After finishing off a nutrient shot, she stealthily popped a dried river shrimp into her mouth and slowly began chewing.

The shrimp was quite fishy—probably would’ve been better if it had been salted beforehand.
She’d have to remember to mention that to Huo Xiao next time.

There were members of the security and mercenary teams stationed in the rest area, and nearly everyone was busy testing the wheat ears from their sacks, so there wasn’t much concern about theft.

Only now did Zhuang Xiao realize: bringing the wheat out to test it later was standard practice for wasteland veterans.

This approach allowed people to maximize their gains in the shortest amount of time—and whatever wasn’t tested during the day could be brought home for testing at night.

The presence of mercenary squads in their wheat collection zone was mainly due to its proximity to the blind zone. Every year, the Safe Zone dispatched teams to clear out any nearby mutated creatures ahead of the harvest.

But who could guarantee no stragglers were left behind?

And given how close it was to the blind zone, the odds of encountering mutated animals remained pretty high.

Zhuang Xiao’s sack didn’t contain much wheat—about twenty ears in total. She finished testing them in no time and managed to find five grains with moderate radiation mutations and three with low radiation mutations.

Not even half a pound altogether.

Her dream of eating a steamed bun? Still a long way off.

Looking around at others’ bulging sacks and then back at her own… well, envy got her nowhere.

She wondered about the other wheat row she hadn’t checked yet. If it was as poor as the first, maybe she’d be better off heading to the creek to catch shrimp and crabs instead.

With time to kill, Zhuang Xiao tuned in to conversations around her, hoping to pick up useful intel from the locals.

Sure enough, she learned that those who finished harvesting early in the afternoon were free to roam, as long as they made it back before the last return vehicle departed.

Since they were near the blind zone, every year some daring individuals would use the harvest period as an opportunity to sneak in and search for energy stones.

Armed with her hard-earned experience, Zhuang Xiao returned to the wheat fields. This time, she cut holes in a sack and pulled it over her head, poking out eye holes with her dagger.

It wasn’t fashionable, and it was hot, but it protected her face and neck from getting slashed by wheat leaves—and also provided some shade.

Under the sack, she wore a radiation-proof suit, and while others were still resting, she dove straight back into the wheat fields.

Thanks to her lunchtime learning, her efficiency had gone up significantly.

Within the first third of her testing, she had already matched her entire morning’s haul.

But the deeper she got into the rows, the more mutated aphids she found. Not just on the ears—now even the leaves were crawling with them.

Earlier, the bugs weren’t so numerous. She’d even enjoyed stomping them, the “squelch” sounds oddly satisfying.

Now, though? They covered the ground like a blanket, and just looking at them made her skin crawl.

Her hands worked so fast they were practically a blur as the sound of popping bugs echoed beneath her boots.

Still, the disgusting effort paid off.

She’d collected nearly three pounds of edible wheat grains, and her sack was full of ears.

Dragging her heavy sack out of the field, she looked around…

Whoa. Everyone had a sack in front of them now.

Then came a loudspeaker call: “Come on, come on—if you want to store your sack, come this way! Just five points per bag!”

Zhuang Xiao looked up to see a guard standing atop a truck, megaphone in hand, promoting his service.

This was a thing?

But it made sense—there was still time before departure.

If people wanted to explore nearby areas for extra food, lugging around a huge sack of wheat was a burden. And with guards providing the service, security was reasonably assured.

Many stepped forward to buy storage space.

Eventually, Zhuang Xiao did the same and handed over five points to store her sack with the guards.

Unfamiliar with the area, she blended into the crowd, following the majority.

But as they walked, Zhuang Xiao started to feel something was off with her eyes. Faint red beams of light kept flickering through her vision, shooting down from the sky and piercing the ground.

She rubbed her eyes, and the red lights vanished.

Was she hallucinating from sleep deprivation?

They’d already left the wheat collection zone, and ahead of them stretched a wide grassy field. Most people stopped here—this was prime territory for catching mutated grasshoppers.

But a few continued onward. At the far end of the grass lay a creek, and beyond that, a dense forest.

Among the crowd, Zhuang Xiao spotted the auntie again—but no sign of the uncle this time.

The auntie didn’t linger in the field. She went straight for the creek.

There were too many people in the grass, so Zhuang Xiao followed behind her, thinking she might find a river clam or something.

As they neared the creek, everyone instinctively spread out to claim their own little patch.

This time, Zhuang Xiao followed the stream downstream.

At a bend in the waterway, the red light beams suddenly reappeared in her vision—and her watch began blaring an alert:
“You have entered the blind zone. Please return immediately. Please return immediately…”

The warning repeated endlessly.

In that brief moment of shock, the scratches on her face seemed to burn even more fiercely.

She stumbled backward in a panic. Only after retreating several steps did the alert shut off.

Zhuang Xiao: …

Looking up toward the forest canopy, she saw numerous red light columns cascading from the sky, covering nearly half the forest.

And the spot she’d been standing in was right on the edge of the blind zone according to her map!

So… did the red light mean high-radiation areas inside the blind zone?

And was she actually able to see radiation levels with her eyes?

If so… did that mean the spots in the blind zone without red light were still livable for humans?

This was the closest she’d ever come to the blind zone. Until now, her activities had always stayed safely within the boundaries of the Safe Zone.

Now, with her eyes acting up like this—could it be a kind of ability?

In the storybooks, time travelers and reincarnated heroines always got some kind of golden finger. Surely she wasn’t the only one left to fend for herself?

But wait—this world didn’t seem to have “abilities,” did it?

And if they did exist, weren’t they usually things like fire, wind, lightning, space, or spiritual springs?

So what was this?

Could her body have mutated during her passage through the time-space rift?

And she couldn’t exactly get herself tested—if people found out, she’d probably be treated like a lab rat or a living tool…

Or worse, someone might try to gouge her eyes out!

The thought made her shiver uncontrollably.

Better to head back and catch some mutated grasshoppers instead.

Fried or grilled, she’d heard they actually tasted pretty good.