Chapter 9 Rat Tide
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Fire nd
Reina, Chloe, and the others trekked across ground covered in charred bug corpses. Every time they found a burnt mutant beast, they checked it out.
No luck. Everything was heavily contaminated. The meat and bones were worthless-there was nothing left to scavenge.
“Let’s split up and search,” Reina suggested.
She couldn’t test her ability in front of Chloe and the others, so she had to send them
away
for
now.
Chloe nodded. “Okay.”
They spread out, keeping about a hundred feet between each other as they searched.
Soon, Reina found a mutant rabbit with scorched fur. There were chop marks on its head. It was huge-at least five feet long.
Checking to make sure no one was looking, Reina touched it, activating her Harvesting Ability.
A white light flashed from her palm.
Ding! “Energy -1. Harvest successful. EXP +10. Gained a fresh Level 1 mutant rabbit meat. Contamination Value: 32. First-time consumption permanently increases Physique by 1. Effect doesn’t stack.”
Suddenly, a slab of bright red rabbit meat-about five pounds-appeared next to her.
Reina was thrilled.
Her hunch was right. She could harvest mutant beasts!
Not only that, the first mutant beast meat she harvested even had a special effect.
She quickly stuffed the meat into her backpack.
Her heart pounded.
She was definitely keeping this for herself.
Anything that permanently boosted Physique was way too valuable to share.
Reina stood up and looked back at the rabbit. It had turned into a pile of black charcoal.
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Chapter 9 Rat Tide
Real charcoal.
The wind blew, and the pile of charcoal scattered into the air, leaving nothing behind.
Reina wasn’t surprised. When she harvested mutant plants, the same thing happened.
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Fir hed
Basically, she took the essence and left the trash behind. A little creepy if you thought about it.
But Reina didn’t care.
She kept searching and picked up her pace.
Seeing any black lump ahead, she rushed over to check.
Soon, she found another one-a mutant hedgehog about the size of a bathtub.
This one wasn’t dead yet. It was barely hanging on, twisting on the ground.
The thing twisting wasn’t the hedgehog’s body, though. It was the dozens of twisted tentacles growing out of its back.
Those black tentacles were over three feet long, snapping and reaching toward Reina. It was terrifying.
Reina almost backed off, but she changed her mind. She raised her flamethrower, blasting the tentacles.
The tentacles instantly pulled back. Reina lunged forward and used Harvest Ability.
Ding! “Energy -1. Harvest successful. EXP +20. Gained level-2 energy crystal. +1 Physique when absorbed.”
Reina looked down at the crystal in her hand, shocked.
A level-2 mutant beast could have this?
Even official textbooks published by the federal government only said that energy crystal cores might form inside mutant creatures above level-4.
But the mutant hedgehog in front of her, judging by its size and ability, wasn’t level-4. If it were, she’d be dead.
But she didn’t have time to overthink it. She needed to absorb it before anyone saw.
Reina gripped the crystal and silently said, Absorb. A warm current flowed from her hand through her whole body. The crystal turned to dust.
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Chapter 9 Rat Tide
She checked her panel again. Her Physique attribute had increased by one point.
Reina stood up.
She glanced at the mutant hedgehog. It was completely still. The twisted tentacles on its back hung limp, like rotten black worms.
Wisps of black gas leaked out and slowly faded into the air.
Reina frowned. She was about to look for Chloe and the others when she suddenly saw the mercenaries and ability users in the distance running back at full speed.
“Run! Mutant rats!”
“What the hell! Where did so many mutant rats come from?!”
People were screaming and sprinting so fast they left afterimages.
Chloe and the others sprinted over and grabbed Reina, pulling her along.
“This is bad! A huge swarm of mutant rats! There are tons of them! Hurry back to the camp!” Chloe yelled while running.
She kept looking back, her face full of fear.
Reina saw it too. In the distance, black clouds rolled across the ground. Huge black mutant beasts were rushing in from every direction.
Her heart tightened. She didn’t dare hesitate and ran with Chloe and the others.
Luckily, they weren’t far away. Soon they rushed into the yard with the rest of the crowd.
“Close the gate! Beast tide’s here!” someone shouted loudly, trying to shut the camp gate.
“Get back! Don’t close it!” A guard with a rifle fired a shot into the air, scaring the crowd back.
There were still many mercenaries and ability users outside. The camp guards couldn’t let people close the gate like that.
The panicked crowd flinched and backed away. Some people even ran into the buildings to hide.
Reina and Chloe’s group split up once they were inside.
Chloe, Dylan, and Gerard went back to their tent to pack their things, while Reina headed to the trading hall.
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Chapter 9 Rat Tide
She walked up to Taylor’s window, took out 12 energy blocks, and said calmly, “Change them. The energy values are too low. They aren’t worth 3,500 points.”
Taylor pretended to be surprised, but a guilty look flashed in his eyes.
Seeing Reina’s dark expression, he didn’t argue. He quickly took out a box of energy blocks, acting all innocent. “This is all I have left. Pick what you want.”
Reina tested them one by one, choosing only the ones with values over 150.
After picking 12 and stuffing them into her backpack, she asked, “Do you have mid- or high- grade energy blocks? How much do they cost?”
Taylor put the box away and smiled. “Mid- and high-grade energy blocks are rare. The base gives priority to the guards and the mercenary groups. We hardly ever see them here.”
Reina frowned, not wanting to give up. “I just want to know the price. How big is the gap between low-grade and the higher grades?”
Taylor said, “Pretty big. Mid-grade ones start at 6,000 points or more. High-grade ones are at least 10,000, and they’re almost never available.”
Reina glanced at her account: 400 points.
Forget it. Better stay grounded. Something like getting rich overnight wasn’t for her.
Back in her room, Reina harvested ten of the twelve energy blocks and got 3 free attribute points. She put them all into Agility.
In times like this, the faster you run, the longer you live. If it came down to brute force, she was as good as dead.
Then Reina took out the mutant rabbit meat and decided to cook it right away.
After a quick rinse, she used her dagger to slice it into thin strips so it would cook faster.
She headed downstairs to grab some dry branches, then came back up to start a small fire.
Luckily, she had a small pot. She could cook the five pounds of rabbit meat in batches.
When the first pot was done, Reina couldn’t wait and started eating.
The meat was tender and smooth, but without seasoning, it tasted bland, and it had that strong gamey rabbit smell.
Reina regretted not exchanging for some salt.
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Chapter 9 Rat Tide
After finishing the first pot, she waited. Nothing happened. No warm glow, no notification about her Physique increasing.
Confused, Reina ate the second pot.
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My Harvest Skill for Wasteland Survival
