After An Kang left, the meeting continued.
“As for accommodation, my idea is to set up several communal dormitories on the fifth floor. However, we don’t have enough beds. Then again, they were sleeping on the floor before anyway, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem,” Jun Shutong said.
Fatty Lei shrank his neck and whispered, “Actually, the best solution would be to have them live somewhere else, like the residential complex across the street.”
Although the mall had abundant supplies, it was ultimately unsuitable for housing too many people. His idea was actually even more ruthless: relocate some of the less useful people to the residential complex and leave them to fend for themselves.
With the protection of two demon beasts, the mall was already the safest place around.
No, there were three now.
Fatty Lei quietly raised his eyes and glanced at Lu Li.
Fatty Lei’s suggestion actually reflected what most people were thinking. After all, the camp was already struggling to take care of itself. They really didn’t want to spare more supplies to help others.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Li followed up on Fatty Lei’s suggestion: “The closest residential complex to the mall is Xinghai Residential Complex. I can clear out those green caterpillar demon beasts and then relocate the excess people to Xinghai Residential Complex.”
“Are you sure that won’t be a problem?” Jun Shutong asked hesitantly.
Lu Li nodded.
He had taken down Demon Camp partly for revenge and partly to provide Mimikyu with more food. He had never intended to rescue the survivors oppressed by Demon Camp.
However, he had already dealt with Wang Dazhuang, sent Demon Camp’s entire Scavenging Team to Atonement Camp, and seized all their supplies. If they abandoned Demon Camp’s survivors now, more than half of them would starve to death.
Most people in the camp, including Lu Li, considered having too many survivors a burden. Only Jun Shutong would be happy about rescuing more survivors.
Knowing that Jun Shutong couldn’t bring herself to make the decision, Lu Li directly addressed Cai Cong, who was sitting at the far end of the table.
“Cai Cong, from now on, you’ll be in charge of Dawn Camp No. 2. Tomorrow, take your people and move to Xinghai Residential Complex.”
Cai Cong froze when Lu Li called his name. He had never expected to become the person in charge of a camp. Even if he was only the leader of a branch camp, he would still be someone with genuine authority over his own territory.
Cai Cong clenched his fists nervously and stood up, asking with some apprehension, “What about supplies?”
Lu Li replied, “The camp can provide you with three days’ worth of food. After that, you’ll have to find your own.”
Jun Shutong hesitated for a moment before ultimately choosing to remain silent.
That was because Lu Li’s arrangement was the optimal solution. More importantly, even if she objected, it wouldn’t necessarily make any difference.
Although the others had some minor objections, since Lu Li had proposed the arrangement, they could only tacitly accept it.
Hearing that they would still have to give away some supplies, Huang Jiafei complained in a low voice, “Since things have come to this, why don’t we just take over all the camps in the nearby residential complexes and put them under Dawn Camp’s unified management?”
As soon as he said this, Jun Shutong’s eyes lit up. She had actually been considering the same idea for a long time, but she had never felt comfortable bringing it up.
After all, without Lu Li’s approval, Dawn Camp alone could never accomplish such a thing.
Lu Li didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Jun Shutong. Seeing how tempted she appeared, Lu Li was somewhat speechless.
There were basically no people left in the Anke Residential Complex because the vast majority of survivors had joined Anke Camp.
In other words, aside from those in the villa district, there were only a little over 500 survivors remaining in the enormous Anke Residential Complex.
One had to know that before the apocalypse, the entire Anke Residential Complex had housed at least 10,000 people. Even including any survivors who had been overlooked, the total population of Anke Residential Complex still wouldn’t reach 1,000.
Less than a month had passed since the apocalypse began, yet at least 9,000 people in Anke Residential Complex had already died.
Of course, Anke Residential Complex was a special case. After all, not every residential complex would produce a beast like Wang Dazhuang.
“Cai Cong, after you move to Xinghai Residential Complex, remember to count the number of survivors living there,” Lu Li added. He wanted to see how many survivors remained in the Xinghai Residential Complex.
Not even one in ten had survived. Lu Li recalled the descriptions of chaotic periods in history, when nine out of ten households were left empty.
Cai Cong hurriedly nodded. “Understood, Boss.”
Jun Shutong said, “Next is Atonement Camp. There are too many people in Atonement Camp now, and we don’t seem to have enough manpower to keep an eye on them.”
There were currently more than 100 people in Atonement Camp, a number equivalent to Dawn Camp’s entire previous population. If these people learned that they were going to be used as sacrifices to a Ghost-type Pokémon, they would definitely try to escape.
There wasn’t even a proper prison here. With so many people, it was impossible to keep an eye on everyone. As long as someone was determined to escape, they would eventually find an opportunity to slip away.
“Register them first, then draw lots. Divide them into groups of four and have them take turns. That works out to each person having a turn roughly once a month. If they can’t even accept that, then send them straight to meet Wang Dazhuang,” Lu Li said coldly, having never considered giving those people another chance.
In Lu Li’s opinion, this punishment was already extremely lenient. If they still dared to attempt an escape, they would deserve to die.
The others hurriedly nodded. In truth, none of those present cared whether the people in Atonement Camp lived or died. Even Jun Shutong believed those people deserved death.
How good could people who had willingly helped Wang Dazhuang commit atrocities possibly be?
Lu Li said meaningfully, “Once we’ve consolidated the surrounding residential complexes, even if someone manages to escape, they won’t have anywhere to go. After all, the outside world isn’t necessarily safer than the camp.”
Under normal circumstances, Pokémon were extremely territorial creatures.
The fact that no devastating incidents had occurred in this area over the past month meant that the area was safe in the short term and that no particularly dangerous Pokémon were present.
But the same couldn’t necessarily be said for other places. If someone wandered around outside alone, what would happen if a passing Pokémon happened to feel like having a little snack?
“Remember to explain the pros and cons to those people in Atonement Camp. They can either stay safely in the camp and atone for their crimes or go outside and seek death. I’m sure any normal person would know which option to choose,” Lu Li continued. He wasn’t worried about the people in Atonement Camp escaping.
Under the arrangement of four people taking turns each day, every group would have roughly a month to rest between turns. For Lu Li, such a punishment was already an extraordinary act of mercy.
The remaining matters were all relatively minor. Lu Li still remembered that he needed to return home to feed his Pokémon, so he left the meeting room early.
After returning home, Lu Li began preparing nutrient solution for Little Yellow and Little Beauty’s dinner.
Beedrill consumed a great deal of energy. Although it had already eaten, it was hungry again. As for Little Beauty, there was even less need to mention it. The poor thing hadn’t eaten anything for almost an entire day.
While the two Pokémon were eating, Lu Li contacted Fatty Lei over the walkie-talkie.
“Find me a few doctors in the camp. I want both traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and Western medicine doctors. As long as they’re doctors, they’ll do. Once you’ve found them, bring them over to my place,” Lu Li said.
Hearing that Lu Li was looking for doctors, Fatty Lei’s heart immediately skipped a beat.
If Lu Li, who controlled the demon beasts, suddenly died of illness at such a critical moment, things would become a complete disaster.
Everyone had finally begun to see a glimmer of hope. They couldn’t afford to lose it now!
“Boss, are you sick?” Fatty Lei asked anxiously, his voice filled with panic.
Lu Li wasn’t angry at the question. Instead, he explained, “No. I have an experiment that requires assistance from doctors.”
With his current physique, ordinary viruses and bacteria could no longer do anything to him. When Little Yellow evolved into Beedrill, his physique had already reached three times those of an ordinary person.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even without relying on the power of his Pokémon, he could beat everyone in Dawn Camp into kneeling before him and calling him Daddy.
As for having physical strength but lacking technique?
In the face of overwhelming strength, all fancy techniques were nothing more than paper tigers.
Fatty Lei had always been particularly attentive to Lu Li’s affairs. In less than ten minutes, he arrived with the people he had found.
Hearing a knock on the door, Lu Li opened it. Fatty Lei stood outside, accompanied by two elderly men and a young man.
“Boss, this is Elder Jin. He’s a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who worked at a traditional Chinese medicine hospital before the apocalypse,” Fatty Lei introduced, gesturing toward an elderly man wearing glasses.
“This is Elder Dai. He’s also a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, but he specializes in massage therapy and has extensive experience in bone setting and therapeutic massage,” Fatty Lei continued, introducing the other elderly man.
Lu Li nodded.
“Shang Heng, the owner of Anke Clinic. He used to be a practicing doctor at a clinic in Anke Residential Complex,” Fatty Lei continued.
Lu Li nodded, then looked at the middle-aged man and asked, “You’re Shang Heng, right?”
Shang Heng was practically panicking inside when his name was called. After all, the man before him was a ruthless individual who could control demon beasts. Even the arrogant and domineering Wang Dazhuang had died at his hands.
Being singled out by someone so ruthless gave him the unsettling feeling that he might be sent to his next life at any moment.
“I have a task for you.” Lu Li pointed at the Rattata on the table and said, “Cut that Rattata into pieces. I want to conduct an experiment to see whether humans can eat demon beasts.”
Everyone’s faces immediately turned pale upon hearing this.
That damned fatty had clearly told them they were only coming to assist the camp leader with some research. He hadn’t said anything about becoming research subjects themselves!
Lu Li noticed their fear and reassured them, “Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to eat it. You just need to process the corpse.”
Shang Heng hurriedly nodded, afraid that if he nodded too slowly, Lu Li might decide to include him among the test subjects.
“Go to Atonement Camp and bring me two of the people who deserve to die the most,” Lu Li instructed Fatty Lei.
Fatty Lei had already guessed what Lu Li intended to do next, and he nodded decisively.
As long as Lu Li didn’t experiment on him or the camp’s doctors, nothing else mattered. After all, in the apocalypse, doctors were an extremely valuable resource.
Before long, two criminals were escorted into the neighboring room, while Shang Heng had already finished preparing the corpse.
Pointing at the two young men who were being pinned to the floor, their faces bruised and swollen, Fatty Lei introduced them.
“Boss, these two were Wang Dazhuang’s deputies. They’ve definitely got just as much blood on their hands as Wang Dazhuang.”
Lu Li pointed at the Rattata meat on the plate and said, “I’ll give you a chance to atone for your crimes. Eat this. If you survive, I’ll let you go.”
Having already been beaten into submission, neither dared to resist. After all, if these two truly weren’t afraid of death, they wouldn’t have endured such a beating while desperately clinging to life.
One of the young men, who had a tattoo on his face, carefully picked up a piece of dark red flesh with his chopsticks.
The young man had a vague feeling that this wasn’t anything good. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. Sneaking a glance at Lu Li’s expressionless face, he finally gritted his teeth and swallowed the entire piece of meat in one gulp without even chewing.
Seeing that nothing unusual happened to his companion after eating the meat, the other young man immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly reached out with his chopsticks and devoured every last piece of meat on the plate.
Even Lu Li hadn’t expected him to eat all the meat on the plate.
“Well, who would’ve thought you were such a seasoned foodie?” Lu Li mocked sarcastically.
The young man could only give an awkward smile in response to Lu Li’s teasing. Just as he was about to flatter Lu Li with a few words, his eyes suddenly bulged, and his entire body went rigid before collapsing straight to the floor.
When the tattooed young man saw this, he immediately turned toward Lu Li in terror.
Was that meat really poisonous?
The tattooed young man hurriedly shoved his fingers down his throat, desperately trying to vomit up the meat he had swallowed. But soon, he suffered the same fate as his companion.
Just like the young man who had died moments earlier, his eyes bulged wide, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he lay stiffly on the floor, no longer breathing.
“Examine them and determine how they died,” Lu Li instructed the three doctors.
Before long, the three doctors finished their examinations.
The elderly traditional Chinese medicine practitioner wearing glasses said, “The deceased show no signs of poisoning. It looks more like they died from excessive nourishment.”
Only then did the elderly traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who specialized in massage therapy speak with an air of profound wisdom.
“Their true Yin was plundered, Yin and Yang separated, all Yang energies surged uncontrollably, and internal obstruction led to external collapse.”
Lu Li: “???”
“Say something I can actually understand,” Lu Li said helplessly, his face darkening.
The elderly practitioner replied, “Their bodies were too weak to withstand the nourishment. They literally nourished themselves to death.”
Shang Heng added, “It looks like acute poisoning. It started in the internal organs and then spread to the nervous system.”
“All right, I understand. You can leave now. Take care of these corpses while you’re at it.” Lu Li waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
After everyone had left, Lu Li sat on the sofa and began pondering.
First, Pokémon meat couldn’t be eaten. At least, humans couldn’t eat it.
Second, it seemed that even he, a half-Pokémon human, couldn’t eat it.
The question now was whether humans simply weren’t capable of eating Pokémon meat, or whether Raticate meat specifically was inedible.
Lu Li decided to wait until he could obtain a Slowpoke’s tail before conducting further experiments to confirm his findings. As for the two unlucky fellows who had been “poisoned to death,” Lu Li didn’t pay them much attention.
After all, they were people who deserved to die in the first place. At least their deaths had served some purpose.
Lu Li quickly put the matter out of his mind. It was getting late, and it was time for bed.
After recalling Beedrill and Feebas into their Poké Balls, Lu Li closed the door and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night.
Lu Li suddenly woke from his sleep, feeling as though he couldn’t breathe properly. He fumbled around in the darkness and switched on the bedside lamp.
As soon as the light came on, Lu Li saw an extremely strange, almost abstract-looking rag doll standing beside his bed.
Mimikyu!!
Lu Li nearly screamed in fright.
Feeling as though his heart was about to stop, Lu Li cautiously called out, “Mimikyu?”
Mimikyu tilted its head and asked, “Fake human, why are you awake?”
Lu Li: “…”
You freaking gave me sleep paralysis, and now you’re asking why I woke up? Do you have any manners?!
If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t beat Mimikyu, he would definitely have taught it a thing or two about manners today.
“I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe, so I woke up,” Lu Li replied, pretending to sound exasperated.
Hearing this, an unnatural expression flashed across Mimikyu’s face. However, because its face was hidden beneath its ragged disguise, Lu Li didn’t notice the subtle change in its expression.
Lu Li asked curiously, “Why did you suddenly come looking for me?”
“I suddenly sensed that the amount of fear in this area had increased dramatically, so I came over,” Mimikyu answered honestly.
“Wait a minute—” Lu Li suddenly noticed something. Mimikyu seemed to be able to communicate with him without any difficulty?!
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