Chapter 638

The bird arced across the sky and finally landed in a meticulously tidied camp.

Inside, packed tight were all kinds of people with insect limbs growing from their backs—male and female, every sort!

They had already formed a settlement, deep inside a forbidden zone far from human territory, mimicking human ways to survive.

"Damn it! Damn thing!!!"

The bird transformed into a woman's silhouette; as she landed, she staggered and fell to the ground.

Zhang Jie's shot held nothing back—that shotgun could obliterate an S-Rank Anomaly; otherwise, why do you think she took a bullet, spat out a harsh line, and ran?

If she didn't run, the second shot would hit her mouth, and she wouldn't even be able to get out a harsh word.

"How so, you failed?"

A man, similarly bearing insect limbs and of a slender build, teased her, taking in her entire sorry state.

"Not only did he fail, he... he actually treated the king... actually treated the king as a pet!!!"

The man's teasing expression suddenly turned ice-cold, his gaze at the woman no longer frivolous; he spoke in a stiff tone.

"You haven't even written a single stroke of the eight characters, yet you're already calling him king or not king—isn't that a bit premature?"

"Sorry... sorry!"

Qi Yu's bite didn't hurt her physically, but it was a considerable blow to her spirit.

"Hmph."

"Never mind them; Zhang Jie, as a pure-blooded human, will inevitably side with us in the end—that's why I won't let you kill him."

"Heh, of course, you couldn't kill him either."

The man's gaze shifted to the other's ankle, where Qi Yu had left tooth marks, and he chuckled.

"Do you know that if you move against him, she'll swallow you whole, rather than just give you a nip like a dog?"

The woman suddenly felt a layer of cold sweat appear on her back....

"To swallow... swallowing means her personality, will, and thoughts all vanish, merged into one—this is their species' special ability."

"This is also why they are called mimics."

"First, help more of our kin awaken from chaos."

Speaking of which, a huge mimic devourer exploded completely in the distance; to grow to that size it must have devoured at least a few thousand anomalies.

If placed on the mother planet, it might yet be a trouble that only a Chief could resolve.

Under the control of several of its kin, its body burst completely open, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

Yet at the center of that massive carcass lay a limbed girl, her outward appearance indistinguishable from a human's, the only difference being, like Qi Yu, she possessed insect limbs and ear-wings.

Oh right, and dozens of scarlet pupils were crammed into her eye sockets.

Not only her, but everyone else was the same.

This, I fear, is what they speak of—saving their kin from chaos.

"But! Are we just going to let him become Chief like that?"

"We've suffered so much! We exist to take revenge on humanity! Why!"

"Enough."

"He's merely a caretaker of the Crown Prince; what good ending do you think he could have?"

The man spoke offhandedly, and in the woman's heart his stature loomed a little larger.

As the original founder of the clan and an awakened sage, he knows far more hidden truths than anyone else.

For instance, at the very beginning, they were a single entity, with no distinction between them.

Another example, the Crown Prince.

His bloodline tells him that the one who first secures enough food and awakens self-awareness is the 'King'.

But he seems to have some objections, so he forcibly invented the concept of a Crown Prince.

Of course, the others don't know this rule, which is why this scene occurred.

"We needn't worry.... fate will point the way on its own."

"Well done, Qi Yu!!!"

Zhang Jie ruffled Qi Yu's head, all doggish and fond; this little thing is still too adorable for words.

I have to say, this little critter gets more comfortable to raise and cuter to look at; in short, Zhang Jie is very pleased.

"He just passed out in an instant; the other side likely released a toxin."

Zhang Jie fiercely wiped his face; a deadly weakness had surfaced—his magic resistance really is a bit too low.

The opposition merely tossed a bit of poison and knocked him down; fortunately, for some unknown reason they didn't follow up, and Zhang Jie even felt as if he'd died once already.

"Will.... has improved considerably."

The pollution here generally reads 500,000 and up; for Zhang Jie, it was initially a bit uncomfortable, but later it felt just right.

"If a regular team were to come here, they'd probably need to bring more than three human-shaped oil lamps."

Zhang Jie gave a helpless smile; a human-shaped oil lamp refers to the fuel of the lamp-bearer, a space constructed from soul lamps that barely sustains activity.

Besides soul lamps and killing anomalies, humanity has yet to find anything that can directly dispel the pollution.

"Master! Master!"

Qi Yu called out happily; now it finally counts as having evolved into a four-limbed stance, and after a while it will surely return to its original form!

Zhang Jie let out a breath, fearing that Qi Yu might have suffered permanent bodily harm, which would really be....

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it any further."

"First, let's become Chief!"

Zhang Jie's spirit is now full; I don't know how long he was unconscious this stretch, but it doesn't matter—his spirit has returned to normal!

"It's time to go deeper."

S-Rank Anomalies also have strengths and weaknesses; the one Zhang Jie killed first was obviously one of the weak ones.

And that diamond-skinned damn thing, the damn thing that chased him for two months! It's obviously not an ordinary thing!

"Don't let me encounter this thing again, it's disgusting..."

If it were an ordinary person, they would have died who knows how many times already.

"You brought Qi Yu and once again resolutely ventured deeper...."

"Another whole month of ordeal, your will has gained another tremendous increase!"

"But at the same time, human society also suffered a huge blow!"

"In the three months you were away, the five major cities of the mother star were destroyed, becoming breeding grounds for anomalies."

"The reason is that we launched a counteroffensive against their mimicry, causing them to erupt completely, striking humanity from both inside and outside with an unforgettable retaliation!"

"The worst part is that a chief perished in this disaster..."