Reborn in the end of the world, I scavenged in the empty city and bought for free

The next day was the weekend, and Gu Tongwan had hung a sign outside the store in advance that read "Closed on weekends, temporarily closed." In the next two days, he had already made plans to go to the northern forest with Yan Fan to "dig soil."

It was less than half past five on Saturday morning and the sky was still shrouded in darkness. Gu Tongwan was wearing a set of long-sleeved casual clothes and a gray hoodie on the outside. He picked up two sandwiches before going downstairs.

At present, China has completely entered the season of long nights and short days. The daylight hours are basically from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the base will not be completely bright until after 7 a.m. Before that, it is still like night.

At this time, the temperature on the thermometer in the living room was 19 degrees, and the temperature outside was estimated to be around 17 degrees. The weather was still relatively cool, and the lowest temperature could even reach 13 or 14 degrees in the early morning. But once it was past 11 o'clock, the temperature suddenly rose to around 27 or 28 degrees.

So in the morning, you would see passers-by on the street wearing long-sleeved shirts and thin down jackets, but by noon, they had changed into short-sleeved shirts.

Gu Tongwan took both dogs with him and drove the medium-sized pickup truck that he usually used to transport cargo.

She and Yan Fan needed to reach the big forest in the north before daybreak.

At 5:40, Gu Tongwan got into the car after hurriedly eating a sandwich. Although Yan Fan had already learned to drive, Gu Tongwan still discussed with him that she would be responsible for driving when going there, and Yan Fan would drive when coming back.

The entire driving distance from the inner circle to the northern forest is 47 kilometers, which usually takes an hour. The road that was originally blocked and partially broken has been basically open to traffic after more than half a year of cleaning and repair work organized by the base and the nearby wanderer base. Some sections of the road have even been restored to the level of a second-level highway. Therefore, the journey that used to take an hour and a half can now be reached in less than an hour.

Gu Tongwan hadn't gotten up around five in the morning for a long time. He couldn't help yawning before driving. He didn't go to bed until eleven thirty last night. He was still a little dazed at the moment, so he could only pick up the American coffee in front of him and take a few sips to refresh himself.

On the way, Gu Tongwan discovered that the scenery on both sides had changed a little. The abandoned houses on both sides half a year ago seemed to have been flattened, the broken road surface was repaired neatly, and there were even signs of human habitation on the other side.

"This is a temporary place for people who escaped from the Rangers' base camp, but this place is not safe. There are many D-level mutant spotted hyenas nearby. If you are not careful, you may be attacked."

"Aren't spotted hyenas social animals?" Gu Tongwan frowned slightly, because she didn't particularly like this kind of creature that was extremely sinister and vicious in both appearance and character. After all, if the "seed cleaners" united, they could even easily defeat an adult lion.

"There are several spotted hyena tribes led by different leaders here, but most of them move in groups. If you are alone, you will usually be driven away from the tribe. If you encounter individual spotted hyenas and have a weapon in your hand, the spotted hyena will not attack easily. But if you encounter a group of spotted hyenas, unless you are a high-level psychic, you will only end up being eaten. Therefore, the people who escaped from the wanderer base camp all lived together in groups of more than a dozen. There should be psychics among these people, but their levels should not be too high. I encountered one once before. At that time, two C-level and one D-level psychics wanted to rob a car, but they were finally repelled by me and Aoao."

This was the first time that Yan Fan mentioned this matter. Before, when Yan Fan borrowed the van to travel between the northern forest and the base, she was worried that something might happen to him on the road alone. However, considering that Yan Fan's own strength had surpassed most C-level psychics, plus the A-level Ao Ao, the combined strength of the man and the dog should not be underestimated, and ordinary people really couldn't do anything to them, she was relieved for the two of them to continue to go to the forest.

I thought there wouldn't be too many mutant beasts outside the base after the last beast tide, but I didn't expect that the mutant beasts that originally existed in other empty cities would run out and even get closer to the base.

These animals that shouldn't have appeared in Jiangcheng actually escaped from the zoo during the earthquake. Most of them died in the earthquake or were attacked by other creatures. The animals that remain now are basically the strong ones who have experienced the law of the jungle in the end times.

When they are extremely hungry, these animals will eat their own kind, and because of the mutation, their sense of smell and vision have been greatly enhanced. A D-level mutant animal can detect the scent of humans or other animals within a range of thirty meters, while a C-level mutant animal can detect energy beings or humans with superpowers within a range of one hundred meters. As for the B-level, the detection range can be directly expanded to five hundred meters.

At present, the perception range of Aoao and Tutu is about two kilometers. This range has exceeded that of most A-level mutant beasts, but it is still slightly different from S-level mutant beasts that can easily perceive animals, plants and humans within a range of five kilometers.

According to the "Encyclopedia of Mutated Animals" previously published by the base, even different S-level mutant beasts have different ability values.

For example, the mutant bat queen and the mutant poisonous butterfly, both of which are S-level, the former can easily control the minds of other creatures, while the latter can produce deadly poison powder within a range. However, if we look at the ability values, the S-level mutant bat queen can easily crush the mutant poisonous butterfly. After all, mental creatures are not common among mutant animals. Generally, S-level mutant creatures have mental range attacks, but according to previous research data from the Institute of Biology, the more creatures live in the north, the stronger their mental abilities. It just so happens that the mutant bats live in a group of stone caves near the north, while the mutant poisonous butterflies live in the middle of the danger zone and the safe zone. They are classified as S-level because the poison powder can spread half a kilometer at a time, causing creatures within the range to faint and feel nauseous. However, if they do not inhale a huge amount of poison powder at one time and take the antidote within two hours, their lives will not be in danger.

Gu Tongwan thought of Cai Min's family who had temporarily stopped doing business after the acid rain. She was from the Wanderer Base Camp, and she didn't know how she was doing now. The last contact between the two was on the second day of the acid rain period. Later, it was said that the network base station at the Wanderer Base was corroded by acid rain, so the message she sent to the other party fell into the sea and there was no reply.

The car drove slowly into the forest. There was a slightly flat area in the safe zone. This place was also where many low-level psychics trained or hunted. The previous acid rain did not seem to have caused any substantial damage to the forest. The vegetation here was still lush, and the wild grass on both sides was almost as high as the calves. Occasionally, you could see one or two sunflowers with petals that were a circle larger than usual.

"After the acid rain period, only tree trunks were left here. But the amazing thing is that the vegetation here grew abnormally fast. In less than a month, it has gradually recovered to its original state. The closer to the "forbidden zone", the higher the durability of the plants. It seems that there are special plants that are resistant to corrosion in that area."

Since entering the forest, Yan Fan has taken over the driving. After all, Yan Fan has been deep in the forest for a week and is familiar with everything in the forest and has a better grasp of the direction.

The temperature in the forest is still three to four degrees lower than other places, and the perceived temperature is about thirteen or fourteen degrees. It stands to reason that the vegetation shape will change in cold places, but the deeper you go here, the more lush the vegetation becomes. After driving for about twenty minutes, the vegetation on both sides suddenly stretched out and became unusually tall and majestic. It was a pine forest, but the trunks of the pine trees here were at least five or six meters thick and eight or nine stories high. The pine needles that fell on the ground looked like silver needles, and the car made a crisp sound when it ran over them.

Gu Tongwan suddenly felt his scalp tighten, and he couldn't help complaining in his heart that if this pine needle happened to fall on his head, wouldn't it poke a hole in it?

Seeing her cautious expression, Yan Fan, who was standing beside her, smiled faintly and said, "This kind of pine needles won't fall off easily. Unless there is an eight-force gale, they will only fall off the branches at a specific time as new branches and leaves grow."

"What specific period?" Gu Tongwan became interested and asked.

"The climate here is abnormal. The morphological structure of the forest is different from other forests, and the growth characteristics of plants are also not differentiated by environment and region. So you can see plants from various regions here, some from tropical regions and some from subarctic regions. I don't know if it is because of this relationship, but the growth cycle and morphology of plants have also changed. For example, the pine trees on both sides will enter the [renewal period] from March to May after the mutation, which is the so-called leaf-falling period. It is best not to pass through the pine forest during this period, because the pine needles above can become sharp weapons if you are not careful."

As Yan Fan was speaking, they heard a squeaking sound similar to that of some animal from above. When the two of them raised their heads and looked out the window, they saw a red shadow jumping back and forth in a pine tree near the window in the direction of Gu Tongwan.

"Is that a red flame squirrel?" Gu Tongwan looked at the fat figure holding something to eat on the pine tree with some surprise.

[Red Flame Squirrel] is a C-level mutant animal. Although it is not very big, it can use fire powers, and its hair is bright red like flames. It is one of the first creatures to evolve superpowers in the apocalypse.

The red fire squirrel is active in character and will not actively attack other creatures. Its main food source is pine cones and some small mutant insects.

The appearance of the red flame squirrel is different from that of ordinary squirrels. Its tail is particularly fluffy and its fur looks smooth and shiny. The most important thing is that the appearance of the red flame squirrel is so cute and adorable. If it were not a wild animal, Gu Tongwan would really like to raise one.

Seeing that she was watching seriously, Yan Fan could probably guess what she was thinking at the moment, so he smiled and said, "If you like it, I'll find a way to catch one for you later, but..." As if she had some concerns, Yan Fan hesitated for a while before explaining, "Although the red flame squirrel is a relatively docile mutant beast and never actively attacks humans, if it feels threatened by the outside world, it will use its supernatural power to create a fireball. At this time, its whole body will be surrounded by a layer of flames. At that time, it will jump around and easily hurt people or cause a fire. If it weren't for the fact that there are other creatures in the northern forest that can restrain this creature, I'm afraid it would have caused a forest fire long ago."

"Most mutant animals are uncertain, so the base has strict regulations on raising mutant animals, right?" Gu Tongwan thought about how he had paid a large sum of money to apply for the relevant breeding certificates for Aoao and Tutu. Fortunately, although Aoao and Tutu were a little eye-catching in appearance, they had already learned to control the supernatural powers in their bodies. Therefore, they were not judged as high-level mutant beasts after being detected at that time, which saved Gu Tongwan a lot of money.

If the two dogs had been detected as high-level mutant beasts, they would not only need to be regularly checked by people from the base's research institute, but they would also need to be regularly injected with a sedative developed for mutant beasts. Currently, the base stipulates that mutant beasts above level C need to be regularly injected with this type of drug, and mutant beasts above level D need to wear a leash when going out. Only mutant beasts that meet the regulations are allowed to go out.

Despite this, a small number of powerful people rely on their status and background to keep a lot of mutant beasts in their homes. Not only do these mutant beasts not undergo regular inspections, they even pose certain risks.

The car gradually went deeper into the forest and had now entered a dangerous area. The vegetation on both sides became uneven, with the tallest vegetation being more than ten stories high and the lowest easily reaching above the knees. The car could not go any deeper into the terrain, so Gu Tongwan and Yan Fan could only choose to walk the rest of the way.

Yan Fan is now a C-level mutant. He is usually in the danger zone during hunting training. As for the restricted area, he cannot easily enter it with his current strength.

Gu Tongwan squatted down and checked the soil characteristics in a place where a large patch of irises was blooming.

The soil here is wetter and softer than that in the safe zone. This should be related to the humidity in the danger zone. Moreover, there is a layer of gauze-like white fog covering the area not far away. The thicker the fog, the closer it is to the restricted area.

"Sister Wanwan, I'll take Aoao to a nearby place. If you need anything, just shout. If my supernatural senses are fully open now, I can sense the area within about 100 meters."

"Okay, then you be careful. If there is any problem, let Aoao take you back." Advanced mutant beasts have powerful perception abilities, so there is basically no need to worry about the two dogs not being able to find their way back in the forest.

After watching the man and the dog leave, Gu Tongwan continued to observe the soil underneath.