Survival Guide in the Age of Cataclysm

Chapter 100 Cat Lovers

The isolation zone, a desolate wilderness.

The wind howled, and withered yellow grass clippings danced in the air.

A woman dressed in a simple black robe carried a blond boy across the wasteland.

Her running movements were quite strange; her body moved almost straight without any undulation.

The woman had a charming face, long emerald green hair that fluttered in the wind, and skin as translucent as white porcelain. Even amidst the dust and smoke, she possessed a captivating beauty.

But at this moment, a hint of anxiety was visible in her eyes.

"Fujin-nee, how much longer?"

The handsome blond boy asked a question from the woman's back. His face was pale, his voice was weak, and his clothes were stained red on his abdomen.

"Soon, I'll be able to heal your wounds very soon."

Fujio's voice was gentle, and the anxiety in her eyes turned into heartache.

The image flashed through her mind: the boy standing in front of her, trembling as he confronted the man in black armor.

The boy was injured while saving her, and regardless, she had to repay this debt of gratitude. Moreover, after this incident, they might be able to...

A blush flashed across Fujine's face.

She didn't know why she felt a connection to a human. Perhaps it was because the other person had saved her, or perhaps it was because of the infatuated look in their eyes.

One thing was certain: she enjoyed being with the boy.

Just seeing the other person gives her a sense of belonging and security.

Clearly, this is love!

Even though it may seem impossible for a different species to be human, both are intelligent beings, and as long as both sides are willing, what do worldly opinions matter?

As she fantasized, Fujio could hardly contain her joy.

The next moment, she moved much faster, following the direction she remembered.

Soon, it got closer and closer.

"We'll arrive once we cross that hill."

Fujion smiled and quickly ran towards the hill.

The boy's chest was pressed against her back, and she could feel that his heart was beating faster.

A surge of joy filled her heart, and she quickened her pace.

"First heal the wounds, then build a house according to human customs, and then—"

My thoughts suddenly stopped.

Fujion stared in astonishment, his steps halting on the hill as he gazed blankly at the scenery in the distance.

Where is my...home?

In the distance, there was a patch of scorched earth, with carbonized wood trunks everywhere, and some of the wood stumps had sprouted new shoots.

It's obvious that this place has been like this for quite some time now.

Fujine stood there stunned for a moment before finally reacting.

"My house has been robbed!"

The lush green forest I remember has been reduced to ashes, leaving only charred stumps and utter devastation. Nothing is left.

Wait, Heart of Thorns!

Upon realizing this, Fujio's pupils contracted, and her travel speed instantly increased dramatically.

She rushed straight into the middle of the scorched earth, and looking down, she could only see the same kind of coke.

A moment of silence fell over the air.

Fujion's noodles trembled a few times, her eyes suddenly turned cold, and a surge of hostility arose in her heart.

Not only was our house burned down, but everything else was stolen!

Click click.

In an instant, her porcelain-like skin suddenly cracked open, and within the cracks, countless black thorns twisted beneath her skin.

Fujine's eyes flashed with murderous intent.

Yet she didn't know where to vent her frustration; she didn't even know who had stolen the Heart of Thorns.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Her skin began to split and scatter like fragments, with black vines wrapping around pieces of human skin, transforming her into a terrifying sight.

Seeing this, the blond boy behind him quickly called out.

"Sister Fujine."

Upon hearing the boy's voice, Fujion's face turned pale. As her anger subsided, a sense of panic arose within her.

Now that the Heart of Thorns has been stolen, the boy's wounds...

"Sheen, my heart, my heart was stolen, I didn't know..."

Fujio's voice was hoarse, even sounding like she was about to cry.

Upon hearing this, the blond boy lying on her back looked bewildered, helpless, and incredulous, but showed no fear of death whatsoever.

"Who the hell stole my Heart of Thorns?!"

In an instant, Sheen's mind raced.

He hadn't told anyone about his search for the Heart of Thorns, so it shouldn't be someone deliberately hindering him; it must be a coincidence.

But he couldn't give up now, especially since he had already gained initial control over the Thorn Banshee; all he needed was a Thorn Heart...

Quickly gathering his thoughts, Sheen gave a weak smile and said slowly, "It's alright. My injury can actually be healed. I can manage."

"But……"

"No buts, we have to get the Heart of Thorns back first and make that thief pay the price."

He paused for a moment after saying this.

Feeling nauseous, she forced herself to say, "Fujion, I won't let anyone bully you."

"I see."

Fujion was deeply moved. She sniffed and whispered, "I can't sense the Heart of Thorns. Just focus on recovering. If you don't need us, don't worry about me."

Sheen felt a sharp pain in his teeth just listening to that.

"Who the hell cares about you?"

But at this moment, he could only say firmly, "No, this matter cannot be left like this."

"How can we find it?"

Sheen dismounted from Tengyin's back, looked at the ashes scattered on the ground, and asked to confirm, "The Heart of Thorns is a part of your body, right?"

"right."

"Then there's no problem."

Sheen felt a sense of relief.

The world is full of all sorts of abilities, and he knows of several that allow one to sense different parts of the body. In the future, one gene serum will be enough.

…………

Reconstruction area of ​​Settlement No. 3.

After returning by airship, Xu Yang settled the bounty on the fungal beast and then installed the biochemical plugin.

Considering his inhuman number of slots, and to avoid being dissected and studied, he specifically chose a different clinic to install the plugins this time.

After everything was over, it was already evening.

The sky was pitch black, and the streetlights emitted a dim yellow light.

In a deep, secluded alley, a black stray cat nimbly climbed over a hole in the wall.

Today, it didn't find much again, going hungry one day and full the next, but sometimes it could find some leftovers in this secluded dark alley.

The black cat walked quietly through the alley, then suddenly stopped.

At the end of the alley ahead, on the dirty, uneven ground, there was a white cardboard box filled with dried fish.

Its heart was first filled with joy, ecstatic joy, and then its eyes suddenly reddened.

An overwhelming feeling of emotion welled up within it. In that instant, it had almost forgotten how long it had been since it had tasted such delicious food. It had spent every day in a state of constant hunger, and the food before it at this moment was exactly what it was—

A gift from the god of fate!

The black cat made a whimpering sound as it staggered down the alleyway.

She was so moved that she couldn't control her body and didn't even realize that others were getting close.

At this moment, behind the black cat.

Xu Yang, a cat lover, was following the cat from about two meters away, fully aware of the cat's current emotions.

After all, he was the one who put the dried fish in there, and he was the one who turned on the biohazard plugin.

[Bewitched]

[Upon activation, you can specify the emotion of creatures within a three-meter radius, or apply the effect simultaneously across the entire area.]

……

With his powerful body control, Xu Yang was able to follow the black cat silently, like a huge shadow.

After activating the plugin's capabilities, he carefully observed the cat's reaction.

Unlike [Capture the Spirit], [Bewitching the Mind] continuously consumes bio-energy after activation, but it also has a wider variety of effects.

Xu Yang followed behind the black cat, a thought suddenly occurring to him.

At this moment, the black cat waddled toward the dried fish. Moved, I was suddenly overcome with a deep sadness that surged into my heart like a river.

Countless thoughts flooded my mind.

Why am I a stray cat, homeless and wandering, suffering from hunger and cold every day, and being bullied by other cats?

They can only be found on the poorest and most desolate streets.

The black cat lowered its body and let out a soft growl as it looked at the dried fish in front of it.

Suddenly, another surge of anger rushed to his head.

Why should I?!

Why can other cats have a peaceful life, but I can't?

Its fur stood on end, it let out a few sharp growls, and its claws scraped the ground.

It suddenly lowered its head and devoured a small dried fish in one bite, as if tearing apart an enemy.

"Lulu lulu..."

The black cat munched on the fish, making guarding noises as it ate, even though there were no enemies around.

Seeing this, Xu Yang felt it was time to wrap things up, and then took a heavy step forward.

The black cat suddenly turned its head and immediately recognized Xu Yang. It was Xu Yang who had scared it unconscious when it ate fried insects last time.

In an instant, past grudges surfaced in his mind, driven by an indescribable anger.

The black cat, its eyes turning red, was about to pounce on Xu Yang.

Suddenly, its body stiffened, and sadness welled up in its heart. Torn between these two extreme emotions, the black cat lost its balance and fell to the ground.

At the same time, in its grief, it completely lost the will to act and could only let out a few pitiful cries.

"Meow, meow~"

"It seems that you can also try to create this kind of opportunity in battle, to pull your emotions to the limit and then turn the tables. It's also a skill that can mess with people's mentality."

Xu Yang felt a sense of satisfaction.

"Although this ability only has four states: joy, emotion, sadness, and anger, it is still very versatile."

It can be used not only for combat support, but also for various scenarios in life.

Whether it's gathering information, negotiating, or even picking up girls...

It can play a role in all aspects.

In social relationships, this is almost a divine skill; by controlling other people's emotions, one can control their desires.

Moreover, even though this is just the current version of the biohazard plugin, there are already countless ways to use it. If it is upgraded in the future and the biohazard plugin is completely transformed into a feature, there will be even more ways to play with it.

Xu Yang glanced at the black cat at his feet, smiled slightly, and stepped out of the dark alley.

"Feeding stray cats is a good deed I do every day, so my merits have definitely increased today."

Behind him, the little black cat looked helplessly at Xu Yang's back.

Until the man who toyed with her feelings completely disappeared.

Unforgettable.

…………

The next day, early morning.

In the small house, the curtains were drawn back, and sunlight streamed into the room, making it bright and airy.

Xu Yang sat at a broken wooden table, examining the apple in his hand, his palm slightly clenched.

Bang!

The apple exploded instantly, and shards of flesh splattered everywhere from the palm of my hand.

It felt like being shattered by a bullet.

Seeing the breakfast disappear, Xu Yang smiled gently.

This is the effect of another plugin installed yesterday, "Starbreaker"—

Unite our strength.

He had indeed intended to have breakfast, but once he held the apple in his hand, he suddenly felt an irresistible urge to test his abilities.

As he expected, the outcome was exactly as he predicted.

At the moment the palm exerts force, the power that should have been distributed across the entire palm surface is concentrated in one area, directly shattering the entire apple.

This result was satisfactory enough for Xu Yang.

However, he is more looking forward to the upgraded version of this plugin than to its current state.

It's important to know that while [Starbreaker] provides a high damage bonus, it still suffers from the common problems of biohazard plugins.

It lacks flexibility and growth potential.

Currently, the [Star Breaker] can only concentrate power in one location, and the limit of power concentration and contraction is about the thickness of a thumb.

To be honest, that's already very strong.

Combined with the [Instant Kick], an attack that unleashes the full power of the body in one kick, all the power is concentrated into a single point and explodes directly.

With Xu Yang's current strength rating of seven, it's impossible for him to pierce through a star, but the explosion of a typical RPG can't match his kick.

However, this is not extreme enough.

What Xu Yang wanted was not only to be able to condense this large force into a single power, but also to be able to divide this large force into many smaller ones, and then shrink these forces into individual strands of energy the size of a hair.

However, given the current situation, we can only wait until it reaches the first stage and becomes a characteristic before making any further considerations.

With that thought in mind, Xu Yang shook off the fruit in his hand, went to the bathroom to shave his beard, and then went out.

He also needs to deal with some useless loot, such as two useless plugins: [Steelbow] and [Resurrection].

The former can be sold directly, while Xu Yang plans to put the latter up for auction, or rather, barter.

After all, his equipment needs upgrading now, especially the [Iron Heart Blade].

It has been with him through so much. The originally sharp and tough blade has become somewhat worn, and most of the alloy particles embedded in the surface of the gauntlet have fallen off.

Inside the settlement, at the [War Melody] location, the boss mentioned that the metal parts could be upgraded once for free.

However, Xu Yang himself needs to provide the materials.

We just happen to be lacking alloys.

Perhaps you can exchange the "Revival of All Things" for a decent quality one.

Thinking this, Xu Yang walked down the street, when he suddenly caught sight of a familiar petite figure. He recognized her at a glance.

"Lily?"

Xu Yang frowned, not because he was surprised that the other party was on the street, but because Lily was carrying a deflated backpack.

"Are they going to scavenge again?"

He quickened his pace a few steps, and the advantage of his long legs immediately became apparent.

They quickly arrived at the girl's side.

Hearing the noise behind her, Lily turned around as well.

Xu Yang asked with some doubt, "Are we going to scavenge again?"

At this point, the Red Fall has ended, and the isolation zone is teeming with alien monsters, with the possibility of space storms erupting at any moment.

It's not that you can't go, it's just that the requirements for ability are a tiny bit higher.

But aside from her extremely keen senses, which she probably possesses a special perceptive ability, Lily's actual strength is about the same as that of an ordinary person.

Thinking of this, Xu Yang said seriously, "The quarantine zone is now full of monsters."

Lily slowly began, "It's not going to the isolation zone, it's going into a space storm to other planets. We'll be hiring members from the Foreign Affairs Department along the way."

Xu Yang then noticed a black ring around the girl's neck, which was the [Life Support Suit], an essential piece of equipment for entering the Astral Plane, and she was escorted by members of the Foreign Affairs Department along the way.

So it seems...

"Are we teaming up?"

"Yes, I'm going to [Jinyuan] with a scavenger camp."

Xu Yang was taken aback.

【Jinyuan】, isn't that the tattoo mark on the picture of the homeless man that Ma Yue showed him yesterday?