No Life Left

Lin Shen searched the body twice more, even meticulously feeling the inner lining of the clothes, but found no hidden Pet Capsule.

Lao Ye indeed didn't have a crystal-based Pet Capsule on him, and it wasn't that he didn't have time to use it.

"Generally speaking, some people will hide the key and only take their pet out, so as to avoid the pet being taken away. What's the use of only taking the key and not the capsule?" Lin Shen frowned in thought.

He couldn't figure it out for a while, so he had to put the key away first.

Lao Ye's two Alloy Pets were the Heavy Armor Demonic Beast he rode and the Wind-Breaking Meteor Iron Swallow.

Heavy Armor Demonic Beast: Alloy Creature.

Strength: 18.5.

Speed: 12.7.

Hardness: 16.7.

Toughness: 11.6.

Gene Mutation Talent: Defense Enhancement.

Wind-Breaking Meteor Iron Swallow: Alloy Creature.

Strength: 10.9.

Speed: 19.1.

Hardness: 17.6.

Toughness: 18.7.

Gene Mutation Talent: Speed Slash, Swallow Reversal.

The Heavy Armor Demonic Beast wasn't fast and couldn't catch up to the Platinum Beast, so Lao Ye put it away when he was chasing him. This thing was just thick-skinned and strong, good for use as a thick shield or for scouting.

Although the Wind-Breaking Meteor Iron Swallow's strength wasn't high, its other attributes were quite good, and it also had dual talents which were decent. Speed Slash could convert speed into destructive power, compensating for the lack of strength to a certain extent. Swallow Reversal allowed the Meteor Iron Swallow to suddenly turn back during high-speed flight, catching people off guard.

The Platinum Beast was killed by Lao Ye, so the Heavy Armor Demonic Beast was just right to use as a mount, and the Wind-Breaking Meteor Iron Swallow was also a good helper.

Rumble!

A loud noise suddenly came from the direction of the canyon, like something had exploded.

Lin Shen thought for a moment, put his things away, and quietly sneaked towards the battlefield.

He still kept the Dead Powder inside his clothes, letting it wrap around him.

When Lin Shen sneaked back to the entrance of the canyon and secretly looked inside, he found that there were no people there, only some tents left in place, and the lit bonfire hadn't gone out.

Where the fight had just taken place, there was a large pit with a diameter of over ten meters, and several bodies lay scattered nearby.

Lin Shen observed for a while, then summoned the Meteor Swallow to scout ahead, and found that the tents were all empty. The others had gone somewhere unknown.

Finding no danger, Lin Shen cautiously went over and looked at the bodies. None of them were Bai Shenfei or Wei Wufu; they were all Gene Mutators from the Qi and Wang families.

"What happened? Why are they all gone? What's with this big pit?" Lin Shen wondered.

There were still a lot of supplies and luggage in the tents. It was clear they left in a great hurry, and many things were not taken away in time.

On the ground leading into the depths of the canyon, messy footprints and hoof prints could be seen, indicating they had likely gone further into the canyon.

"Are they chasing someone, or were they attracted by something inside?" Lin Shen pondered for a moment, then decided to follow and see.

He summoned the Heavy Armor Demonic Beast, had the Superspeed Gunslinger sit in front of him, and the Meteor Swallow scouted further ahead.

He didn't dare to go too fast, to prevent any Gene Mutation Creatures from hiding in the dark, waiting for an opportunity.

Not long after walking, he saw several Gene Mutation Creature corpses lying on the ground. The Gene Mutation Fluid inside the corpses hadn't been collected.

Lin Shen examined the wounds on the corpses, then continued to pursue.

Every so often, he would see some Gene Mutation Creature corpses, but not a single person was seen, nor were any living Gene Mutation Creatures found.

The canyon was very long. He walked until almost dawn before reaching the end of the canyon, but still found no trace of Bai Shenfei and the others.

As the sky gradually brightened, Lin Shen looked into the distance. Ahead were continuous mountain ranges, but he couldn't see the majestic and mysterious Gourd Mountain.

"Gourd Mountain is so majestic, it can be seen clearly from the canyon entrance. How is it that I can't see it here?" Lin Shen's confusion deepened.

There were many small paths in the mountains. Fortunately, there were hoof prints on the ground, and Lin Shen followed them.

Many metal plants appeared in the mountains, and there were even tall trees that seemed to be cast from steel, like a steel jungle.

The most common type was a tree similar to a red maple. These trees, seven or eight meters tall, were covered in leaves like red copper.

Lin Shen followed the hoof prints, winding through the mountains. After two or three hours, he was astonished to find himself back at the canyon.

"That's strange!" Lin Shen was even more puzzled. He was sure he had been following the hoof prints the whole time and hadn't seen Bai Shenfei and the others turn back. How had he ended up back here?

"Perhaps Gourd Mountain is here, but I just can't see it. They have the Mystic Bird with them, so they might have already entered Gourd Mountain." Lin Shen thought about it and concluded this was the only possibility.

Unfortunately, he didn't have a Mystic Bird, so even if he wanted to enter Gourd Mountain, he wouldn't be able to find the location.

"How could such a majestic mountain be hidden? It's incredible." Lin Shen tried entering the mountain range again to search for them, but still found nothing and ended up back at the canyon.

Even stranger, there were no Gene Mutation Creatures found in the mountain range. Theoretically, there should be many Gene Mutation Creatures in the area near a Gene Mutation Point. Everything here seemed a bit strange.

"Forget it, my strength is limited. Even if I entered Gourd Mountain, I probably wouldn't be of much help and might even become a burden to my third and fourth brothers." Lin Shen thought for a moment and decided to return to the base first.

He had to complete his gene mutation as soon as possible. Otherwise, his own strength was too weak, and even with powerful pets, it wasn't very safe.

Just as Lin Shen was preparing to head back, he suddenly saw a figure stumbling back on a mountain path in the distance.

Because the distance was too great, Lin Shen could only tell it was a person, but couldn't see clearly who it was. With a thought, he hid in the woods with his pets, observing the figure from afar.

The figure seemed drunk, swaying back and forth, and took a while to come down the mountain path.

However, as the distance closed, Lin Shen was able to see the person's appearance clearly and was greatly surprised.

The metal shell on the person's body was like tempered glass with cracks, with tiny cracks all over.

Blood seeped from every crack, and blood dripped from his entire body, looking extremely terrifying.

That he was still alive was a miracle. No wonder he had been stumbling along the way, barely able to walk.

Lin Shen vaguely remembered this person was an Alloy Gene Mutator from the Qi Family, with considerable skill. He was considered a notable figure in both the Qi Family and the Blackbird Base. His name seemed to be Qi Guan, a direct descendant of the Qi Family.

Seeing that no one else was following on the mountain path behind, Lin Shen quickly emerged from the woods and hurried towards Qi Guan.

"Qi Guan, what happened? Who injured you like this? Where are the others?" Lin Shen asked loudly from a distance.

When Qi Guan saw Lin Shen, he tried to rush over, but stumbled and fell to the ground. He struggled to crawl a few times but couldn't get up.

"Save... save me... no... life left... no... life... left..." Qi Guan lay on the ground, reaching out to Lin Shen with all his might, his eyes filled with a desperate desire to live.

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, he was already gone. His face hit the ground, his hand dropped weakly, and he lay motionless and silent.

"What do you mean no life left... Qi Guan... Qi Guan..." Lin Shen called out a few times, but he got no response.

He had the Superspeed Gunslinger go over and turn his body over. The blood had stained the ground into a bloody human-shaped imprint. It seemed he was truly beyond saving.

Lin Shen went over and felt for a pulse and breath. He was already dead.

Lin Shen carefully examined the metal shell on his body. There were countless cracks all over, like glass that had been crushed alive. He couldn't imagine what kind of power could have injured him to this extent.

Suddenly, Lin Shen noticed that in his other hand, he seemed to be clutching something. Even though he was dead, his fingers were still tightly clenched.

Lin Shen squatted down and tried to pry his fingers open, but he couldn't.

He took out Lao Ye's short blade and pried for a while, even breaking a finger, before finally seeing what was in his hand.