The Ultimate Evolution

Before this, the object on the skull man’s chest was like an organ comprised of cancer cells, absorbing nourishment from the host’s body, but now, when the host was dying, the cancer cells started to feed the nourishment they had previously absorbed back to the body.

Although this method could prolong the skull man’s life, it nevertheless could not stop him from dying.

First of all, the cancer cell organ was not a perfect and powerful creature like the ‘Stairway of the Sun’.

Secondly, Tom’s injuries were so severe that they would have been extremely fatal even on the contestants, who had their bodies digitised by the Realms. No matter how much nourishment the parasitic organ had stored, it would run out eventually.

Surprisingly, upon seeing Sheyan, Tom struggled fiercely to try and sit up. He also seemed to be trying to say something. However, the weak state he was in caused everything he did to be in vain.

Seeing Tom’s bloodshot but indifferent eyes and his strange, twisted expression which was somehow devoid of agony, Sheyan suddenly had a strange feeling that he was looking at a different person!

This hypothesis left Sheyan pondering. Considering the extent of the injuries, even if Tom was not dead yet, he would surely be in a deep coma. Since the weird cancerous organ on his chest had taken control of his whole body, could it be that the one who wished to communicate with Sheyan right now was the consciousness in the organ?

Of course, Sheyan knew nothing of Tom’s tragic past experience, nor did he know that the thing which looked like a cancerous organ on Tom’s chest was modulated from the cells of one of the Ten Strongest stored in a Nightmare Realm.

However, Sheyan himself was not a simple person.

Do not forget that he was also storing a kind of strange biological organ like the ‘Stairway of the Sun’ inside his body at the moment. Thanks to this, Sheyan naturally drew parallels between the parasite in Tom’s body and the one in his.

Sheyan turned to Dardanian and asked, “Is there a way to provide him with a bit of energy?”

Dardanian shrugged and answered, “There is, but it’s a bit expensive.”

“Don’t worry, I always pay my debts,” said Sheyan flatly.

Dardanian only wanted Sheyan to owe him a favour; he actually had no intention of charging Sheyan. Hearing Sheyan’s words, he could only give Sheyan a wry smile and throw a seed out.

As soon as the seed left his hand, a breath of fresh air washed over the whole room, like the warm fragrance of newly-brewed tea. It made everyone feel refreshed and re-energised. All the people there could not help but take a few deep breaths.

The dark seed was about the size of a chestnut and looked rather ordinary. It slowly descended in the air like a dandelion seed and wandered over Tom’s body for a while before falling on his neck. Root-like tendrils quickly grew from it, which burrowed into the skin.

The seed quickly withered into ashes in a mere few seconds. On the other hand, Tom was suddenly revitalised. His chest, which had been rising and falling rapidly, slowly calmed down.

He took a deep breath and said to Sheyan in a hoarse, stiff voice, “There’s something on you that feels familiar, yet makes me perplexed at the same time.”

Sheyan listened quietly. For some reason, he kept thinking back on the weird illusion of the vertical eye that appeared in his mind when he was attacked by The Fool previously! He looked at skull man Tom asked, “What’re you trying to say?”

Skull man Tom’s breathing suddenly turned hurried again. He coughed violently and uttered with difficulty, “You must go to the Big Ben Research Institute! Inside, is, is, your, your….”

Before he could finish his sentence, a large amount of blood and fragmented tissues gushed out of Tom’s mouth. Then, he fell dead. A few drops of his blood splattered onto the back of Sheyan’s hand. It was boiling hot!

Sheyan turned his head to look at Cyborg No. 1. He found that the cyborg was operating a crushing extractor in the distance and had not caught the situation here. He did not know why, but he somehow felt relieved about that. He repeated the words “Big Ben Research Institute” several times in his mind, then took a deep breath and strode out.

***

After the extraction of Pi elements was completed and all the loot had been divided, the contestants naturally had to discuss their next move. Time was of the essence and they could not afford to waste any more of it.

Sheyan turned to Cyborg No. 1. The cyborg bowed slightly and said, “Master, the three conditions you’ve listed before are: (1) a race with intelligence no lower than ten-year-old human children, (2) a race that live or build their home underground, and (3) a distance of no more than 300 kilometers from here. Based on the information in the spaceship database, I’ve identified two targets that meet the requirements. Please make your choice.”

As he said that, the cyborg shared with them the information he had prepared.

[ Race A: Black-Striped Mole Crickets ]

[ The Black-Striped Mole Crickets are creatures with similar characteristics with the mole crickets on Earth. They have no eyes and sense their surroundings through the five infrared sensing glands that grow on the surface of their bodies. The Mole Crickets are about a meter to two meters long, with the females being slightly larger. Their strong forelimbs make it easy for them to travel through the earth. ]

[ The Black-Striped Mole Crickets have very high brain capacities, higher even than apes. From the way they hunt and reproduce, they can be considered to have wisdom and are able to communicate with the outside world. So far, the Black-Striped Mole Crickets have been found to use dried plant roots to trade with vultures. ]

[ Disadvantage: The Black-Striped Mole Crickets may not necessarily be interested in the things we can offer. More importantly, they only like to move in the soft soil on the plain, so they may not be able to offer anything from the rocky areas. ]

***

[ Race B: Buffalo Criminals ]

(TL note 1: http://wiki.dfo-world.com/view/Buffalo_Criminal_Boss )

(TL note 2: Buffalo Criminals in action – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWxk7RXTeug )

[ The Buffalo Criminals are violent humanoid creatures. They have two pairs of symmetrical eyes, a pair of which grows slightly above the cheekbones. They possess a simple language of their own. ]

[ The most striking feature of the Buffalo Criminal is the huge aneurysm on their right shoulder (TL: aneurysm: “an excessive localized swelling of the wall of an artery”). The vivid pattern of a fang can be seen on the aneurysm. Every Buffalo Criminal has to have the sharpened stem of a plant stabbed into their right shoulder after birth, and the aneurysm will gradually form as the Buffalo Criminal grows. Their mouths are similar to those of cattles, horses and sheeps. Their staple food is a milky white liquid secreted by the top part of a type of mushroom called the black liver mushroom, while their supplementary food is a type of plant called the “sacsaoul” that usually grows in humid valleys. ]

[ Their entire body is covered in thick black hair that can reach a length of 1.5 meters. Their muscles are well-defined, and their legs are clearly shorter than their upper limbs. When they get excited, angry or emotional, they will make a loud gnashing sound with their teeth and bark like a dog. ]

[ The Buffalo Criminals are natural miners and probably have some forging skills too. Every Buffalo Criminal carries a sharp pick. Together with their biological power, rocks are as easy to crack as tofu to them. ]

[ They will dig anywhere with stones to look for a mineral called “Kurut”, which is as important to them as salt to humans. The more “Kurut” they ingest, the stronger they become. ]

[ From the way they rob and hunt, they are no doubt an intelligent race. The key is to have things that they’re interested in, and make sure they don’t play any tricks during the trade. ]

[ Disadvantage: The Buffalo Criminals are violent creatures and natural robbers. The Predators probably took a liking to the powerful fighting prowess of the Buffalo Criminals when they work in a group, so they brought the Buffalo Criminals to Uplos as captives. The fact that this planet is rich in “Kurut” minerals only serves to make these creatures even stronger. ]

***

After reading the introductions, Sheyan decided to look for the Buffalo Criminals without much hesitation. This team of powerful contestants was not afraid of danger; their main problem was time. There was little doubt that the Buffalo Criminals, who were good at digging through rocks, had a greater chance of possessing useful information about Pi veins.

Sheyan and his group thus left this unfriendly human camp. The map they were using now had upgraded to the standard Empire version drawn by the spaceship’s analytic system, which showed clearly all the routes, rivers and mountains in the area.

According to the map, the Buffalo Criminal camp was located in the mountains 70 kilometers from here. They had a wide area of activity because they could easily destroy and pass through rocks like pile drivers. Therefore, the contestants probably still needed some time to look for the specific location of their camp after reaching their territory.

70 kilometers was not a short journey even for Sheyan and the contestants, especially considering that they had to hike through dense forests and the wilderness.

Fortunately, they had the Iron Golem and Ramtas clearing the path in front of them, or their traveling time would have been 30% longer. As for the problem of the surviving Predators possibly following after them, they were actually not that worried. The invisibility of the Predators was in principle just a distortion of the light; it would not eliminate the sounds that came from their breathing or movement.

Along the way, Sheyan discovered two Predators tailing after them, but did not react. Only when they entered a narrow valley did he suddenly ask Aldaris to release a ‘Spiritual Storm’ which completely covered the area where the Predators were!