Chapter 1403: and translation of chapter title

Anna?

Instantly withdrawing his focus, Lin An suppressed the strange feeling in his chest and had no choice but to brace himself and greet the other party.

Her gentle voice paired with this body really gives one a strong sense of disorientation.

If he only listened to the voice, he even felt that the other party was like a mature version of Wen Ya.

However, no matter how strange, at least the other party appears to be the only one among this batch of mutated humans who shows goodwill toward him.

But Lin An also doesn't know why the other party proactively sought him out.

Yes, arrangement?

As if seeing through Lin An's doubt, the woman raised her sharp claws, covered her mouth, and gave a light laugh.

"Don't be nervous; I also heard from those children that you are a survivor of another civilization."

"I'm just a little curious..."

After saying that, Anna curiously sized up Lin An, but due to the enormous size difference, her bending motion was like observing an ant on the ground.

"Would you be willing to show me around here? It could answer some of my questions."

Enduring a slight discomfort, Lin An solemnly lifted his gaze toward Anna.

He couldn't sense the other party's strength at all; vaguely, he only knew that when this mutated human appeared, the four Fourth Stage beings locking onto him all disappeared.

It seemed that the mutated human named Anna held an extremely high status, to the point that the others guarding him thought there was no need to continue locking onto him.

Above mid Fourth Stage, that's high Fourth Stage!?

Unable to determine Anna's exact strength, Lin An could only cautiously confirm what she had just said.

"Of course."

"Actually, we harbor no hostility toward you."

"You are not an Alien Species, so to us you are not an enemy. In fact, those children are so cold toward you because they haven't had much contact with the outside world."

"They are just instinctively hostile toward you, with no real malice. After all, people always need to be careful, right?"

With meaning behind her words, hearing Anna's words that were exceptionally skilled at soothing hearts, Lin An blinked slightly.

He mentioned children twice in a row? Judging by appearance, this mutated human before him likely belongs to the earliest batch of mutated humans.

From Anna's manner of speaking, he actually felt as if he were conversing with humans from before the Apocalypse.

But it doesn't matter.

"Then Miss Anna, I indeed have many questions I want to ask."

"I'm very curious about how your mutation works. I once came into contact with primitive humans outside, and they seemed to..."

"Not used to it."

"Do mutated humans also have reproductive ability?"

Carefully choosing his words, Lin An directly asked one of his most pressing questions.

He knows the principle behind the strengthening of mutated humans is similar to that of the Corpse Emperor.

However, the Corpse Emperor also followed the rule-bound path, and only after devouring so many humans and mutants could he barely become a pseudo-Fourth Stage.

Then likewise, Lin An cannot imagine how this batch of mutated humans bypassed the rule requirements and directly became Fourth Stage through their flesh alone.

Or perhaps before Fourth Stage, one could advance purely through attribute enhancement, but the requirements were just too harsh and extreme?

Moreover, he is genuinely curious about how mutated humans produce so many Fourth Stage beings.

Where would they get so many mutants to eat?

With so many Fourth Stage beings, the required spiritual energy is simply astronomical!

"Curious little one."

"You come right out and ask about our core secret; you're really reckless..."

"You don't know; these secrets are crucial to a species, do you?"

"Only the dead can know."

Just as her words fell, Lin An's body instantly tensed, but before he could think of what to do, Anna laughed again and her tone suddenly shifted.

"Alright, I won't scare you."

"Actually, it's not really a secret; I know you're curious."

"Do you call us mutated humans? It seems you have indeed come into contact with the original people."

With a reminiscent look, Anna imperceptibly shook her head, and the huge maw at her chest lightly opened and closed:

"Calling us mutated humans isn't wrong."

"Before becoming Fourth Stage, we were still humans, or rather, before becoming mutated humans we maintained a human form through transformation."

"Inside the core hub, there is a mother-body factory. Every current mutated human is manufactured based on the genes of the first batch of mutated pioneers."

"After birth, we directly infuse basic human knowledge via spiritual transmission, then let these children be infected with the zombie virus."

"In this way, newborn children already have a mutant template."

"Around these seeds, we mass-kill the induced good mutants to supply them so they can quickly absorb spiritual energy and rapidly increase their level."

"As for those primitive humans outside who have estrangement and hostility toward us, it's probably because they cannot accept humans turning into this form."

Listening to Anna's explanation, which was more detailed than Luo Si's, Lin An felt certain in his heart and instantly caught another layer of subtext.

So it's... cloning!?

The first batch of mutated pioneers?

So all subsequent mutated humans are produced through cloning? No, there should be other conditions as well.

Otherwise, the cloned beings would be like the Red Tower zombies, which aren't considered human.

Realizing Anna was still hiding something, Lin An didn't dwell on it, merely thinking of another layer.

Mass-killing mutants to supply the newborn mutated humans for their advancement?

This point is obviously problematic.

If he hasn't guessed wrong, the method the other side is using should be to artificially induce mutants to appear!

Even more horrifying, Lin An even suspects that whether it's the clone used to become mutated humans, or the mutant used to kill and extract spiritual energy, the "thing" used by both is probably human!

Only the former has human consciousness; the latter... no, the latter also has it!

In an instant, Lin An suddenly recalled the scene of his first encounter with the Blood Witch.

Not long ago, after seeing the Blood Witch's transformation process, he had also thought that it might be possible to artificially induce humans who had just been infected with the virus to become mutants!

But back then he lacked the ability to realize it; later he felt the risk was too great, it was unnecessary. Moreover, it was also too cruel.

But looking at it now, the method adopted by the mutated humans is exactly this!

A slight chill ran through his heart.

Having already suspected, a faint hint of wariness flashed in Lin An's eyes.

Anna claimed that the reason primitive humans resist them is probably not simply an inability to accept becoming like this.

But rather...

Unable to accept artificially inducing humans to become mutants, right?

For some reason, after being almost ninety percent sure of his guess, Lin An faintly heard a series of barely perceptible but extremely painful wails echoing throughout the world.

Memory fragments flashed instantly.

In an instant, Lin An only felt as if he were standing on an artificially made deep pit, looking down.

In the pit, large numbers of replicated humans, under the injection of the zombie virus, helplessly stretched out their hands, enduring inhuman torment and letting out wails.

Those infected who failed to withstand the mutation and could not retain any rationality became mutants, were killed and then eaten.

While the successful ones, retaining a fuzzy consciousness, numbly devoured corpses that were still their fellow beings just a moment ago, amidst the mountain of corpses.

Gulping down large mouthfuls, you eat me, I eat you.

Devour, select, devour again.

Repeating over and over, eventually from the endless sea of corpse bones and blood, a mutated being with restored "consciousness" was born.

In a daze, Lin An seemed to really see this scene.

But after a brief moment of losing himself, he suddenly snapped awake and then tried hard to conceal that he had guessed this.

Not bothering to wonder why he saw this scene, Lin An suppressed the shock in his heart and couldn't help but ask the second question.

"You all, it seems you have also once had a Perfect One?"

"Your Perfect One, why did he die? Was he yours, or of the Alien Species?"