Chapter 1173

Corpses piled up into a mountain.

The Tianmu people 'stored' near the Spirit Energy Tower were simply divided into two categories.

One category is dead, the other is alive.

Just like livestock awaiting slaughter, the living Tianmu people gazed sorrowfully and angrily at their dead kin beside them; the dead Tianmu people died with eyes unclosed, using their godless third eye to lament the injustice of fate.

In the piled corpse mountain, most were children. Tiny hands and feet protruded from the heap; occasionally, with ground tremors, they swayed silently.

To save space or for ease of transport, these Tianmu people were stripped naked, their bodies bare and piled together. The corpses at the bottom had been squeezed out bloody fluid, which seeped from their mouths and noses and gradually gathered into pools in the pit.

Seeing that the corpses before him were all Tianmu people of childhood age, Lin An was not surprised.

Under his coercion, the Awakened Ones of each war zone, in order to take more Tianmu people, naturally chose to kill them and then take them away; and because the smallest-bodied children had roughly the same spirit-energy replenishment effect, they naturally became the first choice.

However, these children were truly very, very small.

Using the Tianmu people's fast-growing physique as a standard, the Tianmu in the corpse mountain, when converted to human age, might be only a few months old.

"Captain Lin, do you think humans are the most cruel thing?"

"They look just like us except for an extra eye; doing this... I feel a bit uneasy."

Following behind Lin An, Xiong Hanzi looked on glumly at the Tianmu people glaring at him.

He could understand their feelings.

If it were him, he would also hate humanity, or rather hate all alien species.

In his view, this gathering place already resembled a human city: not only were many high-rises built, but deep moats were dug around it. Streets were neat and orderly, and many Tianmu dwellings had stones carved into flowers as decoration, simply adorned.

Flowers, in the Tianmu records, were once a dream that existed on the planet.

It is evident that they love their homeland deeply.

But with the arrival of large numbers of Awakened Ones, these Tianmu people were no match for large numbers of third-rank beings; after a simple skirmish, all Tianmu people were captured.

The city they had painstakingly built also fell into ruins.

If they could persist through the insect tide, perhaps this gathering place could rekindle the flame of civilization. A casual glance, and Zhang Tie could see the technological remnants the Tianmu people had gathered; they were trying as much as possible to recover their former civilization.

"The interspecies conflict—perhaps the system also wants us to see what losing entails."

Lin An replied softly, without emotion.

If one speaks of pity, he might have a little, but certainly not much.

His 'protection' of the Tianmu people is purely to avoid raising the difficulty. Are humans cruel? Actually, it's not too bad. If eating Tianmu people could speed up clearance, Lin An would not hesitate to do so. Life feeds on negative entropy; rather than being the one eaten, it's better to be the eater.

"Don't overthink it; first try to find any abnormalities as best you can."

After a few casual reassurances, Lin An also knew Zhang Tie's character. Although the once indecisive him had improved considerably, he still tended to be too soft-hearted. The earlier they found the Tianmu people's problem, it might also be another kind of salvation.

After a subdued agreement, Zhang Tie also followed Lin An's example and began to examine the surroundings carefully.

However, he had some doubts.

"Captain Lin, why don't we look in our own gathering place?"

"In the territory occupied by Faction: Long An, there are also quite many Tianmu people everywhere."

Lin An had captured not a few third-rank beings; under Captain Lin's threat, they too received large territories. Although they did not kill as many Tianmu people as these Awakened Ones did, within the areas they occupied, they not only retained the original Tianmu tribe but also brought in large numbers.

If Lin An wanted to find something among the Tianmu people, wouldn't it be more convenient to search in his own territory?

The two of them mixed in here, and in many places they had to restrain themselves.

"Scouting the movements, and by the way, I have some speculation."

Lin An explained calmly, his gaze sweeping over the distant, alerted gathering place's core; there, he faintly felt an uncomfortable sensation.

With the war zones united, he had already discovered that among these war zones, they also placed special importance on the Dongying War Zone, protecting it as if it were some secret weapon; without a doubt, it was meant to deal with him.

For Lin An, staying here allows him to obtain information firsthand.

Moreover, in his speculation, the appearance of some things might be related to the strange fragrance...

He had forbidden his subordinates and the captured third-rank beings from eating Tianmu people, but here there are many...

"Everyone, are we really not going to continue absorbing?"

"Many of us third-rank beings have insufficient spirit energy; if we don't replenish, we might not hold out much longer..."

His face was solemn.

The Brahma third-rank chosen as the alliance representative looked at the others in a low voice; unlike the Brahma people Lin An had encountered before, his skin was very pale, appearing to have been of high caste even before the apocalypse. Although the Brahma War Zone had not initially joined the alliance, intending to go its own way, as the most unfortunate, having lost many third-rank beings to Lin An's killings, they had no choice but to accept their fate and join forces with the other war zones.

Thanks to their indeed sufficient numbers, they actually managed to retain the right to speak.

"Let's not eat, then..."

"Although I think Lin An harbors ill intent, I observed carefully and indeed it is as he said."

"The more Tianmu people we eat, the greater the difficulty of the insect tide we encounter."

"Look at them—they haven't eaten any Tianmu people so far. In a few days, Lin An might just be waiting for us to have our strength drained by the insects!"

The East Asian representative, a small alliance formed from seven or eight small states within, spoke his opinion with a worried face.

Although they hated Lin An, they also realized that what he said was very likely correct.

Precisely because of this speculation, they still dare not absorb the large numbers of Tianmu corpses they have, fearing that if they encounter Lin An again during the insect tide, they would have no chance of survival at all.

Although, they still have no confidence in their hearts.

"What are you thinking?!"

"You say you fear the insect tide will drain us, as if not eating Tianmu people would let us endure!"

"Who among us hasn't eaten? You or him? By now, the insects we face are surely far more numerous than those the Huaxia group faces!"

"If we eat, we at least won't die for now; if we don't eat, it's a slow death!"

Among the hundreds of third-rank beings, a third-rank from the Greater Korean War Zone, suppressing his anger, loudly questioned the past. But just as he finished speaking, a third-rank from North Korea beside him gave a cold snort and rudely interrupted him:

"You have eaten, but we have not!"

"Forget other things—do you dare to let the third-rank beings who have eaten Tianmu people take the front against the insect tide and be placed on the outermost line!"

I've heard that as long as you kill the Awakened Ones who have eaten Heavenly Eye people, the difficulty of the worms will also drop! That kind of thing is like being able to smell something!