Humans Shrunk 100 Times

Chapter 36: Eat!

"Oh, then let's take a break," Wei Dalei readily agreed, sitting down with a pack of instant noodles, just like Chen Mu did.

"Based on our current progress, we might still need until tomorrow to return," Chen Mu calculated the time.

"What time is it now?"

"Around 2 o'clock in the afternoon," although Chen Mu's estimation wasn't as accurate as Tang Jing's, it was still reasonably close.

"It's a pity we can't use our cell phones," Zhao Xiaoyan sighed every time she mentioned the time, feeling regretful about this fact.

The school prohibited students from bringing cell phones onto the campus, but like the prohibition of snacks in the classroom, rules were meant to be broken. Moreover, for students of this age, the importance of cell phones far exceeded that of snacks.

Including the class monitor, Dong Junwei, everyone would secretly bring their phones to school.

Of course, Chen Mu was an exception.

His tuition was covered by the local government, and he managed to pay half of the miscellaneous fees through part-time jobs while the school waived the other half. But even so, he couldn't afford to buy a cell phone.

However, after the apocalypse, no one's phones could be used anymore.

It seemed to confirm what Tang Jing said: many things couldn't be simply scaled down proportionally.

According to Tang Xueshen's explanation, human beings themselves would not be able to survive at this scale, but due to the influence of some mysterious force, everyone was unharmed.

But obviously, cell phones didn't enjoy this privilege.

Furthermore, even if they could be used, they wouldn't last long without chargers, and even if there were chargers, they couldn't be plugged into any sockets, and even if they could be plugged in, there was no electricity...

With nothing else to do, the three of them started discussing various things, mainly about imagining what it would be like "if we still had cell phones" or "if we could still play games."

Once the basic survival needs were more or less settled, it was inevitable for humans to start thinking about entertainment, and Chen Mu was no exception.

While chatting away, Chen Mu suddenly slapped his forehead.

"I'm such an idiot."

"What's wrong?"

Without answering, Chen Mu stood up and reached out to touch the packaging of the instant noodles, revealing a hole that was about the size of a person.

The packaging was very thin and easy to control.

Wei Dalei laughed heartily, "You're right, how could we forget that we have ready-to-eat food."

He took big strides forward, hugged a piece of instant noodles, broke off a small section, and turned around to hand it to Zhao Xiaoyan behind him.

Zhao Xiaoyan looked dumbfounded at the instant noodles in front of her, which were thicker than her own thigh, and asked, "Do we just eat it like this?"

This was clearly no longer ordinary noodles.

It was more like... noodle logs?

"Do you want me to smash it for you?" Wei Dalei asked with a bewildered expression.

"Forget it, I'll just bite into it."

Zhao Xiaoyan took the noodles and held them in her arms, unsure how to start.

Chen Mu and Wei Dalei were more straightforward; they leaned over the entire noodle block and started biting into it.

"It's not bad, I thought it would be much harder."

"Yeah, it's delicious!"

Honestly, after being accustomed to eating roughly made rice cakes, the taste of instant noodles was simply unbeatable. Plus, the noodles were already seasoned, which was like a delicacy for the three people who hadn't even had salt for a long time.

"Wow, it's surprisingly delicious even when eaten dry."

Zhao Xiaoyan, who had only eaten instant noodles once in her life, couldn't help but complain about her mother at this moment.

"Wait, don't just eat this. Old Wei, go and take out the vegetable pack inside."

The dehydrated vegetable pack was very light, and Wei Dalei easily pulled out a pack from the instant noodle packaging.

The colorful vegetables inside looked very appetizing.

Chen Mu easily made a hole and then crawled inside the pack.

Eggs, beef, cabbage, carrots.

Happiness came so suddenly that they didn't know how to choose.

He took out each item separately, and the three of them gathered around these delicious dishes, finding it hard to believe what they were seeing.

"After we return, soaking them in hot water should make them even tastier. But for now, as an outdoor hunting team, we have the privilege of tasting the fruits of our labor first," Chen Mu said cheerfully, calling on the two others to enjoy the food together.

In fact, before he even finished speaking, Wei Dalei had already pounced on a piece of beef, tearing into it eagerly.

Zhao Xiaoyan squatted down and approached a large piece of dehydrated cabbage, about half her size. She sniffed it and took a bite.

"It's a bit tough, but it does taste like cabbage." Zhao Xiaoyan moistened the dried vegetable with saliva in her mouth, and the more she chewed, the more flavorful it became.

Meanwhile, Wei Dalei had no time to speak.

It had been a week since he last had meat.

In Wei Dalei's entire life, he had never experienced such misery.

Chen Mu wasn't polite either, holding a piece of dehydrated yellow egg and enjoying it.

The texture indeed couldn't compare to a regular egg.

But for the three of them in their current situation, it was an unparalleled delicacy.

"Eat heartily; there's plenty more anyway."

"Boss, let me taste your egg."

"Here, let me have some beef too."

"..."

This meal lasted for over twenty minutes.

But even after nearly eating their fill, the consumption of these food items was negligible.

After humans shrank, their resource requirements became so minimal that they could be easily disregarded. According to rough calculations, the consumption of a population of 7 billion now equated to what 7,000 people would have consumed in the past.

With only 7,000 people left in the whole world, the feeling was both desolate and prosperous.

Moreover, it was impossible for everyone to survive.

According to Tang Jing's estimation, in the first three days, it would be remarkable if half of humanity could survive in front of various insect creatures, even if they could find a safe place.

As time goes on:

They might not find food.

Clean drinking water could be scarce.

Sickness without medical treatment.

Mental breakdowns.

Various problems would follow one after another. Only when a small group of humans became proficient in using their abilities and made good use of them, could they barely maintain their survival.

But at that time, it would be unknown how many humans would still be left.

...

...

The three of them, having satisfied their rare indulgence in a full meal, sat down again to rest.

"This feels great," Wei Dalei sighed.

"It's been so long since I ate this much... burp," Zhao Xiaoyan said, suddenly burping, and quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment.

Chen Mu took out a small bottle of water that they had prepared before setting off, opened the seal, and distributed it to the three of them.

With his current ability, making a water bottle of suitable size for humans was not a problem at all. However, he still couldn't achieve a perfect screw-on cap. So, he could only make a few fully sealed plastic bottles, and he would open them when they needed to drink.

Having eaten their fill and drank enough water, the three of them rested for about half an hour before continuing to work.

Zhao Xiaoyan continued to keep watch, while after Chen Mu made a slit in the cardboard box from end to end, he also helped Wei Dalei drag the instant noodles.

But to be honest, his strength was not enough to drag an entire pack of instant noodles. Most of the time, he could only command the direction while standing by – after all, a whole pack of instant noodles was too bulky, and when Wei Dalei pulled with all his strength, he often lost the sense of direction.

Soon enough, six unopened packs of instant noodles were neatly spread out on the ground.

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