The two of them quietly hid behind a tree and peered toward the stream.

It was a mercenary team.

Some of the people wore uniforms Huo Xiao knew all too well—they belonged to the Future Mercenary Squad. He even spotted Feng Ziyang among them.

As for the other group with a different uniform, they were from the Dark Night Mercenary Squad.

If he remembered correctly, the current leader of Dark Night was Xiao Yan. There were rumors that he was the illegitimate son of some high-ranking official within the Safe Zone.

From their composition to their equipment, the Future and Dark Night squads couldn’t have been more different. Most of the Future Squad came from the shantytown or the lower classes of the Safe Zone. They were only issued standard-issue equipment from the Zone for missions.

The Dark Night Squad, on the other hand, had many members who were sons and daughters of Safe Zone elites. Besides standard gear, they often purchased high-end private weapons for missions.

And yet, despite the massive hardware gap, back when Huo Xiao led the Future Squad, they often managed to suppress the Dark Night Squad with ease.

After all, a bunch of rich kids playing soldier for fun could never compare to people like Huo Xiao, who risked their lives just to survive and climb the ladder.

So class differences, weapon disparities, and differences in ability—all of it added up to long-standing tension between the two squads.

Which is why Huo Xiao never would’ve guessed that these two squads were actually working together here on a mission!

The realization baffled him.

Meanwhile, the mercs by the stream were busy hunting aquatic creatures, completely unaware that two little Caramies were watching them secretly from the forest.

Zhuang Xiao, meanwhile, couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy as she saw their professional equipment. She instantly turned into a full-on “sour lemon” mode Xiao.

They had pistols, boats, electric nets, spear guns, and all kinds of fishing gear. Even more impressively, they carried assault rifles and rocket launchers—high-powered weapons that were still lightweight and portable.

As someone who had grown up in a peaceful and stable era, Zhuang Xiao had only ever seen these weapons in movies or documentaries. The only real-life examples she could think of were the armed bank trucks or the heavily equipped police stations near her old apartment.

If those were real, she guessed she could say she’d seen the real deal, kind of.

They stayed hidden for a while, but it was clear this treasure trove of a spot was no longer theirs. There was no point lingering any longer.

What were they going to do, just watch those guys catch river delicacies and drool from the sidelines?

After exchanging a glance, the two quietly slipped away.

Time to find a new gathering spot.

Zhuang Xiao couldn’t help but sigh to herself: What an eventful day. They hadn’t been able to sit still and gather peacefully at a single spot all day.

“Where to now?” she asked while chopping away at the overgrown weeds in her path.

Back by the stream, excited shouts could still be heard.

Huo Xiao thought for a moment. “I know a place with some houttuynia cordata. Want to try there?”

Zhuang Xiao: ……

Again with the fishy grass? Always the fishy grass…

Do you just love that funky smell or what?

Though she silently griped about Huo Xiao’s bizarre obsession with this plant, she still agreed out loud.

Sigh… if only the mutated nightshade tree weren’t so far away. She would’ve insisted they go gather that instead.

After the heavy rain, who knew what condition her tree was in now? Hopefully, it wouldn’t affect how much fruit it bore this year.

They walked for another half hour.

And sure enough—a massive patch of houttuynia. And they’d made it upstream from the mercs. If they started hunting river creatures here too, would that count as stealing the mercs’ harvest?

The thought was tempting… but actually going into the river? Nope. Not happening.

Standing on the riverbank, Zhuang Xiao caught sight of several vividly colored crimson carp, each over a meter long, swimming through the center of the stream with a school of fry trailing behind them.

In the sunlight, they shimmered with vibrant, dazzling hues—absolutely mesmerizing.

So tempting it hurt.

She just wanted to sit there quietly. Words failed her.

“Beep beep, moderate radiation mutation—edible!”

“Beep beep, low radiation mutation—edible!”

…

She scanned seven or eight leaves, and all of them were edible.

Heavens, are you spoiling me?

But the truth was—she really, really didn’t like eating this stuff.

She looked up to see Huo Xiao skillfully slicing leaves, dripping their juice onto the detector tray…

But his results were less encouraging.

“Beep beep, high radiation mutation—inedible.”

Zhuang Xiao absentmindedly sang a children’s jingle as she worked:

“Oh Mister Crab, with your eight-legged show,
Two big claws, swinging to and fro.
Can’t shake you off, no matter what I do,
Oh Mister Crab, won’t you grab my shoe…?”

Even if she didn’t like houttuynia, she could always sell it for points.

Even a mosquito’s leg is still meat.

Though now that she thought about it—she hadn’t seen a single mosquito since coming to the Wasteland.

Maybe they had mutated into something thicker-legged…

As if in answer to her thoughts, a fierce and aggressive mutated crab suddenly poked its head out of the muddy shore—then promptly ducked back down.

Who the hell is making all this noise?! I’m trying to sleep here!

Didn’t they know he had to be out working all night?

This crab might’ve let it go, but its neighboring crab couldn’t take it anymore. Just yesterday, it had been interrupted during a hunt by a mutated snake, nearly ending up as snake food, and going to bed hungry.

Now it just wanted a quiet nap and a nice dinner later.

Mutated crabs have tempers too, okay?!

So…

Zhuang Xiao got attacked.

Fortunately, her sharpened instincts from surviving in the Wasteland kicked in, and she barely dodged the first strike.

Still, the surprise attack left her completely shaken.

She wanted a crab, yes—but not a crab THIS big. The thing nearly reached her waist standing up.

Huo Xiao immediately picked up on the commotion. His crossbow whistled through the air, twice in a row, aimed directly at the mutated crab. Then he sprinted toward Zhuang Xiao.

Snapping out of her daze, Zhuang Xiao fired her wrist-mounted arrow at the crab’s heart—the softest part aside from the joints.

Unfortunately, her shot missed.

Shooting a moving target really does take practice…

Huo Xiao’s bolts, however, hit both of the crab’s giant claws, right at the joints.

Wounded and overpowered, the crab tried to retreat into its burrow.

But the embedded bolts jammed it against the surrounding rocks, stuck halfway in, unable to squeeze through. It flailed left and right, clearly panicking.

Huo Xiao took aim again. With a sharp whoosh, six more crossbow bolts zeroed in on the crab’s remaining six legs.