30 Global Evolution
The two of them were awakened by Liu Fengyu in a daze.
Liu Fengyu's tone was somewhat solemn. "Don't go back to sleep. It's getting colder and it's too dangerous to fall asleep again."
They opened their eyes and glanced at their watches. Minus nine degrees!
"The temperature is dropping further." Liu Fengyu wrapped his down jacket tightly, his face pale. It seemed that he was also feeling the cold.
The mutated children inside the car were already crying from the cold.
Cong Xia said in a deep voice, "This won't do. Let's go down and find a place to make a fire." He got up and walked to the vehicle door, intending to jump down, but he was stunned by the scene before him.
Outside, there were already numerous bonfires burning. The large group of over forty thousand people had fires spreading like wildfire, stretching for miles without end. Each bonfire was surrounded by a circle of people huddling, constantly rubbing their hands and feet. Among them were elderly people with snow-white hair and hungry children. They might not have had a decent meal or a clean drink for days. Their lives were constantly threatened, and they might not even survive another sudden severe cold. The city residents who once lived a comfortable and peaceful life were now like a refugee army, suffering from hunger and lack of warmth, relying on the flickering flames in the wilderness for heat.
Is this the current situation for the species?
Cong Xia stood in the car, looking at the never-ending migration of people. His nose tingled, and Liu Fengyu stood next to him, sighing as well.
It wasn't pity for a particular individual; it was the lamentation of their own kind, mourning the fate of this population.
Liu Fengyu jumped off the car, and Chen Tianbi and Cong Xia also followed suit.
They picked up some branches nearby, borrowed fire from the neighboring bonfire, and sat around it to keep warm. Before long, some unfamiliar faces also gathered around their bonfire. They kept their heads down, hugging their knees, silent as if there was nothing in life worth their attention.
Cong Xia looked at the flickering flames in front of him with a solemn expression, his mind filled with tumultuous thoughts.
Ancient jade, ancient jade, was it because of helping their kind that it appeared? Then let's help them, help this species!
The temperature had dropped to minus sixteen degrees, and some children were crying from the cold. Desperate voices echoed in their ears.
Just when Cong Xia thought the situation couldn't get any worse, a roar suddenly came from a distance.
They turned their heads to look, but it was too dark to see anything.
"What's going on?" Fearful voices around them inquired, but there was no one to answer.
The roaring sound spread wider and wider, and soon, even at Cong Xia's position, they began to hear a resonating sound of thousands of wing-flapping flying creatures, resembling the buzzing of mosquitoes, but much louder than what they were familiar with.
Chen Tianbi forcefully pulled Cong Xia and Liu Fengyu up from the ground, lowly shouting, "Get in the car!"
The two reacted and quickly ran towards the car. The buzzing sound grew louder, and they could already hear screams from behind, "Mosquitoes! Huge mosquitoes!"
"Blood-sucking mosquitoes! Put out the bonfires, put them out!"
Chen Tianbi pushed Cong Xia onto the car first, then climbed in with Liu Fengyu. The sound of flapping wings was almost right behind them. They turned around to see a mosquito with a head as big as a human head, less than two meters away from them!
"Damn it!" Liu Fengyu cursed loudly.
Chen Tianbi drew out a dagger, and before the mosquito could enter the range for his dagger to strike, he swiftly unleashed a wind blade, splitting the mosquito in mid-air. When the mosquito was cut open, it was as if a blood-filled balloon had suddenly burst, splattering a large pool of bright red blood, scattering in the air.
Looking behind them, they saw many bodies lying on the ground, all drained of blood, their skin wrinkled like zombies. It was a very terrifying sight.
Not only Cong Xia, but even Liu Fengyu's face showed a fearful expression. Only Chen Tianbi remained calm, commanding those in the car, "All the mutants move forward and block the rear entrance!"
The overweight woman with enhanced vision had been scared to her knees, tightly hugging her daughter, hoarsely shouting, "It's useless, it's useless, they're everywhere, everywhere!"
Apart from her, the visibility in this dim light did not exceed fifty meters. However, even without her words, the thunderous sound of flapping wings proved just how many blood-sucking mosquitoes were in the sky.
Over a dozen mosquitoes flew towards their truck. Those who still had the ability to move, whether mutants or ordinary people, grabbed knives, iron rods, and other weapons, hacking at these monsters. Blood balls burst in mid-air one by one, creating a gruesome scene.
They watched helplessly as those mosquitoes plunged their finger-thick needles into the hearts of the victims, draining a living being dry in less than five seconds. The fear of facing death head-on drove everyone in the scene into a frenzied state.
Cong Xia grabbed Chen Tianbi, saying, "This won't work. There are too many, we can't kill them all!"
Chen Tianbi didn't have time to pay attention to him. He pushed him back and growled, "Get inside the car and hide."
Cong Xia cried out in desperation, "We can cooperate with Liu Ge! Tianbi, use the scent. Mosquitoes' sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than ours. Change the wind direction and let the scent float into the air. It's the only way to drive them away!"
Chen Tianbi and Liu Fengyu exchanged a glance, stunned by the suggestion.
Liu Fengyu shouted, "But warn everyone, if we can't float the scent into the air, it will be worse than being drained of blood."
Cong Xia exclaimed, "Tianbi can do it!"
Gritting his teeth, Liu Fengyu took off his down jacket and jumped out of the car. He looked back at Cong Xia and Chen Tianbi, his face expressing a sense of disgust. "Cover your noses."
Cong Xia quickly covered his nose, and a small air mass automatically formed in front of Chen Tianbi's nose.
Suddenly, Liu Fengyu's body shot up from the ground. His limbs slowly opened, transforming into blood-red petals in a rapid blooming motion, resembling a blooming plant. When the flower fully opened, it had a diameter of at least six meters. The flower was round in shape, incredibly beautiful, adorned with spikes. Each petal was the size of a blackboard, thick and fleshy, measuring six to seven centimeters. Liu Fengyu's body was enveloped by the beautiful and crimson flower petals, appearing eerie yet magnificent.
The corpse flower!
Before the others could recover from their astonishment, a putrid smell suddenly permeated the air. The stench was extremely pungent, causing several mosquitoes and those close to Liu Fengyu to foam at the mouth and collapse. Even those farther away covered their noses, their faces pale, staggering.
Cong Xia was almost overwhelmed by the stench.
He now understood how subtle the odor released by Liu Fengyu's abilities had been before. No wonder Liu Fengyu had always avoided discussing his true form. Cong Xia had never expected the corpse flower's true form to be so repugnant. It was not simply a disgusting smell; it was a terrifying biological weapon!
Liu Fengyu shouted, "Hurry the fuck up!"
Chen Tianbi's face turned as pale as paper. Despite the small air mass filtering fresh air in front of his nose, the stench still infiltrated. He was in a slightly better state than the others, but the stench had already made his vision darken. He had some understanding now of where Liu Fengyu's confidence and arrogance came from. This ability was indeed something that one wouldn't want to provoke.
Cong Xia fell to his knees and vomited violently. The lack of oxygen to his brain caused him to lose consciousness. Liu Fengyu was right—if Chen Tianbi couldn't float the scent into the air, it would be a quicker death to be drained of blood by the mosquitoes.
Cold sweat broke out on Chen Tianbi's forehead. He closed his eyes and expended all his physical energy to change the wind direction, blowing the scent into the direction of the mosquito army.
As the mosquitoes in the distance fell down one by one, their long legs twitched weakly upon hitting the ground before they ceased moving altogether.
In a matter of minutes, the overwhelming swarm of mosquitoes retreated due to the repulsive odor.
Liu Fengyu curled up the petals wearily, returning to his humanoid form. He sat down on the ground, his limbs feeling weak, as if all the energy had been drained from his body.
They couldn't stand up for a while.
After four or five minutes, Cong Xia struggled to get up from the ground. He took out clothes and a down jacket from his bag and unsteadily walked over to Liu Fengyu. "Liu Ge, put these on quickly. It's cold."
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes. "Help me put them on." He released most of the foul smell from his body at once. This was his life-saving ability, but for now, he couldn't even muster the strength to move his fingers.
Cong Xia was also feeling weak, but slightly better than Liu Fengyu. Worried that Liu Fengyu might freeze, he hurriedly helped him put on the clothes. After he was dressed, Cong Xia ran to Chen Tianbi's side and helped him up from the ground. "Tianbi, are you okay?"
Chen Tianbi shook his head. "Tired."
Excessive use of natural powers didn't reduce the energy base cultivated within the body, but energy and physical stamina were inevitably consumed. It was like Chen Tianbi had built a water tank the size of a car. Even if all the water was consumed at once, the tank wouldn't shrink. Given some time to recover, the tank would automatically refill. However, during this period, the tank was indeed empty.
Only by constantly expanding the water tank to accommodate an ocean-like vastness of energy would they not be exhausted from a single act of changing the wind direction.
Cong Xia secretly took out a compressed biscuit and a bottle of water from his backpack. He tore open the packaging and used his body to shield Chen Tianbi while stuffing the biscuit into his mouth. He whispered, "Eat something quickly, you must be hungry."
Chen Tianbi was indeed famished. The excessive consumption of energy was accompanied by a tremendous feeling of hunger.
After finishing the biscuit, Cong Xia held the water bottle to Chen Tianbi's mouth. "Take a sip."
Drinking the entire bottle of water and with a half-full stomach from the compressed biscuit, Chen Tianbi's face regained some color.
Cong Xia made Chen Tianbi lean against his chest, shielding him from the biting wind, and looked at him with concern. "Feeling better now?"
Chen Tianbi nodded wearily. "I'm fine. Just need to rest for a bit."
"Now our abilities might be exposed."
"Perhaps not. Liu Fengyu is too conspicuous, and most of the people here have been affected by the odor. Let's use him as a cover for now."
"I'll talk to him later. Let's rest properly for now." Cong Xia looked at Chen Tianbi's colorless lips and felt a pang of heartache. It was the first time he had seen Chen Tianbi looking so weak, unlike his usual unyielding self. Cong Xia watched the slight tremor of Chen Tianbi's eyelashes and realized, with unprecedented clarity, that he was just a twenty-one-year-old young man, several years younger than himself, burdened with a much heavier mission.
And he never complained.
Compared to Chen Tianbi, his own timidity and weakness seemed to be magnified infinitely. Cong Xia looked at the exhausted Chen Tianbi, who couldn't even stand up, and made a firm decision for the first time. He would become stronger. He would absorb the knowledge of the ancient jade. For Chen Tianbi, who had saved him and helped him multiple times, and for their survival, he must become stronger, no matter what. If he couldn't become a competent combatant, he would become a competent support. He hoped that one day he could proudly stand by Chen Tianbi's side, not as a protected person or a burden, but as a comrade, a qualified comrade.
Author's Note: The third update is complete, earlier than I expected~~ Thank you all for your support! =3=
****
Translator’s note: Finally, we caught up to the first translator’s chapters. Yey!
30 Global Evolution
The two of them were awakened by Liu Fengyu in a daze.
Liu Fengyu's tone was somewhat solemn. "Don't go back to sleep. It's getting colder and it's too dangerous to fall asleep again."
They opened their eyes and glanced at their watches. Minus nine degrees!
"The temperature is dropping further." Liu Fengyu wrapped his down jacket tightly, his face pale. It seemed that he was also feeling the cold.
The mutated children inside the car were already crying from the cold.
Cong Xia said in a deep voice, "This won't do. Let's go down and find a place to make a fire." He got up and walked to the vehicle door, intending to jump down, but he was stunned by the scene before him.
Outside, there were already numerous bonfires burning. The large group of over forty thousand people had fires spreading like wildfire, stretching for miles without end. Each bonfire was surrounded by a circle of people huddling, constantly rubbing their hands and feet. Among them were elderly people with snow-white hair and hungry children. They might not have had a decent meal or a clean drink for days. Their lives were constantly threatened, and they might not even survive another sudden severe cold. The city residents who once lived a comfortable and peaceful life were now like a refugee army, suffering from hunger and lack of warmth, relying on the flickering flames in the wilderness for heat.
Is this the current situation for the species?
Cong Xia stood in the car, looking at the never-ending migration of people. His nose tingled, and Liu Fengyu stood next to him, sighing as well.
It wasn't pity for a particular individual; it was the lamentation of their own kind, mourning the fate of this population.
Liu Fengyu jumped off the car, and Chen Tianbi and Cong Xia also followed suit.
They picked up some branches nearby, borrowed fire from the neighboring bonfire, and sat around it to keep warm. Before long, some unfamiliar faces also gathered around their bonfire. They kept their heads down, hugging their knees, silent as if there was nothing in life worth their attention.
Cong Xia looked at the flickering flames in front of him with a solemn expression, his mind filled with tumultuous thoughts.
Ancient jade, ancient jade, was it because of helping their kind that it appeared? Then let's help them, help this species!
The temperature had dropped to minus sixteen degrees, and some children were crying from the cold. Desperate voices echoed in their ears.
Just when Cong Xia thought the situation couldn't get any worse, a roar suddenly came from a distance.
They turned their heads to look, but it was too dark to see anything.
"What's going on?" Fearful voices around them inquired, but there was no one to answer.
The roaring sound spread wider and wider, and soon, even at Cong Xia's position, they began to hear a resonating sound of thousands of wing-flapping flying creatures, resembling the buzzing of mosquitoes, but much louder than what they were familiar with.
Chen Tianbi forcefully pulled Cong Xia and Liu Fengyu up from the ground, lowly shouting, "Get in the car!"
The two reacted and quickly ran towards the car. The buzzing sound grew louder, and they could already hear screams from behind, "Mosquitoes! Huge mosquitoes!"
"Blood-sucking mosquitoes! Put out the bonfires, put them out!"
Chen Tianbi pushed Cong Xia onto the car first, then climbed in with Liu Fengyu. The sound of flapping wings was almost right behind them. They turned around to see a mosquito with a head as big as a human head, less than two meters away from them!
"Damn it!" Liu Fengyu cursed loudly.
Chen Tianbi drew out a dagger, and before the mosquito could enter the range for his dagger to strike, he swiftly unleashed a wind blade, splitting the mosquito in mid-air. When the mosquito was cut open, it was as if a blood-filled balloon had suddenly burst, splattering a large pool of bright red blood, scattering in the air.
Looking behind them, they saw many bodies lying on the ground, all drained of blood, their skin wrinkled like zombies. It was a very terrifying sight.
Not only Cong Xia, but even Liu Fengyu's face showed a fearful expression. Only Chen Tianbi remained calm, commanding those in the car, "All the mutants move forward and block the rear entrance!"
The overweight woman with enhanced vision had been scared to her knees, tightly hugging her daughter, hoarsely shouting, "It's useless, it's useless, they're everywhere, everywhere!"
Apart from her, the visibility in this dim light did not exceed fifty meters. However, even without her words, the thunderous sound of flapping wings proved just how many blood-sucking mosquitoes were in the sky.
Over a dozen mosquitoes flew towards their truck. Those who still had the ability to move, whether mutants or ordinary people, grabbed knives, iron rods, and other weapons, hacking at these monsters. Blood balls burst in mid-air one by one, creating a gruesome scene.
They watched helplessly as those mosquitoes plunged their finger-thick needles into the hearts of the victims, draining a living being dry in less than five seconds. The fear of facing death head-on drove everyone in the scene into a frenzied state.
Cong Xia grabbed Chen Tianbi, saying, "This won't work. There are too many, we can't kill them all!"
Chen Tianbi didn't have time to pay attention to him. He pushed him back and growled, "Get inside the car and hide."
Cong Xia cried out in desperation, "We can cooperate with Liu Ge! Tianbi, use the scent. Mosquitoes' sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than ours. Change the wind direction and let the scent float into the air. It's the only way to drive them away!"
Chen Tianbi and Liu Fengyu exchanged a glance, stunned by the suggestion.
Liu Fengyu shouted, "But warn everyone, if we can't float the scent into the air, it will be worse than being drained of blood."
Cong Xia exclaimed, "Tianbi can do it!"
Gritting his teeth, Liu Fengyu took off his down jacket and jumped out of the car. He looked back at Cong Xia and Chen Tianbi, his face expressing a sense of disgust. "Cover your noses."
Cong Xia quickly covered his nose, and a small air mass automatically formed in front of Chen Tianbi's nose.
Suddenly, Liu Fengyu's body shot up from the ground. His limbs slowly opened, transforming into blood-red petals in a rapid blooming motion, resembling a blooming plant. When the flower fully opened, it had a diameter of at least six meters. The flower was round in shape, incredibly beautiful, adorned with spikes. Each petal was the size of a blackboard, thick and fleshy, measuring six to seven centimeters. Liu Fengyu's body was enveloped by the beautiful and crimson flower petals, appearing eerie yet magnificent.
The corpse flower!
Before the others could recover from their astonishment, a putrid smell suddenly permeated the air. The stench was extremely pungent, causing several mosquitoes and those close to Liu Fengyu to foam at the mouth and collapse. Even those farther away covered their noses, their faces pale, staggering.
Cong Xia was almost overwhelmed by the stench.
He now understood how subtle the odor released by Liu Fengyu's abilities had been before. No wonder Liu Fengyu had always avoided discussing his true form. Cong Xia had never expected the corpse flower's true form to be so repugnant. It was not simply a disgusting smell; it was a terrifying biological weapon!
Liu Fengyu shouted, "Hurry the fuck up!"
Chen Tianbi's face turned as pale as paper. Despite the small air mass filtering fresh air in front of his nose, the stench still infiltrated. He was in a slightly better state than the others, but the stench had already made his vision darken. He had some understanding now of where Liu Fengyu's confidence and arrogance came from. This ability was indeed something that one wouldn't want to provoke.
Cong Xia fell to his knees and vomited violently. The lack of oxygen to his brain caused him to lose consciousness. Liu Fengyu was right—if Chen Tianbi couldn't float the scent into the air, it would be a quicker death to be drained of blood by the mosquitoes.
Cold sweat broke out on Chen Tianbi's forehead. He closed his eyes and expended all his physical energy to change the wind direction, blowing the scent into the direction of the mosquito army.
As the mosquitoes in the distance fell down one by one, their long legs twitched weakly upon hitting the ground before they ceased moving altogether.
In a matter of minutes, the overwhelming swarm of mosquitoes retreated due to the repulsive odor.
Liu Fengyu curled up the petals wearily, returning to his humanoid form. He sat down on the ground, his limbs feeling weak, as if all the energy had been drained from his body.
They couldn't stand up for a while.
After four or five minutes, Cong Xia struggled to get up from the ground. He took out clothes and a down jacket from his bag and unsteadily walked over to Liu Fengyu. "Liu Ge, put these on quickly. It's cold."
Liu Fengyu rolled his eyes. "Help me put them on." He released most of the foul smell from his body at once. This was his life-saving ability, but for now, he couldn't even muster the strength to move his fingers.
Cong Xia was also feeling weak, but slightly better than Liu Fengyu. Worried that Liu Fengyu might freeze, he hurriedly helped him put on the clothes. After he was dressed, Cong Xia ran to Chen Tianbi's side and helped him up from the ground. "Tianbi, are you okay?"
Chen Tianbi shook his head. "Tired."
Excessive use of natural powers didn't reduce the energy base cultivated within the body, but energy and physical stamina were inevitably consumed. It was like Chen Tianbi had built a water tank the size of a car. Even if all the water was consumed at once, the tank wouldn't shrink. Given some time to recover, the tank would automatically refill. However, during this period, the tank was indeed empty.
Only by constantly expanding the water tank to accommodate an ocean-like vastness of energy would they not be exhausted from a single act of changing the wind direction.
Cong Xia secretly took out a compressed biscuit and a bottle of water from his backpack. He tore open the packaging and used his body to shield Chen Tianbi while stuffing the biscuit into his mouth. He whispered, "Eat something quickly, you must be hungry."
Chen Tianbi was indeed famished. The excessive consumption of energy was accompanied by a tremendous feeling of hunger.
After finishing the biscuit, Cong Xia held the water bottle to Chen Tianbi's mouth. "Take a sip."
Drinking the entire bottle of water and with a half-full stomach from the compressed biscuit, Chen Tianbi's face regained some color.
Cong Xia made Chen Tianbi lean against his chest, shielding him from the biting wind, and looked at him with concern. "Feeling better now?"
Chen Tianbi nodded wearily. "I'm fine. Just need to rest for a bit."
"Now our abilities might be exposed."
"Perhaps not. Liu Fengyu is too conspicuous, and most of the people here have been affected by the odor. Let's use him as a cover for now."
"I'll talk to him later. Let's rest properly for now." Cong Xia looked at Chen Tianbi's colorless lips and felt a pang of heartache. It was the first time he had seen Chen Tianbi looking so weak, unlike his usual unyielding self. Cong Xia watched the slight tremor of Chen Tianbi's eyelashes and realized, with unprecedented clarity, that he was just a twenty-one-year-old young man, several years younger than himself, burdened with a much heavier mission.
And he never complained.
Compared to Chen Tianbi, his own timidity and weakness seemed to be magnified infinitely. Cong Xia looked at the exhausted Chen Tianbi, who couldn't even stand up, and made a firm decision for the first time. He would become stronger. He would absorb the knowledge of the ancient jade. For Chen Tianbi, who had saved him and helped him multiple times, and for their survival, he must become stronger, no matter what. If he couldn't become a competent combatant, he would become a competent support. He hoped that one day he could proudly stand by Chen Tianbi's side, not as a protected person or a burden, but as a comrade, a qualified comrade.
Author's Note: The third update is complete, earlier than I expected~~ Thank you all for your support! =3=
****
Translator’s note: Finally, we caught up to the first translator’s chapters. Yey!
