It is more practical to ask insects about the appearance of humans than to inquire about the scents they emit.
Xu Song helplessly looked at Yue Zheng, indicating that he couldn’t communicate with the grasshopper.
“What about their clothes? Are there any other distinguishing features?” Yue Zheng took over the task and patiently communicated with Mo Tianyou and the witnessing insect.
As soon as they learned that the insect had witnessed Liu Shishi being abducted, they immediately returned to their lodging with the two children, a tree, and the insect.
After all, it was normal for two children to squat on the ground and play with an insect outside, but if two adults were added, it would appear somewhat peculiar.
So, after Xiao Shu reluctantly agreed to sacrifice a few leaves and jujubes as a reward, the grasshopper obediently crawled onto Mo Tianyou’s body and was brought back.
The grasshopper revealed that it had witnessed a malicious incident where a female human was abducted while it was perched on a small clump of grass near the bathroom early in the morning.
To prevent invasive mutant plants, the entire shelter had almost no large areas of vegetation. However, there were still some tenacious organisms in some corners and edges.
This misplaced grasshopper had finally found some food on a small path next to the public bathroom and didn’t have any plans to leave here in the short term. Hence, it remained here even on the second day after the incident, and that’s when it encountered Mo Tianyou, who could communicate with animals.
After a lengthy negotiation, both Yue Zheng and Xu Song wore serious expressions. They asked the children to play with the small tree and the grasshopper while they sat on another bed and whispered to each other.
“If the description from the grasshopper is accurate, then they are tall, wearing round helmets, and carrying long objects on their waists, just like those people who constantly patrol the shelter,” Xu Song summarized the information provided by the grasshopper, looking somewhat grimly at Yue Zheng.
“The military.”
Yue Zheng nodded slightly, pointing to the other note they had taken down. “A huge box that runs very fast and cannot be eaten. This should refer to vehicles.”
There were very few forces in the shelter that could openly drive vehicles. Although there were many abandoned vehicles outside, the lack of fuel and usable roads posed a major problem at this stage.
The streets outside were trampled by giant creatures, damaged by plant roots, and fractured by seismic activity. Ordinary vehicles couldn’t travel on them. Not to mention the gasoline it would consume; most of the cars scattered outside had their fuel taken by people scavenging for supplies.
Therefore, those who could openly drive vehicles in the shelter… besides those people, Yue Zheng and Xu Song couldn’t think of anyone else.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qtja… vb sbe atlcx atlr mbeiv yf?” We Vbcu ofia tlr rmjiq alcuilcu. Ole Vtlrtl wluta tjnf tjv j yla bo j rqblifv qfgrbcjilas, yea rtf kbeivc’a lcfzqilmjyis qgbnbxf atf qfbqif lc mtjguf bo atf rtfiafg, gluta? Jbeiv atfgf yf j ugevuf ogbw atf qjra? Dea Ole Vtlrtl’r jylilas kjrc’a rbwfatlcu ab yf ajxfc ilutais!
“After all, the grasshopper is just an insect, and its description may not be accurate. We can’t determine the exact situation now. The problem at hand is whether those people are openly capturing mutants here or if they simply happened to encounter Liu Shishi…” Yue Zheng’s brow furrowed as he pondered.
“Brother Yue, what do you mean by that? Openly capturing mutants?!” Xu Song exclaimed.
Yue Zheng looked at him and lowered his voice. “What if the disappearances of mutants are not isolated incidents?”
Xu Song swallowed hard and felt a sense of dread. They had kept their abilities hidden because they were afraid of getting into trouble. When they entered the city this time, they were afraid that it would be difficult to escape if they were exposed, so they didn’t even mention their abilities on the forms.
And now, someone from their group had gone missing, and the high possibility of her disappearance was likely related to her abilities.
“But why are Luo Wen’an and the others fine? Is it because they left later?”
Yue Zheng shook his head. “Right now, I can’t be sure if they specifically targeted Liu Shishi this time or if it was just a coincidence…”
“If someone is specifically targeting people with abilities, then Luo Wen’an and the others!” Liu Shishi disappeared in broad daylight, and now Luo Wen’an and the others are still wandering around the base! If one of them gets into trouble, it could be disastrous!
“Let’s find them first.” Although it would be difficult to explain, Yue Zheng didn’t want those two clueless guys to get into any danger.
The situation in this shelter was unclear, and now there was another layer of complexity: it was deep waters. Even people with abilities could disappear silently in broad daylight here. Searching for Luo Wen’an and the others haphazardly might be futile.
Once again, they took the children and went out together. There was no other choice. Earlier, they were willing to leave the small tree at home, but now they couldn’t take that risk. Who knows what might happen here?
The grasshopper was perched on the shrunken small tree, tucked into Xu Song’s pocket. The small tree popped its head out, and the grasshopper did the same.
This time, Xu Song held Mo Tianyou, allowing him to communicate with the grasshopper at any time, while Yue Zheng carried Mo Tiancheng. They hurriedly set out to find Luo Wen’an and Su Daji.
Following the predetermined route to the area where Luo Wen’an and Su Daji might be, they turned left and right until noon, but they still couldn’t find them!
“They couldn’t have…” Xu Song silently prayed, not wanting to jinx it. If they lost one person who was already causing them a headache, what would they do if all three of them disappeared?!
“I hope they have better luck.” Yue Zheng rubbed his forehead and sighed.
Given Luo Wen’an’s condition from yesterday, who knows what trouble they might have gotten into today… It’s getting more chaotic by the minute.
The two of them returned to their temporary lodging, waiting for a whole afternoon. After lunch, they still saw no sign of Luo Wen’an and Su Daji.
The twins started dozing off, and Xu Song didn’t want Yue Zheng to go out alone, what if he also went missing? But they couldn’t just leave the two sleepy children alone either.
They waited until three-thirty when the two children woke up, half asleep and needing to use the restroom. They carried the children to the first-floor bathroom, and suddenly, Yue Zheng’s phone rang.
Xu Song’s hand trembled, almost dropping Mo Tianyou’s pants.
Yue Zheng quickly answered the call, and Xu Song leaned closer to listen, hearing him raise his voice, “Where did you guys go?!”
Finally, it seemed they had news about the two. Thankfully, they called back.
The person on the other end seemed to be explaining something. After a while, Yue Zheng hung up the phone.
“Where did they go?”
Yue Zheng put away the phone and bent down to pull up Mo Tiancheng’s pants. “We’ll go find them in a bit.”
Xu Song raised an eyebrow but wisely didn’t ask any more questions. The entire building’s bathroom was on the first floor, and besides them, there were other people inside. It seemed like it wasn’t suitable to discuss Luo Wen’an’s situation openly. Where on earth did those two run off to?
After dressing the children, the two adults packed the necessary items and left the building, heading outside.
Heading south all the way, Yue Zheng showed no intention of communicating, and Xu Song silently followed along until they reached the main gate of the inner wall.
Could it be… they’re leaving the city? Or are they going to the office in front?
With doubts in his mind, Xu Song continued to follow Yue Zheng without saying a word, until they arrived at the gate of the outer wall.
At the main gate, there was an exit and an entrance to the city. Many men, women, and children were gathered there, forced to venture outside the city in search of supplies and food.
The inspection at the entrance was relatively slower, to prevent anyone from bringing dangerous items into the city. Controlled weapons were still not allowed for ordinary people to use in the shelter, and if found, they needed to be surrendered.
Of course, the surrendered items could be exchanged for points, which could be used to rent weapons, vehicles, purchase gasoline, and so on during the next trip outside the city.
In addition, items that were not needed could also be exchanged for points for use within the shelter. However, there were very few people who chose to exchange items, as most preferred to take them back home.
The process of exiting the city was much faster than entering. When entering the city, whether it was for searching or other purposes, people had to wait in line for half a day. But when leaving the city, a simple registration was enough.
The two of them registered, writing down the numbers on the badges of the four individuals in the registration book, allowing them to leave the city smoothly. Since the two of them didn’t need any vehicles or weapons, they didn’t waste time exchanging things.
After leaving the city, seeing that there weren’t many people around, Xu Song took a few quick steps forward and looked at Yue Zheng.
“They said they are outside the city,” Yue Zheng maintained his calm expression, though his face didn’t look good.
“They found someone who knew something, and those people are also going in to rescue others. They suspect that Liu Shishi is held captive in the same place.”
Xu Song raised an eyebrow, “People with abilities?”
Yue Zheng nodded slightly, “It’s unclear from the phone conversation. We’ll have to assess the situation when we get there.”
Xu Song pondered for a moment and whispered to the twins, “Whatever happens, try not to expose your abilities to anyone. If there’s any situation, tell us privately when there are no other people around, okay?”
The two little heads nodded in unison. They weren’t foolish and understood that they shouldn’t reveal their abilities in front of strangers.
Even without looking down, Xu Song could sense that the small tree in his chest pocket was also mimicking the nodding motion of the two children. What he didn’t know was that the grasshopper hanging onto the branch of the tree was swaying dangerously, almost falling off, with only its front claws clinging to a leaf, flapping its wings frantically.
The two of them walked a short distance further, turning west at the next intersection. Soon, they spotted a vehicle at the end of the dilapidated path.
“They’re here! Over here!”
Thank you for translating!!
Hope LSS is okay 🤞🏻
Ohh BTW, the cricket changed into a grasshopper at the last quarter of the chapter?
Thanks for the translation 🤣❤️🤣❤️🤣 🦗 Crickets are nocturnal and omnivorous. Grasshoppers are herbivorous and can be seen day or night—more like our little character who was really into his patch of green!
Thank you for the update
For someone who previously was said to have been exposed to the filthier aspects of human nature by his parents during the problems they’ve had in business, rather than over-protected, Xu Song seems absurdly naïve frequently.
I really hope Yue Zhen’s colleagues aren’t held captive there too! 🤞😓