Chapter 158: Protein Shake
With the helpful reminder that the majority of my team requires food and water to survive, I suggest to everyone that we set up camp ourselves. Mei Lin and the others gather firewood and are setting setup in what appears to have been a previously used camp area.
All along this path are remnants of where previous groups camped for the first night. If you could get to this area, you can establish a safe and warm zone for yourself. If not, youre in a pretty bad situation blue.
Another one of the reasons that people die on this trip is due to not having proper shelter. After overworking themselves, they lay on the cold stone for the first night. While the trip up the mountain is it tiny bit chilly, the movement it takes to go up it heats the body enough to be comfortable.
However, during the night, when it grows much colder and theres no movement, people arent able to sleep well and succumb to hypothermia. These were usually people who already were in a desperate situation trying to make it day by day. Undernourished, underdressed, and with little strength to change their situation.
That thought gives me pause, as I think of all the people that are just exhausted, out on the stairs down below, unable to move further.
It makes me wonder if Im really able to just allow all of those people to suffer, leading to an eventual death. My nave hope was that those people would go back down the stairs. But if Im being honest with myself, I know they wouldnt do that. And even if they could, they may not have the strength to complete the journey back.
Once again, I already know the answer to this.
Im OK with them failing. Im not OK with them dying in the attempt to make it up the mountain.
And while they dont save everyone that is going to die on the trip, before the time limit is up. If theres no real risk, everyone will try it and it would devalue the purpose of the trial.
But thats not my problem. Ultimately, Im being selfish about this.
I refuse to let them die when Im able to do something about it.
To that end, I first set up everything needed for my group to make it through the night. And then some.
Over the course of a half an hour, I find an extremely large and furry, bear-like animal a few kilometers away on the mountain, which I quickly kill and skin. They are typically non-hostile and avoid the mountain stairs. They will run away if provoked, but fearsome to fight if cornered.
I just moved so fast, that I stabbed my entire arm into its eye socket, and then whirring my arm at high speeds like a blender. This is what killed it instantly.
Normally, I would leave it alone, but I will need what its body can provide for my group first and then the others.
It was the size of a pickup truck, but I was able to pick it up to carry back to the group. Although it was awkward to carry, it only felt like trying to carry a table over my head. Awkward, but manageable if you are careful and strong enough.
This was necessary to make sure that my group is in excellent shape for tomorrow. It will also send a message to anyone that wants to consider fighting me for the concoctions I will be making. Even if Im going to help everyone, I need to make sure those that come with me are doing well first. Its not worth it to win a war by sacrificing the ones you wanted to celebrate the victory with.
Focusing back on the situation, I bring it back to the campsite, to the gaping mouths of both my teammates and onlookers, as I plop it down in the middle of our campsite. Ive already wrapped the head in giant leaves, so that the blood and brain matter dont leak everywhere.
Stripping the bark from a large nearby tree, I create a place to put the bear on while I work, so that the blood doesnt deep into the ground.
I begin by using my scan and some ingredients I found along the way to remove all the blood and fat from the fur, leaving only the fur and skin left. The ingredients I brought to treat the skin make sure it doesn't rot.
Something Ive been doing with my scan to find/create ingredients is to keep an eye out for base level items that I know will have traces of what I am looking for in them. Or, that can be turned into something else from exposure to another ingredient. In a sense, chemistry. Its the main reason so many common ingredients can be used in big recipes, but are hard for alchemists to discover.
They just dont have the cheat sheet plus Earth knowledge of chemistry. Not everything carries over, but some things do.
My arms are a flurry of stone tools, blood, and cutting as I dig into the giant animal. By the time I'm done, there are giant slabs of meat, organs, and other animal parts laid out on this blood-soaked bark. I quickly make fur tents and bedrolls out of the skin and fur. Using the nearby trees and wood, I make a perimeter fence by just sticking logs in the ground. my final touch, is to make a giant bonfire in the center, with an area to cook the meat that is acquired there.
I've wrapped the meat in the giant leaves that I collect from around the area to keep it from rotting quickly. The cold air already helps with this, though.
This was all done in the span of an hour.
At some point when I was working, Huang Kaida had brought over a few of his men to watch me work and move. He didnt show any intention to help or interfere, so I didnt pay him much mind. One thing he was doing with them was pointing out some of the lifting techniques I was using to make sure I dont strain my back, although it would need to be much heavier to do so. Something that bodybuilders likely would know well. Some others made comments regarding the cutting techniques I was using to dress the dead beast, with Kaida nodding along.
Many of the men seemed in awe of the speed and depth at which the logs were being thrust into the ground, mostly staying silent the whole time.
Once I finished and locked eyes with him, Kaida simply nodded his head in approval and returned with his men to their campsite.
Everyone else, likewise, stayed at a distance, but seemed to look hungrily at the meat before I put up the walls.
With this considered, I portioned out a large portion of meat for our team, including the hero group. Enough to make them stuffed and have a significant amount left over.
Right after, I then sped through all the campsites and dropped off portions of meat to every campfire area.
I made it through three campsites before I realized my error.
On this first night, having all these campfires in a row is both an opportunity and a threat to those who are well off. Almost every group that will have started on this journey will camp at this site.
Something that won't happen again on this trip.
The people who are well off will probably have food, shelter, and have already gotten a campfire going. This is an opportunity for people to get into those groups. To bring something to the table. It's also an opportunity to get things stolen from you or have perceived slights avenged.
Especially now that it's getting dark.
On my side, because of my enhanced vision, I don't notice the dark and other people do.
Even in the dead of night, I can still somewhat see. And this is in a world where light isn't as prevalent as it was on earth. Night truly is pitch black here.
While it isn't nighttime yet, it would definitely be scary if you saw a person covered in black rushing towards your campfire at speeds you can't hope to match.
So, while the first three campsites were surprised and unable to react, the fourth one had just enough time to raise Weapons at me.
Which I obviously easily dodged.
However, I slowed down and apologize to them for scaring them. From that point, I moved a lot slower and obviously, to allow them to see me coming. Not that they really needed the warning, from the general happy noises coming from every campsite and mounds of meat on my shoulders.
It gives me an excellent chance to connect with the shining people I had spied on earlier and to help others grow to trust me as well. There are plenty who dont trust the food I bring, but do their own tests to see if it is safe to eat.
Overall, a net positive.
With some connections made and that meat distributed, I turn my attention to the weak and helpless.
Its not night yet, but I still have a lot of work to do.
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