Chapter 49: A Strange Combination
“Are you sure this is the right path?”
Old Baal walked cautiously through the blast zone, with Su Xiao and Bubu Wang ahead of him.
After absorbing the regeneration egg, the old man’s internal condition had stabilized, making him even more cautious and afraid of death.
Su Xiao had pre-sprinkled gunpowder along their route, and he had asked Old Baal whether explosive ants would move after burrowing into the soil. The answer was no.
Walking through the blast zone, Su Xiao turned his head to look at Old Baal. “Didn’t you prepare an escape route beforehand?”
Old Baal shook his head, letting out a self-deprecating laugh.
“No, I didn’t. The primordial seed was severely eroding my sanity. Back then, all I could think about was how to obtain the regeneration egg.”
After saying this, Old Baal sighed.
“Heh~, you might not believe it, but this is my sixth time sneaking in to steal the regeneration egg.”
Old Baal looked toward the mother nest, as if recalling something amusing.
“The insect race never invaded us. For hundreds of years, it’s been the Asaman tribe that has actively attacked the insect race.”
Su Xiao wasn’t surprised by Old Baal’s words.
The regeneration egg was the only lifeline for the Blood Vine Warriors. It wasn’t strange that successive leaders of the Asaman tribe sought this resource.
As they talked, the two walked out of the blast zone. Old Baal turned back to look at the mother nest.
“The war with the insect race is about to end.”
Old Baal stood still, gazing at the mother nest from afar.
“Earlier, when I met with the insect queen, her tone suggested she was preparing to leave. She must have sensed that the ‘Cold Disaster’ is coming. The Asaman tribe might not survive this ‘Cold Disaster.’”
“Cold Disaster?”
“Yes, the Cold Disaster. Without the Cold Disaster, no Blood Vine Warriors would be born.”
The two headed toward the Asaman tribe, chatting as they walked.
“If it were just fighting the insect race, we wouldn’t need to perform the ritual and become those damned ‘short-lived warriors.’”
Old Baal’s teeth ground audibly.
“Oh? The Blood Vine Warriors weren’t born to fight the insect race?”
“Of course not. What are they?” Old Baal shook his head with a smile and continued, “The insect queen has always believed she’s stronger than us, but she doesn’t know that if the mother nest didn’t produce regeneration eggs and couldn’t be enslaved, we would have wiped her out long ago. The Blood Vine Warriors have been passed down for thousands of years, but the insect race only arrived a few hundred years ago. The insect queen might also sense that the thing inside the Black Forest is becoming more stable, showing signs of awakening. Summer is about to end, and the bone-chilling winter is coming. So leaving this island is a wise choice.”
Old Baal didn’t reveal what was in the Black Forest, but he wasn’t exaggerating.
The Asaman tribe’s decision to settle in the Red Soil region was itself abnormal. After all, they could reach the normal region just by crossing the cliffside stone bridge.
The normal region had a good environment, with abundant fresh water and food. Although there were more wild beasts, for the Asaman tribe, those beasts were food.
The Asaman tribe didn’t choose to enter the normal region; they had always lived in the harsh Red Soil region.
The outer edge of the normal region was the Black Forest, the two adjacent to each other. If something happened in the Black Forest, the normal region would be the first to suffer.
Living in the Red Soil region was different. It was surrounded by cliffs, with only one natural stone bridge as a passage. It was a natural ‘fortress.’
“The insect queen has never seen and wouldn’t care about our ancestors’ warnings. In her eyes, this is just a remote island on a desolate planet, incomparable to the Void. But she doesn’t know that the Asaman tribe was once a Void race.”
Su Xiao paused mid-step, looking at Old Baal with keen interest.
“Surprised? These matters were originally not to be disclosed. Now, whether the Asaman tribe can survive this calamity is uncertain, so saying it doesn’t matter.”
Old Baal looked at the sky, his murky old eyes filled with helplessness.
“We are guardians, sent by a king in the Void to watch over this place for thousands of years. On this barren island, we gradually lost our civilization, lost our technology. Our people are becoming more and more like primitives. The inability to leave this island has restricted our development.”
Old Baal sighed.
“Forget it, talking about this is meaningless now. Let’s first take you to see the ritual. You adventurers always make such incomprehensible requests.”
Su Xiao pondered Old Baal’s words.
Earlier, he thought the Devouring Island was primarily about the conflict between the insect race and humans. Now it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The Asaman tribe weren’t natives of the island; they were foreign guardians, watching over something or some creature on the island.
“Since you have the strength to wipe out the insect race, why not enslave them and have them mass-produce regeneration eggs?”
Old Baal, walking ahead, shook his head.
“The cost is too high. Unless the Cold Disaster arrives, we won’t use that method. Absolutely not, never!”
Old Baal fell silent, walking ahead like a closed gourd.
“Wait.”
Su Xiao stopped in his tracks. Old Baal frowned, thinking Su Xiao was going to press him for answers.
“Someone is approaching.”
Su Xiao placed his hand on the hilt of his blade. Although Old Baal didn’t fully trust Su Xiao, he knew Su Xiao wouldn’t joke about such matters.
The roar of an engine came from ahead, and a three-row armored vehicle came into view. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the person driving the armored vehicle was a contractor.
Inside the armored vehicle, a burly, bearded man leaned back in the rear seat. Beside him sat a female contractor, and his hand was roaming inside her clothes.
“Old Black, there are people ahead.”
The wiry driver spoke.
“Natives or contractors?”
The bearded Old Black withdrew his large hand from the female contractor’s clothes, pinching his fluffy beard.
Old Black wasn’t a black man; his skin was just slightly dark, and with his full beard, everyone called him Old Black.
“One native and… one contractor!”
“Hmm?”
Old Black straightened up, looking out the side window.
There were six people in the armored vehicle: five men and one woman. The vehicle was likely brought in using spatial compression technology.
“Black, ignore them. We need to leave the Red Soil region as soon as possible. We haven’t eaten all day. If it weren’t for that dead fool, we wouldn’t be short on food.”
The female contractor beside Old Black spoke, her tone ingratiating, suggesting she held a low status among the group.
“They’re carrying food and fresh water.”
Old Black noticed the dried meat and mountain spring water on Bubu Wang’s back.
“Great.”
“Let’s rob them.”
Several contractors pulled out their weapons.
“Old Black, don’t cause trouble. Getting out of here quickly is the priority.”
An elderly man sitting in the very back row of the armored vehicle spoke. The old man sat alone, and as he spoke, he took out a biscuit and ate it.
The sound of chewing echoed inside the vehicle. Including Old Black, everyone swallowed hard. They hadn’t eaten for a day.
“Master Iron, the food isn’t much…”
Old Black started to speak but found Master Iron staring coldly at him.
A surge of anger rose in his heart. If it came down to a fight, Old Black could pound this old geezer into a meat patty.
But Old Black didn’t dare. If this old man lost even a single hair, his regiment leader would chop him up for a drinking snack.
“I said ignore them. Didn’t you hear me?”
Master Iron finished the biscuit in his hand, took out a bottle of water, and drank it slowly.
“Understood, Master. Let’s go.”
Old Black let out a long breath, suppressing the anger in his heart.