24 Global Evolution
The next day, just as the sun was rising, Liu Fengyu came knocking on their door. "Cong Xia, accompany this young master to go shopping."
In fact, the two of them had already gotten up early and had just finished packing their things. Seeing Cheng Tianbi frowning all day, Cong Xia thought Cheng Tianbi found Liu Fengyu a bit annoying, so he said, "I'll go with him. After all, I promised him yesterday. Wait for me, I'll be back in an hour."
Cheng Tianbi, with a dark face, put on his backpack. "Let's go together." With the increasing danger outside, he couldn't possibly let Cong Xia go alone, and that Liu Fengyu was even more unreliable.
Cong Xia chuckled secretly. It was good to see that Brother Bing cared about him.
Compared to Cong Xia and Cheng Tianbi, who each had a backpack, Liu Fengyu had nothing on him except for his clothes. Cong Xia found it hard not to envy someone who didn't have to worry about food or clothing.
Cong Xia asked, "You really don't need to eat anything and don't feel hungry at all?"
"I can eat, it's just that I don't get hungry even if I don't eat. It doesn't really affect anything. But I do miss eating delicious food," Liu Fengyu sighed.
One of Cong Xia's great hobbies in life was cooking delicious food. His personality was such that he liked to thoroughly study everything. Because he had put a lot of effort into his culinary skills, thinking about his previous daily menus and comparing them to the current compressed biscuits, bread, insects, and rats, he felt like crying. Who wouldn't want to eat something delicious, even if it was just something normal and slightly fresher?
The topic became too heavy, and both of them didn't want to continue.
They walked out of the command center and found that it was already crowded with people outside. The wild grass no longer needed to be cleared daily; it had been trampled over by the crowd. Captain Wang Lian, holding a megaphone, shouted loudly, "Comrades who want to go with us, please gather at the square. Don't block the way here. Please gather at the square!"
The three of them pushed through the crowd, desperately trying to get out.
Then someone recognized Liu Fengyu. "Hey? Isn't that a celebrity?"
"You’re hungry and yet still looking at celebrities!"
"I saw it myself. He came out on his own."
Liu Fengyu adjusted his hairstyle and smiled. He had grown accustomed to being the center of attention among the stars. After the apocalypse, everyone's bellies couldn't be filled, so naturally, they wouldn't have the mood to pay attention to unimportant things. Being recognized at this moment allowed Liu fFengyu, the big celebrity, to regain some of his past glory.
Cong Xia watched Liu Fengyu's smug expression and couldn't help but find it amusing, but he didn't dare to laugh out loud and could only hold it in.
The three of them finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd and headed towards the large shopping mall.
There was a pair of gloomy eyes behind them, watching their every move from a distance. It was only after they walked away that they slowly said, "Let's follow them and see."
The square was already packed with people, all waiting for the evacuation order from the military district so they could follow along.
The large shopping mall was located near the square. After accompanying Liu Fengyu to pick out some items, they could conveniently go find Captain Wang.
As soon as Liu Fengyu entered the mall, he took a deep breath, as if he had come alive. He happily grabbed a dozen bottles of perfume from the cosmetics counter on the first floor and sprayed one of them on himself.
The perfume had a strong volatile scent, which made it a bit overwhelming. Liu Fengyu wrinkled his brow slightly after smelling it.
Cong Xia picked up a bottle and examined it. "How many additives must have been added for it to last so long without going bad?"
"It's starting to go off a bit, but it can still be used reluctantly," Liu Fengyu said with some disappointment. Nevertheless, he put the perfumes into a bag and tossed it to Cong Xia. "Put them in your bag."
Cheng Tianbi caught it in mid-air and threw it back, saying coldly, "Pack it yourself."
Liu Fengyu glared at him. "How heavy can a few bottles of perfume be?"
"His physical condition is that of an average person."
"Aren't average people still men?" Liu Fengyu provocatively glanced at him.
Cong Xia, seeing that the two of them were about to start a conflict again, quickly intervened, "It's alright, it's alright. They're not heavy. I'll carry them."
Cheng Tianbi emphasized his tone, "Let him carry them himself."
Liu Fengyu huffed and carried the bag upstairs.
Just as Cong Xia was about to catch up, Cheng Tianbi grabbed him and glared, "What's the matter with you?"
"Huh? What?"
"Who allowed you to spoil him?"
"Well, it's not a big deal. If he's really capable, maybe he can help us in critical situations. That's just his personality, he's not a bad person..." Cong Xia's voice grew softer as he spoke, sensing that Cheng Tianbi's expression was not good.
Cheng Tianbi gritted his teeth and said, "Do I need you to please him on our behalf?" After saying that, he pushed Cong Xia away and turned to walk upstairs.
Cong Xia was taken aback.
Up until now, this was the first time Cheng Tianbi had shown anger towards him.
Cong Xia had always thought that Cheng Tianbi didn't have a temper. If he did something to upset Cheng Tianbi, he would directly gesture with a knife to their necks. He had never seen Cheng Tianbi display such obvious emotional fluctuations.
Why was he angry? Cong Xia quickly analyzed the situation and realized that he must have hurt Cheng Tianbi's male pride. After all, someone as capable as Cheng Tianbi would surely disdain relying on others for protection.
Nervously, Cong Xia followed behind Cheng Tianbi, feeling uneasy.
What should he do? Brother Bing was angry with him, so angry.
How could he be so foolish? Although he did believe that with Liu Fengyu around, their chances of safety might increase, he shouldn't have said it out loud.
Cong Xia was filled with regret.
When they reached the third floor, they found that Liu Fengyu had already taken a backpack and was stuffing clothes into it. Cheng Tianbi stood with his arms crossed on the side, as if on a mission, not even glancing at Liu Fengyu.
When Liu Fengyu saw Cong Xia coming up, he seemed to have completely forgotten about the unpleasantness before and waved at him, saying, "Come and take a look, help me choose. This bag can't fit too much."
Cong Xia secretly glanced at Cheng Tianbi and didn't dare to approach. "Ah, they all look good on you, no matter which one you wear. Just remember to bring a thick piece of clothing." He slowly moved closer to Cheng Tianbi as he spoke.
He leaned in close to Cheng Tianbi and smiled ingratiatingly. "You're not still angry, right?"
Cheng Tianbi stood there like a wooden statue, not even looking at him.
Cong Xia nudged his arm. "Brother Bing, Big Brother Bing, Sergeant Bing, don't be angry anymore. I misspoke, can't that be okay?"
Cheng Tianbi remained expressionless.
Cong Xia whispered, "I didn't mean to ask him to protect us. I just thought that having an extra person would mean extra strength, nothing more. In critical moments, we still rely on you, Brother Bing. Please don't be angry with me, I apologize to you."
Cheng Tianbi cast a sidelong glance at him.
Cong Xia smiled ingratiatingly, intending to continue saying kind words, but he noticed that Cheng Tianbi's expression changed. Cheng Tianbi turned his head and looked downstairs.
Liu Fengyu also raised his head. "Someone is coming."
In less than half a minute, Cong Xia also heard the sound of people coming upstairs, and from the sound of their footsteps, there were quite a few of them.
The three of them looked towards the staircase together. About seven or eight people were coming up, led by a tall and thin man with a gloomy demeanor. He was the mutated man with abnormal hair that they had seen before.
The man was extremely skinny, with his hair hanging down to his chest, covering most of his face. His eyes were lifeless, giving off a very uncomfortable feeling. He gave the three of them a cold glance and finally fixed his gaze on Cheng Tianbi.
Liu Fengyu furrowed his brow. "What's up, Long Mao? (Note: "Long Mao" means long-haired man in Chinese slang.)"
Long Mao spoke, his voice as unsettling as his appearance. He said to Cheng Tianbi, "There's a gun in your bag, right?"
Cheng Tianbi didn't even bother to answer, just coldly stared at him.
Long Mao chuckled sinisterly. "We are all mutated people, so let's help each other out. How about you give me half of what's in your bag, and I'll give you ten loaves of bread?"
Liu Fengyu sneered. "That's a ridiculous idea." After saying that, he continued to organize his clothes, seemingly uninterested in getting involved.
Although ten loaves of bread may be considered valuable to ordinary people, for mutated individuals like them, while their food might not be great, they could still hunt and scavenge for sustenance, enough to avoid starvation. For them, or for many others, a gun was actually a more valuable asset than food. While food could occasionally be obtained, acquiring a gun was much more difficult.
A bearded man behind Long Mao pointed at Liu Fengyu. "Hey, Liu, don't think you can still get by with that pretty face. It's already a new era, what are you even worth?"
Liu Fengyu raised his head and stared at him coldly.
Another short man smirked. "Shan-ge, you're wrong. Wu Dayan from the Justice Road likes to play with men's butts, and guys like Liu the superstar here, Wu Dayan can make sure he eats rat meat every day. Hahaha."
Fury ignited in Liu Fengyu's eyes as he stared at the short man. "You're asking for trouble."
Long Mao raised his hand to stop his subordinates from mocking further. "Gentlemen, you have two mutated individuals here, but I have three. It's needless to say who would suffer more if a fight broke out. We're about to follow the military on the road, and it's sure to be dangerous. It's not worth it for both sides to be injured over a few weapons. We just want a little something to protect ourselves. Give us some face."
Cheng Tianbi said, "If you want bullets, I'll deliver them to your head."
"Showing mercy is a sign of weakness! Boss, let's kill him and the weapons will be ours!"
Liu Fengyu kicked his backpack aside and shook his hand, speaking fiercely, "I don't enjoy killing, but you still have a chance to leave now. Otherwise, I'll make sure you die a miserable death."
Long Mao glanced at the two of them, gritted his teeth, and said, "Attack!"
Cheng Tianbi pushed Cong Xia behind a shelf and drew his military knife, facing the charging Long Mao. He didn't want to waste bullets and wanted to test his progress after days of training. He wanted to see how formidable this mutated man with abnormal hair really was.
Cong Xia obediently retreated to the back, his eyes fixed on Long Mao. He watched as needle-like hair suddenly protruded from the man's clothes, densely covering his entire body, making him look like a hedgehog. Hair also grew between his fingers, each strand as long as a hand and incredibly sharp.
The appearance was quite disgusting, but also extremely terrifying.
On the other side, the bearded man and the short man who had taunted Liu Fengyu lunged at him and Cong Xia respectively. The muscles in their arms visibly swelled and enlarged at an alarming rate, eventually bursting through their clothes. Their biceps looked thicker than their heads.
In less than a moment, the short man had already charged in front of Cong Xia!
24 Global Evolution
The next day, just as the sun was rising, Liu Fengyu came knocking on their door. "Cong Xia, accompany this young master to go shopping."
In fact, the two of them had already gotten up early and had just finished packing their things. Seeing Cheng Tianbi frowning all day, Cong Xia thought Cheng Tianbi found Liu Fengyu a bit annoying, so he said, "I'll go with him. After all, I promised him yesterday. Wait for me, I'll be back in an hour."
Cheng Tianbi, with a dark face, put on his backpack. "Let's go together." With the increasing danger outside, he couldn't possibly let Cong Xia go alone, and that Liu Fengyu was even more unreliable.
Cong Xia chuckled secretly. It was good to see that Brother Bing cared about him.
Compared to Cong Xia and Cheng Tianbi, who each had a backpack, Liu Fengyu had nothing on him except for his clothes. Cong Xia found it hard not to envy someone who didn't have to worry about food or clothing.
Cong Xia asked, "You really don't need to eat anything and don't feel hungry at all?"
"I can eat, it's just that I don't get hungry even if I don't eat. It doesn't really affect anything. But I do miss eating delicious food," Liu Fengyu sighed.
One of Cong Xia's great hobbies in life was cooking delicious food. His personality was such that he liked to thoroughly study everything. Because he had put a lot of effort into his culinary skills, thinking about his previous daily menus and comparing them to the current compressed biscuits, bread, insects, and rats, he felt like crying. Who wouldn't want to eat something delicious, even if it was just something normal and slightly fresher?
The topic became too heavy, and both of them didn't want to continue.
They walked out of the command center and found that it was already crowded with people outside. The wild grass no longer needed to be cleared daily; it had been trampled over by the crowd. Captain Wang Lian, holding a megaphone, shouted loudly, "Comrades who want to go with us, please gather at the square. Don't block the way here. Please gather at the square!"
The three of them pushed through the crowd, desperately trying to get out.
Then someone recognized Liu Fengyu. "Hey? Isn't that a celebrity?"
"You’re hungry and yet still looking at celebrities!"
"I saw it myself. He came out on his own."
Liu Fengyu adjusted his hairstyle and smiled. He had grown accustomed to being the center of attention among the stars. After the apocalypse, everyone's bellies couldn't be filled, so naturally, they wouldn't have the mood to pay attention to unimportant things. Being recognized at this moment allowed Liu fFengyu, the big celebrity, to regain some of his past glory.
Cong Xia watched Liu Fengyu's smug expression and couldn't help but find it amusing, but he didn't dare to laugh out loud and could only hold it in.
The three of them finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd and headed towards the large shopping mall.
There was a pair of gloomy eyes behind them, watching their every move from a distance. It was only after they walked away that they slowly said, "Let's follow them and see."
The square was already packed with people, all waiting for the evacuation order from the military district so they could follow along.
The large shopping mall was located near the square. After accompanying Liu Fengyu to pick out some items, they could conveniently go find Captain Wang.
As soon as Liu Fengyu entered the mall, he took a deep breath, as if he had come alive. He happily grabbed a dozen bottles of perfume from the cosmetics counter on the first floor and sprayed one of them on himself.
The perfume had a strong volatile scent, which made it a bit overwhelming. Liu Fengyu wrinkled his brow slightly after smelling it.
Cong Xia picked up a bottle and examined it. "How many additives must have been added for it to last so long without going bad?"
"It's starting to go off a bit, but it can still be used reluctantly," Liu Fengyu said with some disappointment. Nevertheless, he put the perfumes into a bag and tossed it to Cong Xia. "Put them in your bag."
Cheng Tianbi caught it in mid-air and threw it back, saying coldly, "Pack it yourself."
Liu Fengyu glared at him. "How heavy can a few bottles of perfume be?"
"His physical condition is that of an average person."
"Aren't average people still men?" Liu Fengyu provocatively glanced at him.
Cong Xia, seeing that the two of them were about to start a conflict again, quickly intervened, "It's alright, it's alright. They're not heavy. I'll carry them."
Cheng Tianbi emphasized his tone, "Let him carry them himself."
Liu Fengyu huffed and carried the bag upstairs.
Just as Cong Xia was about to catch up, Cheng Tianbi grabbed him and glared, "What's the matter with you?"
"Huh? What?"
"Who allowed you to spoil him?"
"Well, it's not a big deal. If he's really capable, maybe he can help us in critical situations. That's just his personality, he's not a bad person..." Cong Xia's voice grew softer as he spoke, sensing that Cheng Tianbi's expression was not good.
Cheng Tianbi gritted his teeth and said, "Do I need you to please him on our behalf?" After saying that, he pushed Cong Xia away and turned to walk upstairs.
Cong Xia was taken aback.
Up until now, this was the first time Cheng Tianbi had shown anger towards him.
Cong Xia had always thought that Cheng Tianbi didn't have a temper. If he did something to upset Cheng Tianbi, he would directly gesture with a knife to their necks. He had never seen Cheng Tianbi display such obvious emotional fluctuations.
Why was he angry? Cong Xia quickly analyzed the situation and realized that he must have hurt Cheng Tianbi's male pride. After all, someone as capable as Cheng Tianbi would surely disdain relying on others for protection.
Nervously, Cong Xia followed behind Cheng Tianbi, feeling uneasy.
What should he do? Brother Bing was angry with him, so angry.
How could he be so foolish? Although he did believe that with Liu Fengyu around, their chances of safety might increase, he shouldn't have said it out loud.
Cong Xia was filled with regret.
When they reached the third floor, they found that Liu Fengyu had already taken a backpack and was stuffing clothes into it. Cheng Tianbi stood with his arms crossed on the side, as if on a mission, not even glancing at Liu Fengyu.
When Liu Fengyu saw Cong Xia coming up, he seemed to have completely forgotten about the unpleasantness before and waved at him, saying, "Come and take a look, help me choose. This bag can't fit too much."
Cong Xia secretly glanced at Cheng Tianbi and didn't dare to approach. "Ah, they all look good on you, no matter which one you wear. Just remember to bring a thick piece of clothing." He slowly moved closer to Cheng Tianbi as he spoke.
He leaned in close to Cheng Tianbi and smiled ingratiatingly. "You're not still angry, right?"
Cheng Tianbi stood there like a wooden statue, not even looking at him.
Cong Xia nudged his arm. "Brother Bing, Big Brother Bing, Sergeant Bing, don't be angry anymore. I misspoke, can't that be okay?"
Cheng Tianbi remained expressionless.
Cong Xia whispered, "I didn't mean to ask him to protect us. I just thought that having an extra person would mean extra strength, nothing more. In critical moments, we still rely on you, Brother Bing. Please don't be angry with me, I apologize to you."
Cheng Tianbi cast a sidelong glance at him.
Cong Xia smiled ingratiatingly, intending to continue saying kind words, but he noticed that Cheng Tianbi's expression changed. Cheng Tianbi turned his head and looked downstairs.
Liu Fengyu also raised his head. "Someone is coming."
In less than half a minute, Cong Xia also heard the sound of people coming upstairs, and from the sound of their footsteps, there were quite a few of them.
The three of them looked towards the staircase together. About seven or eight people were coming up, led by a tall and thin man with a gloomy demeanor. He was the mutated man with abnormal hair that they had seen before.
The man was extremely skinny, with his hair hanging down to his chest, covering most of his face. His eyes were lifeless, giving off a very uncomfortable feeling. He gave the three of them a cold glance and finally fixed his gaze on Cheng Tianbi.
Liu Fengyu furrowed his brow. "What's up, Long Mao? (Note: "Long Mao" means long-haired man in Chinese slang.)"
Long Mao spoke, his voice as unsettling as his appearance. He said to Cheng Tianbi, "There's a gun in your bag, right?"
Cheng Tianbi didn't even bother to answer, just coldly stared at him.
Long Mao chuckled sinisterly. "We are all mutated people, so let's help each other out. How about you give me half of what's in your bag, and I'll give you ten loaves of bread?"
Liu Fengyu sneered. "That's a ridiculous idea." After saying that, he continued to organize his clothes, seemingly uninterested in getting involved.
Although ten loaves of bread may be considered valuable to ordinary people, for mutated individuals like them, while their food might not be great, they could still hunt and scavenge for sustenance, enough to avoid starvation. For them, or for many others, a gun was actually a more valuable asset than food. While food could occasionally be obtained, acquiring a gun was much more difficult.
A bearded man behind Long Mao pointed at Liu Fengyu. "Hey, Liu, don't think you can still get by with that pretty face. It's already a new era, what are you even worth?"
Liu Fengyu raised his head and stared at him coldly.
Another short man smirked. "Shan-ge, you're wrong. Wu Dayan from the Justice Road likes to play with men's butts, and guys like Liu the superstar here, Wu Dayan can make sure he eats rat meat every day. Hahaha."
Fury ignited in Liu Fengyu's eyes as he stared at the short man. "You're asking for trouble."
Long Mao raised his hand to stop his subordinates from mocking further. "Gentlemen, you have two mutated individuals here, but I have three. It's needless to say who would suffer more if a fight broke out. We're about to follow the military on the road, and it's sure to be dangerous. It's not worth it for both sides to be injured over a few weapons. We just want a little something to protect ourselves. Give us some face."
Cheng Tianbi said, "If you want bullets, I'll deliver them to your head."
"Showing mercy is a sign of weakness! Boss, let's kill him and the weapons will be ours!"
Liu Fengyu kicked his backpack aside and shook his hand, speaking fiercely, "I don't enjoy killing, but you still have a chance to leave now. Otherwise, I'll make sure you die a miserable death."
Long Mao glanced at the two of them, gritted his teeth, and said, "Attack!"
Cheng Tianbi pushed Cong Xia behind a shelf and drew his military knife, facing the charging Long Mao. He didn't want to waste bullets and wanted to test his progress after days of training. He wanted to see how formidable this mutated man with abnormal hair really was.
Cong Xia obediently retreated to the back, his eyes fixed on Long Mao. He watched as needle-like hair suddenly protruded from the man's clothes, densely covering his entire body, making him look like a hedgehog. Hair also grew between his fingers, each strand as long as a hand and incredibly sharp.
The appearance was quite disgusting, but also extremely terrifying.
On the other side, the bearded man and the short man who had taunted Liu Fengyu lunged at him and Cong Xia respectively. The muscles in their arms visibly swelled and enlarged at an alarming rate, eventually bursting through their clothes. Their biceps looked thicker than their heads.
In less than a moment, the short man had already charged in front of Cong Xia!
