I Start with a Mysterious Island

Chapter 399: Chapter 293: Oh, Humanity! If You Don’t Court Death, You Won’t Die

After foraging in the wild all day, these common birds began to return to the city for the night as the sun set.

After all, the dangers of the wilderness after dark didn’t just apply to humans, but to common birds as well.

That’s why birds like these preferred to spend the night within the safe zones designated by human cities, returning to the wilderness to forage only after dawn.

...

In the South District, within a safe zone bordering the wilderness, a middle-aged man with a cigarette dangling from his lips urged on the workers laying down razor wire.

"Pick up the pace! The sun’s about to set. It gets dangerous out here after dark..."

A worker in his twenties, who was laying the razor wire with his crew, heard his boss’s urging. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to say...

"Boss Wu, don’t rush us! We’ll be done in about ten more minutes."

The middle-aged man was a decent sort. After hearing the young man, his urgent expression softened. Instead, he tried a different approach to get his employees to work faster.

"Alright, alright, I won’t rush you. Just pick up the pace and get it done, and I’ll take you all out for a good dinner tonight."

"Where are you taking us for dinner, Boss Wu?" Hearing this, the workers laying the razor wire immediately asked with cheerful smiles, their eyes full of anticipation.

After all, a good meal at a decent place cost a fair bit of money. Now that their boss was offering to treat them to a free meal, no one could resist the temptation.

"How about that buffet I took you all to last month?" the middle-aged man said. "You’ve been there before, so you know it’s pretty good, right?"

"Yes, definitely!" The workers nodded eagerly when they heard their boss was taking them to the buffet that cost 150 yuan per person.

Just then, a slightly older worker shouted, "Let’s pick up the pace, everyone! Let’s get this wire laid down faster so we don’t keep Boss Wu waiting!"

"You got it!" After a long and tiring day, the workers’ fatigue vanished. They replied with wide smiles, the pace of their work quickening considerably.

The middle-aged man saw his employees’ weariness melt away. Their movements were now more than twice as fast as they sped up the installation of the razor wire. He nodded in satisfaction.

Then, his gaze followed the edge of the safe zone into the distance.

The razor wire stretched for several kilometers, its end disappearing over the horizon.

Ever since the recent incidents of Mutant Beasts crossing the border and causing trouble in the safe zones, residents living in the suburbs adjacent to the wilderness had been filled with a sense of insecurity.

Many of the residents living in these areas bordering the wilderness had petitioned the government.

They hoped the government would allocate funds to erect a razor wire fence along the edge of the safe zone, to guard against Mutant Beasts brazenly crossing over and endangering everyone’s safety.

In the opinion of experts, this razor wire couldn’t effectively stop those strange Mutant Beasts from brazenly crossing the border.

But the residents living in the suburbs bordering the wilderness truly felt insecure.

Eventually, after several meetings and consulting with experts, the government decided to erect the razor wire fence along the safe zone’s edge.

The government’s decision wasn’t just a waste of public funds, however.

While the razor wire fence couldn’t effectively stop the strange, brazen Mutant Beasts, it could stop many of the foolhardy ordinary people who wanted to take a "stroll" in the wilderness.

Every year, a considerable number of arrogant people ignore the warnings, wander into the treacherous wilderness, and end up as food for Mutant Beasts.

No matter how many public service announcements the government ran, these unnecessary accidents couldn’t be prevented, with at least a hundred such cases occurring every year.

The annual death toll of ordinary people getting themselves killed was far greater than that of rookie Exotic Beast Hunters who, full of themselves, decided to venture into the wilderness alone to play the part of a lone wolf. There were simply no words for it.

So, since so many people were demanding a razor wire fence on the edge of the safe zone, the government decided to build one.

Installing the razor wire would give the residents bordering the wilderness a sense of security while also reducing the number of accidents involving ordinary people running off to get themselves killed. It was killing two birds with one stone.

The brilliant red sun sank slowly behind the distant mountains, casting a pleasant, golden sheen upon the ridges.

A figure sprinted across the undulating terrain of the wilderness.

Lin Li scrambled up a slope and leaped down from the top.

"CRACK."

A sun-dried twig on the grass snapped with a crisp sound under Lin Li’s foot as he landed from his leap.

This final two-to-three-kilometer stretch of the path to the safe zone was through extremely harsh terrain.

The terrain was too treacherous to ride his off-road motorcycle, so Lin Li stored it in the Mysterious Small Island and began to run the remaining two or three kilometers on foot.

’I’ve been hunting Mutant Beasts in the wilderness all day and I’m covered in sweat.

’I need to go home and take a shower before I see Su Yue. Better pick up the pace and get home quick...’