Chapter 3.2 – Era of Turmoil
An extremely soft rustling sound could be heard within the cave. A vicious rat that was a meter in length scuttled past. The nose that was ridiculously disproportionate to its head sniffed continuously in the air
Su, who was hiding within the darkness, suddenly moved! The three edge steel pipe pierced down as fast as lightning towards the rat's nose. It went straight through its upper and lower jaw and nailed it to the ground.
The vicious rat's nose was its most important part. It viciously shrieked, and its four stocky but sharp claws frantically scratched against the ground. Crushed rocks flew in all directions, and in just a split second, a hole was dug out in the solid ground.
Su's left hand grasped the upper part of the steel pipe. His arm that seemed fragile and delicate was steady like a boulder. The vicious rat whose most important part was injured wasn't even given a chance to support itself again. Its body violently twitched before ultimately lying on the ground unmoving.
Su slowly pulled out the steel pipe and flipped the vicious rat over. He noticed that this was a female rat. Male vicious rats usually operated alone, however, when female rats appeared, there would always be a male rat close behind.
Su quickly shifted his body outwards. He stood in front of the tunnel where the vicious rat came from. His front leg was in a half squat position, and his back leg was fully squatted as he held the steel pole horizontally, aiming it towards the dark tunnel. Almost the instant he held the steel pole horizontally, a gust of fishy odor suddenly swept out from the tunnel. An even more robust male vicious rat rushed out from the darkness and chomped downwards at Su from midair.
The steel pipe didn't move in the slightest and continued to face the incoming vicious rat. The steep pole's sharp tip hacked deeply through the rat's throat, into his inner organs, and almost straight through its anus.
Su loosened his grip and quickly backed up several steps. His movement was quick and nimble, as if he was gliding on top of water.
A ka sounded. The vicious rat used all of its strength to close its mouth and ferociously chomp down on the steel pipe. Even though its front teeth could chew through almost all kinds of stone, it still couldn't win against this type of reinforced steel. Within a kacha sound, the steel caved in, and the male rat's front teeth began to crack apart as well.
The male rat was exceedingly violent and fierce. After falling from the sky, it crawled out several meters and arrived in front of Su.
Su raised his right leg and stepped on the male rat's head. The male rat screeched and struggled about, but it couldn't raise its head off the ground. Any large movement it made would result in intolerable pain from the steel pipe that pierced through its body. Even though it suffered such a severe injury, it still struggled for more than a minute before it finally stopped breathing.
Su's pretty eyebrows moved. From his perspective, these vicious rats seemed to have developed even more endurance and vigor compared to a few months ago. This speed of mutation made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Su did not decide to use the steel pipe impaled within the male rat's body anymore. He fumbled about the cavern walls and pulled out a thread of wire. This was the illumination line that had been installed by the base, but now, it had already become useless. Su removed two meters of this wire and tore off the paint covering it, revealing the alloy threading within. He twisted the two electrical wires around his arms separately and continued to head into the darkness.
Even within the dark and rugged cavern, Su's dark green eye and his plentiful experience could make out the vicious rat's tracks. Not long after, he discovered the vicious rats' lair. Within the rat nest, there were more than thirty large and small vicious rats. The larger ones seemed to have fully matured, while the smaller ones hadn't even opened their eyes yet. He could see that there were three generations of rats here. The mature rats that seemed to have reached three months of age could give birth to another batch of infants.
"The bearing period has shortened by ten days." This was what Su estimated in his head. The uncomfortable feeling he felt grew stronger.
However, his negative mood did not prevent him from using the alloy threading to lock down the vicious rat that was throwing itself over. Then, with a tug and shake, the rat flew through the air back in the direction it came from, only this time, blood frantically spurted out from its neck. It slammed into the cave wall, and after calming down, it no longer crawled back up. As the blood dyed alloy thread swept across the ground, seven or eight little rats instinctively bit down on it. However, the alloy thread shook slightly, and their heads were almost completely sliced in half.
A minute later, this nest of vicious rats was completely wiped out. Vicious rats were extremely territorial creatures. With this nest of vicious rats around, it was unlikely that there would be a second rat lair within a scope of a kilometer.
Su brought out a map and drew in a tunnel on top of an empty space. He marked the location of the rat nest and then carefully put away the map.
After following the cavern for several hundred meters, Su stopped for a bit at a place that caved in a bit. A seemingly man-made tunnel entrance was revealed behind a pile of earth. This tunnel entrance led to the deep, maze-like subway tunnels filled with danger. Reaching this point meant that the 500 yuan reward was already in his pocket. On the other side of this tunnel entrance lay the requirement for the reward which was even more enticing for him at the moment: the genetic modification medicine.
Su kneeled at the tunnel entrance and listened attentively.
The wind that blew through the subway tunnels would fluctuate violently from being strong to being weak. Vague rustling sounds could be heard within. The air was full of the smell of filth, and the quality of oxygen was extremely poor, unsuitable for ordinary people to live in. This was one of the reasons why Base N11 could not explore deeper into the subway tunnels.
Su, of course, was not an ordinary person. With three levels into the Perception Domain, as well as two levels in the Mysterious Field, whether or not he could still be considered human anymore was not something that Su knew for sure himself. After slaughtering through the vicious rat nest, Su felt the genes within his body becoming restless again. He had already collected three gene evolution points, and walking a bit around this subway tunnel might allow him to obtain a new evolution point.
Evolution point is a term that came about during this era of turmoil. The so-called evolution point was just shaking up the genes so that space could be made for brand new genes. The more evolution points one had, the more space and tolerability for more powerful abilities one possessed. There were all types of ways to obtain evolution points, but most of them were born naturally. It was not clear where evolution points originated from. There were two areas that humans could be said to have control over: genetic modification medicine and combat.
Of course, after obtaining an evolution point, one still needed to obtain a specific genome before they could acquire the complementary ability. There were many definite abilities within every ability domain; however, most abilities lay in gray areas. Evolution points obtained through fighting would often be accompanied with new abilities. Most of the time, the abilities received this way were not the same as those that were researched. As a result, many fighters viewed their own abilities as their greatest secret. When two ability users met and engaged in a life and death struggle, there would even be a tiny chance to obtain the opponent's ability.
As a result, ironically, killing in this era of turmoil would truly allow one to become stronger.
Su closed his eyes. The vague rustling sounds sketched out a clear image of the living corpses. They paced back and forth aimlessly, and their dull red eyes swept through their surroundings in hunger. They were quite different from the jiangshi that often appeared in the fiction stories of the olden age. The bodies of these living corpses were slim and nimble. When they moved, they were even faster than humans. Their powerful muscles and flexible bodies allowed them to crawl on walls and even ceilings. From a genetic perspective, living corpses could actually be considered humans. The high-level fighters that had experienced several genetic modifications were actually even further away from that of a normal human.
Fifty years had already passed since the war. The living corpses now were of the second or third generation. Compared to their former counterparts, they were faster, more nimble, and more robust. They were extremely adapted to living in harsh environments. Many of the living corpses living within the subway tunnels have developed infrared sight, making them suitable for places without the slightest bit of light.
After making sure that there weren't any dangerous creatures at the tunnel entrance, Su brought out his pistol and carefully leapt into the subway tunnels. He then jumped again and landed on the steel rails before moving forward. He travelled quickly, his feet not creating the slightest bit of sound. In addition, he didn't seem unsteady in the slightest as he moved across the narrow steel rail.