Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 108: Setting Out Again

The enhanced version of the hand grenade worked better than Chen Mu had imagined, almost too well to the point of risking injuring a thousand enemies while harming oneself by eight hundred.

He adjusted the size and quantity of the steel balls and had Dong Junwei make a batch of grenades with moderate power to control the blast radius.

Of course, the best approach was still to find cover after throwing the grenades.

It was like lying down after throwing a hand grenade.

After completing the experiment, Wei Dalei dragged the half-dead caterpillar and asked, "What should we do with this? If we don't throw it away, it will attract ants."

"Don't waste it. Before throwing it away, cut off some meat first. It will improve our lunch," Chen Mu replied.

"Eat this... caterpillar?" Some people were starting to feel uncomfortable.

On the other hand, Tang Jing, as a girl, didn't seem to be afraid at all and said, "This is the caterpillar of the Cabbage White Butterfly, also known as the Cabbage Caterpillar. They like to attach themselves to various leaves, and the flesh of this insect should be quite good. According to Uncle Bei, its protein content is several times that of beef. Besides, if you've ever eaten stir-fried vegetables, you've probably consumed a few of these caterpillars."

Instead of reassuring everyone, her words made them even more uncomfortable.

Tang Jing decided to go all out with her persuasion, "Actually, these things are nothing. Based on probability statistics, everyone will swallow a few live cockroaches and countless mosquitoes during their lifetime."

"Why?" Zhao Xiaoyan almost jumped up.

"Because sometimes when people are asleep, their mouths unintentionally open, and if a cockroach happens to crawl near your mouth, you might subconsciously chew it and swallow it. Sometimes you wake up with a strange taste in your mouth, and it could be due to this reason."

"Ugh..."

Before Tang Jing could finish her words, several people couldn't take it anymore.

Even Chen Mu felt queasy.

"Enough, Tang Jing."

"I suddenly feel that eating caterpillar meat is not so bad."

"Yeah, cut the meat into strips, grill it on a metal plate. After all, you can't tell it's a caterpillar, just treat it as pork."

"Now that you mention it, it actually sounds not bad."

"..."

Perhaps because they had something even more disgusting to compare it with, everyone suddenly found the idea of eating caterpillars relatively acceptable.

Chen Mu glanced at Tang Jing and saw that she happened to be looking his way too, so he gave her a thumbs-up.

The freshly killed caterpillar still had tender meat.

Chen Mu quickly cut several pieces of intact flesh from its back and then had Wei Dalei dispose of the carcass.

...

Testing the hand grenade unexpectedly yielded additional gains; that's quite good.

After returning to the room, it was almost lunchtime. Having instant noodles for every meal, everyone was starting to get a little tired of it. At this point, they didn't expect an improvement in their meals, just a change would suffice.

Despite having new materials, Du Jiajia looked at the meat strips in front of her and felt a bit puzzled. She turned to Chen Mu beside her and asked, "How should we cook this thing?"

Chen Mu smiled and said, "Honestly, this is my first time preparing a bug feast. Normally, this kind of meat would be great for barbecue, but we don't really have a choice. It's either iron plate cooking or iron plate cooking."

As it turned out, high-end ingredients usually only needed the simplest cooking methods. After grilling the bug meat on the iron plate, a delightful aroma soon filled the air. This time, Du Jiajia didn't use the instant noodle seasoning, only sprinkling some seasoning powder while grilling.

After the first piece of meat was cooked, Chen Mu bravely volunteered to be the first to taste it. Although others were drawn by the aroma, they hesitated a bit.

It was only after seeing Chen Mu savoring it with relish that they made up their minds. Who could have thought that bugs could be so delicious?

"It would be even better if we had some vinegar," commented Qian Fei, who was from Shanxi, after taking a bite of the meat.

"Or some spicy oil splashed on it, along with sugar and garlic."

"Soy sauce would work too."

"To be honest, just sprinkling some salt on it makes it very delicious. Unfortunately, the seasoning powder still tastes like instant noodles."

In terms of taste, the current meat had a somewhat rough texture, but compared to the dehydrated beef they had before, the flavor was far superior.

Everyone gathered around Du Jiajia's iron plate stove, and as soon as a piece was grilled, it was instantly devoured.

Because there was a large amount of meat strips, and they couldn't leave any uncooked to prevent spoilage, they had to grill them all. Du Jiajia busily worked for an hour until all the meat strips were cooked.

"Leave the remaining portion to air dry and eat it as dried meat."

All sixteen people considered the meat their entire lunch, and they only consumed about one-fifth of it. The rest needed to be properly preserved.

...

The afternoon was also busy.

In addition to making hand grenades that they would carry with them, Chen Mu also optimized everyone's weapons. First, he had Lu Shanshan reduce the weight, and then he himself made modifications and repairs.

The most noticeable change was with Wei Dalei. After reducing half of the weight of his axe and large iron shield, he found it much easier to wield, and his speed increased.

He Ye's short sword was already known for its lightweight, and now it felt even more weightless in her hands.

Finally, Chen Mu also built a new flatbed cart. It had a significantly increased cargo capacity, and the larger wheels made it easier to travel on rough roads.

Everything was ready.

...

The next morning.

The five of them were ready to set off.

Dong Junwei, representing the people staying behind, expressed their blessings to them and held a simple farewell ceremony.

Chen Mu thought for a moment and whispered to Dong Junwei, "If we don't come back after five days, you and Tang Jing should consider the livelihood of the remaining people."josei

This statement carried a sense of pessimism.

But it was also very practical, as there were not only various dangers in the natural world but also potential threats from the people at One Middle School who had enough power to eliminate them multiple times over.

One must always prepare for the worst.

Dong Junwei originally wanted to say some comforting words, but in the end, she sighed and said, "I know."

Afterward, the gate was opened.

Wei Dalei pushed the cart at the front, and the others followed closely behind.

Taking advantage of the absence of the yellow cat, the five of them quickened their pace as they left.

The yellow cat was particularly gentle with Du Jiajia, but who knew how it would treat the others? If they were clawed by their own guard animal even before leaving, it would be quite embarrassing.

Behind them, the heavy gate was slowly closed.

Chen Mu looked at the four of them, especially at Lu Shanshan and Xue Xu, and said, "Don't worry, as long as you follow my arrangements, nothing will happen."

"Alright," they nodded.

Lu Shanshan then asked, "But where are we going?"

The travel plans were only discussed with Tang Jing, Dong Junwei, and He Ye. Even Wei Dalei didn't know because it wasn't that they didn't trust the others; it was just that knowing wouldn't make a difference.

Chen Mu pointed in the direction of the cafeteria.

"We need to understand our opponents to survive better. It's time to see what's going on with the people at One Middle School."

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