A Treasure as Precious as Life

The person tied to the wooden post kept twisting and struggling desperately, trying to break free.

But his body was tightly bound with ropes, and his hands were tied behind his back. There was no way he could escape.

His struggling only drew laughter from the five men.

"Struggle all you want. Work up a sweat before you die, and we can use less salt..." said a one-eyed man by the fire in a hoarse voice. "Who are you!?"

He had spotted Shen Feng.

Several people who had been setting up a roasting rack immediately rose to their feet and turned to look at Shen Feng.

Some had tumors on their faces, some had split lips, while others had crooked mouths and slanted eyes. Their limbs were also somewhat mutated. Their tattered cloaks, lit by the firelight, made them look like the Five Brothers of Hell, good friends of the Three Sisters of Hell.

"Hahaha, it's food! And horses! Two horses, even!"

"Dinner delivered right to our door!"

"God of East Wind has blessed us! Grab him!"

As they spoke, all five drew black longswords and axes and charged at Shen Feng!

Shen Feng could not help letting out a long breath. Their accents were strange and hoarse, and they spoke extremely quickly, but he could still understand them. There was no language barrier.

Then he closed his eyes and began to imagine the feeling of facing dozens of apes alone in the Stone Statue Apocalypse—the suffocating madness and cruelty of furious rage.

"The food's scared stupid. He doesn't even dare move!"

"No, he doesn't have any sickly mutations, and his skin is good. We can sell him as breeding stock for a good price!"

"He has two horses. How could he be an ordinary person? Be careful. He might have a... gun?"

"A gun? Impossible. How could a holy relic like that still exist? Besides, without holy bullets, they say guns are useless."

"Doesn't matter. Cut off his limbs first!"

One of the bandits sneered and swung his black longsword at Shen Feng's arm.

At that moment, Shen Feng suddenly opened his eyes!

His pupils had become the vertical slits of a feline predator, and the muscles beneath his skin bulged as his body turned a sickly grayish white.

Clang! The blade struck Shen Feng's body, producing a sharp metallic ring.

The bandit holding the sword froze. Before he could react, Shen Feng's fist smashed brutally into his face. The immense force hit like a hammer, caving in his facial features as his body went limp and collapsed.

One strike, instant death!

With parts of his body petrified, Shen Feng let out a furious roar. He grabbed another bandit by the neck and twisted hard, then viciously smashed the man's head into the head of another.

Like two watermelons smashing together.

The remaining two bandits instantly came to their senses and turned to flee.

Shen Feng casually picked up the two longswords from the ground and hurled them with force.

The two running men only felt a chill on their backs. Then blade tips suddenly burst from their chests, and they slowly fell to the ground.

"...Savage... he's... a Savage..."

The last bandit spoke in broken fragments before falling completely silent...

Shen Feng let out a long breath and looked at his hands.

This was the first time he had killed people.

He had hunted plenty of animals and apes in the Stone Statue Apocalypse using all kinds of gunpowder weapons, but they had not been his own kind.

This time, however, he had personally killed several humans.

Yet he did not feel nervous or uncomfortable. Instead, he felt somewhat relieved.

People who hunted other people in broad daylight and planned to roast them alive and eat them were already demons. They could no longer be called human.

In extreme circumstances—such as a plane crash in the frozen depths of the mountains with no food—it was understandable to survive on the bodies of dead companions.

But this kind of behavior, treating one's own kind as food and even taking pleasure in it, filled Shen Feng with fury.

Order had collapsed in the apocalypse, and survival took priority over everything. He might encounter this again in the future. The fewer times, the better...

Shen Feng did not leave his combat form. He searched the bandits and found only a dozen or so bottle caps.

The caps came in various sizes and were mostly plastic. The lettering and logos on them had been badly worn away, but he could vaguely make out words such as "Unified Iced Tea" and "Nutrient Express."

Some even had "Thank you for your patronage," assorted prize-draw QR codes, and two or three that said, "Another bottle free."

Whether it was the first kneeling man and the two pursuers, or these five bandits, all of them carried bottle caps and seemed to treasure them as if they were something precious.

Why were they collecting bottle caps?

Shen Feng suddenly thought of a game he had played before: Black Isle Studios' classic post-apocalyptic game, the Fallout series!

It depicted a wasteland apocalypse after a nuclear war as well, where human civilization had completely collapsed and scattered survivors struggled to live in settlements.

The currency from before the war had long become worthless. What people used as money were the metal caps from glass Coca-Cola bottles.

Could the surviving humans in this nuclear wasteland apocalypse also be using bottle caps as their basic currency?

The more Shen Feng thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. He took out the bag he had obtained a few days ago for holding bottle caps and tossed in the dozen or so he had just found.

But did these caps have different denominations?

How many small caps was one large cap worth?

How many Unified Iced Tea caps was an ordinary Master Kong mineral water bottle cap worth?

Thinking this, Shen Feng walked over to the "food" tied to the post.

At that moment, the "food" was completely motionless, as if he had passed out.

Unmoved, Shen Feng said expressionlessly, "Stop pretending. I know you're awake. Name?"

Still in his combat form, all his senses were several times sharper than usual. He had already noticed the other person's slightly hurried breathing and caught a glimpse of their gaze hidden beneath their long hair.

Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, the "food" immediately tossed aside their long hair, revealing a pretty face as she pleaded:

"Mr. Savage... please, don't eat me. My meat is sour and tastes terrible... And I have a treasure! I have a treasure to offer you!"

This "food" was actually a girl of sixteen or seventeen. Though her face was dusty, her features were fairly delicate, and her skin gleamed a wheat-gold color in the firelight.

It seemed she had mistaken him for some kind of Savage.

Shen Feng remained impassive and asked, "What treasure? Name?"

He did not eat people, but in this apocalyptic hellscape, he certainly would not be some softhearted fool.

No one knew whether this girl harbored any hostility toward him or what hidden trump cards she might have.

"My... my name? I'm Firefly, a miner from Nameless Town..." While Shen Feng examined her, the girl examined him as well. When she clearly saw the young man's appearance and his clear, calm eyes, she immediately asked, "You're not a Savage?"

Shen Feng frowned.

Seeing his impatience, the girl hurriedly said:

"The treasure is in a hidden pocket close to my body. Those wasteland bandits captured me for it, but after they caught me, they suddenly got hungry..."

Nameless Town? A miner?

Human settlements still existed in this world, and they had industrial production. They could even mine minerals?

Shen Feng rapidly drew several conclusions from her words.

Then he reached over and searched the girl's body, making sure she had no hidden weapons. Only then did he use his dagger to cut the ropes binding her, though he did not untie her hands.

Firefly was sensible enough to understand that this moment would decide whether she lived or died. She immediately slipped her hands into her clothes and rummaged around. Before long, she pulled out something like a prized offering and held it out before Shen Feng.

It was a small pouch woven from bark and dried grass roots.

Shen Feng opened the pouch. Inside was a carefully folded page of faded, yellowed paper. The paper had become brittle with age, and he had no idea how many years old it was.

He unfolded the sheet somewhat roughly, drawing an anxious look from Firefly.

Two large words immediately came into view:

Shocking Deals!

RT-Mart Supermarket Weekend Mega Sale!

Member Prices, So Many Surprises!

Appliances

Haier refrigerators, 500 yuan off...

Gree air conditioners, price reduced...

Meat

Pork, 20 yuan per jin...

Beef, per jin...

This was a promotional flyer for a supermarket sale.