"Your situation is a bit complicated. Currently, there are no obvious mutation traits, nor have you awakened a Beast Soul. However, I see you possess considerable Strength and could develop into a close-combat warrior. Aside from not requiring high Wisdom, you should greatly enhance your other three attributes. You already have a basic Xuan Tie Sword, so I recommend buying a pair of Wind-aided Boots, which give +2% movement speed, and they cost 5 Gold Coins."
Gu Bo finished his sentence and produced a pair of cloth shoes in his palm, handing them to Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao took the shoes, discarded the sneakers he picked up from the ruins, and slipped on the cloth shoes, feeling at once a sense of lightness.
Yang Xiao's 5 Crystal Coins were now spent, while Chen Fei and the other three each spent 3 Crystal Coins, leaving 2 Crystal Coins remaining.
Thinking of his denim jacket torn by ants, Yang Xiao had an idea and said to the four:
"Lend me your remaining 2 Crystal Coins. Old Gu, do you have any Armor that increases Defense attributes?"
Gu Bo smiled and replied:
"I do have Armor, but even the worst one costs 10 Crystal Coins. You don't have enough money."
"How about a 2 Crystal Coin credit?"
"Sorry, but our store does not allow debts!"
Yang Xiao felt a bit frustrated, knowing Gu Bo was firm in his decisions, so he dropped the matter and casually placed two Mutated Ant corpses on the counter.
"Old Gu, another question: Can you eat these Mutated Ant corpses?"
"Of course, they taste delicious fried - crispy on the outside and tender inside, plus the flesh of Mutated Creatures helps you complete your Mutation quicker."
"Alright then, these two are for you, free of charge."
After saying this, Yang Xiao turned and left the Genetic Store.
Behind him, Gu Bo said:
"How can I accept something from you? I feel a bit embarrassed, don't I?"
...
Wearing the boots with +2% movement speed, Yang Xiao found that although his speed did not increase by much, his steps felt significantly lighter.
Yang Xiao used to be a gaming enthusiast, and he now realized that after the cataclysmic event on Earth, everything seemed to have become gamified - the Genetic Mutations, Genetic Data System's four attributes, Genetic Fragments, Synthetic Potions, weapon and equipment attribute bonuses, all of these resembled the games he used to play.
What has happened to this world?
Has it truly become gamified?
When Yang Xiao returned to the camp, Huang Wen and the others had already roasted more than a dozen Mutated Ants, wafting a smell of charred meat through the air.
However, Huang Wen and the others seemed troubled as they looked at the charred-shelled Mutated Ants, uncertain whether they were edible and how to eat them.
"Boss, you're back. Just in time, the ants should be ready. Why don't you try one first?"
Yang Xiao smiled slightly. So they wanted him to be the guinea pig for a taste test.
The roasted ants looked a bit like steamed hairy crabs. Even though the shell was charred, it was still extremely hard. Huang Wen and the others tried with a watermelon knife for a long time, bending the blade without cracking the ants' shells.
Yang Xiao picked up a roasted ant and squeezed hard with both hands, cracking the shell with a snap.
Huang Wen and the others looked at Yang Xiao with admiration,
"Boss, you're so strong!"
Yang Xiao pried open the ant's shell to reveal the white flesh, which exuded an appetizing scent. He tore off a chunk, chewed a few times, and found the taste not bad - similar to chicken, perhaps.
"Mmm, tastes good, edible. Look, I haven't been poisoned to death."
Yang Xiao held up a split-open ant, waving it around.
Huang Wen and the others gave an awkward laugh, saying:
"Boss, we'd like to eat too, but the shell is just too hard. Even using a steel pipe, we can't crack it open, how can we eat?"
"Ah, so that's the problem. Easy, just put the roasted ants in front of me."
Huang Wen and the others placed a dozen roasted ants in front of Yang Xiao. He drew his black long sword, and with one stroke, split an ant in two, revealing the white flesh inside.
After dozens of repeated chops, Yang Xiao had split all the ants open. Huang Wen and the others immediately took them and shared them around. Someone took out salt and soy sauce, dug out the meat from the ant shells, dipped it in the soy sauce and tasted again; it was even more delicious.
The fist-sized ants didn't actually have much meat inside, so Huang Wen and the others quickly finished the dozen ants and continued to roast more. The entire team looked joyous, as if throwing a barbecue party. Where was there any panic of an apocalyptic world?
With the example set by Yang Xiao and his team, Xiao Zhe, Xu Hua, and their team of over twenty started to venture into the thick fog, searching for mutated creatures.
At first, they encountered some solitary mutated ants and other small mutated insects. Under the leadership of Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua, everyone could easily slay these mutated creatures.
As Xiao Zhe and the others searched the playground, the dense fog was continually pushed back.
Everyone noticed a peculiar characteristic of the fog: it retreated when someone passed through and would not return. It was similar to unveiling a map in a computer game.
After more than half an hour, Xiao Zhe and his team had pushed back the fog on the playground by several tens of meters.
Seeing Yang Xiao's team, Xiao Zhe's team also successively killed mutated creatures in the fog, and since the creatures' corpses were edible, those driven mad by hunger also began to form groups to enter the fog in search of mutated creatures.
Initially, those who had undergone mutations and gained extraordinary abilities ventured into the fog, but gradually, even those who had not mutated joined in. Some were lucky to find carcasses of mutated creatures left by others, and some even found Genetic Fragments.
Eventually, thousands joined the search on the playground, and the fog was continuously driven back.
What truly horrified everyone was that over three hundred people who had stayed in the campsite fifty meters away from the Genetic Store the night before had all perished, becoming skeletally white bone carcasses.
Two-thirds of the playground had already been searched, and the fog kept retreating, gradually revealing the original appearance of the playground.
Suddenly, Xiao Zhe's team at the forefront gave out a cry of alarm, soon after, they were seen running towards the Genetic Store in panic.
Someone shouted:
"Fuck, that's a huge bee!"
Then, thousands of people on the playground desperately fled back in a chaotic swarm.
Tragedy struck; at least dozens of people were unfortunate to fall and were trampled to death.
And a dozen or so seemed to have been stung by the bees, lying on the ground screaming in pain.
Yang Xiao stood within the safety of the campsite and could see hundreds of bees the size of birds, fluttering their wings, darkening the sky, buzzing as they chased people across the playground.
Moments later, the majority had run into the safe campsite within fifty meters of the Genetic Store. The wasps reached the edge of the orange glow and did not advance further but kept flying around the perimeter.
Compared to the mutated ants, these mutated bees were faster, more poisonous, and more damaging in their attacks. Those who had mutated could withstand one or two stings, but the unmutated regular people could not handle even one sting, falling to the ground.
"These mutated bees are so fast; their Genetic Fragments must be of the Agility Attribute, right? Hmm, haven't had honey in a long time, kind of miss it."
Yang Xiao stood up and said to Feifei:
"Do you want some honey?"