Old Man Li had not taken part in the fight, so naturally he was not entitled to a share. Now that he had volunteered to forgo one, Captain Hui said nothing more to him.
Instead, he looked at Chu Sheng and the other two and continued, "We have five supernatural materials in total. Now that Chu Sheng can fuse sacrificial items, supernatural materials have become strategic resources for us."
"Based on everyone's contribution, Zhu Qing gets two shares of supernatural materials. He bore the most pressure. Without him, we couldn't have killed the Eerie Pig, and it would have caused us a lot of trouble."
Everyone present nodded at his words.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Captain Hui continued, "As for Chu Sheng, he made a major contribution too. Without him, even if Zhu Qing had held the Eerie Pig down, it would have broken free sooner or later. We might still have killed it in the end, but we would definitely have suffered heavy losses."
"So Chu Sheng gets two shares as well."
"As for An Xi and me, we each get one."
Chu Sheng, who had remained silent with his eyes fixed on the pig's spine, suddenly froze. As if he had spotted an oversight, he turned to Captain Hui.
"That's six shares of supernatural materials. There are only five here."
As he spoke, his gaze shifted to the pig's spine, and he raised an eyebrow.
Captain Hui did not keep them guessing. "The four trotters are straightforward: four shares of materials. As for that spine, anyone with eyes can tell it's different, so we'll count it as two shares."
"Any objections to that arrangement?"
"No." Everyone shook their heads.
Indeed, counting that pig's spine as two shares was perfectly reasonable.
"Since everyone agrees, let's choose in order of contribution."
As he spoke, Captain Hui looked at Zhu Qing. "Zhu Qing took it head-on this time, so his contribution was definitely the greatest. Without you, no matter how much damage Chu Sheng inflicted on the Eerie Pig, he couldn't have killed it."
"Do you agree?"
"No objections." Chu Sheng shook his head. Although he had killed people and had little in the way of moral limits, he understood very well that Zhu Qing had done more this time. If he wanted to stay comfortably with the convoy, he had to accept a fair arrangement like this.
Besides, he genuinely agreed with Captain Hui's assessment.
This time, only Chu Sheng and Zhu Qing had the right to choose the pig's spine.
Looking at Chu Sheng, then at the pig's spine, Zhu Qing scratched his head. "But I don't have any use for this stuff."
All he wanted right now was Anomalies hide to make clothes. He had little interest in anything else.
But remembering how hard Chu Sheng had fought for him during the battle, Zhu Qing cleared his throat. "Then I'll take the pig's spine."
He looked at Chu Sheng as he spoke. "If you want the spine, you can give me two trotters for it later, or fuse two sacrificial items for me free of charge."
"This spine is too big to fit on your motorcycle. I'll carry it for you for now. That'll make it easier to head down the road."
"Down the fucking road to your grave?" An Xi had been listening from the side and had not intended to interrupt. But the moment she heard him say that, she swung her Spear, smacking him across the back with its shaft as she cursed.
"Say something that unlucky again, and I'll beat you up!"
An Xi glared fiercely at Zhu Qing.
Old Man Li also gave him a hostile look.
He, too, seemed displeased with Zhu Qing's choice of words.
Chu Sheng had little reaction. After hearing Zhu Qing's offer, he nodded. "Then I'll come trade with you later."
"Or you can bring me the pig's spine and have me fuse two sacrificial items for you."
Chu Sheng did not particularly mind fusing sacrificial items.
As long as it wasn't upgrading them, anything was negotiable!
Fusing supernatural materials into sacrificial items was his Sequence ability.
Once the initial price for a Sequence ability had been paid, using it did not require any further payment.
After fusing a sacrificial item, he only needed to rest for a while before he could use his ability again.
He called that rest period a cooldown.
The cooldown was roughly six hours, though it was gradually getting shorter.
It seemed his Sequence was advancing every moment.
He had also learned about this from Captain Hui and Zhu Qing.
It wasn't just him. Once anyone awakened a Sequence, it would keep growing. Combat Sequences like Zhu Qing's grew even faster through battle.
His giant sequence in particular could advance simply by taking hits or hitting others.
That was also why no one had been surprised when Zhu Qing suddenly announced earlier that he had reached Sequence 8.
There was no special reason. They had long been prepared for it.
The next to advance would most likely be An Xi or their captain, Zhang Hui.
One also had a combat Sequence, while the other used his Sequence every day to guide them.
Using a Sequence frequently could likewise make it grow faster.
Once the supernatural materials had been distributed, Captain Hui looked ahead of the convoy, his fingers moving constantly as he made his calculations. Then he addressed everyone.
"Rest up a little. The Gas Station isn't far ahead. The Eerie Pig charged out from there, so there aren't any Anomalies left over there."
Everyone nodded. In truth, they knew that even without his calculations.
The closer they were to an Anomalies, the more easily it could sense the presence of life force, and it would instinctively approach the convoy.
When the apocalypse began, people had tried building survival bases, but every attempt had ended the same way. Too many people had gathered together.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in one place were like an artificial sun in the night to the Anomalies.
Within ten days of people gathering at the base, the entire place had been wiped out.
At the time, Chu Sheng had considered checking out one of those survival bases. After hearing the news on the radio, he had spent two days shuddering at how close he had come. Fortunately, he hadn't gone.
After that, humanity's leadership devised a plan centered on Sequences like Captain Hui's, which were suited to guiding others. Each guide would lead a separate group, taking survivors through the apocalypse while avoiding the Anomalies hunting them.
However, not every Sequence Transcendent suited to being a guide wanted to look after survivors.
But the leadership explained the theory of life force. Everyone's life force attracted Anomalies. Although one person's life force was far weaker than that of several hundred people, to an Anomalies, it was essentially all the same.
It was just that the more life force there was, the more the Anomalies liked it, and the more easily it drew their attention.
But once an Anomalies targeted a convoy, if the Sequence Adepts could not defeat it, those ordinary people became the tail.
It was the same principle as a lizard shedding its tail to survive danger.
Cruel, yet it still afforded ordinary people as much protection as possible.
Otherwise, given their temperaments, many of these people would never have bothered with the survivors.
To Sequence Transcendents, ordinary people were their tails.
"I wonder when these days will finally end." Old Man Li came up beside Chu Sheng, took a gourd from his waist, and drank a couple of mouthfuls.
A strong smell of alcohol immediately filled Chu Sheng's nose and mouth.
"We're about to enter the Gas Station, and you're still drinking?!"
"Life is but a dream. Besides, I'm not drunk." Old Man Li smacked his lips and let out a satisfied breath.
An Xi came over as well. She seemed to have heard Old Man Li's first remark. After a long silence, she too looked into the distance.
"I believe that even in the apocalypse, there has to be a City of Dawn."
"If there isn't, then we'll build one ourselves!"
Before you continue