Chapter 120: In Pursuit of Super-Life

A night of heavy drinking.

The next day, Liu Chang opened his eyes, glanced at He Zhizhi, who was still fast asleep beside him, then rose, put on his clothes, and prepared to head out.

"Are you leaving?"
"Yes."
"Is today's task dangerous?"
"I don't know. We'll see." Liu Chang finished dressing, strapped on his military crossbow and sidearm, secured his belt and dagger, and was fully equipped for combat.

"Don't leave the bar today. Take Xiao Jing and lock the front door," Liu Chang said to He Zhizhi after gathering his gear. "Teacher Li is going to issue the decree banning the planting of beam beans today. I expect things outside will get very, very chaotic. Take care of yourself."

"I probably won't be back for a few days. Teacher Li will send a team to station themselves nearby to protect your safety. As long as you don't wander off, you should be fine." As he spoke, Liu Chang checked the ammunition in his two giant pistols.

These massive firearms had been custom-made for him by Li Qingshui last year. They held a large magazine capacity and possessed immense destructive power, far superior to the modified foreign hardware he had used previously.

These guns were modified to sacrifice accuracy for increased capacity and stopping power. Within fifty meters, they could punch a hole through even the synthetic humans of the past. Beyond fifty meters, however, the accuracy dropped off sharply—even beyond thirty meters, the aim would plummet drastically—a consequence of prioritizing raw destructive force.

But for Liu Chang, the effectiveness beyond thirty or fifty meters was irrelevant, as current conditions rarely allowed one to see that far, and his own limit of vision was currently thirty meters. For anything further, he had his specialized sniper crossbow.

After packing his things and saying goodbye to He Zhizhi, he left the bar.

His mission today was to scout the habitat of those super-beings. Before Li Qingshui left, drunk, the previous day, he had given him a piece of cloth marked with a scent; the implication was clear.

Of course, although Li Qingshui’s intention was obvious, Liu Chang could have chosen not to act. But as Li Qingshui had said, three major events were imminent, and each seemed inextricably linked to everyone; there was no avoiding them. Liu Chang figured that if he could solve even a small part of it, that was something.

Stepping out of the bar, he followed the trail of the scent toward the edge of the city.

People on the road were still going about their usual business, thinking they could struggle on in this world of red mist for a long time yet, unaware that the apocalypse had arrived once more.

This time, the apocalypse would be far more threatening than when the red mist first descended. The first time, it had caught humanity off guard; this second time, it was a total suppression of strength. Where the super-beings arrived, all of humanity seemed incredibly fragile.

This was because humanity’s most effective weapons—technology and knowledge—had already been seized by other, more terrifying entities.

When Liu Chang reached the edge of the jungle, he gazed south—toward Wuhan—where a willow tree with a million human brains stood. He could no longer imagine what that place had become.

He sighed, stepped into the jungle, and entered that strange and bizarre land.

The days here were even more vibrant and colorful than they had been four years ago.

Sunlight pierced through the red mist and the canopy, and Liu Chang saw that the jungle was truly a world of seven colors. Every tree had changed, no longer limited to the dull green of plants; strange mushrooms grew in between, and some plants would even writhe in frustration when they discovered their sunlight was being blocked by the passing Liu Chang.

There were even peculiar, low-growing ferns that sprouted plant-like tentacles on the ground, moving about to find the environment best suited for their survival.

This colorful world of life appeared both beautiful and treacherous, much like the most brilliant coral reef, where one could not distinguish between a beautiful coral and a red octopus.

Moving through it, Liu Chang remained on high alert. Although his sense of smell now far surpassed He Zhizhi’s—reaching the level of a rodent’s stereoscopic olfactory system, allowing him to distinguish the scents of most dangerous creatures—the jungle changed day by day. No one could be certain how many species were hidden within, so no one could guarantee their absolute safety.

He took the sniper crossbow from his back; the massive noise of firearms would attract trouble, so for a scouting mission, the crossbow was the best choice.

His goal today was to track the scent and locate the general activity zone of the super-beings so that Li Qingshui would have an idea of where to look if he ever needed to find them. But even with a keen sense of smell, searching for a species he had never encountered in the complex scents of the jungle was no easy task.

Liu Chang continued forward, observing the beautiful jungle as he explored.

Following the scent, he entered the jungle north of Zhengzhou. The route was somewhat similar to the one they had taken four years ago during the encirclement of Zhao Zhuo. As he went on, Liu Chang’s brow furrowed deeper.

The direction ahead was a restricted zone, forbidden to enter.

A land plagued by toxins.

Four years ago, Li Qingshui had used bacterial bombs near the Yellow River. Those super-bacteria had spread from the impact sites, bringing near-total destruction to the species there. Beyond the blast zone, the area affected by the bacterial radiation was vast.

Although Li Qingshui had performed disinfection on the area afterward, the reason these bacteria were called "super" was not just their destructive power, but their terrifyingly robust vitality.

The area saturated by the bacterial bombs was so vast that it was impossible to clean thoroughly. Furthermore, the animals and plants carrying the bacteria were even harder to eliminate.

Thus, after four years of development, this place polluted by super-bacteria had truly become a land of toxic horrors. The flora and fauna that had survived the four years in the northern jungle and Yellow River region had not only developed resistance to the bacteria due to environmental mutations, but had become carriers themselves, eventually turning the bacteria into their own weapons.

When Li Qingshui learned of this, he couldn't help but marvel at nature’s imagination, and he promptly sealed off the area.

"If it’s here, things get difficult," Liu Chang muttered. Walking through the jungle, he noticed the colors of the surrounding trees becoming increasingly monotonous, their shapes turning grotesque and terrifying. The tracks of animals and insects gradually disappeared, and Liu Chang frowned.

"Humans are indeed masters of destruction, while nature is the master of creation." Liu Chang looked back at the colorful world behind him, then at the desolate gray ahead, and decided not to proceed further.

"Too dangerous. It’s all toxins; getting infected would be a nightmare." Just as he sighed, the branches of the trees in front of him suddenly burst open, spraying black sap directly at him.

"Ugh!" Seeing this, Liu Chang scrambled to dodge. But caught off guard, and with the black sap spraying at high speed, he leaped backward. He didn't escape the spray radius entirely, so he had to use his superior calculation skills to find gaps in the rain of liquid.

At the same time, several trees behind him burst open, and the black sap engulfed the entire area.

After a flurry of dodging, Liu Chang faced the indiscriminate attack. Even with excellent calculation skills, it was impossible to avoid all of the sap.

Eventually, a drop or two landed on him, and the sound of sulfuric acid corroding his clothes hissed, accompanied by the smell of rotten eggs.

Quickly stripping off his camouflage jacket, Liu Chang fled the edge of the area and returned to the colorful world.

It was far too dangerous there.

He urinated on the spot to mark his scent and decided not to venture deeper alone—this was not a jungle he could conquer on his own. It was a distorted, man-made wilderness, incomparable to the ordinary dangers outside.

Turning back, Liu Chang prepared to report this to Li Qingshui.

But just as he was about to turn, a strange scent hit his nostrils. His spirit jolted; Liu Chang felt he had caught the scent of his mission target—and the direction of the scent was not from the toxic jungle, but from another part of the woods.

Having caught the scent, Liu Chang did not intend to track it. He knew that anything worthy of being called a super-being was not something he could contend with. He had only identified the scent to confirm he was on the right path, so after a brief moment of satisfaction, he prepared to head back the way he came.

However, he had only taken a few steps when he realized that the scent was pursuing him, moving several times faster than he was. Humans may not have the heart to harm tigers, but tigers have the intention to harm humans. Liu Chang realized that perhaps his urine, which carried a strong biological scent, had attracted the strange creature.

Or perhaps, while he was looking for it, the creature was also looking for humans.

Thinking of this, Liu Chang dared not linger. He bolted, sprinting through the woods at his top speed. Relying on his calculation skills, he chose the most difficult terrain to navigate. Even so, after only five minutes of running, the thing behind him had caught up, closing within a hundred meters.

Knowing he couldn't outrun a super-being, Liu Chang leaped up onto a tree branch, concealed himself, and aimed his sniper crossbow in the direction indicated by his stereoscopic sense—the place emitting a faint fishy odor.

He pulled the trigger, and with a *whoosh*, a bolt flew out, tearing through layers of leaves toward the target.

"Ah!"

As the bolt vanished into the depths of his vision, a scream eerily similar to a human’s rang out from where the projectile had struck.