Lucas regarded his so-called gift as something unimportant, but it was different in Mata Hari's eyes.

Insect crystal cores were very valuable.

For Mata Hari, dealing with red insects would require a lot of effort and danger. Normally, she wouldn't willingly provoke them. If it weren't for the boss giving her a crystal core before, she wouldn't have known that it could enhance her abilities.

Lucas's actions were stirring something within Mata Hari.

It wasn't just his generosity that surprised her, but also the changes in her body that had made her a unique presence within the shelter city.

A significant portion of the people in the shelter city considered her to be similar to the disgusting zombies and insects.

That's why Mata Hari dressed herself up this way.

"You look cool in this outfit, with a comic book vibe, haha."

Lucas noticed a slight peculiarity in Mata Hari's eyes and casually flattered her.

"Remove the force field. Using your abilities continuously is damaging to your body."

Seeing the man's gaze fixed on her, Lucas reached out and touched the force field.

The force field felt hard when he touched it, but somehow, Lucas felt that he could shatter it with a swing of his kukri.

However, the man didn't listen to Lucas's words. Instead, he finished eating the last piece of the teddy bear-shaped cookie and stood up.

"Do you have more of these cookies?"

The man shook the cookie package in his hand and looked at Lucas expectantly.

"Um, no, I have other cookies, probably seven or eight varieties. Why don't you go to my car and choose for yourself?"

At this point, although Lucas wasn't sure if the man in front of him was the person he needed, just based on the fact that he was an Evolver, it was worth luring him away.

"Bring them here for me to see."

The man replied directly.

No one easily trusted others, especially in the apocalypse.

Would Lucas really have the patience to go to the bus and bring back the cookies?

Naturally, that was impossible.

Lucas smiled, touched the force field again, and asked, "Will you get hurt if this thing breaks?"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"No, just break it."

"Oh."

Psh—

Suddenly, Lucas picked up his kukri and stabbed directly at the force field.

His posture was just like stabbing a watermelon.

Lucas felt no resistance as the kukri pierced through it.

Snap—

A sound similar to a balloon popping rang out, and the force field disappeared.

"Take a look for yourself!"

With a smiling face, Lucas whispered to the man.

Instantly, both the man and the crow girl were stunned.

Lucas's actions startled them.

They both knew how strong the force field was.

But this teenager in front of them punctured it with a single swing of his kukri!

The crow girl had compared the hardness of the force field to the exoskeleton of insects, and the force field was even harder than that.

"What's the big deal about this?"

"Come to my place, at most for a month. I guarantee this knife won't pierce through your protective shield."

"And as for you, just one month is enough. I'll double the power of the ability you'll be using."

At this moment, Lucas was like a devil, manipulating the hearts of the two.

"You have to come with me today. Once we're back at my place, if you're not satisfied, I can send you back anytime."

Lucas suddenly adopted a firm tone, primarily driven by the mission. He also thought that his shadow clone had discovered a bug on campus, a yellow bug at that.

Lucas didn't want to waste any more time as he was eager to go hunting.

Regardless, if the man in front of him was indeed the target of the mission, as long as he agreed to the task, it would be completed.

Even if the man wasn't the mission target, it didn't matter. Since he wasn't leaving, Lucas would continue searching.

"As for you... make your own choice. But I can assure you, your companions won't be able to come here."

After saying this to the Crow Girl, Lucas pulled the man's arm, indicating for him to carry the bowl of chili peppers and cabbage and follow him.

"They're here..."

Just a few steps later, Lucas suddenly stopped and muttered to himself.

At this moment, the shadow clone was chasing after two bugs, heading towards Lucas. The screeching sound of the bugs could already be heard.

Lucas had no intention of exposing the shadow clone, and regardless of whether the Crow Girl was willing or not, he pulled her as well and quickly ran back to the car with the man.

Once the mute girl, the last one to get on the car, was seated, Lucas had already adjusted the direction of the bus. The Avenger cannon on the roof had been raised.

Why engage in hand-to-hand combat when you have heavy artillery?

The Crow Girl and the man had no interest in observing the bus at the moment. Their eyes were fixed on the direction where the bug's screeching sound was coming from, illuminated by the bus headlights. Everything could be seen clearly.

Lucas's hand rested on the cannon button, ready to fire as soon as the bugs showed themselves.

Just two yellow bugs.

Lucas's thoughts were expanding.

【Congratulations, host, on completing the mission.】

【Congratulations, host, on acquiring the first volume of the book "Mysteries."】

The system suddenly announced the completion of the mission.

Lucas was a bit confused.

The reward is just a book?

And only the first volume?

However, as the bugs were about to appear, Lucas didn't bother to find out more about the prize at that moment. His eyes focused on the corner of the wall in the distance.

The forelimbs of the two yellow bugs emerged from the corner of the wall.

At this moment, Lucas didn't rush to shoot. He had an inexplicable intuition that the bugs might flee if startled.

He glanced back at the two people behind him and noticed that they both looked tense.

Puckering his lips, Lucas looked at the corner of the wall and pressed the cannon switch with his finger.

Boom—

Boom—

After just two crisp shots, the two bugs that had been rushing towards the bus became headless under the illumination of the bus headlights.

Two bullets, two shots, precise hits.

The heads of the two bugs turned into a mist of blood.

"This is too destructive. The bugs' exoskeletons are completely shattered. It's a bit wasteful," Lucas muttered, deliberately not turning around.

At this moment, he could feel that the two people behind him were still looking at him with astonished expressions.

"Just a routine operation!"

Lucas turned around and, with a casual tone, said to the man and the Crow Girl, "You can make yourself some coffee. I'll take care of things and come back."

"The containers and tools for coffee are in the cupboard in the corner, and the cookies are in those boxes with names written on them."

As Lucas spoke, he pointed to the purified water behind the chairs and then got off the bus.

A few days ago, the yellow bugs seemed difficult to deal with, but now it was as simple as killing the red bugs.

When Lucas got off the bus, he deliberately turned off the headlights, mainly because his appearance while digging out the bug cores was unsightly. He always had to take a shower immediately after finishing.

Lucas went into the darkness to dig out the bugs, and the man and the Crow Girl exchanged glances. Neither of them had the mood to drink coffee.

"Dr. Mead, I'm Mata Hari."

"If you don't want to go with this person, I can take you away."

Mata Hari took the initiative to address the man. Her wings had also disappeared at this point.

The man's name was Kayla Mead, and he was actually only thirty years old. He was a doctoral student researching bioenergy.

Kayla Mead was one of the earliest humans to become an Evolver in the post-apocalyptic world, which was why he managed to survive here.

In the entire research lab of over twenty people, he was the only one left.

People in the lab either died or left a long time ago, and only he remained, conducting experiments with limited resources.