It wasn’t that Xu San San’s collected items were particularly valuable, but their sheer volume was noticeably larger than others’ baskets, sacks, and cloth bags—completely exposed and visible to all.
Fortunately, after getting a clear look at the contents of the handcart, most people quietly dismissed any ill intentions.
These vines and branches weren’t edible or useful for survival. Moreover, the cloth bag hanging from her chest looked flat and empty, clearly indicating she hadn’t found anything worthwhile. It simply wasn’t worth risking trouble under the Guard Team’s watchful eyes.
Thus, completely unaware, Xu San San narrowly avoided disaster once again.
18:05:34 – Spaceships began arriving at the Base Docking Point one after another.
From the moment they disembarked, the Scavengers launched into their life-or-death free-for-all. Beyond the “lone wolves” and “group encirclements” Xu San San witnessed yesterday, there were those on skateboards, folding bikes, tricycles, and even drones transporting supplies through the air. In short, every conceivable method was employed—whatever was fastest and safest!
Xu San San glanced at her manual handcart.
Well, it was slow—admittedly very slow—but at least she didn’t need to buy an extra spaceship ticket!
Thankfully, she was hauling a cart full of dried branches and grass that hardly anyone would covet, so her journey proceeded relatively smoothly.
She returned to her small tent exactly at 18:30.
Lifting the plastic sheet, a wave of heat rushed out. The young man lying on the straw mat was drenched in sweat, his face flushed bright red from being steamed all day.
Ugh!
How careless!
The metal roof absorbed heat intensely, and the plastic sheet trapped the air. After baking in the sun all day, the temperature inside the tent was at least 10 degrees higher than outside.
Xu San San quickly rolled up the plastic sheets on all sides to ventilate the space, then rushed to the young man’s side to check on him.
As expected, after suffering in the heat all day, his wounds showed signs of inflammation again, and his forehead was burning with fever. Fortunately, his continuously blinking eyes confirmed he was still alive—otherwise, Xu San San would have worried he might have succumbed altogether.
With airflow from all directions, the tent’s temperature quickly dropped. Xu San San took her remaining half-bottle of water, poured it into the empty bottle beside the young man’s hand, and carefully helped him drink.
“Hang in there a little longer. First, I’ll help you to the restroom, then I’ll go fetch water.”
After carefully unloading the reeds, vines, and firewood from the handcart, Xu San San pulled the empty cart back and forth along the narrow paths of the Shantytown.
Fifteen minutes later, a small pile of firewood was finally assembled in the clearing before the tent.
Xu San San retrieved the matches left behind by the original owner from her cloth bag, quickly lit the fire, then took out the dented metal lunchbox. She repeatedly scooped water from the plastic bucket, boiled it, and poured it into a plastic basin to cool.
Another half hour passed, and the plastic basin was finally full of water. Only then did Xu San San stealthily peel apart her reed stalks, fish out a giant egg hidden inside, and bury it in the fire.
“Look what I found today—something really good!” she whispered proudly to the young man, terrified that anyone might overhear their secret egg possession.
The young man stared in astonishment at the egg the size of a human head.
She’s actually this capable! This is real meat!
Even when he was still the captain of the Dawn Squad, such meat was hard to come by!
Xie Yuan’s eyes widened, his mouth unconsciously beginning to water.
Another ten minutes passed, and Xu San San’s intuition told her the timing was about right. She extinguished the fire, letting the egg steam a while longer. Seizing the moment, she gulped down two more bottles of water and replenished the young man’s hydration before rubbing her hands together and tiptoeing to carry the cooked giant egg into the tent.
She lowered the plastic sheets around the tent. Fortunately, the plastic was of such mediocre quality that it was somewhat translucent, so the interior wasn’t too dark.
Xu San San let out a relieved sigh and began recounting the day’s events, all while using the surgical knife to crack open the eggshell:
“You have no idea… On my way back, I discovered them… They’re actually all uncontaminated… Didn’t you say there was no uncontaminated food left anymore…”
As the shell broke, a rich aroma of egg flooded the entire tent. If it weren’t for the tent being only light-permeable and not air-permeable, no matter how much Xu San San tried to conceal it, she couldn’t have hidden it from the dog-like sense of smell of the neighbors nearby!
Xu San San continued chattering away, while Xie Yuan, lying on the grass mat, drifted off into thought again:
What did she just say?
There wasn’t just one egg—there were three!
And what else?
All uncontaminated?!
How is that possible!
How is that possible!
Xie Yuan felt his worldview had been somewhat shattered over the past two days.
Was this still the post-apocalyptic world he was familiar with?
Meanwhile, Xu San San deftly split the egg in half, then placed it in a metal lunchbox and cut it into small pieces.
“Wow, not bad, not bad! It’s even soft-boiled with a runny yolk!”
As she spoke, she stuffed a piece into Xie Yuan’s mouth, then took a bite for herself.
“Mmm~~~ Absolutely delicious! Melts in your mouth, smooth but not greasy!”
She didn’t forget to give it a rave review.
The moment Xie Yuan touched the egg piece, he distinctly felt a familiar warmth spreading from his mouth throughout his body. As more pieces were fed to him, the energy of this warmth grew stronger.
No wonder it was uncontaminated food!
The Xeno-beast that laid these eggs must have harbored a healing-type Nuclear Crystal inside its body, and the crystal couldn’t have been small.
Otherwise, these giant eggs wouldn’t be uncontaminated, and the egg liquid wouldn’t contain such potent healing energy.
The neurotoxin in Xie Yuan’s body was slowly being dissolved by this warm flow. Soon, he realized his cervical spine seemed to have regained sensation, his left arm could move freely, and his right arm was gradually becoming mobile as well.
Most importantly, he could finally speak again!
Xie Yuan never expected that after waking up, he would have the chance to encounter the energy of a healing-type Nuclear Crystal again.
Could all of this really not be a dream?
Looking at the girl who was still tirelessly feeding him, he felt he could never repay her in this lifetime.
After wrestling with his thoughts for a while longer, he finally managed:
“Um… Hello…”
Xie Yuan felt somewhat awkward, unsure of what to say first, so he could only offer a stiff greeting.
“Ah!”
Xu San San stopped what she was doing and turned around abruptly.
“You can talk?!”
Xie Yuan felt foolish about his earlier self, and his face flushed with embarrassment again. Stumbling over his words nervously, he said:
“H-hello, I-I’m Xie Yuan…”
Xu San San was delighted that her patient could speak and responded warmly with heartfelt congratulations:
“Congratulations on being able to talk! Hello, hello! I’m Xu San San!”
“Hello, Xu San San. Um… My arms can move too…”
So, thank you very much, and… your eggs…
Xu San San was astonished. She put down the lunchbox and immediately went to check his arm.
She discovered that not only could he move his arm, but the wound on it had also healed, as if it had suddenly closed up.
How strange. When she had returned earlier, it had still been somewhat festering—clearly worsening.
So she hurriedly lifted the burlap covering Xie Yuan’s body, pushed aside his combat suit, and examined the wound on his abdomen. Although the abdominal wound hadn’t fully healed, it had already begun to scab over…
While Xu San San was “fussing over” him, Xie Yuan, whose upper body had already regained sensation, felt as if he were being tickled. His mind went numb, his heart trembled, and immediately, another wave of heat rushed to his face.
He knew he must be blushing and worried that the young woman would notice his awkward state, so he twisted his upper body and tried to change the subject:
“Um… maybe we can talk about my injuries later. The egg… it’s getting cold…”
In truth, Xie Yuan was unaware that his entire face was now bruised and swollen like a pig’s head, making it impossible to tell whether he was blushing or turning green.
It must be said that the healing energy of the Nuclear Crystal was quite mischievous—why did it only heal the body and ignore the face?
Hearing that the egg was getting cold, Xu San San quickly stopped her examination and picked up the lunchbox again.
No joke—this was her first taste of meat since crossing over! Nothing could be allowed to let it go cold!
…
“So you’re saying there’s a Nuclear Crystal with healing properties inside this Xeno-beast, which is why the egg it laid… repaired the injuries inside your body…”
After the meal, staring at her completely restored left arm, Xu San San began trying hard to digest the information she had just heard.
But what could she do? She was genuinely a bit overwhelmed—whether it was because the half egg was too large or because the concept of this so-called Nuclear Crystal was too unbelievable. In any case, she felt she needed to carefully soothe her racing heart.
Seeing her continuously patting her chest, Xie Yuan asked with concern, “Do you need some water?”
Xu San San: “No, I need some quiet…”
…