Fighting for Survival

"Everyone, eat breakfast first. I'll come to arrange today's operation in an hour."

Yang Xiao walked out of the tent toward the Gene Store.

Behind the counter, Gu Bo held a crystal cup filled with red liquid. He tipped his head back and drank it down.

"Old man, what are you drinking?"

"Gene potion."

"Gene potion?"

"Hehe, don't ask about this yet. You'll understand what a gene potion is soon enough."

Yang Xiao was stunned for a moment and asked, "With my current strength, can I enter the fog to kill mutated creatures?"

Gu Bo smiled and said, "Draw your sword and slash at me with all your might."

"What?!"

Yang Xiao stared at Gu Bo in confusion.

"Hehe, don't worry. Your current strength is far from enough to harm me. Go ahead and strike with confidence."

"Really?"

Yang Xiao felt his heartbeat quicken and his throat go dry.

With his strength now plus that black longsword, he could likely split even a giant rock in one strike. Yet this old man Gu Bo actually wanted him to strike at him?

"Then will you dodge?"

Gu Bo's eyes flashed.

"Why will I dodge? A whelp like you, even a hundred of you, I won't need to evade at all."

"Alright, you said it."

After speaking, Yang Xiao drew his black sword and shouted as he slashed at Gu Bo with all his might.

But in the next second, Yang Xiao felt his supremely powerful blow go awry.

Gu Bo lifted his right hand slightly and pinched the black sword between two fingers.

Yang Xiao felt his sword strike empty air, and all its power vanished.

He tried to pull back the blade but it didn't budge one bit, leaving him shocked. Although he'd guessed Gu Bo must have profound cultivation, he never expected it would be this profound. It exceeded his comprehension completely.

It appeared that Gu Bo indeed came from some mysterious fantasy civilization, possessing mystical techniques that surpassed anything humans on Earth could achieve.

Yang Xiao sighed and ceased trying to withdraw his sword.

Gu Bo loosened his fingers and smiled faintly. "Your strength is considerable, beyond my expectations. What is your mutant beast soul?"

Hearing this, Yang Xiao was somewhat baffled. "My strength isn't worth mentioning before you, right? What's a beast soul? I don't have one."

Gu Bo pondered briefly before speaking. "You haven't awakened a beast soul yet have such tremendous strength. That's quite surprising. Beast souls, take Xiao Zhe for example. His is wolf. After fully awakening, he can mutate into a werewolf with tremendous combat power. Or Xu Hua's bronze skin, his soul is turtle. Fully awakened, he'll mutate into a ninja turtle with formidable defenses. Of course, not everyone awakens a beast soul. Some merely exhibit genetic mutations, unlocking their body's potential through a mutated genetic data system with attributes like Strength, Agility, Defense, and Intelligence. Does your body have this genetic data system now?"

"No, I don't have anything like that."

Yang Xiao replied in surprise. If his body transformed into a genetic data system, wouldn't that be just like a computer game from before the apocalypse?

What was going on in this world?

Gu Bo smiled faintly. "Whether you awaken a beast soul or not, everyone will develop some mutated genetic data system. I expect yours will emerge soon. Hmm, your current strength should suffice to venture into the mists."

Leaving the Gene Store, Yang Xiao encountered Xiao Zhe and Xu Hua, who also wished to ask Gu Bo about the thick fog and killing mutated creatures. They nodded to Yang Xiao and headed inside.

Returning to the tent, Yang Xiao found Huang Wen and the other girls eating roasted taros and dog meat.

He went into his small tent, opened his backpack, took out some beef jerky and water, and began chewing.

An hour later, Yang Xiao gathered all the girls.

"Those who feel you've undergone genetic mutation stand to the left, those who haven't stand to the right."

Of the 30 girls, 15 stood left.

Yang Xiao had the mutated girls demonstrate their powers one by one. He found only 5 or 6 had awakened beast souls. The rest had just gotten stronger and their senses sharper.

Huang Wen could now transform her entire arms into gigantic wings, but she still didn't seem able to leverage them for combat.

Chen Fei wielded lightning elemental power, Chen Lu ice. Their flashes of lightning and ice balls could already reach 2 meters away.

Chubby's hair could now grow around 4 meters long and her strength kept increasing.

There was also a girl named Dai Yun who exhibited the same lupine traits as Xiao Zhe, her hands turning into sharp wolf claws.

"Chen Fei, Chen Lu, Chubby, and Dai Yun, you four prepare. Follow me into the fog to kill mutated creatures."

"Ah?"

The four girls cried out in unison, staring wide-eyed at Yang Xiao.

Seeing their legs still trembling, Yang Xiao asked solemnly, "Do you want to live?"

The girls looked at each other and nodded.

"We want to live."

"Good. If you want to live, you can't fear death. You must bravely enter the fog to slay those mutated creatures and obtain genetic fragments, improving your powers. If I'm not mistaken, the mutated creatures around here should be limited. Even if there are many atop Jade Cloud Mountain, they'll eventually be wiped out. Whoever gets ahead destroying the most mutants will gain the most fragments to enhance themselves. Ultimately, these mutated creatures are a kind of resource. If we don't seize them, others will."

Hearing Yang Xiao's explanation, the others understood as well.

Huang Wen asked, "But Boss, why only take those four? What about us?"

"You don't have the ability yet. Once we hunt and bring back ample mutated creatures as food, you can also quickly boost your powers. Then you can join squads and fight together."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fei and the others grasped his deeper intent. Their hearts swelled with fervor and they loudly declared, "Boss, no problem! We'd die following you with no regrets!"

Yang Xiao glared at Chen Fei and said smiling, "We're not going to die, so why get so intense? You've got ten minutes, Prepare rations and weapons, then we'll head out."

He also reminded Huang Wen to watch over the girls left behind and stay vigilant.

Ten minutes later, Yang Xiao led Chen Fei, Chen Lu, Chubby, and Dai Yun into the fog.

The over a thousand people on the playground watched them leave with complicated feelings.

"What are they doing?"

"Are they going to kill monsters?"

"This d*mn apocalypse feels like we got transported into a game world."

"Will they get eaten by monsters?"

"Can they revive after dying?"

"Bro, did you bring a Resurrection Scroll?"

...

Xiao Zhe, Xu Hua, and the others beside Huang Wen's tent watched Yang Xiao lead the four girls into the fog.

"Xiao Zhe, what should we do?" asked Xu Hua.

"No rush. Let Yang Xiao scout ahead first. We'll wait and see, no need to hurry today."

Yang Xiao led the four girls steadily closer to the thick blue fog, 10 meters, 5 meters, and 3 meters.

Everyone was paying close attention to everything that was happening.