The sour jujubes in her pocket scattered all over the ground.
Picking up passengers along the way was something they did often. Everyone in the Guard Corps did it, and the credits earned from these side trips went straight into their own pockets. The Base turned a blind eye to such practices.
The wages for the Guard Corps weren’t high either. An ordinary member earned only 1,000 credits a month, with occasional bonuses during times of plentiful harvests. Even the captain and deputy captain earned just 1,500 credits—hard-earned money through sheer toil.
After deducting expenses for food, clothing, daily necessities, and rent each month, little was left. The rest had to be saved for emergencies like illness or other unforeseen needs.
They were always eager to earn a few extra credits, but opportunities like this were rare. Most residents of the Shantytown struggled even to put food on the table, let alone spend credits on a ride.
In today’s situation, He Fei heard his comrades’ teasing and knew they envied him. After all, it was his turn to drive today, and by sheer luck, he had managed to pick up a passenger.
Shortly after Sang Luoluo sat down, her gaze swept over the others in the vehicle, landing on a familiar face—the Guard Corps member who had killed the mantis that day. She hadn’t expected to run into them again today.
Her eyes drifted over the armor they wore, crafted from special materials for maximum defense. On their chests was an energy indicator light, showing the remaining power.
Now, sitting inside the vehicle with their helmets removed, they looked utterly exhausted.
At the far end of the vehicle were stacks of crates. Though tightly packed, Sang Luoluo could still catch the scent emanating from them—a heavy, metallic smell of blood. One crate wasn’t sealed properly, revealing the teeth and claws of a Mutated Animal inside.
Were they out here collecting these things?
Suddenly, she remembered the mantis corpse she had missed that day. When she returned the next day, fragments of its carapace were still scattered on the ground. At the time, she hadn’t paid much attention, but now she regretted it. Those things could be exchanged for credits. The fur, claws, and teeth of Mutated Animals could all be processed into other useful items.
Faintly, she even heard the sounds of mutant animal cubs coming from one of the crates.
Suddenly, a cool, authoritative voice broke the silence. “I remember you. You were the one attacked by the mantis that day, weren’t you?”
Sang Luoluo looked up and met the gaze of a strikingly handsome man. To put it simply, she had never seen a man this good-looking before. Even the male celebrities on television from her pre-transmigration days paled in comparison. This man exuded a sharp, formidable aura, the kind honed through countless life-and-death struggles.
He simply looked at her calmly, and Sang Luoluo, completely forgetting about her uneven, messy hair, nodded in response.
Come to think of it, it was only after arriving in this world that she learned most of the Base’s population was born from artificial wombs. Once young men and women in the Base turned 20, they were forced to undertake reproduction duties. Those unwilling to comply had to pay a penalty of 10,000 credits annually.
Many children in the Base were products of the most perfect genetic combinations matched through high-tech automation, with certain disease genes eliminated to improve survival rates and optimize genetics. Both she and her older brother, Sang Yunpu, were conceived by their parents in an artificial womb. She and Sang Yunpu were also quite good-looking, but unfortunately, due to frequent hunger, they appeared thin and frail, which greatly affected their appearance.
"Captain, do you know her?"
An unfamiliar team member beside him leaned over and asked.
Sang Luoluo explained, "My name is Sang Luoluo. A few days ago, while I was out Scavenging, I encountered a Mutated Mantis. Your Guard Corps happened to pass by and shot the mantis."
Sang Luoluo expressed her gratitude again, "Thank you."
Feeling somewhat uneasy from her thanks, Qi Feng sized her up. She was wearing a raincoat and rain boots made of acid-rain resistant material, which wasn't cheap. Could someone who could afford such a raincoat really be braving the heavy rain to search for food? Yet, her hair seemed oddly mismatched with her outfit.
Qi Feng asked, "You came out in such heavy rain to look for food?"
Sang Luoluo's heart skipped a beat. She had, of course, noticed him examining her attire earlier. She had no other excuse, so she had placed a handful of sour jujubes in her pocket.
She replied softly, "Yes, I hid some food nearby before the rain started. I was afraid the rainwater would wash it away."
The unfamiliar team member beside her immediately chuckled, "In such heavy rain, aren'tt you afraid the downpour might wash you away too? With those thin arms and legs, it's a miracle you made it back alive."
Sang Luoluo forced a smile. What he said was true, but who could have guessed she had a Space? Whenever there was danger, she would hide inside, so surviving wasn't surprising.
Qi Feng continued, "You're a resident of the Shantytown, right?"
Sang Luoluo nodded. For now, she was, but not for much longer. She had already rented a place in the Safe Zone and would be moving there in a few days.
"What does your family do?" the unfamiliar young man beside her asked.
Sang Luoluo thought to herself, what else could they do? "Scavenging, living off the land."
Qi Feng chuckled lightly and said, "But the raincoat you're wearing doesn't look cheap. Not many Shantytown residents can afford something like that."
Sang Luoluo: "…" Was he really paying such close attention?
When out and about, one's identity is whatever they make it. Sang Luoluo casually replied, "My family used to farm, but we've fallen on hard times."
She wasn't entirely wrong. She used to be a farmer, managing a large farm where she grew crops, raised livestock, and ran a thriving agritourism business. Now that she had ended up here, wasn't that a fall from grace?
However, as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed the strange looks everyone in the vehicle was giving her. She glanced around at them. Why were they staring at her like that?
"Why are you all looking at me like…"
Before she could finish her sentence, the vehicle suddenly jolted violently. Sang Luoluo was thrown forward, her forehead hitting something hard. Another jolt sent her tumbling to the floor, leaving her grimacing in pain.
The sour jujubes in her pocket scattered all over the ground.
Amid the chaos, she also heard a muffled groan.
"Enemy attack!!" Qi Feng's voice was urgent, and an alarm sounded simultaneously inside the vehicle.
Voices from people in the other vehicles came through their Mics.
"Captain, mutant monkeys are catching up. There are eight of them."
"Captain, two at three o'clock, two at nine o'clock."
"Captain, there are two on the roof of your vehicle. Two more at the back."
The truck compartment swung open with a crash, and Sang Luoluo immediately saw a monkey half the size of the compartment leaping toward her with its mouth wide open.
She barely had time to shrink back. The Guard Corps members, unable to put on their helmets in time, fired their laser guns repeatedly at the monkey. The shots only managed to create a few wounds in its vulnerable spots. Its claws, head, and legs had already mutated, making them impervious to the laser guns.
Qi Feng fired several shots at its weak points in succession, finally taking down the monkey. The other monkey was much smarter—it pounded the compartment with all its might, leaving deep dents in the massive, sturdy structure as it tried to overturn the truck.
The truck came to a halt, and firepower concentrated. Within two minutes, all eight mutant monkeys were killed, their bodies falling into the water.
"Captain, should we bring these bodies back?"
Qi Feng nodded. "Is anyone injured?"
"Xiao Li got hurt on his arm—a mutant monkey clawed him, leaving a bloody gash," a chubby young man said, bringing Xiao Li over.
Sang Luoluo glanced from a distance. It was far more than just a gash—nearly half of his forearm was gone, and his protective suit was torn.
Qi Feng frowned unhappily. "Speed up and get back. Take Xiao Li to the medical center."
"Yes, sir."
The convoy set off again. Having just experienced a battle, the tension on everyone’s faces had barely faded.
Sang Luoluo bent down to pick up the fallen sour jujubes. A few seemed to have fallen outside the truck earlier, but it didn’t matter now.
"What’s this?" the chubby man asked, glancing over. He’d never seen anything like it before.
Sang Luoluo eyed him warily, gathering all the sour jujubes and stuffing them into her pocket. "Just some sour jujubes," she replied flatly.
Qi Feng shot him a glare before turning to Sang Luoluo, warning her in a low voice, "Don’t mention what happened with the mutant monkeys earlier."
Sang Luoluo nodded quickly. Noticing a red bump swelling on Qi Feng’s temple, she reached up to touch her own forehead. Good grief—she’d bumped into a person earlier.
Riding in the truck, she soon arrived at the Shantytown. The convoy dropped her off and quickly headed into the Safe Zone.
This was the first time Sang Luoluo had encountered a Mutated Creature more terrifying than the Mutated Mantis or Mutated Snake. In comparison, the Mutated Mantis that had attacked her was nothing but a shrimp.
Thankfully, she’d hitched a ride with the Guard Corps. If she’d been alone, even with her Space, it would have been difficult to detect such formidable Mutated Creatures lurking around. The mutant monkeys weren’t afraid of water or acid rain, and their combat abilities were incredibly strong.
Thinking back to the sound of young creatures she’d heard in the compartment earlier—could they have been mutant monkey offspring?
As Sang Luoluo walked toward her shack, her mind raced with chaotic thoughts, her forehead throbbing painfully.
When she returned to the shack, it had collapsed even further. The hole in the roof had grown larger, but she couldn’t be bothered to repair it. There wasn’t a dry spot on the wooden bed either, but it didn’t matter. After securing the door from the inside, she entered her Space.
After a comfortable bath and changing into pajamas, Sang Luoluo lay down to rest on the large bed in the villa. Having been out and about all day, she was utterly exhausted. Chuanchuan was curled up in his little bed beneath hers, and Sang Luoluo hadn’t forgotten to prepare some food for him. She took a piece of roasted potato, mashed it up, and placed it in his dog bowl. Patting his head, she said, “Chuanchuan, times are tough now. We should be grateful to have anything to eat, so let’s not be picky, okay?”
Chuanchuan sniffed the potato in the bowl before lowering his head to eat.
Seeing him eat, Sang Luoluo had a piece herself and drank a large glass of Spirit Spring Water. Only then did she feel at ease enough to pull the covers over her head and sleep. A faint headache lingered, reminding her to buy some ointment tomorrow while the rain was light.
Back at the base, the S17 Guard Corps had just returned as dusk approached. Qi Feng had Xiao Li sent to the medical facility before directing the others to unload the cargo from the vehicles and deliver it to the Laboratory. Additionally, he ordered the disposal of the mutant monkey corpses killed outside the base.
After clearing out the vehicle, Qi Feng felt something under his foot. Lifting his foot, he saw it was the “sour jujube” Sang Luoluo had dropped. He bent down to pick it up—the fruit had been crushed under his boot, but the flesh inside still looked fresh. It was tiny, no larger than a fingernail.
He had never seen such a small sour jujube before and raised his Wrist Device to scan it.
Beep beep beep! Radiation Level 2, low radiation—recommended for consumption!
Qi Feng’s eyes widened in shock. A Radiation Level of only 2—he had never encountered food with such low radiation in his entire life. It was said that only the private cultivation bases of high-ranking officials produced food with such low or even no radiation.
Could that girl really have been a cultivator before? Her combat skills were so weak, yet her luck seemed remarkable.
“Captain, Old Yan heard you were back and wants to see you!” someone called out.
Qi Feng slipped the sour jujube into his pocket, stepped out of the vehicle, and headed toward the administration building.