Laws of the Apocalypse

Xia Leng let out a self-deprecating, bitter laugh. When had he become so sentimental? He shook his head, refusing to dwell on those nearly forgotten memories.

He pulled himself together and sat up. After consuming the beetle's blood, his stomach, which had been so hollow it ached, felt much better.

Xia Leng picked up his knife again. While his strength was still temporarily replenished, he prepared to dismantle the giant beetle before him.

Don't let the hard shell fool you; although the insect weighed over a dozen jin, the edible meat that could be harvested was at most two jin. The vast majority of the rest was armor and the additional bones that had grown after its mutation.

He skillfully operated the bone knife, first cutting off the head of the beetle—from which he had already sucked out the cerebral fluid—and dug out a fingernail-sized black crystal from its skull, casually tossing it into his pocket.

This type of crystal existed in the brains of almost every mutated creature, including various types of living corpses and Baptized Ones.

Furthermore, the size and quality of the crystal contained within the brain varied depending on the species and the strength of the creature.

Xia Leng had spent quite some time researching these crystals in the past, but he had never discovered any other use for them.

He had even tried swallowing such stones, but aside from causing difficulties during his second bowel movement, they did not enhance his strength as the descriptions he had once read suggested...

Of course, perhaps they were simply useless to him, but in the eyes of the managers of certain high-level fortresses, they were treasures, and the demand for them was far from being met.

Although he didn't know what they used these stones for, and they certainly wouldn't tell survivors like him, they were willing to trade various scarce resources for them.

Naturally, these crystals from the brains of mutated creatures became the universal currency among the surviving humans of the apocalypse.

Of course, depending on the scarcity of the crystal, the resources that could be exchanged for them varied accordingly.

The fingernail-sized black crystal in Xia Leng's hand could probably only be traded for a palm-sized piece of edible meat or a pair of worn-out socks.

Just as he was about to continue dissecting the rest of the giant beetle's body, he suddenly heard a chaotic sound of footsteps coming from the silent street ruins outside!

This caused Xia Leng to immediately stop his cutting motion and press himself vigilantly against the filthy floor!

In this day and age, besides mutated beasts that could pose a threat to you, there were also fellow humans who were even more sinister than the beasts.

This was why Xia Leng would rather struggle to survive alone in the dangerous ruins of the outside world than go to those temporarily established camps to cooperate and survive.

Perhaps in a camp, everyone could look after each other, and the success rate of hunting while gathered together would increase significantly.

But that was only under the condition of temporary harmony when food distribution was sufficient.

If one day the creatures around the camp were all hunted clean and the food stocks were emptied.

Then, you would become the prey of your former partners.

Don't ask why he knew so much; it was because Xia Leng had once been a member of such a camp.

The terrifying scar, nearly several dozen centimeters long on his back, had completely severed his trust in his own kind.

Of course, the guy who gave Xia Leng that scar didn't fare much better; the bone blade in his hand was taken from that traitor's leg bone...

He lay on the ground, holding his breath, concentrating his attention on the sound of the frantic footsteps on the street outside as they gradually approached this area.

And behind them, another wave of complex, dense footsteps followed closely.

Clearly, this was a chase between a hunter and their prey.

The footsteps in the lead were running too anxiously; perhaps tripped by a broken steel bar in a piece of shattered concrete, the person let out an "ah" and fell into the ruins. It must have been a hard fall, as they let out a painful moan.

And listening to the voice, it sounded like a girl?

"Hmph! You stinking bitch! Let you escape! As your master, do I not even have the right to control a thing like you!!"

The chaotic footsteps behind caught up, followed immediately by a string of vicious curses.

Hearing all this, Xia Leng had roughly understood what was going on; it was likely a slave from some camp who couldn't stand the torture and had escaped from their slave owner.

The rule of the jungle applied in every era.

It was just that in the apocalypse, this rule appeared even more primitive and barbaric.

Whoever had the greater strength, the harder fists, and the stronger equipment had the right to speak in this world, without having to worry about legal punishment, public condemnation, and so on.

Xia Leng quietly approached the window sill, blending himself into the darkness, and looked at the situation on the street ruins outside.

These guys, weren't they afraid of attracting Night Demons by shouting so loudly outside?

Ever since that black rain five years ago, even the sky had become bizarre and unpredictable.

The sun no longer rose from the east in an orderly fashion; instead, it would either hang in the sky for several weeks without setting, with daylight persisting and baking the earth with temperatures of nearly 50 degrees Celsius, or it would rise from the west and set again in less than an hour like a shy girl, not rising again for over half a month...

And now, it had been about 60 hours since the last time the sun rose.

The Crimson Moon hanging in the night sky illuminated this wasteland even more eerily, forming a terrifying scene like an Avici hell.

However, it was through this eerie moonlight that Xia Leng was able to see a little bit of the surroundings during the dangerous night.

He saw that on the street ruins below, five men wearing mutated animal skins were surrounding a woman with tattered clothes who had fallen to the ground.

These five men all had fierce expressions; some were tall and thin, some short and fat, and only the leader appeared slightly more robust and normal.

As for the bony woman begging bitterly on the ground, she had been tortured and starved until she was nothing but skin and bones.

Even from a distance, Xia Leng could see the shocking wounds on her body; being able to escape such a long distance could be considered her limit.

He guessed that these people were likely members of a small temporary camp within a 10-kilometer radius.

After the female slave was caught, they naturally gave her a sound beating. To prevent her screams from attracting other monsters they couldn't handle, they had stuffed a piece of waste cloth into her mouth in advance, leaving her only able to emit muffled, painful groans.

"Boss, we can probably stop now. After all, running out of the camp at night is a huge risk. Let's hurry up and take her back."

A short man, standing less than 1.6 meters tall, leaned in toward the leader and looked at the woman lying on the ground, beaten to the brink of death, before speaking with some hesitation.

"Hmph, fine. But this is already the third time she's tried to run. Three strikes and you're out—break her legs! Lock her back in the spare warehouse; we'll keep her as future rations!"

Hearing the leader's chilling words, Xia Leng couldn't help but feel his eyebrow twitch uncontrollably.

Moments later, he watched as they used crude clubs to shatter the skin-and-bone legs of the female slave...

Xia Leng watched the entire scene without the slightest emotional stir, and he certainly didn't harbor any foolish notions of playing the hero to save a damsel in distress.

In this era, if you can live better than others, you are a hero, and you will be worshipped by those around you.

Watching them hoist the unconscious, pain-stricken slave onto their backs to leave, Xia Leng let out a slight sigh of relief and turned back around to continue butchering his prey.

However, the moment he turned his head, a ghastly pale face appeared before him out of nowhere, causing his eyes to widen until they nearly split at the corners...