Apocalypse: Last Traveler

Speaking of it, this frozen jerky is made drastically different from what it was in the previous life, whether in texture or taste.

However, no matter how you put it, it's quite impressive it could be made, tested by Gou and found edible.

This stuff might be inedible for ordinary people; he wouldn't eat it in his past life.

But now he's a Neo-Human, living in the desolate wasteland, it's perfectly fine.

Lu Xi'an chews on the frozen jerky, feeling pretty good, filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Lu Xi'an was just trying this out, but when Yao Wei saw him doing it, she followed suit.

Yet she didn't stuff the meat strip directly into her mouth, instead, she used Blade to cut a small piece before putting it in her mouth.

"Is it tasty?"

Lu Xi'an asked.

Yao Wei replied, "It's edible."

Lu Xi'an laughed, "It's actually decent, much better than some soggy instant noodles."

Sometimes when they find unopened instant noodles, the noodle cake can be a bit soggy, not crispy at all when chewed, affecting the taste.

If he hadn't specifically let Gou check and confirm it's still edible, Lu Xi'an wouldn't dare eat those instant noodles.

The frozen jerky chunks cut from the strips are hard and cold, freezing the mouth as well, very difficult to chew, but it has a unique flavor and is much tastier than those instant noodles.

And hearing Lu Xi'an's words, Yao Wei nodded and said, "Moreover, it has a salty taste, better than unsalted grilled meat."

Both of them find it pretty good and exchange smiles.

Lu Xi'an said, "Now we've become Inuits."

"What?"

Yao Wei asked.

Lu Xi'an said, "Just some people from before, lived in icy lands, carved ice blocks for igloos, dug ice holes to fish for seals.

"After catching a seal, they process it and bury it in the snow to freeze, then take it out and cut with a knife when they want to eat."

As Lu Xi'an narrated, Yao Wei imagines the life of Inuits, exclaiming, "Really impressive."

"Indeed, really impressive."

Lu Xi'an also added a word of admiration.

For them, a row of frozen jerky is too little, not nearly enough.

Therefore, after trying and realizing it's fine, they go outside the vehicle and bring back two more rows of frozen jerky each.

They place the lines of jerky waiting to be eaten at the air conditioner's air outlet, letting the warm air defrost them quickly.

Thus, the jerky they eat later is much easier to chew and not as cold, saving their teeth from too much effort.

So they deliberately slow their eating pace, allowing the jerky more time to thaw.

Though the weather is cold, there's no snow, after finishing the frozen jerky breakfast made from dog meat strips, they continue their journey.

As for the frozen jerky hanging outside the vehicle, there's nothing to worry about. With the weather this cold, no animals will come out to raid the food outside.

Lu Xi'an suddenly feels fortunate for not realizing this when hanging the meat strips outside yesterday.

Luckily, a cold snap came unexpectedly, making all the animals hide. Otherwise, he wonders if the jerky would've attracted mosquitoes, birds, or beasts.

If that were the case, waking up this morning, there might have been very little jerky left outside.

Even if some remained, it would probably be ruined by mosquitoes and flies, making it inedible. If so, Yao Wei would certainly feel heartbroken.

Thankfully! Thankfully!

Lu Xi'an lets out a long breath of relief, while also reminding himself to avoid such mistakes again, whatever he does, think twice to prevent any unforeseen adverse consequences.

Driving west, Lu Xi'an is still in the driver's seat, foot on the gas pedal, hands on the steering wheel. Unconsciously, he has become the regular driver of the vehicle.

It's unavoidable, given that his shooting skills are poor. Compared to him, Yao Wei is more effective in the passenger seat, responsible for vigilance.

While driving, he asks Yao Wei for shooting tips, causing her to rack her brains, deeply troubled.

"How can you shoot accurately?"

"Find the feel."

"How do you find the feel? I can't feel it accurately."

"...Feel seriously, don't shoot just anyhow, shoot only when you feel accurate."

"If I wait till I feel accurate, I'd probably be shot dead already."

"..."

"Where do you usually aim when you shoot?"

"Vital spots."

"No, I mean, if you aim for vital spots, where exactly do you aim?"

"Just the vital spots."

"...Bullets don't fly? Weapons have recoil, right? It's not like in games where you aim and hit exactly. Some games require calculating distance and wind direction in advance."

"..."

Yao Wei doesn't know what game Lu Xi'an refers to, but she understands the wind direction and distance part.

Yet, when she shoots, she doesn't really consider these, she just acts on intuition.

She's forced to revisit the feeling of each shooting attempt, pondering for a long time, finally seeming to find some subconscious experience and memory:

"Probably should aim a bit lower."

"Below the vital spot?"

"Right."

"How much lower?"

"Not sure. If close, just slightly; if far, much lower."

"What about left and right? That's for stationary targets, but how about moving targets, does it require predicting and adjusting laterally?"

"Probably does?"

"How do you judge?"

"Based on intuition."

...

Lu Xi'an feels he's understood something, believing his shooting skills might improve, but also feels his understanding might be wrong.

Improving shooting skills isn't that easy, is it?

Yao Wei did mention some shooting tips, like aiming the barrel a bit lower, but her main point was intuition.

How does one learn that?

Forget it, better rely on Yao Wei. There's a sharpshooter beside him, why bother drilling down?

Maybe someday he'll find a warehouse full of bullets without worrying about waste, then he'll practice well.

With Lu Xi'an finally ceasing his questioning, Yao Wei breathes a sigh of relief.

She's somewhat frightened by Lu Xi'an's questions because she really doesn't know how to answer them.

Eager to find something to do to shift their focus, she thinks for a moment and takes out the radio they nabbed from the cave shelter.

To avoid long-term disuse leading to battery leakage, the radio's batteries were removed.

Yao Wei reinstalls the batteries and turns on the switch.

The dial at the top of the radio hasn't changed, the frequency is still the same as before.

Once switched on, the "zzzz" electrical noise emanates from the speaker.

Unexpectedly, after driving so far, the signal they struggled to find at the edge of Mengxin City is again received here:

"Zzzz—here—zzzz—National Emergency Disaster Headquarters—zzz—National Emergency Disaster Headquarters, we—zzzz—please—"