Chapter 38: The Enthusiastic Undead
The wheels rolled over yellow sand, charging up a dune before crashing back down, sending large clumps of sand flying into the air.
With a chassis nearly a meter high, the mechanical war vehicle could traverse the desert over long distances without fear of sinking into the loose sand.
"Old pal, you're actually reliable this time."
Baha sat in the passenger seat, one wing draped out the window.
"Very smooth. At least, five more days."
Mogoro had become even more silent. Not only that, Su Xiao noticed that Mogoro was stripping away undead cells at an increasingly frequent rate.
The desert was a sea of yellow sand as far as the eye could see, with a scorching sun hanging high in the sky. This monotonous environment, coupled with the blistering heat, stirred a sense of restlessness.
Su Xiao practiced blade techniques, which also cultivated the mind, so the desert environment didn't affect him. The only thing that could impact his mood was the Living Butcher. So far, his longest survival record was 15 seconds.
As the journey continued, Su Xiao noticed something: this desert had no clear distinction between day and night. During the day, there was the sun, but at night, the sky was like an overcast day, until the sun appeared again.
...
Time flew by, and before they knew it, Su Xiao and his group had been traveling across the desert for six days. During these six days, Su Xiao wasn't bored, but he found the Living Butcher even more detestable. That guy was completely different from the Old Holy Cultivator.
The Old Holy Cultivator at least had an opening line, saying 'Greedy one,' giving Su Xiao some time to prepare. The Living Butcher just charged in and started swinging.
Once, the interval between Su Xiao's consecutive challenges was too short. When he appeared inside the [Chapter of Greed], a blade was already swinging at his head. That time, he set a new record: defeated in 0.9 seconds.
With a screech, the mechanical war vehicle came to an abrupt halt. Mogoro released the steering wheel.
"We're... here."
Mogoro stared at the vast expanse of water ahead. That's right, the desert was cut off by an ocean. This kind of terrain already indicated that the climate in the nearby area was becoming abnormal.
Su Xiao got out of the vehicle and walked to the seaside. The salty sea breeze hit his face. He dipped his hand into the seawater. Nothing unusual; it was normal seawater. They just needed to cross the sea to reach their destination.
"Amu."
Su Xiao signaled for Amu to freeze an ice layer to cross the sea.
"Moo."
Amu stepped forward with a 'heavy' gait. For some reason, recently, he had a deep-seated aversion to the ocean.
Crack, crack, crack...
The ice froze. What surprised Su Xiao was that Amu had frozen himself at the front of the ice sheet, with only his arms and legs free to move.
Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, Mogoro, and the others all jumped onto the ice. Amu took a deep breath, stretched his large hands forward.
Boom!
Seawater splashed everywhere as Amu pulled the large ice sheet forward at high speed.
"Really skilled..."
Baha looked at Amu's swimming posture, so practiced it was almost heartbreaking, and silently turned his head away.
The ocean zone wasn't as wide as imagined, and Amu's swimming speed was indeed fast. In less than half a day, a sea island came into view.
From a distance, the island was just a small green dot, but as they got closer, it was much larger than it appeared.
The island was lush with trees, and the shore was a pristine white beach with a few rows of wooden racks hanging fishing nets woven from vines.
"How... are there traces of humans here?"
Mogoro stared at the scene on the beach, his eyes full of disbelief.
"You didn't see any humans when you were here last time?"
Su Xiao didn't know how much Mogoro knew about this island, but it probably wasn't much. From Mogoro's fragmented words, Su Xiao gathered that he had been chased by a mortal enemy when he was young, accidentally fled to the island, and left quickly afterward.
"At least not on the other side of the island. And it's impossible."
Mogoro's tone was certain, and he became alert.
The ice sheet docked. Su Xiao stepped onto the beach. Baha had just flown a hundred meters high when he flapped his wings and landed.
"Cough, cough, cough... What the hell is that smell? Ugh~"
Baha started dry heaving. Seeing this, Mogoro's pupils contracted. He strode over, grabbed a handful of sand, and shoved it into Baha's mouth.
"What the hell, I don't eat dirt! Gaba laka ka (unknown bird language)!"
Baha was so stuffed he started speaking in bird language. Mogoro ignored this. He grabbed Baha with one hand and dunked him into the sea.
Su Xiao didn't stop him, because Mogoro's actions didn't trigger the ally mechanism. That meant what he was doing wasn't harming Baha.
After Baha had nearly drowned in the sea, Mogoro slammed his palm onto Baha's back.
"Ugh!"
Baha vomited a large mouthful of seawater mixed with sand. That wasn't the end. Mogoro directly stepped on his back, and Baha spat out several more mouthfuls of seawater. He felt like he was about to cough up his own gallbladder.
"It's fine now."
Mogoro released Baha's neck. Baha gasped for air.
"Th-thanks, old pal."
Baha lay limp on the beach. In the seawater and sand he had vomited, a mass of pitch-black biological tissue was writhing—undead cells.
"So you can't fly into the air. It's okay, you weren't, infected."
Mogoro said in a deep voice. His actions were rough, but there was no denying that he had saved Baha.
"How did this thing get into my stomach? I didn't feel a thing."
Baha got up from the ground, looking like a drowned rat.
"Not sure for now."
Su Xiao touched his finger to Baha's neck. There was no abnormal biological fluctuation inside Baha's body.
They had just arrived at this island, and it was already showing its unique 'enthusiasm,' telling Su Xiao how dangerous it was.
"Are you human?"
A shout came from the forest at the end of the beach. Su Xiao looked over and saw an undead.
His skin was ashen gray, his pupils crimson. But unlike other undead, this one had a messy mop of brown hair on his head, and he was rational.
"This should be considered your kin, Mogoro."
Su Xiao looked at the undead in the distance. Hearing this, Mogoro's expression stiffened. If anyone else had said that, Mogoro would have shot them without hesitation. Unfortunately, he couldn't beat Su Xiao.
"No mistake, you're human. Are there still humans alive?"
The male undead, wearing a leather skirt and bare-chested, ran over quickly, clearly showing no hostility.
"Who are you?"
Su Xiao didn't attack immediately. Everything on the island was unknown, and acting rashly could trigger a chain reaction.
"I'm Chia. Are all other humans... like you?"
The undead, Chia, looked at Su Xiao in astonishment. Clearly, he was shocked by the average combat power of humans.
"You can think of it that way."
Su Xiao looked up at the sun in the sky. Maybe it was an illusion, but he felt the sunlight was exceptionally glaring right now.
"Come with me to see the chieftain. Great, we're saved! Ya ba ba!"
Chia raised his arms high, knelt on the ground. That 'ya ba ba' sounded exactly like 'Ya Ba Ba'.
"Huh?"
Su Xiao was slightly surprised. The fact that the undead hadn't charged and attacked was already unexpected. But now he was kneeling and calling 'Ba Ba'? That was way too polite.
"Uh... Such an enthusiastic undead."
Baha was clearly stunned too.
Compared to this undead's enthusiasm, Su Xiao was more curious about how dire the situation was for this undead's tribe that they were so desperate for help.
[Warning: The Hunter has entered the Ultra-High-Risk Zone: Origin Island.]