Unknown Journey

Squeak~~

The Lead Rat saw a foolish human daring to sleep on its turf and excitedly crawled out of its underground nest. Despite their evolution, they remained as sneaky as ever, moving without making a single sound.

However, the moment they closed in on their attack range, they would swarm the prey together, lunging straight for its vital points!

As the Lead Rat emerged, its offspring crawled out one after another, each one as thick as an arm!

With nearly thirty of them spilling out, this dilapidated tile house was clearly a medium-sized mutant rat nest!

The pack of mutant giant rats crept toward the corner until they had circled Xia Leng, who was sleeping with his back against the wall. Dozens of beady red eyes emitted a violent, bloodthirsty glow; the "delicacy" within arm's reach had them itching to strike.

One Soldier Rat, the largest of the pack, dug its front paws into the ground and tensed its hind legs, its sharp incisors protruding past its chin and glinting eerily in the moonlight.

It prepared to strike, targeting the exposed neck of Xia Leng. Smarter than the house rats of the old era, they knew how to test an enemy.

If one couldn't finish the job, they would swarm in together until they had gnawed the prey down to a pile of white bones!

Hiss~

The Soldier Rat's limbs bent slightly, and with a burst of power from its waist, it leaped high into the air, pouncing toward the neck of the sleeping Xia Leng!

With giant teeth sharp enough to easily gnaw through steel bars, snapping a human neck was a trivial matter.

Just as the rats assumed this delivered meal was already theirs, the following scene left them frozen in place!

The Soldier Rat that had launched the first attack was mere moments away from sinking its sharp incisors into the soft neck of its target!

Puchi!

With a dull thud of flesh being pierced, the leaping Soldier Rat was frozen in mid-air, its sharp mouth, which had intended to sever the throat, clacking uselessly in the air.

A black spike, instantly protruding from Xia Leng's "clothing," had impaled its furry body!

Before it could even let out a scream, the next second it was shredded by thousands of tiny tentacles, reduced to a pulp of meat, and absorbed completely by the black spike...

This entire process took less than two seconds, and from start to finish, Xia Leng remained in a deep sleep, completely unaware of what had just transpired!

The pack of Mutant Spike Rats, who relied on numbers to win, were so terrified by this bizarre sight that they forgot whether they should attack as a group or scatter and flee.

By the time they reacted, they realized it was too late to run, for several python-like black tentacles had appeared out of nowhere, writhing frantically around the Mutant Spike Rats and surrounding them completely...

Xia Leng did not know how long he had slept. He had never slept so soundly or so deeply; even in the peaceful era, he would naturally wake up after six hours.

When he opened his eyes, his first reaction was to vigilantly scan his surroundings to check for danger.

He was also very surprised at how deeply he had slept; it was almost the most peaceful rest he had had since he could remember.

In the past, he was either startled awake by inexplicable nightmares or kept alert by the slightest sound, leaving him with no sleep at all.

Had no mutant creatures ambushed him while he slept?

He looked around in confusion, seeing only a few sparse animal hairs scattered on the ground.

Picking one up, he saw it was the stiff hair of a Mutant Spike Rat, yet there was no sign of them. Perhaps this had once been their nest.

Wait...

It was bright?!

Xia Leng suddenly saw a sliver of incandescent light shining through a crack in the wall. Under the illumination of the light, the dust floating in the room was clearly visible!

He immediately stood up, walked to the window, and moved the debris used to block enemies. Sure enough!

A huge, orange-red sun hung in the dark blue sky, its scorching heat baking the air outside until it shimmered with distortion!

The sun in the sky of this era looked twice as large as it did in the old era, as if the distance between the sun and the Earth had been halved, resulting in such terrifying temperatures.

But no matter how scorching, it was still far better than the night, where one had to hide from creatures waiting to deliver a fatal blow.

When the sun rose, the vast majority of dangerous mutant creatures would hide in cool buildings or underground to avoid the light.

Because their skin was ulcerated due to mutation, they were more susceptible to the stinging burns of ultraviolet rays, including the dreaded Night Demon.

Only some less dangerous, thick-skinned mutant creatures would venture out at this time.

Although people also loathed this extreme heat, they could use various shades to block the scorching sun, so the long-lost daylight had become the time for wasteland drifters to hunt and move.

Xia Leng looked at the blinding light baking the earth and knew it was time to set off.

He did not know where the Land of Corpse Cold was, but perhaps he could gather information at a medium-sized fortress eighty kilometers away controlled by the Komodo Mercenary Company, and incidentally trade for some supplies needed for the long journey.

Because in the subconscious of Xia Leng, this journey, which was mysteriously summoning him to explore his own origins, would be a very long and dangerous process...

He reached his hand out the window, feeling the scorching heat of the sunlight. In less than three seconds, a sharp, intense pain radiated from the back of his hand.

"The temperature is even higher than before; perhaps it has already exceeded 55℃..."

Xia Leng pulled his hand back. If his skin were exposed to such sunlight for too long, it would suffer irreversible ultraviolet damage. Although he now possessed terrifying regenerative powers, he had no masochistic desire to take that risk.

After checking his gear, backpack, and the rest of his equipment, and adjusting the hood woven from mysterious tentacles, Xia Leng stepped out onto his journey.

After this deep sleep, he felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment. Both his body and mind felt refreshed and full of energy, as if bathed in a spring breeze, and there was even an inexplicable feeling of satiety?

He hadn't eaten anything before falling asleep last night...

After getting everything ready, Xia Leng walked out of the building; once daylight arrived, even the interior of a house was no longer a place to linger for long.

Because the dark, shadowed buildings had become hunting grounds for light-fearing mutant creatures.

At night, the streets and the wilderness were forbidden zones for drifters; but once daylight came, the forbidden zones shifted to the interiors of various dark structures.

After emerging, Xia Leng stood on the ruin-filled street beneath the scorching sun and checked the map in his hand; the fortress affiliated with the Komodo Mercenary Company marked on it was still a long distance away.

This precious wasteland map had been scavenged from the room of that leader.

If he traveled on foot while conserving his stamina, it would take about three days to reach the destination 80 kilometers away.

Due to the erratic changes between day and night, Xia Leng calculated time by counting silently in his heart.

The vast majority of electronic devices left over from the old era had all mysteriously failed after that Black Rain, including his wristwatch.

A bottle of pure water and a piece of insect jerky in his backpack should be enough to sustain him on the journey.

Of course, if he encountered easy prey along the way, he would not pass up the opportunity to stock up on food.

Xia Leng took a deep breath and stepped onto this unknown journey.