Chapter 403
Chapter 403 Fishing for Evidence
The emergency escape device of the armored vehicle was specially set up by Ling Mo.
After all, once entering such a dangerous area, no one could be sure what they would encounter. Locking oneself inside a tin can without any preparations was akin to delivering fast food directly to demons.
Likewise, for Ling Mo, since it was a battle, every opportunity to strike the enemy couldn’t be missed. So he also installed a self-destruction device on the armored vehicle, just to send the enemy a “big gift” after a hasty getaway.
Like the big fireworks below them at this very moment.
After taking off, he and Xia Xinyan were rather close, so he promptly released their seat manifestations and pulled Xia Xinyan into his arms. At the same time, he manifested back thrusters to take her away from the explosion range, landing smoothly in a safe spot.
From the trajectory of their flight, others had scattered as well. Monica caught that little fox to protect it, while Xiao Bai had no worries, as Bai Yu used her abilities to form a pair of iron wings, adjusting her stance perfectly. Only the chubby guy had fallen flat on his face.
But given his physique, it shouldn’t be a big deal.
After confirming everyone was okay, Ling Mo shifted his attention to the monster.
As the explosion dissipated, the monster lay on the ground, unmoving. He stared at it for a while, frowning, “Dead?”
“No, still alive,” Xia Xinyan activated her cat girl form and approached the creature slowly. “Let’s go check it out.”
Seeing this, Ling Mo hesitated for a second, then only manifested battle armor for both of them and followed her over.
Noticing their actions, Bai Yu seemed to want to come too but was stopped by Xia Xinyan: “You guys just stay here. We’re only checking the situation.”
Bai Yu thought for a moment, nodded, and turned to keep an eye on the chubby guy—he hadn’t gotten up since falling and was probably still dazed.
As the two approached the monster, they finally got a clear look at what it was.
It was a gigantic… gecko.
But this wasn’t a mutated gecko; it still retained a somewhat human-like shape, even having facial features. However, its skin was completely charred from the explosion, making its original appearance unrecognizable. Just this appearance alone was enough to make one lose their sanity.
“This… is also a demon?” Ling Mo was a bit surprised.
Though he had seen many Children of Freedom before, those demons at least still had a human form. But this one… there was hardly any human left, just a human face, and it looked like a grotesque version of one. This had certainly crossed the bounds of freedom.
Xia Xinyan nodded: “Actually, for us, any monster can be called a demon; the difference is just in their strength.”
“True,” Ling Mo nodded, then directly manifested a particle cutting sword, raising his hand to poke the creature, “Xinyan just said it’s not dead yet—”
Before he could finish his words or poke the monster, it suddenly opened its eyes wide in terror, letting out a scream. It then leaped up and quickly dove into a hole it had dug when it attacked the armored vehicle, disappearing into a pile of dirt.
Ling Mo paused: “…Tch, it really isn’t dead.”
From the creature’s earlier performance, it was… playing dead?
“Demons I’ve seen before would never do this,” Xia Xinyan expressed some confusion, “Now they’ve even learned to play dead… that’s quite an improvement.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t good news for them.
“This is interesting,” Monica had walked over without them noticing, staring at the hole covered in dirt for a couple seconds, rubbing her chin. “Is this the ordered evolution of chaotic creatures…?”
Xia Xinyan tilted her head, “What do you mean?”
“I mentioned to you before that creatures from the 0 state world would be transformed by the 1 state world, right?” Monica explained. “Theoretically, this transformation doesn’t happen in an instant; there’s a process. For example, what you’re seeing now—when I went back last time, I checked the archived database, and there were no records of this transformation process. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why this area is treated as a testing ground.”
“Then in the end, will they also give birth to civilizations?” Xia Xinyan frowned slightly.
“Not necessarily,” Monica shook her head, “Theoretically, we can only ensure they won’t behave like they used to, rushing to attack anything that moves, like animals. Even the most primitive creatures have their own thoughts.”
However, they would certainly pose a threat to humanity—these monsters with abilities were countless times stronger than lions and tigers, and they would surely compete with humans for living space.
“That means fighting is inevitable,” Ling Mo sighed, “No matter how much research value they have, at least for us, they are invaders. If they want to return to their former lives, they must die.”
Moreover, given all the disasters that had occurred, Linjiang City almost faced destruction, and many players had fallen in the Dark Zone. So even if coexistence were possible, no one would willingly choose that option if there were other choices.
“I understand, I understand,” Monica smiled, “So I won’t interfere with your choices, and neither will the higher-ups. Don’t worry.”
Xia Xinyan glanced at her, pouting: “Actually, if there’s a chance… I still hope you could interfere a bit.”
If she were on their side, that is.
Monica understood her meaning and didn’t refuse: “If I can help, I definitely will. Don’t worry.”
“…So we just let it run away like that?” The chubby guy, propped up by Bai Yu, came over, his face still covered in some dust, looking rather disheveled.
Since during Ling Mo’s ejection, he was the only one who hadn’t buckled his seatbelt— even the fox had a designated seatbelt ready.
Unfortunately, the chubby guy thought it was unnecessary and just played around.
This naturally led him to not want to talk about it, so he proactively started a conversation to prevent being questioned.
Hearing this, Xia Xinyan turned to look at Cang Hai City in the distance: “If I’m not mistaken, that guy probably escaped back to Cang Hai City.”
“So?” The chubby guy didn’t quite understand.
“It might alert the others,” Xia Xinyan continued.
“Oh… what?” The chubby guy was startled, “No way, they’ve evolved to this extent already?”
“Just a guess,” Xia Xinyan shook her head, “That’s why we need to check the situation. This reconnaissance mission isn’t just to find the Demon Stronghold; we also need to figure out roughly how much they’ve developed. Only in doing so can we ensure there won’t be any major problems later on.”
Taking some risks now would allow for greater stability in the future expedition.
The chubby guy understood: “Fishing for evidence, huh?”
“Pretty much that.”
