Chapter 331 - 165: A Helping Hand

Chapter 331: Chapter 165: A Helping Hand

"Good morning, Mr. Xu."

Xu Mo nodded.

"Where is Leader Zhou?"

"He’s over at the cafeteria. Are you heading there? I can take you."

Xu Mo followed the man through a few streets and arrived in front of a large building, which now served as the settlement’s public cafeteria. A line had formed at the entrance, and people were moving in and out, holding bowls.

Zhou Jianguo was at the entrance talking with a few people. When he saw Xu Mo approach, he quickly came over to greet him.

"Mr. Xu, good morning! How did you rest last night?"

"Fine," Xu Mo said.

"That’s good, that’s good." Zhou Jianguo smiled. "You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Come, please, come inside. We’ve prepared something special for you today."

Xu Mo had intended to refuse, but seeing Zhou Jianguo’s enthusiasm, he nodded.

The cafeteria was spacious, filled with more than a dozen long tables. Most people had already finished eating and left, with only a few sitting in the corners. Zhou Jianguo led Xu Mo to a cleaner table, sat down opposite him, and then ordered someone to bring their food.

A few moments later, several bowls were brought to the table.

A bowl of thin congee, two steamed buns, a small dish of pickled vegetables, and a hard-boiled egg.

In this post-apocalyptic world, this was indeed a rare "good meal."

Xu Mo looked at the steamed buns and fell silent for a second. He had just seen the others eating only congee with a few scraps of pickled vegetables. Zhou Jianguo’s claim about their lack of resources was clearly not just talk.

’I’m definitely getting special treatment.’

However, Xu Mo didn’t stand on ceremony. He picked up his bowl and started eating.

Zhou Jianguo sat opposite him, watching with a wide smile, but he didn’t eat himself.

Xu Mo put down his bowl and looked at him.

"Aren’t you eating?"

"I’ve eaten, I’ve eaten," Zhou Jianguo said, waving his hands hastily.

Xu Mo didn’t call him out on it and simply continued to eat.

After finishing his meal, Xu Mo wiped his mouth and looked at Zhou Jianguo.

"Leader Zhou, I have a question."

"Please, ask."

"Are there any particularly dangerous Mutant Beasts in the vicinity?"

Zhou Jianguo was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"Yes! Yes!" he nodded repeatedly. "Mr. Xu, are you...?"

"Since I’ve taken your fuel, I might as well help you clean up a bit," Xu Mo said. "If it’s not too far."

Zhou Jianguo was so excited he almost shot to his feet.

"Not far! Not far at all! About a dozen or so li east of town, there’s a forest with a pack of mutant wolves! And in a ravine to the west, there are a few lone Mutant Beasts! They’ve caused us so much misery!"

Xu Mo nodded.

An hour later, Xu Mo stood before a grove of withered trees east of the town.

Behind him were his two guides—the scar-faced strongman and a young man. They had volunteered, claiming they wanted to show Xu Mo the way. But Xu Mo knew they also wanted to see with their own eyes how the man who had single-handedly slaughtered his way through a horde of zombies would deal with mutant wolves.

"This is the place?" Xu Mo asked.

The strongman nodded and said in a hushed voice, "This is it. There are more than ten wolves in the pack. The alpha is a big one, stronger than a calf. We’ve suffered at their hands several times and lost a few of our brothers."

Xu Mo didn’t speak, just gazed at the withered woods.

The woods were quiet, but he could sense the faint, foul stench wafting from within.

"You two wait here," Xu Mo said.

With that, Xu Mo gripped his Triangular Spike and charged into the woods. He didn’t have to go far before he spotted the wolf pack.

Xu Mo wasted no words. Even if these wolves could talk, they wouldn’t be leaving here alive today.

"ROAR!"

The wolf pack had clearly spotted Xu Mo as well. With a howl, they lunged at him.

Xu Mo was unfazed. The Triangular Spike drew a cold arc through the air, and the first wolf to leap at him had its head pierced before it could even touch the hem of his clothes.

Before its body even hit the ground, Xu Mo had already charged into the pack.

The wolves pounced on Xu Mo frantically, but their attacks were meaningless. With every thrust of the Triangular Spike, another wolf fell. His figure weaved through the pack, moving so fast his path was a blur.

Finally, the giant wolf charged, its maw gaping open to reveal fangs seven or eight centimeters long. Xu Mo sidestepped, plunging the Triangular Spike into the side of its skull. The giant wolf let out a muffled grunt, its massive body swayed, and it crashed to the ground.

In less than three minutes, all thirteen mutant wolves were dead. The only thing that struck Xu Mo as odd was that there were still no Crystal Cores inside their heads.

Xu Mo shook the blood from his Triangular Spike and turned to walk out of the withered woods.

The strongman and the young man stood outside the woods, their mouths agape and their eyes wide with disbelief.

"It’s... it’s over?" the young man stammered.

Xu Mo nodded.

"Next."

Next, Xu Mo headed west.

There, he found a few lone Mutant Beasts—a mutant wild boar, two mutant badgers, and some kind of reptile he couldn’t identify. The strongest among them was only a level-two mutant.

To Xu Mo, they were nothing. The only waste of time was the travel required to deal with them.

Furthermore, these mutated creatures also had no Crystal Cores in their heads, which led Xu Mo to form a new theory about their origin.

Back outside the town, Xu Mo stopped the vehicle and spoke to the two men who had followed him the whole time:

"That should do it. Go back and tell your Leader Zhou that this area should be much safer from now on. I won’t be coming back."

"Oh, right. This is the route I took from Jiang City. Give it to Leader Zhou when you get back. It might be useful later."

The strongman and the young man nodded repeatedly, their eyes filled with awe.

"Tell Leader Zhou to take care."

With those words, Xu Mo drove the SUV onto the highway and sped away, growing smaller in the distance.

The strongman and the young man remained where they were, watching until the vehicle vanished from sight.

The SUV sped along the highway. Xu Mo gripped the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

In the rearview mirror, Linhai Town grew more and more distant, eventually disappearing below the horizon.

He thought about what Zhou Jianguo had said—from five or six hundred people, they were now down to just three hundred and twelve. He thought of the sallow, emaciated children, of the steamed buns in the cafeteria, of the way the people had looked at him.

Xu Mo knew he couldn’t change their fate. All he could do was help clear away some threats and leave them with a sliver of hope. That was all.

Ahead of him, there were still over two thousand kilometers to go.

The sun was still scorching, and the heat waves still shimmered, but Xu Mo’s heart felt a little lighter than before.