Rebirth of the Last Survivor

Seeds

After leading the team for a distance, Lin Yue and his group arrived once again at the gathering place where they had first appeared after the crossing. The scorch marks on the ground were from the fire Lin Yue and Zhao Longtao had set to burn the bodies the day before. But the area attacked by wild beasts wasn’t only this one. After passing through a low stretch of trees, a field full of corpses immediately came into view.

Although they had already seen wolf carcasses or other human remains, the gruesome sight still turned the faces of the Hunting Team members pale. Those with weaker psychological endurance nearly vomited.

“In this strange world, we face life and death every day. We must get past this mental hurdle,” Lin Yue said, turning to look at the Hunting Team members. “If you can’t even face these corpses, how can you talk about hunting, let alone killing?”

“Killing!” Someone caught the keyword and paled again. “Do you mean we’ll have to kill people?”

“Not just kill,” Lin Yue sneered. “The law of the jungle. Right now, we have a situation of too many people and too little food. Add human greed to the mix, and s*******r is inevitable. Often it will be m******e-style warfare. Only then will the population decrease and food become sufficient.”

At Lin Yue’s words, even Zhao Longtao widened his eyes in disbelief.

“You can figure out these principles with simple reasoning,” Lin Yue said with a light frown and a low shout. “You just don’t want to accept reality. You still harbor illusions about the good side of humanity. Accept reality. This kind of situation might not happen yet, but in just two days, cannibalism will definitely be widespread.”

By now, everyone was too shocked to speak. Lin Yue’s words were very hard for them to accept. They had grown up without worries, never imagining they would face such a situation. Lin Yue didn’t say much more. He knew he couldn’t make them accept reality all at once. In his previous life, right after the crossing, it took him nearly a month to fully accept reality. Only then did he forge his iron will and steel nerves.

After giving them a few minutes to adjust, Lin Yue continued, “Of course, that situation hasn’t happened yet. But if you don’t want to die for no reason, you’d better pull yourselves together now. Train your body and mind every moment. Only by becoming stronger will you have the capital to survive in this world.”

With that, Lin Yue walked toward the pile of corpses and shouted, “Everyone, on me. Search the bodies and bring back anything useful.”

Searching corpses? That was easy for Lin Yue, but a huge challenge for the other Hunting Team members, including Zhao Longtao. Seeing their pale faces and hesitation, Lin Yue went ahead and started searching on his own. Zhao Longtao gritted his teeth and followed. The others looked at each other and reluctantly followed.

Around the corpse pile, several eagle-like birds were eating the rotting flesh. Lin Yue threw a knife and killed one of them. The rest, startled, flew into the sky but still circled nearby, unwilling to leave.

Lin Yue retrieved his knife, ignoring the dead bird for now, planning to take it later. He then focused on rummaging through the corpses, not letting any good item escape. Zhao Longtao stayed close behind him. After much hesitation, he overcame his psychological barrier and joined Lin Yue in searching.

The others didn’t have Zhao Longtao’s courage. Just walking near the corpse pile was terrifying enough. Several, seeing the b****y, mangled bodies, ran aside to vomit. Yang Qing and Liu Ye, being girls, were no exception. It was their first time seeing such a horrific, b****y scene, and anyone would find it hard to accept.

Seeing their miserable state, Lin Yue called out to them, “This is your first time seeing something like this, so I won’t push you. Just watch carefully and try to get used to it quickly.” With that, he ignored them and continued searching.

At this location, there weren’t actually that many corpses—only about fifteen or twenty. Besides corpses, there were other things: two bicycles, one electric scooter, and further away, a car crashed into a tree. The driver must have been fleeing from wild beasts, driving frantically before crashing.

As for how many items a person could bring during the crossing, Lin Yue wasn’t sure. But generally, anything in contact with the body during the crossing would be transported along with them—clothes, backpacks, bicycles, electric scooters, even cars. However, large trucks seemed not to make it. In his past life, Lin Yue never saw a large truck. Ships, planes, and trains would be even less likely.

After checking the bicycles and scooter and finding no major damage, Lin Yue walked to the car and opened the trunk. Inside were two cartons of drinks, a toolbox, and several pieces of clothing. After a quick inventory, Lin Yue, with the speed of lightning, stuffed a small red bag into the trunk. Then he turned to the others and shouted, “Come quick, everyone! I found some good stuff!”

The others, who had been struggling to overcome their fear nearby, heard Lin Yue calling and turned their heads. They saw a car—something they weren’t afraid of—and immediately ran toward it.

They looked in the trunk and immediately saw the two cartons of drinks, showing expressions of joy. They knew that in the future, the chance to drink beverages would be rare. Then they saw the toolbox. Opening it, they found hammers, wrenches, and the like. They smiled and nodded; these would also be useful.

“Hey, what’s in this red bag?” Liu Ye had sharp eyes and immediately spotted the small red bag. Opening it, she found several blue packages. Looking closely, she saw they were labeled wheat seeds, soybean seeds, various vegetable seeds, and even two sweet potatoes.

“Seeds! Crop seeds!” Liu Ye exclaimed with delight. When the others saw they were crop seeds, they were also very excited. They all understood that in this strange world, identifying and finding edible plants to grow would take a long time. These seeds would allow them to skip that step.

“They’re just seeds. It will take months from planting to harvest. First, consider whether you’ll survive these next few months,” Lin Yue said, pouring cold water on them. “Pack these things up and take them. Also, bring the two bicycles and the scooter. Leave the car for now. The terrain is rough, and it can’t get through.”

The others weren’t dampened by Lin Yue’s words. They smiled, nodded, and did as he said. Yang Qing glanced meaningfully at Lin Yue. She knew there was no such coincidence as opening a car trunk and finding crop seeds. If she guessed correctly, these seeds were Lin Yue’s own, which he had carried over and deliberately placed in the trunk. But even if she guessed right, she didn’t call him out. In the past two days, she had seen too many of Lin Yue’s miraculous abilities to keep questioning him.

Next, Lin Yue handed the items he and Zhao Longtao had found to the Hunting Team members. Then he walked to a corpse, stripped off its clothes, and took them.

The others were surprised, but after a moment’s thought, they understood. As time passed, clothes would become very scarce. The dead no longer needed them, so there was no reason to waste them. But stripping corpses still made them uncomfortable. Zhao Longtao hesitated, then followed Lin Yue’s example and started taking clothes from the bodies.

They looked at each other, uncertain. Suddenly, Yang Qing stepped forward, walked to Lin Yue, and also started stripping the corpses. Where there was one, there was another. Soon, the others also joined in.

Seeing their actions, Lin Yue smiled. This psychological lesson seemed to be bearing some fruit.

Soon, they packed up the items they had collected, then piled the bodies—now stripped down to their underwear—and burned them. These corpses couldn’t be left too long. In a couple of days, they would stink and might spread diseases. Burying them was impractical, so burning them was the only option.

After finishing this, Lin Yue and the others took the items back to Yuan Cave. These supplies were important, so any mishap would be unacceptable.

After Lin Yue’s group left, the flames on the burning corpse pile grew fiercer. Suddenly, several rat-like figures emerged from a nearby thicket—Rat-men. They poked the burning pile with sticks, then “chirped” among themselves in some kind of communication. Finally, they all looked in the direction Lin Yue’s group had gone.