Chapter 489: The Little Monster Gets Praised |
Watching Chen Ye's malicious eye scan him up and down,
Chu Che felt nothing but chills all over his body.
Especially that blood-red eye—it was like it had a mind of its own, sizing him up like he was a piece of pork.
At that moment, Chu Che finally understood why Chen Ye had such a bad reputation among the ordinary people in the convoy.
That red eye was just too creepy.
Being stared at by that eye was incredibly uncomfortable!
"Hey, what the hell are you looking at me for? You're not thinking of doing something to me, are you?"
"Tch... Squad Leader Chu, your mind's getting dirtier by the day!"
"Damn it..."
Chu Che sighed and patted Chen Ye on the shoulder. He seemed to feel uncomfortable standing on Chen Ye's left side, being stared at by that eye.
So he switched positions and said, "You have no idea how hard it is being the captain. If it weren't for me, do you think you'd be living this comfortably?"
"Actually, I'm curious about you too. A while back, you rarely came to trade for gasoline. What, can't keep that little secret of yours hidden anymore?"
The other vehicles had already traded fuel with Chu Che several times.
Chen Ye had only done it three times.
The main reason was the upgrade to the vehicle's electrical system. Even if it couldn't fully charge the truck battery,
it could still supplement some of the journey's energy needs.
Chen Ye was already being extremely frugal.
The two exchanged glances, both reading the same thought in each other's eyes: "You don't ask about my secrets, and I won't ask about yours!"
They struck an unspoken deal and returned to their respective positions.
The secret Chu Che was referring to was actually one of the Monster Pickup Truck's abilities.
The Monster Pickup Truck could convert life into fuel by devouring it.
This ability had been used several times before.
Of course, Chen Ye had never used it actively.
And it wasn't limited to living creatures—even anomalies, as long as they had flesh and blood, could be dragged under the truck and turned into fuel for the gas tank.
The requirement for this ability was that the monster had to have flesh and blood to be converted.
Back during the Anomaly Tides,
the Door-Opening Anomalies that were killed turned into black gas and vanished into the darkness.
But now, in the Sea of Chaotic Graves, the anomalies that were killed didn't even have basic blood.
So Chen Ye couldn't use this ability to replenish the truck's fuel even if he wanted to.
The Monster Pickup Truck's ability still had its limitations.
Of course, the engine in the front compartment of the Monster Pickup Truck had also been modified by overflowing anomaly energy.
While it wasn't a Heart Engine, it could still use blood and similar substances as fuel.
But the convoy only had so many chickens and meatworms. Even if they killed them all, they wouldn't get much blood.
And those had to go to Bus Number Five and Bus Number Six first.
Besides, those meatworms and chickens were the convoy's precious assets.
There was no way they'd all be slaughtered.
So even though Chen Ye was a Superhuman, he didn't get much of a share. He simply gave up on that idea.
It all came back to the same thing: resource scarcity.
Everything was in short supply.
Chen Ye's gaze swept over the people resting nearby.
The convoy had only stopped briefly after traveling this far.
Every survivor had their own job.
Those living, breathing people...
Chen Ye turned away and pulled a cigarette from his chest pocket. A tiny spark illuminated half of his face.
The blood-red eye flickered, its light shifting between bright and dark.
If it weren't for Chu Che...
If it weren't for the convoy...
He probably wouldn't have survived this apocalypse on his own either.
Chu Che had said that the world's population was pitifully small now.
That was probably true.
The convoy had traveled for so long without encountering a single person outside their group.
Last time, Chu Che even wanted to form a migration tribe.
What a dreamer!
After reaching Sequence 4 as a Pathfinder, Captain Chu's abilities had greatly improved.
Of course, the Pathfinder still had no direct combat power.
What Squad Leader Chu had improved was the convoy's capacity limit.
A thousand-person convoy.
That guy really dared to dream!
Forget a thousand people—the convoy probably didn't even have a hundred now.
Well, that wasn't quite accurate. Before, excluding Superhumans, the convoy had a hundred and thirty-two people.
During the five seconds of darkness, they lost about twenty people. Add in other losses, and it was around twenty-something.
So the convoy still had over a hundred people.
That was still a large convoy.
And those anomalies—they were becoming less and less human-like.
If a few of those fleshy, bloody things showed up, Chen Ye wouldn't hesitate to turn them into fuel.
Not a second's hesitation.
Not even a single second.
After only a brief rest, the convoy pressed on.
There was no choice. Staying in one place too long would attract a horde of anomalies.
Finding a suitable spot to rest in the Sea of Chaotic Graves was nearly impossible.
Chen Ye really wanted to grab Chu Che by the collar and ask:
Did they absolutely have to cross the Sea of Chaotic Graves?
But he figured there wouldn't be much of an answer.
Knowing Chu Che's personality, the Sea of Chaotic Graves was probably the safest route available right now.
It was just that "safest"...
was truly terrifying.
After their earlier exchange, none of the Superhumans dared to leave the convoy.
The survivors were also strictly ordered not to stray from the group.
On the radio, aside from Dantai Bie's voice, no one else seemed interested in talking.
Chen Ye simply turned off the radio.
He patted the dashboard next to him. "Hey, help me find those old cassette tapes!"
A small tentacle emerged from the glove box, moving slowly like a shy little child.
It then picked up Chen Ye's sunglasses and handed them over.
Since it was Eternal Night, Chen Ye hadn't worn those sunglasses in a long time.
Chen Ye said helplessly, "That's my sunglasses, not a tape!"
The little tentacle set the sunglasses aside and started rummaging through the car again.
"Hey, not back there! The tapes are definitely up front. Keep looking!"
"That's a bottle of water!"
"That's a pot for cooking!"
"That's not a tape either..."
The little monster hiding in the truck was actually quite shy and well-behaved when not in combat.
Chen Ye had started trying to slowly train it.
When he had nothing else to do, he'd call it out to chat.
Like now, he had it search for those cassette tapes that hadn't been used in a long time.
Chen Ye told it what each item was, one by one.
He had to keep his voice low and not be too harsh.
Otherwise, the little thing would act like a stubborn mule of a girlfriend and shrink back into the truck, refusing to come out.
During battle, it had a completely different personality.
Wild, rough, even a bit of a battle maniac.
But when left alone, it turned into this cowardly mess.
Chen Ye had even wondered if this little monster, like Iron Lion, had a split personality—no, a split monster personality!
And during combat, Chen Ye just needed to give it a signal, and it knew exactly what to do.
Chen Ye figured that was just its battle instinct.
But when it came to everyday life, the little monster was pretty dumb.
Not completely stupid, of course.
You couldn't expect a monster to understand human life.
Back before the Monster Pickup Truck's off-road system was upgraded, driving through the Sea of Chaotic Graves was like sailing on rough seas.
Items inside the truck would clatter and bounce everywhere.
It still knew enough to help steady the cargo.
This kind of creature was so bizarre—Chen Ye couldn't figure out its thought process at all.
Finally, the little thing managed to find a cassette tape.
"Awesome! You found it in just ten minutes!"
"If it were me, I'd have found it in ten seconds at most!"
"You're still way dumber than me!"
"A little monster this stupid is rare! Really rare!"
The little monster's tentacle froze for a moment, then started bobbing up and down excitedly, like a hyperactive husky.
Clearly... it was happy to be praised.
Just then, Chen Ye's heart stirred slightly.
The Moon Devouring Technique has been successfully upgraded!