A few short hours was not enough for the bread crabs and peregrine falcons' sturdy shells to be corroded.
The exploration team quickly repaired dozens of thinking fighting vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles. Then, they "flew" them out and expanded the scanning area.
They might have sensed powerful spirit energy magnetic field interference at the edge of the sinkhole, but when they reached the depths of the sinkhole, the spirit energy magnetic field environment was rather stable. It was like the calm in the eye of a storm.
But when they thought about it carefully, it made sense. It was impossible for the mastermind to build the ultimate nest of a civilization in a place where the spirit energy magnetic field interference was really strong.
If it was constantly filled with powerful interference and radiation, even monsters would not be able to survive.
But there were no monsters here.
More accurately speaking, aside from pests and small monsters that posed no threat to humans and bubbling bogs, there were no signs of Nightmarish Beasts, Hell Beasts, or Apocalyptic Beasts in the dark forest in the depths of the sinkhole.
Perhaps it was because of the fog and intersecting vines above them that blocked most of the sunlight, but the bottom of the sinkhole was dead. There were no living monsters or signs of a monster horde.
The bread crabs and peregrine falcons scanned the area for a total of six hours and practically covered every corner of the sinkhole, but they did not run into any obstruction.
"How strange."
When he remembered the devastating battle between Dragon City and the monster civilization in his previous life, Meng Chao could not help but frown. "Is the monster civilization just going to sit around and wait for death? Are they just going to let us march into their nests and charge around as we please so that we can get a good feel of every single plant?"
"Perhaps the monster civilization has long since crumbled, and the mastermind has already fled," Long Feijun guessed.
Long Feijun made a guess. "Half a year ago, we destroyed the main force of the monster civilization at the perimeter of Dragon City. Then, we chased after the remnants of the monster horde all over the place. If those creatures really have intelligence that doesn't lose to that of humans, they should know that their pitiful 'civilization' has already lost, right?
"There's no meaning in putting up a stubborn resistance. If they don't want to surrender, they can only choose to flee.
"In any case, the Other World is huge. Aside from Monster Mountain Range, there should be other mountains and forests that can allow them to struggle on while at death's door.
"The only Tree of Wisdom left to deal with us is just a bluff. It's just putting on a show to confuse our minds."
That was true.
If the monster mastermind truly understood the essence of human civilization, then it should understand the principle of 'where there's life, there's hope'.
Running away was its best survival strategy.
There was no need for him to stay in Monster Mountain Range and fight to the death against the Earthlings.
Based on this optimistic estimation, Dragon City would soon be able to occupy the monster civilization's ultimate nest without shedding a single drop of blood and end this damn war.
Even though Meng Chao did not believe in any gods, he still prayed in his heart and hoped that the war would really go smoothly.
At this moment, a few Bread Crabs and Peregrine Falcons sent a message at the same time.
They scanned the ruins of a human town.
"This is … the real Peach Blossom Town!"
An hour later, Meng Chao, Lu Siya, Long Feijun, and the other exploration team members arrived at a dried-up swamp to the southwest of the sinkhole.
They saw the corpses of an entire town.
The collapsed buildings were rotting flesh, the rusted rebars were broken bones, the shattered and overturned roads were like dried-up blood vessels, and the wreckage of vehicles that had long since been reduced to scrap metal were devoured by the roots of the swamp and etherealized plants. They turned into the final traces of civilization that had solidified in the forest.
There were no beautiful trees, colorful flowers, streams filled with falling flowers and red leaves, or carefree people who ate their fill all day long.
There were no monstrous and ugly undead or zombies who wandered about the place forever.
There were only tombstones that looked like they had not been repaired for a long time and ruins covered in branches and vines. They quietly told the story of a civilization's demise.
"Carry out a full exploration of the town and see whether we can find survivors or production resources that are useful to Dragon City," Long Feijun ordered.
Hundreds of exploration team members moved together and soon, they overturned the ruins of the shattered town.
But they did not find any survivors or many things that were worth recycling.
They only found some human skeletons.
The entire town seemed to have been chewed by a gargantuan monster with hundreds of rows of teeth in its bloody mouth. All the beautiful and valuable things were ground and obliterated.
Only the scars on the skeletons told the exploration team just what sort of suffering and pain Peach Blossom Town had gone through.
The wound on one of the skulls attracted the exploration team's attention.
There were quite a number of sharpshooters in the exploration team, including Meng Chao. Everyone could tell that this was a wound that could only be caused by a gun at close range.
And it was clearly impossible for a monster to use a gun to blow up a human's head.
For a period of time, everyone sank into silence.
Ever since they regained consciousness, the guess that had been lingering in everyone's minds, but they had a tacit understanding and did not want to say it out loud finally could not be hidden anymore.
Could it be that the abnormal beast, the Wisdom Tree, was not lying? Peach Blossom Town was really destroyed by the internal strife of humans and not just by the invasion of monsters?
In fact, it was also true that Earth was destroyed. Was the civilization on their home planet really destroyed by a full-scale nuclear war?
The humans who transmigrated to the Other World all relied on their longing for their home planet and even their faith in it to maintain the laws, morals, and social form of Earth.
Deity Realm superhumans had the power to summon the wind and rain, kill tigers and dragons, and soar above the heavens. Through the mega corporations they built, they could mobilize an astronomical amount of resources at any moment.
The descendants of the infected who lived in the slums were troubled by congenital diseases. They were poor and weak. They could only rely on synthetic food made from monster scraps to barely fill their stomachs.
The difference between the two was like heaven and earth.
In fact, they did not even look like the same species.
Only with the identity of "Earthlings" could they at least have the same rights on the surface and in theory.
If the Earth civilization on their home planet was gone, could they, who had never stepped on that blue planet, still be considered "Earthlings"?
If they were not Earthlings, did they still need to follow the morals, laws, and social form of Earth?
If they did not need to follow the morals and laws of Earth, what kind of morals and laws should they follow? What would their social form become?
In the end …
"Will Dragon City be destroyed like Peach Blossom Town?"
This question seemed to have been carved on the hardest granite, and it crashed heavily into the brains of all the exploration team members.
"Dragon City will not follow in the footsteps of Peach Blossom Town."
Railway Cannon Long Feijun broke the silence. His eyes shone, and his expression was firm. "Most of the time, size itself is a great advantage.
"Dragon City is dozens of times bigger than Peach Blossom Town, which means that we have enough space and time to explore different paths. We have to bear the price of making mistakes, fend off attacks from powerful enemies, and recover from the most serious injuries.
"Besides, with Peach Blossom Town as an example, I believe that everyone will seriously think about just what sort of path the brand new Dragon City should take.
"Earth's civilization did not perish.
"Because we Earthlings are still around.
"Even if our home planet is destroyed, as long as we Earthlings are not all dead, we will definitely be able to rebuild a brand new Earth civilization on this brand new planet!"
"That's right, that's it!"
"We are Earthlings. Wherever we go, we will be able to build a brand new Earth!"
"Besides, the so-called destruction of Earth is just the enemy's side of the story. Even if Peach Blossom Town is really destroyed, it doesn't mean anything. Dragon City is dozens of times bigger than Peach Blossom Town, and the entire Earth civilization is thousands of times bigger than Dragon City!"
The eyes of the exploration team members lit up.
They firmly believed in Long Feijun's words.
They were like drowning people who were holding on to the last straw.
Long Feijun ordered everyone to gather all the human skeletons in Peach Blossom Town.
They also found quite a number of skeletons with bullet holes or marks left behind by swords.
Of course, most of the skeletons had marks left behind by monsters' claws, acid, and poison, which proved that the humans had died valiantly in the fight for living space against the monsters.
Time was limited, so they did not have time to sort through the skeletons one by one.
They could only dig a big pit in a dry and higher place outside Peach Blossom Town and bury all the skeletons of their compatriots. They would make further plans after Dragon City's army conquered Hidden Fog Desolate Region.
Perhaps the owners of some of the skeletons were dutiful warriors who fought bravely against the monsters until the last moment.
Perhaps the owners of some of the skeletons were weak mothers who opened their arms to protect their children even in the face of a harsh environment and ferocious monsters until the last breath.
Perhaps the owners of some of the skeletons were despicable violent rats who would do anything to survive and trample on the bottom lines of humanity.
Perhaps the owners of some of the skeletons had already mutated into ferocious humanoid beasts because of the corrosion of the Other World, and they did not hesitate to kill their former compatriots.
But now, they were all buried together, and no one knew their names. If they had to erect a tombstone, there would only be two words carved on it.
"Human."
After exploring the sinkhole for twelve hours, they finally reached the edge of the sinkhole.
The sinkhole might be deep, but the wall leading to the surface was curved, and it was covered in vines, branches, and creepers.
The Heaven Realm superhumans activated their vitality magnetic fields and resisted the spirit energy magnetic field interference. Without spending much effort, they climbed back to the surface.
The half-built camp on the surface was not destroyed.
After more than half a day, the exploration team finally contacted the rear again!
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