“Something’s here.”
As they walked over carefully, something was scattered on the floor.
“Isn’t it a robot?”
Jinpok walked up to it and uncovered it from dust and moss, and spoke as he looked carefully at the metal object.
“There’s another robot here too.”
“This one’s a robot too!”
Robots weren’t human-shaped. They had many wheels and hands for various purposes.
“Is it a repair bot?”
Everyone nodded to Doral’s comment. That’s when something jumped up from the ground toward Garent.
“Kieeeek!”
It was a terrifying screaming that swept through. Garent’s hands moved quickly and snatched it before it hit him.
“Huh? What the heck is that?”
Garent then turned back and everyone became shocked at something moving inside Garent’s large mouth. Joonbum then pointed at something which looked like a tail poking out of Garent’s mouth.
“That’s sticking out of your mouth.”
At that moment, the sound of crushing came out of the mouth, with its tail becoming stiff at the moment before losing energy. The tail then was sucked into the mouth as if it were a noodle.
“Gosh. What is that?”
Graham then turned Garent’s hands, where there was another of the same animal. It looked like a rodent of some kind. Garent hastily hid it behind his back as if he did not want to lose his precious meal.
“It’s a snack.”
“Snack?” Jinpok replied with a dumbfounded look.
“Yeah. It’s delicious… oh, and these ones are full of radiation. So be careful.”
Garent showed the rat from his hand, and its shape was revealed under the light.
“Hmm…”
Everyone gasped. The rodent, or animal, looked nothing like a rat. There were some similarities, but it was more like a monster. There were many feets, and many ears and eyes all over its body.
“It’s… peculiar,” Jinpok commented.
“Haha, yeah. There are lots of them. They live further inside. And they’re very aggressive. I ate a whole bunch last time, and it seems like they reproduce quite quickly.”
Garent smiled as he spoke, but it was still giving them a certain clue.
“Are there a lot of them inside?” Doral asked back and Garent nodded.
“Yeah, a lot. Remember I told you the place is really huge?”
Garent continued, “There’s still active radiation there too. I think these have been affected by it for a long time.”
“Then it must be dangerous to move forward,” Jinpok said. Garent shook his head.
“Nah, there’s no radiation around here. I ate’em all, and the radiation from snacks don’t come out of their bodies. And even if it did, Gramps and I can absorb them in seconds, so don’t worry.”
Garent then put another rodent into his mouth and munched on it. He made it seem like it was very tasty.
“Hmm… they all ran. You know, they think I am a predator so they don’t attack me as much anymore.”
Garent spoke as if it were a shame. Jinpok then asked, “How many did you eat?’
“Uh… ten thousand-ish? There’s still plenty more.”
Joonbum then nodded, “But it’s amazing… living beings that can live with radiation.”
“Well, no need to think further. Let’s move!” Jinpok exclaimed. The party began to move in further as they moved through the mutated animals.
End of Chapter
