Li Yao was greatly enlightened. Like he said, while the underground wildlings were tough in nature, they were not necessarily the best warriors after all.
Since Nepenthe was so powerful, the few wildlings must not be in need of help. Why would they spare a team to search for the wildlings at such a critical moment?
As it turned out, they were trying to get the blood or the pure genes of the wildlings to unlock the weapons that had hibernated for ten thousand years. Everything made sense now!
As the powerful magical equipment unleashed dazzling mystic rays one after another, countless stalactites and stalagmites were blown into smithereens, soaking the entire cave in the middle of overwhelming killing intent.
Countless wildlings popped up in the darkness and stared at the marvelous weapons in bewilderment and zealotry. For the wildlings who had lost most of their rationality and only retained their instincts of killing, the marvelous weapons were undoubtedly more attractive than anything else in the world!
What was weird was that, despite the hunger in their hearts, the wildlings, including the Nepenthe believers, did not have much delight on their faces. They were as tranquil as an ancient well, like machines that had been implanted with killing instructions.
Li Yao could not tell which scene was more horrifying. The hideous, ferocious barbarians with rich expressions on their faces, or the human beings right now who were like walking corpses despite the fact that they obeyed every order they were given.
Countless thoughts were rolling in his head. For some reason, he suddenly thought of "A Boxing Champion" Lei Zonglie, the mechanical expert that he met on the Land of Sins in the Martial Meritocrats Sector!
A Boxing Champion was not a human being, but he could perfectly simulate the feelings and even self-awareness of human beings with highly-developed databases and optimization screening mechanisms. It was not unusual for people to forget his iron body and regard him as a human being made of flesh and blood.
The people before his eyes were all out-and-out human beings, but they were trying to abandon their flesh and soul and turn into cold machines.
Machines wanted to turn into humans, and humans wanted to turn into machines. What was a machine and what was a human being? A human being was nothing more than a machine made of countless cells. Was it any different from a machine made of iron? If a mechanical civilization did exist, was the civilization of mankind any different from it?
"Brother Yao …"
Li Jialing could not help but approach Li Yao. Rubbing the goosebumps on his arms hard, he said in a low voice, "Those guys give me such a weird feeling. They are almost like the people of the Holy League who have cut off all feelings. I would rather face the ferocious Immortal Cultivators than those cold, heartless monsters!"
After being with Li Yao for a long time, Li Jialing started to consider himself less and less as an Immortal Cultivator, or at least not a pure Immortal Cultivator.
Li Yao was silent.
Before he confided in Long Yangjun, he did not have any good feelings for the guys who were as cold as machines and puppets. He only had 100% disgust and wariness for them.
But now …
Li Yao sighed and said softly, "If there are no ferocious Immortal Cultivators, where do the Holy League come from?"
"What?"
Li Jialing was surprised. "Brother Yao, what are you talking about?"
"Nothing."
Li Yao clenched his fists, and his face turned extremely cold. However, two clusters of stubborn fire were ignited deep inside his pure black eyes, as if he were going to blow up the frozen souls of all the wildlings and the Nepenthe believers with the sparks.
Staring at them for a long time, he finally said, one word after another, "Let's go back to the surface and see what kind of changes we can bring to this absurd world!"
…
In the 10084 district …
When Li Yao, Li Jialing, Long Yangjun, and the Nepenthe believers returned with a large batch of wildlings who had "converted to the true path", the town already looked completely different from when they went down. It felt like a war was about to break out.
The 10084 district was one of the most developed towns of Nepenthe. More than half of the residents were Nepenthe believers, and the rest were Nepenthe's sympathizers and supporters too.
This time, Nepenthe decided to riot and overthrow the reign of the "Black Iron Group". Naturally, all the residents in the 10084 district were mobilized.
By the time Li Yao and the rest of them returned, the whole town had been enshrouded in a bright gold mist. The air was filled with the aroma of oil, which was caused by the residents who were butchering rock worms and roasting them as rations.
As for the Red Lizards, they were too reluctant to butcher them. They were the best "horses" that could equip the residents into "underground knights" who could move freely in the tunnels, which could make up for the shortage of mobility.
Countless young and strong men walked out from the enormous hollow stone pillars one after another. They sat cross-legged like cold stone sculptures and stared at the dim and illusory light above their heads. Their expressions were solemn and solemn as they mumbled to themselves. They had all entered a state of "psychic communication". It was unknown whether they were carrying out the daily brainwashing or the mobilization before the battle.
The mobilization before the war should've been the most passionate moment, but what enshrouded the town was nothing but indescribable gloom and lifelessness. In his trance, Li Yao even had the illusion that countless battle puppets had been activated.
Even the children were intimidated by the heavy and gloomy atmosphere. Not daring to laugh or sing anymore, there was no telling where they were hiding.
The scene made Li Yao's heart heavy, and he had a lot of thoughts.
He wanted to help the people who had completely lost hope and did not believe in the world at all, including himself, but he did not know where to start.
He felt that he had been locked in an impenetrable iron house that did not have any windows or gates. Furious flames were burning outside of the iron house, and there was not the slightest hope to break it.
Perhaps, Long Yangjun was right. The battles at the center of the cosmos were completely different from the battles at the edge of the cosmos.
This time, he was not going to fight against a specific enemy, not the four Kurfürsten, not Dongfang Wang, not Lei Chenghu, not Long Yangjun, not Li Linghai, not even Blackstar the Great, but the whole world, the twisted, absurd world!
Could he still win this time?
Or rather, could he still be lucky enough to get the help of most people?
Although he had made a resolute promise to Li Jialing, Li Yao was more or less at a loss when he returned to the pillar where he treated his wounds.
"Honorable guest, dinner is on you."
Right when Li Yao was upset and at a loss of what to do, rhythmic knocks echoed on the door again.
The girl who had delivered food to them earlier appeared again. Her expression was still cold, unsmiling, and unapproachable. She first bowed slightly before placing a tray of food in front of Li Yao. She was like a well-designed machine.
However, compared to the day before, the coldness in her eyes was more or less loosened.
Perhaps it was because Li Yao fixed the air circulation system without any trouble that she sensed the difference in Li Yao.
Li Yao had other things on his mind and did not notice the girl's vague change. He simply thanked her and considered his next step.
But out of his expectation, the girl did not leave after a long time but simply stood before him in silence.
"Is anything the matter?"
Li Yao raised his head and curiously looked at the girl, only to see that under the wide hood, there was a hesitant expression on her face. She was much more lively than a cold machine.
It seemed that the girl had not been a member of Nepenthe for long and did not have the ability to express her feelings yet. Li Yao was more or less relieved. He smiled and said, "Don't be scared. Just say it. Is there another piece of broken magical equipment that needs maintenance? Or do you want to learn how to repair the air circulation system? That's not a problem at all! "
"Not exactly."
The girl hesitated for a long time but still took off her hood as well as her cold mask. Bulging her black, glittering eyes, she looked at Li Yao and summoned her courage to ask, "I just want to ask, are you from the ground, honorable guest?"
Li Yao smiled. "Yes, I'm indeed from the ground. To be more exact, I'm from the space that is higher than the ground. My name is Li Yao. What's your name?"
Logically, he should've given a fake name.
But for some reason, faced with the girl from the underground who had taken off her cold mask, he did not want to put on too many disguises. So be it. Even if Blackstar the Great did find him, so what? He had risked his life for a battle. Even if he was killed, he would drag Blackstar the Great to die with him!
"My name is Bing Bing," said the girl.
The underground world was unbearably hot. The temperature was often above fifty degrees. The ice formed by the cooling rune arrays was a necessity for survival. Therefore, many underground people had the word 'Bing' in their names. In many underground dialects, 'Bing' meant peace and luck. 'Bing Bing' was a rather common name in the underground world.
Bing Bing finished speaking uneasily and stole a glance at Li Yao. Seeing that the big shot from the ground was not infuriated but encouraged her to continue, she twisted her clothes and said, "Since you are from the ground, honorable guest, you must've seen the real sun, haven't you? It is said that the sun is more dazzling than ten thousand fiery flowers gathered together. Is it true? I really can't imagine what the sun looks like at all. "
"Of course it's true."
Li Yao couldn't help but smile. "More than ten thousand fiery flowers. When the sun is at its fiercest, it is even more brilliant and splendid than when a million fiery flowers blossom at the same time. I can't describe how beautiful it is, but I believe that you will have a chance to go to the ground and see the sun, the blue sky, the white clouds, and the billions of stars in person one day!"
"Is that so …"
Biting her lips, Bing Bing bowed at Li Yao deeply. "Thank you, honorable guest."
She thanked him, but she still did not move. Her face was even more conflicted, as if she did not know whether or not she should continue asking.
"That's not right."
Who was Li Yao? Even Xiao Xuance, Bai Xinghe, and Lu Zui might not be able to fool him. Naturally, a little girl's mind could not be hidden from his eyes. "Bing Bing, what you really want to ask is not the sun on the ground but something else, right? If so, feel free to ask. I'll certainly tell you if I know the answer. "
"Thank you, Brother … Li Yao."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
