Luo Yuan stood on the branch and looked up at the sky, lost in thought.
However, apart from the stars, there was nothing else in the sky. What he had seen that night had shocked him greatly. Everything felt like a dream.
After a while, he came back to his senses and walked back to the cave numbly. He moved the boulder away. Wang Shishi was still asleep, snoring softly. He did not sleep for the whole night, but he did not look sleepy at all. He leaned against Wang Shishi and sat on the bear skin in a daze.
He felt that he needed some time alone.
What was the purpose of the extraterrestrial civilization coming to Earth?
Was it purely for scientific research or was it preparing to conquer Earth? Were they strangers or enemies? He did not even know if the crazy changes in the animals and plants in the past few years had anything to do with them.
Luo Yuan was not sure if the Reconstruction Area or the human civilization had noticed this group of extraterrestrial forces, but the possibility of that was very low.
It was more than 600 kilometers away from the Reconstruction Area, which was the territory of the mutated beasts. It was a restricted area for human activities. Even the drones were rarely seen here. Moreover, the behavior of the unknown extraterrestrial civilization was rather cautious. They were active in the middle of the night, so the probability of them being discovered was very low. If Luo Yuan did not pass by the Reconstruction Area in search of the Wisdom Tree, he would not have noticed them.
As for the spaceship that might exist in the vast space, it was not as easy as finding a specific grain of sand in the ocean to find it. It could hide behind the moon or be stationed in a planetary belt. With the level of human technology, it was impossible to find it.
Moreover, the strength of the extraterrestrial civilization was far stronger than that of Earth. Just like the radar during World War II, it could not detect the current invisible aircraft. Even if the spaceship appeared in the atmosphere of Earth, it would be difficult to detect it.
The Reconstruction Area was very powerful now. With the explosion of technology, the strength of the Reconstruction Area had improved tremendously. Although the population was less than 10% of what it was before the apocalypse, the conventional military power was more than 10 times stronger than before. In fact, the battle between humans and mutated beasts had always been in a stalemate. The mutated beasts could not advance, and similarly, humans could not recover their homeland.
The battle was not only at the frontlines, but also deep into the hinterlands. This was a battle of all fronts, in the sky, on land, underground, from the mutated beasts that were as large as mountains, to the mosquitoes and bacteria that bred in the cities. The entire Reconstruction Area was like an isolated island in the middle of the sea. There were huge waves on the outside and torrential rain on the inside. Once the balance was broken, it would be like dominoes falling and the entire place would be in danger.
However, now there was an extraterrestrial civilization with unknown friend or foe …
The more he thought about it, the more pessimistic Luo Yuan became. The future of mankind seemed to be clouded.
…
The sky was getting brighter. Luo Yuan rubbed his face and exhaled. With 17 points of Will, he was able to control his negative emotions quickly. No matter what happened in the future, he had to live on.
"Brother Luo, you're up." Wang Shishi woke up, sat up and stretched.
"Yes, let's eat something. After breakfast, we'll set off." Luo Yuan said, looking at Wang Shishi's sleepy face. Ignorance was bliss, at least she did not have to bear such heavy pressure.
There were still some leftovers from last night's dinner. Other than the barbecued meat that was as hard as a rock, the eggs were still edible. Both of them had a simple breakfast and continued their journey.
The cool morning was the most comfortable time of the day. At this time, the temperature had already dropped. A gentle breeze blew on his body, making him feel like all his pores were breathing. Because of the fog last night, the ground was a little damp. As he walked in the forest, water droplets fell from time to time.
However, before the water droplets fell, they were suspended in the air by an invisible force. After a day's rest, Wang Shishi was full of energy. Her exhaustion from the night before had completely recovered. She was able to control the water droplets to entertain herself as they continued their journey.
The air here had gradually taken on a salty and humid smell. The sea was not far from here. Half an hour later, they could see concrete debris covered in moss and vines on the road from time to time. However, there was no trace of human civilization other than these.
The ground was covered with a few meters of dead leaves. If the coordinates did not show that they were in Mushi County, it would be hard to believe that this primeval forest used to be a city with a population of more than 200,000 a few years ago.
Luo Yuan flew into the air, identified the location and continued to walk.
Kidney Mountain was about 30 to 40 kilometers away from Mushi County. There were very few people there, and there were no signs of human habitation within a few miles. Before the apocalypse, there was only a dirt road that led to the mountain. Now, there was no road at all, so they could only identify it with their naked eyes.
The name Kidney Mountain could not be found on the map. It was just an inconspicuous peak in a rolling mountain range. Apart from the locals, no one knew about it.
Compared to the barren hills before the apocalypse, where plants were sparse and the peaks were bare, there were plants everywhere now. They were huge and could reach up to 100 meters in height. Looking at the mountains around them, most of them were only a few hundred meters high. It would be impossible to find a mountain that looked like a kidney just by looking at its name.
The only way to find it was to follow the waterfall.
It was not difficult. Luo Yuan's sharp ears had already heard the sound of the waterfall. However, the migration that the Drifter had mentioned happened half a year ago. At that time, the sea level had just risen, and the area was still dry.
Now, judging from the salty smell in the air, it had become a coastal area. The climate was humid, and the rainfall was abundant. Moreover, it was a mountainous area with a huge difference in terrain. Waterfalls were no longer rare. Luo Yuan had heard the sound of seven or eight waterfalls.
Fortunately, it was only a matter of time.
Luo Yuan searched everywhere, and when it was almost noon, he arrived at the fifth mountain with a waterfall. Luo Yuan's eyes lit up when he saw it. The mountain was not high, and the drop was about 300 to 400 meters. The strange thing was its shape. There was a slight depression in the middle of the mountain. If the plants were removed, it would look exactly like the 'Kidney Mountain' that the Drifter had mentioned from afar.
A waterfall poured down from the bottom of the mountain. It was a waterfall formed by the broken flow of an underground river. There was not much water in the waterfall, and the drop was not high either. That was why Luo Yuan had only found this waterfall when he saw it.
Luo Yuan left Wang Shishi where she was. After all, it was not safe in front of them. If the intelligent people were to flee in panic and migrate, it would at least be a level six creature. He could easily deal with a level six creature, but he was afraid of a level seven creature. Such a huge creature could cause a large area of destruction with just a jump. If he encountered one, he would have to give it his all and would not be able to take care of Wang Shishi.
He carried his Zhanmadao and continued on his journey. The mountain path was rugged and abnormally steep. A few living man-eating vines tried to attack him, but they were all cut down by Luo Yuan with his Zhanmadao.
A few giant man-eating flowers bloomed under the shade of the tree. They were colorful and gave off a sweet fragrance. There were piles of bones nearby.
Not far away, a giant plant that was about a hundred meters tall was moving slowly. With every step it took, its roots that were as thick as a giant python were pulled out of the ground or dug into the ground, causing the ground to shake. The old bark on the tree trunk was full of cracks, forming a huge blurry human face. As it moved, its expression changed slightly.
Most of the plants here seemed to have turned into animals. It was rare to see a tree man, but in just a few kilometers, Luo Yuan had found three of them.
Luo Yuan swatted away a blood-thirsty mosquito. As he listened to the sound of the waterfall getting louder, he suddenly sped up.
A few minutes later, Luo Yuan jumped on a giant rock. The waterfall was already in front of him.
The terrain was relatively flat, and the ground was covered with pebbles of different sizes. The waterfall was only about 10 meters tall, and it eventually formed a river that was about 10 meters wide. It flowed along the rocky beach and into the bottom of the valley.
Strangely, the plants here were rather sparse, and their sizes were much smaller. At a glance, there were only a few scattered trees growing on the rocky beach. Other than that, there were pitifully few vines and weeds with strong vitality.
Near the pool, there was a strange plant that was fifty to sixty meters tall. Compared to the low "shrubs", it was obvious that it was a crane among chickens.
The spherical roots, the wart-like lumps, the sparse leaves, the extremely twisted towel-like trunk, and the fruits that were the size of a baby's head. All of these proved its identity.
"Wisdom Tree."
Luo Yuan's eyes lit up, and his breathing quickened.
This Wisdom Tree was much bigger and thicker than the one he had found before. Its color had also changed. The previous one was yellow and purple, but this one was completely purple and even a little black, as if it was filled with rotten blood.
The level of this Wisdom Tree was obviously higher than the one he had found before.
Although he was anxious, Luo Yuan did not act rashly. He looked around carefully, and there were no living creatures nearby. Even the usual sounds of insects and birds in the forest seemed to have disappeared. This was extremely abnormal.
He carefully sensed the air, and there seemed to be a faint sense of oppression. This made Luo Yuan frown.
He hesitated for a moment, and then he held the handle of his sword and slowly walked forward. At the same time, he expanded his Sensory Perception to its limit, carefully searching for movement nearby. However, he did not feel anything wrong. As he walked closer, his Sensory Perception soon covered the entire pool.
At first, he thought that the mutated beast was in the pool, but he did not see it at all.
The pool was not deep, only about three to four meters, and its circumference was less than 100 meters. There were no dark holes at the bottom, and other than a group of "small fish" that were a few meters long, there was nothing else.
During the apocalypse, a creature of this size could only be called a small fish.
Luo Yuan was relieved. It seemed like it was a false alarm, and the mutated beast that was originally here might have died or left the place. In the jungle, it was the law of the jungle, and it was cruel. No matter how strong the mutated beast was, it could be killed if it was not careful.
However, the bones under the Wisdom Tree were strange. He did not notice it when he saw it from afar, but now that he was near it, he felt strange. Luo Yuan realized that each of the bones was huge, and one of the thighs that was lying on the ground was about 10 meters long and 1.5 meters thick. It was like a huge stone pillar lying on the ground, and it was a few times bigger than the soul-eating beast that Luo Yuan had seen before. There were many other smaller bones around it.
It was fine if there were only one or two of them, but there were so many of them. They were piled up like a mountain near the Wisdom Tree, and the whole sea of bones was about 40 to 50 meters thick, covering tens of thousands of square meters. Luo Yuan noticed that the bones under the ground had turned into gray powder, and he did not know how many strong mutated beasts were buried here.
Suddenly, he felt uneasy. This sea of bones could not have been done by the intelligent human. Based on the bones here, any mutated beast could kill the intelligent human.
At this time, he vaguely smelled a trace of blood energy. He sniffed it gently and looked at a certain place in the sea of bones. Suddenly, his expression changed greatly. Countless translucent filaments grew out of the trunk of the wisdom tree and tightly wrapped a certain place like a silkworm cocoon.
The carcass was still "fresh", and it had probably just been placed there yesterday.
His heart sank more and more. This mutated beast didn't leave at all. Instead, it went to hunt for food in the distance. With its own strength, it could form a sea of bones made up of level seven mutated beasts. It was definitely not an ordinary level seven mutated beast. It might even be a level eight mutated beast.
Glancing at the Wisdom Tree not far away, he hesitated for a moment. Then, with a few leaps, he landed next to the tree, not daring to waste any more time. Only God knew when that terrifying creature would return.
He took out his Zhanmadao, and the 1.5 meter long glow of the Zhanmadao swallowed the air violently. In an instant, the glow of the Zhanmadao was like a rainbow piercing through the sun. Then, he retreated. A loud bang was heard, and the huge trunk fell. The thick trunk was like a giant python, and it began to roll violently.
A large number of bones were flying in the air, and the strong wind caused the trees nearby to fall. Like a drop of cold water falling into boiling oil, the sea of bones was stirred into a pot of thick porridge, and a series of explosions were heard, like rolling thunder. The smallest tree trunk was half a meter long, and the thickest one was one to two meters long. There were thousands of them, and under the intense rolling and shaking, even the sky was covered. The movement of the Wisdom Tree before it died was comparable to that of a violent level seven mutated beast.
As time passed, Luo Yuan paced back and forth in the distance. He was anxious, but he could only wait patiently.
The Wisdom Fruit was useless to him, but the Wisdom Heart was useful.
However, the conditions for the formation of the Wisdom Heart were quite harsh. Only when the Wisdom Tree was suffering irreversible damage, most of the nutrients would shrink from the trunk to a certain core on the trunk.
This was equivalent to a seed. After the crisis, the seed would germinate on the original carcass through the accumulated nutrients, and it would be revitalized. This was the survival method of the Wisdom Tree.
However, this required a certain amount of time. No matter how anxious Luo Yuan was, he could only wait patiently for the protection mechanism to be activated automatically.
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