After distribution, three crystal cores remained. Luo Beiyao reached out to take them and handed all three to Su Wanmei. He glanced at Su Mu with a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
“First-rank crystal cores—you probably don’t need these anymore, right?”
Su Mu was already a second-rank ability user. Naturally, first-rank crystal cores were useless to him—especially since he was still holding onto a second-rank Zombie Emperor’s crystal core.
Once he finished absorbing that crystal core, he would successfully advance to rank three.
Su Mu gave a flat acknowledgment. Watching the group sit together with expressions of having narrowly escaped death, he pulled the dagger strapped to his pant leg and moved straight toward one of the mutated wolf corpses.
His movements were precise. He sliced cleanly into the wolf’s abdomen, peeled away a small patch of fur, then used the sharp tip of the blade to lift a thin strip of meat. Bringing it close to his nose, he sniffed it lightly.
Wu Keke already knew mutated beast meat was edible, so she had been quietly keeping an eye on the pile of wolf corpses, wondering how to tell everyone. She hadn’t expected Su Mu to make the first move.
“Mu Mu, what are you doing?!”
Su Wanmei’s face turned pale in fright. She hurried forward, trying to stop him.
Luo Beiyao watched Su Mu intently, his gaze deep and unreadable. He wanted to see what this person was planning now.
Su Mu smiled reassuringly at Su Wanmei and was just about to explain when Xu Qingru stepped forward. He glanced at Luo Beiyao before speaking.
“Actually… mutated beast meat can be eaten.”
The moment he said that, everyone froze.
Su Mu lifted his eyes slightly. “You’ve eaten it before?”
Xu Qingru nodded. “Back when I was in my previous team. We passed through a forest and lost most of our supplies while being chased by mutated beasts. We couldn’t get out and eventually ran out of food. Left with no choice, we ate mutated beast meat. Turns out it doesn’t infect you with the virus—and it’s rich in energy. Both ordinary people and ability users can eat it.”
Even so, everyone hesitated. In the apocalypse, mutated beasts were still virus-infected creatures. How could eating their flesh really be safe?
Seeing the doubt on everyone’s faces, Xu Qingru smiled at Su Mu.
“Can I borrow your dagger?”
Su Mu didn’t answer. He peeled off the thin slice of meat he’d taken earlier and casually tossed the dagger over.
Xu Qingru caught it cleanly without injuring himself. A faint look of approval flickered through Su Mu’s calm eyes.
As expected of someone ranked in the top twenty of the apocalypse, this kind of nerve and decisiveness was something most people didn’t have.
Xu Qingru cut off a chunk of mutated beast meat. Su Yang helped set up the fire pit, and the two worked together to grill the meat. Once it was half-cooked, they brushed a layer of salt over it. Before long, the rich aroma of roasted meat spread through the air.
[The real juice is @ https://www.lemonsociety.gay ♡]
When the meat was done, Su Mu considerately used his ice ability to lower the temperature. Xu Qingru smiled at him in thanks. He himself wasn’t afraid of heat as a fire-type ability user—but Su Yang was.
The moment Xu Qingru looked up, however, he met Luo Beiyao’s gloomy, ice-cold gaze.
His smile instantly stiffened. He quietly withdrew it, tore off a piece of meat, and fed it to Su Yang instead.
Su Yang obediently opened his mouth, then tore off another piece to feed Xu Qingru in return.
So the rest of the group stood there, enduring the mouthwatering aroma—while being force-fed a whole serving of public affection.
Su Mu didn’t stay to watch them eat. He took the dagger back from Xu Qingru and began cutting the mutated wolf meat himself, slice by slice. Each piece was nearly identical in size and thickness, neatly packed into shopping bags.
Seeing how happily Xu Qingru and the others ate—and watching Su Mu’s methodical movements—no one hesitated any longer. They stepped forward and began helping to cut the meat as well.