Chapter 49: Good Stuff, Let's Try It with an Egg-Stuffed Pancake

Following a cordial and friendly exchange, the five of them acquired a wealth of useful information.

Nearly two centuries had passed since the outbreak of the nuclear war.

Due to the infiltration of nuclear radiation and certain unknown forces, many creatures had mutated into mindless monsters.

These were referred to as aberrants.

Among them were humans, as well as former animals.

For the most part, the denizens of the wasteland survived by hunting aberrants for food.

In the aberrant wasteland where they currently found themselves, besides the Giant Bone settlement, there were five other settlements of comparable size, all of which worshipped the so-called Great God of Evolution.

What exactly was the Great God of Evolution?

The priest himself could not articulate it; he merely repeated over and over that it was a magnificent entity, and that the current inhabitants of the wasteland owed their survival to its divine protection.

Individuals whose bodies underwent mutations such as tentacles or chitinous shells were known as Evolvers.

This was regarded as a generous bestowal from the Great God of Evolution.

Should someone manifest supernatural abilities enabling them to manipulate earth, fire, or ice, the wastelanders would view this as divine power granted by the Great God of Evolution and respectfully address them as priests.

Depending on their strength, Evolvers and priests were roughly classified from the first to the sixth rank.

This corresponded to the players' C-rank down to B-rank.

D-rank was considered the standard level of an ordinary person here and was therefore unranked.

Entities above the seventh rank—equivalent to the players' A-minus tier—did not seem to exist.

At least, this priest had never heard of anyone possessing such formidable power.

However, such beings did exist among the aberrants, and at that very moment, at least one seventh-rank aberrant roamed this wasteland.

Such powerful entities were bestowed with the title of "Emperor."

In terms of geopolitical forces, the wasteland era was divided entirely into settlements resembling tribes.

Apart from the five settlements nearby, the priest only knew of one other settlement located far to the east, past a horde of aberrants, which worshipped the God of Eternal Glory.

The worshippers of the God of Eternal Glory could manipulate a special power far more bizarre than ordinary supernatural abilities, enabling them to accomplish all sorts of incredible feats.

However, the priest had not even figured out what the god he worshipped actually was.

Thus, the group of five harbored no expectations that he could explain the other gods with any clarity.

Having grasped a general understanding of the situation, the five—well, four of them—consulted among themselves and decided to first check out the Giant Bone settlement to gather more intelligence.

"You, lead the way back to your settlement."

Lu Wenwu retracted his oversized boot and pulled the hapless priest to his feet.

The priest was a privileged member of society in this era and never lacked resources.

Consequently, he had little interest in dangerous explorations and was naturally quite willing to serve as a guide, leading the group as they turned back.

Old John and the others wanted to say something, but stopped themselves.

They wished to search for any scraps or remnants left behind, yet they dared not leave the protection of the priest.

Given their level as "ordinary people," venturing so deep into the wasteland was essentially suicidal.

Searching required time.

Lacking spiritual perception to scout the area, a thorough search would take at least several hours.

Though it sounded like a minor difference, in reality, it was the boundary between life and death.

"Amitabha, benefactor, there is nothing of value left in that crater, save for a preserved map. Continuing forward from here for half an hour will bring us to our destination," the kind-hearted Master Ruhuo reminded them before leaving. "However, I implore you not to throw away your lives out of greed for illusory wealth."

At these words, the scavengers immediately fell into a dilemma.

In the end, only Old John and Takeda resisted the temptation to search and chose to depart with the group.

As for the rest...

They likely perished not long after the group of five departed.

At any rate, no one caught up with the main party.

Assaults by aberrants were exceedingly common in this desert.

Barely half an hour into their march, three monsters resembling yellow cattle charged toward them.

Their eyes had long since lost the docility of their ancestors.

In its place was a bone-deep madness.

Lu Wenwu glanced at them and lost interest immediately.

Their strength was too low; killing them yielded no feedback.

"Amitabha."

The old monk performed a Buddhist salute with his left hand, while his right hand already held a commonplace Type 92 modified pistol, which he cocked.

"May the Buddha have mercy, and may you ascend to the Pure Land early."

Three brass bullets propelled by gunpowder snapped through the air, wreathed in an eerie, pale-golden energy that caused them to spin like drills.

Before the three aberrants could even emit a miserable howl, they were cleanly taken down by the old monk's precise triple shot.

Faint white flames flickered and burned upon their corpses, sending wisps of mixed black and red smoke drifting into the air.

"Amitabha..."

Lu Wenwu, who had witnessed the entire process, wore a rather peculiar expression.

If his eyes did not deceive him...

Wasn't this precisely the "Merciful Buddha Pistol"?

Lu Wenwu often felt that the items he sold off ended up crossing paths with him again in various forms in the future.

"A gun! This is a pistol from the old era!"

Old John, reacting a beat too late, suddenly cried out in excitement, throwing himself recklessly onto the ground to pick up the three sizzling hot shell casings as if he had discovered some rare, priceless treasure.

"Beautiful... so beautiful... it looks brand new from the factory... completely different from the reloaded junk..."

The expression on his face was one of sheer intoxication.

The old monk deliberated for a long time, ultimately lacking the nerve to admit that it was indeed brand new, having been manufactured less than a week ago.

"Amitabha, if you like them, take them," Master Ruhuo said dryly. "And those three... aberrants, if you have no use for them, bury them."

"Burying them would be a bit of a waste."

The scrawny Takeda licked his lips, drew his samurai sword, and stepped forward briskly. With a few swift motions, he dissected the aberrants and extracted three bloody, oversized hearts.

He stirred his hand inside one and fished out a small, translucent white lump of meat, holding it up like a precious tribute.

"Respected lords, please look. This is myofilament meat, the essence found within an aberrant's heart. Eating this increases one's strength, supposedly grants a few extra years of life, and raises the probability of receiving divine favor from the Great God of Evolution."

Lu Wenwu pinched a piece between his fingers, sensing it with the unique perception of a spirit chef.

"Flesh and blood essence formed by the fusion of vitality and life energy, free of radiation and unknown pollution. Suitable for satisfying hunger."

Having made his initial judgment, Lu Wenwu swallowed it in one gulp, activating Devouring Heavens and Earth to perform a secondary analysis.

A faint surge of energy integrated into his body.

The attribute increase was less than zero point one, and the system interface did not even bother to display it.

"It tastes like ordinary heart-meat on the palate, fat-free, chewy, flavorless after chewing, with a decent sense of satiety. The overall flavor is quite mediocre. The enhancement to me after consumption is negligible, barely passable as daily ingredients."

As a professional chef, Lu Wenwu gave his evaluation.

If seasoned properly, this stuff would probably make decent sausage filling, which could then be pan-fried and wrapped in a stuffed flatbread.

The only issue would be finding a way to add some animal fat, otherwise it wouldn't be fragrant enough.

Alternatively, he could try making it into a meat paste, or perhaps...

Takeda stood frozen in place, looking utterly shocked by Lu Wenwu's low evaluation of the myofilament meat.

One had to know that whenever they managed to acquire such fine goods normally, they couldn't bear to eat them and instead traded them for a larger quantity of cheap resources.

Yet in Lu Wenwu's hands...

It was barely passable as a daily ingredient???

Before Takeda could recover from his shock, the other two pieces of myofilament meat had already been swiftly julienned by Lu Wenwu, arranged on a plate, sprinkled with prepared chili oil and other seasonings, and tossed into a small side dish with shredded cucumber.

Lu Wenwu picked up a pair of chopsticks, tasted a small bite, and smacked his lips: "Though not top-tier ingredients, they taste quite decent as a cold salad. If it's convenient, we should gather a few more."

Aside from Master Ruhuo, who lacked an appetite, the other three gave glowing praise.

Their physical fitness was lower, so the benefits compared to Lu Wenwu were distinctly noticeable.

The priest and Takeda exchanged bewildered looks.

What in the world kind of freaks were these people?!

And what was that green leafy strip?

Could it be the legendary... vegetables?