620: Chapter 620 Harvest, History of the Old Era

Comparing the blood cores of varying sizes in his hand, Fang Cheng came to a rough conclusion.

The probability and quality of a blood core's condensation should be in absolute positive correlation with the individual strength of the mutant beast.

The stronger the mutant beast, the larger the condensed blood core, and the more refined the life energy contained within it.

Furthermore, this pure life energy crystal was precisely the "food" most desired by those Black Monsters lurking in the storm.

Reaching behind his back, Fang Cheng felt for his rucksack, unzipped the side pocket, and tossed the three newly acquired trophies inside.

Including the two small blood cores dug out earlier, he now had six in hand.

Holding the bead that had been slightly dimmed by the Black Monster's absorption in his palm, Fang Cheng quietly felt the warm energy radiating from it.

For a Martial Artist cultivating True Qi, this item was undoubtedly an excellent tonic.

Perhaps for ordinary people looking to strengthen their bodies and achieve Awakening powers, it also held incalculable value.

If not for this, the military wouldn't have gone to such great lengths, even teaming up with the Noah Organization to carry out secret research projects in order to explore this world.

As Fang Cheng pondered silently.

Everyone in the hall held their breath, maintaining a humble posture and not daring to make the slightest sound.

Apart from the thunderous tremors occasionally coming from overhead, this underground space appeared exceptionally quiet.

"Gurgle—"

A loud rumble of a stomach abruptly broke the surrounding quiet atmosphere.

Fang Cheng turned his head toward the sound.

Pike was staring intently at the smashed remains of the Crawling Beasts on the ground, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as a streak of glistening saliva hung from the corner of his mouth.

For the bottom-feeders of the wasteland who survived year-round on moss, fungi, and rats, these hundreds of catties of fresh, high-tier beast meat were simply a mountain of gold exuding a fatal temptation.

Squatting on the ground to check Roken's injuries, Kyle turned his head upon hearing the commotion.

Seeing this kid shamelessly lingering next to the Crawling Beast carcass, he quickly stepped forward, slapped the back of Pike's head, and scolded in a low voice:

"Pull your eyes back! That's My Lord's prey, do you want to die?!"

Fang Cheng adjusted the shoulder strap of his rucksack, swept his gaze over Pike's shriveled belly, and said casually,

"These beasts are too bulky for me to carry away. You guys can split the meat amongst yourselves."

"Ah, really?!"

Pike jerked his head up, his eyes shining like two searchlights.

Fang Cheng smiled and nodded,

"Just leave me ten catties to taste."

Receiving an affirmative reply, Pike let out a cheer.

He then drew the notched dagger from his waist, preparing to plunge it into the spine of the nearest Crawling Beast.

"Wait, don't just hack blindly!"

Seeing this, Ira hurriedly ran over and grabbed Pike's wrist.

Wiping the dust off her mask with her sleeve, she pointed to a bulging lump just below the monster's spine and gestured,

"This is the venom gland of the Crawling Beast. If you cut it open, the meat will be completely ruined."

"You should start cutting from the back of the neck, slicing downwards while avoiding the organs. The meat in these areas has the least radiation pollution..."

"Ira is right. Move aside, I'll do the cutting."

Kyle also stepped forward at this time, drawing his sharp machete to take Pike's place as he instructed,

"Go lay out those relatively clean tarp pieces and get ready to wrap the meat."

With professional guidance and Kyle's practiced technique, a half-ton Crawling Beast was quickly butchered.

But this turned into a sweet burden.

Because there was simply too much meat to carry away.

Mind you, there were still two other prey of the exact same size right beside it.

Kyle selected the meatiest hind leg section, cut off about ten catties of meat, and tied it securely with a slipknot using hemp rope.

Then, carrying the heavy chunk of beast meat, he walked up to Fang Cheng, presented it respectfully with both hands, and lowered his head.

"My Lord, this is the portion you requested. It's just that there's far too much meat here for the few of us to carry."

"I plan to take a portion away first, leave a mark, and bring the camp's transport team over tomorrow to haul the rest."

Fang Cheng nodded slightly, having no objections at all.

As he reached out to take the meat, he paused for a moment before tossing the incomplete blood core in his hand toward them.

"This is for you."

Kyle hurriedly reached out and caught it.

When he saw clearly what was in his hand, his eyes widened, and he nearly dropped to his knees on the spot:

"A Tier 3 blood core?! My Lord... Th-this is too precious!"

"Consider it a deposit for being my guides."

Fang Cheng dusted off his hands and instructed,

"I'm not very familiar with this place and need a reliable guide to show me around a bit."

"Yes, My Lord."

Kyle's face flushed red as he tightly clutched the blood core with both hands, nodding excitedly.

"It's our squad's honor to guide you, and we guarantee nothing will go wrong!"

He immediately turned around to rally the others, speeding up their preparations for departure.

Ira quickly pulled out several hemostatic bandages, simply immobilizing Roken's injured arm over his protective suit.

Pike gritted his teeth as he laboriously hoisted a heavy pack of meat weighing dozens of catties onto his back.

Being naturally thin and scrawny, he was bent almost into the shape of a bow under the crushing weight.

With every step, his body swayed uncontrollably from side to side, looking just like a turtle carrying a massive boulder—a somewhat comical sight.

Roken stood up and couldn't help grinning with amusement at the sight.

"Hey, little Pike, watch out or your bones will get crushed. If my hand wasn't crippled, would this kind of heavy labor ever fall to you?"

Pike stiffened his neck and talked back defiantly.

"I'm not that delicate! Once I eat more beast meat to build up my strength, I'll definitely grow taller and stronger than you!"

Kyle stepped forward, supporting the bottom of the pack with one hand to help steady Pike's footing.

He had always been extremely strict with his little underling, but at this moment, he rarely showed a hint of concern.

"Walk slower and watch your step."

With that, he hoisted a pack of beast meat weighing a full four hundred kilograms onto his shoulders with steady ease.

Once everything was packed up, the group proceeded along the dim tunnel deeper into the subway station.

The air here was extremely stale, carrying a heavy scent of rust and the musty odor of a place that never saw the sun.

The rails beneath their feet were rusted to decay, and most of the wooden ties had rotted and blackened, feeling spongy and slippery to step on.

As the flashlight beam swept across, a few fat rats scurried away in panic among the crevices covered in glowing moss.

Turbid water dripped down from the cracked vaulted ceiling, splashing rhythmically against their heads with a pattering sound.

Stepping over the remains of a concrete load-bearing pillar lying across their path, they turned deeper into the tunnel on the left.

Burdened by the heavy packs of meat, both Kyle and Pike walked with somewhat heavy footsteps.

The heavy breathing of the two echoed through the gloomy tunnel from time to time.

Walking in the middle of the group and dodging the puddles beneath his feet, Fang Cheng spoke casually,

"I've spent too long alone in the mountains. What's the situation in this world like nowadays? Are all the living people hiding underground?"

Spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and supporting his rifle with his uninjured hand, Roken wheezed as he replied,

"Ain't that the truth, My Lord. On the surface, apart from radiation that can char human skin, there are only man-eating monsters."

"If not for a few bites of meat, who the hell would want to crawl out from underground and look for death?"

Hearing this, Fang Cheng took the opportunity to press further:

"What happened in the past to cause things to end up like this? I don't know much about history."

Wheezing as he walked with a large pack of meat on his back, Pike turned his head and said innocently,

"It's okay, I don't understand history either! There aren't even a few people in our camp who can read, only Sister Ira actually went to school properly!"

A bitter smile forced its way onto Ira's pale face as she slowed her pace to walk alongside Fang Cheng, explaining softly,

"My Lord, we only know what's been passed down by word of mouth from the elders in the inner city since we were kids. I heard that during the old era over a thousand years ago, society was extremely prosperous, filled with unimaginable technological marvels, and everyone lived a happy life."

"But later on, nobody knows what happened—countless blinding flashes lit up the sky, and great fires descended..."

"Followed by a long war lasting hundreds of years that ultimately destroyed the entire world, killing most of humanity in the process."

"Yeah, yeah, the surface got blown to pieces, and there's radiation and poisonous gas everywhere."

Catching his breath on the side, Roken chimed in,

"Plants died out, all the animals turned into monsters, plus that ghost weather like the polar night storm... Humans simply can't survive up there."

Leading the way, Kyle swept his flashlight over a pit ahead to warn the others to avoid it, adding casually,

"I also heard from the elders that our underground city used to be some sort of 'subway transportation network' from the old era."

"Later on, the humans hiding here just kept digging downward generation after generation along these tunnels, establishing underground camps one by one to form a massive subterranean network."

"By now, all the camps here are interconnected, and we occasionally head out to hunt on the surface through the subway station exits."

Listening to their accounts, Fang Cheng recalled the Masked Man's words.

No wonder that back when he first entered this world and walked through the wasteland for a long time without seeing a single soul—it turned out all the living people were acting like groundhogs underground.

"Uncle, what about you?"

Pike widened his eyes curiously, staring at Fang Cheng:

"You're so strong, and you're not even afraid of Black Monsters. You must be from a huge camp, right? Is it bigger than our Iron City?"

Looking into the darkness ahead, Fang Cheng maintained a calm expression:

"I come from a very distant place. There is a huge city right by the sea."

"Sea?"

Pike blinked, his face behind the gas mask filled with confusion:

"What's the sea? Is it a camp way, way bigger than Iron City? Can the rats inside be eaten?"

Fang Cheng smiled and was just about to speak when a crisp voice beat him to it.

"The sea is boundless water on the surface."

Adjusting her backpack strap, which had made her shoulders ache, Ira interjected softly,

"When I was little, I saw a picture book at the orphanage. It said that during the old era over a thousand years ago, it was very prosperous—no radiation, no monsters, blue skies, and a blue sea..."

At this, she paused, a hint of confusion regarding the unknown in her eyes:

"Yet, ever since fire fell from the skies and burned the entire surface, does a 'sea'... truly still exist in this world?"

Fang Cheng smiled dismissively, choosing not to explain the existence of another world, and simply brushed it off:

"I just heard it from my elders."

The group didn't pursue the matter further.

On the wasteland, no one would meticulously pry into the background of a powerful expert.

The squad continued pushing through the dark tunnel.

The deeper they went, the dampier and colder the surrounding air became.

Just as Fang Cheng stepped over a pile of collapsed rubble, his heart gave a violent leap.

An inexplicable sense of pulling emanated from the depths of his consciousness, as though a faint voice was summoning him from the netherworld.

He instantly stopped in his tracks, casting his gaze toward a certain direction in the darkness.

Deep within his mind, the phantom of a red vortex vaguely emerged, flickering intermittently.

"That is...?"

Fang Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly, instantly realizing what the problem was.

Several hours had already passed since he opened the portal and arrived in this world.

The spatial portal in the cave obviously required massive energy to sustain it.

Judging by this commotion, it was probably running on empty.

Once the energy was depleted and the portal closed,

and since he didn't know how to reopen it, he might end up trapped in this wasteland world forever.

Fang Cheng thought rapidly.

He had already gathered some intelligence on the other world and obtained treasures like blood cores; continuing to deeply investigate Iron City would likely result in losses outweighing gains.

If he stubbornly stayed behind, he would face the danger of being trapped in another world.

Besides, the time limit for the physical fitness test was about to expire.

It was time to pull out.

Weighing the pros and cons, Fang Cheng made a swift and decisive choice.

As for how to return in the future, he would figure something out when the time came.

"Hold on a second."

He suddenly called out.

The four people walking ahead instantly stopped in unison.

Seeing Fang Cheng standing in place with a frown, thinking something had happened, they immediately grew tense.

Kyle dropped the meat onto the ground, quickly placing his right hand on the hilt of his blade as he asked warily,

"My Lord, is something wrong?"

"I suddenly remembered an urgent matter. I won't be heading to Iron City today after all."

Fang Cheng changed his tune with a calm expression,

"Just lead me to the exit near the northern mountains first."

Hearing this, Kyle was momentarily stunned.

Though surprised by the powerful expert's sudden change of heart, he didn't dare ask a single extra question and immediately nodded:

"Understood. Walking north from the fork up ahead, there's an abandoned ventilation shaft that leads directly to the northernmost edge of the city ruins. Past that are the mountains."

After explaining in detail, Kyle took the lead to guide the way:

"Please follow me."

The group thus temporarily changed their route.

About twenty minutes later,

the group followed an upward-sloping maintenance tunnel to a heavy, rusted iron door.

Through the cracks of the door, a few wisps of icy wind from the surface's polar night leaked in.

Bidding farewell to the four, Fang Cheng stepped forward, preparing to push open the door and leave.

"My Lord, please wait."

Ira suddenly spoke up.

Stepping forward two paces, she gripped the latches of her gas mask with both hands and gave them a hard twist.

Accompanied by the faint hissing sound of escaping air valves, she removed her mask.

Revealing a pale yet very delicate face.

Due to being stuffy for so long, her cheeks bore a sickly, faint flush at the moment, and a few strands of sweat-soaked hair clung to her temples.

Reaching out, she pulled a necklace strung with a deep blue gemstone from around her neck, presenting it to Fang Cheng with both hands:

"I have no way to repay your life-saving grace. Please accept this."