Chapter 33

Peng Bo slapped his head and put the matter to the side.

He was already used to this sort of treatment, and habit gradually became nature. This was nothing to be concerned about. He was currently headed to the work site. The man in charge of the shelter had said that so long as he worked hard, he could fill his stomach with food, and he could even eat meat.

While he was an Awakened, and an Awakened who had an ability that would allow him to form rock and gravel into a suit of armor, only he understood how miserable his life had been as of late.

He had the strength to battle with demonized beasts and had also found a lot of food, but that also meant that he used up a lot of energy!

He had always been a gourmand, and after his awakening, his appetite grew. He had yet to eat until he was full, so when he heard that he could eat until he was satisfied and could even get some meat, he almost started drooling.

At this time, a survivor came to find him.

“What? You have something to talk about with me? If you want to talk, just talk right here! Why do you want me to go to that little forest?!”

Peng Bo originally didn’t want to go. He wasn’t someone who would head off to that little forest just because he was asked to.

But after the survivor whispered something to him, he decided to go over and discuss this big job that would allow him to get even more food.

“Help you? And then I can get even more food from the shelter?”

But the shelter had already promised that he could eat until he was full.

“What? You’re a mighty ability user. You can’t just do whatever the shelter tells you… Just see if what I’m saying sounds reasonable.”

Once the discussion was over…

Peng Bo walked out of the forest alone, his head dizzy and his steps uneven.

That man had been somewhat reasonable, and he found the food tempting. He couldn’t think of a reason to refuse. But he felt that there was something wrong.

Do it?

Or don’t?

Peng Bo was conflicted.

Lost in thought, he walked farther and farther away.

Suddenly, a roar brought him back to his senses, causing him to shiver.

“A demonized beast?”

He looked around, his body taking on a wary posture. The surrounding gravel was already beginning to shift, ready at any time to engulf him.

Peng Bo heard another roar, and he could tell that the source of the sound wasn’t far. After some thought, he cautiously walked forward, hid behind a building, and then took a peek in the direction of that roar.

“That’s…”

A large demonized beast with a horn on its head, four thick hooves, and protruding ribs appeared before him.

This demonized beast was the size of an armored car, and even at this distance, it exuded a pressure that made it difficult for Peng Bo to breathe.

“Such a terrifying demonized beast! Even with my gravel armor, I probably wouldn’t be able to take one blow.”

There was no way he could take on this demonized beast. Though this place wasn’t far from the shelter and the demonized beast might injure other survivors… he knew his own abilities. Rather than delivering his head on a silver platter, it would be better to run back to the shelter and speak to the management. Whether or not they could take care of it would be their problem.

Just when Peng Bo was about to run, his eyes focused.

He saw that the terrifying demonized beast was seemingly… retreating?!

How?!

At this time, he noticed that there was an armored warrior carrying a sword in front of the demonized beast.

This man had a very imposing body, but he seemed tiny in front of this demonized beast. Yet this tiny human was continuously pushing back this demonized beast.

This was the first time he had ever seen a demonized beast retreating!

A moment later, the demonized beast seemed enraged!

A gale stirred, and the surrounding buildings shuddered as scratches and gouges were left on their walls. Some of the weaker buildings were simply swept up by the gale and crushed to bits like they had been made of tofu!

Peng Bo’s eyes widened as he unconsciously stepped back.

He had once heard a rumor that there were some demonized beasts that could use special abilities, similar to ability users among the Awakened.

This kind of demonized beast was stronger! More bizarre! And more terrifying!

This one was clearly a demonized beast that could summon wind blades.

Peng Bo stared at the battlefield, his clenched fists drenched with sweat!

Soon, he witnessed a jaw-dropping sight.

The armored Awakened stood tall in the gale of razor winds, the wind blades not even scratching his black armor.

This Awakened seemed to grow tired of waiting, swiftly striding forward and raising his giant sword.

The giant sword created a gale that seemed even fiercer than the wind produced by the demonized beast.

The howl of the wind alone was deafening.

Peng Bo covered his ears as he stared at the battlefield, and he saw…

A thin line of blood appeared on the demonized beast’s body, and then blood gushed out with such force that it left small holes in the ground!

“This!!!”

The battle had been extremely intense, even destroying nearby buildings, but it had ended just as quickly as it had come.

As Peng Bo headed back, his mind was in even greater disarray.

The sight of that armored warrior standing next to the demonized beast with his giant sword was branded in his mind. This was an invincible warrior!

Once he came to his senses, he recalled the matter he had been hesitating about. Negotiating with the shelter? Demanding a higher status? An ability user would have to at least be an existence on par with the shelter chief?

Screw that!

With a fierce man like that, what sort of negotiations could they have? While he was an idio– no, he was just a very straightforward person, but he wasn’t a fool. How could he help those people with this nonsense?

Negotiate? Better to wash up and go to bed!

He didn’t care what plans they had any longer. Rather than wasting time messing around, it was better to work some more so that he could go to bed with a fuller stomach. That was already pretty good.

…

In the morning of the next day, the shelter did not assign work to the survivors. In twos and threes, the survivors had gathered in the small square.

Many people were so familiar with the contents of the announcement by now that they could recite it backwards. For the majority of the survivors, every point of the announcement could be related to their future chances of survival, and some survivors had already thoroughly analyzed each item.

Most of them had already made up their minds.

For them, it wasn’t a difficult decision, simply a process. They were simply happy to receive more benefits.

But there were a small number of survivors with uncertain looks and seemingly many concerns on their minds. However, their faces would also show moments of excitement, as if they were on the verge of accomplishing some objective.

Ding Qiang concealed himself in the crowd, scanning it out of the corner of his eyes. Last night, he and the other Awakened had finished their plan.

They made secret gestures to each other and smiled in understanding.

Looking around, Ding Qiang spotted Peng Bo in a corner. As expected, there was no one else around him, the other survivors keeping their distance. Ding Qiang saw the savage smile on Peng Bo’s face and mentally nodded in satisfaction.

As he had expected, Peng Bo was dissatisfied. Why else would his smile be so savage?

With an ability user like Peng Bo to counter the shelter chief, he felt his chance of success rise from seventy percent to ninety percent.

It was almost a sure thing!

A little while later…

Two survivors emerged from the villa area with a writing desk. Thump! They placed the desk at the side of the city gate on which the announcement had been posted.

Chen Haiping stood next to the table, a pen and paper in hand as he looked at the nearly one hundred survivors.

From just a smattering of people, the shelter could now claim nearly one hundred people, and the devastated vacation villa had basically been cleaned up…

Though he had played a minuscule role in all this, Chen Haiping still felt some pride.

He had watched this shelter grow up little by little, and it was certain to rise to even greater heights in the future. It would become a true shelter, perhaps even a medium shelter or large shelter.

This seemed absurd, but Chen Haiping felt like everything was possible.

His confidence did not arise from himself, but from Chief Tang.

Clearing out the demonized beasts in the area…

Ensuring the shelter’s food supply…

And even building majestic walls in a few seconds!

On this land which made so many people despair, this shelter was bursting with hope.

Chen Haiping considered himself fortunate that he was part of this shelter, that he was one of the founding members, that he had borne witness to its establishment.

But he also knew that these were far from the only problems facing the shelter’s development. Besides major problems like the demonized beasts and food, there were also some problems that could not be considered serious but also could not be taken lightly.

Right now, he needed to take care of one of these problems. Hopefully, after today’s reforms, some of the woodworms would be purged.