Harvest

Chapter 20: Harvest

[40 Experience points consumed... Krav Maga Combat Arts leveled up to LV4! Physique +0.4, Strength +0.4!]

[Krav Maga Combat Arts has reached LV4, unlocking the exclusive bonus—Tiger Power!]

[Tiger Power—Strength +0.4! Duration: 30 seconds. After use, you will enter a weakened state: Strength -0.2, Physique -0.2, duration: 3 hours!]

Seeing the notification, a flash of pleasant surprise appeared on Sulu's face.

Krav Maga Combat Arts leveled up to LV4, and it actually has a branching bonus? This so-called Tiger Power is essentially a berserk skill!

Although there were some side effects, it would be excellent for a desperate struggle at a critical moment.

Just now, his Strength had surged to 1.5, half again as much as an ordinary person!

Dealing with the mutated rats would be even simpler.

It did not take long for him to reach the end of the fork.

This was a dead end, blocked off by thick walls, with a foul stench permeating the air, carrying the scent of decay.

Sulu raised his oil lamp, and in the dim yellow light, a figure lying horizontally on the ground was revealed, with several large, dark masses moving rustlingly atop it, occasionally revealing scarlet eyes.

"A corpse?! A rotting corpse?"

Sulu frowned; this was clearly trouble.

On top of the corpse, mutated rats bared their fangs and brandished their claws, emitting threatening squeaks.

"Could it be... that this corpse is the source of their mutation?"

Sulu looked around again.

Beneath the corpse, a large patch of dark brown stain was visible, carrying a scent that made him uneasy.

Are the rats staying put just to guard the source of the mutation? It probably isn't the corpse itself, but the environment they can't take with them... Could it be this bloodstain?

Sulu felt he might have guessed the truth.

The origin of this rotting corpse was certainly not simple, and his death had affected the environment of this area, giving rise to the mutated rats.

These mutated rats possessed simple intelligence; they knew that if they left this place, they would lose the opportunity to continue evolving and increasing their numbers, which was why they stubbornly refused to leave and repeatedly attacked the cleaners.

"Could it be the remains of a transcendent?!"

Sulu's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward a few more paces.

"Squeak!"

To protect their most important property, several large rats immediately lunged at him.

Unfortunately, with the ordinary rat pack nearly wiped out and the number of mutated rats sharply reduced, there were only five or six left here now.

Sulu showed no mercy, taking them out one pickaxe strike at a time.

In the end, he threw his pickaxe, pinning the last rat, which seemed to be in a semi-mutated state, to the ground.

There should be more mutated rats than this. Perhaps some of the smarter ones resisted the temptation and fled with their underlings?

Sulu speculated to himself as he approached the corpse.

To his surprise, even though this body had been dead for some time, it did not show signs of advanced decay; it had merely dehydrated and shriveled into a mummy, its skin turning a bluish-black.

On the corpse, there were many jagged wounds, likely formed by the rats gnawing on it.

With so many mutated rats, it wouldn't be hard to manipulate the pack to drag a corpse away... Is it because this body is special? Or are they just reluctant to leave this environment?

Sulu did not know, for he did not understand the language of rats.

At this moment, he held up the oil lamp to illuminate the mummy's face.

"Apologies... I truly cannot tell your gender!"

The corpse was wearing a black hooded robe that was already quite tattered, and besides, looking at a skin-and-bones skull, who could distinguish the gender?

Sulu suppressed his disgust and rummaged through the remains with his pickaxe.

Rip!

The tattered black robe was easily torn apart. After a rough search, he found only a few pieces of loot—several sheets of parchment inside an iron tube, and a small money pouch.

The pouch was of high quality. Upon opening it, a few golden glints spilled out.

"This is... Gold Dragon?!"

Sulu nodded and picked them up one by one. After counting, there were five.

A Gold Dragon was a minted gold coin; the reverse side featured a dragon head emblem, while the obverse bore the portrait of the 'Western Conqueror'—William. It was quite heavy. One Gold Dragon could be exchanged for ten standard Silver Eagles, and if exchanged for paper Silver Dollars, the price would rise by ten or twenty percent on the black market.

"I could say... I wouldn't make this much money even after working for several months!"

If it were before, suddenly obtaining such a windfall would have made Sulu very excited.

But now, he was more concerned with the clues regarding transcendence he had obtained from the individual.

He brought the tattered papers under the oil lamp, but the strange, distorted characters immediately made Sulu's brow furrow deeply: "This is not Common Hebraic, nor is it Ancient Hebraic!"

The thick, pale yellow parchment had a delicate texture that felt indescribable to the touch, and the black characters upon it twisted like snakes; after staring at them for only a few moments, Sulu felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

"This must be some ancient language; I'll have to go back and look it up..."

Staring at the corpse, Sulu fell into deep thought.

The individual was highly likely to be a transcendent, and if their death were discovered here with him being the first to find them, trouble would inevitably follow.

Therefore, he had to destroy the body and cover his tracks to protect this secret!

As for the Corpse Maiden Creation or whatever it was?

Not to mention that he wasn't even sure if the person was male or female, nor that the body was already incomplete.

Just thinking about the ghost he had seen last time, was Sulu not still afraid of the dark?

In any case, he wouldn't dare attempt that eerie ritual again even if it killed him.

"This is just an abandoned section of the sewer; it shouldn't be too hard to clean up!"

Sulu looked at the dark brown ground around him, which was stained with a mixture of blood and mud; more importantly, it seemed to be directly related to the mutation of the giant rats.

"All of this has to be shoveled up and dumped into the drain!"

After calculating his plan, Sulu immediately returned to the surface, brought back more tools, and began to dispose of the body.

Clink!

Suddenly, something pitch-black was unearthed, emitting a crisp sound.

"Huh?"

Sulu nudged it aside and discovered a diamond-shaped piece of black iron, about the size of a child's palm, with an Ouroboros pattern carved into the center.

"Ouroboros Ring... the legendary Ouroboros, the snake devouring its own tail, symbolizing eternity within the end?!"

Recalling some monster-hunting knowledge, Sulu performed a brief identification: "In mysticism, it is a very important symbol, but it is not recognized by the Seven Gods!"

As it stood, this seemed to be some kind of token or badge?

Sulu thought for a moment, tucked the iron piece into his pocket, and then strode out of the side tunnel.

Not long after he left, a ball of flames rose up, gradually engulfing the entire passage and greedily consuming everything in its path...