Reborn One Week Before the Apocalypse

Chapter 359: Chapter 349: Home Delivery

Qi Jiaming was prepared this time and landed steadily on the ground.

But this time, he screamed not because he was caught off guard, but because the moment he landed, the mutant beast charged him frantically.

His survival instinct kicked in, and he turned and ran without a moment’s hesitation.

”Don’t run just yet! Stand there and see if it’ll eat you.”

Tang Mo stood in the sky, enjoying the show.

She genuinely wanted to see if the red-eyed mutant beast was truly so aggressive toward humans, and whether its hunger would allow it to unleash even greater Strength.

”What’s there to test?! Look at it, it’s drooling!!”

Qi Jiaming shouted as he ran with all his might.

”Pull me up, quick! AHH!! Its drool is about to get on me.”

The mutant beast, which had seemed so dopey just a moment ago, was like a different creature entirely when hungry. It ran much faster than Qi Jiaming and was about to catch him.

And Qi Jiaming wasn’t wrong. The mutant beast’s drool was splattering all over the ground. It seemed truly starved; in its eyes, Qi Jiaming was just a huge, delicious piece of meat.

’So it really is just as I thought...’

Seeing this, Tang Mo confirmed her earlier suspicions. Just as the mutant beast opened its mouth wide, about to swallow Qi Jiaming’s head in one gulp, Tang Mo yanked him back.

”My life is saved. That scared me to death.”

Having survived the ordeal, Qi Jiaming collapsed onto the small flying ship, panting heavily.

”That can’t be the same type of beast as before, right? How can one be as gentle as a lamb and the other an irritable old grouch? The contrast is too much! Who can handle that?”

Tang Mo completely understood now. These mutant beasts had two forms. When full, they were Angels—harmless to man and beast, no different from a pet.

When hungry, they transformed into demons, looking like they could swallow you whole in a single bite.

The sole mission of these mutant beasts was to eat. They ate everything. Food, animals, plants, people—there was nothing they wouldn’t eat.

The entire street was devoid of not just people, but even a single green plant. Even the leaves on the trees had been eaten bare.

Actually, if you thought about it carefully, the mutant beasts in an apocalypse like this weren’t that scary.

After all, you didn’t have to fear their Angel form, and when they were in their demon state, you just had to throw food at them.

But in the world Tang Mo came from, every single mutant beast’s sole purpose was to eat people. When they wanted to eat you, you could try throwing them a bag of instant noodles and see what happened.

However, even though the mutant beasts weren’t all that dangerous, perhaps this world hadn’t become an apocalypse because of them in the first place.

Tang Mo finally understood. This apocalypse had only one theme from beginning to end: hunger.

The mutant beasts’ appearance was also meant to consume the world’s food, not to kill people.

One could only imagine how many people, faced with such terrifying monsters, would continuously throw food at them just to keep them at a distance.

In that moment, people would temporarily forget that food was the energy source that sustained their Life and instead use it as a weapon.

Only when the food was gradually depleted would they realize that they needed it even more than the mutant beasts did. But by then, it would be too late.

Tang Mo’s guess was correct. Although the land could no longer be farmed and the chaotic social order was unsuitable for production, the existing food reserves alone were enough for humanity to survive on for a long time by being frugal.

But because of the mutant beasts’ appearance, the panicked people temporarily lost their reason. In order to survive, they drastically consumed their food supplies until it was all gone...

This was the most terrifying part of this world.

Because humans thought they had found the mutant beasts’ weakness, thought they had found a way to survive, they lost the courage to fight back during the brief peace bought with precious food.

But it was different in Tang Mo’s world. In her world, everyone knew that if you didn’t fight back, you would die. So, everyone, whether they were brave or not, would pick up a weapon to hunt mutant beasts.

The people of this world, however, had already lost the courage to fight. Because they could run, they didn’t have to face the threat.

But there was only so much food. Sooner or later, the day would come when it was all gone. On that day, what would humanity eat?

On that day, all the mutant beasts would become red-eyed demons. And what would become of a humanity that had never fought back?

Tang Mo sighed. She didn’t know if this world’s rules were a mercy or a cruelty to humanity.

”Let’s go home.”

Qi Jiaming looked at the mutant beasts in the street below and couldn’t help but worry about his family.

He hadn’t been home in so long. He had no idea what the situation was like there. ’Are Mom and Dad okay?’

Qi Jiaming lived in a villa in a villa district.

Qiao Jin’s parents were more low-key. They lived in a large single-story apartment not far from here. Although it was very spacious, it didn’t look as luxurious—a measure meant to protect Qiao Jin.

Perhaps because the houses in the villa district were less dense and there were fewer people, there were far fewer mutant beasts here than on the main street earlier.

To ensure Qi Jiaming could see his parents alive, Tang Mo was kind enough to drop him right at his front door before leaving.

’This was all she could do. He would have to walk the rest of the path himself.’

In fact, with Qi Jiaming’s abilities, he should have no problem even against a red-eyed mutant beast.

After all, the mutant beast was in a state of hunger, it wasn’t very big—only reaching a person’s chest—and as a Power-type Superpower User, Qi Jiaming had no reason to be afraid of it.

But people are naturally afraid of the unknown, especially against the chaotic backdrop of the current apocalypse.

Tang Mo knew it was difficult to change someone’s way of thinking, but she had spent some time with Qi Jiaming, after all, so she offered him a final piece of advice.

”They’re not actually that scary. Maybe, like you said, it’s not impossible to smash a few of them with one punch.”

After hearing this, Qi Jiaming subconsciously nodded. Tang Mo couldn’t tell if he was still too shocked to react or if he was actually pondering her words, nor did she know how much of it he had taken to heart.

’But she’d said everything that needed to be said; she had done all she could. She hoped that she and Qi Jiaming would meet again one day in this world.’

Even though Qi Jiaming repeatedly tried to persuade Tang Mo to come inside for a bit, she didn’t agree.

With food scarce and the world so dangerous, visiting someone’s home was clearly not a good option.

Besides, Tang Mo had something more urgent to do: go home.