Abyss Summoner-Chapter 50 - 48: Be Careful

"Plop."

A series of light footsteps came from the distance.

It was a young man, with short hair and long beard, covered in dust all over. The most distinctive part was that he was carrying a rice bag in his hand, containing tree leaves, moldy steamed buns, and even rotten meat.

Before the apocalypse, the man worked for a state-owned enterprise, young and promising, highly valued by his superiors. It wouldn’t be long before he would be sent abroad for further training, and upon returning, he would secure a director position.

His parents were alive.

His wife was gentle.

And he had a pair of twin children, a boy and a girl. You could say he was a definite winner in life. But who could have imagined, after waking up from a nap at home, everything would undergo a drastic change.

The streets were filled with countless monsters. He could see clearly from upstairs, next door Brother Zhang’s daughter, a cute middle school girl, always polite when she saw him. It was rumored that she had already taken the high school entrance exam and would soon study at the city’s most famous high school. But when the apocalypse struck...

A Corpse Spot Beetle crawled on her body, the beetle was the size of a calf, and this cute girl was bitten into two halves in one bite. Her backpack lay aside, stained with her blood and innards.

Panic.

The man was completely terrified. He tremblingly sealed the doors and windows at home using tools, managing to get through over ten days like this.

But today, he tore down the doors and windows, stealthily sneaking out of the house,

Suicide?

No!

He was too hungry, not only himself, but his wife and two children hadn’t had a full meal in a long time either. If they didn’t find some food, they wouldn’t be able to last even two days before starving to death.

The man’s current state would only become more commonplace in the future.

Scavenger.

A profession at the lowest rung of the apocalypse.

In the wild, they roamed like rats, wandering aimlessly from dawn till dusk, relying on scavenging to scrape by.

In a certain sense, this is the truest depiction of the lowest level survivors. They have no home, no strength, and because of the remote location, even the army and judges wouldn’t set foot there.

There is no piece of land in this world that’s safe, even in the desolate and derelict wild. It’s still teeming with countless bugs and zombies, monsters roaming the surroundings, hunting humans as food.

In such a forsaken situation, one can imagine the life of a survivor.

Scavengers are the product of this brutal life. They rise early and return late, scavenging in the wild with their hands, with food primarily sourced from some plants and fruits.

No matter how excellent the man was before, now...

He was just a scavenger.

The rotten meat in the rice bag.

Even wild monsters would fight and devour each other. This was the corpse of a Blade Mantis, long dead, its flesh even starting to rot, giving birth to maggots, but for the man, it was also life-saving food.

He couldn’t care less now.

The community supermarket was occupied by a group of zombies, and he didn’t dare to approach at all. The outside was filled with too much danger, so he could only try to find food nearby.

Rotten meat.

Even if the meat couldn’t be eaten, the maggots in it, washed clean, could serve as protein to replenish strength.

People are forced by circumstances. Those pampered rich kids, having tasted all kinds of delicacies, found this tasteless, that unsavory, definitely considered the epitome of picky eaters.

But in this apocalypse, food was absolutely the most important resource. Not to mention delicacies, even a moldy steamed bun might spark a bloodbath.

What kind of despair drives a favored son to be ecstatic upon seeing maggots?

The harsh environment and weak strength only worsen the situation, even some bottom-level humans never tasting a piece of meat from birth to death.

Of course, there are exceptions.

Pork, mutton, beef, these meats are monopolized by the upper class, with no chance for ordinary people to even touch them. However, there’s one type of meat that’s incredibly cheap and within reach.

And that’s...

Human flesh.

When despair descends, humans become even crazier than beasts.

"This should be enough food. Tomorrow, I’ll come out again..."

A large-scale slaughter occurred in the community. Pieces of meat and fragments of bone could be seen scattered in any corner, every step and even every second was a torment for him.

"Meow meow..."

But just as the man was about to go home, a weak sound startled him.

The man parted the grass, his body tensed, his eyes full of alertness, seeing that there was no danger around, he slowly began to move, heading deeper inside.

A red creature came into view.

It looked like a cat, curled up on the ground, occasionally whimpering softly, appearing very weak.

"Still alive. Can it be eaten?" The man was full of confusion, picking up a stick and gently poking it.

This thing is softer than the man imagined, indescribable, as if it had no bones; with a gentle touch, the branch collapsed inward.

A dying kitty?

The man’s eyes gleamed somewhat.

The taste of cat is not bad. Although its texture cannot match the delicacy of pork or the chewiness of beef, compared to the maggots in his hand, it is still far superior.

Taste?

In the age of peace, as a cat lover, how did he know that?

Trapped at home, just seven days into the apocalypse, he killed the fold-ear cat he had raised for four years, who had accompanied him through loneliness, Buton, that was its name.

How heartbreaking!

A hint of sadness flashed in the man’s eyes. He vividly remembered how he, driven by hunger, had personally snapped the cat’s neck.

Raised from a kitten, Buton was exceptionally affectionate, neither crying nor fussing, and when he was busy with work, Buton always liked to lie quietly by his side, like a companion.

When he twisted Buton’s neck, it was even rubbing against his trouser leg.

Skin it, debone it.

Crying, he gnawed the meat off Buton’s little leg clean.

Regret it?

Yes, regret!

To kill his beloved pet, the Buton he had watched grow up, the adorable Buton!

But.

"If everything could start over, Buton, I’d still eat you!"

Too hungry!

Without having experienced starvation, one can’t truly understand that kind of pain!

If he didn’t kill Buton, his child, wife, and even he himself would die; there was no choice, no other way!

The man’s pupils had long turned a shade of crimson, swallowing saliva, not caring anymore whether the opponent was dead or alive—if it could be eaten, nothing else mattered.

A scavenger devours anything that can be stuffed into the mouth.

The kitty in front of him, though somewhat strange, the man had already decided not to think too much; he reached out, wanting to take it back for a feast.

He extended his hand, and just as his fingers were about to touch the strange kitty, it suddenly split open...

Split open?!

"Crack."

The kitty’s body suddenly split open, revealing the white flesh inside, exuding bile and white stuff, like brain pulp or an enlarged protein; and most surprisingly to the man, a tentacle-like tip was pointing directly at him.

Where’s the kitty?

"Whoosh!"

The tentacle suddenly stiffened, and then a needle-sized tip pierced into the man’s chest.

"What the hell is this!"

The man was aghast, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. He ripped open his shirt to see a spike emerging from his chest.

Cold, numb, stiff, bewildered...

The man’s consciousness slowly faded, his vision dimming as if sinking into night, losing all light instantly, fear spreading; he wanted to rush home but found his steps slower than he imagined.

His pupils gradually dilated, and moments later his eyes were completely engulfed in darkness; his skin loosened, and starting from the chest, his flesh seemed scalded by boiling water, gradually becoming terribly wrinkled, yet just minutes later...

His body started melting, like a candle, his skin, blood all turned into a viscous red liquid, which slowly flowed into the split-open cat corpse.

After devouring an entire corpse, the red alien object began to slowly wriggle, and after a while, a dark red, human-like body appeared on the ground.

Red liquid dripped from the man’s lips, even containing the corpse of half a maggot, yet he seemed oblivious, like a puppet, uttering weak words from his throat.

"Huiyi, Xiaopeng, Xiaofei..."

The man lay on the ground, murmuring some names, astonishingly replacing the prior corpse, becoming a new bait.

Unknown creature.

The man’s fate perhaps was sealed with a horrific full stop the moment he heard the cry...

Apocalypse.

Aside from evident dangers, bizarre threats also lurked in silent corners.

Darkness descends.

If one wishes to survive, caution, unwavering caution is key...