Han Xiao's eyes flickered as he stared into Melos's eyes, seeing tension and hesitation within them, as if he was very concerned about his next answer.
Han Xiao suddenly felt a pang of emotion. Since becoming Calamity Grade, his prestige among Grade B officers had been steadily increasing. He had spent several years with Melos and knew Melos personality quite well. Melos had been decadent for many years before starting to serve his race. Compared to the Sunil warriors who had suffered so much, he seemed less decisive and had more ideas.
In his previous life Melos was able to die heroically while resisting Calamity, but now his experiences are different from those of his previous life, and his mentality has naturally changed as well.
"You're overthinking it. The struggle for survival isn't bound by so many moral constraints; it's all about differences in stance. If I don't help, Sunil will be the one who's doomed. You hired me precisely to avoid this."
Han Xiao patted Melos on the shoulder, "Indeed, Sunil is an outsider, and the Subterranean Mutants are innocent; they haven't done anything wrong. But the law of the jungle is eternal, and the Subterranean Mutants are hindering Sunil's survival. Since you have no other choice, then don't sympathize with your enemy..."
"I know, but how are we any different from DarkStar if we do this?" Melos hesitated, then stopped himself from speaking.
Sunil's home planet was invaded and destroyed by the DarkStar, making him a victim as well. But now he has transformed into an invader like the DarkStar. This role reversal left Melos with indescribable feelings.
"Sunil is not DarkStar. DarkStar destroys for the sake of destruction, while you do it to perpetuate your race. Your motives are different. This is a battle for survival between races. Since you Sunil cannot relocate, your only goal is to eliminate your natural enemies. There is only strength and weakness, not right and wrong. Don't feel too guilty..."
Han Xiao paused, then added, "If the Subterranean Mutants aliens paid me to drive away Sunil, I might side with them. You wouldn't want me to drive away your people, would you?"
As a chaotic neutralist and a highly ethical mercenary, this was no big deal to him, and he had no intention of interfering with Sunil's actions.
Every day, a battle for survival resources unfolds in every corner of the universe. Every second, countless species are born or perish. Those who are not of our kind are sure to have different intentions. Survival is the primary need.
Melos smiled helplessly. Han Xiao's attitude made him feel relieved; it was good that Black Star didn't dislike him because of this.
"Stop talking and get started."
Sherinde, standing to the side, became impatient and, in a cold tone, jumped directly into the hole.
Seeing this, Melos sighed and jumped down as well.
Han Xiao activated the Mad Ape Mech and followed closely behind.
The three flew downwards for a while until the cave entrance gradually disappeared, leaving them in complete darkness with no light source. Han Xiao then activated his night vision goggles.
Several thousand meters below the surface, the three finally reached the end of the cave and stepped onto flat ground.
Before them lay a pitch-black underground space, with a complex and winding network of passages resembling beast trails. Several veins of Whispering Stone lay nearby, harboring numerous Subterranean Mutants lairs. The Sunil people had only truly discovered the existence of these Subterranean Mutants when they reached this point, resulting in the loss of some of their exploration teams, and thus they ceased their excavation.
There are only traces of human excavation around the cave. Further away lies the world of Subterranean Mutants, which is extremely vast. The area that has been discovered is far larger than Forest City. It is unknown how many years the Subterranean Mutants have multiplied to build such a magnificent underground world.
The temperature at this depth is very high, rich in geothermal energy. Han Xiao activated the life detection radar, and a nest in the distance was filled with densely packed dots of light. The dots of light represented Subterranean Mutants, and their numbers were extremely terrifying. Just one nest was home to tens of millions of Subterranean Mutants.
Sunil numbered the nests, and they were heading to the nearest one, nest number 1.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of the underground world. Planet Sunil is so vast that there are countless undiscovered lairs. The Subterranean Mutants number in the hundreds of millions, making them the undisputed masters of this planet.
The lair expands outward from the Whispering Stone vein as its center, with the density of light spots being highest around the vein, much like a city center.
After following the radar for a while, the three approached the outer perimeter of the nest. The corrosive slime from the Subterranean Mutants gradually appeared on the ground and rock walls. Over time, it had already turned into a thick gelatinous blanket that felt very solid and tough to the touch.
Dudu--
At that moment, the radar suddenly issued a warning that more than a dozen alien creatures were passing by ahead. Han Xiao the long-range vision function and locked onto the group of alien creatures.
Han Xiao accelerated, instantly closing the distance to the aliens. His movements created a series of afterimages, and in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen aliens were all knocked to the ground. Faced with the absolute strength of the Calamity Grade, the battle was without any suspense.
Melos and Sherinde followed and subdued the mutants; their task was to act as laborers.
The Subterranean Mutants creature is over a meter long and possesses some insectoid characteristics. Its carapace protects its muscles, with fine hairs growing in the gaps and oozing mucus. Its head is very small and has not evolved eyes; it only has four flexible tentacles. Its mouthparts are full of fangs. It feeds on rocks and has four muscular, anti-jointed legs that allow it to run and jump. It is a vertebrate and has a hard, carapace-like tail that ends in a shovel-shaped skeleton. Its overall appearance is quite ferocious.
"We've caught the sample, shall we go back?" Melos whispered.
"You guys go first, I'll go deep into the lair and take a look." Han Xiao waved his hand. The two naturally had no objections; they didn't need to worry about Han Xiao's combat strength. They obediently acted as laborers, leading more than a dozen Subterranean Mutants creatures back the way they came.
Han Xiao was left alone. He looked at the battle information from earlier, and the attributes of the Subterranean Mutants came into view. Their total level averaged between 30 and 40. They were beast-type creatures and all possessed the feat of mind resistance. Apart from that, there were no other highlights.
"Their mental resistance is indeed very high; they won't be affected by the Whispering Stone." Han Xiao nodded to himself. Next, he needed to figure out why the Subterranean Mutants species lived near the Whispering Stone.
Activating his stealth ability, Han Xiao moved at high speed towards the depths of the lair, frequently encountering Subterranean Mutants. However, the Mad Ape's stealth was naturally beyond the detection of these Subterranean Mutants, and he made his way through smoothly.
The closer you go to the center of the nest, the larger the Subterranean Mutants species becomes, gradually growing from a little over one meter in size to three or four meters, with thicker and heavier carapaces.
Han Xiao suddenly noticed crooked scratches on a rock wall that combined to form an unintelligible picture. After examining it carefully for a while, he confirmed that it was a mural carved by Subterranean Mutants using its tail.
"Is this a form of recording? A script used by Subterranean Mutants?"
Han Xiao's heart stirred; the emergence of recording methods often signifies the Germinal of civilization.
Are the Subterranean Mutants transitioning from beasts to intelligent species?
The thought flashed through his mind, and Han Xiao continued forward, soon arriving near the Whispering Stone mine. He found that there were no signs of mining in the mine, as if the Subterranean Mutants had never used the Whispering Stone and were simply guarding the mine.
Subterranean Mutants simply attracted to the mind radiation of the Whispering Stone? Han Xiao was curious and suddenly had the idea of destroying the mineral vein to test the Subterranean Mutants ' reaction.
Han Xiao deactivated his Stealth and released the Watch Protocol, launching a massive bombardment of the small mineral vein.
Rumble--
Explosions followed one after another, and the passageway began to shake rapidly.
The next moment, the radar showed that the Subterranean Mutants in the entire nest seemed to have gone berserk, frantically converging on this place.
A surging tide of Subterranean Mutants, sealing off all space. Han Xiao remained calm and composed, setting the Watch Protocol to explosive attack mode and firing freely. Beams of light shot out, exploding amidst the beast horde, their powerful force easily tearing apart swathes of the Subterranean Mutants.
The Subterranean Mutants creatures kept coming in droves, one after another, but none of them could reach Han Xiao. They were all pulverized into pieces, piling up higher and higher. Han Xiao strolled around leisurely, the huge gap in strength rendering the number of Subterranean Mutants meaningless.
Although there was no danger, this phenomenon made Han Xiao realize a problem.
"Why does this entire lair riot and turn against me when I damage the Whispering Stone vein?"
This phenomenon is somewhat like the reaction of hitting a vital part of a living organism... Han Xiao's eyes flickered as he speculated.
A mass uprising suggests that a nest possesses a collective consciousness. Perhaps the Subterranean Mutants communicates through mental fluctuations, forming a collective mental network within the nest. The Whispering Stone, possessing mental radiation, has influenced the Subterranean Mutants for many years, leading to Subterranean Mutants evolution in mental power... Perhaps the Subterranean Mutants are using the Whispering Stone to maintain their mental network?
Therefore, is the Subterranean Mutants using the Whispering Stone vein as a "tool," a kind of "communication base station"?
This explains why the Subterranean Mutants would establish nests near the Whispering Stone vein... Perhaps "tribe" would be a more accurate term. Only one Subterranean Mutants vein, and each tribe is a closed ecosystem. The Whispering Stone vein can be considered an external organ of the Subterranean Mutants group.
This kind of racial characteristic... how come it's somewhat similar to the World Tree Civilization?
Suddenly, Han Xiao felt a slight dizziness, and a series of notifications popped up on the screen.
[You have been subjected to a mental attack. The level difference is too great. You are immune to this damage. The negative effects are being assessed... Assessment passed. You are immune to the [Disruption] status!]
"They even possess mental attack capabilities?" Han Xiao was shocked and immediately checked the battle information. He discovered that ordinary Subterranean Mutants did not have this ability, but those elite mutants, which were three or four meters tall, all had the [Mental Disturbance] skill.
The level difference was too great, and Han Xiao also had the resistance of [Advanced Mental Fortitude]. Most of the mental attacks from the elite mutants were ineffective, but a few attacks were lucky enough to pass the judgment and disturb his mind.
Han Xiao became alert. Since mental attacks could counter his Blood-Mana Exchange, he didn't linger. The Mad Ape instantly activated, transforming into a black streak of light, carving a bloody path through the beast tide, unstoppable, and speeding away.
Returning to the cave entrance via the same route, the destructive power of the Calamity Grade was astonishing, killing thousands of Subterranean Mutants in a short time. Given enough time, Han Xiao could easily wipe out all the Subterranean Mutants on his own. Unfortunately, the level difference was too great, resulting in only 1 point of experience per kill. Even if he killed ten million Subterranean Mutants alone, he would only gain 10 million experience points, far less than harvesting leeks.
However, for players, slaughter is a quick way to level up. Some players did this in the previous life and ended up with countless wanted notices, using up all their resurrection attempts every day. They were even more reckless than Master Han.
Having gathered a considerable amount of intelligence, Han Xiao ascended through the burrow and flew back to the surface. He immediately saw Melos and his companion waiting for him at the edge of the burrow. The dozen or so alien creatures he had captured alive had already been put into cages and were firmly under their control.
"Black Star, what have you found?" Melos smelled the strong stench of blood.
"Hmm, there's quite a bit of interesting information. We'll discuss it when we get back."
The three boarded the spaceship and returned to Forest City, where Sunil's research department was already waiting. They successfully handed over the captured Subterranean Mutants.
Han Xiao told Sunil's research department about his discoveries, including the Germinal of the Subterranean Mutants civilization and the role of the Whispering Stone vein.
This trip easily completed several small objectives in Sunil's main questline, especially the "Slaughterer" series of objectives, which were all completed, earning millions of experience points and significantly improving the quest rating.
Next, we just need to wait for Sunil's research department to complete its study of the Subterranean Mutants and for the interstellar engineering team to arrive and build the Number Three Base. Once these two things are done, we can officially Eliminate the Subterranean Mutants.
Meanwhile, at Nest No. 1.
Right after Han Xiao left, the Subterranean Mutants collected all the corpses and piled them up. The scene was extremely bloody, and if an ordinary person saw this, they would likely feel nauseous and vomit.
Countless Subterranean Mutants swayed wildly, as if engaging in some kind of silent communication.
After a while, all the Subterranean Mutants seemed to reach a consensus, gathering in the mineral vein area, bowing their bodies as if worshipping the mineral vein, like an ancient totem worship.
Immediately afterwards, all the Subterranean Mutants suddenly began digging into the veins with their shovel-like tails, extracting piles of Whispering Stone ore, which they then piled together and protected tightly.
Several hundred Subterranean Mutants attempted to devour the Whispering Stone ore, but were attacked by their companions and quickly killed.
The excavation of the Subterranean Mutants was very fast, and there was a huge base of them. Before long, the huge mineral vein was rapidly mined out, and all the Whispering Stone were dug out.
Three to four meters tall elite alien beings moved huge chunks of the Whispering Stone ore, forming a massive procession. They were protected in the center by countless of their kind. Then, this Subterranean Mutants tribe, numbering in the millions, abandoned their original nest and began to migrate to distant places.
During this time, a porter who tried to eat the Whispering Stone was also beaten and bitten to death by the group. His companions tore open its body, dug out the undigested Whispering Stone from the corpse's stomach, and continued to move it.
This Subterranean Mutants creatures began to migrate, moving further and further away from the cave where Han Xiao and his companions had entered.