If that crab’s claw caught her hand, she could kiss it goodbye.

Just now, she had clearly seen how massive that crab’s pincers were. A regular crab was scary enough—this one was mutated. One snap, and her wrist might be done for.

Seeing the crab’s whole body about to disappear into the mud, Huo Xiao didn’t hesitate. He jabbed his knife at it—not to stab or hurt it, but to pry it back out of the muck.

Even though it didn’t look like a full-grown crab, its shell was far too hard for an ordinary knife to pierce.

The crab splashed through the muddy water and landed in the grass.

Great.

Now that it had escaped into the underbrush, it would be almost impossible to find. These things might scuttle sideways, but they were fast.

But when Zhuang Xiao rushed over, she saw not an escapee but a flailing, spread-eagled crab—its snowy white underbelly easily three times the size of her palm.

It was almost the size of a king crab.

Huo Xiao pulled out a hemp rope from his bag and quickly tied the crab up. Then, he hacked at the joint of a claw and smeared the liquid from his blade onto his wristwatch. A beep sounded:
“Beep beep, low-radiation mutation, edible.”

Edible again.

Huo Xiao felt numb.

They had only come here to check for some edible houttuynia, and what did they get?

First, a whole nest of mutated freshwater shrimp, now a mutated crab.

And where there’s one, there could easily be two, three, or more. Maybe even full-grown ones…

Without proper tools, they couldn’t even handle several small crabs, let alone adult ones. The risk of injury was way too high.

They couldn’t stay here any longer.

When Huo Xiao said it was time to go, Zhuang Xiao didn’t argue.

If they ran into a swarm of crabs like that, she’d run as fast as her legs could carry her. Tasty as they might be, her life was still more important.

Next time… next time she’d come prepared. Then they’d battle it out.

But for now, they were leaving.

Their bucket was already full. Huo Xiao sealed it tight, wrapped it in a sack, and piled on loads of houttuynia to mask the scent of the seafood inside.

Mutated houttuynia had a particularly strong fishy odor, perfect for hiding the scent of shrimp and crab. It even had the bonus effect of repelling mosquitoes. In the shantytown, many people planted it in their yards for that exact reason—it worked great.

Yan Ming and his brother were still fishing at the same spot. The two adults and two kids sat still as statues, utterly focused.

When the two returned, the younger Yan nodded at them, eyes never leaving his bobber.

That afternoon, he’d managed to catch another freshwater shrimp.

Compared to yesterday, he was over the moon.

In his heart, he truly believed it was all thanks to the luck brought by his “sister.”

Zhuang Xiao: ……

I wasn’t even here. How are you stealing my luck?

The patch of water celery they’d found earlier was now occupied by someone else. Same with Huo Xiao’s previous fishing spot.

As they passed the two kids, Zhuang Xiao sneaked a glance into their bucket. She couldn’t see clearly, but she noticed some houttuynia leaves and some other plants she didn’t recognize.

Their haul seemed pretty decent.

In the end, they hauled their sack of houttuynia and nestled in between the two kids and Yan Ming’s group. This area wasn’t great for fishing, but it had plenty of water celery and houttuynia.

Zhuang Xiao decided to try her luck.

Once they finished combing through this little patch, it would be about time to head back.

Huo Xiao handled the testing of the houttuynia while she took care of the water celery. That houttuynia smell was way too overpowering for her.

If it weren’t edible—and didn’t also have anti-inflammatory and mosquito-repelling properties—she wouldn’t even touch it.

Now her whole body reeked of it. The mutated version of houttuynia had an even stronger smell. She was definitely taking a full-body scrub when they got back.

With that thought in mind, she quickened her pace to get out of the stinky zone.

But just as she walked forward, she suddenly felt something under her foot.

Looking down—oh god, not again…

There was another crab underfoot, waving its massive claws in the air, full of bravado and survival instinct.

Maybe the soil here was too firm for it to burrow, so it got stuck.

“Huo Xiao! Huo Xiao—come quick!”

Seeing that the crab’s claws posed no immediate threat to her feet, Zhuang Xiao pressed down harder with her foot on the crab’s shell. That was meat—precious, edible meat!

No way she was letting this one escape.

Hearing her call, Huo Xiao ran over.

Meanwhile, Yan Ming and his brother, thinking something was wrong, dropped their fishing rods and bolted over as well.

When they arrived, they saw Zhuang Xiao practically pinning the crab into the dirt.

No one could quite describe the mood at that moment…

Jealousy… jealousy… and more jealousy.

After scanning, it turned out to be yet another edible, moderately mutated crab.

The two kids also gathered around, eyes wide as they stared longingly at the fat, juicy crab now tied up securely in Huo Xiao’s hands.

Originally, Zhuang Xiao and Huo Xiao had left the houttuynia patch to avoid running into more crabs. Who knew her cursed crab affinity would find her anyway?

And honestly… she was kind of happy about it.

At least there were more people around. If a whole swarm showed up, they wouldn’t have to fight them alone.

So after the crab’s grand appearance, everyone started thinking—should they also search around a bit nearby? Maybe they could step on one too!

But that idea only lingered for a few seconds before everyone—except Yan Ming—gave it up.

Crabs falling from the sky? That’s not the kind of luck just anyone gets.

Might as well stick to what they were doing.

Yan Ming, on the other hand, happily trailed after Zhuang Xiao.
“Sis, I’ll protect you!”

The boy puffed out his chest and lifted his chin proudly…

Now wasn’t the time to be shy. If he didn’t thicken his skin a little, how could he keep up with his sister?

Zhuang Xiao didn’t respond, just continued toward the water celery.

But she hadn’t taken more than a few steps when—ow!

This time she felt pain. A crab had clamped its claw right onto her foot.

Wuwuwu… why am I so unlucky?!

Yan Ming: ……

Sis, this is starting to feel a bit like a humblebrag…

Suddenly, Zhuang Xiao grabbed Yan Ming’s arm, her expression somewhere between tears and frustration. He looked down—something had just crawled over his foot…

Then came chaos. The fishers dropped their rods, the plant testers left their stations—everyone rushed toward Zhuang Xiao and Yan Ming.

By now, Zhuang Xiao fully understood the value of food. Even as the crab’s claw bit painfully into her foot, she didn’t dare scream—she was terrified someone further off might hear.

There were so many people out here fishing. If word got out, they might lose everything to looters.

Then all this pain would have been for nothing.

And as a native of the Wasteland, Yan Ming understood the value of food all the way down to his bones.