang Cheng cover him, then frantically stashed the beast carcasses into his Lady Painting scroll, one after another. Li Qiang was busy collecting things on his end, unaware that Yang Fan’s collection speed surpassed that of their entire group.

There were nearly three thousand carcasses this time. Yang Fan estimated that they had about fifteen minutes to collect them. Ever since they started eating the meat of these beasts, not only had their nutrition improved, but their strength had also gradually increased significantly.

Consequently, people began to plunder frantically. This time, nearly all three thousand carcasses were taken. The various survivors with doomsday systems plundered over two thousand, and Yang Fan alone collected more than two hundred. Thus, looking at the scene, aside from the few left behind initially, the area was basically cleared.

Time was running out. Yang Fan used his "True Eagle Eye" to observe and indeed discovered a new wave of alienated beasts appearing. However, this batch was not the full-level Tier 2 creatures he expected; they were merely entry-level Tier 2 beasts. This surprised Yang Fan slightly; he had assumed they would be full-level Tier 2, but he hadn't expected them to be the same as before.

"Retreat!" Holding onto this doubt, Yang Fan shouted. The people immediately ran back joyfully, their vigilance gradually lowering. A short while later, just as Yang Fan retreated, the alienated beasts arrived, and the eerie process of the carcasses being used to absorb the beasts' blood began once again.

The refugees sitting in the vehicles only knew that they had food for this period. The ordinary soldiers were slightly puzzled, but since the abundance of food made them happy, they didn't care much. The only ones truly worried were the leaders: Li Qiang, Yang Fan, Fu Gaobin, and Wang Cheng.

The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. Yang Fan sighed to himself as he thought this.

"What exactly is this thing? Brother Yang Fan, I always feel that this contraption isn't anything good. Why don't we try to destroy it next time?" This was Wang Cheng speaking. He always felt there was something eerie about it—eerie to the point where it was hard to explain!

"Yes, maybe we should try. Otherwise, I don't think I'll be able to sleep soundly, always fearing it might suddenly shatter and release some devil, monster, or other ghost thing that will kill us all," Fu Gaobin said, looking somewhat fearful.

Li Qiang, listening from the side, pondered but did not speak. Yang Fan had been watching his expression closely, so he asked, "What do you think?"

Li Qiang hadn't expected Yang Fan to ask him this. He paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and appeared quite serious. "I think it makes a lot of sense. How about this: after this wave of alienated beasts dies, we’ll try to see if we can destroy it!"

In truth, Li Qiang was also a bit worried. After all, the apocalypse had already occurred; who was to say other things wouldn't appear? It was just... whether this thing was good or evil, who could say? It was quite vexing.

"Alright then." Since Li Qiang had said so, Yang Fan naturally agreed, so they continued to wait.

Time passed in the blink of an eye—three days. The rate at which the alienated beasts died this time was much slower than before. Yang Fan understood why, of course: the previous beasts didn't have much blood in them. As the beasts grew stronger, their ability to absorb blood would inevitably drop, and thus the rate of death would decrease. This was Yang Fan’s hypothesis, though whether it was true was another matter.

It was now the thirty-sixth day of the apocalypse. The alienated beasts had all died, and Yang Fan led his people over immediately. The first order of business was to continue collecting the carcasses, but Yang Fan and the others held back. He had the crowd spread out, avoiding the risk of total annihilation should any trouble arise.

Yang Fan, Li Qiang, two of Li Qiang’s loyal subordinates, along with Wang Cheng and Fu Gaobin, stood before the eerie stone. Many of the runes on the stone had gradually become more complete. Yang Fan had paid special attention to this; the runes had grown a little—though only by a few centimeters, Yang Fan was clearly aware of it.

The stone emitted a ghostly light. Wang Cheng looked at Fu Gaobin, Fu Gaobin looked at Yang Fan and Li Qiang, and Li Qiang’s two subordinates looked at Li Qiang and Yang Fan. Finally, Yang Fan and Li Qiang exchanged glances. Everyone’s breathing was tense, and their palms were sweating.

"Shall we act?" One of Li Qiang’s subordinates, unable to contain his impatience, finally asked. Li Qiang shook his head, examining the stone carefully. He thought for a moment, considering things in his mind, but then he looked at the refugees and ultimately shook his head. He then asked Yang Fan in a questioning tone, "Why don't we wait a little longer?"

"Good." No one had expected Yang Fan to agree so readily. But since the two leaders were in agreement, what could Wang Cheng, Fu Gaobin, and Li Qiang’s subordinates say?

Wang Cheng, Fu Gaobin, and the others were actually quite disappointed. The eerie stone was far too mysterious; they were desperate to understand what it was, and their curiosity grew ever stronger.

After returning feeling somewhat disappointed, the alienated beasts arrived right on schedule.

Everyone returned to their monotonous life. Standing in the vehicle, Fu Gaobin and Wang Cheng stayed by Yang Fan’s side, remaining silent. Finally, prompted by Fu Gaobin, Wang Cheng gathered the courage to ask Yang Fan, "Brother Yang Fan, don't you want to understand what this stone is?"

"I do." Yang Fan knew that Wang Cheng and Fu Gaobin were dying to know why he had agreed to Li Qiang’s request without hesitation, so he spoke before they could ask further: "I have an intuition that tells me something might happen in these next two days!"