Chapter 186 - 188: Searching for the Plague’s Antidote

Chapter 186: Chapter 188: Searching for the Plague’s Antidote

With their tasks assigned, the six of them got to work without any objections.

Su Luoluo sat at the round table, thinking about what to do next.

When the plague first appeared, she thought containing it would be enough. Now, however, she realized that just controlling it within the tribe wasn’t going to work.

Su Yang had gotten sick just from touching some ashes. It was impossible for the tribe members to completely avoid all contact with the plague.

She felt she had to tackle the problem at its source.

If she could create a cure for the plague, everything would be much easier to handle.

Thinking of this, she called out to the system. "System, do you have a cure for the plague?"

"I’m sorry, Host. The system can’t provide that kind of medicine."

’Of course...’

’She knew this useless system wouldn’t give it to her.’

’Back when she’d wanted some medicine for lice, it didn’t even have that. This useless system was always like this—it never had anything she needed.’

’This was exactly why she hadn’t bothered asking it in the first place; she knew nothing reliable would come of it.’

However, that wasn’t why she’d called on it. She immediately asked another question. "Do you know the cause of this plague?"

"Host, according to a system query, it originated from an animal called a fruit bat."

’So it really was the fruit bats.’

’She’d previously thought Ah Dong and Ah Xi had just coincidentally run into an infected fruit bat, but it seemed they had stumbled right into a major source. Their luck was truly... lacking.’

Now that she’d identified the source, things would be much easier to handle.

At the end of the day, the plague was a virus. If she could find the antigen, she could solve this problem.

After chopping and distributing the firewood, Xiao Ye, Fu Feng, and Mo Xuan returned to the outdoor kitchen.

Before they could even sit down and rest, they saw Su Luoluo whittling a piece of wood.

Seeing how small she was whittling the stick, Mo Xuan said with an amused laugh, "Su Luoluo, are you making a teething stick for a cub? You’re making it too small. It’s not even big enough to get stuck in our Black Panther’s teeth."

’I can’t believe Luoluo is already preparing a teething stick for the cub.’

’She wouldn’t admit that the cub she’s carrying isn’t mine, but here she is, already making a teething stick.’

Snakes had no use for such things, so Mo Xuan naturally assumed Su Luoluo was preparing it for his cub.

Hearing this, Xiao Ye shot Mo Xuan a look. "Since when have you ever seen a teething stick topped with white fluff?"

"White fluff? What white fluff?" Mo Xuan looked over at Su Luoluo’s hands. While he’d been talking, she had procured some white material from somewhere and stuck it to the wooden stick. He had never seen anything like it before.

He asked in confusion, "Luoluo, what are you making?"

Su Luoluo continued her work without looking up. "Cotton swabs."

"Co... cotton swabs? What are those for?" Fu Feng asked, his face a picture of curiosity.

He had never heard of such a thing.

"You’ll find out in a bit. We’re running out of time. For now, you all can help me make some bamboo tubes like that one," Su Luoluo said, pointing to the round table.

The three of them looked at the table and saw a smooth, rounded object made of bamboo. It was a shape they had never seen before, but it didn’t look difficult to make.

Seeing that Su Luoluo said it was urgent, they didn’t ask any more questions and began to copy the one she had made.

Meanwhile, Su Luoluo continued to stick cotton onto the whittled wooden sticks.

She had gotten the cotton from the fruit of a certain plant. It looked a bit like the strange kapok trees she’d seen in the Post-apocalypse. Once mature, the fruit fell and opened to reveal white, cottony fluff, which was perfect for making cotton swabs.

As for the glue, it was a paste she had cooked up herself.

After the three of them finished carving all the bamboo tubes, they looked at Su Luoluo. "Luoluo, we’ve finished all of them. Should we make more?"

Su Luoluo glanced over. There were about a thousand of them.

She shook her head. "No, that’s enough."

She placed the finished cotton swabs in bamboo tubes, then had them pack the U-shaped bamboo tubes into Beast Skin Bags.

Once all that was done, she glanced at Fu Feng and Xiao Ye. "Between the two of you, who flies smoother?"

’These things can’t be jostled, especially on the return trip. I have to make sure they arrive intact, or all this hard work will have been for nothing.’

"Me, of course," Fu Feng said, puffing out his chest with pride. But a second later, it dawned on him. "Wait, ’the two of you’? You mean Xiao Ye can fly, too?"

He shot a suspicious glance at Xiao Ye. "Since when can a snake fly?"

At that, Xiao Ye transformed into his snake form and undulated through the air a few times before looking smugly at Fu Feng. "For a long time now, of course."

Mo Xuan watched this, his face a mask of disbelief. "Xiao Ye, did you break through to the next Beast Rank?"

’Otherwise, how could a regular snake suddenly be able to fly?’

"That’s not right. Your Beast Rank is still Fifth Rank!" Mo Xuan focused his senses and realized Xiao Ye’s rank hadn’t changed at all.

Xiao Ye blinked. "Maybe I was born with the ability to fly and just found out."

"Hmph, even so, a novice like you can’t compare to a natural-born flier like me."

"Luoluo, are you heading out? Ride on my back! I’ve been flying since birth—that’s twenty years of flight experience," Fu Feng pitched to Su Luoluo.

"So what if it’s been twenty years? Didn’t you hear Luoluo say she needs a smooth ride? My snake body is flat. That alone makes me better than you."

"Who knows what would happen to you if it rained? My feathers are waterproof."

"But it’s not raining."

"..."

The two of them immediately started bickering. Su Luoluo thought for a moment and, to be safe, decided to take them both. "Stop arguing. You’re both coming with me. I’ll know which is better once I’m on your back."

Hearing they both had a chance, the two of them instantly fell silent.

Su Luoluo saw that Xiao Ye’s back was completely bare, with nowhere to put things, so she climbed onto Fu Feng’s back instead. "Let’s go!"

Seeing that Su Luoluo had chosen him after all, Fu Feng soared into the air, shooting a triumphant look at Xiao Ye.

Xiao Ye immediately rolled his eyes. "What are you so smug about? Luoluo said she was still going to test us! Maybe you’ll be swapped out halfway through."

The three of them flew up into the sky, leaving Mo Xuan standing alone on the ground. He stared blankly after them and called out to Su Luoluo, "What about me?"

Su Luoluo had been about to say he didn’t need to come, but then she considered his powerful build and saw him standing there all alone. He looked quite pitiful. She turned to Xiao Ye. "You can carry him. An extra pair of hands would be helpful."

And so, Xiao Ye descended, let Mo Xuan climb onto his back, and the one human and three beasts flew into the air.

Once Fu Feng was airborne with Su Luoluo, he asked, "Luoluo, where are we heading?"

Su Luoluo activated her Earth Element Detection. Seeing a large red area marked not far away, she pointed. "There!"

’The greater the number there, the more useful it would be for her.’

"Alrighty then! Luoluo, hold on tight. I’ll get you there in a flash." As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Feng shot forward like a brilliant streak, leaving Mo Xuan and Xiao Ye far behind.

"Idiot. You think this is a race? Luoluo wants a smooth ride." Xiao Ye, however, wasn’t provoked. He continued to follow at a steady, unhurried pace.