The stone repeated his words exactly.
Its aged voice sounded like an emotionless robot. "What do humans live for when they can't even leave the Solar System? Reproduction?"
Zhang Ming mimicked the stone's tone and sighed. "There are so many conflicts in this world, and people are so far apart... sometimes even farther apart than the stars."
"I understood something a long time ago: living means being lonely."
With the Ice Spear in hand, Zhang Ming grew increasingly adept at his work, separating flesh from bone. The feeling of bringing in a harvest was actually rather satisfying.
"But this kind of loneliness is a little too cruel. I'm talking to a stone, looking just like one of those raving psychiatric patients in a hospital."
The eel's skin was remarkably tough. Using the Ice Spear's sharp edge, he peeled it off intact. Later, he could make it into a piece of protective clothing.
The stone: "..."
Zhang Ming's chatter seemed to have stunned the stone so badly that it sat there in a daze, even forgetting to repeat him.
Zhang Ming continued talking to himself. "When I was little, I wanted a skateboard, but my family wouldn't buy me one. So I made one with four bearings from home and a wooden board I picked up on the street."
"My woodworking skills were terrible, so there was a ton of friction, and it couldn't turn. Still, it was usable. Find a slope, and you could ride it."
"But the good times didn't last. One day at lunch, Dad told me he needed those bearings for the shop's security door."
"No way was I agreeing to that! I'd spent a whole weekend making that thing, so I refused."
"Without another word, Dad ran into the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and chopped my