Chapter 146: Supermarket

However, what disappointed Zhou Liming was that Wang Lei did not know much; he had only heard his uncle mention it vaguely.

In fact, Zhou Liming still did not know enough about the Fierce Beast Occupied Area; the entire area was definitely not as simple as it appeared on the surface. First of all, the survivor population base was very large. In half a year, many scattered settlements of varying sizes had formed. It was hard to figure out exactly how many there were or where they were distributed. After all, with Fierce Beasts roaming everywhere, it was almost impossible to travel across distant areas.

Next came the part that surprised Zhou Liming.

Many settlements possessed Beastmen. Larger settlements might have ten or twenty, while smaller ones had one or two. They ruled and protected these settlements.

The living environment of settlements with Beastmen would definitely not be as miserable as this small settlement led by Wang Ruijin. Some settlements with many Beastmen even lived in towns or villages. As for whether anyone occupied the cities, it was hard to draw a conclusion due to the lack of information.

The so-called Beastmen were actually people who possessed the Fierce Beast Gene, just like himself. They were Super Warriors, but people were just used to calling them Beastmen.

Without needing to understand the reason, Zhou Liming could guess that those who could become Super Warriors were the lucky ones among humans, because they successfully possessed the Fierce Beast Gene. According to Ren Zhigang’s formula, people who consumed the Fierce Beast Gene without any measures only had a 7% chance of becoming a Super Warrior, which was far lower than the country’s current 15%.

A 7% chance meant that out of ten people, not even one might succeed. It was very shocking data.

But the population base on the continent was too huge. Among the survivors, no one knew the exact number, but calculated at 7%, the result was definitely astonishing. Out of ten or twenty thousand people, there should be at least a few Super Warriors, right? Even among these survivors who might number over a hundred million, how many Super Warriors would be produced?

It could be calculated based on probability, but in reality, it was impossible to calculate.

“Things are getting more and more interesting.” Zhou Liming sneered in his heart. He had not expected that in this Fierce Beast Occupied Area, humans still possessed such a force that could not be ignored. When he was in the Squadron, there had never been any data indicating this; perhaps it was the country’s negligence, or perhaps they were concealing it…

If the two forces were to clash…

This unexpected news made Zhou Liming’s heart become active. Yes, this was the life he wanted, and this was the environment he hoped for. Zhou Liming even became eager to try. He was considering whether he should move to a different settlement to take a look. Living in a town was always more acceptable than nesting in a cave.

Walking along the dirt road for about two kilometers, a section of cement road finally appeared.

On the side of this country road were fields of various sizes, overgrown with weeds and some deformed rice seedlings. It was likely that no one had harvested them; the mature rice fell into the fields, soaked in water, sprouted, and then grew naturally. These fields, which had been cultivated for who knows how long, lacked nutrients in the soil themselves. Without fertilizer, weeds grew rampant in the fields, even surpassing the rice seedlings. The growth trend could be imagined.

Seeing this situation, Wang Ruijin’s brows never relaxed. He shook his head and said, “With this growth, I don’t know how much harvest there will be. Several hundred people are counting on these fields for food. It would have been great if we could have gotten some fertilizer earlier on; the harvest would have increased a little.”

Zhou Liming heard his somewhat mumbling words, looked at these paddy fields that were almost entirely weeds, and muttered, “Relying on these, what kind of harvest can there be?”

Upon reaching this section of paved country road, although they were still among the mountains, they could faintly see a village on the side of the road.

Once their view opened up, the group did not dare to walk swaggeringly on the road anymore. Instead, led by Wang Ruijin, they detoured to the foot of the mountains on both sides, using some woods and clumps of weeds for cover, slowly approaching that hazy city in the distance.

Wang Ruijin’s decision was very correct, because during the advance, one could see several Herbivorous Fierce Beasts eating tender grass in the fields.

Occasionally, one could also see Fierce Beasts poking their heads out and appearing among the villages. These villages seemed to have become their paradise or dwelling places. If one barged in without knowing the situation, it would be no different from poking a hornet’s nest; one would definitely be torn to pieces and swallowed by the Fierce Beasts inside.

The division of the city’s outskirts was sometimes vague, because many villages were close to the city. Their development was somewhat like a small town, with roads connecting to the city. This section was full of houses and buildings. With the scattered buildings, no one could confirm whether this counted as the city’s outer suburbs.

All along, Wang Ruijin and his group operated in these edge areas connected to the city.

Many functions of the edge areas were similar to the city; for instance, there were complete markets, some lively and densely populated places, as well as malls, supermarkets, hotels, and so on. In these areas, Wang Ruijin and his group’s harvest was still very considerable. Every time they came, they returned fully loaded. Especially since this was an edge area, the number of Fierce Beasts was very small, so the possibility of being discovered was much lower.

As for inside the city, Wang Ruijin and his group did not have the strength to enter yet. Just the Flying Fierce Beasts that could often be seen flying and playing over the city was enough to make their scalps tingle. Wang Ruijin and his group, who did not have big appetites, usually operated here, gathered the items they needed, and then hurriedly left.

A team of nine people was not small. After approaching these edge areas, Wang Ruijin appeared very careful and calm.

From the mountains to these edge areas, there was an open space of about one hundred meters, which was also what Wang Ruijin worried about the most. Without anything to block the view, it was easy to be exposed to the Fierce Beasts.

“In a moment, obey my command. When I tell you to charge, run with all your might. Do you see that house opposite? I already opened the main gate last time; you just need to rush over, enter that house, and you’ll be safe.”

Following Wang Ruijin’s words, there was indeed a six-story house a hundred meters away, with the main door revealing a crack.

Li An was responsible for reconnaissance. He had made a simple telescope. After observing for a while, he signaled everyone to be quiet, and then pointed to a cluster of houses in the distance.

Zhou Liming poked his head out. Following the position Li An pointed to, a huge bird-type Fierce Beast was staying on the roof of a house. The appearance of the bird-type Fierce Beast was not very impressive, but one could not ignore its attack power. Its sensitive flight and fast speed, combined with its ability to kill with one strike, made it very troublesome to deal with.

There were many types of Fierce Beasts; at least Zhou Liming did not know the name of this bird-type Fierce Beast.

In order not to startle this bird-type Fierce Beast, everyone did not dare to move and stood quietly. It was not until more than ten minutes later that the bird-type Fierce Beast suddenly flapped its wings and flew away in a flash. This speed scared Wang Ruijin and the others so much that cold sweat broke out on their foreheads. Fortunately, they had not disturbed it.

“Now, hurry up.”

Wang Ruijin waited until the Fierce Beast left, then gave the order decisively and took the lead to rush out.

The running speed of the others was not slow either; they all crossed the hundred meters of open ground in about thirteen or fourteen seconds. After entering the house and confirming there was no danger, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Wang Ruijin said, “We have already searched this house; everything that could be taken away has been emptied out.”

Arriving here, with the cover of other buildings, the possibility of being discovered by Fierce Beasts was greatly reduced.

The buildings were connected one after another. These villages on the edge of the city lacked planning when building houses; whoever owned the land built on it. This also led to a lack of wide roads; they were all small alleys. People who did not know the way could easily get lost. However, these small alleys now became the group’s protecting gods. Hiding in these small alleys, as long as no sound was made, even if you were nearby, it was difficult to be discovered.

Wang Ruijin was still quite familiar with this area. He led the team, turning left and right in the alleys, and soon appeared on the side of the main road connecting to the city’s main entrance and exit.

“This is the commercial district of Xijia Village. Places like supermarkets and malls are all set up here.” Wang Ruijin asked everyone to stop and explained, “I came here once before, and the harvest wasn’t big. This is a main entrance and exit of the city, and Xijia Village can barely be considered a bustling place formed on the outskirts.”

Xijia Village was called a village, but it was actually similar to an urban village, with residential buildings connected one after another. It had its own commercial district and markets, making it no less impressive than some large towns.

Wang Ruijin pointed to a billboard not far away and said, “Xijia Supermarket is our target this time. I’ll repeat it again: we only want cured meat and canned meat. Leizi, you are in charge of cooking oil; two barrels are enough. Don’t force it; if we use it up, we can come again next time. Li An, you are responsible for keeping watch. The others will move the meat products with me.”

Zhou Liming spread out his senses, taking in all the movements around him. After confirming that there were no Fierce Beasts within a radius of several hundred meters, he followed Wang Ruijin and the others around to the supermarket’s cargo passage.

When the Fierce Beasts arrived, it was morning, but when the Fierce Beasts appeared in this area, it was already afternoon. However, a supermarket’s cargo passage was generally open 24 hours. When the employees fled back then, no one closed it, which saved Wang Ruijin a lot of trouble.

What made Wang Ruijin even more overjoyed was that the cargo passage was actually connected to the employee passage on the first floor, allowing access to the first level of the supermarket.

In fact, the supermarket’s front door was wide open, but Wang Ruijin did not dare to go around to the front entrance. Who knew if such an obvious position as the front door would be discovered by Fierce Beasts? Although Zhou Liming confirmed that there were no Fierce Beasts around, he did not point it out, and instead followed the employee passage into the supermarket.