New Food (Two Chapters in One)

The radio continued broadcasting the day's news.

"Dear listeners, wherever you may be in the far reaches of the world, do you feel lonely? Are you shocked by the changes sweeping the world? Do you feel anxious that humanity might be destroyed?"

"Order is collapsing across the globe. At least eighty countries have been completely paralyzed and fallen into anarchy."

"Inexplicable supernatural phenomena are occurring frequently, while unspeakable threats from beyond our world have appeared in the oceans. According to the latest Reuters report, an oceangoing freighter successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean's Mysterious Zone and returned to Earth, but every crew member aboard had vanished."

"Military personnel examined the tanker's surveillance footage and discovered that a pitch-black, six-clawed creature had slaughtered the crew at incredible speed. It could easily snap a human neck, its thick scales could withstand gunfire, and it could cover a hundred meters in just two seconds."

A hundred meters in two seconds...

Zhang Ming frowned, feeling that this monster might be somewhat stronger than he was.

"Compared with the tremendous combat power of mutated life-forms, humans are as fragile as saplings."

"An unknown, terrifying black fog has appeared around the pyramids in North Africa. Humans who approach it become dehydrated and turn into walking zombies. The fog continues to expand, and the authorities have requested emergency assistance from the International United Organization."

"Russian submarines have discovered a type of super life-form at the edge of the Arctic Ocean's Mysterious Zone. These creatures are ten thousand meters long and resemble jellyfish, with a mass far exceeding that of Earth's largest life-form. Only the insufficient depth of the shallow seas has kept them from encroaching upon human habitats for now."

"A mysterious Buddhist radiance has been discovered in Great Xia's Kunlun Mountains. Those who witness it fall unconscious. Upon awakening, they describe scenes of the end of the world."

"Earth's living conditions are deteriorating. We are swept along and driven onward by the torrent of our times, powerless to stop, without a moment to rest or catch our breath. Humanity struggles to survive in the cracks of this age. Against its vast backdrop, individual joys and sorrows, reunions and partings, are both immense and insignificant."

"We always imagine ourselves steering the course of our times, only to discover in the end that our entire civilization is merely a precariously balanced egg amid a torrent of mud and sand."

"Friends, wherever you may be, could you ever have imagined the arrival of a supernatural age?" Li Xianfeng asked over the radio, his question heartfelt.

Zhang Ming opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He merely felt the windblown sand of this age striking his face, bringing a scraping pain.

Turning around, he discovered that the sea turtles were listening to the broadcast too. They opened their mouths and went, "Awoo, awoo," wondering why this thing could make sounds, what it was saying, and how it seemed to carry a little emotion.

The turtles possessed some intelligence, but they could not understand human language yet. They were simply enjoying the commotion and begging for some crab shells to eat along the way.

Really, they were just gluttons.

Zhang Ming was actually quite curious about what miraculous properties these "crab shells" possessed that made the turtles so eager to beg for them.

He had even ground some into powder and eaten it for half a month.

In the end, he discovered that it did fuck all.

The warm current in his body was negligible.

Zhang Ming suspected that these turtles were so fond of crab shells because they lacked certain minerals.

Their bodies were enormous, and growing their shells required large quantities of minerals. Crab shells happened to contain plenty of the minerals they needed.

The newly arrived, exceptionally large turtle seemed to be talking to an exceptionally small one. Its earthshaking cries sent out such powerful gusts that they nearly blew out the fire.

Then the tiny turtle scurried out.

Its entire body was white, like white jade, with intricate, delicate patterns adorning its shell. Its two dark eyes resembled black pearls.

Judging by its size, it was a baby turtle only a year or two old, barely larger than a fist. Yet it was the very smartest turtle in the group.

"Awoo, awoo, awoo, awoo!!"

The little white turtle opened its mouth aggressively, trying to express something. It sounded adorably fierce.

"I don't speak turtle. Make yourself clear," Zhang Ming said irritably, slumped in his chair.

"Awoo, awoo!" The little white turtle swayed incessantly, as though performing a folk dance. It stretched its head forward with all its might, then raised a claw and made a scratching motion.

It looked a little like a dog.

Zhang Ming held out a finger, chuckling wickedly as he tried to pinch its outstretched head.

The little white turtle hastily pulled its head back and cried even more fiercely, "Awoo!!"

"Getting all worked up, are you? What, are you the Turtle King? Planning to rule this island? Have you asked old Zhang for permission?"

Still, he had roughly understood some of it.

Zhang Ming rose from his chair and looked at the newly arrived large turtle.

By the flickering firelight, he noticed barnacles growing on its neck and shell, each only the size of a river snail.

The other turtles kept rubbing these hard barnacles with their mouths, but their mouths were too clumsy to bite anything so small.

"You want me to remove these barnacles?" New food and attribute points had arrived. Delighted and surprised, Zhang Ming kept swallowing as he recalled the wonderful taste of stir-fried river snails.

"Awoo!" The little white turtle jumped excitedly.

Zhang Ming felt the Giant Sea Turtle's cool, smooth skin and found that it was fairly cooperative, remaining completely still.

"Stay still, and I can sort this out for you."

"Awoo, awoo..." The Giant Turtle was still a little reluctant, fidgeting awkwardly.

The name "barnacle" sounded like a kind of plant in Chinese, but it was actually a shelled parasite.

They attached themselves to turtles using mucus secreted by their netlike antennae, hampering their swimming. Sometimes they even burrowed into the skin and caused pain.

Videos of people helping sea turtles out at sea were common online. Now he had stumbled into the same situation himself, and the experience felt rather novel and interesting.

Zhang Ming took out a bone knife made from a pointed crab leg-he was actually just reluctant to use his metal knife-and heated it over the fire to sterilize it.

The enormous turtle stared at the bone knife with its dark eyes and wanted to withdraw its head and flee again.

But the little white turtle gave a roar, leaving the Giant Turtle no choice but to suppress its fear and extend its neck.

Zhang Ming scolded it. "So big, yet such a coward. Look at that sturdy body. You probably weigh dozens of tons, maybe a hundred. You could crush me to death in an instant. What the hell are you scared of?"

There was a faint crack.

The snail-sized barnacle came off at the root, bringing a trace of crimson blood with it.

The Giant Turtle felt a sharp pain in its neck and opened its mouth wide, but its body stayed obediently prone and motionless.

Its mouth remained open as its dark eyes caught sight of the barnacle in Zhang Ming's hand.

The turtles were astonished. Their natural enemy had been defeated so easily! Every one of them opened its mouth in utter shock and looked toward the smallest turtle, their "Turtle King."

"Awoo, awoo!"

The little white turtle crowed triumphantly and rolled on the ground in sheer delight, its tail nearly sticking up into the sky.

It seemed to be saying, I told you this strange fellow could remove barnacles, but you wouldn't believe me!

If it weren't for me, that turtle would still be suffering!

You should all be grateful to me!

"Awoo, awoo!" The turtles all acknowledged its brilliant, magnificent wisdom, cementing the little white turtle's position as "Turtle King."

"What are you looking at it for? Shouldn't you be thanking me? Aren't I the one doing the work?" Zhang Ming spat.

He tossed aside the barnacle in his hand and prepared to remove the next one, only to discover a turtle poking its head forward to steal his spoils. He immediately lashed out with a kick, knocking the thief's head sideways.

"Mine! Mine!" he shouted at the turtle, gesticulating wildly. "Unless your emperor gives it to you, you don't get to take it!"

The turtle did not understand.

But after being kicked, it immediately withdrew its head.

Then another thieving turtle appeared, poking its head forward.

So he simply stopped working, guarded his spoils, and kicked at them one after another with his Foshan Shadowless Kick.

Yet these thieves had thick hides and astonishing defenses, and Zhang Ming could hardly use his full strength. Before long, it had become a tug-of-war.

Finally, the Giant Sea Turtle infested with barnacles grew anxious—it was still suffering!

"Aah!!!"

Only the Giant Turtle's roar brought the chaotic battle to a halt.

"Rules matter, understand? Without rules, nothing works."

Zhang Ming patiently lectured them, fetched a suitcase, and dropped the removed barnacles into it one by one.

These turtles truly were an intelligent species. They might have developed their own language, and they understood that a companion's life mattered more than satisfying their appetites. They all stayed obediently where they were, gazing longingly as the barnacles accumulated in the suitcase and eventually formed a small mound.

After half an hour of work, darkness had fully fallen, and the radio broadcast had ended.

The barnacles on the Giant Turtle's neck had been completely removed. Free of its affliction, it happily wriggled its massive body and cried out gratefully, nearly crushing the fire beneath its bulk.

Zhang Ming had also gained a dozen or so jin of barnacles. Satisfied, he scooped up some seawater and kept them alive in the suitcase.

"I wonder how these taste. Will they give me attribute points and new abilities?"

He roasted one over the charcoal and cautiously put it into his mouth.

Honestly, without any seasonings, simply roasting it did not make for a very tasty meal. It had a strong seawater tang, and he also ate some mud, algae, and other impurities. It was rather disgusting.

But the warm current it brought to his body was very noticeable, far more so than crab meat!

As for a new ability, none appeared for now. Perhaps he had not eaten enough.

Zhang Ming was delighted. "Tomorrow's meals are sorted! But I'll have to soak them for a day so they can empty their guts."

"Do you know about the monster on the island? That thing poses a major threat to me. Do you have any information about it?"

Zhang Ming took out paper and a pen and drew a pitch-black, shadowlike creature. He also made a few gestures to indicate that it was very, very large, even larger than the Giant Turtle.

He had learned from the radio that the Mysterious Zone was dangerous and teeming with monsters.

Many human groups similarly trapped in the Mysterious Zone had already... perished.

After these groups perished, disasters often erupted on Earth. This put Zhang Ming under tremendous pressure. He had hidden here eating crab meat for a month and felt so stifled he was nearly going mad.

Yet this deserted island was almost absurdly peaceful.

He had already been here a month. Apart from the mysterious unknown at its center, there was nothing particularly unusual.

Why?

It hardly took any thought to realize that some tremendous danger might be lurking here!

Tremendous!

In terms of animal behavior, there was one explanation-territory!

An extremely powerful being occupied this deserted island. Every creature on it lived within that being's territory and could be hunted at its whim.

That was why no other monsters came here.

Once that thought arose, he could hardly eat or sleep in peace.

If these clever turtles could reveal some information, perhaps it would give him a chance to avoid the danger.

The other turtles continued gazing longingly at the barnacles, looking rather dim. Only the smallest little white turtle rushed over and caught Zhang Ming's shoelace in its mouth.

"Oh, do you know something?"

The little white turtle held the pen in its two foreclaws. Since its claws were not very dexterous, it produced some crooked scribbles.

Their approximate meaning seemed to be that, right at the center of the deserted island, there were some... blocks?

What did that mean?

"Blocks?"

The little white turtle tilted its head, then glanced at the sheet-metal hut.

"Blocks like my sheet-metal hut?" Zhang Ming was startled and bewildered. "There are houses in the middle of the island? What do you mean?"

He did not know whether he had misunderstood.

This information was rather significant.

Then the little white turtle discovered the joys of drawing and happily began scribbling away.

It drew one turtle, two turtles, three turtles...

Still puzzled, Zhang Ming committed the information to memory. Watching the white turtle draw, he wondered whether this was the intelligence brought about by mutation. They already possessed a rudimentary language. With just a small opportunity, they could learn drawing and writing.

It was entirely possible that they would evolve into a true intelligent civilization in the near future.

Of course, these turtles were still a little dim. As an ocean-dwelling species, they would struggle to master fire and had no way to smelt metal. These might be innate limitations.

But aside from turtles, were there more intelligent species in the world?

Mutated monkeys, for instance? Mutated apes?

What would happen if those intelligent species encountered human civilization?

What if races stronger than humanity existed in the Mysterious Zone?

Zhang Ming fell silent, climbed onto a turtle, and thoroughly enjoyed the peculiar thrill of enslaving a primitive civilization.

"I'll bully you first, before you have a chance to develop."

The turtle he was riding was equally excited, bouncing and hopping around the fire.

"Awoo! Awoo!"

This life was like that of a savage, like that of a hermit. Far from the cities, far from the countryside, far from everything.

And it felt as though nothing remained...

After they had made merry for a while, Zhang Ming snatched back his precious ballpoint pen. "If you want to draw, find a twig. Don't use my pen."

"Off you go, off you go. Time for bed."

... (P.S. Two chapters in one!)