Chapter 81: Boss, Another Bottle

"Hungry!"

Li Gang's eyes were bloodshot; he stared at everything as if it were food.

Hunger was the only feeling he could express; the pain gradually vanished during the process of the hunger-driven Awakening, and he even wanted to bite himself twice to fill his shell-like body.

"Give me another bottle of that, Boss, another bottle!"

"One bottle is one million," Liu Mu said, her heart bleeding as she glanced at the three empty bottles nearby. "You owe at least ten years of debt."

Liu Mu pressed down on the lunging Li Gang and poured a bottle of concentrated Nutrient Solution into him, which bought the latter a temporary return of a sliver of reason.

She said, "Now it counts as fifteen years."

"Too expensive, Boss, this is just too expensive," Li Gang said, sitting up. He felt his vision was a bit off, and when a phantom image struck, he dodged instinctively.

Liu Mu held the Compressed Biscuits, looking curiously at Li Gang, who had backed away just as she began her movement. "Can you predict my movements?"

Li Gang was also stunned; he raised his hand to rub his eyes, but his head instinctively moved away from his own hand.

"I, this, no, I..."

He stared at his hands, seeing many phantom images around them. As he moved about in confusion, his hands actually gradually merged with those phantom images.

"Prediction? I think I saw a lot of shadows."

Li Gang was full of confusion; when he looked up, his body rolled to the left on the spot. "You hit me?"

Liu Mu had seen the ability of prediction before. She once had a teammate who could predict what the other person would do in the next half hour through contact, but it couldn't be said in front of people; after all, people are contrary and can change what they are about to do at any time.

She used this ability to steal temporary information or predict the opponent's moves during a fight, but it only had some uncertainty—that is to say, she couldn't immediately determine whether the opponent's next move was to slash at her right or left, only roughly knowing the result.

But if Li Gang had accurate precognition, that would be impressive.

"Again," Liu Mu said, getting interested. She pulled out a dagger from thin air and swung a blade, which indeed failed to hit him.

And so, she chased Li Gang to slash at him.

"No, Boss, are you crazy?"

Li Gang dodged instinctively. At first, he felt the phantom images were a bit of a hindrance, but after less than a minute, his brain seemed to adapt to this feeling, and the moment a phantom image appeared, his body would immediately respond.

After ten minutes of adjustment, the hunger in his stomach struck again, but the coordination between his body, brain, and the phantom images had almost become instinct.

Even though Liu Mu's figure was fast enough to leave afterimages, he could dodge in time, but one thing still troubled him...

"Sister Liu Mu, how do you manage to change your route halfway through a move?"

Li Gang was very puzzled; clearly, the phantom image was one move, and Liu Mu had already performed it, but the next instant, she changed her routine.

This resulted in the phantom images blurring into a mess, like ink smudged on paper, when the two were in close-quarters combat.

He couldn't see clearly and his reactions couldn't keep up.

Liu Mu didn't answer; instead, her moves became increasingly murderous, until a fierce stab followed by a reverse sweep left a bloodstain on the neck of the dodging Liu Gang.

"Your body is no good!"

Liu Mu stepped back three paces and shook her head at Li Gang in disappointment. "The ability produced by the Mutation is fine, but your physical fitness is too poor; it can't keep up with your brain at all. Also... long-range attacks will likely become your fatal weakness."

Li Gang clutched his neck, looking at Liu Mu in disbelief amidst the stinging pain, and wailed, "No, Sister Liu Mu, you were for real?"

Liu Fugui, who had just finished arranging the new personnel and the work for tomorrow, looked upstairs with a strange expression, fearing he might interrupt something awkward, and deliberately coughed twice.

"So, uh, are you two finished?"

Niu Boyi, lying on the first floor, gave him a 'you know' look, baring his dog mouth to reveal snow-white fangs—a lecherous dog.

Liu Fugui wanted to turn and leave, secretly regretting that he shouldn't have come back so early, and even more so that he had spoken.

"Uncle Fugui, come on up." Liu Mu threw a Meat Canned Food to Li Gang. "Take your hand away, let's see the wound's recovery speed."

Li Gang was resentful; he caught the can, the blood flowing from the wound on his neck having already soaked the collar of his T-shirt.

Upon coming upstairs, Liu Fugui saw at a glance that Liu Mu was holding a Flashlight, shining it on Li Gang's bleeding neck, her eyes glowing.

"Oh my, what are you two making a fuss about? If you have something to say, say it nicely; why did you have to resort to violence?"

Facing Liu Fugui's misunderstanding, Liu Mu couldn't be bothered to explain. Li Gang, with his neck bleeding and his mouth stuffed with canned meat, mumbled twice, "Sparring, Sister Liu Mu is helping me, um, practice combat."

"And you used a knife?" Although Liu Fugui didn't quite believe it, seeing that the atmosphere between the two indeed didn't seem to have a problem, he advised, "The environment is harsh now, and even small wound infections are troublesome; how could you be so careless? Wait for me to get the First Aid Kit. Boss, don't touch it; there are many bacteria on your hands."

Liu Mu withdrew her hand that had been prying open the wound, very dissatisfied. "Too slow; it seems your Self-healing Ability hasn't evolved. You still need to strengthen your training in the future, otherwise, if you encounter an opponent like me, you'll still be a glass cannon."

It was probably the first time a former special forces soldier had been told he was too fragile.

Li Gang knew Liu Mu's combat power; it was impossible for an ordinary person to possess such terrifying speed, reaction ability, and strength, so his mindset remained relatively stable.

"Okay, I will strengthen my training. By the way," he said, feeling a bit embarrassed, but this thought had been brewing in his mind for several days, "Sister Liu Mu, can you get a Sniper Rifle? I'm good at that."

Liu Mu put away her knife and pondered for a moment, not immediately agreeing. "I'll think of a way; the gun isn't too difficult, the trouble is the bullets. When you train recently, try your vision more; you've only just undergone Mutation, so there might be more abilities."

Liu Fugui, who had come out with the First Aid Kit, caught a bit of the conversation. "What Mutation? Did Gangzi mutate?"

Liu Mu smiled and threw the right of explanation to the protagonist.

"Yes," Li Gang answered directly; he understood Liu Mu's meaning—hiding one's physical state from companions was a very unwise practice.

Such concealment could very likely bring serious losses to himself and the team during combat.

"My old injury on my right hand has been hurting, especially in the recent humid weather, so I asked Sister Liu Mu to help me find a way. Old Liu, do you want to try mutating too? It actually feels pretty good."

Liu Fugui looked at his disheveled appearance, his neck bleeding, and the way he was gulping down the Meat Canned Food with a layer of white lard on it, and shook his head cautiously.

"I'm old and can't handle the tossing and turning; you young people should keep at it."

Regarding whether those around her were willing to mutate, Liu Mu did not force it; if they lived long enough, choosing a Natural Awakening when the time came was still a better option.

At least in her experience, humans who underwent Natural Awakening were not in too much pain.

Of course, there were still many failed cases, such as those who went crazy because their brains couldn't recognize the changes in their bodies, those who starved to death because they couldn't get timely energy replenishment during the process, or those who didn't think of themselves as human anymore and went to find beasts as companions, only to be killed...

It was a mixed bag, but overall, the process wouldn't be this painful.

Li Gang ate food alone for three hours and ran to the bathroom five times; by the second half of the night, the fluctuations in his body finally slowed down.

The two people and the dog did not accompany him.

Liu Fugui had to sleep with the workers, and Liu Mu walked through the town once to confirm that everything in the town, except for where the workers were currently living, was the same as before, and went straight to sleep after returning.

Compared to Li Gang and Liu Fugui, she had truly barely rested lately, and this night she had managed to get a good sleep for once.

When Niu Boyi pushed open the window with his paw, Liu Mu slowly opened her eyes and was startled to see the giant eyeballs of Gouzi staring at her.

"Oh my, big baby, what are you doing?"

Da Gouzi stepped back a little and raised his paw to show her.

There was actually a long gash on the paw pad that was still bleeding, and Liu Mu rolled over and rushed over.

"What happened?" She grabbed the dog's paw and frowned fiercely. "Did something attack the town?"

Ever since she said that this town would henceforth be a link in the Scrap Station industrial chain, Niu Boyi had urinated in the town, the Mine, and the nearby hills, marking this area as his own territory.

The nearby Mutation beasts had also been scared off by him; those that weren't too stupid shouldn't come back, though of course, it was also possible the opponent was very strong.

"Woof woof, no, I stepped on a big blade, right over there. I, Gouzi, originally wanted to make a new den."

Niu Boyi felt aggrieved, his big head gesturing for Liu Mu to look at a black-green building not far away.

A blade?

Liu Mu didn't rush to look; she went downstairs to disinfect the wound on the dog's paw, and only after waiting for it to quickly scab over and heal did she go out.

Just as she came out, someone greeted her, "Boss Liu, morning!"

Liu Mu pulled on her Raincoat hood and nodded with a fairly gentle expression toward those who were tidying up their houses.

These newcomers needed to tidy up and repair one or two buildings if they wanted to live comfortably.

Liu Mu told them to pay attention to safety and took Gouzi toward the distance.

The western-style building that caused Niu Boyi to get hurt was not small; the exterior had originally been covered in blue-green tiles, but now it had turned black-green.

From the window, one could see that inside, apart from the load-bearing walls, everything else had collapsed to a great extent.

Only an empty shell remained on the outside; it wasn't suitable for people to live in, but for Gouzi, it was just right.

As long as the debris like bricks and glass inside was cleared away and the roof was covered securely, it would be a perfect dog den.

Liu Mu looked it over and was not very happy. "You really want to stay here?"

To tell the truth, when Niu Boyi was not by her side, she couldn't sleep soundly and needed to stay alert at all times.

Liu Mu entered through the broken window and, following Niu Boyi's bloodstains, quickly found the "culprit."

It was a Guillotine over two meters long; the shape was a simple rectangular block, the blade edge was silvery-white, and the blade body had black paint.

Having experienced so much, the edge was still sharp and without a single rust spot; it was a good blade.

The Guillotine was almost buried by debris with the blade facing upward, so it was no wonder Niu Boyi hadn't noticed it.

Liu Mu took off her Raincoat and started clearing the bricks; in just over ten minutes, she had exposed the entire Guillotine, but apart from the Guillotine itself, she did not see a base or any other supporting equipment.

"How strange, little Boyi, what kind of person would keep something like this in their home? A perverted serial killer?"

After circling the Guillotine, she looked up and examined the area above carefully.

From the remnants of the floor slabs on the walls, it could be seen that this house had three floors, and the top two floors had fallen away completely. There were burn marks on the walls and the debris on the ground, as well as quite a few radial cracks...

According to Liu Mu's experience, if it wasn't that the house failed a safety inspection, then it was that some heavy object had been placed on the top two floors, and an explosion and fire had occurred during the disaster.

And it was precisely the explosion and fire that caused the internal structure of the house to collapse completely.

"Woof woof woof, scary, so scary for a dog, Master, Gouzi doesn't want to make a den here anymore."

Liu Mu rubbed the dog's head to comfort him. "Good boy, it's time for you to shine. Dig down, let's see what this family actually hid."