“Sure, little sister. Come on over.”
“With our relationship, do you really think I’d take advantage of you? Whatever potatoes you dig up are yours.”
Wu Chenggang rolled his eyes and exchanged a glance with Liu Qiao before immediately putting on a friendly smile.
After all, they had no intention of letting Xiang Ge return alive.
They might as well make full use of her while they could and have her do some work for them.
Both sides harbored their own schemes.
Their interests aligned perfectly.
Soon, Xiang Ge was standing in the couple’s potato field.
Since they were husband and wife, Wu Chenggang and Liu Qiao worked the same plot together rather than separately.
After a quick glance, Xiang Ge could tell they had dug less than one-fifth of it.
She rolled up her sleeves and got to work immediately.
Seeing someone else digging potatoes for them, the couple happily sat down nearby to rest and wait for free rewards.
Leaning close together, they whispered about where they could secretly kill Xiang Ge later without anyone noticing.
The potato field was crowded and brightly lit, with military personnel on guard.
If that proved inconvenient, they could simply lure Xiang Ge into another high-radiation zone during a future scavenging trip.
Either way, any potatoes she dug up would eventually become theirs.
The more they thought about it, the happier they became.
Soon, both of them stretched out on the ground and fell into a deep sleep.
When Cheng Ye noticed Xiang Ge working hard in someone else’s field while the owners slept nearby, disgust flashed across his face.
As he passed Wu Chenggang, he “accidentally” delivered a vicious kick.
The blow was heavy enough to jolt Wu Chenggang awake and leave him grimacing in pain.
But after recognizing who had kicked him, he immediately forced a flattering smile onto his face.
Not a single complaint escaped his mouth.
Meanwhile, Xiang Ge couldn’t have cared less.
In fact, she preferred having the two of them far away from her.
It made working much easier.
At this point, harvesting potatoes had dropped down her list of priorities.
What she really wanted was to find more aphids and earn more Purification Points.
It was already deep into the night.
Xiang Ge had only taken a short break to drink a tube of nutrient solution.
Given how skinny and malnourished this body was, there was no way she wasn’t tired.
But one purification agent could reduce radiation by three or four points.
And one agent cost 1,888 points.
Killing a few dozen aphids could earn the equivalent value.
Wasn’t that basically free money?
Where else would she ever find an opportunity like this?
The thought instantly erased her exhaustion.
Her arms no longer hurt.
Her head no longer felt dizzy.
There was only one thing left to do.
Work.
Heaven rewarded the diligent.
When Xiang Ge secretly stored away her fifth giant potato, she finally saw soil moving again.
This time, however, the disturbance was much stronger.
And then she realized—
Something was wrong.
These aphids weren’t stuck to the potato vines.
They were crawling out.
As if they had detected the scent of humans, the insects became increasingly agitated.
Xiang Ge could already see wings breaking through the soil.
Aphids could fly.
The terrifying realization made her immediately retreat while scooping several stones off the ground and stuffing them into her pocket.
Looks like she wouldn’t be able to kill these aphids herself.
But she wasn’t about to waste them either.
She ran over and shook Wu Chenggang and Liu Qiao awake.
“Brother Wu, Sister Liu.”
“I think I found something in the potato field over there.”
She whispered excitedly into their ears, carefully suppressing her enthusiasm.
“Really?”
“I’ll go take a look.”
Wu Chenggang instantly became alert and hurried toward the pit.
Liu Qiao followed behind him.
Xiang Ge trailed several steps behind.
She watched as the couple approached the disturbed soil and bent down to inspect it closely.
Her wrist flicked.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Three stones shot forward with precision, striking the moving patch of earth.
The impact was like a battle horn for the aphid army.
The insects burst free from the soil and spread their wings.
The closest targets were naturally Wu Chenggang and Liu Qiao.
The first aphid to emerge flew straight into Wu Chenggang’s eye.
“AHHH! IT HURTS!”
It felt as if his eyeball had exploded.
The intense pain sent him crashing to the ground.
Within seconds, a swarm of aphids engulfed him.
After seeing the insects clearly, Liu Qiao tried to run.
She never got the chance.
The furious aphids surrounded her immediately.
Only Xiang Ge had turned and fled the instant she threw the stones.
As she ran, she shouted:
“Run!”
“The bugs are eating people!”
The funny thing was, she had yelled that before the aphids had even fully emerged from the soil.
The aphids were still halfway underground.
Aphids: ???
We haven’t even started eating anyone yet.
That’s slander.
Absolute slander.
People who lived in the wasteland were highly sensitive to mutated beasts.
The moment Xiang Ge shouted, everyone started running.
Their destination was obvious.
The field entrance.
Where Cheng Ye and the military personnel were stationed.
As the first wave of aphids filled the air with buzzing sounds, patches of soil all across the potato field began to loosen.
Large numbers of aphids crawled out and took flight.
Xiang Ge was the first person to reach the entrance.
When she looked back, the sight was terrifying.
Countless aphids filled the sky.
A blood-red swarm stretched across the heavens, blotting out the darkness.
“Everyone, get outside the entrance first!”
After hearing Xiang Ge’s warning, Cheng Ye immediately began organizing an evacuation.
At this point, nobody cared about potatoes anymore.
People scattered in all directions and ran for their lives.
Xiang Ge didn’t move.
She wanted to leave.
But she couldn’t bring herself to.
Because she had noticed the weapon in Cheng Ye’s hands.
She had never seen this exact model before.
But she immediately recognized what it was.
A flamethrower.
A wonderful weapon.
Especially against small flying insects.
Fortune favored the bold.
After hesitating for only a few seconds, Xiang Ge made her decision.
She was doing this.
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
Seeing that most people had already evacuated, Cheng Ye prepared to enter the field.
The insects living in the potato field considered the field their territory.
They wouldn’t leave easily.
Their numbers were large, but individually they weren’t very dangerous.
His squad was fully equipped.
He wasn’t particularly worried.
“Can you lend me a flamethrower?”
“I can help.”
“My relationship with those two is really good.”
“I want to save them.”
“Or avenge them.”
After a moment’s thought, Xiang Ge pointed toward Wu Chenggang and Liu Qiao, who were already buried beneath a writhing mass of aphids.
Cheng Ye looked at her.
Thinking back, the three of them had indeed been together while collecting tools and harvesting potatoes.
Another person meant more firepower.
And it was rare to find a civilian who wasn’t terrified of mutated beasts.
“Do you know how to use it?” Cheng Ye asked.
The other military members had already started sweeping the fields with their flamethrowers.
Xiang Ge watched them for a few moments.
“Yes.”
“Fine.”
“Your life is your own responsibility.”
Cheng Ye removed a weapon from the equipment rack and tossed it to her.
The aphids weren’t particularly strong.
Their bodies were simply too small to carry much venom.
Xiang Ge swept her flamethrower across the field.
Large clusters of aphids vanished in the flames.
A few managed to break through and sting her several times.
The bites burned, ached, and immediately swelled.
But Xiang Ge barely noticed.
Pain no longer existed.
Her entire world was filled with one beautiful sound.
[Congratulations, Host. You have killed one mutated beast and earned 0.1 Purification Point.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have killed one mutated beast and earned 0.1 Purification Point.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have killed one mutated beast and earned 0.1 Purification Point.]
The notifications rang endlessly.
To Xiang Ge, they sounded sweeter than any music in the world.