Chapter 79

As life came to an end, the eroded flesh and blood turned into fly ash, dissipating before the three of them.

Even so.

A considerable portion of this bear remained intact.

This part of the bear hide was of superior quality and could be used to make clothing, sold, or traded for supplies;

the remaining bear meat was precious food.

We’ve struck it rich.

Though still shaken, the three of them exchanged smiles.

This haul alone could be traded for at least a month’s worth of supplies.

Add in the ancient relics they’d scavenged earlier, and that time would extend to a year!

Amidst their joy.

The three of them took off their gloves one after another, pulled daggers from their waists, and began to skin, debone, and carve the meat.

Only.

None of them noticed that the fresh, flowing blood inside the bear was filled with tiny red crystals.

When these crystals were exposed to the cold wind, they melted rapidly, turning into a pool of scarlet liquid that stained the blades of their daggers.

It stained their fingers, their palms, their wrists...

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"Is there anyone who can save them? I don't think these three brothers are exactly heinous villains; can anyone help them out?"

"Can't save them, goodbye! These three are basically human-shaped pollution sources now. Can you be sure the gas they're exhaling doesn't contain 'SCP-009'? Anyone who knows about 'Red Ice' wouldn't dare go near them. One slip-up and you'd be contaminated!"

"No saving them. The only way to remove 'Red Ice' contamination is to strip all the water molecules from their bodies... might as well just kill them; it would be less painful."

"I'm curious, why isn't our water contaminating the 'Red Ice'? Why is it the 'Red Ice' contaminating our water? Is our water not good enough?"

"Good question. I hereby appoint you as 'Normal Ice That Can Contaminate Red Ice.' Now go handle 'SCP-009'!"

"Whether it's the Foundation, the Corporation, or some other major power, why not just send a team over to seal that pile of stuff in a metal box?"

"I think we should try matter-antimatter annihilation to make 'SCP-009' disappear from this universe entirely!"

The process of processing the bear was not as smooth as imagined.

"Third Brother" paused, gritted his teeth, and stiffly turned his neck to look at the other two who were still busy butchering.

He had had a strange feeling since just a moment ago.

A slight but distinct stinging sensation was coming from inside his body, tormenting his nerves.

It was different from the soreness of overexertion or the sharp pain of a bump.

It felt like he had many wooden splinters stuck in him, coming in waves, utterly unbearable.

But he didn't pay it much mind.

After all, he had fought that beast head-on and then crashed into a tree afterward, so it was inevitable he’d be injured.

Having this kind of strange pain could be considered normal.

But this abnormal feeling was indeed slowing him down; a few days ago, he could have finished this work all by himself.

He stopped for a moment to catch his breath.

He pulled a flask from his waist, poured it into his mouth, and used the alcohol to numb his nerves.

Then.

He informed his two companions about his physical discomfort.

"...That's the situation. I suspect I injured something earlier."

"Also, it's getting late. How about we find a wind-sheltered spot, set up camp, and continue cleaning this up tomorrow?"

"Eldest Brother" listened, wiped the red "blood-water" off his dagger, and began to ponder.

Ever since seeing this pool of red water and hunting this bear.

He had always felt a vague sense of unease, as if they had overlooked something.

And strangely enough.

His hands, he didn't know how, were covered in a layer of white frost, and his skin stung as if it had been cut by many tiny blades.

Perhaps it really was just too cold?

But they hadn't had this situation when processing prey before.

He couldn't figure it out.

"Eldest Brother" put on his gloves and sighed:

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"This is troublesome..."

The white mist blown from his mouth and nose turned into tiny ice crystals the moment it left his body and vanished.

Leaving Belobog to survive in the wild, the first hurdle they had to face was the bone-chilling cold.

Especially with an injured person in the team, they needed to build a shelter, chop wood, and light a campfire earlier.

Once night fell, the temperature on the ice sheet would drop even further.

Exposed to that temperature, even a bear with thick skin and long fur could be frozen to death.

Furthermore.

The distance from here to their camp was far more than six kilometers.

With an injured person in the team, dragging a bear, wanting to reach the camp before nightfall.

Completely impossible.

Unless they abandoned these hundreds of pounds of meat.

But that would only make their future days even harder.

While the injured person was recovering, only two people in their small team would be able to go out hunting.

So much meat, it couldn't be wasted.

After thinking it over.

For now, they had no choice but to find a place to camp here.

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"Eldest Brother" leaned on his long blade and looked around, searching for a suitable shelter.

Suddenly, he noticed something reflecting light not far away.

It seemed to be glass.

And glass meant abandoned buildings, which meant a ready-made shelter.

In ancient legends, before the Eternal Freeze descended, humanity had already completed their ascension and become a race among the stars.

Their ancestors could change landscapes, adjust river courses, and move mountains and fill seas; they were capable of anything.

"Eldest Brother" wasn't interested in these old legends, but he was very interested in the ancient buildings that had survived from the prosperous era.

They often had complex structures, containing plenty of wooden furniture and some fabrics frozen stiff.

These things could be used to build a temporary camp or as fuel to keep them warm.

As long as they found such a place, they could even let "Third Brother" recover here until he was fully healed!

"Eldest Brother" pointed there excitedly, as if he could already see the warm firelight, the oily bear meat, and the soft, comfortable ancient clothing.

"Let's go there!"

The Luofu Luofu Xianzhou "Luo Fu", Divination Commission.

Behind a simple, ancient long table, Fu Bai Xuan confirmed the hexagrams several times, spread her hands, and shook her head.

The paper in front of her was filled with various symbols and the steps to interpret the hexagram.

For someone like Fu Bai Xuan, who could be called a master or ancestor.

Writing down this process was about the same as a high school senior reciting the multiplication table while doing calculations.

But she wrote it anyway.

Because the current situation was too bizarre: