Chapter 46: Super Mold 10
She had delayed him for quite some time, until a nearby bodyguard began to urge, “Mr. Lu, we should be going.”
Chu Yian looked up upon hearing this, her eyes bloodshot, still hiccuping after her intense crying. “Wh-where are you going?”
She had even mentioned finding an organization and bringing him to the Residential Area.
“Mr. Lu, our itinerary is classified.”
The bodyguard nearby reminded them.
At this stage, no one had the right to enter the Survival Zone except for those on the list. If anyone revealed the location of the Survival Zone, not only would their own eligibility be revoked, but those with knowledge of it would also be killed to maintain secrecy.
“You heard him, I can’t say.”
Lu Qingyuan’s face remained cold and his voice devoid of emotion, just like in the previous two rounds of the game.
Oh, that’s not right; their current relationship wasn’t as close as in the previous two rounds. In this round, this was their first meeting, and he didn’t even know who she was.
“I’m sorry, you should go.”
“Make sure you bring enough food and water!”
“Bye-bye.”
Chu Yian widened her eyes, trying to hold back her tears, but large droplets still fell occasionally. Because she was so sad, her lips were trembling, and even her slightly chubby cheeks were shaking.
She was… so pitiful, yet so cute.
This thought unexpectedly surfaced in Lu Qingyuan’s mind. He suddenly felt a bit reluctant to let this person die in this world that was about to descend into chaos and cannibalism.
He reached out and took her hand, then gave her a gentle hug. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, “I can’t tell you where I’m going, but don’t be afraid. The clever ones will survive.”
After saying this, he got into the car and left.
Chu Yian stood there blankly, watching the car drive away. Her intelligence, which had been clouded by crying, gradually returned.
Professor Lu’s identity is always impressive, so was he picked up to go to a Survival Zone?
The clever ones will survive… Chu Yian recalled his words and slowly opened her left hand. Just now, Professor Lu had pressed something into her palm—a platinum metal badge. It was engraved with a strange pattern she had never seen before.
Was this the clue to the Survival Zone that Professor Lu gave her?
Chu Yian tucked the badge into her pocket, looked out at the road he had departed on once more, composed herself, and then pedaled her bike back to the Residential Area with a huff.
As soon as Chu Yian got home, she began searching the internet for related patterns and logos.
She sat there for an entire day.
It wasn’t until the streetlights outside flickered on that she suddenly realized she had been sitting there for several hours.
Unfortunately, the pattern was very mysterious. Despite searching for several hours, she couldn’t find any information related to this badge’s design online.
“Ah!”
She sighed, stood up to stretch her muscles, and decided to cook some food while she was at it.
In fact, another reason she had prepared so much food was for Lu Qingyuan. Having encountered him in the last two games, she couldn’t help but wonder what she would do if she met him again this time but didn’t have enough food.
But now he had already been picked up.
Chu Yian felt that this was actually quite good. Firstly, Professor Lu’s safety was guaranteed; secondly, her own pressure to stockpile food was significantly reduced; and thirdly, Professor Lu had given her a tip about the Survival Zone despite them being mere acquaintances to him.
Although the hint was a bit difficult… he really was a good person with a cold exterior but a warm heart!
Chu Yian thought as she pulled out one of her only three packs of hotpot base.
She had no appetite at noon, but now she suddenly craved hotpot.
Chu Yian carefully washed and disinfected her hands, then opened the freezer to take out a portion of rabbit meat, the remaining shrimp, and a bag of dried shiitake mushrooms.
Dried shiitake mushrooms were among her few vegetables, and she was reluctant to eat too many. She poured out a third and quickly sealed the bag, putting it back in the refrigerator.
At night, the small kitchen was filled with a rich aroma.
The hotpot bubbled in the pot, and Chu Yian added the rabbit meat, shrimp, and dried shiitake mushrooms.
After not having a proper meal for a long time, having this was simply divine! The savory rabbit meat, the springy shrimp, and the cooked dried shiitake mushrooms were soaked in broth, bursting with flavor with every bite.
The aroma of the hot oil exploded in her mouth—hot, spicy, numbing, and fragrant. It made her want to spit it out because of the heat, yet she was too reluctant to do so. It took her a while to swallow, and she felt as if her soul had been uplifted.
It’s really delicious!
Good food heals the heart.
Chu Yian, who had been feeling a bit down, suddenly felt after eating such delicious food that it was actually okay for Professor Lu to have left early; she could enjoy that large pile of food in the fridge all by herself.
Besides, only by staying alive can one eat all kinds of delicious food. She wanted to live well and eat well.
She absolutely could not be pessimistic anymore!
Thinking of this, she took out the badge Lu Qingyuan had given her again and used paper to make a rubbing of the pattern, hoping to find other ways to learn the meaning of this badge.
Actually, the best way would be to ask someone, but if she did, the pattern on this paper would be spread around.
Would it affect Professor Lu if it spread?
Or, if someone else deciphered it and didn’t tell her, wouldn’t all her efforts be in vain?
Even if someone really deciphered it and told her the news, would they tell others as well? What if that Survival Zone closed because it couldn’t handle the load of too many people?
Considering all the uncertain factors, Chu Yian ultimately felt it was better to bury her head and look for clues herself.
Generally speaking, badge logos carry special meanings. They are either stylized abbreviations of words, or they represent a certain landscape, mascot, or special object.
In the time that followed, Chu Yian didn’t go out again. she spent all day in her room, her heart set on this badge. Papers with disassembled patterns covered the living room. Just as Chu Yian was sketching for the nth time, she suddenly heard a man’s loud shout from downstairs, causing her pen to skid across the paper before she could finish.
“The Super Mold has infected the seeds! There is no tomorrow for humanity!”
“There is no tomorrow for humanity!”
“There is no tomorrow for humanity!!”
…Chu Yian put down her pen, opened the window, and looked down. She saw a man in a business suit with thinning hair shouting while holding a briefcase.
He looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown, and his wife following behind him couldn’t stop him.
“Super Mold doesn’t just rot food; it can rot crops too. All the grain in the fields this year has gone moldy, and the national grain reserves have been completely destroyed!
Furthermore, the mold is highly toxic. If the intake exceeds 500 milligrams, a person will immediately go into shock and die!
They’re lying when they say there’s enough grain. Not a single clean grain of rice can be found in any of the large granaries; even the rats are about to starve to death.
There are no raw materials in the factories, so no food can be processed. There is no fodder in the livestock farms, so most of those animals will starve to death. A large number of us will starve to death, while a few elites have already hidden in Survival Zones.”
The man’s emotions had completely collapsed as he screamed at the top of his lungs, “We’re finished! Finished!”
