“Ah–!!!”
By the time the contestants noticed, the situation was already dire. These hunters, which were more than one meter tall and could only be accurately considered small animals, pounced on them. They were extremely fast and appeared in front of them in the blink of an eye.
All the contestants immediately transformed into insect form. The one standing in the front was dressed in armor and had black forked horns on his head. He lowered his head and used his horns to block the hunter, then threw it out with force.
But not all players were so lucky. Some Zergs evolved in the direction of speed, flight, poison, etc. Their transformed bodies could not withstand the strange bird’s pecks.
“Damn, these birds’ beaks are harder and sharper than steel.”
“They are blood-eating finches. They feed on blood and are known for their speed and sharp beaks. Be careful not to get too close to them.”
It was too late to say this. The one with the initially injured foot turned into a long insect, and quickly changed the color of his body, blending into the tree, and his breathing rate dropped to the lowest point. But the bloody smell of his foot destroyed this exquisite disguise.
The hunter bird, as fast as an arrow, directly bit his throat. The contestant’s eyes widened, feeling a piece of flesh being bitten off his neck and his blood being greedily sucked away, and then he slowly fell down. The other contestants looked at him with red eyes, then turned to these difficult hunters acting in a pack.
“The Zerg have lived in peacetime for too long. Once they develop fatty blood, their fighting instincts are almost completely worn out.” An audience member in the live broadcast room commented.
Every time the Zerg play a game, many players died because of their slow reaction speed. So when the game was over, everyone said they wanted to train themselves, but the next game three years later was the same, without any difference. It seemed that the training they talked about was just lip service.
“It’s not that they don’t train themselves, but that ordinary training without the risk of death on the training ground is completely different from the oppression brought by this game of facing death directly. The psychological quality of most people is not up to the standard of ‘being able to go to the battlefield’, let alone resist fighting.”
There were many tribes besides the Zerg that were eyeing them covetously. How could they be so lazy? This must be the reason why so many people died in the game and why it was held every three years.
“Coo!” The calls of the hunter birds on the screen suddenly changed. Those guys who were ready to make a move encountered their natural enemies and began to dodge to both sides in a restless manner.
“Oh no, there won’t be any big boss. will there?” The audience watched with excitement and nervousness.
A figure appeared in the rain. It was unclear whether it was a man or a woman. He was standing upright, holding something in his hands.
“Coo!” The largest bird monster made a shrill cry. It retreated while testing. All the birds retreated to a safe position, then disappeared into the forest with a whoosh.
The person who had scared away the flock of birds without even getting close also revealed his true appearance.
“The Ice General?”
Qin sniffed, determined the direction he wanted to go, and continued walking in that direction, not looking at the contestants or the bird monsters.
After he left, one of the remaining contestants finally found his voice: “That was… Qin?”
“As expected of a super Zerg, such a strong sense of oppression.”
Although there seemed to be a lot of high level Zerg in the virtual world, in fact, in terms of proportion, the number of level 1 Zerg was only one in one hundred thousand or even lower. Many people in reality had never really come into contact with an elite Zerg in their entire life.
“No, this has nothing to do with his level. I’ve seen other high level Zergs that don’t have this calm yet intimidating temperament. After all, he is a killing god tempered by battle. This game field may not be difficult for him at all.” The captain of the players looked solemn.
“I heard that his life is coming to an end. The super Zerg at this time is like a thunder that can explode at any time. In short, avoid him, otherwise you may not be so lucky next time.”
In this 100% simulated ancient environment, in the life-and-death struggle, the contestants truly felt what it meant to “survive”, and their identities could be switched between hunter and hunted at any time. Some seriously injured players who had no medicine chose to withdraw, and many more died.
An Yinong looked at the number of survivors which was decreasing every second, put down his hand and looked towards the treetops. This was the second place he found with traces of ancient Zerg habitation, a tree house.
The unpolished wood and vines were tied together, and then covered with leaves on the top, and it became a simple tree house. The leafless roof was now mostly empty, and the wooden walls were also largely damaged.
There was not only one tree house here, but twenty or thirty of them, scattered throughout the treetops. Vines hung between the tree houses. If it was a monkey, it should be able to move flexibly between the tree houses along these vines.
He carefully observed and thought there was no danger, so he asked Feng Chi to stand guard under the tree while he climbed up to take a look. There were some discarded wooden bowls and spoons left in the broken tree house.
At the same time, he found some footprints on the tree house floor. It seemed that someone had come here, but he didn’t know why they didn’t set up a camp here. Although the tree house was a little damaged, it could be repaired by replacing new leaves.
An Yinong checked the wooden house but found nothing else, so he went to another tree house. These remaining tree houses were similar, and many of them had become homes for small forest birds. They had laid eggs and raised their young in them, and were particularly aggressive.
Maybe this was why the previous contestants did not stay?
Finally, he found the tree house in the middle, which was also the last one. This tree house looked nothing special from the outside, but after entering, he found that there was something special inside. Of course, it had already been occupied by a family of birds.
Well, describing them as ‘small’ birds might be a little strange, since they were over a meter tall, with sharp claws and a sharp curved beak. These extremely aggressive birds had not evolved to that level, and An Yinong could only vaguely sense their emotions and then communicate with them.
He comforted the mother bird and the little bird and gave them the fruits he had just gathered. In this way, he was given the privilege of visiting the bird’s nest.
On the tree house walls, there were some primitive abstract paintings, including hunting pictures, sacrificial pictures, and some pictures for record keeping.
An Yinong saw a picture of a “battle”. On one side were mostly winged flying Zergs, and on the other side were Zergs that focused on defense and attack. It seemed that both sides suffered heavy losses. The next picture showed the two sides reconciling as they dance around a campfire.
The pictures continued, and history continued. An Yinong arrived in front of the last picture. The engraving on this picture was uneven and crooked, which showed that the painter was in a panic.
An Yinong saw rows of lines again. “What forced the cave dwelling Zerg to sacrifice their leaders or heroes, and forced the nest dwelling Zerg to flee their habitat?”
An Yinong looked at the endless heavy rain outside, and recalled his dream last night. A clue flashed through his mind. “If this is true, then we can’t stay here any longer.”
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw a bird’s nest made of branches and hay. An Yinong carefully pulled it out, and it turned out to be another treasure map.
The reward that the nest-dwelling Zerg gave to the tribal heroes was feathers, so he looked for them, and sure enough, he found them nearby. He lit up his ring and was about to take a closer look…
“Chirp–” Feng Chi’s voice interrupted his action.
“Hey, who are you? What are you doing?” When An Yinong saw the contestants surrounding Feng Chi, he jumped out of the tree house and quickly slid down by grabbing the vines.
“Chirp.” Feng Chi ran over when he saw him.
A contestant glanced at the red flag on his chest, then looked at his face: “Differentiation period?”
“Who are you?”
An Yinong fell to the ground, splashing water. It had been raining heavily since last night, and a layer of water had accumulated on the ground. The temperature had also dropped. If the insulation function of the protective suit was not activated, he might have died of hypothermia.
There were six men standing in front of him, all about the same age. They had a sense of “collectiveness”, as if they had trained together for a long time and had a sense of trust in each other.
Moreover, An Yinong felt “threatened”. The last time he felt this way was with Qin.
The six-member team was well-trained and well-coordinated. They were suspected to be super Zerg. They were more troublesome than the team he encountered on the first day.
“Kid, is this wind-controlling beast yours? How about we exchange things for it? What do you want? Food, medicine, and weapons are all fine.” The man with short green hair looked at An Yinong with a smile.
An Yinong stroked Fengchi’s neck and said, “He’s my friend. I won’t sell out my friends.”
The blue-haired man looked at him. Neither of them spoke. The atmosphere was colder and more solemn than the rain.
“Wow!” The mother bird poked her head out from the tree behind An Yinong. The green haired man looked at the bird, his eyes twinkled, and he laughed again: “That’s such a pity.”
Watching the six people turn around and leave without saying a word, An Yinong stroked Fengchi again. He put the spray bottle hidden in his palm back into his sleeve and tightened the drawstring.
“Ken, what’s strange about that boy?” One of the six people asked after they were out of An Yinong’s sight.
“You know the startled bird? It’s a solitary bird that doesn’t like to have any strangers as neighbors. But the boy just now came down from the mother bird’s nest.
“Also, as a top predator, the wind beast is difficult to tame. But as you can see, that wind beast is very close to him. This boy seems to have a special way with animals.”
“Isn’t that too cautious?” the teammate said, “He’s just in the differentiation period.”
“He dared to enter the game during the differentiation period. Do you think he has nothing to rely on? I think this boy may be more dangerous than those big guys with muscles all over their bodies. Don’t underestimate anyone in the game.”
“Yes.” Ken’s teammates trusted him and had no problem with his decision, but the audience didn’t think so.
Outside the live broadcast room of Team Ken, some viewers were mocking Ken’s caution: “In the first differentiation stage, he doesn’t have any special abilities and can’t transform into a bug form. He doesn’t even dare to do this? From today on, he should change his name to Cowardly Ken.”
“It should be because of the same country. Ken would not kill fellow countrymen.”
“He is just making excuses for his cowardice. It’s really embarrassing for the super Zerg.”
This group of people kept making trouble, making it difficult for others to have a normal discussion. Finally, they couldn’t stand it anymore and said, “You should enter the game yourself. Being brave outside the court doesn’t require action, just words, right? Then you should change your name to ‘Warriors of Words’.”
The disturbance outside the field did not affect the players inside the field. An Yinong had collected enough food and returned to the cave. As a result, Qin came back earlier than him and hunted a lot of animals and brought back a lot of wood. Under his ability, the wood that was originally soaked began to “grow” icicles. The icicles shattered, leaving only dry wood.
Qin had no expression on his face, but An Yinong had a feeling that he must have been in a very uncomfortable state when he used this power.
The person affected was not concerned that his spiritual realm was damaged and he was about to die, so An Yinong was not concerned either. Even if he was not concerned, the more abilities the elite Zerg had, the faster they would die.
So he came up and said, “That’s enough, take a good rest, I’ll do the rest.”
Qin looked at An Yinong’s fingers on the back of his hand. His fingers had completely turned white with cold and smooth touch that was unique to the differentiation period. Qin felt strangely comforted.
He looked at An Yinong, from his hair that had turned more white to his soft, childish face: he was a minor.
The time of a high level Zerg was different from that of other Zerg. Thirty years old was the prime of life for other people, but thirty years old for an elite Zerg was the end of their life.
‘Do you believe in love at first sight?’
‘I believe it. But I no longer have the courage to do anything.’
WhiteMoon x BlackSun 