join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr
Exploration Value: 52.51%
Night fell.
The group of three found a suitable building to serve as their temporary resting place. Along the way, Yang Tao didn't discover anyone, or rather, besides the two little ones beside him, there were no living creatures.
Not even a single bird.
Sitting at the entrance of the building, Yang Tao looked up at the star-filled sky. The two young girls were skillfully making a fire and boiling water.
'Am I lonely?'
Yang Tao now understood why the two young girls provided so much exploration value.
If nothing unexpected happened.
The humans of this world, who once had a glorious civilization, had probably already perished.
Even if there were still a hundred or so survivors here, the demise of humanity was a foregone conclusion.
"Do you want some?"
Chito held a simply packaged bag of food and handed it to him. Based on the writing on it, it seemed to be some kind of compressed food.
Looking at Yuuri, who was sitting by the fire, happily eating the compressed food, Yang Tao chuckled and shook his head, saying, "You eat it. I'm not hungry..."
The two of them were in this uninhabited world, yet they showed no negative emotions—no despair, no resentment, and no sadness.
Those who have never seen the sun will still feel beauty even in darkness.
At this moment, he understood what the initial prompt had meant.
Yang Tao had already made up his mind: as soon as he obtained the mod, he would take these two little ones away and send them to a 'normal' world.
Chito tilted her head slightly, her bright eyes staring at him as she said, "We still have enough food for a while. If you're hungry, you can eat it. We can find other food later."
As she spoke, she pushed the bagged compressed food into Yang Tao's hand.
Expired Single Soldier Rations
Expired...single soldier...
These two words put together explained many things.
War. Clearly, the humans of this world died under the shadow of war.
"Chito, Yuuri, don't eat that. This food has expired."
When Chito heard him, a puzzled expression appeared on her face: "Expired? What's expired?"
Yang Tao: "..."
He took out some fruit, bread, and steak from his backpack.
"Expired means the food has passed its best-before date. Some foods with shorter shelf lives can cause poisoning or even death."
"Ah?"
Chito clearly had no understanding of this. Her eyes widened when she heard Yang Tao's words.
"But...but won't we also die if we don't eat?"
"What a messed-up world!"
Yang Tao's smile froze on his face. He cursed softly, then reached out and patted the steel helmet on Chito's head.
It was cold and solid.
"Try the food I brought."
After understanding her during the day, this girl named Chito, although calm and rational, was just like Yuuri in having little wariness towards outsiders.
Looking at the items Yang Tao took out, before Chito could do anything, Yuuri, who had already finished her single soldier rations, immediately ran over from the campfire.
"Food? What food?"
Then, seeing the food in Yang Tao's hand, a puzzled expression appeared on her face.
"What is this?"
Yang Tao smiled and handed the bread to Yuuri, saying, "You'll know when you taste it."
Bread might not be as filling as MREs, but it was definitely tastier.
"Wow, so soft..."
Yuuri devoured it frantically. Their frugally eaten expired single soldier rations barely provided enough energy for a day.
It wasn't even as good as drinking a bottle of Almond water.
The food Yang Tao took out made the two little ones eat with great joy, seeing the satisfied smiles on their faces.
An inexplicable anger rose in his heart. He didn't know who this anger was directed at, but he was just very angry.
Sitting by the bonfire.
Yuuri was already starting to doze off. Chito, seeing this, put away her diary and said, "Yuuri, let's go to sleep."
As she spoke, she took a green waterproof tarp from the tricycle and spread it on the ground, then took out a thin blanket.
Yuuri stumbled onto it and immediately fell asleep.
Chito sighed helplessly, seeing this. She covered Yuuri with the blanket she held, then turned to Yang Tao and said, "The blanket is too small, so let's squeeze together. That way, it'll be warmer at night."
Yang Tao swore he had no impure thoughts whatsoever.
Looking at Chito's innocent eyes, he gently shook his head and said, "You two sleep. I'll keep an eye on the surroundings..."
When Chito heard him, her expression changed slightly, and she said, "You...You won't leave, will you?"
"Of course not. You rest well. We still have to travel tomorrow..."
Chito nodded lightly and didn't say anything more. She crawled into the blanket and lay beside Yuuri.
Seeing the two little ones lie down, Yang Tao took a deep breath, then went outside the building.
The sky was filled with brilliant stars, and bright moonlight cast down upon the city, making it appear even more desolate.
With a light leap, a magic broom appeared beneath him, carrying him to the top floor of the building. He placed a few torches on the top of the adjacent tall building as markers, to avoid getting lost on the way back.
"What a messed-up world."
He already knew what kind of world this was.
An anti-war world.
A world that depicted the cruelty of war to make people understand that war only brings destruction.
This was more despair-inducing than a horror world.
Controlling the magic broom, he flew towards the upper city. He didn't need to think twice to know that Chito and Yuuri's ultimate destination must be the uppermost level of that city.
Exploration Value: 57.42%
His exploration value was rapidly increasing with his exploration.
Just then, his exploration value suddenly jumped a large amount, and a white light spot also appeared on the mini-map.
'Someone?'
Yang Tao controlled the magic broom to descend. He soon saw a figure standing by the window of a tall building. It was an adult male, approximately 26 or 27 years old, thin and weak, wearing glasses, giving him a refined appearance.
A camera hung around his neck.
The other party was holding a lit cigarette and was currently staring dumbfounded at him, who had arrived bathed in moonlight.
He controlled the magic broom to land in front of the window.
"Alone?"
Yang Tao's words brought the man back to his senses.
"Mm..."
"Give me one..."
The thin man was stunned for a moment, but quickly pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, extending his hand through the window.
Yang Tao took the cigarette and lighter:
"Thanks, I'm Yang Tao."
With a click, he opened the lid of the metal lighter. His thumb pressed down slightly, lighting the cigarette in his mouth, and he took a deep drag.
Then he returned the lighter and the remaining cigarettes to the other party.
He didn't usually smoke, but coming to this world, he felt the need to relax his mind.
He took a deep drag, exhaling a thick plume of smoke.
Poisoned I 0:05
That's quite something!
"What's your name?"
"My name is Kanazawa..."
"Do you want to leave with me and go to a world that at least still has hope?"
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr