NOVEL NEXT Chapter 241: Sudden Turn of Events
Mountain City.
Lin Yu and his companion have already left the central park of the city. They've hunted enough prey, and with these carcasses, they can last at least half a month.
Yet, they remain highly vigilant.
To prevent the smell of the carcasses from attracting the Mountain City People, whose nature they can't entirely grasp, they stored all the prey in the basement of a building far from the Light Zone, then carefully sealed the basement, completely isolating it from the outside world.
They lit their first campfire in days, using it to smoke the food and extend its shelf life.
Sitting by the fire, Lin Yu shoved as much fresh blood and meat into his mouth as possible.
Their fuel isn't sufficient to smoke all the venison into jerky, so clearly, to avoid waste, there's only one optimal strategy.
Eat it.
Lin Yu felt that his stomach was almost completely stuffed with food, and each gulp caused his stomach muscles to spasm intensely.
"Ugh..."
Lin Yu threw away the practically fresh, still pulsating venison from his hand and spoke to the Scout beside him:
"I can't eat anymore..."
"This meat is excessively fresh."
"It's been dead for quite a while, yet it's still moving."
"Isn't it going to come back to life in my stomach??"
"Probably... not."
The Scout also put down the meat, answering with difficulty.
"Probably not?"
Lin Yu said, breathing heavily.
He had merely hunted and eaten something, yet his current state felt as if he'd just been through a great battle.
"Definitely not."
The Scout stated solemnly:
"This indeed was a special deer, but its uniqueness has its limits."
"Just like you and me -- you wouldn't believe that we could resurrect ourselves with just a piece of meat, would you?"
"That's uncertain... I haven't died before either."
Lin Yu sighed and said:
"What I mean is, we can't, but who knows if the deer can?"
"Did you forget? When we killed that Mountain City Person, his companion took something from his head and carried away his corpse."
"The people here have clearly mastered some kind of special technology..."
"Like the Holy Blood Temple, but maybe even more powerful technology."
"Or maybe, does the technology of the Holy Blood Temple itself originate from Mountain City?"
"Impossible."
The Scout shook his head and said:
"Our technology comes from the Imperial City; that's very clear."
"Mountain City should have just learned and developed this technology."
"But now, they've clearly... surpassed us."
"Right."
Lin Yu nodded heavily.
"Those Mountain City People are as strong as us -- but they seem more normal than us."
"When we took down that one, he didn't have two hearts and three lungs, right?"
"Probably not."
The Scout recalled meticulously, then shook his head again:
"Definitely not, his internal organs and skeletal structure were no different from an ordinary person, otherwise, I should have noticed something when I chopped down."
"That's very... terrifying."
Lin Yu stood up, wiping his blood-soaked hands clean on his already dirty and messy clothes.
Individuals much stronger than a normal human, yet with no anatomical differences from ordinary people?
What does this imply?
This implies that very likely, they have mastered a way to reproduce stably.
If so...
These Mountain City People, compared to true humans, essentially belong to a different species now.
The difference between them and humans is distinct from the difference between Holy Blood and humans.
Even though they far exceed ordinary people in individual strength, due to the characteristic of "infertility," Holy Blood has always considered themselves as a "special case" among humans, akin to those naturally strong or exceptionally clever individuals.
But these Mountain City People?
Once they gain the ability to reproduce, they place a fundamental divide from humans.
Perhaps, this is why they've isolated themselves, not engaging with other humans?
Perhaps, their lack of aggressive action towards humans is merely because they don't feel sufficiently threatened?
That's why the Beast Tide targeted only the strongest forces at the time.
Because only these forces can genuinely threaten their existence...
Thinking of this, Lin Yu slowly exhaled.
"We must seize the moment when Mountain City is paralyzed by the nuclear explosion to complete our exploration."
He spoke to the Scout:
"Based on the experience from the last nuclear explosion, this city should start recovering in 6 to 7 hours."
"We have 3 hours left -- we must find the true core area of this city before those unmanned machines emerge."
"If the chance arises, we should attempt to go underground."
"Time is limited, let's go."
"Understood."
As soon as Lin Yu finished speaking, the Scout immediately stood up.
Neither wasted any words but instead headed up the building's stairs, returning to the surface.
At this moment, they're still quite a distance from the core area where the lights first turned on during the first nuclear blast, but Lin Yu does not plan to risk going over.
Because when the second nuclear blast occurred, he clearly saw several Mountain City People entering the underground from a nearby entrance.
It's a deep tunnel embedded in the rock wall, less than 800 meters from them.
Crossing a section of deserted track, Lin Yu led the Scout to the street outside the tunnel.
Repair traces left by unmanned machinery were clearly visible on the street. The Scout walked over to the roadside, touched a lamp-like device, then asked: