Chapter 14 Hunter

Overcast on July 2, 2114

Today is my birthday, and it is also my sixty-fourth day at this small base. There were only six of us left, and all the shells were gone. Only three of the five tanks remained. Without gasoline, there's nothing we can do about them. But Chen Hang figured out a good way to turn the turrets of these guys towards the entrance of the base, hoping to use them as the last weapon to resist the invaders' attack. As for the helicopter and the pieced together mobile armor, they were of no use at all. We have no energy, no suitable weapons. Rather than relying on them, it would be more effective to rely on the few machine guns that look old but have plenty of bullets.

Overcast on July 4, 2114

There is no hope, today we received news from headquarters. Almost all bases have been captured by the invaders, and only the last group of defenders are left in the headquarters. The invaders have begun a massacre inside the captured base. Even the above ground part we have here is completely occupied. I have been very pessimistic this whole day. Is there really no hope for mankind? Do we really have to lose this war? Will we be ruled by invaders from now on?

Of course, Zhang Zhiwen, who was lying on the bed, didn't think so. Since the captain's death, this lovely young man has been taking his place as the leader of us all. If his legs hadn't been severed by a laser in that attack a few days ago, I'm afraid he would still be jumping on the ground now! In his opinion, we have not lost. The fleets that have retreated into the universe will definitely fight back. Even if the invaders temporarily occupy the earth, they will never gain any benefits. After all, we are human beings, the highest level of intelligent beings on earth. We won't lose. We will rely on the sperm embryo banks established on other battleships to breed strong human warriors, continue our population, and ultimately win this war...

The diary is written to this point and there is no further content. It may be because the owner of the diary met with misfortune after that, or it may be due to other reasons. In short, Tianxiang did not see the content behind it, and all that was left to him was a stack of thick yellowed pages.

"Invaders? Are they more powerful than the ancients who used guns?" Tianxiang turned over the diary he had read in his hand in confusion and put it aside. According to the diary, this seems to be some kind of small base, and the skeletons scattered on the ground should be those ancient defenders. But why didn't they win the war? And those so-called "invaders" show no sign of their existence on the earth? Why is there only a large number of bugs and hunters running around for food all day long on the earth now?

All the questions have no answers, and Tianxiang himself is puzzled. However, this did not affect the pace of his search. After all, this is a secret place that I just discovered. Moreover, according to what is recorded in the diary, there seems to be quite an abundance of food here. Although Tianxiang didn't know whether the ancient food that had been stored for hundreds of years was still edible, he was still looking forward to it in his heart.

Soon, Tianxiang had already circled the entire room. To be honest, compared to the last major discovery in the curator's room, this exploration can be said to have no benefits at all. Except for a thin map found in the diary, nothing of value emerged. Moreover, even that map only has some unknown things.

This is a topographic map. Tianxiang can easily see that there are two areas marked with round red marks on the map, one of which is the library where he is currently located. As for the bottom of the other place, it was written in the kind of characters he was familiar with - "No. 2 Base".

Of course, if it were just like this, Tianxiang would not be tempted by an ordinary map. What really interested him was the other row of small words next to the red circle. Because there was another thing written there that made him think about it in his dreams - "time machine".

"There is a time machine in Base Two? Can this map be understood in this way?" Tianxiang quickly turned one thought after another in his mind. If this is really the case, then he and his sister will not have to stay in this world at all. They will be able to go back to the past and return to the bright days of ancient people's life.

Thinking of this, Tianxiang couldn't help but fold the map carefully and stuff it carefully into a small bag on the chest of the combat uniform.

"It seems that there should be so many secrets hidden here. As for other things, I'm afraid there is nothing valuable!" Tianxiang thought this way, turned around and walked out of the underground base gate and walked towards the spiral staircase. Fortunately, just when he was about to leave, he found some useful things.

A small cold storage that relies entirely on solar energy to maintain its operation has several iron boxes completely wrapped in white frost scatteredly stacked inside.

A box of lumpy bagged objects had a strong aroma when opened. Due to the sealed iron sheet on the outside, this thing is well preserved. Judging from the packaging label on the outside, it should be called "compressed biscuits".

There are also two boxes of cylindrical objects completely wrapped in metal. Tianxiang is no stranger to them. I remember that when I was very young, my father once got several tin cans like this from a ruin. Cut it open with a knife, and the meat inside tastes quite good. And its name should be called "canned food".

With no time to think, Tianxiang immediately took out his dagger and stabbed the surface of one of the cans hard. When he cut open the iron packaging, he was delighted to see a layer of light red meat exuding an alluring aroma. After carefully picking up one of the pieces with the tip of the dagger and stuffing it into his mouth, the extremely delicious taste almost made Tianxiang swallow his own tongue.

Two boxes of cans, one box of biscuits, and a map. This is all Tianxiang gained from the underground base. He was quite satisfied with this. After all, getting so much delicious food at once is a great happiness for a hunter.

After a lot of effort, Tianxiang finally moved all the food he got into the curator's room. Unable to suppress the joy in his heart, he quickly called Tianrou who was sitting in a pile of books and reading. After the two of them had a hearty meal of food left over from the ancients, they closed the door to the room, hid comfortably inside and fell asleep peacefully.

A few days passed, and Tianxiang's desire to go back to the past became stronger and stronger. He has begun to feel that the world he currently lives in is filled with too much filth and filth. He wants to leave, and he wants to take his sister with him, and go back to the past where the ancients lived together. Because he felt that only there was the best environment for human beings to live.

If it were in the past, I'm afraid Tianxiang would never have such crazy thoughts in his mind. After all, when you are hungry, your only thought is to satisfy your appetite as much as possible. As for other things, they don't take it to heart at all. Honor, shame, despicability, and nobility are all less effective than a piece of rotten meat. And this is probably the only thing in common between ancient people and hunters!

However, once there is sufficient food, people's thoughts and ideas will immediately turn to the pursuit of higher enjoyment. The so-called "when you are full, you think about lust" comes from this reason.

Tianxiang is the kind of person who will implement it immediately once he has an idea. Therefore, he is not greedy for the stable and satisfying life in the library. After quickly packing up a bunch of necessary items, he made up his mind and took his sister's hand. After looking back at the library that brought him strength and satisfaction, he followed the instructions without looking back. Walking in the direction indicated on the map...

The two locations marked on the map seemed very far away. Tianxiang, who couldn't understand the proportional relationship, could only make a rough estimate of the current distance with his strong sense of perception. Despite this, he calculated from the series of building groups and place names marked on the map that it would take at least two months to reach the destination.

If you saw the Tianxiang brother and sister now, you would definitely think that they were two hikers. Two backpacks filled with food weighed on their shoulders like hills. Of course, compared to Tianrou, Tianxiang obviously has a lot more things on his shoulders, and there is also a shiny black M5G43 submachine gun on his chest. Moreover, bullets, something that completely guarantees safety, also account for the absolute majority of the items Tianxiang carries.

Needless to say, it is difficult to trek through the dark world of ruins. Judging from the degree of danger alone, it is already the biggest challenge to survival. People want to live, and so do insects. Although carnivorous bugs generally feed on other bugs, they are definitely not opposed to an occasional change of taste. Therefore, humans who go out on non-solar days have become the best choice for their diet.

Tianxiang has always eaten hard-earned food sparingly. Even when the food is plentiful, he will only eat the minimum amount he needs and then stop eating. Because he knows that food is only used to satisfy the needs of the body and stomach. For hunger, just satisfy it. There is no need to give it too much preferential treatment like a spoiled child. Once your stomach is full and bloated at any time, as long as there is a lack of food, you will feel as if you are being bitten by thousands of bugs, which will make you feel worse than death.

In this way, the brother and sister ate very sparingly along the way. Even the little bit of fat solidified at the bottom of the tin can would be put in a little water by Tianxiang, put on the fire and boiled, and shaken carefully for a long time until it was confirmed that there was no trace left. After the food residue was left out, he lifted up the warm iron can with satisfaction, tilted his head and poured all the oily soup into his stomach.

Despite this, two weeks later, only half of the food in Tianxiang's backpack was left. As for Tianrou, who was unable to bear more weight, except for a few biscuits, there was nothing left in her small backpack.

Another solar day has arrived. Different from usual, Tianxiang's pace is obviously slower today. He was letting out his thoughts, searching every possible inch of land around him. For no other reason than to find a few edible bugs. There is no way, there is not much food brought out from the library. If it is not replenished, at the current consumption rate, I am afraid that in just three days, I will have to taste the uncomfortable taste of hunger again. Son.

"An aphid!" Soon, Tianxiang's mind captured a pretty good target a hundred meters away. Tianxiang, who couldn't contain his inner joy, quickly picked up the M5G43 submachine gun slung across his chest with one hand, grabbed his young sister with the other, and ran quickly in the direction of the target.

Suddenly, Tianxiang, who was running, suddenly stopped in his tracks and pulled Le Dian Dian's younger sister, who was running vigorously, behind him. Because, he heard a strange sound, a sound that definitely did not represent safety.

Hunters' senses are generally quite sharp, the result of long periods of struggle against harsh environments. Tianxiang is no exception. Although extended thoughts are quite useful when locking and discovering certain specific targets, in terms of its general exploration range and emergency warning capabilities, it is still inferior to ears and eyes. After all, ears can hear sounds from far away, and eyes can see things several times beyond the search range of Sishen. Although, it is not so clear.

"Running, there are many people running. No, there are bugs, it's people and bugs running together." After lying on the ground and listening carefully for a while, Tianxiang accurately judged the abnormal movement ahead from the vibrations coming from the ground. Moreover, eyes with excellent vision also discovered: among the ruins not far ahead, a cloud of gray-yellow dust, obviously caused by the impact of an object with the ground, was slowly rising under the sunlight...

"Let's go and take a look!" Tianxiang took his sister's hand and after saying this simply, he jumped towards the direction of the rising dust. Following closely behind him was Tianrou, who was young but not inferior to him in speed.

A group of hunters surrounded three huge and terrifying bloated beetles. No! To be precise, it should be two swollen beetles massacring a group of hunters. Among this group of hunters, there was not a single strong man at all. There are only women, children and old people.

Obviously, this is a vulnerable hunting group. They are what hunters usually call "outcasts."

The situation of the battle was already obvious. The huge swollen beetle relied on its thick horny carapace to fight back and forth among the fleeing hunters as if going crazy. Spears thrown from a distance cannot cause any damage to them at all. The oily and hard carapace blocked these weapons, which were not very powerful. Even if a few throwing guns occasionally hit a relatively weak part of the swollen beetle's body quite accurately, they would only leave a shallow gouge mark on it, and then it would stagger and fall to the ground. It can be seen that the person throwing the spear does not have much strength anymore. The only possible reason for this is hunger.

The sound on the hunting ground was so loud that Tianxiang, who was hundreds of meters away, was attracted to it. Of course, these sounds are not made by the beetles without vocal organs, but the wails and screams from the mouths of the hunters, those poor and weak hunters.

Whenever a group hunts, the participants always make an inexplicable roar. They believe that such calls can boost their own morale, and can also have a certain impact on hunting targets and make them feel scared, thereby reducing the danger of hunting and making it easier to obtain prey. Obviously, this hunting group, which is almost entirely composed of women and old people, is also working hard to implement this hunting principle.

However, the roar that was supposed to cause psychological fear to the prey has turned into a scream of terror, and the cheer used to encourage himself has turned into a wail that offsets his own belief and courage.

Swollen beetles are carnivorous insects, and they will naturally not let go of the humans in front of them who are much smaller than themselves and do not look threatening. A swollen beetle that rushed the fastest raised the four armor-like thorns beside its mouth unceremoniously, and struck an old hunter directly in front of him who was almost running out of strength. He only heard a miserable cry. After howling in pain, the old man had no time to react. His waist was neatly divided into two parts, and the bright red liquid spread all over the surrounding ground.

As for the swollen beetle, it stopped its six legs contentedly, carefully opened the armor on its head, picked up the upper part of the old hunter's body, and gently threw it into the air. The big mouth that has evolved teeth took it in one bite and chewed it deliciously.

The other two swollen beetles seemed to be infected by the rich harvest of their companions, and they accelerated their running speed. Start chasing your prey. Soon, two more hunters who were caught up lay in a pool of blood.

In an instant, the prey and the hunter completely exchanged their roles.

(Sorry, I'm afraid everyone guessed wrong! Surprisingly, there is not even a surprise other than the answer given... However, this time everyone can guess again. What will happen if the protagonist encounters this weak tribe? Rule them? Or leave them? Choose one! This time there is definitely a right one. Use your imagination! By the way: don't forget to vote!)