Chapter Eighteen: Danger at Every Turn

“The whole world is changing; how could they remain the same?” The burly man took a deep breath, steadying his emotions once more. “What are your plans from here on out?”

“I think I’ll go with the biology teacher to the military district to see if there’s any news. If possible, we’d like to tag along behind the army—it should be safer that way,” Liu Chang replied softly. “But for other reasons, it’ll just be the five of us. It won’t be a big group. Will you come?”

“I will,” the big man nodded. “Why not? I don’t know anyone else around here anyway. I’ll come with you.”

“Good. Don’t make a fuss. Bring food and weapons. I’ve got medicine here, and for food, bring only what won’t spoil easily.”

“Alright.” Being bigger than the others, the man could carry a larger pack. He tossed out some daily necessities and stuffed in extra food before joining Liu Chang to meet up with Li Qingshui.

“Is everyone ready?” Li Qingshui held a watermelon knife, the big man gripped an iron rod, and Liu Chang had a scalpel in hand. After checking their gear and packs, the three nodded in unison.

Though the two girls didn’t carry weapons, each had a backpack filled with light medicines and food.

Thus, the five of them opened the convenience store door and stepped out together, merging into the world outside.

A world of darkness, thickness, and blood-red hues.

No sooner had they left than Ji Jing, following behind, whispered, “Fifty meters ahead, there are four creatures with a danger rating of five.”

“A danger rating of five?” The others looked puzzled at her words, except for Liu Chang, who whispered, “Don’t ask questions. Let’s avoid that area. If they notice us and give chase, four creatures with a danger rating of five would likely be more than we can handle.”

With that, Liu Chang led the team down another alley, heading toward the military district on the outskirts.

“What exactly does a danger rating of five mean?” In the quiet alleyway, Li Qingshui couldn’t help but ask again.

“It means a lifeform five times stronger than your own vital energy,” Liu Chang answered.

“In other words, a mutated creature?” the big man chimed in from behind.

“More or less,” Liu Chang replied. “We’re better off avoiding conflict with these mutated beings for now. This isn’t like battling monsters to level up—we’re just trying to survive. Fighting them does us no good at all. Even if we can win, it’s best to avoid it. Getting hurt benefits no one.”

Li Qingshui nodded. “Any injury could lead to bacterial infection. Even if not, the smell of blood is never a good thing in this world. I never imagined the little girl had such an ability—she’ll greatly increase our odds of survival...”

As Li Qingshui paused, the young girl suddenly interjected.

“There’s a large group of things with a vitality rating of 0.5 coming this way. Should I report it?”

“Vitality 0.5?” The big man frowned. “A group of children?”

“No, they’re flying overhead. Very fast.”

“Flying overhead...” Liu Chang squinted into the distance and suddenly saw, just seven or eight meters away, a dense black swarm speeding toward them. “Down! Wasps!”

He shouted quickly, keeping his voice low, and dove into the grass. The others followed his lead without hesitation, flattening themselves in the brush.

A deafening buzzing followed as a swarm of wasps, thick as a dark cloud, swept overhead.

Peeking upward from the grass, the group was stunned—the things the little girl had identified as “vitality 0.5” were wasps, each as large as half a person.

Each wasp’s stinger was longer than a dagger, gleaming with a bluish-black sheen. Anyone would know that a single sting, or rather a single jab, could kill even a creature with vitality 10.

“I suppose we really can’t judge danger by numbers alone anymore,” someone muttered as the swarm finally passed and, pale-faced, the group stood up.

“Ji Jing, from now on, if anything appears in large numbers—even if its danger rating is just 0.1—let me know in advance, alright?” Liu Chang said, still shaken.

“Okay, I understand.” The girl nodded earnestly, then asked, “Should I mention things rated 0.01? There are a lot of them.”

“0.01?” Liu Chang frowned.

“Yes. There’s a huge number of creatures with a danger rating of 0.01 pouring in from the west alley. If we stay put, we’ll block their path.”

“What are they?” The big man was stunned for a few seconds.

“Doesn’t matter what they are—better safe than sorry. Let’s move aside first,” Liu Chang said, pulling the girl away.

The girl’s sensing range was only a hundred meters. Just as the group moved away, the “0.01” swarm passed by where they had just stood.

It was a horde of black ants, each the size of a human palm, their armor gleaming jet black, their mandibles razor-sharp. Anyone seeing this swarm would never doubt their lethality.

“This is what you call 0.01?” The big man broke into a cold sweat at the sight of the ants just three meters away.

“Try weighing one if you don’t believe me. Each is barely more than a pound,” the little girl said stubbornly.

“Alright, alright. From now on, report anything that appears in a swarm, no matter how low the number, okay?” Liu Chang rubbed his forehead and sighed. “This world is just too dangerous.”

“Okay,” the girl agreed sweetly.

“Let’s not stand here talking. Have you forgotten ants are carnivorous?” Li Qingshui tugged at Zhu Lin’s sleeve and urged, “Let’s go, quickly. If this swarm didn’t lack aggression toward us, we’d have been stripped to the bone by now.”

Liu Chang noticed that the ants’ antennae all twitched in their direction—they were well aware of the humans’ presence. Fortunately, the ants seemed preoccupied and showed little interest in the group, maintaining only a routine alertness.

“Best not to anger them. I don’t want to end up as a pile of bones either,” Liu Chang said, pulling Ji Jing along to follow Li Qingshui, with the big man close behind.

And so, they set out once more along a road fraught with peril at every turn.