Thick and low dark clouds covered the entire sky like a black curtain. It was still daytime, but the light was still gray. Even the sun looked like a slightly brighter halo.
The nuclear winter lasted longer than originally expected. A large amount of dust filled the earth's near space, causing the earth's natural purification rate to greatly slow down.
Ling Zhongan took a look at the dizzy position and found that it was almost evening. He couldn't help but quicken his pace and hurried towards the cave.
The cave is twenty or thirty kilometers away from here. If we don't hurry up, it will probably be night before we get home.
Once night falls, this place is completely a hellish world. Not only is the temperature even colder, but the darkness is as deep as an abyss, making it completely difficult to walk. Many people in the gathering place have forgotten the time because they went out hunting. Never came back since.
Even he must be careful not to lose his way when the time comes.
The originally warm body gradually cooled down when blown by the cold wind, and was soon completely frozen. Water continued to seep down from his shoulders, causing the animal skin on his body to freeze to a hard texture. Wearing animal skin was simply worse than wearing it. It would be a bit colder if I didn't wear it.
Fortunately, as the most advanced super-evolved human being ever, this level of cold could not affect him.
Ling Zhongan carried the mutated beast and strode forward. He finally arrived at his destination just before the sun's halo was about to be swallowed up by the horizon.
He lifted the broken iron cover blocking the entrance of the cave, revealing the steps on the ground.
This staircase is cut out of ice, and it winds and twists inside, reaching more than 500 meters underground. It not only digs through the ice, but even the permafrost.
Compared with a few decades ago, there are not many people left here. Over the years, people have died of old age, died of illness, and disappeared. The original number of nearly a hundred people now only has a dozen people left.
It's not that there are no women here. In fact, although the number of women here is not comparable to that of men, they still account for one-third. However, a full forty or fifty years have passed, and still not a single person has been born.
Those who have survived until now are basically evolvers. Their genetic differences have formed reproductive isolation to some extent. If there are no accidents, in a hundred years, human beings will probably disappear completely.
…
The atmosphere today is a bit dull. Almost everyone who went out to hunt came back empty-handed. People here have not known the taste of meat for three days.
Of course, apart from meat, there is not a lot of other food stored here, and you will not starve to death, but most of them are relatively tender grass roots and tubers that are usually dug out of the frozen soil near the cave. No matter how many calories it contains, even if you eat it to a full stomach, it will be a complete torment at night in this freezing environment.
It wasn't until Ling Zhongan arrived with his prey that the atmosphere here became a little more lively.
Ling Zhongan smiled and threw down the food: "I'm finally lucky today, Xiaohu, go take care of it."
The young man named Xiaohu quickly stood up and said with joy on his face: "Okay, boss!"
Handling prey is a good job. As the saying goes, there is no chef who starves to death. Although he is not a chef when handling prey, he still has many opportunities to use his hands during the handling process. At least, he can eat as much as he wants with just the scattered ice blood cubes.
He picked up the mutated beast's body, and a dirty woman huddled in the corner quickly stood up and followed him.
This is not the Garden of Eden for humans. The weakest of the jungle is the most basic law. Having a fixed partner here is completely a symbol of status. As Ling Zhongan's die-hard subordinate, he still barely has a fixed woman.
It's just that her image is a bit unflattering. Half of her face was completely torn off by a mutant beast in a previous life-and-death battle, and she looked ferocious and terrifying.
However, no matter how beautiful a woman is, she will be greatly compromised here. It is completely normal to not take a shower for several years. The thick dirt on her face makes it difficult to see her original appearance.
…
The flames burned very brightly, with several sticks of red-hot charcoal burning with light red flames, occasionally emitting sparks.
At first glance, it looked like a large iron pot handmade by an amateur. It was placed on a stone. The broth on it was already sizzling. The hot air dissipated the coldness of the cave and also gave off an alluring and charming atmosphere. Rich and refreshing fragrance.
A woman with a good complexion sprinkled a few black mineral salts, stirred the thick white broth a few times with a spoon, then put it in front of her mouth, blew on it a few times, and took a big sip without caring about burning it. Everyone's throat was loose.
"Brother Ling, you can eat." She said to Ling Zhongan with a charming smile.
Ling Zhongan smiled and nodded, and said without hesitation: "The old rule is, whoever hunts the prey gets half, and the others get half."
Of course, as the boss here, if others hunt prey, they still have to show their respect to him.
As he said that, he picked up a wooden bowl with his left hand and a spoon with his right hand. He picked out the big and juicy pieces of meat and put them into the bowl one by one. He filled the bowl full and then filled it with soup.
After he finished filling it, the others couldn't wait to join in with their empty bowls.
Although the scene looks chaotic, if you look carefully, there is a certain default order.
There wasn't much meat to cook. After Ling Zhongan had divided half of it alone, each person could only get a few taels of meat. Fortunately, there was enough broth.
The hot pieces of meat, accompanied by the smooth broth, rolled down the throat and into the stomach. A warmth came from the stomach, and the body couldn't help but sweat a little.
Ling Zhongan divided some pieces of meat between his two women, and wrapped the rest around him. Several kilograms of meat was stuffed into his belly. The feeling of fullness actually gave him a sense of satisfaction.
…
Have a good night's sleep.
Early the next morning, Ling Zhongan, who was holding two women in his arms, was not ready to get up early.
The rest of the people didn't have much desire to go out hunting today. The half a ton of meat Ling Zhongan brought back could be eaten for more than a month. Even if each person gets a small amount, it is still enough to survive with the roots and tubers.
"Why did it suddenly vibrate?" This evolver who was extremely sensitive to fluctuations suddenly opened his eyes from his sleep, his eyes full of vigilance.
The others suddenly couldn't sleep any more, so they lifted up the animal skins and stood up. Those who are not vigilant in the apocalypse will not survive now. What's more, the volcano hundreds of kilometers away has obviously shown signs of recovery recently, so no one can help but be vigilant.
"Boss, let me go and take a look!" Xiaohu said smartly.
"No, let's go together!" Ling Zhongan walked out of the cave first, and a group of people walked outside along the stairs. If an earthquake really happened, they would simply stay underground for a long time.
The vibrations became more and more obvious, seeming to move from far to near, with a certain rhythm, as if there was a mountain peak coming this way.
By the time they were halfway there, everyone had roughly guessed what had caused it.
"Forget it, go back. It should be the eighth-level beast again. Just wait until it passes by." Ling Zhongan said, with a tone of weakness and dejection in his tone.
"It's this damn beast again!" the crowd cursed.
This is a terrifying giant beast that looks like an ape. For some reason, it has been wandering around this area almost every one or two years for decades. At the beginning, its size was only more than ten meters tall. The level was about level seven. Ling Zhongan still regarded it as prey and was eager to try it. But every time I gave up either because the distance was too far or because I was worried about getting injured.
By the time he made up his mind, the giant beast had already become an eighth-level creature.
The huge size of forty to fifty meters and the golden hair that exudes bright luster in the dark are enough to intimidate anyone. Such a creature has already stood at the top of the earth's food chain.