The population of humanity had been decimated to less than 1% because of the Monsters. A large majority of industries had stopped, and the environment was suddenly devoid of pollution. After decades of natural cleansing, the air and water were far cleaner than before the advent of the YS Virus.
Taking advantage of the remaining light, Yang Tian left the building after tidying up the room. He brought an empty plastic bucket with him and went to the small creek by the city to collect some water.
He had just arrived at the bed of the creek and was preparing to fill his bucket when suddenly out of the reeds by the creek appeared two black Silver-fanged Wolves.
Silver-fanged Wolves were a common Monster in these times. They were numerous and were considered a Grade One Monster.
These mutated wolves were named so due to the bright metallic sheen that was present on their teeth. These fangs were extremely sharp and could sever a man's thigh with one bite. They were exceedingly ferocious.
These two Silver-fanged Wolves were larger than a normal wolf and were as well built as an ox.
It was the first time Yang Tian had faced off against ferocious Monsters, and he could not help but feel some degree of fear.
The two Silver-fanged Wolves bared their fangs at Yang Tian and glared coldly at him. They slowly approached Yang Tian until they were roughly seven or eight meters away from him and stopped. They subtly hunched their bodies and looked as if they were just about to pounce on Yang Tian.
Yang Tian had long since abandoned his bucket and drawn the dagger at his waist to assume a defensive stance.
Suddenly, one of the Silver-fanged Wolves leaned on its hind legs and leaped into the air toward Yang Tian.
Yang Tian's eyes narrowed. As he did so, the speed of the Silver-fanged Wolf seemed to halve in his eyes!
Even if that were the case, the lupine Monster was still as fast as lightning. It was far faster than a normal human. In the blink of an eye, the Monster's razor-sharp claws were already planted on Yang Tian's shoulder, its jaw gaping wide to take a bite at Yang Tian's neck.
At that moment, Yang Tian could even smell the stench from the Monster's mouth.
Yang Tian was no longer an average human. His strength, speed, and reflexes were far greater than that of a baseline human.
The Silver-fanged Wolf had not yet bitten down on his neck when Yang Tian rotated his body. His left hand shot up like lightning to grab the Monster by the neck while his right arm plunged the dagger into its body before twisting it.
There was a yelp as bright crimson blood started spurting out of the beast's chest, spraying all over Yang Tian's body.
Yang Tian's thrust had pierced the heart of the Silver-fanged Wolf—it was a fatal wound!
Thud!
Yang Tian threw the limp carcass of the Monster onto the ground and wiped off the droplets of blood on his face. He warily eyed the remaining beast.
Wolves were cunning animals. As soon as it saw its companion killed by the human before it, it immediately knew that it was no match for Yang Tian. It retreated into the reeds with its tail between its legs.
"Whew…"
Yang Tian let out a long breath.
This was Yang Tian's first battle, and while he had come out of it victorious, it still left him feeling anxious.
His mental fortitude was commendable. If it were anyone else, they would have turned and ran when faced with such a situation even if their bodies had already been altered.
Looking at the Silver-fanged Wolf carcass he killed, Yang Tian smiled. That was dinner sorted out.
The meat of a Silver-fanged Wolf was edible and was actually rather tasty.
"Oh yeah! The Beast Core!"
Yang Tian knelt and was preparing to cut off two legs from the carcass to bring home when he thought about the Beast Core. It was something that could drastically augment the human body. Although, sometimes one needed to kill ten low-Grade Monsters in order to find one Beast Core.
Yang Tian used his dagger to drill a hole in the hardened skull of the Silver-fanged Wolf before using the blade to prise out the insides.
In the fading light of dusk, something white glistened within the beast's brains.
Seeing the white object, Yang Tian's eyes widened. It was a Grade One Beast Core, and it was really white!
Yang Tian carefully extracted the white object out of the carcasses' skull.
This white object was circular. The Beast Core was no bigger than the tip of his pinky finger and looked almost like a bird egg.
The Beast Core existed in the body of a Monster and contained a large amount of power. Scientists found that it was the byproduct of the YS Virus mutating the body of the Monster before dying and crystallizing.
Looking at this white Grade One Beast Core, Yang Tian felt a rush of excitement. He never would have thought that his luck would be that good! The first Monster he killed had a Beast Core in it.
Very quickly, a question posed itself.
Yang Tian wondered if he should eat this Beast Core. He discovered that his powers were already close to that of a Transhuman who had already consumed a Grade One Beast Core.
Beast Cores were hard to come by—even a Grade One Beast Core was extremely difficult to obtain. If he were to consume it and had no effect on his powers, would that not be a waste?
"Let's not worry about it and go back and think about it! This is no place to consume a Beast Core anyway."
Yang Tian looked around and put away the Beast Core. Collecting the water and Wolf legs, he went back for a feast. It had been a very long time since he had eaten fresh meat.
"Squeak!"
At that moment, a mouse-like sound could be heard from Yang Tian's chest.
Following that, the little green dragon zipped out of his collar and snatched the Beast Core in Yang Tian's palm with his mouth. It then zipped back into Yang Tian's shirt.
The little green dragon was as fast as lightning, and Yang Tian had no time to react.
At that moment, Yang Tian did not need to worry because the little green dragon had already decided for him.
"Hey! My Beast Core! Give it back!" Yang Tian finally reacted and pulled at his collar, yelling at the little green dragon hanging from his chest.
However, the little green dragon clambered up to Yang Tian's neck and rubbed its face against Yang Tian's own.
"Kiss up!"
Yang Tian's anger subsided. He grabbed the little pipsqueak and shoved him into the pocket of his jeans before walking toward the creek.
As Yang Tian cleaned the plastic bucket and filled it with water, the little green dragon squirmed out of his pocket and jumped to the creek bed. It seemed to be drinking some water before it jumped onto Yang Tian's shoulder once more. Its eyes were wide as it looked around, full of curiosity at the world.
Yang Tian paid it no mind. After filling it with water, he used his grandfather's dagger to sever the two legs. Carrying the water and the legs, he strode back.
It was turning dark, and he wanted to make it back before nightfall to find some firewood to cook the meat.
Nighttime was also the domain of the Monsters. Even a Warrior would have found staying outside in the wilderness a very dangerous business.
Yang Tian rapidly returned to the building. He broke down a few pieces of wooden furniture in the rooms of the building, carried the firewood back to the room he had found, and made a fire in the living room.
After skinning the two legs, Yang Tian washed the meat with the water he collected. He then used the dagger to cut multiple holes in the meat and sprinkled salt and pepper over it. He then skewered the meat and put it over the fire.
The little green dragon continued to lie on Yang Tian's shoulder, curiously looking on.
"Here!"
After the wolf leg was cooked, Yang Tian cut out a piece of meat and fed it to the little green dragon.
Yang Tian was originally joking and did not think that the little green dragon would eat the roasted morsel. However, the little green dragon jumped down from Yang Tian's shoulder and grabbed the piece of meat Yang Tian offered. As it landed on the floor, it began to eat the meat with gusto. In a few minutes, it had consumed the meat that was the size of a palm.
"Squeak squeak…"
After eating the meat, the little green dragon got up again and stared at Yang Tian, squeaking away.
"You want more!"
Yang Tian cut another piece of meat and threw it at the little green dragon.
It grabbed it with its two front claws and started devouring it. After it finished that morsel, it continued to squeak at Yang Tian.
"D*mn! You've eaten nearly twice your size. Where does it go?"
Yang Tian watched the little green dragon in awe as he cut out a larger piece of meat from the wolf leg.
…
Half an hour later, Yang Tian still had not yet eaten as the entire wolf leg was now in the belly of the little green dragon.
Yang Tian could only work on cooking the remaining leg.
After the leg was cooked, Yang Tian learned his lesson. He paid no mind to the little green dragon who was making puppy eyes at him. He ate his fill first.
"Something's not right with you today! You snatched my Grade One Beast Core without even telling me. That's not right. Next time, you need to tell me…"
As he spoke, he unknowingly ate nearly half of the wolf leg.
The meat on this wolf leg was at least six kilograms. Having had his fill, did Yang Tian realize that his appetite had grown significantly?
In the past, if he had eaten more than 600 grams of meat, he would have felt stuffed.
This was definitely caused by drinking the water that the Dragon Pearl was soaked in. Since his strength had increased, it meant that his metabolic needs had also increased and he would need to eat more to meet his caloric needs.
Yang Tian fed the remaining half of the roasted wolf leg to the little green dragon.
Both dragon and man ate two wolf legs. They felt extremely content.
Yang Tian used a stainless steel pot to boil some water for drinking. After doing that, he checked the doors and windows before pulling out his cell phone from his backpack and calling Qin Fei.
"Hello, Yang Tian?" Qin Fei's mellifluous voice could be heard over the line.
"Little Fei, I miss you…" Yang Tian was very excited when he heard Qin Fei's voice. He told Qin Fei of the day's occurrences.
Throughout the call, Qin Fei occasionally made exclamations of surprise, particularly when Yang Fei recounted his encounter with the Silver-fanged Wolves.
…
After ending the call with Qin Fei, Yang Tian called home. His parents gave him an ear-bashing at first, but they soon began nagging at him warmly. They reminded him to be careful and not to push himself. If he could not take it out there, he could always return home.