Chapter 1080: Kill Every One You Encounter
Xu Huo stared at the food in front of him, still making no move to eat. Uncle Guan and the others sitting with him were the same. Gradually, the atmosphere in the dining hall became tense.
Across from them, the people from Zone 002 were eating with gusto, completely oblivious to their surroundings. But on the players' side, it was like dry kindling meeting a flame—one spark and everything would ignite.
Without even looking, Xu Huo knew there were more than just a few players standing behind him. As the first person to repeatedly refuse, a burly man who looked half again as big as him came over and pressed a hand on his shoulder. "Brother, I hate people who waste food the most. We lay out a feast for you, and you're putting on airs? Today, I'm going to watch you eat it."
Xu Huo's face seemed even paler. He said angrily, "Who said I have to eat your food? Don't we have our own supplies?"
Then he turned to Mr. Kang. "Is this how you treat guests? I thought I'd walked into a bandit's den!"
"I've heard of forced buying and selling, but never forced eating and drinking. We're just looking for a place to stay. Since we don't get along, we'll just leave!"
His furious outburst didn't anger the players of Xiaohe City; instead, it made them laugh. The tense, sword-drawn atmosphere vanished instantly, and they reverted to their earlier warm hospitality. The big man slapped Xu Huo on the back with his heavy palm. "Just kidding around, what's the rush!"
Xu Huo choked, held back a cough, and brushed his hand away. Then he heard the man say, "Young man, don't be so guarded. The environment here isn't great, but some plants grow really well. They're popular to sell outside. If you don't eat, you'll have to stick to your own dry rations."
With that, the big man grabbed a handful of fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, then took the whole plate away. "If you're not eating, I will."
Soon, players from the nearby tables came over and joined the feast. Together with the Zone 002 people, they quickly cleared all the food. Someone said with lingering satisfaction, "If only we could have a banquet every day."
"These things were snatched right out of the mouths of mutants! Want to eat them every day? Go snatch them yourself!"
The players chatted and laughed in small groups as they left the dining hall. Their casual attitude made Xu Huo and his group seem overly cautious.
In the end, only Mr. Kang and Zheng Da and his people remained. Mr. Kang hadn't finished his glass of wine yet. He swirled it as he said, "You've come a long way. It's normal to be cautious. But from now on, we might not prepare food for you. Resources are limited."
Xu Huo's expression stiffened.
"What about us?" a person from Zone 002 asked. "We didn't bring any food."
"Non-players are a different story," Zheng Da replied. "But it probably won't be as lavish as today."
"Mr. Zheng is too kind," a man said. "As a guest, who am I to be picky? We can't just freeload. Could we do some chores to repay you?"
Zheng Da smiled. "I'll ask around later. But everyone's tired today. Let's rest early after dinner."
With that, the dinner truly ended.
As they left the dining hall, some of the Zone 002 people no longer followed Xu Huo's group but left first. Only the three women and the little girl kept following them.
All three adults had eaten, but the little girl had only bitten a row of teeth marks into her own hand. From the dining hall to the room, she kept repeating, "I need to lose weight," "If I don't lose ten pounds, I'm not human," "If I don't lose ten pounds, I won't eat"... She actually managed to hold out.
Chi Minghong felt sorry for her. After entering the room, she gave her some food and water. The girl, tears in her eyes, stuffed it into her mouth while thanking her.
The players were all impressed. A girl barely over ten, who had been hungry enough to bite people earlier, had actually resisted eating.
"They're all bad people," the girl said indistinctly. "There used to be an uncle living next door to me. His adopted daughter was my classmate. Every time I went to his house to play, he would look at me with that kind of eyes. I never ate anything he gave me. My classmate said her foster father secretly touched her too."
"Good riddance!" Zhou Yuanzhu couldn't help cursing.
The girl swallowed her food and took a sip of water before sighing. "If only he had really died. Last month, he accidentally fell and became crippled. He couldn't support himself, so the government forcibly moved him away. My classmate went to another family."
"In Snow City, being abandoned by the government doesn't lead to anything good. And being crippled on top of that... he's got plenty of suffering ahead of him," Lin Qiao said.
It was just a small episode. The girl soon got tired. Xu Huo had Tan Qi take her to the bed next to them to sleep, while he himself fed the equally hungry baby some milk.
"Is the food really problematic?" Chi Minghong asked while gnawing on some dry rations. "Eating this little isn't helping. I'm afraid I won't even last fourteen days."
Besides Xu Huo, the other six were all plagued by the urge to binge. More than the hunger itself, they feared the consequences of starving.
"Since the black rain is problematic, eating the food here might backfire. It's best not to eat," Uncle Guan said.
"The food should be fine," Xu Huo said, having finished feeding the baby and setting it aside. "We didn't see any fruit or vegetables on the way here. The black rain is still falling here, but the amount is very small. It might stop further ahead. Those foods could have been brought from somewhere else."
"Although they have purification facilities here, they can't grow that many kinds of vegetables and fruit. There might be a fertile oasis not far from Xiaohe City."
"They're still alive and well. They haven't turned into mutants, nor are they constantly plagued by the urge to binge. Either they've adapted to the environment or they've found a solution."
"Either way, it's good news for us."
"At least we won't turn into mutants!" Chi Minghong chimed in, then asked curiously, "But then why did you refuse to eat anything?"
"The more cautious and guarded we act, the more relaxed they'll become," Uncle Guan said. "When they were eating, they were testing whether we dared to turn hostile. Mr. Xu said we wanted to leave, actually telling them we don't have the confidence for a direct confrontation."
Xu Huo nodded. "This was just a small test. They'll come again tonight."
"If it were me, and seven or eight unfamiliar players showed up on my turf, I'd want to figure out their strength right away," You Xuewen added. "So how do we handle it?"
A direct confrontation might be a real loss, but if they couldn't even put up a fight, the other side might deal with them quickly.
"That dinner bought us one night of breathing room," Xu Huo said, putting the pacifier into the baby's mouth as it babbled. His voice was heavy. "When we go out to scout later, kill every one you encounter. No mercy."
On the last day of June, do you still have monthly tickets? (*▽*)
(End of Chapter)