Chapter 137: Chapter 131: Monsters Emerge
Zhu Xiong had not expected that even reporting on a task would involve a queue, as not only he but also Gan Xinglei, Zhang Dahai, and Guo Gang had discovered different situations.
Of course, they were mainly traces of monsters.
As the days in the apocalypse passed, the concentration of spiritual energy on Earth was also increasing, with monsters growing stronger.
With their expanding exploration, the more areas they explored, the more powerful monsters they discovered, which was completely different from the surroundings of Shanhu Villa District.
Near Shanhu Villa, Su Han had claimed the title of the 'strongest creature' in that area, so other monsters were naturally driven away by the activities of the people from Shanhu Villa.
However, in areas they had not touched, other monsters were vying to become the top predators of their territories, much like nurturing poisonous insects.
Gan Xinglei had encountered a Blood Thorn Ape Monster, First Order Upper Grade, strong-bodied, tearing apart corpses as easily as eating and drinking, notably more formidable than usual First Order Upper Grades.
Although he killed it, more traces were discovered on the outskirts of the planned area, clearly not the work of a lone monster.
Zhang Dahai similarly found a huge blood-red snake skin, about one meter thick and approximately twenty to thirty meters long, a shed from a giant snake monster, which in size alone might rival a Second Order.
However, the snake skin had been shed some time ago, leaving its current whereabouts unknown.
Guo Gang's side was the strangest as monsters were rare, and he encountered almost no combat, but that area was clearly not a place where Su Han and the search team often operated, likely concealing powerful monsters.
All three had encountered issues, but fortunately, the abnormalities were found a certain distance from the designated area, and the planned checkpoints could still isolate a safe zone.
As for potential dangers, they could only be addressed when the time came.
In such an apocalypse, living was a constant struggle. A step back might mean having your head bitten off by a monster, so even with some risks, the plans were not to be abandoned.
When it was finally Zhu Xiong's turn to enter, Su Han had already been sitting inside Villa Number Nine for over an hour.
"It's finally my turn."
Zhu Xiong sat on the sofa, almost slumping into it.
Su Han poured him a glass of water and asked, "Old Zhu, what's the situation on your side?"
"I encountered a group of survivors near Nanwang Lake," Old Zhu became serious when he talked about the business, "More than twenty people, led by a First Order Upper Grade Contractor. Their camp had been dispersed by monsters..."
He gave a detailed account of his day's encounters to Su Han, highlighting the monsters in Nanwang Lake and several peculiar blood-colored creatures.
"Bring me the samples to take a look."
Out of nowhere, Bai Qilan appeared beside them and suddenly spoke.
Zhu Xiong glanced at Su Han, who nodded, then took out two jars and said, "The one on the left is blood paste from that blood-colored ox monster, and the one on the right is from a blood-colored corpse."
Bai Qilan first retrieved masks from the laboratory, gave one to Su Han, and put one on herself, before carefully opening the lids.
Zhu Xiong's eyes widened, "What about me?"
He thought about asking Bai Qilan for a mask, but since he had already come into direct contact with those substances, wearing a mask now seemed too late, so he simply watched with wide eyes.
Su Han smiled, also opened the jar, and focused on the blood paste. Suddenly, his eyes shifted slightly as a notification popped up.
[Detected Fusible Material: Chang Beast Blood, proceed with Fusion?]
Chang Beast?
Su Han, without changing his expression, passed the jar in his hand to Bai Qilan, who hesitated before taking the jar and, reflexively, passed the other jar to Su Han.
Su Han glanced and, sure enough, the notification appeared again.
[Detected Fusible Material: Chang Beast Blood, proceed with Fusion?]
He immediately became suspicious, as it was strange that tissues from two different monsters could be the same material—there must be something unusual about it.
"Old Zhu, can you elaborate more on that monster?"
"It's my first encounter; if you really want me to be detailed, there isn't much to say. However, if I think about it, that blood-colored corpse felt somewhat... weaker."
Zhu Xiong spoke thoughtfully, his words tinged with hesitation, "Though it also looked like a corpse, it clearly lacked the ferocity of one, and seemed to have less strength."
With limited information, Su Han frowned slightly. Bai Qilan looked at Su Han and said, "I'll go do some tests, and let you know if there's anything."
"Alright, you go ahead, be careful."
Su Han didn't reveal the fact that both substances had the same name to Bai Qilan; instead, he waited for the results of Bai Qilan's observations to understand what exactly was going on.
"Old Zhu, we'll continue clearing the perimeter tomorrow, but be even more cautious and keep an eye out for the blood-colored monsters."
Zhu Xiong nodded firmly, "I know, but... do you want to take a look at the monsters in Nanwang Lake?"
He knew that Su Han's third Angel Envoy had not yet been contracted, hence he said more, recalling what Ruan Chao and Liu Tingyue had shared, as it seemed that, at the very least, a Second Order monster was involved.
However, he felt it might be stronger given that it was Nanwang Lake, which had an average depth of seven to eight meters and a maximum of twenty meters, far surpassing any man-made lake.
After thinking, Su Han slightly shook his head, "Let's see how it goes, keep an eye on the situation."
"Understood."
Zhu Xiong left Villa No. 9, and Su Han summarized today's intelligence in his mind, surrounded by monsters that were rapidly growing.
As initially expected, if the pace in the evolutionary climb were a bit slower, humanity's status might no longer be safeguarded.
"Giant snake monster, the creatures in Nanwang Lake, both should conservatively be at Second Order in strength, specifics still need a closer look. However, the whereabouts of the giant snake monster...."
As Su Han planned in his mind, the giant snake monster's exposed form visually displayed its condition. However, unfortunately, its exact whereabouts were unknown—God knows if it was still in the north of the city.
"It's hard to find the snake monster, but it's possible to go to Nanwang Lake, just not now."
After a brief contemplation, he had a plan in mind—Nanwang Lake was a destination, but the ring wasn't isolated yet; naturally, he couldn't leave easily. Handling too many things at once, as easy as it sounds, could mess up the whole operation.
Moreover, the exact nature of the creature inside Nanwang Lake wasn't clear yet, thus things had to be done one at a time.
Su Han sat for a while, then got up and headed towards the Mother Nest Ancient Tree.
The Mother Nest Ancient Tree rooted in the soil with its trunk soaring high, and atop its canopy, two Tree Wombs were gestating Chang Beasts.
It would only be a few days until the Chang Beasts hatched, and their shapes could roughly be discerned.
The Alien Thorn Worm was easily recognizable, while on the other side, a massive entity was forming, though not yet distinctly visible.
Su Han's visit, however, was not for the two Chang Beasts, but for the mountainous piles of carcasses accumulated beneath the roots of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree.
Although Zhu Xiong and others had not set out to clear the monsters today when clearing the ring, the monsters they killed during the process were definitively numerous.
After the killings, their bodies were all piled by the roadside, left for the Tree-born Worms lurking underground to drag away, bringing them back to the Mother Nest Ancient Tree.
The nearby ones, especially within a 700-meter radius, which was currently the limit of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree's vines, were directly dragged back by the vines.
By the end of the day, the ordinary land below was piled with two thousand monster corpses, resembling a chaotic burial mound.
As Su Han focused his thoughts, the roots of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree intricately penetrated the bodies of the monsters.
[Discovery of fusible monster flesh, fuse now?]
Fusion
He mentally chose fusion, and the essence of the flesh began to be fused by countless fine threads, gradually transforming into the fusion progress of the Essence of Flesh.
LV3 Essence of Flesh 1%, 2%, 3%.....
The progress bar slowly increased, and one hour later, the flesh was completely fused, with the fusion progress stopping at 71%, still a significant discrepancy from reaching LV4 of the Essence of Flesh.
"The materials needed for fusion are increasing."
The higher the fusion level, the more materials required, and naturally, the longer the fusion took. He had been aware of this reality for a while.
However, this also meant that he needed to hunt more monsters.
After pondering briefly, Su Han's eyes shifted towards Yunling Mountain. According to the intelligence provided by Yan Meiyu, there were also quite a few monsters there.
...
The next morning, after breakfast, Zhu Xiong, Gan Xinglei, Guo Gang, and Zhang Dahai continued leading teams to block the remaining crossroads and meanwhile, gather more information about the surroundings.
Apart from them, this time Ye Kailing also joined the scouting team, paired with Guo Gang to prevent any unforeseen incidents.
Although Guo Gang was slightly weaker compared to the other three, he too was at the bottleneck of First Order Upper Grade, but he was indeed a bit weaker compared to Zhang Dahai and Gan Xinglei.
And from yesterday's situation, it was Guo Gang's area that was the most puzzling—the fewer the monsters, the stranger the situation, so more people were added to his team.
After everyone set off, Su Han didn't stay long at camp and arrived near Villa No. 30 in Shanhu Villa District, which was just a wall away from Yunling Mountain.
Villa No. 30 was closest to Yunling Mountain, and fewer people lived in this area; it was stationed by some members of the patrol team.
Before the vines of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree had spread to this area, monsters occasionally breached the perimeter wall from outside, immediately discovered by the patrol team, thus preventing them from threatening the residential area.
Later, as the strength of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree increased, and the vine's reach extended to hundreds of meters, the residential area became safer. After the Tree-born Worm's activity radius reached 1,500 meters, parts of the outer perimeters of Yunling Mountain finally began to be included in the patrolling zone.
Thus, the number of monsters had significantly decreased, likely driven beyond the walls to deeper areas.
When Su Han arrived, the patrol members at the side gate had already seen him and immediately saluted, "Leader."
"Open the gate; I need to go through, and prepare a team to come here in the afternoon, await my command."
Su Han instructed, then added, "Not all combat personnel is necessary, Contractors will do."
"Yes, Leader."
Although Gu Shaojie, who was guarding this area, didn't know why Su Han issued such an order, he, having come from Happiness Community along with Cheng Xiyuan and Zhao Yimin and knowing how formidable Su Han was, held immense respect in his heart.
After noting down Su Han's orders, he opened the reinforced thick iron gate and watched Su Han stride into Yunling Mountain.
As Su Han entered the pedestrian mountain trail in Yunling Mountain, the Book of Blood Spirit in his hand flashed red, and the Scorpion Spider Demon immediately appeared by his side.