Chapter 16

Long Yuehong was startled and instinctively grabbed the "Berserker" assault rifle beside him, jumping up.

As he hesitated about whether to throw away the lunch box in his other hand, Jiang Baimian calmly looked around:

"There's nothing happening..."

She then smiled at Long Yuehong:

"Don't be nervous, it hasn't really gotten close yet, has it?

"Sit down, sit down. We can eat once the canned food is heated up."

As she spoke, she patted the grenade launcher nicknamed "Tyrant" beside her.

On the other side of the campfire, Bai Chen observed for a while and then shifted his attention back to the food.

"But, team leader, something is approaching us! Aren't you worried about a sudden attack?" Long Yuehong couldn't understand Jiang Baimian's attitude.

Jiang Baimian stared at the already opened cans and said:

"Isn't Shang Jianyao here to guard against such situations?

"If that thing doesn't get closer, are we going to keep not eating and wait here for it? If we get too hungry and too tired, it will affect our performance."

She gradually smiled:

"In short, as long as the sky hasn't fallen, it won't stop us from filling our bellies."

Long Yuehong sat down hesitantly, occasionally glancing at Shang Jianyao, afraid he might miss something and fail to notice the enemy that had entered the danger zone.

As the flames flickered, the liquid in the cans began to heat up, and an indescribable rich aroma spread around.

This was the smell of pork, soybeans, salt, and spices mixed through a complex process, making everyone's stomachs feel as if a hand was reaching through their throats to their mouths.

"Alright." Jiang Baimian said with a sincere smile.

At that moment, from the top of the collapsed buildings, where green vines were entangled, a black shadow leaped out, heading straight for Long Yuehong by the campfire.

In the flickering firelight, Shang Jianyao and the others finally saw the black shadow clearly:

It was a female human, her clothes tattered, revealing dirty skin with dense hair. Her hair hung down in a messy, greasy mess.

Her nails were long and sharp, gleaming with a cold light. Her eyes were bloodshot and murky, like those of a wild beast.

Her body was bent, moving at an incredible speed, like a monkey swinging on vines.

Bang!

Just as Shang Jianyao raised his assault rifle, a gunshot rang out.

Clang! The black shadow fell heavily to the ground.

Her face was up, and a large, grotesque blood hole appeared from her left chest to her shoulder, with no intact area left.

After twitching twice, the female human lost her life.

Jiang Baimian put away her "Union 202" pistol and said calmly:

"A 'Heartless One.'"

"Heartless One"… Long Yuehong looked at the corpse with surprise and curiosity.

This was a term that no one studying the history of the Ashen Earth could avoid, and it was described in great detail in the internal textbooks of "Pangu Biology."

"Heartless Ones" are also called "Mindless Ones," referring to humans suffering from "Heartless Disease" — a condition also known as "Beastification Disease" or "Reversion Disease." It means that the affected humans will lose all their rationality, thoughts, and emotions, turning into creatures similar to wild beasts, with only the instincts to hunt, survive, and use simple tools.

They cannot communicate and will actively attack normal humans, viewing them as prey.

"Heartless Disease" first appeared when the old world was destroyed. In a short time, large numbers of people in cities turned into "Heartless Ones," and even more unprepared people died at their hands.

Since "Heartless Ones" need to eat to survive, like real wild beasts, after the human order collapsed and a great famine arrived, they quickly died out, leaving only a fraction of their original numbers.

According to many historical researchers on the Ashen Earth, "Heartless Ones" not only hunt humans but also eat wild beasts, dig for roots, pick fruits, and catch mutated and unmutated rats. When extremely hungry, they will even attack each other.

This "diet" and living environment mean that "Heartless Ones" rarely live past thirty years old, but they have the instinct to reproduce and have many offspring.

Subsequent generations of "Heartless Ones" have a bit more intelligence and stronger hunting abilities.

In theory, once humans restored a certain level of order and had sufficient firepower, dealing with "Heartless Ones," who are more like wild beasts, should not be too difficult. However, this is not the case.

On one hand, although "Heartless Ones" do not know how to disassemble and maintain weapons, they can use them, as if it is an instinct. The further they are from the first generation, the stronger this instinct becomes. Moreover, "Heartless Ones" have the human essence and can be contaminated and mutated, causing many to die painfully while also creating top-tier hunters.

Of course, no matter how skilled "Heartless Ones" are at using weapons, without scientific research, organized production, or maintenance, even if they become top-tier hunters, they cannot cause much trouble to human armies with ample firepower. After all, humans have the technology for "induced mutation and genetic modification," even if it is not yet mature and has a low success rate, it can still overwhelm the "Heartless Ones" who rely on the whims of nature.

On the other hand, humans have never found the mechanism and transmission patterns of "Heartless Disease," so they do not know how to prevent it. This leads to soldiers being unwilling to go to areas where "Heartless Ones" gather, fearing infection. Therefore, after major forces clear out the "Heartless Ones" around them, they are unwilling to deal with those in the ruins of old world cities.

To this day, "Heartless Disease" remains a shadow over humanity.

Because even people living well in settlements, who have never directly encountered "Heartless Ones," can wake up one day and lose their rationality and intelligence, turning into "beasts."

Their family and friends, however, remain uninfected, as determined through long-term isolation and observation.

In the early years, a high-ranking official of a major force, who was extremely afraid of "Heartless Disease," slept in an isolation room, wore a gas mask and a chemical suit when going out, but still became a "Heartless One" one day.

Fortunately, since the New Era, the average incidence of "Heartless Disease" has not been too high, otherwise, humanity might have already collapsed.

The gruesome state of the corpse made Long Yuehong, who was seeing such a scene for the first time, feel a lump in his throat and instinctively turn his head away, unable to look.

"It looks like a first-generation 'Heartless One.'" Bai Chen recalled and made a judgment.

"From the condition of the clothes, the disease has not exceeded one year." Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, "Do you need me to explain the knowledge about 'Heartless Ones' again?"

Shang Jianyao did not answer but suddenly said:

"This is not the black shadow I saw earlier.

"That black shadow was a bit shorter."

Jiang Baimian nodded slightly and said:

"You two search the body for any valuable items, then carry it outside and bury it. Don't leave the area illuminated by the fire."

She thought for a moment, walked to the jeep, and took out four black objects, giving one each to Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong:

"Walkie-talkies, effective range of two kilometers, further in open areas.

"If anything happens, notify me immediately. You should know how to use them, right?"

"I can repair them." Shang Jianyao answered off-topic.

Both he and Long Yuehong graduated from the electronics department of a university.

Long Yuehong clipped on the walkie-talkie and hesitantly walked to the "Heartless One" corpse.

The smell of blood mixed with an indescribable stench made Long Yuehong, who was hesitant to look at the corpse, almost vomit.

Shang Jianyao walked over, took the initiative to search, and then stood at the head of the corpse, where the gunshot wound was.

"Do you need me to carry it?" he asked Long Yuehong.

"Uh..." Long Yuehong wanted to say that it wasn't good for Shang Jianyao to carry the corpse himself.

"I mean, do you need me to carry you?" Shang Jianyao explained expressionlessly.

Long Yuehong laughed dryly:

"No, no."

He bent down and grabbed the corpse's feet.

Shang Jianyao, on the other hand, slipped his arms under the "Heartless One's" armpits.

Blood dripped as they carried the corpse out of the clearing, dug a hole at the edge of the firelight, and buried it.

This somewhat affected Long Yuehong's appetite, making him eat only a compressed biscuit and half a can of pork and soybeans.

As the sky grew darker, Jiang Baimian was about to arrange the night watch schedule when a howl suddenly came from the distance:

"Awooo!"

The sound echoed through the sky, rough and desolate, like a nightmare at night.

As soon as it faded, howls began to rise from different parts of the Great Marsh, echoing continuously.

Long Yuehong felt a chill and couldn't help but ask:

"Is this a pack of wolves?"

"Have you ever seen a pack of wolves distributed in different places?" Jiang Baimian chuckled.

"Is it common for the Great Marsh to be filled with the howls of wild beasts?" Long Yuehong asked anxiously.

Jiang Baimian shook her head, still smiling:

"Not common."

"What, what should we do?" Long Yuehong blurted out.

Jiang Baimian looked at him with amusement:

"This is indeed somewhat abnormal, indicating that something might be happening deep in the Great Marsh.

"But looking at the general area and direction, it has no intersection with our route or destination, so we don't need to worry about it."

"Don't worry?" Long Yuehong looked at Shang Jianyao beside him, finding him not at all afraid.

Bai Chen, responsible for guarding the surroundings, said calmly:

"In the Black Marsh, abnormal or unexpected events happen every few days. How can you manage them all?

"Such a vast wilderness, the likelihood of these events affecting you is very low."

"But what if they do?" Long Yuehong pressed.

Shang Jianyao stared at the campfire and said:

"That would only mean your name is bad."

"… That's true, if your fate is bad, you can't avoid it, and if your fate is good, you won't encounter it." Long Yuehong gritted his teeth and nodded.

Jiang Baimian couldn't understand their conversation and didn't want to ask, so she smiled:

"We are far from the event's location and can't figure out the specific situation, so we can't prepare in advance.

"Without retreating to the company, the only choice is to go around that area, taking a longer route, which is what our route already is."

"That sounds more reasonable than before…" Long Yuehong thought carefully and realized that the same idea expressed in two different ways could have completely different effects.

Jiang Baimian smiled and said:

"So, you need to learn to grasp the essence of things.

"In this regard, Shang Jianyao is much better than you. Look, he has never been nervous."

Shang Jianyao nodded slightly:

"I'm just considering whether to participate."

"Huh?" Jiang Baimian, Long Yuehong, and Bai Chen all looked puzzled.

Shang Jianyao opened his mouth and made a sound:

"Awooo!"

PS: Requesting recommendations on Monday. The second update today is at 12:30 PM.