Shen Feng walked to the side with a piece of fine snake meat, preparing to make grilled meat. He dismantled a chair and burned it into charcoal, then casually stacked a few bricks to form a simple stove. Afterwards, Shen Feng sliced the snake meat into pieces with his long sword, skewered them, and grilled them. The only seasoning was salt, but salt was enough.
While Shen Feng was grilling the meat, Chu Chaoyan slowly walked over, holding a piece of snake meat in her hand. She stood in front of Shen Feng and didn't move, staring at him intently.
Shen Feng was confused by Chu Chaoyan's actions and asked, "What are you doing? Trying to snatch my food?"
Chu Chaoyan looked around, confirmed no one was paying attention to her, and then whispered, "Actually, I chose to come along thinking we would all cook together. But I didn't expect to cook for ourselves tonight. I... I don't know how to cook."
Hearing Chu Chaoyan say this, Shen Feng could only shake his head helplessly and then said, "You are too detached from manual labor and lack basic knowledge of grains!"
Chu Chaoyan couldn't help but retort, "There's a reason for that. My family thought learning to cook was no big deal, so they never taught me. They'd rather have me learn painting and piano. So, I've never cooked before. The problem now isn't solely mine, but society's."
"Alright, alright, I know that a young lady from a prominent family like you must have a million excuses. Sit down and eat. It's not your fault; the world is at fault." Shen Feng gestured for Chu Chaoyan to sit down while continuing to grill the meat. He came from an ordinary family and had a very lazy older sister, so he learned to cook at a young age.
Chu Chaoyan sat down somewhat embarrassed. While eating the grilled meat, she said, "Consider this me owing you a favor. I will definitely repay you next time."
The snake meat was quite delicious. After being grilled, it tasted similar to chicken. Shen Feng also took out a bottle of beer and poured a glass for Chu Chaoyan, then said, "A woman like you, born into a wealthy family, shouldn't be in the combat team. I think you'd be very suitable for the logistics team."
Chu Chaoyan took a sip of beer and found it quite good. She hadn't had beer in a long time, so she said, "Now that the apocalypse has descended, those with stronger survival skills have the advantage. Good family background is a thing of the past; it's useless in the apocalypse."
"Apocalypse?" Shen Feng shrugged and ate the grilled snake meat. "You think too highly of zombies. Can a group of zombies cause an apocalypse? Modern warfare is brutal. Let me tell you, with the current firepower, it would only take ten years for all the zombies in the country to be eliminated, regardless of whether they are mutated zombies. If a zombie doesn't die from a shot, it's just that the caliber isn't large enough! Zombies definitely can't defeat humans."
"But everyone is saying the end of the world has come. It's been the apocalypse since the zombie outbreak began!" Chu Chaoyan explained. "This isn't my own idea, but the idea of many people, including many in the self-help association."
Hearing this, Shen Feng couldn't help but frown. He didn't expect people in the self-help association to also believe the apocalypse had arrived. It didn't seem to have reached that extent yet.
Chu Chaoyan ate the grilled meat and said, "I'm just saying it casually. What if the zombies are cleared out in the future? Then things will likely stabilize, and human society can return to normal. At that time, I want to teach students piano, and hopefully, become famous worldwide!"
"Stop, stop, don't casually make declarations. The more you anticipate something, the harder it is to achieve!" Shen Feng quickly interrupted Chu Chaoyan. He didn't want Chu Chaoyan to die in the upcoming battle because of this declaration, especially saying such things on the eve of battle, which most easily leads to accidents.
Chu Chaoyan, being very naive, asked, "What is a declaration?"
Shen Feng found it difficult to explain, so he gave an example, "It's like someone saying before going to battle, 'I'll get married after this fight,' and then dying right after saying it. It's similar to Murphy's Law; the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it is to occur."
"I see, I understand!" Chu Chaoyan nodded to show she understood.
As Shen Feng and Chu Chaoyan were leisurely grilling meat, Yang Chang quickly ran over and said anxiously to Shen Feng, "President, something's wrong. After eating the snake meat, several of our brothers have collapsed. Everyone suspects the snake meat is poisonous."
Shen Feng looked at the skewer in his hand and immediately felt a sense of foreboding. He quickly put down the bamboo skewer and said, "Gather these people together. I need to observe them carefully!"
Afterwards, Yang Chang immediately led Shen Feng to where the people who had food poisoning were. Chu Chaoyan looked at the snake meat she was eating and immediately threw it on the ground. At this moment, she regretted it. Why did she eat snake meat? Couldn't she have just boiled some water and made instant noodles?
Shen Feng was quickly brought to the location of the collapsed individuals. After a brief examination, he immediately felt relieved. It turned out that everyone present had a fever and was disoriented. This situation was clearly a sign of evolution; there could be no other reason.
What surprised Shen Feng the most was that Ren Jing was also among these people. It seemed Ren Jing was also about to undergo his second evolution. He hadn't expected snake meat to cause human evolution.
Shen Feng didn't rush to announce the reason. He looked around. Many people were staring at him, and many had already thrown away the snake meat they had been given. It seemed that after someone had an incident, everyone was afraid to eat snake meat anymore, preferring to throw it away rather than continue eating it.
Shen Feng quietly instructed Yang Chang, "I remember there are still tens of pounds of snake meat left that haven't been distributed. Collect all this meat and send it to the base tomorrow, along with the snake head. Deliver it directly to the vice-president."
Yang Chang nodded quickly and left. With Ren Jing also down, as the deputy leader of the combat team, he was now the highest authority besides Shen Feng.
Then, Shen Feng spoke, "These people are not poisoned; they are evolving. I believe that once they wake up, they will become evolved individuals!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the snake meat that had been disdained moments ago was immediately picked up. People washed it with Yangtze River water and continued to eat it. No one expected that eating this snake meat could lead to evolution; it was truly wonderful! At the same time, everyone had already noticed that the people lying down were the ones who had eaten the most snake meat, meaning the more they ate, the higher the chance of evolution.
Shen Feng shrugged and returned to his spot, letting these people scramble for it. After all, the snake meat had already been divided. If they weren't capable enough, who could they blame?
"Didn't they say only evolution potions can cause evolution? Why can eating snake meat also lead to evolution?" Chu Chaoyan quietly picked up the grilled meat from the ground and ate it without seeming to mind the dirt.
Shen Feng explained, "I guess this mutated python had enough viral protein in its body. In fact, evolution potions are viral proteins, but it's difficult to extract them from zombies. You can't eat zombie meat to evolve, can you? So, to make evolution potions, you need the brains of mutated zombies, which contain enough zombie viruses. This snake probably had enough viral protein in its meat, which is why eating it can lead to evolution. I think that's how it works. It's a shame the doctor isn't here; otherwise, she could give you a thorough explanation."
"Oh, I don't quite understand either, but I know that eating python meat can make me stronger, right?" Chu Chaoyan asked.
Shen Feng nodded and continued grilling meat and drinking. In reality, he really wanted to try baijiu, but his alcohol tolerance wasn't good.
Chu Chaoyan cautiously asked, "You've evolved twice. How many evolution potions did you use?"
Shen Feng smiled and looked at Chu Chaoyan, saying, "That's classified!"
Shen Feng wasn't foolish. He wasn't going to answer everything Chu Chaoyan asked. After all, Chu Chaoyan hadn't even joined the self-help association yet. How could he tell an outsider such things? The less others knew about evolution potions, the better.
"Stingy!" Chu Chaoyan said unhappily.
As a result, after the more than eight hundred people finished eating their portions of snake meat, another dozen or so people began to evolve. They were then carried into a house. Shen Feng specifically arranged for personnel to guard them, preventing anyone from disturbing them, as these individuals were essentially defenseless during evolution.
Late at night, most people were asleep. Apart from the guards, everyone found a nearby room, wrapped themselves in bedding, and leaned against the wall to sleep. Shen Feng couldn't sleep, so he climbed to the rooftop to look at the moon. From here, he could see the dark Yangtze River in the distance. The wide river separated the land, and in an era without ships and bridges, this place was a natural barrier.
Suddenly, Shen Feng caught sight of two small shadows appearing in the courtyard. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to be two children. They tiptoed towards a dining table where there was still a half-eaten chicken. Everyone had finished the snake meat, leaving not a single bit, but few people had eaten the stewed Dragon Phoenix Soup, and the chicken was largely untouched. At this moment, the two children were clearly there to steal food.
Shen Feng quietly moved to the side, only to find the guard leaning against the wall, asleep. If someone were to attack, it would be a major problem. Fortunately, tonight it was children, and they only wanted food.
Thus, Shen Feng, feeling playful, watched as a boy and a girl put the chicken into a plastic bag and left. He then used his abilities to land lightly on the ground and slowly followed the two children, wanting to see what they intended to do.
After they had gone a distance, the boy quickly opened the plastic bag and said to the girl, "Let's each have a chicken leg first. When we get back, neither of us is allowed to say we ate any, or we'll be beaten to death."
"Understood, brother!" the little girl quickly replied.
Then the boy broke open two chicken legs, gave one to his sister, and took one for himself, immediately starting to gnaw on it. The two children were about eight or nine years old, similar in age to Chang Haojie, but they were clearly starving. In a few bites, they had finished the chicken legs.
The little girl continued to stare at the plastic bag in her brother's hand and said, "Brother, I'm still hungry."
The little boy said with difficulty, "No, if we can't find any more food, we'll be beaten when we get back. If we keep eating, we'll be discovered for stealing! We'll still be beaten."
Hearing this, disappointment clearly appeared in the little girl's eyes. But there was nothing they could do now; they could only return with their brother.
Shen Feng, hiding behind the two children, heard this and was suddenly filled with doubt. Was there a base nearby? Then why weren't these people killing zombies? Why were they sending children out to find food? Could there be some hidden reason?
So, Shen Feng continued to follow and observe. Now, he made no sound as he walked on the road, and the two children in front clearly didn't know they were being followed, so they continued to move forward.
The little girl hesitantly asked, "Brother, why don't we go find those people from earlier? They have a lot of food, enough for us to eat. If we go back, we'll often be beaten."
The brother quickly replied, "Those people are all men. I've never seen women or children among them. So I suspect these people won't take us in. Besides, we've already stolen their chicken. If they find out, they'll beat us to death too."
The sister seemed to understand her brother's thoughts and could only nod helplessly.
At this moment, many zombies appeared ahead, about dozens of them. The little boy quickly grabbed his sister's hand and led her into a building. Upon reaching the third floor, there was a wooden plank spanning between two buildings. The boy walked in front, went to the other building, and then held the plank to let his sister follow.
The sister was very timid and dared not walk across. She could only crawl across the wooden plank using her hands and feet. After about a minute, the sister reached the other building.
Shen Feng, standing at a distance, saw this scene and felt a bit disheartened. Before the zombie outbreak, this brother and sister were probably carefree. But now, when facing zombies, they could only bypass them using a dangerous wooden plank. It had to be said that fate was truly ironic.
Shen Feng continued to follow and found that after the siblings crossed several wooden planks, they arrived at a larger courtyard. It was evident that this place had been a car repair shop before, as the courtyard was quite large. Wooden planks were also laid across the courtyard, with stairs below the planks. The siblings entered the courtyard through the stairs.
Outside the courtyard, there were many zombies, and on the ground were many skeletal remains. Judging by their size, many of the bones belonged to children. Seeing this, Shen Feng couldn't help but feel angry. Could it be that in this base, someone was deliberately pushing people out to feed the zombies?
Shen Feng watched as the two children entered the courtyard and then quietly crept to the window. He looked inside by the moonlight, and his anger flared. In his eyes, this so-called base was completely unnecessary! Because what appeared before Shen Feng was a hellish scene. He couldn't believe that humans could do such things.