War Truck in the Apocalypse

Chapter 24: Pretend to be an Ant

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Changing Titan’s Activity frequency was a rather difficult task, even if it was just the frequency on the surface. 

But Shen Cong believed that it was possible. His greatest inspiration was, naturally, from when Titan devoured the Activity from the motorcycle and had it become in sync with its own Activity frequency. 

When Shen Cong ate the mutated flesh on normal days, he ingested Activity directly, which allowed him to naturally complete the process of making the Activity he ingested become in sync with his own Activity. 

There was another major inspiration. When he saw the motorcycle frame for the first time, its Activity-laced metallic surface was covered by a layer of rust, which was how its radiation was completely hidden. It was only when Shen Cong removed the rust that he was able to sense the Activity. Naturally, Shen Cong’s relatively weak perception toward Activity in the world also played a role in him being unable to sense the motorcycle’s Activity, but this still told him that radiation frequency could be hidden and changed. 

The lindane outside had begun showing its effects once it was exposed under the sun. The pungent powder stopped some of the mutated ants from getting closer. 

But a large group still continued secreting formic acid at the spots on the truck that were not covered by lindane. 

Since Shen Cong’s mind was connected to Titan, he could clearly sense that the Activity in the truck was dropping bit by bit. In just a short moment, it had already dropped to 43.1%. 

There was a living mutated ant in Shen Cong’s hand, and he was slowly sensing the radiation frequency released by it. 

‘If I want to change my Activity frequency… I have to do it with such ease that it’s as if I’m breathing… I can control Activity, and if that’s the case, I should be able to change its frequency as well!’ 

Shen Cong continued searching for ways to control Activity at a deeper level. 

This was a risky move, and he had not made sufficient theoretical preparations. His research had not reached this step either, so the likeness of it working was actually low. But he had to try it, since the threat of the ant colony was already at his doorstep. 

If he succeeded, he would escape from the disaster. 

If he failed… he could not predict what would happen to him. 

But what was the meaning of living?

To a person, it meant that their heart was beating, they were breathing, and they were performing all the necessary metabolic functions. These characteristics of living could be manually controlled. 

When a person was excited, their heart would race, and their breathing would become rapid. When they were calm, their heartbeat would slow down, and their breathing would be slow and long. They could also control their appetite and even delay their need to clear their bowels. 

And Titan was given the property of being “alive” by Activity. Its metabolic process was to absorb Activity and release radiation. 

Shen Cong had to lower the frequency of the radiation released from Titan’s frequency to the same frequency as that of the mutated ant. 

What delighted Shen Cong was that once he tried it, he noticed that he could indeed change Titan’s frequency. He was able to successfully interfere with the frequency of the radiation released from Titan’s Activity, and some slight changes happened to it.

 Of course, this was a very difficult process. He was only able to interfere with it briefly before the frequency returned to its normal frequency. It did not bend to Shen Cong’s mind submissively. 

It was just like how a person would release their breath once they could no longer hold it inside. 

‘But it’s good that I was able to produce an effect.’

Shen Cong raised his hand and wiped off the sweat on his face and forehead. Then, he continued to focus on forcibly interfering with Titan’s Activity frequency so that he could lead it toward the mutated ant’s frequency. 

Activity was similar to a nerve that connected Shen Cong and Titan, and since the brain could control the nerves in a body, it meant that Shen Cong could use his mind to control Activity as well. 

Time trickled by, and Titan’s Activity continued dwindling with each passing second. 

42.5%… 41.7%… 39.8%… 36.2%… 34.4%… 32.1%…

When Titan’s Activity dropped to 30%, Shen Cong had already tried changing its frequency for more than twenty times, and he was finally able to lower Titan’s radiation frequency to the point it was the same as that of the mutated ant in his hand. 

At that moment, the mutated ants who were originally secreting formic acid and biting Titan’s external armor shuddered as a whole. 

They stopped biting into Titan, and all of them looked very lost. 

Shen Cong was delighted upon sensing this. 

‘The results are perfect!’

But his joy was quickly followed by misfortune. When his composure slipped, the interference was gone. Titan’s frequency instantly returned to its normal frequency, and the confused mutated ants snapped out of their bewilderment and started biting into Titan again. 

Shen Cong quickly calmed down and began interfering with Titan’s frequency once more. 

Since he had already learned the effects of interfering with Titan’s frequency, his heart became even more at ease than before, and he was able to perform at a stable pace. After a few tries, he was able to lower Titan’s radiation frequency once more. 

The mutated ants that were all over Titan shuddered, and they were once again at a loss.

Their intelligence was not high enough for them to tell why the metal lump was releasing the same Activity radiation as them. Since all the scents in the area were disrupted by lindane, Activity radiation became their main method of communication, and Titan was successfully able to become part of the ant colony. 

The disorderly confusion lasted for less than ten seconds. 

Once the target of the mandibles was gone, the mutated ants quickly left. While Titan was the same as them, the area was filled with an unpleasant and peculiar smell, and it urged them to leave. They moved to the wrecked cars in the area and continued biting down on the metal over there. 

Shen Cong sensed that the mutated ants had left and released a long sigh of relief in the truck. 

His heart became lighter. The danger had been successfully solved by his quick wit, which he had to say, was comparable to that of a genius. Titan’s Activity was at 28.4%, and even though it had reduced by nearly half, its external armor remained completely undamaged. 

If Shen Cong spent some time on it, he could recover the amount of Activity he lost. 

*****

Once Shen Cong became familiar with the method to interfere with Titan’s Activity frequency, he could relax a little. Now, he just needed to spend some of his attention on this task, and he could guarantee a successful interference with Titan’s Activity frequency. 

He opened the sunroof on the side of the truck again and observed the situation outside. 

He knew that it was not advisable for him to stay around for long. Once the mutated ants left, he intended to immediately drive away. But there were plenty of wrecked cars in the area, and the mutated ants would not be able to finish eating all of them within a short period of time. 

He would have to wait. 

Once there was no longer any danger, Shen Cong remembered the motorcycle at the end of the truck. 

Titan was protected because Shen Cong guided its Activity, but the motorcycle did not have any sort of protection. He remembered, however, that he seemed to have heard the plastic rabbit growling earlier. 

Shen Cong frowned. 

He walked into the cubicle at the end of the truck and immediately saw the plastic rabbit. It had recovered some of its energy earlier, but now, it was bleeding from its mouth and nose while it lay still in its cage. 

Shen Cong grabbed the cage and tried to sense the plastic rabbit’s breathing. It did not breathe, had no heartbeat, and its Activity was also slowly flowing away. 

It was dead. 

Shen Cong opened the sunroof and saw the motorcycle hanging at the end of the truck. Since the motorcycle took up quite a lot of space, Shen Cong had placed it outside so that it could absorb wandering Activity on its own. 

However, the motorcycle had vanished. It was completely eaten by the mutated ants. 

Shen Cong’s expression instantly turned pale. The delight he had for surviving through the disaster was completely gone. 

He was not feeling sad for the loss of the small life. He had kept the plastic rabbit around to research it and to devour its Activity. Once it was useless, Shen Cong would roast it and eat it at any moment. 

He was not feeling anger for the loss of the source of Activity he kept around either. If he lost it, he could just get more. It was just an external possession. 

Instead, he turned pale because once the motorcycle was eaten, the plastic rabbit died as well. 

This meant that if Titan “died” one day, Shen Cong would not be able to survive either. His life was bound together with Titan 

The options the world could choose to threaten his life had increased once more!

Shen Cong had treated Titan as a moving fortress and a tool that could protect him. If it were necessary, he could cast aside this tool at any moment in exchange for his own life. Yet now, Titan was no longer a tool, but a living component that had become one with him. 

Shen Cong did not like this feeling. 

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Titan had nearly been killed by the monster that resembled a prehistoric crocodile, which meant that Shen Cong himself had nearly died as well. 

He sucked in a deep breath, then another. 

After going through a brief moment of fear and anger, Shen Cong quickly composed himself. Since this was an established fact, there was no use in him complaining about it. Instead of being unsettled, it would be better for him to spend more effort in thinking about the brighter side of things. 

‘If it were not for Titan, I would have died a long time ago. If it’s now a part of me, so be it. As long as I continue helping Titan evolve, danger is nothing!’

Shen Cong’s gaze became resolute once more. ‘Evolution it is!’