Chapter 324: Mao Mao? Connected to a being called

After the giant arrow shot past, a long, drawn-out rumbling of exhaust finally echoed from the distant horizon.

"Woooo—"

Immediately after, a massive shadow came devouring from afar—it was a ship!

An enormous warship that sailed on land!

At the bow, a one-eyed burly man in beast-head armor, with a sword as large as a door panel strapped to his back, stood unmoving against the raging wind, his figure like an old pine on the edge of a cliff.

The violently tumbling cart had barely come to a stop when Baichuan immediately cut open the door and rushed out, taking in at a glance this colossal vessel and this extraordinarily conspicuous man.

He studied the giant ship carefully for a while, especially the thick, long cannon port on its side—that was exactly where the giant arrow had been fired from.

"What happened?"

Zhou Yun, whose cart had overturned due to the sudden situation, only now came back to his senses, pulling his sister as he laboriously crawled out through the door Baichuan had cut open.

The next instant, the one-eyed man leapt straight down from the giant ship.

"Boom."

The sound of a heavy object falling emanated from the man.

"You lot, not bad! To think you actually escaped Lingdi!"

The man's somewhat rough voice of praise came from above, his attention especially drawn to the small beast that had so easily sliced open the cart door with its claws.

……

On the giant ship, watching the scenery constantly sweeping past the window, as well as the ever-shrinking Gucheng behind them, the Zhou Yun siblings peered around somewhat anxiously, glancing outside one moment and at Mao Mao on the table the next, much like a country bumpkin leaving his village for the city for the first time.

Beside them, countless others behaved the same way—these were all "fellow townsfolk" who had once lived in that city, except they seemed far luckier than him; having merely survived the initial upheaval, they encountered the rescue party sent out by this giant ship not long after.

Unlike them, who had been trapped inside a building from the very start, and later encountered a terrifying monster prowling within it, worrying about survival at every moment.

Fortunately, they had Mao Mao.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun looked at the grey-white tabby cat before him, well aware that if their Mao Mao hadn't undergone a special change, they might already be dead at the hands of that "woman" who had knocked on the door at the very beginning.

"Dong dong."

A peculiar assembly-like sound rang out, and in an instant everyone in the ship's compartments stopped what they were doing—it was the assembly signal the big brother had mentioned when they boarded.

Everyone rose in unison and walked out of their rooms, heading up to the ship's deck; the Zhou Yun siblings and Baichuan were naturally no exception.

Rather, Baichuan had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.

It had been a while since he came to this world, and he had finally encountered a local force of this world; regardless of their strength, they knew far more information than he did.

In an instant, a huge crowd of people slowly gathered on the central deck of this giant ship amid hushed whispers.

And on the deck, a squad of soldiers in yellow-grey combat uniforms, mounted on fierce creatures resembling flying fish of the sea, had long been lined up on both sides awaiting them.

Right at the very front center was the armored man Baichuan had seen at the very beginning, his back bearing a greatsword as large as a door panel; on his tall frame, the armor he wore emanated an indescribable aura, making anyone who looked upon him feel as though they were facing a Fierce Beast about to roar.

He watched the survivors whispering incessantly among themselves, turning the entire deck into a bustling marketplace, and slightly furrowed his brow, seemingly puzzled as to why this batch of Lingdi survivors was so utterly lacking.

With his frown, an invisible pressure slowly spread from his body; his gaze swept over the gathered Lingdi survivors like lightning, commanding authority without anger, making none of them dare meet his eyes.

Where had these ordinary people from a peaceful era ever seen such a sight? With hearts full of dread, the clamorous noise gradually died down.

After a long while, when complete silence had fallen, he spoke in a clear, loud voice:

"To be honest, I am somewhat disappointed in your performance… Of all the Lingdi survivors I have sought to rescue, yours is the worst!"

"It's hard to imagine how you could have survived alone in the perilously dangerous Lingdi for a full half year…"

The moment these words came out, the crowd below exploded like a pot boiling over, directly cutting off the armored man's speech.

"What? Half a year?!"

"Impossible!"

"We clearly only went through… 1, 3, not even half a month."

"Exactly, exactly!"

Hearing such an outrageous claim of Time, the crowd couldn't help but ignore the man above and begin discussing among themselves; some even started muttering quietly, 'Could that guy up there be some kind of fool? Can't even tell how much Time has passed?', 'Are all the officials here this stupid?'

Some people only now suddenly realized the fact that 'they were no longer in their original world.'

But some of the smarter ones, seeing this situation, merely shook their heads slightly and furrowed their brows, keeping silent and subtly distancing themselves from those who spoke up, falling into thought.

Watching the performance of the crowd of humans and the faintly angry expression on that big man's face from the side, Baichuan sighed inwardly—true to form for humans from a peaceful era like his former world, they really did think this place was still that peaceful era, where officials treated the masses gently.

Although he hadn't yet figured out the situation of this world, just from the style of those aboard this giant ship—the capable and fierce bearing, and the mighty mounts beneath them—he could tell this was absolutely not the kind of gentle force that took in every piece of trash.

"Ha!"

Sure enough, the next instant the one-eyed burly man suddenly glared with fury, bared his teeth, stretched out his neck, and let out a threatening "ha."

A soul-seizing threatening sound from deep within his throat, mixed with violent and icy flames, burst forth from the big man, spreading through the area like thick ink.

In an instant, the crowd that had been chattering nonstop felt terror grip their hearts, and the deck fell silent once more.

Only now did the survivors realize the true face of that big man in the center of the deck!

Beneath armor made of parts from various ferocious beasts, his muscles bulged; a face resembling that of a beast, with emerald-green eyes full of brutality, and bared fangs unlike their own—sharp triangular teeth with two long, narrow canines protruding.

Coupled with his towering stature far surpassing theirs, nearly two and a half meters tall, he looked less like a person similar to them and more like an enraged beast!

The next moment, seeing that the surroundings had fallen silent.

The big man's gaze swept coldly around once, and he timely smoothed his expression, though the disappointment in his eyes deepened; he scanned the area once before continuing:

"That's right, it is indeed half a year. One day for each cycle of light and dark, thirty for a month, twelve for a year—a full half year has passed. As for why the Time aligns with your division, I do not know at present, nor is it something you need to know."

"The Time you felt while in Lingdi may not have been this long; that is merely the difference in Time between Lingdi and the outside. The Time in the outside world has truly passed half a year."

"Lingdi refers precisely to that Gucheng where you previously stayed, meaning a place shrouded by Spirit. You otherworldly visitors are not rare here, but among the many Lingdi arrivals, I have truly never seen such a pathetic bunch."

"Stupidity, indiscipline, laxity, weakness, arrogance… these are the hallmarks of most of you! That you survived until my arrival, I am even somewhat puzzled."

"Very well, what Lingdi arrivals need to know, you now know. Next, you may ask some questions—choose a representative and ask whatever you wish to know…"

"Forget it, don't bother choosing—you!"

Saying this, perhaps because the armored big man was too disappointed, or perhaps unwilling to waste too much Time, he directly raised a hand and pointed at Zhou Yun.

It was the very youth he had praised earlier.

In an instant, following the armored giant's gesture, every person around turned their gaze over.

A combination of one youth, one young girl, and a cat was exposed to everyone's gaze.

Anyone could tell the giant's attitude toward them was unusual.

"Me?"

Faced with this situation, Zhou Yun didn't shrink back either. After merely confirming, he lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, a rather halting utterance came from beside him.

"Stop! Stop! Wait, why did you say we get to choose, then change your mind?"

A golden-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned woman stepped out from the crowd, continuously protesting, "We want human rights!"

"Exactly, exactly, we need human rights!"

"Human rights! We want human rights! You can't strip us of our human rights!"

"Human rights?" The armored giant repeated with a half-smile, unclear where this weak little bug got the nerve to bounce around like this, repeatedly ignoring his dignity.

He had encountered quite a few Lingdi arrivals — he had seen powerful ones who had just descended and immediately fought their way out, ones who attacked them at the slightest disagreement, obedient and submissive ones, non-human types, and even groups that tore themselves apart with internal strife and were wiped out before they could appear. But he truly had never seen anything like today — having no strength yet unable to gauge their own position.

"Gaaak—"

"Eeek—!"

Suddenly, a beast's roar rang out, followed by a piercing scream, and one side of the crowd suddenly fell into panic.

It turned out the mounts beneath the soldiers on either side had bellowed, opened their great maws, and bit down on the person, tossing them off the speeding warship and into the rolling yellow sands below.

"Want human rights? This old man isn't some demon either. If you want them, go down to this Desert and search for them!"

The giant's faint, light laugh rang out. Ignoring his dignity time and again — do they really take him for a sick cat?

In this instant, with the precedent set, some of the fools among this crowd finally understood — this place was no longer the beautiful world they had once lived in, but a place of utter cruelty!

"This… sir, may I ask why we have appeared here? Can we go back?"

Watching the giant's gaze turn over, Zhou Yun couldn't care about anything else and hurriedly asked the question he had been holding.

"This old man's name is 'Dan,' captain of this Hunting Ship," the armored, one-eyed giant glanced at the youth, as if he had long anticipated he would ask this question, then slowly shook his head. "Why you've appeared, whether you can go back — this old man doesn't know either…"

He wanted to know the answer to this question too, because he himself had descended into this world in exactly the same way.

Only the words that followed, the armored giant Dan did not speak aloud.

"I see…" Zhou Yun lowered his head in slight disappointment, thought for a moment, then asked in succession: "Sir Dan, may I ask where we will be going next? What awaits us? Why did you come all this way to rescue us?"

This question was one Zhou Yun asked only after careful deliberation. From the giant's earlier words and conduct, one could tell he looked down on this group of weaklings — extremely pragmatic, or rather, following the law of the jungle deep in his heart. Yet he still came to rescue them. So did they have something he wanted?

At the very least, there should be some exploitable value.

"You little brat really do ask a lot of questions!" Dan rolled his eyes helplessly, but still replied: "Still, you're not as stupid as those before. That's right — where you're headed this time is the Sand Castle where this old man resides. But that place doesn't take in worthless trash with no value. If you want to stay, you can only do so by paying with your own labor."

"Every Lingdi arrival represents the appearance of a massive amount of unique world resources never seen before, as well as the Lingdi's unique Spirit Hearts — all extraordinarily precious rare resources. Rescue you? It was merely a side consideration that, in the special environment of a Lingdi, you survivors might have mutated and gained the potential to become powerful."

"Enough, enough," Dan said at the end, waving his hand impatiently. "What you should know, you now know. From here on, stay in your assigned cabins. The food and supplies you use during this period will have to be repaid once we reach the Sand Castle."

With a single sentence, Dan decided the fate of this group going forward, causing the expressions of many in the crowd to grow heavy as they were half-driven, half-guided by the surrounding soldiers back to their assigned cabins.

And Baichuan, too, slowly mulled over Dan's final words — Spirit Heart? Did it refer to the Gray Heart that didn't resemble a heart, which he had dissected earlier?

What use was it?

"That little beast of yours isn't bad."

At this moment, Dan's voice came from afar.

Baichuan raised his head and saw the armored Dan crouch down his tall frame, staring fixedly at him — especially his right paw.

'This guy knows the specifics of my right paw? Or has he seen that mysterious creature that once attacked him?'

Baichuan followed the other's gaze downward, his eyes flickered, and this thought surfaced in his mind.

He looked toward the young girl beside him, hoping for her assist.

The next moment, the girl did not disappoint him.

Though a little timid, since it concerned her most important Mao Mao, she still asked in a small voice:

"Sir Dan, do you know about Mao Mao's situation?"

"Mao Mao?" Dan looked at Baichuan, naked eagerness visible in his gaze, and slowly reached out toward Baichuan's right paw. "That's right. This little beast's situation is far from ordinary — by sheer chance, it actually possesses the bloodline of a Wild Beast!"

"Wild Beast?!" The girl and youth exclaimed in unison. Though they still didn't understand what it represented, judging by the demeanor of this high-status Sir Dan, they knew it must be no ordinary thing.

……

(End of chapter)