Chapter 30
Seeds.
Lu Li nodded distractedly, then stared blankly at the muscular man nearby.
District Two was an urban village. Since it was an old neighborhood, rent and utilities were relatively cheap, which was precisely why most of its residents came from ordinary families.
While they were fleeing earlier, that muscular man had even scooped up a little girl who had fallen, slung her over his shoulder, and taken off running.
In an apocalypse like this, anyone who still remembered to help others in a crisis was truly a rare good soul.
"Hello, I'm Lu Li, deputy leader of Dawn Camp. Are you two related?" Lu Li walked over to the burly man and asked curiously.
Hearing this, Wang Haipeng hurriedly got to his feet and answered stiffly, "Hello, sir. My name's Wang Haipeng."
"I don't know this little girl. But I saw them fall, and I didn't see her parents helping her up, so I brought her along."
He really didn't know her.
Lu Li couldn't help looking at the little girl clutching Wang Haipeng's trouser leg, her head lowered, too afraid to look at him.
"You're a true brave soul. Dawn Camp welcomes you." Lu Li extended his right hand, a bright smile on his face.
Who wouldn't want more good people like this in their camp?
People like Wang Haipeng, who instinctively protected the young in a crisis, were already few and far between.
In this world, the vast majority were ordinary people-the sort whose goodness wasn't particularly obvious and whose wickedness wasn't absolute.
Truly good and truly evil people were ultimately the minority. Lu Li had always felt he was lucky. In the seven days since the apocalypse began, the people he had met happened to belong to that small minority of good souls.
As for those in the neighboring camp?
He had only heard about them. That was precisely why Lu Li thought he was lucky.
Jun Shutong also walked over to Lu Li's side and gently comforted the terrified little girl.
"Did you work in bodybuilding before the apocalypse?" Lu Li asked curiously.
"I was a trainer at a nearby gym, but I'd only just graduated from sports school. I don't have much work experience." Wang Haipeng scratched the back of his head and explained bashfully.
Lu Li nodded.
No wonder this fellow's muscles were so impressively solid.
Lu Li chatted with Wang Haipeng a little longer while keeping an eye on the emergency stairwell.
Only after confirming that the three Palpitoad brothers hadn't followed them did Lu Li lead everyone back to camp.
By the time they returned, piping-hot ginger tea had already been prepared.
Fatty Lei called out to everyone, "Everyone! We've prepared hot water for you to bathe. Head over to the washrooms and wash up first, then come back for some hot ginger tea."
When they heard they could even bathe here, the newly arrived survivors were all thrilled. Several girls burst into tears of joy on the spot.
"Go on. You might be a sturdy big fellow, but you still need to watch out for the cold." Lu Li patted Wang Haipeng's shoulder and reminded him.
Wang Haipeng's muscles were sharply defined. To the bodybuilding-obsessed Machoke, he would definitely qualify as their ideal "dream man."
If he had been a slightly worse person, Lu Li would definitely have sweet-talked him into taking some protein powder to the gym to visit the Machoke.
If everything went well, a hunk like Wang Haipeng might end up "mixing it up" with the Machoke at the gym. But if things went badly,
Wang Haipeng would most likely be throwing his life away by showing up with protein powder, effectively delivering himself to the Machoke as takeout.
After all, humans weren't the only ones who believed in eating something to strengthen the corresponding part of the body. In those Machoke's eyes, Wang Haipeng might well be a piece of fresh, muscular "food."
Lu Li had always thought of himself as an ordinary person whose goodness wasn't obvious enough and whose wickedness wasn't complete enough.
If he had been a coldhearted evil scientist, he would have had no qualms about tricking Wang Haipeng into working out with those Machoke.
If the gamble paid off, his research would take a huge leap forward. If it failed, it would only cost one insignificant human life.
But Lu Li ultimately suppressed the thought. His conscience wouldn't let him do it-he could ruthlessly kill bad people, but he could never deceive a good man into getting himself killed.
Lu Li, who had only just bathed earlier, took another bath and drank a cup of warm ginger tea.
In Jun Shutong's office.
Fresh from her bath, Jun Shutong gave off a delicate fragrance. Lu Li suspected she had used perfume.
In an apocalypse where danger lurked everywhere, daring to wear perfume struck Lu Li as no different from asking to die.
"Sister Jun, there's something I need to tell you." Lu Li decided to give Jun Shutong a warning.
Jun Shutong, who had just sat down, looked at Lu Li curiously. As it happened, she had something she wanted to tell him too.
"I saw a very pretty girl get attacked by a canine Magical Beast earlier. My guess is that the dog smelled her perfume, which let it pinpoint her location," Lu Li said solemnly.
He wasn't fearmongering. It had really happened, and he could even produce evidence.
After all, that Observer hadn't merely documented the incident; they had even recorded a video.
Jun Shutong: "..."
A flash of embarrassed irritation crossed Jun Shutong's face, and she retorted indignantly, "I didn't use perfume. This... this is natural."
Lu Li raised his eyebrows, a teasing smile curling his lips. His expression plainly said, Do you really expect me to believe that?
Did she really think this was the world of some melodramatic novel? With something as ridiculous as a naturally fragrant body?
Jun Shutong rolled her eyes at Lu Li and couldn't be bothered to explain.
"All right, I get it. Next time, please just say it directly instead of beating around the bush," Jun Shutong grumbled, her face dark.
"Heh, wasn't I just trying to spare your feelings?" Lu Li explained with a deliberately cheeky grin.
"By the way, you can send someone over there tomorrow. Those three Magical Beasts will probably take the bodies away, and then we can retrieve the supplies we left behind."
"But you'd better be careful. Those three Magical Beasts looked a bit like toads. They probably dislike sunny weather and only come out when it's overcast or raining. They usually hide in the sewers."
Lu Li hadn't forgotten the important business. Their retreat had been too rushed, and more than half their supplies were still at Entrance Seven. It would be troublesome if someone else picked them up.
Jun Shutong nodded.
They had risked their lives for those supplies. If they could get them back, she would be more than happy to do so.
"Have the casualty figures come in yet?" Lu Li continued.
"Little Lei is putting them together. So far, we've confirmed nine deaths, including
two longtime members of the camp." Jun Shutong sighed as she said this.
In this utterly wretched world, humans were simply too fragile.
For a moment, Lu Li didn't know how to comfort her. Given the current situation, casualties would probably become commonplace.
Jun Shutong could only get used to it gradually. He couldn't comfort her every time; these things were unavoidable.
Jun Shutong understood this perfectly well. She was simply softhearted and couldn't bear to see living people perish just like that.
After all, before the apocalypse began, human lives had still been precious.
"All right, let's stop talking about these depressing things. Take a look at this." Jun Shutong changed the subject and took a brocade pouch out of her pocket.
Lu Li took the pouch and opened it with a twist of his fingertips.
Inside was a seed-a green seed that shimmered faintly beneath the light.
Lu Li could guarantee that it wasn't from a plant native to this world. After all, what normal plant had glowing seeds?
"What's this?" Lu Li looked up at Jun Shutong curiously.
He already had a vague guess, but he still needed confirmation from Jun Shutong.
"An elderly man gave it to me. When the Magical Beasts arrived, he happened to be out scavenging through garbage. Since everything was chaotic, he hid in a rubbish heap."
"He found this seed in a Magical Beast's droppings. It was glowing at the time, and he thought it might be some kind of treasure, so he risked picking it up and bringing it back."
"And..."
Jun Shutong paused, then continued in a somewhat strange tone, "He also discovered a secret. Most Magical Beasts seem to dislike people smeared with Magical Beast droppings."
Lu Li: "..."
Apart from a few unusual Pokémon, most Pokémon would hate that. After all, no matter what world you were in, a mop dipped in shit had nuclear-level deterrent power.
Lu Li studied the seed in his hand thoughtfully. What he could now confirm was that it was probably the seed of some kind of Berry from the Pokémon world.
Of course, it could also be some special seed item, such as a Miracle Seed or a Psychic Seed.
"Does that elderly man know what kind of Magical Beast's droppings he found it in?" Lu Li continued.
Jun Shutong had clearly made a point of asking about that, so she answered immediately, "A bird-type Magical Beast. It looked a little like an osprey."
"A bird-type Magical Beast that looked a little like an osprey..."
Lu Li had a pretty good idea of which Pokémon it was.
Unless he was mistaken, that Magical Beast was probably Pidgeot, the final evolution of one of the Pokémon world's common early-route birds.
In other words, when these Pokémon arrived, they might even have brought part of the Pokémon world's ecosystem along with them.
Hundreds of millions of Pokémon had descended into this world. Most Berry seeds were difficult to digest. With such enormous numbers, even if only one in ten thousand Pokémon had an undigested Berry seed in its stomach,
at least ten thousand seeds would still appear in this world. If half of those seeds survived, the fifth batch of Berries would number at least five thousand.
Once there were enough Berries, the Pokémon's food problem could soon be solved.
If Berries could fill their stomachs, the Pokémon would no longer go out of their way to hunt humans for food. That counted as good news.
But whether the Pokémon world's Berries would damage this world's ecosystem remained an unknown.
Lu Li, however, felt that this would very likely be another crushing mismatch.
The Pokémon's arrival had already dealt a crushing blow to the animal world. Once plants from the Pokémon world arrived, they might do the same to the plant world.
This truly was a world that inspired endless sighs and utter despair.