The Ecosystem of the Consciousness Empire (Continued)

After all, they were only slightly odd-looking, but to her, they were innocent, harmless, and weak creatures. Even when she concealed her presence, those strange things would shriek and scatter rapidly in all directions when they bumped into her or were bumped into by her. Even those that couldn't avoid her would collapse to the ground, motionless.

This could perhaps be called playing dead. It's a manifestation of some kind of wisdom.

But their intelligence is limited to this, at least—

Miss Surtr reached out and pulled from the thick fog a deformed creature that looked somewhat like a human, but whose chest and abdomen were made of rotten flesh, connective tissue, unidentified organs, and mouthparts composed of keratin. When she held it, it remained motionless like a block of wood, but upon closer inspection, it would tremble incessantly.

"Can you understand me?"

Trembling.

"If you don't answer, I'll kill you."

Violent trembling.

"I'll chop."

He convulsed as if electrocuted, then suddenly froze, remaining motionless.

Well, this little oddball was so frightened she fainted. It's clear that while they possess basic intelligence and a survival instinct, they lack the wisdom to form an organization and civilization. She noticed that these mutated creatures had no territorial instincts. They didn't even seem to have much of a predatory drive—she saw a mountain of flesh peacefully coexisting with a weak mutated monster. She also saw a creature integrated into the unfinished construction site, using the iron arm of an excavator to scoop up white figures and throw them into the gaping maw formed by a mixer.

Then a figure jumped out from the other end of the mixer.

Then the figure that jumped out was trampled flat by a passing six-legged giant elephant.

Then, the flattened white figure continued to crawl on the ground. Soon it crawled onto the body of a creature with a mouth but no feet, merging with it and becoming its feet.

It's a very strange ecosystem, but quite interesting.

Without a food chain, without territory or hunting grounds, these deformed and twisted creatures seem to exist simply as living beings on this land.

They're just ugly, and don't fit the aesthetic standards of most Terra humans. But they live harmlessly.

Is this place really hell on Terra?

—Or is this just some distorted paradise?

She tilted her head and continued walking. From the inner part of Chernobog in her memory, she reached the outer edge of the city and then continued further into the distance.

And just minutes after she had completely left the city.

The previously dazed and seemingly carefree alien creatures suddenly froze. A malevolent glint flashed in their numerous harmless eyes—they roared and tore at each other, scattering large amounts of blood and colorful bodily fluids across the bone-strewn ground. Blood, madness, slaughter—land that had been peaceful just minutes before was instantly scorched by war, reduced to rubble.

No one is manipulating their struggle from behind the scenes.

No one is behind the scenes instigating their fight.

Because that is their nature, and because, in the preceding minutes, their nature had been suppressed because of her.

This land and everything on it struggled to adapt to her presence and her thoughts—until she turned her gaze away from this place.

Miss Surtr continued walking forward.

She continued forward, following the thick fog, towards a place she felt had some connection with.

Her pace was slow, but each step felt like an eternity. Distances of tens or hundreds of meters could be covered in a single breath or half a breath. And if she were willing to quicken her pace slightly, thousands or tens of thousands of meters would likely be covered in the same amount of time.

She is powerful. Powerful in the purest sense.

In the past, she vaguely remembered that there was some kind of strength rating system on Terra —a vague division of combat power similar to first-rate and second-rate in martial arts novels. When she first arrived at Sarkaz Babel Tower, she was actually quite enthusiastic about this leap between power levels for a while. Every time she reached a new level through training and combat, she would feel a little thrill in her heart.

However, that simple joy had long since faded from her life. In the later stages of the Sarkaz Babel Tower, she gradually stopped paying attention to the so-called combat power rankings—aside from Persephone, even the strongest warriors at the highest rank could only barely survive a single strike against her, no matter how hard they tried. So, what difference would it make if her own strike, reduced from eight-tenths of her power to 0.8%, actually came?

In any case, it's all about settling things with a single sword strike; the difference between cutting someone in half and turning them into dust is negligible. She lost that pure joy because of it, and as her combat power continued to increase, these power hierarchy distinctions no longer occupied her mental space.

'As long as you're below the extraordinary level, it doesn't matter what rank you're in or above. After all, it's all about items and equipment that can level the playing field.' — It seemed like someone had said that to her, but she couldn't remember who it was.

'And at the transcendent stage, all the tricks of mortals cannot affect you.'—She still couldn't remember who said those words. But she felt as if they were directed at her.

—So, I am extraordinary. My power lies in surpassing all mortal things?

She thought to herself with a hint of uncertainty.

Then she stopped abruptly—she saw a red wolf lying at her feet.

"Red? No, red is a gray wolf... Wait, why am I thinking that?" She tilted her head, feeling a little strange. But what was even stranger was that she actually saw a normal creature here.

"Interesting."

She glanced at it and found that the red wolf was covered in wounds. Many places looked like it had been slashed with a knife or saw, and many patches of fur looked like they had been scorched by fire, becoming rotten and burnt.

"Poor wolf."

She reached out and touched the head of the wolf lying on the ground—the wolf let out a mournful howl. It seemed to be hopeful, it seemed to be a plea.

"Raising a dog... a wolf wouldn't be bad either," she thought, and then quickly corrected herself for mispronouncing the word.

Then a wisp of flame overflowed from her body, seeping into the wolf's flesh along her fingertips—the power penetrated faster than expected. And with her will, the attributeless fire transformed into healing fire.

"Waaah—"

The wolf let out a pitiful cry, but its body was getting better. Its wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and its fur grew back neatly, smoothly, and shiny.

Very good.

She let go and watched the badly injured wolf struggle to its feet—she didn't help it up; interfering when someone is making an effort is unsympathetic.

She watched the wolf get up, watched it shake its ruffled mane, watched it nuzzle against her knees, and watched it lick her drooping hand.

It felt nice to the touch. Because it was a canine, there were no barbs on its tongue. But unlike a regular wolf, it was soft and slippery, more like a girl's tongue. It gently bit Miss Surtr's palm and then followed the Sarkaz, wagging its tail.

"Would you like to come with me?" Miss Surtr asked.

The wolf didn't nod, but it rubbed against her feet and made submissive whimpering noises.

That's fine.

—But why are there wolves here?

"Can you take me to where you came from?" she asked, stroking the wolf's head.

She received an affirmative answer—perhaps the wolf also longed for revenge against those who had wronged it. So it let out a cheerful low growl and led her deeper into the fog.

Forward, keep moving forward.

Black canyons gradually appeared on both sides, and the ground gradually turned from a field of white bones into a pool of bloody mud. Miss Surtr frowned slightly, and a circle of flames spread out from her feet, harmlessly passing over the red wolf and burning away the bloodstains on the ground—she didn't mind walking in the bloodstains, but she still had to take care of her newly adopted pet.