Chapter 16: Pulverized (Continued)
The explosion had destroyed the walls, and the ground outside was littered with shards of glass and wall fragments, making it impossible to find a safe place to land. Raymond had understood this at a glance before charging into the apartment building.
Thus, when Raymond decided to jump directly from the third floor, he faced an unsolvable problem: an untrained, ordinary person, dizzy and suffocating, had to jump down from the third floor, avoiding injury or even a twisted ankle, as he needed to run immediately afterward. The problem seemed impossible.
So, instead of wasting time hesitating, Raymond jumped without looking, intending to reset through suicide. Rational and insane!
Not everyone has the courage to commit suicide, especially by stabbing themselves in the heart with a dagger and even twisting it for a quicker death. Just thinking about the pain sends chills down the spine, and Raymond couldn't help but curse when he revived.
Returning the way he came via the stairs was never an option due to the lack of time. He couldn't die, but what about Ben Mao? With the evolved creatures potentially closing in, there was no luxury of taking the stairs.
Turning a corner, Raymond found Ben Mao hidden in the bushes. He had the foresight to hide Ben Mao on the other side of the apartment building, ensuring it wouldn't see him jump from the third floor. Despite knowing Raymond could revive, Ben Mao, being simple-minded, still didn't want to witness his death. This was evident from its previous life-risking battles.
Seeing Ben Mao safe, Raymond finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been racing against time, worried about being surrounded and also fearing for Ben Mao's safety. Upon noticing Raymond's return, Ben Mao, who was resting with its eyes closed, softly meowed, "Meow~~." Raymond keenly noticed that within a few minutes, Ben Mao seemed to have recovered slightly, which amazed him.
Such severe injuries in humans or ordinary animals would never heal by themselves; instead, they would worsen and lead to death without rescue and subsequent treatment. The difference lies in the body's self-repair capabilities, linked to cell activity and regeneration abilities. Ordinary creatures and evolved beings have a vast gap in this regard.
For example, a deep cut on a human wrist requires bandaging to prevent death from blood loss, but Ben Mao's life-threatening injuries showed signs of recovery within minutes, indicating a different level entirely. Even compared to the little monkey, whose non-fatal injuries took days to heal with treatment, Ben Mao's recovery speed was terrifying.
However, in terms of recovery ability, Raymond himself was the most frightening due to his resurrection power, albeit at the cost of pain. Raymond quickly ran to the bushes, picked up Ben Mao, and was about to leave when Ben Mao reached for the black lion's heart in his hand. Raymond, puzzled, handed it over.
Ben Mao extended a sharp, hooked claw and gently pierced the heart. After two or three seconds, it withdrew, with a black liquid drop on the claw, which it quickly licked off before closing its eyes in exhaustion, falling asleep in Raymond's arms. Raymond glanced at the lion's heart, unsure if it was still useful, but decided to keep it for potential bait.
He swiftly left, cautiously avoiding evolved creatures, surprisingly not encountering any further. The creatures were likely drawn to the explosion, making his escape smoother than expected.
Raymond hid in a secluded bookstore by evening, feeling extremely hungry. He hadn't eaten since the morning attack. He ate some stale biscuits, contemplating his next move, which had to wait for Ben Mao to wake up. Feeling it was unfair that everything but him had evolved, he sighed.
Ben Mao, still asleep but improving, had its twisted front leg and severe wounds healed significantly within a day. Raymond was amazed at the rapid recovery, akin to humans having such healing abilities that would eradicate most diseases.
Finding himself bored, Raymond tried reading but soon gave up due to poor lighting. As darkness fell, he reluctantly put down the book and started staring into space.
Suddenly, he heard rustling from the end of the bookshelf, startling him. The moonlight eventually revealed nothing there, making him realize the presence had left. He tightened his vigilance, staying alert, especially since Ben Mao was vulnerable in its sleep. Fortunately, the presence didn't return, nor did any other threats emerge.
Raymond attributed their safety to luck, the uncommon sensitivity of evolved creatures to Ben Mao, and the surprisingly few remaining animals in the city, realizing the city's desolation was far beyond what he had imagined.
Raymond had to acknowledge that, despite everything, his journey had been smoother than he expected. The explosions had drawn away most threats, and Ben Mao's improving condition gave him some hope. He finished the stale biscuits, mulling over his next steps. Although he himself couldn't evolve, he had to adapt and survive in this new world.
Waiting for Ben Mao to wake up, Raymond remained on high alert. He knew better than to trust this temporary peace. The creatures were evolving fast, and it was only a matter of time before he encountered new threats.
Ben Mao's rapid recovery was extraordinary. By the time it woke up, its wounds had healed significantly. Raymond watched in awe, realizing that his survival might heavily depend on this unlikely companion.
As he continued to contemplate their future, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Everything around him was evolving, gaining strength and abilities, while he remained the same. He sighed deeply, whispering to himself, "Why is it that animals and plants are evolving, but I'm not? Where's the promised equality?"
Ben Mao hadn't woken up yet, but its condition was improving. After a day, its twisted left foreleg had returned to normal, and the large gash on its forehead, the almost eviscerating wound on its abdomen, and the various other cuts across its body had all scabbed over and were healing. Raymond, curious as a child, used his fingernail to scrape at the scabs, which promptly flaked off, leaving him slightly astonished.
He couldn't help but scrape a little more, and then some more. He had heard of people who enjoyed popping bubble wrap used in packaging, some even becoming addicted to the point of buying it online. Now, he somewhat understood their feelings. Soon, Raymond had scraped off all the scabs on Ben Mao's body and reluctantly stopped. Beneath the scabs, the new skin was tender, and the fur at the wound sites hadn't grown back yet. However, aside from these two points, there was no visible sign of the severe injuries Ben Mao had sustained, and all this had happened in just one day.
Such a recovery speed was terrifying! If humans had this level of self-healing ability, most diseases would disappear from the world. After scraping off the scabs, Raymond found himself bored. He had no intention of leaving the bookstore at this time.
Firstly, it was getting dark outside. Unlike pre-apocalyptic times, the city was no longer brightly lit at night. Except for a few solar-powered streetlights, everywhere else was pitch black. Though it wasn't so dark that one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, the disappearance of artificial light had allowed natural light to return. The sky had become cleaner and more transparent, and at night, moonlight and starlight often shone down. But night was still night; even with moonlight, it was far from bright, and visibility was greatly hindered. Going out now would be foolish, with the risk of being ambushed without even knowing it.
Secondly, from the looks of Ben Mao's condition, it seemed to be almost fully recovered and might wake up soon. Raymond decided to wait until it did. Out of sheer boredom, he grabbed a book next to him to pass the time. He checked the cover but found it uninteresting, so he put it back and looked for another one, finally settling on a novel. He started reading, though the dim light from the small bookstore's windows made it quite a strain.
Despite the difficulty, he didn't read for long. As the sun set completely, the last rays of sunlight vanished from the windows, forcing Raymond to put down the book and stare into the air in boredom.
Time passed slowly; it could have been half an hour or one or two hours. Suddenly, there was a faint rustling sound from the end of the bookshelf. Startled, Raymond turned his head to look but saw only darkness. It seemed the moonlight had disappeared at some point, leaving a quiet, dark environment. Although he couldn't see the end of the bookshelf, and the rustling sound had stopped, Raymond was certain there was something there, watching him.
In an instant, Raymond felt his entire body tense from head to toe. It was an instinctual response to danger. In the darkness, they stared at each other across a few meters, the eerie silence so profound that one could hear a pin drop.
After several minutes, the moonlight reappeared, slowly dispelling the pitch-black darkness. Squinting slightly, Raymond saw that the end of the bookshelf was now empty. The thing in the darkness had left unnoticed. He breathed a long sigh of relief, cold sweat breaking out on his back. Despite his calm demeanor earlier, he had only been pretending to be composed. He himself was fine—he could die and revive—but Ben Mao was still asleep. If they were attacked now, the consequences would be dire.
After this scare, Raymond didn't dare to daydream again. He even stood up, holding Ben Mao in his arms and pressing his back against the wall, his nerves on edge. Time passed slowly in this tense state. Fortunately, the thing in the darkness never reappeared, and nothing else showed up in the bookstore. There weren't even any sounds of evolved creatures passing by outside. Though it seemed unbelievable, Raymond attributed it to three factors:
First, luck.
Second, not all evolved creatures could sense Ben Mao's presence like the little monkey did, indicating that the monkey's sensory ability might be abnormal.
Lastly, the number of evolved creatures was probably less than he had imagined. Reflecting on this last point, Raymond thought he understood the reason: the absolute dominance of humans in the earth's biosphere. In fact, the animals in the city largely depended on human society for survival. Whether they were pets or stray cats and dogs, they often scavenged for food in trash bins or relied on people feeding them. The sudden collapse of human society had led to their massive die-off in a short time. Some were trapped and couldn't escape, while others couldn't adapt to the harsh conditions outside without food sources, including those that did escape.
Some particularly weak pets, lacking hunting skills, might have already gone extinct. In this urban jungle of steel and concrete, with security doors and windows, survival was harsher than in the wild. Over the past year, Raymond had watched the city grow increasingly desolate, with fewer and fewer animals, either dead or gone. He had often lamented this without delving deeper into how few there were.
In this vast, lonely world, digging into this would have been self-torture. He had even deliberately ignored it. Only now did he realize that the surviving animals were far fewer than he had imagined, and the city had become this desolate.