5: Chapter 5 Grasslands and Lakes

The breeze on the grassland was gentle, and the scent of green grass wafted through the air. It was a rare moment of peace and tranquility, and the survivors, who had been on edge for days, collapsed onto the ground to rest.

Before long, a surprised shout came from the distance: "Come look! There's a lake here!"

Everyone immediately perked up and flocked toward the lake, and Zhou Che followed along.

The lake water was emerald green and crystal clear, looking clean and bright. Exhausted from days of travel and covered in mud, the survivors looked at the water and wanted to strip off their clothes and jump in to wash away their fatigue.

"Everyone, stop! Do not enter the water!"

Captain Wu Jue shouted sternly, blocking their path.

In the apocalypse, the calmer a place looked, the more deadly the hidden dangers were. Entering the water rashly was essentially suicide.

He turned to Luo Xi and discussed with her: "Luo Xi, you stay here and keep watch. Make sure they fetch water in an orderly fashion and strictly forbid anyone from entering the water!"

Luo Xi nodded in agreement. Clutching her halberd, she stood by the lake, emanating a cold, battle-ready aura as she kept a close watch on the water.

No one dared to disobey, so they obediently lined up and crouched by the shore to fetch water.

Unexpectedly, danger struck without warning!

Just as one survivor bent down to scoop up water, the calm lake surface suddenly exploded!

A massive, monstrous fish leaped out of the water, opened its blood-red maw, and bit the man. With a loud crunch, half of his body was instantly swallowed!

Fresh blood instantly dyed the emerald water red. The screams were cut short, and the surrounding people were so terrified their souls nearly left their bodies; they scrambled backward.

A few of those who had wanted to enter the water earlier even wet their pants.

Luo Xi's eyes turned sharp, and she didn't hesitate for a second.

She kicked off the ground, her body soaring into the air like a fierce female warrior god. The halberd in her hand, imbued with chilling blade energy, swung down ruthlessly!

A cold light flashed as the blade energy tore through the air!

With a squelch, the monster fish's head was cleanly severed. Its massive body crashed back into the lake, motionless.

The entire scene fell into a deathly silence. Everyone was stunned, filled with awe for Luo Xi's combat prowess.

This was the first time Zhou Che had seen Luo Xi truly unleash her power.

That strike was fast and ruthless; the blade energy had shattered the lake surface and cleanly severed the fish's head. Anyone hit by such a blow would die on the spot, with absolutely no chance to parry.

Zhou Che clicked his tongue in admiration; the title of "female warrior god" was certainly well-deserved.

The massive corpse of the monster fish floated stiffly by the shore, the smell of blood drifting far away.

At this moment, the old geezer Zhang Xiuqi slowly sauntered to the lake. Without a word, he began making hand seals over a talisman in his hand.

The next second, the talisman floated up lightly and stuck precisely onto the fish. The large fish, which had been sinking into the water, moved slowly toward the shore, guided by the force of the talisman.

Everyone rushed forward, scrambling to drag the large fish onto the shore. They quickly removed the half-corpse from the fish's belly. The scene looked gruesome, but no one cared.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the large fish, wondering whether this thing was actually edible.

A few survivors, so hungry their eyes were glowing green, couldn't hold back any longer. Without waiting for it to be processed, they pulled out knives, sliced off pieces of raw fish, and shoved them into their mouths.

Everyone watched them nervously, sweating for them. But after a long while, those few people were fine and, on the contrary, looked quite satisfied.

It was clear: the fish wasn't poisonous and was edible!

Seeing this, Captain Wu Jue stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "If you want more fish, someone needs to go into the water as bait. Those willing to do so will receive a twenty percent share of the fish meat afterward."

As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted.

The survivors pushed forward like madmen, scrambling to be the bait, showing no fear at all.

In their minds, starving in the apocalypse was the real death sentence; the risk of being bait was nothing compared to that.

Either take a gamble to eat your fill and survive, or starve to death sooner or later. Dying early or dying late was the same; in this wretched apocalypse, there was nothing left to fear.

Relying on these people as bait, The Convoy soon fished out more than twenty large fish. Even the smallest one weighed a good hundred pounds.

Now, The Convoy could finally have a full meal and wouldn't have to worry about food for the time being.

The survivors took twenty percent of the fish meat, and the remaining eighty percent was split equally among the four Transcendents: Captain Wu Jue, Luo Xi, Zhang Xiuqi, and Zhou Che.

Zhou Che leaned against the wuling hongguang. His fatigue had not yet dissipated, and he was too lazy to move, so he looked up and called out to Lin Wan.

"Go to the lake and bring back my share of the fish meat."

Lin Wan agreed, walked quickly to the lake, borrowed a small cart from someone, and began bending down to move Zhou Che's share of the fish meat.

She had just finished stacking the fish meat when she was targeted by a few survivors who were crazed with hunger.

Someone nearby who knew the situation immediately grabbed the leading man and cursed in a low voice: "Are you tired of living? She is Mr. Zhou's person! Zhou Che is a newly promoted Transcendent; are you f***ing daring enough to provoke a Transcendent?"

The man was sallow and emaciated, his stomach pressed against his spine from hunger, and his eyes were already wild.

He had never seen Zhou Che fight and didn't believe the rumors. Furthermore, driven to the extreme by hunger, he had thrown all rules and caution to the wind.

He shoved the person aside, walked straight in front of Lin Wan, and blocked the cart.

Lin Wan glanced up at him with utter disdain, her tone icy: "This is Mr. Zhou's fish. If you've gone crazy from hunger, get lost; don't go looking for trouble here. If you actually provoke Mr. Zhou, you won't be able to handle the consequences."

"I don't care about your Mr. Zhou!" the man roared, stiffening his neck and staring fixedly at the fish on the cart.

He knew deep down that he alone couldn't fight a Transcendent, so he immediately turned and signaled to his equally starving accomplices behind him, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"We must have half of this fish today! We share the good fortune, and we face the consequences together!"

It was clear they intended to band together to cause trouble and forcibly seize Zhou Che's fish meat.

Relying on their numbers, this group was still acting foolishly: if so many people attacked at once, could Zhou Che really take them all down, no matter how tough he was?

At this moment, Lin Wan stepped forward, raised her hand, and slapped the man across the face with clean, decisive force.

The man's anger flared instantly, and he looked ready to retaliate.

The people beside him puffed out their chests and raised their chins, putting on the act of hooligans who wouldn't move until they got the fish.

Lin Wan looked at them coldly, her eyes no different than if she were looking at dead people, and said indifferently: "Are you truly tired of living?"

The group ignored her, blocking the cart tightly and refusing to budge an inch.

Zhou Che had been waiting in the car for a long time, but Lin Wan still hadn't returned. Anger flared in his heart; he pushed open the car door and strode toward the lake.

Just as he pushed through the crowd, he saw Lin Wan surrounded by a few people who had been driven mad by hunger. He immediately stepped forward, his voice cold enough to freeze ice: "You, want to rob me of my fish?"

The few men, who had just been arrogant and domineering, immediately lost their nerve upon seeing Zhou Che in person. They subconsciously took a few steps back, their legs starting to tremble.

The leader pretended to be calm, rubbing his hands together and smiling ingratiatingly: "Mr. Zhou, there are only two of you; you certainly can't finish all this fish. If you share some with us, you won't really lose anything, right?"

Zhou Che was so angry he laughed, his eyes suddenly becoming vicious: "You dare to come over and dictate what I do with my things?"

"Based on what you're saying, you won't need it anymore, because you're already a dead man."