14: Ancient bacteria on the moon

In the early hours of the morning, Zhang Manyue returned.

She carried a large pile of acorns wrapped in her clothes and placed them beside Xu Jingzhe.

"You're awake, have some acorns," she said gently.

"Th-thank you," Xu Jingzhe's voice was apologetic.

"Hey, don't mention it. You saved me, I haven't even thanked you yet," Zhang Manyue skillfully cracked open an acorn and handed the clean nut to Xu Jingzhe.

Many words reached Xu Jingzhe's lips, only to be swallowed back down.

"Lady Manyue, I couldn't bring your sniper rifle and long blade," he said.

"It's fine, those are just external possessions. If they're gone, I'll just collect more pollution cores to exchange for new ones," Zhang Manyue said indifferently.

"Exchange?"

Xu Jingzhe paused. People from the Pollution Zone could trade with the High Molecular Compound Zone?

Or was it because Zhang Manyue had a special identity that she could acquire high-tech products?!

"Oh, right. Even though you just arrived in the Pollution Zone, you should still collect pollution cores. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll even pick some up just walking around."

"With enough pollution cores, you can go to the Abandoned Land to exchange for corresponding tech products, greatly increasing your chances of surviving in the Pollution Zone."

Zhang Manyue looked at Xu Jingzhe, whose face was full of questions, and reached out to brush the short hair clinging to her cheek, saying, "I know you have many questions, and you don't need to understand everything at once."

"The stronger you are, the more you will naturally understand about surviving in the Pollution Zone."

Xu Jingzhe could only suppress his curiosity, nod, and eat all the acorns Zhang Manyue had peeled for him.

The night passed without a word.

The next morning, Zhang Manyue disappeared again.

Because he had eaten many acorns, the system was able to 100% digest and convert them into energy within his body. His legs had regained sensation today.

They were stiff and numb, like the feeling of squatting for too long, but he still couldn't stand up.

Dragging his calves, he went outside the house. In front of him were mountain peaks, like sleeping giants, and the sky was still a depressing gray.

Yesterday, the system controlled his body, and Xu Jingzhe didn't know how far or where he had run.

"Hey, breathe."

System: "Ding, what's up?"

"Where are we?"

System: "Ding, I don't know."

"You chose the escape direction, and you don't know?" Xu Jingzhe laughed in exasperation.

System: "Ding, 122,280 meters from that abandoned unfinished building."

Xu Jingzhe: "......"

His legs couldn't move, and he temporarily lost his mobility, so he could only lie in the small house and think about what had happened in the past few days. Fortunately, this area was temporarily safe.

It was also possible that Zhang Manyue had driven away all the zombies and zombie dogs in this area, which was why she left with peace of mind.

At noon, Zhang Manyue returned again, and besides bringing back many more acorns, she also brought back a piece of news.

The Contaminants were gathering a large number of Contaminators towards Musileke City, preparing to attack the city.

That's why Zhang Manyue encountered the Otherworld Fiend King.

A Contaminant is an infected person who has condensed a pollution core for more than thirty years within their body.

"Why are they attacking Musileke City?" Xu Jingzhe asked.

"I heard it's because they're going to conduct an experiment in Musileke City."

"Experiment?"

"It is said that researchers from the High Molecular Compound Zone 'captured' an ancient bacteria from lunar soil, a bacteria that has existed for tens or even hundreds of thousands of years."

"They can devour pollution cores, fully absorbing the energy within the pollution cores and storing it as their own energy."

"The energy stored within a single bacterium can sustain the Moon Base's energy usage for one day."

"Similarly, if this ancient bacteria were to fall into the hands of a Contaminant, there would be unexpected changes."

Xu Jingzhe's mouth dropped open. This was simply a fantasy. Bacteria are so microscopic that they require a microscope to observe.

Just devouring a pollution core can produce so much energy?

Isn't this even more exaggerated than nuclear fission?!

Nonsense, absolute nonsense!

Although he didn't know what the Moon Base looked like.

But, impossible, absolutely impossible!

These Contaminants must have had their brains kicked by a donkey.

Xu Jingzhe's throat tightened, and he swallowed, saying, "You, you believe it?"

Zhang Manyue's eyes were unusually firm, saying, "Yes."

"Humanity has already reached a 0.93-level civilization, only 0.07 levels away from a first-level civilization. What's so impossible about that?"

Xu Jingzhe didn't have much concept of a first-level civilization and a 0.93-level civilization, only knowing that they were mentioned on TV.

However, it didn't matter. If he didn't understand, the dog system surely would.

"Hey, boss, are you there?" He thought this sentence in his mind.

System: "Ding, what's up?"

"Did you hear what Zhang Manyue just said? Do you think it's true or false?"

System: "Ding, false. So far, the bacteria that humans can 'capture' can be divided into four places."

"Blue Star, Moon, Mars, and Jupiter."

"Blue Star has the most bacteria, 5X10^30 types, and humans can only utilize a mere few million types. The Moon has tens of millions of types, and only a few hundred can be utilized by humans, as for Mars and Jupiter, it's not worth mentioning."

"However, let me tell you a cold fact. From the perspective of the macroscopic universe, humans are nothing more than bacteria attached to the Earth's surface."

"But, let me tell you one more thing, if Musileke City truly has bacteria that have lived on the Moon for tens of thousands of years, it would be incredibly good news for you."

"What would happen if I devoured him?" Xu Jingzhe's heart immediately became excited.

System: "Ding, it depends on the type of bacteria, but whether it's highly aggressive or weakly aggressive, it's always more reassuring to keep such a treasure by your side."

"Why aren't you speaking?" Zhang Manyue looked curiously at the dazed Xu Jingzhe. He hadn't spoken for a long time, but his heartbeat had quickened.

"Ah? Oh... nothing, I just zoned out for a moment," Xu Jingzhe quickly found an excuse.

"Since that ancient bacteria can devour pollution cores, they just need to take out the pollution cores and experiment in the High Molecular Compound Zone, why must they come to Musileke City?" He keenly noticed the problem.

Zhang Manyue shook her head, saying, "I don't know about that. Many actions of the High Molecular Compound Zone are unexplainable."

"You... are you going?" Xu Jingzhe asked tentatively.

"No, the Contaminant's strength is too great, I am no match," Zhang Manyue had a good sense of her own limitations.

"Oh."

Xu Jingzhe's thoughts raced as he lowered his head to eat the acorns; he was tempted.

Even though he knew he was weak, he was still very tempted.

Fortune favors the bold!

Doesn't he have a powerful system that can control his body? When in doubt, just call the system.

With his system, like a supercomputer, analyzing the current environment, he would know if he had a 100% chance of dying or a 0.00000001% chance of survival.