Thien Anh offered a rare smile—one that appeared reckless, yet harbored a strange, underlying warmth. He blew gently on a spoonful of congee before bringing it to Lam Linh's lips.
"Everyone has a first time. If you don't know something now, you'll learn it later. There's no need to be embarrassed. That's why you're here to learn; if you already knew everything, what would you need me for? Eat up, I'll get you another bowl."
Lam Linh looked at the bowl, which was nearly the size of a small basin, and shook her head hurriedly.
"No, I'm not a pig! Why are you forcing me to eat so much? This one bowl is already a struggle. Another and I'll literally burst."
Thien Anh clicked his tongue, retracting the offer.
"Fine, suit yourself. Just eat to get your strength back. If you're hungry later, go to the kitchen and help yourself; I've cooked an entire pot for you."
Lam Linh smiled, a secret sense of happiness flickering in her heart. She quietly savored every spoonful he fed her, occasionally glancing at his rugged, angular features.
In truth, after taking the fever reducers and consuming a few spoonfuls of the restorative dragon-heart congee, she felt her strength returning significantly. But human nature is such that everyone craves a bit of selfishness at times. She wanted to prolong this moment of being cared for just a little longer. She whispered to herself, "I'll let him pamper me for a bit. Once I'm better, I'll make it up to him."
After coaxing Lam Linh back to sleep, Thien Anh softly closed the door to let her rest in peace. By now, his own stomach had begun to protest. After a morning of high-intensity combat and dragon 'dissection,' he hadn't had a single grain of rice.
He went to the kitchen, sliced a massive slab of dragon heart, and seared it in a pan until golden brown. The appetite of a mutated human like Thien Anh was staggering; he needed to consume four or five kilograms of meat in a single sitting just to feel satiated.
Once the fragrant plate of fried meat was ready, Thien Anh ladled himself a massive bowl of congee and took a bottle of strong liquor to the living room to join Thien Lang and Azure Sky.
As soon as he sat down, Azure Sky hissed, her eyes glued to the television screen.
"Things are getting truly tense out there, brother. The military is being hit by a strange contagion, and the hospitals have completely collapsed under the surge. People are dying like flies, and the mutated beasts are launching relentless assaults on residential zones."
Thien Anh took a swig of the potent liquor, feeling the searing heat radiate through his veins.
"Gritty. Without the military to maintain order, civilians are nothing more than fodder for the beasts."
Thien Lang, resting his head on the rug, interjected:
"It's the age of universal armament now, Master. Everyone has a gun in their hand, but the problem is the lack of heavy ordinance. They run into a high-tier mutant and it's lights out instantly. But look at this, Master—nature is getting equally bizarre."
Thien Anh drained half his bowl of congee in a single gulp and savored a piece of crispy dragon heart, asking curiously:
"Anything interesting?"
Thien Lang gestured toward the news report.
"In Ai Dan City, they've discovered a breed of gargantuan mutated pumpkins. A single fruit weighs several tons. Their growth rate is terrifying; they can sprout dozens of meters and bear fruit continuously in a single day."
Thien Anh was genuinely stunned, nearly dropping his meat.
"A fruit that large… you could use the shell as a house, couldn't you?"
Azure Sky nodded frantically.
"That's exactly what they're doing! The citizens there are actually living in them! The rind is incredibly hard; they have to use industrial steel cutters just to slice them open. They eat the flesh inside and utilize the hollowed-out shells as bunkers—warm and safe from the mutated rats. Thanks to these pumpkins, the famine in Ai Dan has been temporarily repelled."
Thien Anh grew pensive. Truly, "When one door closes, another opens." Ruthless nature stripped humanity of everything, yet it also bestowed strange miracles to help them endure. If they knew how to adapt, humans could still find a path to life within the cracks of death.
Following the broadcast, he learned that not just beast meat but mutated crops were also aiding in the recalibration of the human body. Hunting and foraging for mutated goods were becoming the most sought-after professions—yet also the ones with the highest mortality rates.
Thien Anh realized that in the face of nature, humanity was minuscule. When Mother Nature flared in rage, the former masters of the world could only crawl into crevices to survive. The current government didn't even bother tallying the dead anymore; the numbers had far exceeded their capacity for control.
If the major cities were struggling, the outskirts were a true hellscape. There, it wasn't just mutated beasts, but venomous swarms, carnivorous flora, and predatory raptors in the sky. Even a full military division only dared to operate on the fringes of the urban zones.
"If someone like me charged out there recklessly right now, I'd be in the stomach of some monster by noon," Thien Anh assessed silently.
Azure Sky suddenly turned to him. "Brother, why are the monsters out there evolving so quickly? Some have already reached Tier 4 or Tier 5. Do they have some kind of 'divine elixir'?"
Thien Anh shook his head. "I'm not sure, but it's possible the natural environment contains triggers that accelerate evolution more aggressively than our bunker."
After a pause, he continued, "Tomorrow, we must find the weaponry cache. If we intend to hold this ground long-term, we won't survive without heavy ordinance."
Thien Lang's ears drooped at that, his voice trembling.
"Didn't Master say that place was extremely dangerous? I'm afraid we'll be 'pushing up daisies' before we even see the guns. But… if Master goes, Ki goes too."
Thien Anh laughed, clapping Thien Lang firmly on the back.
"It's good that you're afraid, Mutt. Being afraid and doing it anyway—that's true courage."
Exhaling a long breath, Thien Anh said steadily, "Don't worry. I've prepped a thorough plan; nothing major will go wrong."
Azure Sky and Thien Lang felt their nerves settle instantly, turning back to focus on the TV. Thien Anh watched the 'carefree' demeanor of his two comrades, a faint twitch at the corner of his eye.
After the news ended, Thien Anh leaned back against the sofa to rest and recover his mental energy, delegating the scouting duties to his companions. Tonight would be a long night of preparation for the march tomorrow.