After the previous matter settled down, the survivors moved the bodies to a corner by direct orders from Bai Zemin himself; even those who were disgusted or afraid of blood as well as scared of seeing the lifeless bodies were forced to work this time.
Because everyone knew that the mood of this new God of Death was not good at this very moment, they all obediently swallowed their complaints and dragged the bodies deep into the subway parking lot in groups to avoid attracting other creatures.
Bai Zemin looked at the corpses with some regret. Actually, he wanted to use one of those guys as a test specimen to experiment with the mutated plant to make sure it was a real treasure and not a time bomb; however, in the end, he decided not to do it.
The reason was simple: he did not want Shangguan Bing Xue and the others to know about the existence of the plant; at least not yet. If he took the plant out at that time the secret would be revealed and if he dragged one of the subjects away it would be suspicious. Therefore, his hands were temporarily tied as far as this matter was concerned.
...
"So, can you explain what happened? I hope you have a good reason for having gone out alone or otherwise..."
After walking far enough away from the other survivors without any combat capability, Bai Zemin looked at Chen He and narrowed his eyes.
All the chaos before, from a certain point of view, was closely related to Chen He. Therefore, if he could not give a good explanation now it was highly probable that Bai Zemin would not be able to restrain himself and would end up, at the very least, beating him for being irresponsible.
Chen He wanted to talk to Shangguan Bing Xue about what had just happened, but he could also feel strong pressure coming from Bai Zemin's body so he wisely decided to leave the matter for another time.
He took a deep breath and felt, for the first time in his life, small. Small as if he was a little puppy being observed by a hungry and wild lion.
"The reason I went out was to explore the road. Although during the past few days we tried to clear most of the surrounding strong creatures, if one sneaked into the perimeter casualties could happen and the chaos could become fatal." Chen He explained carefully.
After a moment of silence, Bai Zemin relaxed slightly and nodded. If that was the motive, then it made perfect sense; after all, a zombie did not represent a danger, but a mutated cat or dog did represent extreme danger due to its fast movement speed.
If even one of those creatures managed to sneak in among the survivors, even Bai Zemin himself would have a hard time preventing human deaths. No matter how strong he was, at the end of the day he was only one person and could not take care of nearly five hundred people. Even with the addition of the other evolved ones in the group it would be an incredibly arduous if not impossible task.
"So? How do I end an exploration trip in a four meter tall ape beating you up?" Bai Zemin asked casually.
Chen He blushed slightly and couldn't help but reply, "It didn't beat me up, it didn't even touch me!"
"Whatever." Bai Zemin waved his hand and rolled his eyes. The giant ape didn't beat you up but it sure made you run all over the place like a chicken in a barnyard. He thought secretly.
"Anyway." Chen He coughed and secretly looked at Shangguan Bing Xue before continuing. His expression turned extremely serious and there was even a tinge of fear in his eyes as he said, "At first, there was no problem. Just some normal zombies that were stuck inside some buildings and the like... However, after approximately two hours passed and just as I was approaching the exit, I noticed that the atmosphere was starting to change."
"The atmosphere... was starting to change?" Shangguan Bing Xue remarked uncertainly and looked at her childhood friend strangely.
Bai Zemin also frowned and for a moment thought that perhaps Chen He's head really had been hit by the giant ape after all. However, he soon realized that this was not the case.
Chen He's expression was terribly serious as he said firmly, "Not only had the mood suddenly become much heavier, but even the surroundings were no longer the same! The buildings from before were surrounded by tall grass to the point of almost reaching my knees, the trees seemed to have grown at least two or three times the normal size..."
The more they listened, the more Bai Zemin and the rest were surprised. Everything Chen He was mentioned seemed to be something out of a fantasy or science fiction movie and if it were in the past anyone would treat it as a joke.
However, what was not possible in this world? Each person even had a status window where they could see their personal stats and even become monstrously powerful by defeating other existences and learning magical skills. Talking about common sense in this new world wasn't necessarily a smart thing to do.
"Besides, I think I might have found the source from which all those damn bugs and weird mutated monsters come from." Chen He concluded and in the end couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Bai Zemin's face finally changed and he took a step forward as he hurriedly urged, "What did you see?"
Bai Zemin had always felt that something was wrong with this place.
Ever since the appearance of the Blazing Beetle, he had realized that First Order creatures were not existences that mankind could casually face. To defeat monsters such as those possessing strange skills, probably only a properly armed army could defeat them.
However, in this place alone, Bai Zemin and his group had already faced four such existences; five if one counted the Fast Mantis that was in the process of evolving.
If the university alone was already like this, then wouldn't the outside world be in an even worse catastrophic situation? But from Chen He's words, the situation seemed to have an explanation and a logical reason.
"Out of curiosity and to get some information, I went a little deeper into the forest." Chen He explained slowly, narrating the events that happened a few hours ago, "At first I was surprised that there was no danger at all... But when I got to what I think must be the center of the place, I saw a large number of terrifying monsters next to a... A strange creature that appeared to be a silkworm. I think that silkworm is the main problem here since they all seemed to be protecting it."
Terrifying monsters? A silkworm-like creature? Bai Zemin looked at each other and noticed the same confusion as well as shock and fear.
"Chen He... Those terrifying monsters you speak of, could it be that they are..." Shangguan Bing Xue looked worried about something and didn't even finish her question properly. Still, everyone understood what she meant.
"They are." To the horror of most, Chen He nodded firmly and slowly said, "Just from the aura alone, they are definitely First Order. All of them!"