Expert judgment

Why am I the only one suffering?

After being cleaned and having poison ointment applied, Turkalando, her face oily and looking awkward, appeared before Zhang Xuezhou.

Seeing that Zhang Xuezhou's entire body was free of any red bumps, Turkalando couldn't help but feel a little indignant.

"I'm thick-skinned and tough!"

Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand and looked back at the cave.

During their adjustment period, logistical support personnel also arrived quickly.

Several aircraft landed nearby, including medical personnel, paladins, and researchers.

Lingyu kept it on his person, but Zhang Xuezhou was also concerned about the nature of the millipede.

This not only involves relevant interests, but also confirms many of his speculations.

"Cha Keqing and Dong Yemu have been poisoned! Quickly, quickly, quickly!"

When someone finally emerged from the cave, they were seeking medical assistance.

This made Zhang Xuezhou gasp slightly, and he couldn't help but feel relieved that the group had rarely come into contact with the centipede.

The paladins did not carry the loads empty-handed when they went into the cave; instead, they wore masks and protective gear on their hands.

Even under these circumstances, two paladins were poisoned by the corpses of the centipedes.

If this venomous insect were to ravage densely populated areas, the number of deaths and injuries could be incalculable.

"Your Tuer District seems to have a lot of caves and has found a lot of Soul Jade. Are there also a lot of these big insects?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

Don't try to scare me with something like that!

Turkalando dislikes the old customs of the Turk tribe, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love her homeland.

The thought of the Soul Jade discovered by the Tuer clan, and the ferocious beasts that might exist in such areas, made her face turn several degrees pale.

The lurking beasts pose little threat, but they still need to eat and drink, and may turn their attention to humans at any time.

Turkalando even pondered the fall of the Qinmeng Empire.

"I think you could check the missing persons and livestock records in the Tours district," Zhang Xuezhou suggested. "It's not that we're afraid of guessing wrong, it's that we're afraid of guessing right!"

"I will ask Mother to investigate as thoroughly as possible," Tulcarando said solemnly, "If there is anything..."

"Don't expect me to cooperate with you. We defeated a cripple; you don't think we can handle this kind of monster by working together, do you?"

Before Turkalando could express his thoughts, Zhang Xuezhou immediately silenced him.

"I haven't finished speaking yet," Tulcarando said sullenly.

"You don't need to worry too much," Ren Anran said. "The ferocious beasts of the Qinmeng Empire are difficult to deal with because of insufficient supplies. Encountering them after they travel far would be a disaster. But what's there to fear on your own soil? As long as we can find them thoroughly, we can surely wipe them out under the cover of firepower!"

"That's right," Zhang Xuezhou nodded, "With bombs, incendiary bombs, and sniper rifles all at once, you're not afraid of any ferocious beast jumping out to attack you!"

That's what they say!

The existence of ferocious beasts in the Tour area is terrifying, but with modern military capabilities, a well-planned strategy should be sufficient to deal with it.

Turkalando noted down the details and felt relieved. He then followed Zhang Xuezhou and the others to observe the numerous people entering and leaving the cave.

The group waited for nearly an hour before several paladins carefully pulled on ropes to transport out half of the silvery-white, gleaming centipede corpse.

"Don't get close! This giant centipede corpse still has nerve reflexes; it could injure someone if you're not careful!"

As researchers approached, the paladin at the front cried out. The millipede corpse, which had been steadily lifted out, swayed violently, and dozens of its slender legs thrashed about.

This turned the paladins pale, and they kept tugging at the ropes binding them to maintain their balance.

Aside from the power of the millipede's limb nerve reflexes, what truly terrified the paladins was the millipede's venom.

If a centipede's leg scratches at your skin, your flesh will rot and decay within seconds. If the wound involves areas such as the head, it is almost certain to be fatal.

The section of the insect corpse involving the head is even more troublesome, and many paladins are still handling the body with extreme care.

Just as Turkalando had feared, many people were not filled with the joy of obtaining the beast's corpse, but rather with a sense of dread.

Even carrying the corpses of dead millipedes resulted in injuries for the group; facing such ferocious beasts in person would inevitably lead to death.

Zhang Xuezhou considered the possibility that other ferocious beasts might exist in the Tuer District, and some paladins also considered the same possibility.

This made the holy warriors uneasy, and many of them were preoccupied with their own worries.

What were the test results?

The chaotic scene lasted for almost fifteen minutes, after which a middle-aged man wearing glasses quickly walked towards Ren Anran, prompting Ren Anran to ask a question.

"Based on the autopsy results, this insect corpse is significantly weaker than the ferocious beast in terms of strength and defense, this..."

"Not to be identified as a ferocious beast?"

The middle-aged man hesitated somewhat when responding.

The data in the autopsy report clearly differs significantly from the data on ferocious beasts currently available.

For example, the ant-shaped ferocious beast obtained by the Thousand Islands Alliance would never have its body crushed by stalactites weighing several tons.

The reason why the group's guns failed to penetrate the centipede was largely due to the weakness of their firearms. In contrast, Turrolanda, a Fourth Sequence, even withstood two attacks from the centipede with brute force and genetically engineered weapons. Such a situation would never occur with a ferocious beast.

"If we insist on classifying it as a ferocious beast, then we can only say that it belongs to a special type of venomous beast!"

Aside from the threat posed by the poison, the middle-aged man felt that these giant insects weren't too difficult to deal with; they could be killed with a powerful sniper rifle.

For the ferocious beasts in the Qin Meng ruins, a sniper rifle is far from enough of a threat; only a shot to a vital spot can cause any possible damage.

A simple comparison led the middle-aged man and other researchers to identify the millipede as a special species of poisonous centipede.

"You mean this insect has no scientific research value?" Zhang Xuezhou asked doubtfully.

"We haven't extracted its relevant genes yet, so it's difficult to determine whether the genes of this giant venomous centipede meet the relevant requirements," the middle-aged man said. "The results will take at least twelve hours!"

"Your testing speed is really a bit slow!"

Ren Anran responded with dissatisfaction.

If millipedes cannot be classified as ferocious beasts, their genes need to be tested to determine if they meet the requirements for genetic research.

If the requirements are met, it needs to undergo a series of cultivation and breeding processes, and its rejection by the human body needs to be continuously reduced, before it can be made into a blood agent.

"Forgive my bluntness, but the genes of such highly toxic substances are primarily designed to exert their toxic properties. Not only are they rarely used, but the toxicity caused by these genes can easily damage the body, making their use extremely risky!"

The middle-aged man spoke in a low voice, which made Zhang Xuezhou gasp slightly.

The other party's statement was already very straightforward.

If a millipede does not meet the requirements of a ferocious beast, its value will drop significantly.

The genes of venomous organisms rarely align with human development, resulting in limited research on them. Even when research is conducted, adapting them to the human body is extremely difficult, further diminishing their research value.

If this organism lacks the ability to fuse its genes, this powerful and ferocious millipede would be nothing but a pile of waste.

"Luckily, it wasn't too difficult to kill them, otherwise we would have lost a lot of money!"

Although Zhang Xuezhou had many guesses in his mind, these judgments were all based on theories and speculations.

Having never encountered any creatures from the Qin Meng Ruins, nor any ferocious beasts, he had no choice but to trust the assessment of the experts from the Thousand Islands Alliance.