Bai Zemin's breathing stalled slightly as Lilith's words reached him and for a moment it seemed as if his brain had stopped working.
If due to mana and the Soul Record new life forms could form overtime didn't this mean that the more time passed not only would zombies and animals mutate and evolve even more, but also other unknown creatures even more powerful would appear?
So far, Bai Zemin had encountered mutated and evolved insects such as the Great Fast Mantis and the First Order Blazing Beetle. He had also fought dogs, cats, snakes, tigers, and other mutated and evolved animals.
However, for better or worse, these monsters were creatures that, while they had become infinitely more powerful than in the past, some of their weaknesses were still present.
For example; during his battle to the death against the First Order Blazing Beetle, Bai Zemin knew that the beetles could not turn their bodies and he took advantage of that weakness to kill it.
But if other unknown beings appeared this small advantage of knowledge about enemy biology would no longer be present in most cases.
Bai Zemin took a deep breath and looked at Mu Yang Yang with sharp eyes, "Are you sure about what you just said?"
Mu Yang Yang felt a heavy aura hovering over her and with a pale face nodded repeatedly as she stammered, "I-I swear... It really was a small monster like a goblin. Besides... T-This goblin even took some survivors alive to the south. I saw the whole scene!"
"... I see." Bai Zemin nodded and his expression returned to indifference. "The information you just provided is of utmost importance to me. I will arrange for you to be granted a villa in the center of the camp and you will be allowed to enjoy the privileges of a low-level Royalty. Someone will explain the rules and benefits of your new position to you soon."
"... Thank you... Thank you..." Mu Yang Yang stood up and bowed as tears of pain, suffering, and joy spilled down her cheeks.
While she didn't know what was a Royalty, it was definitely a good thing. At this point, she just wanted to eat and sleep in a litter comfortably without having to fear the dangers lurking outside for at least one night.
...
Soon, Mu Yang Yang was escorted by two armed men to a separate villa where several survivors in charge of meals prepared a table of dishes for her to eat at will.
After taking a hot shower and changing clothes, while looking at the rice, chicken soup, vegetables, and fried meat as well as the different choices of drinks on the table, Mu Yang Yang again cried bitter tears and enjoyed from the depths of her heart what for her was the best meal she had ever had in her entire life.
While Mu Yang Yang was being taken to rest and due to the sudden increase of survivors, Bai Zemin had sent a messenger to the Beginning Village to report the situation to Shangguan Bing Xue.
* * *
Three hours later, in the middle of a road about ten kilometers from Bai Zemin's current location, a convoy of three buses and two SUVs were moving at a steady speed in a southerly direction.
Inside the SUV leading the way, Shangguan Bing Xue was sitting in the back seat while looking out the window with an indifferent gaze.
She had received Bai Zemin's report and after discussing it with Wu Yijun, she decided to bring some men to pick up the survivors and take them back to the Beginning Village. After all, they could not currently afford to separate their meager forces into two villages.
The young driver's eyes occasionally looked in the rearview mirror and the man couldn't help but sigh at the icy beauty. However, for fear of losing his mind, his glance did not linger for more than a second at a time before returning to the road.
Swoosh!
Suddenly Shangguan Bing Xue's face changed slightly and without hesitation she slammed the door before rushing out without flinching.
The vehicle that was traveling at about 30-40 kilometers per hour due to the bad condition of the road continued to move forward for a few more meters before it suddenly began to split in two.
Boom!
Without warning, the car exploded in a cloud of fire; killing the driver in the process. The convoy traveling behind immediately came to a screeching halt, barely avoiding a car crash.
"Nobody get out of the vehicles." Shangguan Bing Xue appeared in front of the buses and coldly ordered while looking towards the forest on their right.
Because there were only about sixty armed men in total due to the shortage of firearms and ammunition, Shangguan Bing Xue had left the other thirty with Wu Yijun and Cai Jingi in the Beginning Village to avoid any kind of disturbance.
This meant that she was the only person with actual combat ability within this group of survivors.
"Kii kikiki..."
A strange sound similar to a person's laughter but also similar to the screeching sound of two metal plates rubbing against each other came from between the trees.
Shangguan Bing Xue did not stop on ceremony and unhesitatingly activated her most reliable skill as she pointed her wand forward:
"Freeze."
A thick white cloud burst out of her body and in the next instant surrounded the trees in front of her. The trees began to freeze bit by bit and less than five seconds later, everything ten meters ahead had turned into ice statues.
The place remained silent and a gentle gust of wind made Shangguan Bing Xue's Combat Dress dance in the breeze gently.
Her face suddenly changed and as she gritted her teeth she created a large wall of ice in front of her before putting strength into both legs and jumping backwards.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!...
Following the sound of the howling wind, a dozen arrows flew from the shadows of the forest and hit the ice wall but failed to pierce it completely before getting stuck.
Just as Shangguan Bing Xue touched down ten meters away, a shadow shot out from the forest.
Bang!
The thick ice wall that was capable of stopping even bullets from multiple guns was smashed into hundreds of pieces that flew everywhere. However, Shangguan Bing Xue was more surprised by the creature in front of her.
Approximately five feet tall, a big belly, thick arms covered with fat, sharp pointed ears, huge nose, bulging yellow eyes, teeth that protruded in point, and in one of its hands it carried a huge white bone while it was completely naked except for a brown colored rag loincloth that covered the lower half of its body.
"Go- Goblin...?" Shangguan Bing Xue's beautiful eyes flashed with disbelief and for the first time, she couldn't help but stutter in shock.
"Kii kikiki..." The fat goblin with a big bone stick laughed and while pointing at her shouted some strange words.
Shangguan Bing Xue frowned and soon, to her utmost surprise, twelve small goblins barely half the size of the goblin in front of her came out of the forest.