Chapter 20, Phantom Technique!_2

"I'll wash up."

"The damn girl... not even listening to her mother anymore."

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Tang Fei was carving a bird out of wood, while Phoenix watched the wooden bird in Tang Fei's hands.

When the wooden bird was finally assembled in Tang Fei's hands, then wobbled and flew into the sky, both Tang Fei and Phoenix jumped up excitedly, yelling and shouting joyfully like children.

But when the wooden bird's tail started smoking and it plummeted to the ground, scattering pieces and bursting into flames, their expressions turned to that of sorrow and despair, like children who were about to be given a hundred math problems or had just been beaten up by other students...

Phoenix realized she had gradually adapted to life on the Old Land, wearing the clothes from the Old Land, eating the "delicacies" of the Old Land, having friends and companions here, sharing meals and beds with them, joining them in fighting for water, hunting, feeling happy, or sad with them.

She even learned a few swear words.

For instance: you dog!

Aren't dogs quite adorable? She had a dog back on New Star. It was a snow-white Bichon Frise, and its name was Ball Ball.

But Tang Fei said that phrase was an insult, so, going by Tang Fei's answer then.

When her escape pod first crash-landed here, her heart was filled with tension, panic, and uncertainty about the future. Fortunately, she met Tang Fei; she was taken back by Tang Fei, 'carried' was the word Little Fatty used...

Then, she lived as if she had grown up on the Wasteland, like a real child of this harsh land.

She used to pray all the time, fervently hoping for her rescuers to appear quickly.

Now she still prays, but not with the same urgency and anxiety as before.

In such a chaotic world where life was as fragile as grass, she unexpectedly felt a sense of safety and warmth.

"It failed again," Tang Fei said with a face full of regret, looking at the charred wooden sticks at his feet. "I wonder when it will be able to fly, maybe it will never fly..."

"It was already amazing, it flew so fast just now, it even reached the treetops..." Phoenix said, comforting him. She looked at Tang Fei with a curious face and asked, "Tang Fei, how did you learn to make this?"

"Self-taught," Tang Fei replied.

"That's incredible?" Phoenix's eyes widened as she said, "On New Star, mechanics who know how to produce and design machinery are very respected. Tang Fei, you should keep it up, maybe someday you too could become a great mechanic."

"What? Are you going to take me to New Star?" Tang Fei asked.

"I don't have that kind of ability."

"How could I possibly become a mechanic when I can't even go to New Star... On the Old Land, there's no systematic knowledge, no practical equipment, not even a single useful tool can be found..." Tang Fei shook his head and said, "Let's just focus on surviving. Making these little things is just a personal hobby, something to pass the time when I'm bored... what else can I do? Can't just hunt all the time or, like Little Fatty, keep breaking rocks..."

Tang Fei looked at Phoenix and asked, "What do the young people on New Star usually do?"

Phoenix thought for a moment before saying, "Students attend classes, adults work. But in our spare time, we go to karaoke, go clubbing, watch concerts of pop stars. Sometimes we might go for a coffee with a few friends or have an afternoon tea... Of course, we often go to Illusion Realm Park as well; that world is so big, you feel like you could never see it all."

"What do you like to do the most?" Tang Fei asked.

"I love watching movies the most," Phoenix replied with a smile, her eyes narrowing. "No matter what kind of movies, I like them all. Action, romance, comedy, and even science fiction..."

"Right, you can even use AI technology to swap faces, replacing the movie star's face with your own, as if you were in the movie yourself... You can also use a neural interface to enter games or videos, enhancing the sense of reality..."

Tang Fei was dumbfounded and silent for a long while before saying with a face full of envy, "It's only been a few hundred years since leaving Blue Star, I never imagined that New Star would have developed to this extent... How wonderful."

Tang Fei pointed at the ancient forest in front of him and said, "Look at our surroundings, if it's not acid rain, it's monsters, and even these seemingly insignificant flowers and grass carry deadly poison, one careless move could hurt people..."

"There's no law to constrain us, no morals to guide us. There's only people eating people, people killing people. This planet is beyond saving... and so are the people living on it..."

"Perhaps one day, everyone on this planet will die, humanity will go extinct... But that's no longer important, humanity's hope and continuation... is on New Star."

"Phoenix..." Tang Fei felt a surge of melancholy weighing on his chest, wanting to offer comfort out loud, yet not knowing what to say.

Because he knew that what Tang Fei was saying was the truth.

Moreover, the human scholars on New Star had also conducted research, writing countless analysis reports concerning the environmental degradation on Blue Star and the state of human survival.

All the reports eventually pointed to one conclusion: the extinction of humanity on Blue Star.

"You don't need to comfort me," Tang Fei said with a laugh. "While we're still alive, we should enjoy life. For example, I do some crafts, Phoenix draws, Little Fatty throws stones... Oh, Little Fatty throwing stones doesn't count as a hobby, that's for survival..."

"The day humanity goes extinct, I guess I won't see it. Even if I did, I couldn't change anything. This is the fate of us born on Blue Star."

"There must be a way," Phoenix said with conviction.

Tang Fei shook his head, slid his Dog Leg Knife into its sheath, and said, "Let's go hunting. If we don't bring something back today, we'll have nothing to eat tomorrow... You probably haven't experienced the feeling of an empty stomach, have you?"

Phoenix shook her head and said, "Indeed I haven't."

"Then we need to work hard," said Tang Fei. "But you still need to be careful. Try not to use that whip of yours."

"Are you worried they'll trace it back to us by following the clues?" Phoenix asked.

"When you use your whip, it's bound to damage the plants in the jungle. The Henshan Gathering Area wouldn't likely have such a sharp weapon... If they find those cuts, they'll know we're living nearby."

"I understand," Phoenix nodded. "Even without that whip, I'll surely catch more prey than you."

"That's not possible, I'm an old Hunter, and you're just a novice," Tang Fei countered.

"Then let's see who's better."

"Alright. What happens to the loser?"

"The loser has to prepare a gift for the winner."

"Can it be anything?" asked Tang Fei.

"It can be anything," Phoenix replied. "But it has to be a gift you genuinely want to give, not just anything to make do."

"Of course, it should be well thought out," Tang Fei said as he had initially thought if he lost, he would just grab a handful of wildflowers from the bushes.

"Let's get started then," said Phoenix.

Tang Fei nodded and then raced ahead, leaving a trail of dust; he knew where to find prey.

Phoenix was not to be outdone, closely following Tang Fei.

She knew Tang Fei knew where to find prey, so she wanted to act first and snatch the prey away.

She was determined to demonstrate with real action and a bountiful harvest that, in the Illusion Realm, his boasted hunting abilities were simply not worth mentioning.