Garlic Gone Wild

After getting out of the vehicle, Chen Luo prepared to start collecting supplies.

Dharma King kept watch outside the cold-storage facility. If anyone approached, he would alert Chen Luo.

First, Chen Luo opened the refrigerated storeroom holding his own meat and collected everything he had stockpiled.

He could not have come before the apocalypse because he had not paid the outstanding balance. It was two hundred million-no one would have trusted him with that.

People would have noticed the supplies disappearing.

Only what he had secured was truly his. With all that meat collected, Chen Luo felt much more at ease. Whether anyone else had meat to eat in the future was none of his concern. At least he and Su Dazhu now had more than they could ever finish.

But this was only the beginning. He intended to take every useful supply in the entire facility.

Chen Luo opened the door to the second storeroom.

The contents made the corner of his mouth twitch.

An entire storeroom packed with garlic, who knew how many tons of it.

What am I supposed to do with all this garlic?

Garlic gone wild.

Whatever. Garlic is an everyday seasoning, too. With enough people, we'd go through plenty every day. We'd need it for stir-fries and other dishes.

Take it all.

On to the next storeroom.

For fuck's sake.

Ginger strikes back.

An entire storeroom of ginger.

No wonder people talk about garlic going wild and ginger striking back. Don't tell me you profiteers drove up the prices yourselves?

The next storeroom gave Chen Luo a pleasant surprise.

There were huge quantities of raw pig trotters and other pork offal, including hearts, lungs, and livers.

These will do. All I stockpiled was pork, so this fills in the gaps.

The next storeroom held... hmm, frozen chicken feet, wings, and drumsticks.

Seeing plenty of duck heads as well, Chen Luo hesitated. I don't eat duck heads.

Whatever. I'm here, so I might as well take them.

There were plenty of whole chickens and ducks, too.

In the next storeroom, Chen Luo's eyes lit up at the boxes upon boxes of frozen prawns. This room seemed dedicated to fish and seafood.

There were all sorts of fish and seafood.

Chen Luo opened a box at random. It was packed with mantis shrimp.

These were delicious even if you simply boiled them.

Beaming, Chen Luo collected everything.

Mantis shrimp, let's go!

To Chen Luo's surprise, quite a lot of tea was stored here as well. Although he rarely drank tea, he might as well take it all.

Even more surprising-good grief-there were heaps of ice pops, ice cream, and the like.

There were plenty of fruits and vegetables, too. He took them all.

Chen Luo estimated that there were over sixty thousand tons of goods.

A fully stocked cold-storage facility. Sweet!

It took half a day for Chen Luo to put all the supplies into his Ability Space. There was no helping it; there was simply too much.

Thoroughly satisfied, Chen Luo headed home with his haul.

He drove the heavy truck, simply abandoning the sedan he had arrived in.

Sedans were everywhere in the city, but heavy trucks like the one Chen Luo had carefully selected were almost impossible to find.

Humming a little tune, Chen Luo planned to go home first and check on Su Dazhu, then find time to visit the grain depot.

The cold-storage facility and the grain depot were over a hundred kilometers apart, hardly close. If it had been on his way, Chen Luo would have gone straight there.

Only half a day into the apocalypse, no zombies on the road could stop Chen Luo yet.

He turned onto a narrow road and saw no zombies along it.

A young man with bleached yellow hair, hiding behind a roadside tree, brightened when he saw a heavy truck approaching.

He could hide from the zombies here temporarily, but he could not stay forever. What would he eat or drink?

If he could get a ride in that truck, that would be perfect.

The blond tightened his grip on the wooden stick he had found for protection, ran into the middle of the road, and shouted.

"Hey, driver! Help me out! Give me a ride!"

Chen Luo remained expressionless. There was no way he was stopping.

Except for Su Dazhu, Chen Luo would not take anyone in during the first month of the apocalypse.

During that time, survivors could still obtain some readily accessible supplies as long as they were brave enough.

They had not yet experienced despair, or rather, they had not yet learned what hunger felt like.

You could approach someone who had enough to eat and tell him to follow you.

Or you could offer him a loaf of bread after he had been starving for ages, giving him help when he needed it most.

Which approach would work better?

The answer was obvious.

Besides, people were easier to train once they had gone hungry.

Even Mi Ling and Mi Li, whom Chen Luo was eager to recruit, would have to go hungry for a while. He was in no hurry.

Why should I give some blond punk a ride?

He's holding a stick. What if he gets in and clubs me while I'm driving?

Chen Luo kept driving without slowing down.

If you dare stand in the road and refuse to move, I really will run you over.

The blond froze when he saw that the heavy truck showed no sign of slowing.

Even if you won't help, you could at least stop and say so.

What the hell is this? Are you trying to run me over?

People these days have absolutely no sense of decency.

With the truck barely a dozen meters away, the blond hurried out of its path.

As the heavy truck swept past and was about to drive off, the blond cursed furiously.

"Fuck your mother! Just you wait! If I get the chance, I'll beat the shit out of you!"

Hearing that, Chen Luo's expression darkened, and he stopped the truck.

There was no reason to doubt the blond's words. If he ever gained the opportunity and the means, he would definitely seek revenge.

If I ask you for something, you have to help me. If you don't, I'll hold a grudge. That was human nature.

Borrowing money was one example.

In ordinary times, holding a grudge like that only meant badmouthing someone behind their back or playing petty tricks.

After the apocalypse, it could get people killed.

Chen Luo had not intended to bother with the blond, but now he could not let him live.

The same principle still applied: the man had threatened him, however slight and almost negligible that threat might be.

Chen Luo said to Dharma King, "Did you hear what he said? He said he wanted to eat dog meat."

Dharma King froze. I might not understand everything humans say, but I'm certain he never said 'dog meat.'

Seeing Chen Luo stop, the blond immediately rushed over menacingly, wooden stick in hand.

The door opened, and Dharma King jumped straight out of the truck.

Dharma King glared fiercely at the blond. Whether you want to eat dog meat or not, if my master wants you dead, you have to die.

The blond was a little startled to see a dog jump out of the truck, but he did not panic. He sneered.

"Watch my Dog-Beating Staff Technique!"

The blond raised his wooden stick, ready to strike Dharma King viciously.

Disdain flashed in Dharma King's eyes. I have magic. Don't tell me you think I'll fight you up close?

More than half a day had passed, and Dharma King had fully recovered the power he had used that morning.

He opened his mouth and shot a purple arc of electricity at the blond.

Completely unprepared, the blond was hit without fail, every strand of his yellow hair instantly standing on end.

Although Dharma King had only recently mastered his lightning ability, it was still quite lethal against ordinary humans and low-level zombies.

The blond collapsed.

Chen Luo said calmly, "Finish him off. Don't use lightning."

Chen Luo had also told Dharma King to attack because he wanted to train him. For now, their encounters were only minor skirmishes, but difficult battles would inevitably come.

More practice now would keep him from floundering later.

Ability power was limited. Wasting it to finish off an enemy was unwise.

Previously, Dharma King had only killed zombies, never survivors. He had merely knocked Zhang Meng down.

Although Dharma King was a dog, he still needed this experience.

Dharma King visibly hesitated, but under Chen Luo's gaze, he still sank his sharp teeth into the blond's throat and tore it open.