Chapter 136: Mycelium
Luna Dawson quickly pulled off her mask and was the first to sit down. "Shane, do you two want to order our boxed meals? I’ll give you a discount. One Second Order Crystal Core gets you two boxes, and you can pick any flavor."
She had set up shop. Shane Shaw had harvested over a dozen Crystal Cores along the way, and she needed to seize the opportunity to make a little profit.
Hearing this, Shane and his sister curiously stepped forward to inspect the meals. They were packaged similarly to those on high-speed trains, packed in compartmentalized stainless steel lunchboxes. Through the translucent lids, they could faintly see that each box contained three meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and an egg.
"They’re actually piping hot?!" Nancy Sullivan cried out in surprise.
Miles Dawson looked incredibly smug. "My sister’s spatial superpower is just that awesome."
Nancy had just taken off her mask. Catching a glimpse of Shane beside her, a wave of inferiority suddenly washed over her. Everyone in Luna’s team was at the Third Rank or above. She was the only one still at the First Order, and her storage space was merely a few square meters. To carry more supplies on this trip, she had emptied her space early on, moving most of her belongings to their home’s basement warehouse.
Shane saw through his sister’s insecurity. With a smile in his eyes, he reached out and ruffled her messy, frizzy hair.
"Silly girl," he said softly. "The level of your superpower doesn’t matter. As long as you’re safe and healthy, that’s enough."
Nancy’s shoulders relaxed. She looked up at her brother, her teary eyes filled with determination. "Shane, I’ll work hard! I won’t hold you back anymore!"
Turning back to Luna, Shane said, "We’ll order. We’ll buy all our meals from you during this supply run, and I’ll settle the bill once we get back."
Luna happily snapped her fingers. "Great! You have a deal."
She then took out the food bowls for the little ones. Little Sweet Potato was soaking in a retro red floral washbasin filled with spirit spring water, happily swimming freestyle. Little Tiger was CHOMP CHOMP gobbling down canned food, while Rollo and Tina were each eating from two massive basins of beef and raw meaty bones.
Shane’s eye twitched as he looked at a food basin half the size of Tina’s body. He let out a deep breath and asked, "How much for this?"
At this rate of consumption, he’d have to turn into a perpetual motion machine and slaughter Second-tier Zombies non-stop just to afford Luna’s bill. They had finally managed to make a trip out, yet he’d end up going back owing Luna a mountain of Crystal Cores!
"Tina is free of charge! Consider it Rollo’s treat."
How could Luna possibly ask a girl to go Dutch while the two dogs were on a date?
Shane shot a complicated look at Tina and then at Luna. "Then I really must thank you, Boss Dawson."
To think that he, Shane Shaw, was actually scoring freebies through canine connections.
No one wasted any more words. Starving, they quickly picked their favorite meals and buried their heads in their food. Except for Rhonda Dawson, Luna, and Nancy, every grown man present devoured three boxed meals.
Luna noticed that these guys had large builds and burned a lot of energy, so they could really pack it away. Just watching them eat with such relish stimulated her own appetite; it was like watching a live mukbang. Even though Luna was completely full after one box, she couldn’t resist taking out a cup of hot cocoa and slowly sipping it. Worried that the others hadn’t had enough, she thoughtfully asked if they wanted more.
"That’s enough! Uncle’s braised pork trotter rice is just too good! I was already eighty percent full after two boxes, but I couldn’t help eating a third!" Miles rubbed his bulging stomach, full of praise.
Lynn Shelby, thoroughly satisfied, nodded repeatedly. "This roast goose is absolutely perfect! The skin is crispy, and the meat is tender and sweet!"
Shane was usually quite restrained with his eating. Whether before or after the apocalypse, his physique had always been on the leaner side. This time, he didn’t know if the journey had drained too much energy or if the meal was just that delicious, but he had eaten three boxes in a row. Moreover, with every bite he took, he could clearly feel his exhausted muscles and stiff joints recovering. He even felt his superpower becoming much more replenished than before!
Kevin Keane took small sips of spirit spring water and looked at Luna. "Are we staying here for the night?"
Luna rested her chin on her hand, took a sip of hot cocoa, and pondered. "I didn’t expect the road to be so difficult. Let’s spend the night here and head to the next resource point tomorrow."
Evan Olson nodded in agreement. "It’s too draining. We took quite a few tumbles during the day; traveling at night would be even more dangerous."
Along the way, Rhonda’s ankle had swollen from a fall. Fortunately, she could heal herself. If they tried traveling at night, someone might take a bad step and vanish into the darkness entirely.
Hearing the word "tumble," Kevin secretly glanced at Luna. His lowered eyelashes concealed his expression as his fingertips rubbed together slightly.
Just then, Little Sweet Potato’s childish voice chimed from the washbasin. "How strange. To think I came back empty-handed."
Everyone was already used to its vines zipping out from time to time. They knew it was going out to dig up nearby Crystal Cores. Today was the first time they heard it say its vines had returned empty-handed.
Kevin leaned in and reached out to touch its small leaves. "What’s empty?"
Little Sweet Potato urgently absorbed all the water in the basin and climbed onto Kevin’s shoulder. "There are several zombies outside with no Crystal Cores in their brains."
Hearing this, the group looked dumbfounded. They all stood up and walked toward the outside. Luna stood up in shock as well. Empty?!
Outside the debris barrier, apart from over a dozen ordinary zombies, they spotted seven or eight stark naked zombies. Their bodies were completely wrapped in fungal mycelium as they struggled to climb over the wreckage of old cars toward them.
The skin on those zombies was frighteningly pale, looking as if they had just been fished out of bleach, gleaming with a macabre porcelain-white luster. The blood vessels beneath their skin had long since withered, replaced by a crisscrossing network of spreading mycelium. They were muttering something, their voices muddy and robotic.
Little Sweet Potato’s vine pointed at them. "It’s them."
"Are... are the zombies... speaking?!" Nancy was badly frightened. She instinctively shrank toward her brother, gripping the hem of his shirt tightly. She asked in a hushed whisper, her eyes filled with terror.
Aaron Palmer didn’t waste any words. A Fireball ignited at his fingertips, and he violently hurled it out, smashing it directly into the zombie that had climbed the highest.
WHOOSH.
The mycelium was instantly ignited by the flames. Snapped fungal threads drifted down, trailing sparks, as the zombie’s entire body went up in flames. It let out a shrill, disjointed howl.
"So painful! Pain! I’m in pain..."
This distinct, human-like shriek made the hair stand up on the back of everyone’s neck behind the barrier! Human fear stems from the unknown. The things standing before them could no longer be considered human, nor were they ordinary zombies anymore, yet they were still speaking like humans!
Everyone stared intently at those things below. Aside from the garbled muttering, a dead silence fell over the surroundings.
A few seconds later, Miles couldn’t help but curse under his breath. "Damn it, what the hell are those things?!"
"Little Sweet Potato, tie one up and bring it here." Kevin’s expression was grim, his eyes locked onto those mycelium-wrapped zombies.
In an instant, Little Sweet Potato’s vines darted out like agile ropes, accurately wrapping around a zombie that had just reached the middle of the car wreckage. It forcefully dragged the creature back, hoisting it up securely bound hand and foot.
As the group took a closer look, they saw a glaringly obvious gaping hole on the zombie’s forehead. Yellowish-white brain matter mixed with viscous mycelium oozed onto the floor, and a bizarre, sickeningly sweet yet putrid stench hit their faces. Outside, the zombie struck by the Fireball had already burned into a charred husk in the blaze. The mycelium had been reduced to ashes. The body no longer made a sound, leaving only a scorched smell drifting in the air.
"I... really... want... I..."
A robotic gurgle emanated from the bound zombie’s throat, unable to form a complete sentence despite its efforts. Its body continued to writhe, the mycelium on its flesh expanding and contracting with its movements.
The group’s expressions were heavy. A non-human, dead corpse producing speech filled their hearts with immense dread.