Chapter 18: Cataclysm (Seeking Recommendations)

"Keep going!"

Aaron, trailing behind the two children, could only silently cheer them on as he could not intervene in this world.

The tunnel was not long. Soon, the two children, clutching bread, crawled out.

They should have been at the back of a bakery, but due to their excitement, they made a slightly larger move and kicked a small piece of wood, making a faint noise.

Instantly, the faces of the little boy and the girl turned pale.

The little boy let out a scream, presumably meaning something like 'run', and pushed the girl.

Behind them, the terrifying monster was already maniacally chasing them, arms growing wildly like tentacles, piercing straight through the wooden board.

Terror broke out from the wall!

Aaron wanted to do something, but he couldn't.

These two children simply couldn't stand a chance against such a terrifying monster!

Just then, a loud noise rang from the side!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Along with the loud noise, a few stones hit the monster, diverting its attention.

A female scavenger, agile as a female cheetah, was already swiftly approaching, pulling the two children away with her in a swift retreat.

Obviously, the loud noise to the side was just a decoy.

"Great... It seems not all people in this world are insane, and there doesn't seem to be much difference between human races..."

Aaron followed behind this woman, carefully scrutinizing her.

She was very young, probably in her early twenties, dressed in sturdy, durable clothing, although a bit dirty, akin to scavengers.

She had a Germanic style blonde hair and blue eyes, tall and strong, her bronze face full of determination, currently running without a word.

During her movements and leaps, she made very little noise, as if she had undergone special training.

Although she was holding two children, one big and one small, she didn't show any sign of effort. She quickly ran out of the city and arrived at a human camp.

This was a mill established by the river, it had been completely militarized. There was an iron fence full of thorns, and dark pieces of flesh were still on the bars.

From inside the building, a few people walked out, carrying weapons, their faces full of alertness. Only when they saw this woman did they relax into smiles.

"Great, a gathering point."

Aaron followed them inside the building. It was not big, housing about twenty people, but the supplies were relatively abundant. He then decided to stay and slowly learn their language and writing.

After all, to them, having an invisible ghost around wouldn't matter.

Soon, Aaron saw the woman, who had saved the two children, arguing with her companions.

After all, in an apocalyptic world like this, adding two burdens wasn't an easy thing.

Luckily, the result was good. The two children were finally accepted.

The original scavenger woman handed a can, which seemed to contain meat, to the two children and softly spoke to them.

As the children finished eating, she even took out a book and began to read the content slowly while pointing at it.

To Aaron's surprise, this woman, in such circumstances, hadn't forgotten about education. She might be teaching the two children how to read!

...

How fast can you learn a language?

Aaron knew that some geniuses beyond common sense could self-learn the local language just by taking a flight.

And he, too, was a genius with controllable hypermnesia, and the time he took was - ten days!

It wasn't that his ability to learn was inadequate, but because he could only passively acquire knowledge, which slowed his progress.

By relying on his ability to remember everything he saw and the conversation of everyone at the gathering point, the most important thing was the children's learning. At this point, Aaron could finally understand the language of this world and basically read their text.

At the same time, he had also learned the name of the female scavenger —— Xiu!

As for the two children, the elder one was named Ike and the younger one was Lin.

This world's technology was obviously more advanced than Green Forest's, as Aaron had already seen defensive flintlock guns.

In this period, the words Aaron heard most were - 'The Great Catastrophe'!

This was the name the otherworldly humans had given to the solar catastrophe and ensuing consequences.

One day.

At the outer circle of the mill, the sound of a trap bell ringing echoed.

Everyone hurriedly took up their guns and aimed at the direction where the trap was triggered.

Even Ike held a small knife in his hand, firmly guarding his younger sister behind.

A figure quickly appeared from the direction of the bell.

"Aunt Xiu!"

Lin let out a cheer, Ike also put down the weapon in his hand, but his face changed the next moment because Xiu's arm had a wound that was constantly seeping blood.

"She's hurt, she needs treatment!"

A woman in her forties among the survivors shouted.

"No... Xiu! You can't come any closer."

A man raised his gun: "Who knows if your wound will get infected, if you will turn into one of those monsters? A normal hunter wouldn't trigger their own traps, but you let the bells ring… have you lost control?"

Xiu stopped outside the mill, a helpless smile appearing on her face: "I'm still fairly conscious. I don't think I'll go crazy immediately. Just to be safe, I'll stay outside the mill."

After she finished speaking, she stopped and rested, leaning against the wall of the mill: "I'm sorry... I encountered a very dangerous monster and didn't bring back any food."

Ike was silent, then suddenly stepped forward and bandaged Xiu's wound.

Xiu, with a smile on her face, pinched Lin's face.

"How can they be like this?" Ike felt sorry for Xiu, knowing that most of the food in the refuge was brought by Xiu.

"Don't blame them, everyone's gone mad since The Great Catastrophe!"

Xiu lit a filterless rolled cigarette, slowly exhaling, her tone heavy: "That's right… in fact, we're also mad, latent madmen. The level of madness varies among people. The most mad turned into monsters at the beginning, those not so mad became cruel, bloodthirsty, cold, indifferent, insane… an even smaller portion of survivors were a bit better, they just became overly anxious, forced, tense, paranoid… but, we still have the potential of falling into the abyss, to be transformed into monsters — when we're wounded and infected or emotionally overstimulated. Therefore, being cautious and careful are the rules that will keep you surviving in the future… and also, don't easily trust others!"

She was passing down her survival experiences in this apocalyptic world, her voice growing lower and lower.

Ike's eyes were filled with tears, though he held them back from falling.

For the next few days, Xiu's condition was fairly good, at least she didn't turn into a monster or get infected from her wound.

But at the same time, another bad news came. The monsters in Salo Port nearby had become stronger and more agile.

After Xiu, several other groups of scavengers met with misfortune, a squad even didn't manage to return!

Dark clouds weighted down on every survivor's head.