[ After Calamity ] [ 04 : 00 : 00 ] [ Shanghai ]
Song Ziyu looked at his tired guards.
They are still doing their entire hunt on live broadcast.
More than one red deers was on the spits in front of him, being roasted whole on open fire. It was almost like an old time war movie, with the way the people are processing the bloody skins, it could not be differentiated from the medieval times.
Ziyu thinks it will only be a few years before the time of warlords comes once again.
Sure, in the end, the government triumphs, but this is the time to grow their personal power.
In the first place, they were abandoned.
There's no need to be overly generous to the government which abandoned them so easily. Just like the government, they will also send their well wishes for the quick victory, while they build their strength with what they have accomplished.
" Master ! We have finished putting up the banner. " one of the guards informed him.
Ziyu looked over.
There's a big banner on the other side of the clearing.
' Join Silver Streak, Eat Meat ! '
The slogan said.
There's no need for more.
After all, these are troubled times when all sorts of transportation is disrupted. So, the simplest promises are best compared to promising sky.
If nothing else, they could let people eat meat, so that's what they will entice them with.
The rest will come automatically.
" Good ! Get one of those live broadcast hosts to sit under that banner, and give out information periodically. I, and four more members of the hunting team will have live cameras for the broadcast. Let's go get those deers ! " Song Ziyu shouted.
" Oh! " all of his guards answered.
In his heart, he thanked Vikram for selling those silver skins to him.
If not for those skins, they would have died long since.
Though he put up an extremely brave facade, the fact was that they wouldn't have survived the first stab of those deer horns if not for the silver skin gene mod. Once they realized they wouldn't die, the guards stabbed those deers, giving their first gen mods in their home land.
They could see the lights of the gene modifications they are getting, but they can by no means tell what they are.
It is after some time that Ziyu figured they are agility mods for strong legs.
They could run and jump on par with the lowest deer they killed.
With that information, it was like a chicken blood infusion into his guards.
They ran, jumped and killed those deers as fast as possible.
The result ; they have got more and more agility stats for their legs. At some point, even their waists started to change into a more muscly variety.
Nonetheless, Ziyu was absolutely sure if it wasn't for his initial investment against all official advice, he would have died a dog's death as soon as he stepped foot in shanghai.
He counted the favor to Vikram.
The news continued.
Most of the land reverted to its old swampy look.
Alligators, snakes and eagles are among the animals which got out from the portals.
The expanded land created strange situations when concerning reclaimed land, such as an apartment being half submerged in water or a swamp.
Thankfully, most people were gone from the city. Even the rest, most of them have taken precautions. Yet, the crazy situations caused thousands of loss of lives.
As predicted, most of these losses came from the older and poorer populations.
On the broadcast, Ziyu is extremely sad about these deaths.
On a personal note, he could not bring himself to care.
No great change ever came without blood. Their focus should be on young people who represent the future, not saving old and stubborn idiots who were bent on hugging their little hell holes even when an alternative is given to them.
Such people just bring disaster no matter where. He just could not bring himself to care.
Ofcourse, there's no time for such idle musings right now.
Ziyu moved sideways at the last minute, avoiding the gigantic deer that's going straight for his abdomen. He grabbed it's horn with all of his strength.
The deer threw back its head. Ziyu released his grip just as the deer was throwing back it's head, letting the force throw him into the air like a pole vault athlete. Well, he was more of a gymnast, not that anyone would know that his current soft bellied appearance.
He twisted in the air, then landed firmly on the deer's back. Borrowing the same force, he let his right arm fly, piercing the deer firmly in its neck.
The only arms they carried were the military grade bayonets. Thankfully, the tang knife is enough as of now to kill these deers. Yet, he could see, soon, it won't be enough.
The first deer they killed was the same size as the current red roe deer.
After fifteen minutes, the doe they killed was the size of a stag.
After an hour, the deer was the size of an ox, and its horns could chip the concrete floor, and penetrate straight through the tar road.
Now, the deer he just killed is the size of an elephant, and it's skin is as thick as two inches. The tang knife in their hands is eleven inches, being just short of a foot.
He was able to cut the artery of this deer, but let the size increase another two feet, the knife in his hand would not be long enough to reach the main artery in the neck, no matter which direction they penetrate the neck from.
Ideally, this is where the army is needed.
Their country may be lacking in soldiers at the moment, but it wasn't lacking in the ammunition for the time being.
Ziyu called his uncle.
" Ziyu ! I understand what you are saying. However, the power of administration should be in the hands of the government. If you join the police force, even as a temporary worker, it will be easier for me to grant you ammunition. " his uncle proposed.
Ziyu sighed. His uncle is good everywhere, but for his soft ears. It's all too easy to convince his uncle into anything, as long as one has the gift of gab.
Ziyu knew where this plea was coming from.
Given how important S city is, the capital's hands definitely reached here. His uncle was half the puppet that party chose, while the local Zhang family held most power in the police system. However, the days approaching are different from the days when the government is capable of acting immediately. They by no means could give the strength of weapons to a single family.
" Uncle, it's not good for any family to have too much power. How about this ? The country on the other side is currently allowing volunteer army, and reserve soldiers to report anywhere. Lets follow this model for the time being, and ammunition could be exchanged for money or supplies. This way, we would not be unfair to any one. " Ziyu proposed.
Others have to give up the supplies stored in warehouses. However, he has a lot of these deer corpses that need to be processed.
Moreover, at this point, Ziyu is absolutely sure. The one who gets gene mods fastest is the winner.
It will look like he is playing fair, but in the end, he will always have the stronger fist - so it will work out.
He continued convincing his uncle on the phone.
" Hmm… What you said also makes sense. You could exchange for ammunition, and weapons. What do you need now, Ziyu ? " his uncle asked.
Ziyu wasn't slow. He has asked for all the rocket launchers and snipers.
Sub machine guns and automatic weapons ? They are for pussies.
In these four hours, he learned much about these animals. Current mass weapons are only good enough to kill the mobs coming out of portals. Unlike the game, these mobs are not concentrated anywhere, they move fairly fast. The deers run lightning fast, the alligators can camouflage better than invisibility, and even the little sparrows flitter fast enough to dodge bullets.
Worst part ? they don't drop good gene mods.
Just like the games ! Bigger the boss you kill, the better the benefit you get.
He remembered, he had ten guns aimed at Vikram, but the guy was not afraid. What does that mean ? The best of the gene mods, he has kept for himself.
Ziyu is sure he is the guy who cleared the portals.
With rocket launchers and snipers in hand, he went to kill the rest of the deers.
The terrain changed explosively.
All the skyscrapers are standing, but the suburbs vanished. On top of that, some of the skyscrapers were in the forest.
There's no rhyme or rhythm to how the buildings got distributed, only that they are intact.
He saw a deer getting stuck in the swamp, so Ziyu jumped right on it's back, cutting it's neck in two tries. No need to waste ammunition where not needed.
They have a limited amount of these sniper bullets.
Just as he was about to catch the light of gene mod, an alligator jumped straight for the gene mod from the swamp.