Chapter 29: Food Street Meat Grinder

It is no exaggeration to say her voice was like a booming bell, instantly stunning this group of people. Xu Xiaofeng had originally thought that if the troublemakers refused to give up, she would go and call Niu Boyi back; now it seemed Liu Mu's effect was also quite good.

Zhu San immediately begged for mercy, saying they just purely wanted to test what could be traded and what could not, lying on the ground and smiling obsequiously with difficulty, "Boss, Boss, you are a magnanimous person who doesn't hold a grudge against small people, we were wrong, really wrong, let us off this once, ah! I beg you."

He kept saying "we" in every sentence, just to drag those lackeys in and divert Liu Mu's attention.

"So, are you clear now on what can be traded?" Liu Mu's tone was not arrogant at all, even carrying a hint of sincerity, yet this time not a single person dared to provoke her again.

She loosened her hand, and Zhu San and the others immediately scurried toward the Base like whipped dogs. Upon reaching the entrance, they even complained to the soldiers on guard, only to be ruthlessly despised: unable to even beat a girl, yet still having the nerve to go and cause trouble for others?

After this commotion, the trading went very smoothly; in less than an hour, the supplies they brought were all traded away.

Some people sat right by the side of the street and started eating, because at this time the Base hadn't called for mealtime yet, and it seemed this breakfast would have to wait until noon.

Liu Mu and the other two packed up all the scrap, filling the trunk and the roof of the off-road vehicle, yet two large bundles still remained.

"Let Niu Boyi carry them back, let's go."

Liu Mu carried one bundle in each hand; naturally, Xu Xiaofeng was still the one driving.

Zhang Xiaoyong pestered Liu Mu for a long time, and after much pleading, he finally received permission to ride Niu Boyi. He immediately waved at Xu Xiaofeng, "Big Sister, keep your car close, we're leaving first."

He gave a reminder like a little adult, then chased after Liu Mu to find Niu Boyi.

Liu Mu actually didn't need to look everywhere for the dog; she just stood in a slightly open area and whistled twice, and immediately heard barking coming from behind two rows of damaged buildings. This was the tacit understanding she and Niu Boyi had cultivated over many years; on her way to collect scrap, the dog would also run around everywhere, occasionally even bringing back a rabbit to satisfy their cravings.

Sure enough, in less than half a minute, Niu Boyi ran back like the wind, the dust raised behind him almost obscuring the sky and sun.

They left the urban area, and no one thought to go and take a look at Liu Gang.

The surgery was done under local anesthesia; there was no help for it, mainly because medicine was currently in extremely short supply, and the doctor said that for many people whose injuries weren't serious, they just had to endure the stitches directly.

The wounded had a dedicated area inside the east gate on the first floor of the shopping mall. After the anesthesia wore off, Li Gang asked where the people who brought him were.

Neither the doctor nor the nurse knew. Fortunately, Luo Sanlin arrived at this moment and told him the news that Liu Mu and the other two had already left, "Brother, if you need anything while you are recovering, just tell me. I will also use my family's Contribution Value to trade for some slightly better nutritious food for you. Don't overthink things right now, just eat well and sleep well, and you'll recover fast!"

Li Gang certainly didn't think Luo Sanlin was purely being warm-hearted; it must have been Liu Mu who asked him to look after him.

Thinking that Liu Mu wasn't that heartless either, he asked, "Officer Luo, can I return to the Scrap Station after staying for a few days? If medical expenses are needed, I still have some food and water in my backpack."

This question actually left Luo Sanlin stunned. He thought for a moment and said, "Leaving is fine, but you must follow the doctor's orders. Or wait until Liu Mu comes next time and discuss it with her."

He couldn't make decisions for others now, let alone Liu Mu, who herself was not someone who would let others make decisions for her. Even now, Luo Sanlin still remembered that Liu Mu's grades in school were actually quite good, but starting in the third year of junior high, she suddenly began skipping classes, and once she skipped, it would be for the whole day.

It was just that the head teacher at the time was a snob who cared nothing for her; whenever they met, he would scold her, and after she skipped class, he even notified the orphanage, telling Liu Mu to get lost if she didn't want to attend school.

Later, Liu Mu's grades slipped severely, and the time she came to school became less and less. Luo Sanlin, as the class monitor and a particularly proactive student, went to the orphanage himself.

It was then that Luo Sanlin learned the orphanage was going to close because it had no income and the funding was difficult to maintain. The younger children were basically all adopted, while the older ones without the ability to survive, such as the disabled, were transferred to the city's welfare institution.

If Liu Mu wanted to continue her schooling, she could actually have applied for financial aid, and the school could also provide some subsidies, but she gave up.

She gave up because she needed to earn money.

Luo Sanlin still remembered the bean-sprout-like female classmate from back then, carrying a basket half her height, standing in the sunset, her face covered in sweat but without the slightest sense of inferiority, "I want to earn money, earn big money, then donate it to the welfare institution, become a great philanthropist, and keep earning big money!"

Not knowing whether the focus was on being a philanthropist or earning big money, Luo Sanlin swallowed the lecture that had reached his lips.

Liu Mu's eyes were excessively bright; even when he was filling out his college entrance exam preferences, he had inexplicably applied to the police academy, which gave his parents quite a scare. The explanation he gave was that he could return to this area, have an iron rice bowl, and take care of his parents... and also occasionally look after that strong-willed female classmate.

Nowadays, it was hard to say who was looking after whom. Luo Sanlin returned to his own living quarters; his bed was by the window, and he looked at the gray, hazy sky, feeling a bit depressed.

"Forget it, time to sleep!" He had to go on a mission tomorrow.

Early the next morning, the three people and one dog went up to the surface; they wanted to arrange the small building. After repairing and patching, by noon, it was basically finished.

There wasn't much furniture upstairs; it had all been moved to the basement the first time, and today it was moved back up.

For the sake of "signs of life," Xu Xiaofeng cooked lunch in the first-floor kitchen.

Liu Mu hadn't been willing to spend money in the past few years and never connected the natural gas; this time, while repairing the new house, she naturally wouldn't connect it either.

Gas canisters were strictly controlled, so she only had four stored, and each time they were used, there was one less. After discussing it, they decided to use an induction cooker for cooking upstairs.

High temperatures and raging fires had almost destroyed the surface vegetation; it was no exaggeration to say that walking out now, one couldn't see a single tree or a blade of grass, and one didn't know where the oxygen in the air was coming from.

However, as someone who had been through it, Liu Mu knew that plants would not disappear just like that; their roots were buried deep underground, just waiting for a heavy rain to fully recover.

Judging by the current situation, it was very likely they would mutate; humanity's apocalypse was an opportunity for animals and plants.

Liu Mu went to the freezer to get some pre-made dishes she had frozen earlier, and also prepared a large Chinese cabbage, which counted as having both meat and vegetables for a balanced diet. After the meal, she was originally planning to go to the Steel Rolling Mill again, but who knew that just as she stepped out, Niu Boyi began to bark uneasily, its front paws scratching the ground, and a threatening low growl emitting from its throat.

"What's wrong?" Liu Mu immediately dropped the tricycle and looked toward the Food Street direction vigilantly.

At this distance, she still couldn't detect anything abnormal, but Niu Boyi could.

"Woof woof woof, rats, stinky rats, many of them!"

"Like the big ones from before?"

"Yes, big, very stinky, many!" Niu Boyi barked toward that side a few times, gradually becoming excited, "I can bite them to death, bite them all to death!"

"Wait a minute!" Liu Mu thought of a problem she had overlooked: since both she and Niu Boyi had improved in all aspects, would these rats also possess intelligence?

Did they follow the scent of the dead rat from before, or did they discover there was food here at the Scrap Station?

She was confident the food in the freezer wouldn't be discovered, but the cooking smoke these past few days, and the fact that they cooked lunch on the first floor...

"Damn, did these beasts smell the scent?" Liu Mu didn't dare to jump to conclusions easily; one had to know that in her past life, the relief station she was at had been attacked by a Mutant Rat Swarm. At that time, even with firearms, half the people died, and afterward, the hundreds of people with infected wounds were driven away, which was almost a death sentence.

"Don't go, the rat swarm is too troublesome, let's retreat to the basement first."

This was the most effective method for now; even if the rats could dig holes, it would be very difficult to dig into the underground shelter. Liu Mu felt very helpless; the Scrap Station was good in every way, but it lacked defensive weapons. If she could get a few bunkers, she wouldn't be so passive.

Even with money, some things couldn't be bought; at least the previous Liu Mu couldn't.

In the direction of the Food Street, clusters of black things were moving toward them. Liu Mu grabbed Niu Boyi and retreated into the main gate; before she could call out to Xu Xiaofeng and Zhang Xiaoyong, she suddenly heard a burst of gunfire.

That's right, it was gunfire!

Liu Mu's eyes lit up. The gunfire paused for an instant, then became as dense as falling beans. At this time, besides the military forces in the Base, there wouldn't be anyone else capable of such firepower.

"They really came?" Liu Mu looked toward that side with all her might and saw those moving black clusters suddenly scatter, then turn around and head back in unison.

"Good fellow, they actually aren't afraid of firepower, that's defying the natural order!"

Liu Mu picked up the walkie-talkie hanging on the tricycle handle, and after briefly explaining the situation, she told Xu Xiaofeng and Zhang Xiaoyong to hide in the basement first; they were not to come up until they saw her bring people back.

Xu Xiaofeng wanted to let Liu Mu hide with them, but only after the latter said the army had arrived did she take her younger brother down first.

Liu Mu and Niu Boyi checked several underground entrances separately, and only left the Scrap Station after confirming there were no issues.

By the time they reached Food Street, they saw a scene that looked like a living hell.

The already narrow street and the abandoned buildings on both sides were covered in blood and rat corpses, and many that were not quite dead were dragging severed limbs and entrails, crazily gnawing on things everywhere.

Liu Mu rode on Niu Boyi's back, having it circle around from the outside. Mutated Animals can recover from injuries quickly by eating their own kind; if they aren't injured, it can significantly improve the individual's physical fitness, similar to a form of leveling up, though it is unlikely to trigger a qualitative change.

For example, these Mutated Rats could at most grow larger and become more ferocious, but it is impossible for them to evolve any supernatural abilities.

Supernatural abilities are likely nature's last bit of sympathy for humanity in the apocalypse; at least in all that Liu Mu has seen and heard, no animals have evolved supernatural abilities. Otherwise, humanity would likely have gone extinct even faster.

Amidst these thoughts, they had already circled to the side of the army, where they indeed saw four green-tented Truck vehicles used for troop transport. The soldiers were in groups of four, establishing individual attack squads.

In the midst of it, Niu Boyi also stomped and bit to death quite a few large rats. Liu Mu wasn't wearing a protective suit and didn't dare go down; mainly, these large rats didn't know which sewer they had crawled out of, and one could smell the stench from dozens of meters away.

She scanned the soldiers, and sure enough, she saw a familiar figure: it was Luo Sanlin. He likely didn't use an assault rifle often, as his movements weren't as practiced as the other soldiers, but he kept up with the formation and didn't hold them back.

Looking at the street, which was like a giant meat grinder, Liu Mu thought of a method.

Taking advantage of these people being busy killing rats, she snuck into a pesticide shop by the street, fished over a dozen cans of dog food out of her space, poured the contents of all the glass bottles on the shelves into them, and finally fished a few bottles of paraquat out of her own space, pouring them in to stir together.

As for why she had pesticide, there was no other reason; this was a great way to kill people or poison wild beasts in the apocalypse, and it was the only poison she could get her hands on.

The dog food was bought on the market; since it couldn't be customized, the cans naturally had plenty of spices and attractants added to them.

With this done, the fragrance drifted for several miles.

The soldiers couldn't smell it, but the large rats, which had been hungry for a long time, couldn't resist at all and immediately went crazy, wanting to rush toward Liu Mu's side.

She hurriedly rode the dog and rushed forward, clutching the cans.

The soldiers didn't even dare to fire their guns when they saw her, while the others were still desperately slaughtering the Mutated Rats. Niu Boyi rushed straight to the front and braked sharply, and Liu Mu, on its back, kicked its ribs hard.

Only then did Gouzi stop from charging straight into the rat swarm.

Liu Mu threw the several cans of mixed poison out; with her strength added to Niu Boyi's momentum, they flew a long distance, smashing onto the ground, and the minced meat and juices spilled everywhere.

The rat swarm was already unable to find food and about to go berserk; once they smelled this scent, they rushed over crazily. Some even fought over the food and drove other rats away, only to be bitten to death by the other rats, and everything—meat and bones alike—was eaten clean.

"Defend first!" Liu Mu rode the dog forward; she wasn't familiar with the others, so she just said that the cans she threw contained deadly poison, and these rats would die once they ate them.

Only then did the soldiers coordinate with each other and retreat to the perimeter of the Trucks, watching the rat swarm nervously.

Liu Mu did not retreat; instead, she approached the rat swarm, wanting to see if these pesticides were actually effective.

When Luo Sanlin saw the person, his pupils dilated; he wanted to call her back to explain the danger, but he had developed some tacit understanding with his comrades while carrying out recent missions, and he knew that in this situation, in order to protect the Researcher on the vehicle, death would become a kind of glory, whether for himself or others.

Liu Mu wasn't being brave; she mainly just wanted to see if the poison was effective.

They still wanted to continue approaching, but were stopped by someone; the one speaking was Tan Ziyan, whom she had only met once, and she didn't even know the other party's name.

"What are you doing? Retreat!"

"Don't worry, I have a way," Liu Mu said, and as soon as she finished, she placed the last can of dog food at her feet, then had Niu Boyi guard the spot while she herself crouched down.

Sure enough, the rats that hadn't managed to grab a can came running over one after another, looking as if they would eat everyone here if they weren't given food today.

In the early stages of Mutation, the consumption of the body is extremely high; if they cannot get enough replenishment in time, the Mutated Animal can digest itself.

Once close, it was also discovered that these rats were almost all skin and bones; this was the reason they lost their judgment the moment they saw food—there was no other reason, they were just too hungry.

The rats that managed to eat first were different from the others; they were all stronger, more ruthless, and better developed.

Liu Mu and Niu Boyi quickly circled away, and seeing the right moment, she pulled over a rat corpse. She didn't poison it, but instead fished out a type of white granule and sprinkled it on the rat.

The next second, the corpse decayed rapidly, yet it emitted no foul odor.