Doomsday Stewed Salted Fish C42.1

Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. 🙂

Chapter 42. (1/2)

When Gu Fan’s cultivation level was at the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage, her spiritual sense could only extend one meter. When she advanced to the ninth level of the Qi Refining stage, her spiritual sense could encompass a hundred meters.

Lu Ya, an S-rank powerhouse, could only rely on his mental strength to sense the possibility of underground metal shelters, unable to determine if there were people inside. In Gu Fan’s case, within a hundred-meter radius centered around her, she could see everything clearly using her spiritual sense.

Before the beast tide arrived, the base continuously notified the twenty million people in the second ring to take refuge in underground shelters. Now that the surface had been destroyed, it was highly likely that there were many survivors underground.

Time was of the essence, and saving even one person mattered, especially since Gu Fan no longer needed to hide certain secrets from Lu Ya.

It was precisely because Lu Ya knew Gu Fan’s secrets that he worried she might be constrained by other forces at the base and sought her out immediately.

To deal with the beast tide, he distributed two thousand Healing and Blood-Refilling Pills to the strong in the four armies. Now that the beast tide battle was over, those who had used the Healing and Blood-Refilling Pills would certainly deduce that the pills came from Gu Fan, the outsider who sold miraculous pills like the Hair Growth and Scar Removal Pills at the base.

Lu Ya did not regret his decision. If given another chance, he would distribute the Healing and Blood-Refilling Pills again. However, having exposed Gu Fan’s secrets for the sake of the base, he felt responsible for ensuring her safety.

Lu Ya did not hesitate when Gu Fan spoke, releasing his power toward the area she pointed out.

Four metal pillars supported the underground shelter as it slowly rose, revealing nearly two hundred ordinary people on the ground in less than a minute.

Three days had passed since that night. These two hundred people survived with minimal food, appearing haggard but without life-threatening conditions.

Lu Ya released a signal flare into the air, and a rescue team promptly headed in their direction.

Lu Ya and Gu Fan changed directions, making it seem as though Lu Ya was leading their rescue efforts. In reality, Gu Fan quietly guided Lu Ya.

Their teamwork was seamless, with Lu Ya providing Gu Fan with a security guarantee and Gu Fan’s spiritual sense serving as the most powerful life detection instrument at the base.

When they detected any surviving beasts, Lu Ya killed them all. When they detected trapped humans, Lu Ya rescued them all. If there were any injured people, Gu Fan immediately performed a healing spell.

Their collaboration significantly sped up post-war rescue efforts, ultimately leading five rescue teams to rotate and follow the two of them, eliminating the need for Lu Ya to send up any more signal flares.

The cruelty of war could make one despair, but the survivors who kept appearing after the battle ignited hope.

Throughout the day, Gu Fan and Lu Ya didn’t stop. They eventually finished surveying the entire second ring, rescuing more than 50,000 ordinary people and over 10,000 severely injured abilities users. Those abilities users who were not injured had already freed themselves and joined the rescue efforts.

Using healing spells would deplete Gu Fan’s spiritual power, but spiritual power could be replenished with spirit stones. However, continuously extending her spiritual sense left Gu Fan with a splitting headache, and she needed genuine sleep for the first time, as only sleep could restore her spiritual sense. With her spiritual sense unstable and her mind unsteady, she could not enter a meditative state to cultivate.

“I need to rest.”

“Do you have any sleeping pills?” Lu Ya asked, supporting her, noticing her apparent headache symptoms, which might prevent her from falling asleep on her own.

Gu Fan shook her head; she had never considered that people might have trouble sleeping.

Lu Ya suddenly produced a white pill.

Gu Fan looked at him, surprised.

Lu Ya said, “Sleeping pill, no side effects.”

Gu Fan took the pill and swallowed it.

By the time Lu Ya carried her to the temporary rest area fifty miles outside the base, Gu Fan had already fallen asleep.

Lu Ya landed outside the tent where the Xinghe team was staying.

Hearing the commotion, the four members of Xinghe’s team came out.

Lu Ya told Xinghe, “She needs to rest and just took a sleeping pill.”

Xinghe and the others’ expressions changed. Having known Gu Fan for so long, she had always been energetic, never needing sleeping pills for forced rest.

Lu Ya carried Gu Fan into the tent, released a bed for her to lie on, and then left.

Qingteng approached Gu Fan’s bedside and looked at Gu Fan’s pale face, silently using her wood-type healing abilities.

There was no visible change in Gu Fan on the bed.

Fenghuo couldn’t help but ask, “Did you heal Fan Fan?”

Qingteng coldly glanced at him and explained, “It’s likely mental exhaustion.”

Fenghuo sighed slowly.

Xinghe said, “The tasks in the next few days are heavy. You three should rest; I’ll keep watch tonight.”

Taishan was gone, and they all felt the loss deeply. But in this damned apocalypse, even prolonged grief was a luxury, and they had to keep moving forward.

—

At four in the morning, Gu Fan woke up.

The moment she moved, she sensed someone approaching her. Gu Fan opened her eyes to see Qingteng.

She sat up and glanced aside, where three simple beds held Xinghe, Fenghuo, and Meng Lianying asleep.

Their five-member team was only missing the sturdy, burly Taishan.

Qingteng sat beside Gu Fan, lowered her eyes, and recalled, “There were too many beasts. Taishan saved me and got bitten on the head by an A-rank tiger leopard. We didn’t even have time to retrieve his body.”

The young girl didn’t cry, but her expression was more sorrowful than tears could convey.

Gu Fan patted her head.

Qingteng took a deep breath and asked, “How about you? Were you injured?”

Gu Fan replied, “No, I was just constantly helping with the rescue, and I’m mentally exhausted.”

“Fenghuo’s mental power was also exhausted that night. He has the strongest group attack, so his mental power was depleted the fastest. Fortunately, he took a little Avoiding Beast Pill while hiding. Otherwise, it would have been hard to escape those A-rank beasts.”

Gu Fan nodded, not expecting the Avoiding Beast Pill given to the Xinghe team to be useful within the base.

With their exchange, Xinghe and the other two woke up.

They tacitly avoided mentioning Taishan.

Fenghuo patted his empty right arm sleeve and smiled bitterly at Gu Fan, “I won’t be able to make delicious food for you anymore. Will Fan Fan dislike me?”

Gu Fan said, “We can help you in the kitchen. We’ve always felt bad about letting you do all the work alone.”

Meng Lianying added, “Yes, yes, I always felt guilty.”

Fenghuo glared at him, “I never saw that guilt when you were snatching food.”

With their banter, it almost felt like nothing had happened.

“Let’s sleep some more. There will be work to do in the daytime.”

After speaking, Gu Fan lay back down to meditate, taking the time to replenish her spiritual energy.