War Truck in the Apocalypse

Chapter 19: So Hot That He Was Almost on Fire

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

No tyres, no dashboard, no seat, no rearview mirror, no headlight, no tail light, and a few holes in the fuel tank. This was the current appearance of the living motorcycle. 

Meanwhile, the metal cage that seemed to have been welded to the end of the motorcycle remained undamaged. 

Shen Cong squashed down the urge to devour the motorcycle and moved his gaze back and forth between the plastic rabbit and the motorcycle frame. His mind filled in the blanks for the details of a plot. 

Before the apocalypse, the owner of the motorcycle intended to sell the rabbit, and when he saw the meteors falling down, he ran off. The rabbit was shut in the cage, and it did not manage to flee. Hence, it went through the same change as Shen Cong. The motorcycle became alive, and the plastic rabbit formed a connection with it. 

Some twists and turns must have occurred in the middle, because the plastic rabbit and the motorcycle managed to both survive. But the plastic rabbit clearly did not know how to use Activity, and it could only have the motorcycle absorb Activity on its own to repair itself. Since the storm from sometime ago did not flood this highland, the plastic rabbit managed to survive. 

Hence, it went outside on its own in search of food, and perhaps its senses had reacted to Titan’s presence, allowing it to find Titan. Then, it was caught by Shen Cong, and it forgot about the motorcycle frame, because it had good food to eat. Later on, it sensed that the unspayed poodle and tumor pig had invaded its territory and even wanted to devour its motorcycle, which was why the plastic rabbit became so restless. 

Thus the series of events today happened. 

*****

There were plenty of loopholes in the story. Such as why were the wrecked cars all gathered around? What had the plastic rabbit been eating? Why did the apocalyptic storm not destroy the plastic rabbit and motorcycle when they had practically zero defense? And why was the degree of corrosion on the wrecked cars higher the closer they were to the center?

There were plenty of things that remained unknown. 

But Shen Cong believed that the direction of the main plot in regards to what happened was accurate. 

When he saw the motorcycle frame that was filled with Activity, his brain had instantly linked up many of the questions he had not managed to completely answer. 

Each mutated creature had an Activity core, but only he and the plastic rabbit did not have one. Shen Cong shared a mysterious connection with Titan, while the plastic rabbit clearly shared a mysterious connection with the motorcycle frame. 

‘If that’s the case, then it means that Titan and I as well as the plastic rabbit and the motorcycle are not excluded from Activity cores, which are basically the crux of this entire matter. I wonder, is Titan my Activity core, or am I Titan’s Activity core?’

This thought excited Shen Cong slightly. 

He paid a huge degree of attention to Activity cores, because it was very easy for him to deduce through the mutated symptoms from the mutated monsters that Activity cores were an important source behind pushing forward a creature’s mutation. 

The meteor shower had destroyed the old world, and it would appear that it had also brought about Activity, which was a strange power that was beyond a human’s imagination. It transformed lifeless metal into something else and transformed living beings from how they originally looked like. 

There were only two paths that Shen Cong and all other survivors could take. 

First, they could search for a method to deal with Activity and destroy the fact that metals had become “alive” as well as “treat” all the changes brought by Activity by getting rid of them. 

If they could not do that, they could only choose to walk down the second path. They had to accept the reality brought by Activity and search with all their ability for a chance to evolve as well as make Activity serve them. 

Regardless of which choice they made, Activity was something that they had to understand fully. 

The source and center of Activity were the Activity cores, and they were the topic of research that required Shen Cong’s urgent attention. 

In truth, he longed to walk down the second path. The human body was just too frail. He had personally seen just how easily his parents ended up in a pool of blood due to the accident and left him so quickly that he did not even have the time to react to the situation by blinking. Perhaps only he understood just how much he wanted to turn into a superhuman at that moment and change everything. But even if he could not change anything, he still wanted to run somewhere far away. 

In the blink of an eye, more than seven years had passed since then. Now, there was a chance for him to turn into a superhuman, and that chance was right before his eyes. 

He just needed to seize it gently. 

*****

“Whew…”

Shen Cong sucked in a deep breath and squashed down all the chaotic thoughts in his mind. He longed for evolution, but he was much more worried that Activity would bring about disaster, not evolution. That was why he tried his best to not have too much fantastical hope. 

If he did not have hope, he would not be disappointed, and he could regain his usual composure. 

He turned his head around to stare at the plastic rabbit and the motorcycle frame. His eyes moved back and forth between them. 

‘Just which one of you is the Activity core?

‘Is it the plastic rabbit? But I don’t have the urge to devour the plastic rabbit. Then, is it the motorcycle? If the motorcycle is the core, does it mean that Titan is the core, and I am just a shell that has extended from it?’

Shell, core. 

Shen Cong did not mind being either, because he was the one who had absolute dominance between him and Titan. His mind was the one that brought all of its actions to life, and if that were the case, he was not that different from being the core. 

Of course, he still had to make things clear so that it would make it easier for him to set a training plan specifically targeted toward Activity. 

He thought about this for a while, then let go of his control over his desire to devour the motorcycle frame. He slowly stretched out his arm toward the motorcycle in an attempt to devour its Activity. 

No reaction. 

Shen Cong tried his hardest to control the Activity in his body so that he could attempt absorbing the Activity in the motorcycle. However, just as usual, he did not have the ability to absorb Activity. The Activity in his body had to be restored by either eating flesh or be taken from Titan. He could not absorb any of it naturally from the outside world. 

If he could not use this method, he still had two other methods that were worth trying. 

One, eat the plastic rabbit. Two, guide Titan to devour the motorcycle. 

‘If eating the plastic rabbit worked, I would have long since gained the urge to devour it. The more likely possibility is that I need to guide Titan to devour the motorcycle,’ Shen Cong guessed. Then, he focused his attention and began to use his mind to control Titan. 

Titan was akin to an extension of his body, and Activity was a mental bridge between them. When he formed a thought in his mind, Titan could react to it. The dense Activity covering Titan’s gigantic body also increased Shen Cong’s perception so that he could sense even more of the Activity wandering outside. 

This time, a ball of fire appeared in his perception, and it was a ball of fire formed by Activity. 

It was the motorcycle frame!

The radiation levels released by the flame-like Activity were so high that it was unlike anything Shen Cong had ever seen. It was as if it had formed a visible magnetic field, and it was constantly absorbing the Activity wandering in the world. 

When he saw this, the urge to devour the motorcycle grew stronger in his heart. He could not help but guide Titan to swiftly absorb the flame-like Activity. 

When they came into contact with each other, Titan greedily absorbed a huge portion of the Activity in the ball of flames, and the feedback Shen Cong gained from it was warmth. 

‘This is what I call devouring! Just as I expected, it’s much faster than just absorbing the wandering Activity outside!’

Once Shen Cong understood just how great devouring the ball of Activity was, he had Titan’s Activity flare up once more so that it could absorb the Activity from the ball of flames. 

“Grr… Grr… Grr…”

At that moment, the plastic rabbit locked in the metal cage suddenly started growling madly and rammed its head against the cage. Its eyes were bloodshot as it glared at Shen Cong. 

Its eyes seemed to be shining with anger and fear. 

Shen Cong only cast an indifferent glance at the plastic rabbit before he continued to devour the Activity in the motorcycle. His attention was now completely occupied by his desire to devour the Activity in the motorcycle. 

With each mouthful of Activity Titan devoured, it reflected on Shen Cong in pleasure that made his soul surge. The Activity given to him by Titan also began increasing at a visible pace. His limbs filled with Activity, and it strengthened his muscles, skin, and organs while leaving behind a tingling pleasure. 

The ball of flames from the motorcycle frame quickly dimmed, and the growls from the plastic rabbit began to sound powerless and weak. 

When Shen Cong took six large mouthfuls of the ball of flames through Titan, the plastic rabbit stopped moving. The flames from the motorcycle turned so dimmed that they had almost extinguished. 

At that moment, Titan sent feedback that it was “full”. It seemed that its urge to devour Activity had been fully satiated, and it could no longer devour any more of it. 

In truth, even if Titan could continue devouring Activity, Shen Cong did not have the courage. His body had been given too much Activity within a short period of time. 

In the beginning, he was fine, but now, he was finally able to sense that it was as if a ball of fire had entered his body through Titan. His mouth was dry, his face was red, and his body temperature increased rapidly. 

‘Water!’

Shen Cong got up quickly and rushed to the resource cubicle. He opened a bottle of mineral water and drank everything, but it was not enough to quench his thirst. 

He opened another bottle…

Three bottles of water went into his stomach, and it was only then that he managed to quench his thirst as well as reduce his heat slightly. 

He felt as if he was in a sauna. 

Sweat trickled down his face. 

Drip, drip.

Shen Cong could even see steam rising from his body. He touched his forehead. The heat he felt was at least forty-five degrees Celsius, and he was so terrified by this discovery that he quickly went to a water bottle used for water dispensers and pressed his face against it so that he could get rid of some of the heat. If he were plagued by this heat for a long period of time, his brain would be damaged. 

Finally, after spending ten minutes trying to reduce his body temperature, Shen Cong managed to cool down. 

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Fear lingered in his heart. Devouring Activity might feel good, but if he took too much of it, the results were catastrophic. This time, he was lucky that he had stopped in time and nothing happened to him. If he took another mouthful of the ball of flames, his body might combust on its own. 

Shen Cong walked out of the resource cubicle and wiped off his sweat. Then, he cast his gaze at the metal cage. 

The plastic rabbit lay inside without moving. The dark-silvery glow the motorcycle frame previously possessed had faded away until it was only a dim gray. It no longer had a metallic shine to it. 

Shen Cong checked whether the plastic rabbit was still breathing. It was, and its heart was still beating. 

It had just fallen unconscious.