The Dark Age.
Since the outbreak of the apocalyptic war, the entire planet's ecosystem had been destroyed and reshaped. More than 60% of species had gone extinct, civilization had regressed, and the planet had entered the Dark Age, which was why it was collectively known as the Dark Age.
The various survivor camps were closed and narrow, and there was no universal calendar, but Wu Ming was quite clear that the Dark Age had lasted for more than ten years.
At this time, the humans living on the planet had more or less changed, and could be called new humans. A strange organization was also rising rapidly.
The Hidden Society!
This dark hand that was originally hiding behind the scenes and pushing for the destruction of the world had now openly established a new country on the territory of the original Pandorne Empire.
Over there, everything was ruled by the will of the Extraordinaires. Normal new humans were just slaves, and the stronger the Extraordinaires were, the more privileges they had. The Extraordinaires could even kill the slaves for fun without paying any price. It was a place filled with blood and evil.
In the Golden Oak Kingdom, the new Church of Redemption led by Jay had also developed rapidly. After absorbing a large number of believers from other cities' sanctuaries, and after Wu Ming had generously bestowed divine spells, the power of the church had also developed rapidly. With Caspar as the center, it continued to encroach outwards.
As for the Bauhinia Federation?
There were no large Arcanist forces rising there. Instead, it was a chaotic situation.
Of course, no matter how these forces developed, compared to the Golden Oak Kingdom and the Bauhinia Federation of the old era, they were still far inferior. They were basically at the level of a small ancient Greek city-state, and the transportation was quite blocked, with little communication.
The reason? Of course, it was the harsh environment and all kinds of dangers.
…
Golden Oak Kingdom.
A team of Ancient Wind adventurers wearing leather armor, holding swords, spears, bows, and arrows appeared on the field.
"Little Evan, this is your first time out hunting. Just pay attention and protect yourself!"
A big man wearing black leather armor with three claw scars on his face said with a straight face, "Be careful not to drag us down. Once you put yourself in danger because of your stupidity, don't expect us to risk our lives to save you!"
"I know, Uncle Sebas!"
The young man named Evan looked to be no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. The hair on his mouth had not completely faded yet, and he was wearing an old leather armor that clearly did not fit him. His hands were trembling because he was holding the spear too hard, and his knuckles were pale.
"I'm already an adult. I'm an adult!"
Evan whispered.
Their camp's food supply was extremely tight. The various seeds from the olden era could not be grown on the ground. Even though they managed to find a few that could barely be eaten from the mutated plants, the output was extremely miserable. The new humans of the dark era had a deep impression of hunger.
In this kind of hunting group, as long as they could get something and go back alive, they could at least get a share of the meat, which would greatly reduce the burden on their families.
"Sigh … If it was in the past, a kid like you wouldn't have it easy either. You would have to work and earn money, but at least your life wouldn't be in danger …"
Sabas suddenly sighed.
"That Age of Light?"
Little Evan had an envious look in his eyes. "I heard that in that era, as long as you had paper money, you could buy anything in the store!"
"Yes, that's right!"
Sebas nodded affirmatively. "It's all that damn war's fault!"
In a trance, even he felt that it was unbelievable. Ten years had passed, and the originally timid young man had grown into a true man of steel.
Unfortunately, that carefree era was gone forever. He could only relive those beautiful memories in his dreams.
"Isn't that the same as the Kingdom of the God of Redemption, Utopia?"
Evan said in admiration.
Even though he had lived before the war, he was still a baby at that time and had no memory of the steam era. What he had heard the most was the Kingdom of the God of Redemption.
Within the Golden Oak Kingdom, there had always been a myth.
Before the end of the world, Pope Steven of the God of Redemption had led a large group of believers to the Kingdom of God.
There, there was no famine, no radiation, no harsh weather, and no dangerous mutated beasts. Golden wheat covered the ground, and with a little effort, one could harvest enough bread to last them for a few years.
"Utopia? Something like that! "
Sebas had never actually been to the Kingdom of God, so he could only answer, "I heard that only the most devout believers can go there …"
"Not even Paladin Robin?"
Evan suddenly asked.
Paladin Robin was another rising legend of the Church of Redemption after Jay.
He was only 25 or 26 years old, but he had already become the chief paladin of the church. He had a very good reputation among the commoners, and was said to be the embodiment of love, justice, and protection.
Of course, he was also the dream lover of many girls and the idol of little boys.
"Robin …"
Sebas did not know how to answer, so he chose the most convenient form.
"Idiot! This is the Wasteland of Death, is this still the time to chat? "
He punched Little Evan's head fiercely. "Be careful! Some high-level mutated beasts even have intelligence, don't think that they are as stupid as wild beasts and will fall into a trap! "
"Boss!"
At this moment, a capable female adventurer shouted, "There are traces!"
"Hmm? Let me see! "
Sebas pushed aside the grass and saw a few slender beast tracks, and his face lit up with joy. "It's those cute white-eyed rats, maybe even a few Sharp-toothed Rabbits. That's great!"
Hunting in the wild was not an easy job, and it was always accompanied by danger, especially among the mutated beasts. There were existences equivalent to Extraordinaries, and those high-level beast kings almost had intelligence comparable to humans. They were not something ordinary people could handle.
They were the most ordinary adventurer team, and at most they could fight lone wolves. If they encountered a larger beast, they would die. It could be said that they were fighting with their lives.
Now that they saw that their opponents were relatively weak, they were naturally very happy.
Those who really wanted to challenge their limits at every moment and dance on a tightrope were either fools or lunatics. In any case, they were not normal people.
"Chase after them and see if we can loot their nest!"
Sebas's eyes seemed to be shining.
The nest of small beasts represented more things. For example, there might be a kudzu or a small orchard nearby. Most of the things that they could eat could be eaten by humans.
After all, after being eliminated by the harsh environment, there were not many humans left who could bear it.
"No problem!"
With this discovery, the entire team was in high spirits. The female archer immediately began to pursue, while the others tidied up their weapons.
Most of the weapons they used were steel knives, iron swords, bows and arrows, and spears. The tips of the weapons were polished very sharp, and most of them had blood grooves. It was obvious that they were lethal weapons.
The reason why they did not use bullets or gunpowder weapons was that these beasts had mutated, and many of them had coarse skin and thick flesh. Ordinary firearms could not kill them at all. The second reason was logistical considerations.
After all, hunting and defense were daily production work, and the survivors' camp did not have a specialized production line for firearms and bullets.
It was enough to support a large-scale battle with the weapons seized from the ruins, but if they were used on a daily basis, they would certainly not be able to make ends meet. Therefore, the firearms from the old era were treated as secret weapons and were well protected in the survivors' camp.
Due to the existence of abilities, most of the survivors' camps were now led by high-level Extraordinaries.
The widespread use of cold weapons made many people begin to pick up the martial arts that they had looked down on in the past, and they had no choice but to train hard in order to survive.
The whole world seemed to be twisted by a strange force, and everything was changing toward a new form of society.
The group crept forward for a long time, and at Sebas's command, they collectively hid in the bushes.
Whoosh!
The purple sun set, and a cold wind blew.
Because the ozone layer was already riddled with holes, the temperature difference between day and night was unbelievably large. After the ultraviolet rays and scorching rays in the day, it became a bone-chilling wind at night.
If it was an ordinary person during the steam era, they would have become a dead dog by now.
But after a mutation, even the most ordinary of the new humans had a great tolerance to radiation and the environment. Even Evan, who was the thinnest and weakest among them, only shivered a little.
But their hiding and waiting finally paid off.
"Squeak!"
After an unknown period of time, in the darkness of the night, Evan could clearly see that the turf not far away had been pulled up. A few small heads poked their heads out, their white eyeballs extremely conspicuous.
"White-eyed Rat, the most common mutated beast. Its combat power is about that of a child!"
Evan silently recalled the other party's information. In fact, he had eaten a lot of White-eyed Rat meat. It had an indescribably bitter and foul taste, and the taste was not very good.
But for ordinary people, there was nothing to be picky about if they could occasionally eat meat.
Swoosh!
After receiving a signal from Sebas's eyes, the two archers in the team immediately drew their bows and nocked their arrows. With a piercing sound, the arrows accurately hit two White-eyed Rats, and they were nailed to the ground.
"Charge!"
Sebas roared and quickly threw out a flying dagger, which nailed another white-eyed rat that was trying to flee in panic to death.
"Ah!"
Evan jumped out of the bushes with his spear in hand. Unfortunately, because he was too nervous, he tripped and fell on his face.
"…"
Sebas saw this scene, and his mouth twitched. He was speechless.
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