426: 42

Above the Wasteland

Luangang City

"Hey, Xiaoping, are you going out to catch Earth Worms with us today?"

"Going, going, wait for me, I'm going to get my bag."

The one responding was a teenager who looked about fourteen or fifteen. The boy was dark and thin, with messy, withered yellow hair, clearly a sign of long-term malnutrition. But strangely, his left pupil was white, and his right pupil was red.

Clearly, this was also a contamination mutation.

Unfortunately, this mutation did not bring him any power.

Jiang Ping, a child of an ordinary commoner in Luangang City, a freak born after a ten-month pregnancy.

He was born with an eye abnormality, one red and one white.

Jiang Ping hurried to get his bag.

"Xiaoping, where are you going?"

"Mom, I'm going to catch Earth Worms with my friends."

"Be careful, take your fork."

"I know, Mom."

"Big brother, good luck!"

"Hahaha, be good, little sister. When I catch some worms, I'll make meat pies for you."

Jiang Ping grabbed his bag and ran outside.

"Hurry, hurry! If we go too late, we won't be able to claim a spot."

Zhang An'an grabbed the sack in his hand and ran towards the outside.

Everyone knew that outside the city was dangerous, but the beginning of every month was an exception. Because to prevent too many Pollution Beasts from attacking Luangang City, a group of people was organized every month to go outside and clear them out.

The outskirts of the city, after being cleared, would become quite safe. Some of the non-dangerous Pollution Beasts left behind became a source of income for many commoners.

The Earth Worm was one of them. They were fat and chubby, about a foot long, with circles of teeth in their mouths. Those teeth could be ground into bone powder, which could be used as medicinal material or added to some iron tools to increase their hardness.

Their meat was also very delicious.

Jiang Ping and his friends were experienced in this, as they had been going out of the city since they were ten.

The two of them went to find Xiaohu.

Xiaohu was the strongest in their team, capable of taking on two people at once.

Going out to grab Earth Worms often involved fighting over territory, so, naturally, it was better to go in a group than alone.

Besides Xiaohu, there was also Xiaotao, who was a girl.

"Brother Xiaoping!"

"Oh, stop with the 'Brother Xiaoping' already. We see you, let's hurry and get out there!"

"Hmph, I wasn't calling you, so don't be a busybody!" Hua Xiaotao put her hands on her hips and glared at Zhang An'an.

Zhang An'an shrank his neck, but still teasingly mimicked in a high-pitched voice: "Brother Xiaoping~~ Brother Xiaoping~~"

Hua Xiaotao raised her fork and knocked it towards him!

"Hmph, if you're allowed to call him that, why can't I!"

Xiaohu scratched his head and hurriedly chased after them.

Jiang Ping was helpless. He knew that Hua Xiaotao was interested in him, and she never hid it. There was one thing he had to be narcissistic about: he was actually quite good-looking.

Especially his heterochromatic eyes, which had captivated many young girls. In this gray world, color was inherently a rare luxury.

Moreover, as long as a physical mutation wasn't malignant, even if it didn't bring any special abilities, one would live longer than others in the future, and the probability of subsequent malignant mutations would be much lower.

Clutching his fork and sack, he also chased after them.

Although there were quite a few Earth Worms outside, there were also many children in Luangang City. If the worms in the suburbs were divided equally, there might not even be one Earth Worm per person—unless, of course, someone went further out.

Emerging from the small gate of the towering stone city wall, the four of them quickly ran towards a certain location.

There were places with many Earth Worms and places with very few. Having caught them for several years, they naturally knew where the many ones were.

"Huff, huff, I'm exhausted. Good thing we made it fast; there's no one here, let's hurry and search!"