In the end, the Bloodthirsty Fungus’s feat of unnatural expansion was no match for a devastating blow from nature itself.
"He can’t wait. He’ll definitely make his move today," Su Chen said with conviction. ’Setting aside our personal enmity, Ruoruo’s autopsy showed that the human-beast chimera itself can probably only maintain its form for about a week.’
’Once that time is up, its flesh and blood will disintegrate all the same.’
As they spoke,
a movable track was installed over a large glass window on the first floor. A steel plate, which Gong Jun slid open and closed with ease, now perfectly blocked all light.
"Now that we’ve got this set up in broad daylight, it’ll be much easier to work with the lights on at night," Gong Jun said with a smile.
Su Chen chuckled inwardly at his words. ’A work ethic like that would probably bring a tear to a capitalist’s eye.’
After setting up the antenna, Pang Peng began wiring the large oven they had moved to the first floor. The only tricky part was that its rated voltage was incompatible with the shop’s electrical system, so it required a compatible transformer.
They would have to find one somewhere in the campground.
Meanwhile, Cao Yutang, who had been helping earlier, had stopped. He was now in a heavy discussion with Du Rui and Zhou Tong, their faces grim.
"Let’s eat first."
The deer-like beast caught that morning had already been butchered and partly portioned out. Xiaolin then froze the rest of the carcass into a solid block of ice.
After some simple prep, Ms. Cheng used an oyster sauce base to make plum sauce venison. Compared to the restorative monster meat, the plain boiled shrimp they had before seemed utterly ordinary.
Because they were short on time, even though Xiaolin had caught an elk first thing in the morning, the cook hadn’t had time to prepare any Red Millet. So, the meal was served with a bowl of plain white rice.
"Delicious! Your cooking is amazing, ma’am. We’ve been on the road for the past two days and definitely haven’t eaten this well," Pang Peng said after wolfing down a bite, his words a subtle attempt to persuade the others to stay.
But this was a farewell meal.
At least, it was for the members of the Jingcheng University squad.
Zhou Tong and Du Rui had decided to leave. Zhou Tong was Ruoruo’s best friend and had hoped to convince her to come with them, but after failing to get through to her, the couple decided they would depart as soon as the meal was over.
Cao Yutang was already on the fence. For one, the awe he once held for Su Chen’s strength had diminished. On top of that, learning that Ruoruo was now with Su Chen left him feeling somewhat dejected. The combination of these feelings made him decide to return to the city with the others.
At the end of the day, the team clearly revolved around one person.
It was far too individualistic.
For them, joining the other club members in the fold of the Operations Department was another path forward. Although their living conditions and freedom would be restricted, from a security standpoint, the city was clearly a safer bet.
The uncertainty here was just too high.
Su Chen, for his part, was indifferent.
All he needed was a combat-capable support team.
’These three are all expendable.’
’Zhou Tong was a top medical student, but overshadowed by the Healing Skill and with Ruoruo being far more capable in a similar capacity, she had become dispensable.’
’Du Rui is an agriculture major, which is a minor shame. But farming is a simple enough task. Worst-case scenario, they can just use essences to buy Red Millet Grain in the border town.’
’And Cao Yutang, the electromechanical expert, could be partially replaced by Pang Peng.’
’Compared to Gong Jun, all three of them were certainly expendable.’
「After the meal.」
Just as the group was seeing them off, Pang Peng’s radio picked up an urgent distress call: Qixia Border Town was under attack.
Just as he had predicted, the Bloodthirsty Fungus had made its move. And for its opening gambit, it sent giant insects to attack from the ground.

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