Protein Is Three Times That of Chicken

Amid the ruins, a bus was speeding along.

Passing through dilapidated buildings whose age was impossible to determine, the bus traveled relatively steadily toward its destination.

There was not a speck of light outside. Darkness swallowed the light, the sounds, and every shred of hope.

Inside the bus, however, an appetizing sound rang out.

Lu Ban gave the rat meat a simple preparation. Just as the biologist Mary had said, aside from liking to crash around everywhere, the rat was an ordinary creature. It simply possessed well-developed muscles and a plump body.

Lu Ban used a knife to cut out the intact meat, washed away the blood, and sliced it into thin, chewy strips.

He poured some oil into a frying pan. As the flames of the portable camping lamp licked at it, the oil heated up and gave off an enticing aroma.

He placed the prepared ribs into the pan and fried them until fragrant. The fatty parts of the ribs came into contact with the hot oil and suddenly browned, filling the bus with a scent that stirred humanity's most primal urges.

Lu Ban tossed in ginger and garlic and stir-fried them. The spices released a pungent aroma when heated, mixing with the fragrance of the meat and adding more layers to it.

Finally, Lu Ban poured water into the pan until it submerged the ribs, creating a shallow soup.

He added tomatoes and scallions, sprinkled in salt and pepper, and boiled it for a while. The soup soon became rich, making it hard to suppress one's appetite.

Lu Ban did not know much about cooking either. He had simply boiled a pot of soup and planned to use it for dipping the rat meat.

He picked up a slice of prepared rat meat with his chopsticks and swished it lightly in the pot.

The nearly translucent rat meat turned white in an instant and curled up. Lu Ban popped it into his mouth and closed his eyes.

In a normal world, rat meat might have a gamey smell and a sour taste, and it would easily become tough and dry.

But the rats of the Ruined City had probably been locked in a constant struggle for survival. They also possessed such powerful jumping ability and were larger in size, so their meat was firm and elastic without lacking fat. It was like high-grade beef. By a rough estimate, its protein content should have been more than three times that of chicken.

"Delicious!"

Lu Ban could not help exclaiming.

The three people watching him nearby could not help swallowing as well.

"Do you want some? This rat is pretty fat."

Seeing their reaction, Lu Ban spoke up.

"No need."

The biologist Mary sat back down in her seat.

"Give me some."

"Hound's" left shoulder was caved in, apparently fractured, but he did not care. Instead, he took out the cup he used for eating outdoors and filled it with a rib and several slices of rat meat.

"Can I really eat this?"

Stone had been frightened half to death, but he was just as hungry. Tension made people feel tired, and it made them feel hungry as well.

He simply caught the rib Lu Ban held out with his hand and began gnawing on it in big bites.

Only the portly driver could not enjoy the food because he had to drive. He could only take a deep breath and pretend he had tasted it.

"We're traveling late at night. How can we not eat something?"

After chewing and swallowing the rib meat that had been boiled until it fell off the bone, Lu Ban suddenly had another thought.

"These rats are large, and their meat is edible. Why don't we just build a tall wall along their migration route? That way, the rats would crash into it and die on their own, giving us plenty of protein."

His thoughts began to branch out.

"Or we could use nets. That would preserve the rat carcasses while allowing some of the rats to pass through the mesh, ensuring sustainable development."

"That makes sense."

"Hound" dug in enthusiastically and nodded repeatedly.

"."

Only the biologist Mary hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

After finishing the meat, Lu Ban boiled potatoes, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and other vegetables in the pot. He then drank a bowl of soup, and his body and mind were both immensely satisfied.

He extinguished the camping lamp, set the pot aside, and leaned back in his seat, waiting for the journey to end.

He did not believe the matter would end there. Otherwise, he would be underestimating a mission of the highest difficulty.

After tending to Hound's wounds, Lu Ban went to the passenger seat.

He looked at the road ahead. The high beams illuminated the seemingly endless path as it stretched toward the empty horizon.

"Have you driven this road many times?"

Lu Ban struck up a conversation.

"Mm."

The driver responded without losing his focus.

Lu Ban did not continue chatting and distract the driver. Instead, he looked ahead as well.

The ruins came one after another, with very few open spaces. It was easy to imagine how magnificent a civilized city this place had once been.

The bus traveled for two hours.

After eating, Stone was overcome by fatigue and fell into a groggy sleep.

The others remained alert, especially Lu Ban.

If he had not felt that pulling out his phone at a time like this would be strange, he might even have played some music.

How could anyone drive late at night without a little background music?

Just as Lu Ban sat in the passenger seat, carefully examining the crowbar in his hand, he felt the area ahead suddenly brighten slightly.

He raised his head and saw a face pressed against the window, its murky eyes staring fixedly at him.

It was a face that could absolutely not be called human.

Its eyes were tiny, with black vertical pupils in yellow irises. Its head was pointed, like that of some sort of beast.

Yet behind that face were long limbs and a slender body, like an ape's, though pale and hairless. Its fingers were long and thin, ending in sharp claws as they slapped against the window.

Creak—

The driver was startled by the sudden incident as well. He wrenched the steering wheel, and the entire bus lost its balance, charging wildly ahead before toppling and rolling over.

After one rotation, the wheels touched the ground again, but the interior was a complete mess. The lights had gone out, and darkness closed in around them.

Lu Ban tightened his grip on the crowbar and immediately looked up.

But the monster in front of the windshield had already vanished.

Only then did Lu Ban notice that there was a faint glow around them.

He warily looked out the window. This was not a ruin, but a stretch of vegetation.

The plants grew wildly, reaching a full person's height and giving off a ghostly green light that faintly illuminated the bus.

Hound swayed to his feet, pulled Stone up from where he had been startled awake, and then checked Mary's condition.

Mary was sprawled over the back of the front seat and had not yet recovered.

"Are you all right?"

Lu Ban turned to ask the driver, only to find the driver's seat empty. The window had shattered, and the portly driver seemed to have been thrown out.

"What kind of plants are these?"

Hound came to the front door and shoved it open, then climbed out.

Lu Ban followed behind him. The ground beneath his feet was very soft, like mud soaked with water.

He glanced toward the back of the bus. The steel behemoth had crushed a faint trail into the ground, and it was clear that they were not far from the road.

But Lu Ban then noticed that the crushed trail seemed to be gradually closing up.

The ghostly green plants swayed in the breeze as if they were alive.

"Incredible."

Mary got out of the bus as well. She looked at the vegetation that towered over her and reached out to touch it.

She brushed aside a clump.

Behind the fluorescent plants, a face suddenly appeared.

*

Thank you all for your votes, follows, tips, and support!

Please vote!