According to everyone's expectations, the Zhou Clan would definitely be able to get rid of the Experimentals within a week. Since the Experimentals had failed to take down the city in the beginning, they would not need to worry about the Experimentals anymore once the Zhou Clan realized what was going on.
But reality did not seem to be like that. It had been more than a week since the Experimentals first started attacking the city, but there was not even a glimpse of reinforcements at Stronghold 74.
When Li Ran and the others first started eating, they did not mind controlling their appetite. Everyone ate as usual, so the food they had bought earlier was quickly depleted.
Zhou Yingxue even said a few words, but everyone felt they would be able to get out of trouble soon. Since they would not be able to take the food with them when the time came, they might as well finish eating.
As such, Zhou Yingxue did not say anything more. At most, she would just eat potatoes with her master. What did the lives of these people have to do with her?
Now that Li Ran and the others saw that there was no hope of being saved, they started worrying about the problem of eating again. However, everyone remembered how they did not listen to Zhou Yingxue when she tried to persuade them.
They were too embarrassed to ask Zhou Yingxue to help think of a solution. Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu was indifferent. He did not care about them at all and could not even be bothered with them.
Of course, this was only because they were not hungry yet. If they were really that hungry, these people would probably even be willing to eat tree bark, let alone beg for help.
But it would be hard to say if there would still be tree bark left on the streets at that time.
In any case, Ren Xiaosu did not panic at all. He would go out every day to check on the situation in the city and see if there were any Experimentals attacking. He did not care about anything else.
The food in his storage space was enough for him and Zhou Yingxue to last for at least another three months. Moreover, there was quite a variety of food. Just counting the wild boar family that had been wiped out earlier, there were still three of them left.
Two days later, Li Ran and the others kept thinking they could smell the faint smell of meat in the hotel. But when they followed the smell, they could not find anything. Everyone thought they might be hallucinating from hunger.
Until they saw the oil on Zhou Yingxue's lips …
Zhou Yingxue, on the other hand, didn't have the consciousness of stealing the food. After all, the pork was given by Old Master. She didn't steal or snatch it, so she didn't have the obligation to share it with others, right?
On that very day, something extremely strange happened.
Some of the soldiers in the stronghold were lying prone behind the defensive bunkers when they saw an Experimental crawling towards them at lightning speed with something hanging from its mouth.
Everyone was a little puzzled. Why was there only one Experimental? Was it here to surrender? Could it be that there was internal strife within the Experimentals?
When the Experimental came to the bottom of the stronghold, it threw away the thing in its mouth and turned around to leave. It went back into the pitch-black forest.
The garrison soldiers on top of the city wall looked at one another. They hurriedly lowered a person into a basket and picked up the item that the Experimentals had thrown away. It was a piece of white cloth.
When Zhou Xingwen heard about this, he ran up the city wall. He took the white cloth from the soldier's hand. There were a few words written in blood on it: Negotiation, one person.
All of a sudden, Zhou Xingwen's scalp went numb. This Experimental actually knew how to write their language, and it even used the word 'negotiation'.
Humans negotiating with Experimentals? How were they supposed to negotiate?
Old Li and Qin Sheng rushed over. The Pyro Company's personnel who were already on top of the city wall explained to them what had happened. Old Li suddenly said, "I'll go!"
Qin Sheng turned around and looked at Old Li. "Teacher, you can't go. There are probably at least 10,000 Experimentals in the forest."
"That's enough." Old Li shook the white cloth and said with a smile, "Someone has to go and see what the Experimentals are up to. I have no children, no partner, and no worries. My only disciple has also finished his apprenticeship, so I should be the one to do something like this."
The officers of Zhou's Army next to him did not say anything. They definitely did not want to go, but they admired Old Li from the bottom of their hearts for being willing to step forward.
Furthermore, seeing how the Knight was talking and laughing, it did not seem like he was that afraid at all.
Old Li's smile faded. "Besides, it's obvious that there's an intelligent lifeform controlling these Experimentals. If they negotiate with me and get close enough for me to decapitate them, the danger to the Experimentals will probably be resolved."
As for after the decapitation, Old Li would definitely be surrounded and killed by the Experimentals. No matter how powerful he was, he couldn't possibly take on so many Experimentals.
But he did not say anything about that. Since he was going, he had to be prepared to die.
Qin Sheng wanted to dissuade him, but before he could say anything, Old Li stopped him. He said with a smile, "This is going to be very exciting, isn't it?"
…
In the afternoon, Old Li used a rope to descend into the forest and slowly made his way alone.
But as soon as he entered the forest, he noticed shadows of Experimentals constantly moving around him and surrounding him.
The Experimentals did not attack Old Li. Instead, they made way for him as he walked deeper into the forest.
Old Li was stepping on soft leaves. After autumn, the leaves would fall into the soil and turn into dust. Old Li's outcome would not be much different from these fallen leaves. It was just a matter of time.
Thinking of this, Old Li strode forward and treated the Experimentals around him like they were nothing.
After walking for about two kilometers, Old Li saw an Experimental sitting by a campfire in front of him. It was holding a tree branch in its gray palm, and there was a sparrow stuck in it.
Old Li stood still and silently looked around. He wanted to see if he had a chance to kill the other party. However, he still had to listen to what the other party had to say before he made a move.
But how should he talk? Should they write?
Just as Old Li was letting his imagination run wild, the Experimental suddenly laughed hoarsely. "I've seen you before. You were on the mountain that evening, and there was a young man with you. Why didn't I see him?"
Old Li was surprised. The other party could even speak!
The Experimentals were human mutations, so it was very normal for them to be able to speak human language. But Old Li felt that it was very abnormal!
The Experimental's voice was extremely hoarse, like two pieces of gauze rubbing against each other. "Don't be too surprised. I'm also human. We became like this because we were trying to treat illnesses. It's just that some people are lucky like me and can gradually regain their sanity, while others are unfortunate enough to become monsters."
Old Li frowned and did not say anything. There was too much information in the other party's words.
The Experimental glanced at him and waved the sparrow in its hand. It said with a smile, "I'm treating you to this. I used to like roasted meat, but now I prefer raw meat more. I even like to eat some carrion occasionally for a change of taste. Just stand there. If you take another step closer, you'll die here. Don't even think of scheming against me. You guys can't do it yet."
With that, the Experimental tossed the sparrow to Old Li.
Old Li caught the sparrow and did not despise it. He raised his hand to his mouth and tore off a piece of meat. As he chewed, he asked, "Isn't it good to be human? Meat only tastes good when it's roasted."
"That's exactly why I asked you to come here." The Experimental said hoarsely, "Help me find someone. If you find him, I'll retreat into the mountains or go further south and never come back."
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