No Life Left

Lin Shen searched the corpse twice more, carefully feeling even the lining inside the clothes, but found no hidden Pet Capsule.

Lao Ye truly did not have a crystal-based Pet Capsule on him; it was not that he had failed to use it in time.

"Generally speaking, people hide their keys and only take their pets out with them, so their pets cannot be stolen. But what use is there in carrying only the key without the capsule?" Lin Shen frowned in thought.

Unable to make heads or tails of it for the moment, he could only put the key away first.

Lao Ye had two alloy pets. One was the Heavy Armor Demonic Beast he had ridden, while the other was 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 was not fast enough to catch the Platinum Beast, so Lao Ye had put it away when chasing him. This thing was merely thick-skinned and strong; it was useful as a heavy shield or for scouting ahead.

Though the Wind-Breaking Meteor Iron Swallow was not particularly strong, its other attributes were quite good. Its dual talents were also impressive. Speed Slash could convert speed into destructive power, making up for its lack of strength to some extent. Swallow Reversal allowed the Meteor Iron Swallow to suddenly turn back during high-speed flight, catching enemies off guard.

The Platinum Beast had been killed by Lao Ye. The Heavy Armor Demonic Beast would be perfect as a mount, while the Meteor Iron Swallow would make a decent helper as well.

Boom!

A tremendous sound suddenly came from the direction of the canyon, as though something had exploded.

After a brief moment of thought, Lin Shen put his things away and quietly slipped toward the battlefield.

Dead Powder remained tucked inside his clothing, wrapped around his body.

When Lin Shen crept back to the mouth of the canyon and secretly peered inside, he discovered that there was no one left. Only a few tents remained where they had been, and the lit campfires had not gone out.

A massive pit more than ten meters across had appeared where the battle had taken place. Several corpses lay sprawled haphazardly nearby.

Lin Shen observed for quite a while, then summoned the Meteor Iron Swallow to scout ahead. He found that the tents were all empty, and he had no idea where the others had gone.

After finding no danger, Lin Shen cautiously approached and examined the corpses. Neither Bai Shenfei nor Wei Wufu was among them; they were all Gene Mutators from the Qi and Wang families.

What happened? Why had everyone vanished? And what was this massive pit? Lin Shen wondered.

There were still plenty of supplies and luggage inside the tents. It was clear that they had left in a tremendous hurry, abandoning many things they had not had time to take.

Messy footprints and hoofprints could be seen on the ground leading deeper into the canyon. They had probably gone into the canyon.

Were they chasing someone, or had something drawn them inside? After thinking for a moment, Lin Shen decided to follow and take a look.

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

He did not dare move too quickly, in case Gene Mutation Creatures were lurking nearby in the shadows, waiting for their chance.

Before he had gone far, he saw several Gene Mutation Creature corpses lying on the ground, their Gene Mutation Fluid still uncollected.

Lin Shen inspected the wounds on those corpses, then continued onward.

Every so often, he would find more Gene Mutation Creature corpses, yet he did not see a single person or discover any living Gene Mutation Creatures.

The canyon was extremely long. It was nearly dawn by the time he reached its end, yet he still found no trace of Bai Shenfei and the others.

As the sky gradually brightened, Lin Shen looked into the distance. Ahead lay an unbroken range of mountains, but he could not see the majestic and mysterious Gourd Mountain.

Gourd Mountain was so enormous that it could be seen clearly from the canyon entrance. Why could I no longer see it now that I'm here? Lin Shen's confusion deepened.

There were many small paths through the mountains. Fortunately, hoofprints marked the ground, and Lin Shen followed them onward.

Many metallic plants appeared in the mountains, including towering trees that seemed forged from steel, forming something like a Steel Jungle.

The most common were trees resembling red maples. Their seven- or eight-meter-tall trunks were covered in leaves like red copper.

Lin Shen followed the hoofprints as they twisted and turned through the mountain range. Two or three hours later, he was astonished to discover that he had somehow returned to the canyon.

How strange! Lin Shen was even more puzzled. He was certain that he had been following the hoofprints the entire way, and he had not seen Bai Shenfei and the others circle back. So how had he ended up back here?

Gourd Mountain is probably here, but I simply can't see it. They had Blackbirds with them, so perhaps they have already entered Gourd Mountain. No matter how he thought about it, this was the only possibility.

Unfortunately, he did not have a Blackbird. Even if he wanted to enter Gourd Mountain, he would not be able to find the entrance.

How could such a majestic mountain be hidden away? It's truly inconceivable. Lin Shen tried once more to enter the mountain range and search for them, but found nothing again. In the end, he returned to the canyon.

Even stranger, he found no trace of Gene Mutation Creatures in the mountains. In theory, there should have been many Gene Mutation Creatures near a Gene Mutation Point. Everything here seemed rather bizarre.

Forget it. My strength is limited. Even if I entered Gourd Mountain, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to help much. I might instead become a burden to Third Brother and Fourth Brother. After thinking it over, Lin Shen decided to return to the base first.

He had to complete his Gene Mutation as soon as possible. Otherwise, his own strength would be too weak, and even with powerful pets at his side, he would not be safe.

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

Because the figure was too far away, Lin Shen could only tell that it was a person, not who it was. With a thought, he took his pets and hid in the woods, observing the figure from afar.

The figure staggered from side to side as though drunk. Even after quite a while, he had yet to make it down from the mountain path.

But as the distance closed, Lin Shen finally saw the person's face clearly, and his expression changed in shock.

The metal carapace covering that person's body looked like tempered glass riddled with cracks, with tiny fissures running all over him.

Blood seeped from every crack, dripping all over his body. He looked utterly terrifying.

The fact that he had survived this long was already a miracle. No wonder he had staggered all the way here, barely able to walk.

Lin Shen vaguely remembered that this man was an alloy Gene Mutator from the Qi Family. He was extremely skilled, one of the notable figures in both the Qi Family and Blackbird Base. His name seemed to be Qi Guan, a direct descendant of the Qi Family.

Seeing that no one else was following along the mountain path behind him, Lin Shen hurried out of the woods and strode toward Qi Guan.

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

Upon seeing Lin Shen, Qi Guan tried to rush toward him, but stumbled and fell to the ground. He struggled to rise several times, yet could not get back up.

"Save... save me... I'm... done for... I'm... done..." Qi Guan lay sprawled on the ground, stretching a hand toward Lin Shen with all his strength, his eyes filled with a desperate yearning to live.

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

"What do you mean, you're done for? Qi Guan... Qi Guan..." Lin Shen called out several times, but received no response.

He had the Superspeed Gunslinger turn Qi Guan's body over. Blood had stained the ground with the outline of a crimson human figure. It seemed he truly could not survive.

Lin Shen went over and checked his pulse and breathing. He was already dead.

Lin Shen carefully examined the metal carapace on his body. Countless cracks covered him from head to toe, as though he had been crushed like glass while still alive. He had no idea what kind of force could have injured him so horribly.

Suddenly, Lin Shen noticed that Qi Guan seemed to be clutching something in his other hand. Even in death, his fingers were still clenched tightly around it.

Lin Shen crouched down and tried to pry his hand open, but could not force it apart no matter what he did.

He took out Lao Ye's short blade and pried at it for quite some time. After snapping the fingers apart, he finally saw what Qi Guan was holding.