16: Be buried together after death

Sitting by the bonfire, Zhang Manyue ate some more roasted rat meat.

"Where are we going next?" Xu Jingzhe asked.

Zhang Manyue tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, "How about we go deeper to take a look? These past years in the Pollution Zone, I haven't dared to go too deep."

Many Contaminants live in the depths of the Pollution Zone because the radioactive elements are more concentrated and abundant there.

It was a rare good opportunity, an experiment, and many Contaminants moved at the news, coming from the depths to the outermost periphery.

Therefore, Zhang Manyue thought about seeing if she could find some Contaminant lairs and pick up some valuable items.

Xu Jingzhe rubbed his head and said, "I want to go to Musileke City."

"What!" Zhang Manyue was greatly startled and said, "Going there is just asking for death; I don't agree to you going."

Her tone was undeniable, not at all a discussion.

However, Xu Jingzhe wasn't discussing with her; he was informing her.

They had met and were considered friends, so a farewell was appropriate.

Sitting until evening, Zhang Manyue departed.

Before leaving, she warned Xu Jingzhe not to run around, saying she was going to look for acorns.

Xu Jingzhe nodded, indicating that she could leave with peace of mind.

System: "Ding, let's go, search for things you can eat while heading towards Musileke City."

"Okay." Xu Jingzhe got up and said, "Can we head towards that abandoned unfinished building? My clothes and mask are there."

System: "Ding, no problem."

They set off.

The abandoned unfinished building was 122,280 meters away, which was about 120-some li.

At Xu Jingzhe's current pace, he estimated it would only take about ten hours to get there; it wasn't far.

The sky gradually darkened, and the moon rose in the east.

Xu Jingzhe specifically stood on a high slope, carefully observing the moon's changes. The result was that the moon was very bright from the moment it appeared, without any hazy feeling.

"The human base on the moon must be quite large, right? How come I can't see any changes in the moon?" he muttered, then continued on his way.

In the Pollution Zone, it was rare to see green grass or trees; most small grasses were gray, and tree leaves were also like that.

After walking for about an hour, he finally saw some green moss in a low-lying area. Beside the moss, there were also a few snails crawling.

System: "Ding, beneath the moss is a patch of soil, and within the soil are bacteria that have lived for thousands of years, named 'Beauty Bacteria'."

"These bacteria are what you humans call beneficial bacteria; they do not exhibit aggressive behavior and can greatly improve your pig-skin face."

Xu Jingzhe's mind went blank. How was he supposed to eat that?

Was he going to eat dirt?

"How do I eat it?" he asked.

System: "Ding, eat dirt."

"Are you kidding me? There are so many bacteria in the soil; it's impossible for there to be only Beauty Bacteria. If I eat the Beauty Bacteria, won't I also be eating many other bacteria at the same time?" Xu Jingzhe said, dissatisfied.

System: "Ding, first dig out the soil, then there's a puddle next to you, mix it together, apply it to your face, as a face mask."

"The Beauty Bacteria on your face will be absorbed by your face immediately; this amount of time is enough for me."

Xu Jingzhe dug out the soil beneath the moss; the damp, moldy soil carried the pungent smell of fermenting decaying plants.

He looked disgusted. By binding to this dog-system, he had to endure hardships that ordinary people couldn't.

Indeed, when Heaven is about to confer a great responsibility upon a man, it will first torment his heart and mind, exhaust his muscles and bones...

After applying the mud mask to his face, one second later.

His face felt slightly warm, and Xu Jingzhe felt as if a protective film had suddenly appeared on his face. This film emerged from beneath his skin, actively blocking the mud applied to his face.

Five minutes later, the mud on his face 'rustled' and fell off.

Looking at Xu Jingzhe's original pig-skin face again, it was delicate and smooth, comparable to a newborn baby's skin; his pores were invisible.

The extremely ugly Xu Jingzhe, after two transformations by the system, now had a straighter nose bridge and glowing facial skin.

Only his square, mahjong-tile-shaped face and his baboon-like mouth remained unchanged.

If these two changed, he would definitely be a super handsome man, one whom talent scouts would hand business cards to on the street.

Xu Jingzhe reached out and touched his face, feeling very satisfied; this hardship was not endured in vain.

A full moon hung high, bleak and cold; Xu Jingzhe was like a lonely wanderer.

"Ugh..."

"Ugh..."

After walking for about another half an hour, the painful groans of a man and a woman drifted over.

Xu Jingzhe stopped. Just not far from him, he turned his head to look to his right, his view blocked by a large rock.

The groaning sound came from behind the large rock.

He couldn't help but blush. In broad daylight... no, such things should probably happen at night for complete self-release.

Should he go take a look?

Just one glance.

He wanted to verify if what he saw in videos was fake or not.

This... shouldn't be considered offensive, right?

Just a quick peek and then sneak away.

He crept closer, and the groans grew louder in his ears, making Xu Jingzhe's earlobes turn red.

Exciting!

Too exciting!!

Live broadcast.

Peeking out half his head, Xu Jingzhe saw what was happening behind the rock as he wished.

A man and a woman lay side by side.

Only... they weren't doing anything indescribable.

Under the bright moonlight, Xu Jingzhe saw their pitiful state. The man's head was bald, and he was shedding bloody tears. One of his arms was already rotting, oozing pus, and emitting a foul stench.

The woman was no better; her yellowing hair was sparse and clung unwillingly to her head, her eyes were askew, and the area around her mouth was rotten in a circle, covered in festering sores.

Neither of them wore shirts, revealing shocking wounds, deep enough to see bone, with flesh that had turned black and was curling outwards.

Although Xu Jingzhe sympathized with them, he couldn't help but marvel at the strength of life.

He walked over, crouched down, and nudged the man: "Hey, can you hear me?"

After a while, the man finally opened his eyes and looked at Xu Jingzhe.

"You, you are... from the Seed Zone?"

The man could still speak and had not fallen unconscious.

Xu Jingzhe nodded and asked, "Are you... alright?"

He didn't know why he had said that.

"Heh heh..." The man gave a bitter laugh, despair in his eyes: "I, I won't live much longer. The Pollution Zone is too terrifying."

"On the second day of entering the Pollution Zone, I felt unwell, nauseous and wanting to vomit. Ling'er was the same; her, her body was already weaker, so her symptoms were more severe. Her hair fell out in handfuls, her nails peeled off, and her skin became dry and cracked."

The man spoke, then began to cry, saying, "She, she was such a beautiful girl, and now she's like this. What, what did we do wrong?"

"I, we and many others knelt beneath that cluster of ultra-modern buildings, pleading bitterly for them to save our lives. For a full, full day, we received no response."

"There was no choice; we could only take Ling'er and walk further in, hoping for a miracle to happen."

The man was exhausted from speaking so much. He closed his eyes and rested for a long time.

"I, I want to ask you for one thing. Can, can you?"

Xu Jingzhe couldn't bear to refuse him and nodded with a heavy heart.

"You, you stay one more night. After we both die, bury us together. We couldn't form a family in life, but after death, we'll share a grave."

The man knew that he and his girlfriend wouldn't make it through the night, and he hadn't had the chance to give her a grand wedding.

And so... they died in the Pollution Zone.

Xu Jingzhe remained silent, his heart heavy, leaning against the rock, looking at the moon in the sky.

Damn it... Coming-of-Age Ceremony!

Damn it... Pollution Zone!

Why can they arbitrarily decide the fate of ordinary people in the Seed Zone?!!