Chapter 46: 45. Not a God

45. Not a God

The Abnormal incident regarding this Huogu disaster was like a nightmare; after waking up, apart from blurred and fragmented memories, it seemed that no evidence remained.

Although the Huogu are a cowardly and despicable race from a Different Dimensional Space, the vast knowledge and advanced, profound biotechnology they possess are treasures that humans dream of and crave, even if they encompass certain inviolable taboos.

Upon learning that the Different Dimensional Space where a certain Huogu tribe resided had been devastated by an Alien God, leaving behind a scene of ruins and utter destruction, the Group Leader of the Xuanmi Group felt as if they had caught the scent of a delicious cake. They immediately issued an order for all Twelve Zodiacs teams, excluding the Tiger Team members who were injured and hospitalized during this operation, to lead professionals into the Huogu Different Dimensional Space to collect "knowledge" and "materials" that could still be salvaged.

However, what no one expected was that just as everyone had gathered and prepared to depart, a strange land subsidence, which seemed as if it had been artificially set up, suddenly occurred. The entire Beixiang Tunnel was destroyed in an instant, and the underground tomb beneath the Tunnel also vanished from the world along with it.

Upon receiving the news from the front line, the Group Leader of the Xuanmi Group felt a contradictory sigh of regret and relief.

There was regret that humanity might have lost a chance for leapfrog development to walk a further path, but at the same time, the Group Leader of the Xuanmi Group was very clear that this opportunity contained great danger; whether it could lead humanity to prosperity or cause humanity to follow in the footsteps of the Huogu was all unknown. Judging by the current quality of the human population, it might still be too early for humans to come into contact with them, and losing the opportunity to obtain Huogu civilization might not be a bad thing.

Casting aside the regret of missing out on an alien civilization, the sudden tremor of the land subsidence was also particularly strange.

The geographical location of the world where Shenzhou is situated is not prone to such violent crustal movements, and in the subsequent investigation of the epicenter, people made a surprising discovery: the epicenter had actually originated from the place beneath the Beixiang Tunnel. This made people even more convinced that this land subsidence was not a natural disaster but "man-made."

This discovery cast a shadow over the entire Xuanmi Group, and they all uneasily contemplated various possibilities in their hearts.

Could it be that the Alien God sealed by "Chijiang" had broken free from its restraints?

Or was it that, during that terrifying riot of the Alien God, there were still Huogu alive who destroyed the passage themselves to prevent their tribe's secrets from leaking out?

Later, as rumors of "rat-men" and terrifying monsters appearing and attacking humans began to spread in the southern cities of the Shenzhou Region, everyone in the Xuanmi Group realized that there were indeed remnants of the Huogu who had survived that catastrophe.

Come to think of it, if even humans like He Jia'an and Li Yingqi could survive that Alien God catastrophe, how could those rat-men, who were already cautious, cowardly, and stronger than humans, not have prepared any escape routes?

The Huogu corpses that He Jia'an and the others saw were definitely not all of them, and the individuals among them that are still alive from now on will be like the real rats scurrying in the shadows and sewers, surviving in the cracks in corners that humans do not notice.

It is believed that when the time comes, those rats will swarm out, just like the rats that released and spread the Black Death and the plague back then, bringing unimaginable, devastating disaster to humanity.

Therefore, if someone begins to notice a pair of red eyes peeking at you in the dark at night, that might be the warning signal your sharp brain is sending you before the Huogu prepares to poison you...

Li Jiahong discovered that it did not take long for him to walk out of the haze of his broken family. He only spent a full week in brief self-seclusion and pain. A week later, when he went to visit the young girl who had finally awakened from her slumber, the girl who had lost her memory actually called him "Daddy." From this, he suddenly grasped the rope hidden in the darkness, found the way to leave the abyss, and saw the light above his head.

He did not know what the young girl's real name was; he only knew that he had briefly heard Xue Hanlei call her "Ningning" on his phone. Thus, after deciding to adopt her, the young girl's background was changed to Li Jiahong's name with the assistance of He Jia'an and others, and she was named "Li Yuning."

He Jia'an and the others once asked about the meaning of the name, and Li Jiahong explained: "It rained very heavily after coming out of the Tunnel that day, and that was also the first time I tasted such strange rainwater. They were like lemon juice—they were sour..."

He Jia'an and the others were able to survive this Abnormal incident, and the credit for that could not be separated from Li Jiahong, and Li Jiahong had also paid an unknown price for it.

After the battle between "Chijiang" and the winged Alien God ended, Li Jiahong became the only surviving human among them who could still move freely. He could not rely on himself to bring everyone out, so in order to let everyone live and walk out, he chose to stay behind to look after everyone who had fallen into a coma.

Thus, he actually spent a full day and night in the same space as an Alien God while in a conscious state!

It was not until He Jia'an and Li Yingqi and the others woke up from their comas that Li Jiahong, whose mental state was on the verge of collapse at the time, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After the group stumbled out of the Different Dimensional Space, He Jia'an contacted members of the local branch organization, and with the help of the branch members, the group was able to successfully return to the surface from underground.

Therefore, to He Jia'an and the others, Li Jiahong was still a great savior, and hearing that Li Jiahong wanted to adopt the young girl who had lost her relatives, they naturally would help.

"When did you start believing in these things?" Before leaving, He Jia'an came to visit Li Jiahong once and was surprised to find that both Li Jiahong and Li Yuning were wearing a Triangle Talisman around their necks.

"Regardless of anything else, being able to return to a normal life involves a bit of luck. No matter what you believe in, you should believe in something a little," Li Jiahong laughed.

He Jia'an nodded; as long as it wasn't believing in some Alien God, it would be fine. Those things are not gods that protect humanity, but high-dimensional beings that disregard everything. Believing in them makes it easy to be sensed by them, and if you encounter one with a particularly nasty temperament, your future life can only be described as "dying a horrible death."

"We should go too. From now on, take the child and live a peaceful life." After chatting with Li Jiahong for a while, He Jia'an stood up and bid a final farewell to Li Jiahong.

"Okay, I wish you a safe journey, Captain He," Li Jiahong said sincerely.

"I hope we don't meet again. If you see me, you definitely won't encounter anything good," He Jia'an said with a smile. Then, he walked out the door. Before preparing to close it, he suddenly seemed to remember something, poked his head back in, and asked another question, "There's a question I almost forgot to ask: what was the name of that red-faced general who saved all of us at the time?"

"Guan Jiang Shou, Zeng Jiangjun," Li Jiahong replied seriously with a straight face upon hearing this.

"Zeng Jiangjun..." He Jia'an recited the name. He seemed to have no impression of this name and grinned, "Another Alien God I haven't heard of."

After saying this, He Jia'an bid farewell and left.

Listening to the sound of the door closing, Li Jiahong suddenly chuckled, shook his head, and muttered to himself: "He is not a god at all..."