A New Mode of Transportation

Not understanding the urgency of the news, Bo Zai was confused, "What? What thing woke up?"

Tom instantly recalled the giant beetle in the camp. Hearing this, he stood up immediately, "Let's go, I'll go back with you. Bo Zai, you stay here and watch over everyone." Almost everyone in the camp had gathered, and safety needed to be ensured. No one knew if some man-eating creature might suddenly emerge from a corner.

Though exhausted, Tom still had the sleeping giant beetle in mind. Upon hearing it had awakened, he climbed the stairs and returned to the medical camp.

The black and inconspicuous giant beetle was standing motionless in its place, swinging its long antennae blankly. Tom held a green gemstone in one hand and pressed it against the beetle's body, immediately receiving the beetle's feelings of joy.

"You're awake."

"Very comfortable, eating comfortably, sleeping comfortably."

"Good, as long as you're comfortable. A snake came into your habitat, but I killed it already." Tom responded, immediately recalling the memories of the battle, which the beetle could "see" right away.

"So powerful, so powerful. Protect, need to protect."

Tom was overjoyed to hear this, as it seemed the beetle had decided to ally with them. Despite its large size and tough exoskeleton, it was slow-moving and lacked any offensive capabilities. Faced with larger creatures, it could only leave its fate to chance. So, after witnessing Tom's combat prowess, it immediately developed a desire to ally.

"We'll protect you and provide you with food if you help us transport things."

"Transport things, transport things."

Tom laughed. Just moments ago, he had been worrying about how to transport the segmented snake meat back, but now, it seemed like a dream come true. He immediately instructed someone to bring out the cart that Bo Zai had made for the beetle. Climbing onto the beetle's back, he tied the cart's rope to the beetle's protruding horny structures.

"Watch over the camp, I'll take it to move things!" After giving the orders, Tom held onto the beetle and directed it to move outside.

The beetle's speed had increased significantly compared to before, now almost reaching the speed of a person walking. Although still slow, its endurance was strong, and it could probably drag very heavy objects.

When this creature first arrived, it was about 12 centimeters high and about 35 centimeters long. This time, upon waking up from its sleep, its size hadn't changed significantly. However, the change was in its speed, which had increased considerably.

With its current size, it was equivalent to about 3 meters high and 8.5 meters long, essentially a large truck, albeit a relatively tall one. Moreover, it could crawl on steep terrain, making it an ideal transportation tool.

Sitting on its back, Tom slowly descended to the ground floor, attracting the attention of many onlookers.

"Well, Tom, our investment in those four pieces of yellow crystal wasn't in vain. This big guy came to help us transport goods as soon as it woke up," Bo Zai said happily. "By the way, look at what they dug out, a big treasure."

In front of the snake's corpse lay a large crimson stone. Tom jumped off the beetle and walked over to examine it carefully. The crystal was quite large, as big as the one dug out of the body of the mutated muscular man killed by the black-clothed man, both of them towering over a person's height and impossible to hug.

"This is a big crystal." It seemed this size could meet the needs of the mutated muscular man's abnormal powers, Tom was quite pleased. "What color is it?"

"Over here." Bo Zai led him to the back of the crystal, where someone had rinsed it with water. Although only a small part was visible, sunlight revealed its color faintly.

"Green... Control Crystal." Tom was somewhat disappointed but also relieved. If the mutated Bamboo Leaf Green snake had condensed a red crystal inside its body, its power might have been even greater, and his Old Street No. 0 might not have been able to withstand the pressure and been crushed.

Well, a green crystal was still a green crystal, a big harvest indeed.

With the arrival of the beetle, the efficiency of transportation had greatly improved. They prioritized tying the large crystal and the section of snake body cut by Bo Zai onto the cart and having the beetle drag it back first.

Such a large crystal would easily attract coveting creatures, so Tom had to put on Old Street No. 0 again for protection. Naturally, Rong Uncle also had to accompany them back to process the snake meat and prepare a delicious meal to celebrate the victory.

With the beetle, Tom immediately suggested that Uncle Wei take most of the uncles and aunties back together. After all, the wilderness was still not safe. So, more than eighty elderly people and children each dragged some snake meat and followed the beetle back together.

After transporting everything back, Tom rode the beetle back and then handed it over to Skinny to drive. He stayed at the scene with Bo Zai to cut up the snake body, leaving others to handle the sorting of the internal organs.

They were busy until noon when Skinny rode the beetle over, bringing lunch: simple rice and steamed sausages. According to Rong Uncle, snake meat itself had many parasites, so it had to be cooked at high temperatures for a sufficient amount of time to ensure the parasites were killed. So lunch was just a temporary meal, and the feast would be saved for the evening.

Having rice and steamed sausages itself was already considered a feast; it couldn't be described as just making do. With the continuous elimination of threats, they could once again collect residual supplies from the surroundings, ensuring the provision of food.

However, it had been two months since everyone shrank in size. How much of the resources from the old era could still be preserved and consumed? The houses around them would eventually be stripped bare. Although there was enough to sustain them for a long time, they still needed to find new supply locations in advance.

After a day of hard work, they finally managed to drag the entire snake, including its head, back before nightfall. Tom and Bo Zai had used up a total of four large crystals.

But it was all worth it. With so much snake meat processed, the camp wouldn't have to worry about meat supply for a long time.

Dinner was exceptionally abundant. The minced snake meat was stir-fried, with little seasoning available, mostly just some five-spice powder. Yet, for the people who had mostly been eating rice since shrinking, it was a rare delicacy.

Snake soup, cooked for three hours with red dates and Codonopsis pilosula from Uncle Wei's medicine cabinet, was fragrant and delicious. However, Uncle Wei warned everyone not to drink too much soup, as it was easy to get overheated, and people were smaller now, with limited tolerance for quantities.

There was plenty of rice and steamed buns to go around, and everyone in the camp ate to their heart's content.

During the banquet, Uncle Wei once again led everyone in expressing gratitude to Tom and Bo Zai for their consecutive battles to eliminate threats to the camp, especially the battle against the mutated Bamboo Leaf Green snake, which was truly fought at the risk of their lives. Tom endured most of the attacks; one more bite and he would have been poisoned to death. While Bo Zai's Old Street No. 1, though used for hit-and-run tactics with speed, had low defensive capabilities; being bitten meant immediate poisoning.

Tom was not accustomed to being treated with such respect. His speech impediment resurfaced, and he struggled to express himself. It was Bo Zai who stepped in to smooth things over, which helped Tom's flushed face to fade a little, preventing him from turning as red as an apple.

Of course, there was another hero this time, Iron Scrap Old Man. His metal shaping ability was outstanding, and he contributed greatly to the production of the two sets of armor. Uncle Wei specifically allowed him to drink Maotai with reduced alcohol content to lower the concentration of alcohol and prevent him from getting drunk.

Dinner continued until after 9 o'clock, and Tom sat alone on the railing of the corridor, staring into the dark sky, lost in thought.

Today was June 9th. Everyone had woken up on April 6th to find themselves shrunk. For everyone, the familiar environment had changed. What used to be a single step away now required at least 20 steps to reach. Beds that used to be simple to sleep on now required tools to climb onto.

People had shrunk by a factor of 24, making the world around them 24 times larger. This was the new world, still a world full of threats.

Tom had gradually adapted to this new world. Relying on the gems and crystals inside the mutated creatures, he had acquired abilities to protect himself and help others. He even used these crystals to create sturdy armor that could contend with mutated snakes.

But what next?

The courtyard had three sides of buildings, four floors in total, all of which were rented out. The resources would eventually run out.

Moreover, thanks to Thirteen and the black-clothed man, over a hundred people were sent out to feed various creatures. Apart from those eaten by the Haba Dog, many were scattered around, eaten by various insects and creatures, all of which became threats after mutation.

The mutated flies, cockroaches, ant colonies, and Bamboo Leaf Green snakes nearby had all been cleared out. Tom felt they should improve the two sets of armor and then expand the sweeping area to Old Street outside the courtyard.

There were still many shops in Old Street, such as grocery stores, tobacco shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and so on. Although these shops were very simple, there should still be plenty of supplies to collect inside.

With over a hundred people in the camp, even though they had all shrunk, the accumulated consumption over the years would still be considerable.

Furthermore, Tom felt that with his and Iron Scrap's current methods, they could only make the armor to this level. Perhaps he should clear a safe route and take advantage of the gratitude the people in the camp still had towards him to go to the square in the urban village and exchange their gratitude for redemption points in the redemption shelter inside. With these points, he could further exchange for more crystal energy-related technologies.

With just the technology for making crystal energy conductors, the problem of making crystal armor had been solved. With more technology, perhaps he could create even more advanced armor. Although there was a huge difference in strength between him and the muscular black-clothed man, Tom believed that with his own hands, he could create more powerful equipment.

Whether facing even stronger mutated creatures in the future or facing the Darwinian fanatics of the black-clothed man's group, at least he still had the power to fight back, unlike that night when he was powerless against a mutated Haba Dog.

As he was thinking, Tom heard someone breathing behind him. He turned around to see Bo Zai jumping up.

"Hey, Tom, so you're hiding here. What's up, missing your girlfriend, or missing your family?" 

Tom smiled. He didn't have a girlfriend, and as for family... the only person he was concerned about was his sister, left behind by his foster parents in another city. For him, no amount of worry would make a difference; he could only hope that she would find a safe place and a reliable team after shrinking.