Chapter 476 The Source of Food
"Three or four thousand people?" Otha sounded pretty surprised hearing that number.
He looked around.
The defenses were super basic, not even close to what at other major bases.
In the freezing cold, the Snowfall Cult had a lot of people but not enough muscle to build solid fortifications.
They had to rely on the natural environment to fend off the zombies.
A group that once had over ten thousand people, losing only three or four thousand after fighting off zombie hordes for so long, was pretty shocking to him.
"So, how do you deal with the food situation?"
"In this world, keeping thousands of people fed takes a ton of food. I'm curious how you pull it off."
Otha's question made the Snowfall Cult members a bit uneasy.
Food sources were a big deal for any group.
If Otha wasn't from the Silvercrest District, asking this would definitely seem like he was looking for trouble.
Neil hesitated but answered, "We search the surrounding areas for buried supermarkets and malls to get food and other supplies."
"That's it?" Otha looked at Neil. Even though his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, everyone could sense his disbelief.
In this kind of environment, finding food would take a lot of effort.
How could the Snowfall Cult manage to dig out food from 50 feet under the snow and keep thousands, even tens of thousands, of followers fed?
Neil and the priests and pastors had weird looks on their faces.
It was clear they were hiding something big about their food source.
The tension in the air was thick.
Theron and the other investigation team members looked at Neil and the others with a knowing look, suspecting something, something that were pretty common in the post-apocalyptic world.
Lanny chimed in, "Losing nearly half your followers could definitely feed the rest, right?"
As soon as his words fell, the Snowfall Cult members immediately protested!
Dean shouted angrily, "Don't talk nonsense! We never do that!"
Bianca frowned and snapped, "Don't compare us to those monsters."
Lanny shrugged and said mockingly, "Then what do you eat? Don't tell me you can survive on just water."
"Enough, cut it out." Just as both sides were about to argue, Neil and Otha stopped them.
Neil took a deep breath and bowed to Otha, saying, "There is a secret, but it's crucial for our Snowfall Cult's survival, so we can't share it with outsiders."
"Is that so?" Otha's voice was cold, like he was questioning Neil.
At times like these, any secret could be tied to the zombie hordes.
Otha suspected the zombie hordes were actually caused by local forces in Starlight City.
Neil looked deeply at Otha. "If you really want to know, I can explain it to you."
Otha said, "Alright."
Neil straightened up. "Please follow me!"
Dean, Bianca, and the others behind him got anxious.
"Mr. Torres, can we really tell these outsiders about this?"
Neil waved his hand. "It's fine. The investigation team members are from the Silvercrest District; they won't care about our stuff."
The priests and pastors were really anxious, not wanting to reveal the Snowfall Cult's secret.
They knew it was their Achilles heel, and once other forces in Starlight City learned about it, they'd be doomed.
Even the folks from the Silvercrest District might want that treasure, the backbone of the Snowfall Cult's survival!
But as the high priest, second only to the leader Natasha, Neil's decisions were final.
Neil led Otha and the others to an abandoned building next to the Church of the Holy Ground.
When they reached the building, Otha suddenly stopped and frowned.
The building ahead gave him a really bad vibe.
The gray concrete structure jutted into the snow like a coffin.
Otha's sharp instincts warned him to stay away from this place.
Theron also came over and whispered, "Captain, there's a strong smell of blood!"
At that moment, Neil turned back to look at them, a strange smile on his lips.
"Everyone, this is the secret of our Snowfall Cult. Still wanna see?"
Lanny crossed his arms and sneered, "Why not!"
Otha adjusted his glasses and silently followed him inside.
After losing his sight, his other senses had become even sharper.
There was something he hadn't told his team—Just now, outside the building, he had "seen" something very strange.
In his vision, this wasn't an abandoned commercial building, it was a huge, terrifying monster, with countless limbs flailing wildly, and roots tangled underground!
As they entered the building, the smell of blood became even stronger.
But this blood scent was unusual, not like that of dead bodies, but as if it had just flowed from living people. It was so fresh, so intense, not pungent, even somewhat sweet and intoxicating.
As they went deeper, they finally saw the monster's true form.
The entire interior of the building was taken over by a massive, bizarre plant.
Its vines and leaves covered the whole place, with crimson branches and leaves emitting an eerie dark red glow on the walls.
On the branches, there were clusters of bright red fruits.
Seeing this, Otha and the others understood something. "This is the food you rely on for survival?"
Neil reached out and plucked a red fruit from a branch, handing it to Otha. "Yep, this is a mutated plant we found. We call it the Bloodfeeder Vine."
"It has crazy strong vitality, capable of absorbing all nutrients around it and converting them into its own life force, producing these red fruits, which are our main food source."
Otha looked at the red fruit Neil handed him and slowly took it, carefully examining it without taking a single bite.
Neil smiled, "Don't worry, the fruit is non-toxic. We've been eating it for months, and no one has shown any abnormalities."
Otha said calmly, "That makes sense. But, does it produce enough fruit for thousands of you?"
Neil continued walking forward.
"Normal fruit production isn't enough. But there are ways to speed up its fruiting. For example, this." He pointed to the ceiling ahead.
Following his finger, Otha and the others looked up and saw an oval-shaped object hanging from the ceiling—Red branches and leaves wrapped it tightly, emitting a faint red glow.
Upon closer inspection, it vaguely formed the shape of a human body.
"Are those... human bodies?" Eris couldn't help but widen her eyes. "Do you use humans as nutrients to make it produce fruit?"
Neil said expressionlessly, "To be precise, human remains."
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