Chapter 287: Under the Sewer (II)
Translator: Insignia Editor: Svjohn
As they were getting into the sewer, Luo Yuan heard an uproar. There were several unknown creatures scurrying at their feet, some even trying to go up their pants.
"Ahh!" Wen Yujie screamed.
The sewer was dark, and there was no source of light at all. Luo Yuan’s low light vision was unclear. Under such circumstances, anyone would have been afraid. Even Luo Yuan felt a chill in his body as he turned his forcefield on and off. Although the force was not strong, the creatures at their feet were still running around like there was a natural disaster.
The crisp sound of a lighter was heard, and a dim flame pierced through the darkness. An evolved person standing at the back was providing the only source of light in the sewer. Apart from Luo Yuan and the gang, the were only three other people following them.
One of them was Yang Zhiguang, a middle-aged man who looked upset. It seemed like he had been through a lot in his life. The joints of his fingers were thick, and his skin was rough. Perhaps he’d had a tough life before the apocalypse.
There was also a man called Zhang Wu, who was small in size. He was barely 160 centimeters tall, but he gave the impression that he was strong and should not be underestimated. Luo Yuan had seen his power before, and it was unique. During a battle, he could grow a third eye on his forehead, although Luo Yuan was not sure what it was for.
The last man was called Tong Jianliang, and he had a beard that covered half of his face. Judging by his appearance, it was hard to estimate how old he was. He was the one who had lit the lighter.
The sewer was not as filthy as they’d imagined, The water in the pipe was shallow, so it did not even cover their soles. The sewer was located in the desert, so it hardly rained, and the strict water control had caused a major drop in domestic sewage. Furthermore, the massive amounts of micro-organisms digested the bacteria as soon as they appeared, so there were not a lot of them left.
Besides the strange smell, the sewer was very different from what Luo Yuan had imagined. Not only was it a bed for micro-organisms, but there were also countless other creatures living here. From various bugs from the bottom of the food chain to small and medium sized mutated creatures, the sewer was almost a complete underground ecosystem.
They met all sorts of mutated creatures along the way. The sewer was cleaned often, so the creatures’ abilities were not strong at all. It was rare to see any light blue level creatures, and there were no blue level creatures whatsoever.
"Why are there so many snakes here?" Xiao Baihong asked Yang Zhiguang, who cut off the head of an arm-sized snake that was blocking their way. Yang Zhiguang placed it on his arm. That was not the only snake on his arm though. He was carrying three more poisonous snakes of different colors. They could already tell that there were lots of snakes in the sewer.
"There are usually lots of snakes, mice, scorpions, and millipedes in the sewers. Anyway, there are many poisonous things here," Xu Zhiqiang said expressionlessly.
Xiao Baihong heard what Xu Zhiqiang had said and asked Yang Zhiguang curiously, "Lao Yang, I see that you’re an expert at catching snakes. How do you do it?"
Luo Yuan was curious too. All along the way, no matter how fast the snakes had attacked them, they had not been able to escape Yang Zhiguang.
"I was a farmer. I didn’t have any skills, and I didn’t want to work in a factory, so when I was free, I would capture snakes and sell them. That’s how I learned how to catch them," Yang Zhiguang said while shaking his head and forcing a smile.
…
Not long later, they stopped at a dry place where the terrain was higher. They peeled the skin of the mutated creatures they’d captured along the way, extracted the fat, and started a fire. The fat of the mutated creatures was abundant and was flammable. The strong fragrance covered the stench of the sewer.
Luo Yuan removed a snake skin that had been hanging on his sword and cooked it on the fire. Soon, there was a fragrant oil dripping from it. Luo Yuan held his hunger in check and continue to cook it. There were many parasites in the sewer. When they were peeling off the skins, they’d noticed that out of 10 creatures, three were filled with parasites. Although they could not be seen with the naked eye, Luo Yuan did not want to test his digestive system.
The white snake meat was soon cooked to golden brown, and Luo Yuan took it down. As first, he tried to be demure, but once he started eating, his hunger was awakened. His stomach was on fire, and he ate clumsily, not caring about his image. Soon, he finished six catties of snake meat. Although his stomach was bloated, he was still hungry. The healing had drained all the energy he had conserved. He had even lost weight, so he needed to replenish his energy.
Unfortunately, the rank of the mutated creatures there was not high. Only a few kilograms of green-level beasts would have sufficed. Luo Yuan thought of the giant bug he had killed and had let go to waste. Although he had gained mission experience, he had gotten no loot from it at all. All he could do now was replenish his energy by eating a big quantity of food.
He rubbed his stomach, using his Will to speed up the digestion process and stimulate the release of gastric acid. Within five minutes, the meat in his stomach was almost completely digested, and Luo Yuan had started eating again. With his method of eating and digesting, he managed to finish a snake weighing more than 10 catties in 20 minutes. He did not stop there though. While everyone was watching in shock, Luo Yuan placed a mutated rat on his Zhanmadao and cooked it on the fire
Although evolved people had a huge appetite, none of them were like Luo Yuan. He spent the whole afternoon shoving food into his mouth. There was not enough food though, so he had to go out twice to capture even more creatures. The rest could not take it anymore and decided to help him with the cooking. He didn’t stop eating until his watch showed that it was almost 8 p.m.
In a short period of time, he had consumed almost 300 catties of food. He had to go to the toilet almost 50 times. The terrifying digestion that came with his strong Physique was no joke. He did not feel hungry anymore. Instead, he was feeling warm. His Physique, which had been fluctuating around +14, was now +15, and his recovery was complete.
As he felt his energy reach its full capacity, Luo Yuan’s last worry disappeared. He went into a corner, took off his clothes and started tearing off his dead skin. The tough skin did not look like it belonged to a human. Luo Yuan felt a jolt in his heart as the skin started floating and spinning slowly around him. He was surprised to discover that he could connect with his skin just like he did with his Zhanmadao. He had been planning on getting rid of it initially, but now he picked it up and held it carefully.
He suddenly realized that he was not an ordinary person anymore. In the myths, monsters would transform to look like humans, and use their scales as a magic weapon. Their tough scales were harder than steel, but what was even more precious was their connection with them. What he was experiencing now was similar to the stories in legends of old.
Of course, his skin could not be compared to the thick scales of mutated beasts, but that connection was useful enough. Positioning coordinates alone was worth as much as a green-level material to him. Luo Yuan thought to himself, "I wonder what level my skin is!"
Then he used the identification technique on his dead skin.