Chapter 130: A Well Known Worry
Wairarapa Snow Valley looked just like its name suggested; it was a valley covered with snow. There was already snow halfway up the Tarurua Mountain Range, and it would be hard to even walk outside in the winter. Unfortunately, this was exactly the season now, but the vegetation that had assimilated with the activated cells did not wilt and die like normal plants. Instead, they still grew to be very lush. A field of green and white entwined together appeared before them; it appeared to be extremely beautiful.
Before they reached the snow valley, they could already see the figures of other humans. However, rather than saying humans, it was more like a campsite for monsters to gather.
There were many different strange shapes around. There were flying types, crawling types, aquatic types, four-legged types, and many more. With the human body as the base and fusing with genes from other animals, these were the evolved humans of New Zealand now.
If there were only one or two that changed to become like this, then naturally everyone would see them as monsters. However, if everyone became like this, then they were all be the same and everyone gradually got used to it. On the contrary, if somehow a pure human appeared right now, even if that person was the most ordinary person before, they would probably get surrounded and stared at by these evolved humans.
Such as now, when Bai Yi's team entered the snow valley, some of the people by the side focused their eyes on Bai Yi and Momo. It wasn't that they could tell that Bai Yi was the team leader, but it was because Bai Yi's form did not look too different from before. If not for the visible tiny soft fur growing on his face and neck, all of them would have probably really started to gather around and stare at him.
Arriving at the entrance of the snow valley, Bai Yi's team stopped at a simple guard pass in front.
"I've never seen you before, new here?" There were 4 evolved humans at the checkpoint, and one of the guys with many lumps on his face asked, as he looked at Bai Yi's team.
"En, first time coming to this snow valley." Bai Yi nodded.
"Oh, then go over there and take a picture to make an identity card. After that, handover a portion of your prey. 20 kg of meat can let one person stay in the valley for 10 days. If you do not wish to handover any, then you must do some construction work in this snow valley. Of course, once you enter the snow valley, we Snow Valley Guards will have the duty to ensure your safety. You won't get bullied even if you enter alone." This ugly looking toad-like guy was actually very gentle. He did everything by the book and didn't make things difficult for Bai Yi's team.
"Oh ok, thanks then."
"Nothing much, it's good as long as you get it! My name is Berkley!" Berkley waved his hand casually. At the same time, he brought them to an empty space nearby, taking out a camera afterward.
Bai Yi's team naturally knew what the 'ensuring your safety' meant. New Zealand was now completely a wicked world. If you didn't have a team and was alone, it was possible that some other team would treat you as prey and slaughter you. A world without law was just this cruel. That was why law, or actually not even law, just a group that obeyed basic rules, was absolutely necessary at any time.
"Hi, can you smile?" Berkley opposite them cracked open a wide smile.
Bai Yi's team didn't know how to reply after hearing this, but they still followed his instructions and revealed their smiles.
"Very good, nice smiles! It's already hard enough just living in New Zealand now. If we still frown every day, then we would stifle ourselves to death sooner or later." Berkley gave a thumbs-up to Bai Yi's team. They started laughing once they heard him saying this, although the genes that Berkley had fused with were ugly, his personality seemed to be quite good. No wonder they let him guard the valley entrance.
"Are they your pets?" After taking pictures of the 4 of them, Berkley looked at Sharpei and Pupu questionably. Although they all looked like monsters now, it was still possible to tell the difference between evolved humans and other evolved lifeforms.
"En, pets."
"They have to be considered as a person too, I hope you can understand. After all, everybody looks like monsters now, we won't see them as pets but count by the number of entities."
"It doesn't matter." Bai Yi nodded.
"Then pacify your pets and I'll take a photo of them." Berkley looked at Sharpei with some fear and caution. After all, Sharpei really looked very sinister now. If not for him being together with Bai Yi's team, they would have started attacking him long ago at the entrance.
"Sharpei, Pupu, go take your photo one at a time," Bai Yi directly said.
Sharpei and Pupu walked up one by one and took a photo at the empty ground. This kind of human-like behaviour immediately surprised Berkley greatly. There were some people who had pets in the snow valley, but there weren't many of them. After all, all lifeforms were in the Brutal Stage now, and animals were still animals. Who knew when they would become too hungry and suddenly go berserk, attacking their owners.
"That's all, you just have to hand over some food over there now," Berkley said and stowed away his camera.
"There's still one more."
"En?" Berkley immediately looked over, There's still one more? Where? After looking around for a while, Berkley finally saw the little cat sitting on the ground and gazing up at himself.
"It's fine for this small little thing, one more picture taken means you have to pay more food you know."
"It's fine, take a photo of it. Chinchilla is also by itself and not an addition," Bai Yi said. To Bai Yi's team, it wasn't very hard for them to hunt for prey, so they of course didn't mind this.
"Meow, meow meow!" Although Chinchilla didn't really understand what was going on, it seemed to sense that it was getting underestimated and immediately cried out threateningly at Berkley. Honestly speaking, it was just mimicking how Sharpei usually barked, but its voice made it seem extremely adorable.
"Little guy is angry huh." Berkley laughed as well. Since Bai Yi insisted, then he couldn't be bothered to say more either. The prey that the alligator-like guy carried was so huge, so this was apparently a very powerful team. They definitely wouldn't mind this bit of food.
Chinchilla was very small, so Bai Yi placed it on top of a rock and let Berkley take a close up shot.
"Smile!" Probably because it became a habit, Berkley said this to Chinchilla before taking the photo.
"Meooow~!" Chinchilla opened its little mouth and its tiny paw reached out for the camera out of curiosity. This appearance was immediately captured by the camera.
"Ok then, you can hand over your food over there. 10kg of meat for each photo. After all, New Zealand is scarce in resources now and it isn't easy to obtain them either. Oh, bones are fine too. After that, it costs 2 kg of meat to stay in the snow valley per day, and at least 10 days of meat must be submitted each time." At this time, the other people from the guardhouse came out as well and prepared to help.
"Name." One of them took out the developed photo and made a copy, creating a simple identity card.
"Bai Yi!" Bai Yi smiled and said.
"Bai Yi, en…" The guy grabbed a pen with his claw and wrote on the identity card. Suddenly, he became stunned. "You are Bai Yi?"
"Yes, are there any problems?"
"No no, no problem at all, I just didn't expect that it would be you. Are you really Bai Yi?" This guy still asked again in disbelief at the end.
"Is there a problem?"
"Actually there was somebody who tried to impersonate you before, and he got treated as a VIP guest by the guard leader. In the end, we found out that he was a conman, and you should be able to guess the rest," this guy said.
"I'm not too sure about this impersonation thing, but I am indeed Bai Yi," Bai Yi said with a smile as he kept the identity card.
The appearances of Woolf, Heloise, Momo, Sharpei, and Pupu indeed matched what Bai Yi's team was rumored to be like. However, shouldn't Bai Yi's team have a few more people? Berkley and the 3 others looked at Bai Yi questionably.
"New Zealand is called Devil Island now!" said Bai Yi.
Bai Yi had guessed their intentions, and his face immediately became heavy. With just a sentence, it made all of their expressions become heavy. That's right, New Zealand was called Devil Island now, there wasn't any absolutely safe place here. If this Bai Yi wasn't fake, then it meant that people could die, even in Bai Yi's team.
"You guys can weight this thing yourselves, and count it toward our time here," Bai Yi said and turned around. Woolf then let the unknown creature that was more than 5 meters tall on his back fall on the ground with a 'boom!'. The ground shook for a moment and all of them headed inside the snow valley.
After they left for a long time, the 4 guards finally came back to their senses. The moment when Bai Yi's expression dimmed, all of them felt a pressure. It was a pressure on their hearts. Was this what people meant by an aura? All of them thought in their hearts that this team was probably the real Bai Yi's team. Otherwise, they wouldn't feel this pressured.
They looked at the prey that Woolf had thrown on the floor just now…They were very generous too! The 4 guards all thought that only those with real strength wouldn't mind something like this.
"Oh right, I still have to inform the guard leader!" Berkley suddenly recalled at this time.
If the guy was indeed Bai Yi, then he had to inform the guard leader. One must know, ever since Bai Yi and Yu Han released the information about activated cells, they had gained great reputations among all the evolved humans. Moreover, these people still carried some other thoughts inside their heads, like whether Bai Yi or Yu Han knew of even more detailed and important information that they hadn't disclose. This was a normal human reaction, nobody could avoid this way of thinking. In truth, Bai Yi's team really did have even more important information.
If he was really Bai Yi, then they would definitely have some response.
Bai Yi of course thought of this long ago, the owner of the snow valley would probably come and invite him over in a while. However, there wasn't a need to focus on this for now. First, they were going to take a look at this gathering point for evolved humans and tour the place.
Chapter 131: Weapon Armor Maker
"Shit!" Berkley suddenly shouted. "I was stunned by that sense of intimidation just now, so I forgot to tell them about the rules inside the snow valley!"
"Well, it really is easy for newcomers to the snow valley to have some problems, but Bai Yi should be fine."
"What could happen in such a short period of time? Zola, quickly tell the guard leader about Bai Yi coming to the snow valley. Guard leader will definitely go look for him very quickly, nothing bad will happen," the other guy reminded.
"Right right, I'll be quick." Zola nodded and flapped his wings, flying away powerfully.
After seeing Zola fly away, the few of them finally looked at the prey laid on the floor. There usually weren't many newcomers entering the snow valley, and the veterans usually submitted their goods at the resource center. This was actually their first time receiving such a huge prey. The few of them glanced at each other. With such a big prey, could they take a bit for themselves?
……
There weren't too many people in the snow valley, but with how tight the space was, it was still quite lively with many different people in all shapes and sizes. It had only been slightly over 5 months since the Ice Peppermint was discovered and the evolved humans slowly gathered at this place. However, after some construction work by the evolved humans, this place was already starting to look like a small town.
Of course, this small town was quite strange, and all the buildings were very unique. After all, every evolved human looked vastly different from each other, it wasn't possible to build something that would be suitable for everybody. Many of the buildings were just big sheds. They only had to shelter them from the wind and snow and be big enough for people to enter. This was the most common type of construction here. There were also some caves dug into the sides of the mountains, while some had made igloos out of ice.
Transitioning from the Binging Stage to the Brutal Stage, the body was now basically stable. The lostness and panick from the start had already calmed down, and everybody started to get used to life like this.
There was some barter trade going on along the street. After the crumble of the currency, only this primitive form of trade could continue to exist.
Food, weapons, medicine, supplies from the old New Zealand… anything that was useful could be put up for trade. There could trade as long as there were people, and after a while it turned into a primitive market. After all, these evolved humans were initially people who used to live in a prosperous society.
Bai Yi's team walked along the road, being very interested in everything around them.
However, the main purpose of their trip this time was to look for new teammates. They weren't sure if there was a place where they could find teammates here. They knew that the other gathering points had a public square like this. In those public squares, there were many individuals looking for a suitable team and also many teams looking for suitable individuals. It was very hard for an individual person to survive in New Zealand now. Of course, if the person had bad judgment and joined a trashy team, he might die even faster.
"Hey, friend! Is there a place to look for teammates around here?" Bai Yi asked a guy beside him covered with lizard scales and selling weapons.
"Weapons!"
Bai Yi smiled. He expected that this guy wouldn't tell him information for nothing, even if it was simple information like this. "Ok then, I'll pick a weapon. Can you tell me where to find teammates after?" Bai Yi said.
"Ok!" When he saw that Bai Yi was so straightforward, the other guy smiled as well.
The weapons sold by this guy were all grinded from hard places in evolved lifeforms like their teeth or bones. His wares were split into 3 levels, and they could exchange with meat or materials that could be used to make weapons. The cheapest one could be exchanged for with only 10kg of meat. Although Bai Yi's team had already left their prey at the guardhouse, there was still more food inside the bag on Sharpei's back. Moreover, it was all meat that was more tasty and nutritious.
Bai Yi opened the bag and sliced off a chunk of meat, throwing it toward this guy.
"Tell me, where do people usually go to find teammates?" Bai Yi saw the guy taking out a mini balance scale to weigh the meat and couldn't help but chuckle soundlessly. With Bai Yi's knife skills, he wouldn't go wrong with things like this. That piece of meat was exactly 10kg. The difference would definitely be less than a few grams.
"It's heavier by a bit, do you want me to return it to you? There's a mouthful of extra meat."
"It's the balance scale that is broken How long have you been using it for? The spring inside is definitely loose." Bai Yi really wanted to laugh bitterly, this guy is really…"Ok then, so where exactly can I find teammates around here?"
"The spring is loose? No wonder…Walk straight from here, then turn left. After walking past a small alley, you will see a plaza." After the guy heard Bai Yi's words, he quickly placed this piece of meat inside his bag.
"Thanks," Bai Yi said and wanted to walk away.
"Wait wait, you haven't picked your weapon yet!" The guy stopped Bai Yi when he saw that Bai Yi was about to leave.
Bai Yi looked at this guy and felt a bit disheartened; this guy was really so rigid. If it was a normal shop owner, they probably couldn't be happier if he left just like that. They could save on a weapon as well. However, Bai Yi actually felt quite happy inside, he didn't dislike this kind of rigid person. Since it was like this, then he had to carefully pick a weapon.
10kg of meat was the lowest price for weapons here, which also meant he could only choose the lowest quality of weapons. Bai Yi casually picked up a half a meter long short sword and drew it out of its leather sheath. Bai Yi could tell with a look that this sword was very sleek and sharp, as he had already become quite familiar with swords now. Using his finger to flick the yellowish-green blade, the blade immediately gave out a clear ring. The toughness was quite good, but it could only be considered a normal weapon. It wasn't considered too good, but it was worth the price of 10kg of meat.
"I'll take this one then." Bai Yi returned the short sword into its sheath and asked candidly, "From which monster teeth was this sword grinded from?"
"Large-sized Decay Feeding Bug, from its horn."
"Oh…" Bai Yi turned around but suddenly paused for a moment. Decay Feeding Bug, that was not right. That monster was only a meter at its largest. Although it did have a thick and short horn on its head, its horn was only 20-30 centimeters long. The small horn was also more for decorative purposes than for attacking, and based on what Bai Yi knew it wasn't too hard either. This guy, just how did he process that small horn to become half a meter long with decent hardness and toughness?
"Decay Feeding Bug, the bug that is about a meter long?" Bai Yi turned his head and asked.
"En, that's the bug."
Bai Yi immediately felt interested and squatted down again, carefully looking at the weapons in this store. There weren't many weapons here, and the quality of most of them were similar to the one in Bai Yi's his hands now. There were 4 other weapons that were a bit better and could be considered barely decent. As for the last and best weapon, it was actually only half complete and there was only a spearhead.
He didn't realize it just now, but after observing it from a close proximity, Bai Yi noticed that this dark red spearhead was incredibly heavy and sharp. Additionally, it faintly emitted a stench.
"This isn't for sale. I'll only exchange it for weapon materials and they must be top-grade."
"What material was this made from?"
"Blood-Scaled Centipede fangs!"
"Blood-Scaled Centipede fangs!" Even Bai Yi's team were slightly shocked at this. The Blood-Scaled Centipede wasn't too big in size, and it was normally only about half a meter long. However, this Blood-Scaled Centipede was an evolved lifeform that many people hated meeting, as most people would basically die once they encountered this monster. It had a hard body, sharp and incredibly poisonous teeth, and agile movements. This caused many people to feel fear just from looking at it.
The Blood-Scaled Centipede fang was indeed a good material, it was hard and also carried a powerful haemolytic poison. However, the only problem was that it was too small. It was too short to even make a dagger from it. This spearhead was roughly 20 centimeters long, and its size looked completely different from a Blood-Scaled Centipede fang. It was more like 4-5 fangs being fused together.
Fused together!
Bai Yi immediately discovered the marks on the spearhead once he thought of this. He initially thought that they were natural markings, but now it was clear that these markings were created when they got fused together.
This guy was definitely a top-level Weapon Armor Maker!
"I'm very curious, why is a top-level Weapon Armor Maker opening shop at a place like this? You don't seem to be doing very well either."
"Top-level Weapon Armor Maker…hehehe!" This guy revealed a bitter smile as well.
"You saw it too, I don't have many weapons on display in my shop. Actually, these are all the weapons that I managed to forge over 3 months. With an efficiency like this, do you still think that I am a top-level Weapon Armor Maker?" said the guy.
"Weapons are valuable because of its quality and not their quantity. The Chinese have a saying: 'It takes 10 years to sharpen a sword'. As long as it's a real quality weapon, spending more time on it is just expected."
"Who do you think has the energy now to make a weapon once every 10 years?"
"That's not wrong either." Bai Yi started laughing. Now that New Zealand was so dangerous, who could wait for 10 years to create just 1 weapon? Moreover, other than the poison fang spearhead from the Blood-Scaled Centipede, the rest of the weapons here couldn't be considered too good. However, what Bai Yi was interested in was how did this guy manage to process these materials.
"I'm sorry, I still don't know your name after so long," Bai Yi asked this Weapon Armor Maker.
"Melvin, my name is Melvin."
"Then Melvin, although this is a bit sudden and impolite, are you willing to make a weapon for me or even interested in joining my team?" Bai Yi asked. He knew that it wasn't possible for him to get the method for forging these materials if he asked directly.
"I can help you to make a weapon but forget about me entering your team. Most of the time, I will probably only be a burden to the team. Also, you must provide the materials for forging the weapon, and the fees are expensive as well."
Bai Yi stood up and fished out a fang from the bag on Sharpei's back. This fang was more than a meter long. It was as thick as a thigh, heavy and crystal-like.
"This is?!"
"A fang from a type of evolved lifeform, I won't talk about what lifeform it is. Can you forge this?"
"Probably…not!" Melvin hesitated for a moment, and could only smile bitterly as he returned the fang to Bai Yi.
"Is it so, then it's really a pity." Bai Yi felt disappointed too when he heard this reply. This fang was from an experimental monster, and they had only managed to kill it after a desperate battle.
"One year! If you can wait for one year I can forge it. However, you must supply me with sufficient food, medicine, and a safe environment within that year," Melvin suddenly said on impulse as he recalled the saying of 'taking 10 years to sharpen a sword' from Bai Yi.
Chapter 132: Giant Bear Gary
They had to provide sufficient food, medicine, and a safe environment for a whole year. If it was the previous peaceful world, this might not have been a difficult request, but in New Zealand now…
Bai Yi's fang sword was forged by a Weapon Armor Maker that had just started to figure out a way to create weapons from monster materials. From what Bai Yi knew, that guy used the acid inside the meat lumps of the Corrosion Fluid Monster that Bai Yi had obtained to corrode the fang sword. After that, the fang sword would become weak and soft, and only then could he start to grind it down. From the start of processing to forming its final shape, the fang sword didn't even take a week to complete. Although this method succeeded in shaping Bai Yi's fang sword into a blade, a large component of the material was wasted. Moreover, it also ruined the original quality of the material, greatly deteriorating the hardness of his fang sword.
However, the weapons that Melvin made didn't just not waste any materials, but managed to increase their hardness and toughness. That was why Bai Yi wanted to invite Melvin to join his team.
"One year, why don't you just join my team?"
Bai Yi knew that this kind of direct invitation was somewhat reckless, but the situation was just like this now. There wasn't enough time to understand a person thoroughly and only invite the person to the team after that. He had to solely depend on his judgment, no matter if it was those teams choosing individuals or individuals choosing teams.
"I don't wish to join any team. I'm sorry, just take what I said before as a joke," Melvin still shook his head and rejected Bai Yi.
"Really? Then that's just a pity." Bai Yi didn't try to force the matter either.
At this time, 4 or 5 people rushed down the street to their location. The leader of the group was wearing a monster leather armor. The leader was more than 4 meters tall, and looked even bulkier than Woolf. He had dense fur growing from all over his body, and he looked just like a giant bear walking upright. Beside this guy was the guard they met at the guardhouse, Zola.
"Guard leader, that's them."
"En." The giant bear guard leader gave a simple reply and observed Bai Yi's team while walking over.
Giant Bear Gary. This man who looked just like giant bear opposite them was the ruler of this snow valley. No matter how crude he looked like, the fact that he was the temporary owner of this area now meant that he wasn't as simple or as dumb as his appearance suggested. Melvin had already lived for several months here, so he naturally knew what kind of person Gary was. When he saw Gary walking toward them, he couldn't help but feel afraid. Don't tell me that these people did something wrong here?
"I am Gary, Giant Bear Gary, the temporary protector of this snow valley. I'm very delighted to welcome you to this snow valley, Mr. Bai Yi." While Gary walked over, he continuously analyzed Bai Yi's team and compared them with the information he had. In the end, after comparing them with the information in his heart, he ascertained that these people were probably legitimate.
"I am Bai Yi. I'm not here for any special purpose, I just happened to pass by!" Bai Yi said.
"Hahaha, I understand. Just passing by, you're just passing by. But Mr. Bai Yi's is quite reputable among the evolved humans. No matter what, I still have to be hospitable. I've already ordered my subordinates to make some preparations. Does Mr. Bai Yi and his team want to follow me over?" Gary smiled boorishly and asked.
"En, that's fine too." Bai Yi nodded and didn't reject him.
He knew long ago that once his identity was revealed, the leaders of these kinds of small powers would want to interact with him. They would hope to get something from him in the end. It was just normal human reaction, as long as they thought they couldn't get the things they want from Bai Yi, they would give up naturally. Of course, there might be some idiots who were more obstinate and too confident in their own strengths.
Was Gary…one of those idiots?
In truth, after Bai Yi's team left with Gary and walked toward the heart of the snow valley, Gary's subordinates immediately gathered all the details about their movements since they entered the snow valley. Moreover, the information about the part where Bai Yi stopped at Melvin's shop was incredibly detailed. Making use of an opportunity to leave them for a moment, Gary quickly looked over all the information.
Melvin: An evolved human that entered the snow valley 4 months ago. He was initially a member of a small team, but the team met a powerful evolved monster while they were out hunting once and basically got wiped out. Only Melvin and another woman survived.
Melvin was traumatized by that experience and decided to change his profession to become a Weapon Armor Maker or a Medicinal Maker. These two professions didn't need to fight on the frontlines, and he could obtain the respect of others at the same time.
However, these two professions were completely new, and there was nobody that could guide him along either. Those without talent couldn't possibly achieve any results. Melvin had created some weapons and armors over this period of time, but it really wasn't too different from the ones that others made, so they couldn't see any potential in him.
Did Bai Yi only stop at Melvin's shop by chance?
Gary couldn't see anything strange in this short period of time either, and only let his subordinates keep tabs on Melvin.
"I'm sorry, I had some matters to attend to! This is the residence for the guard team of this snow valley, but it's very simply built." Gary's apology seemed very sincere. He had left for a while but came back very quickly. Although he looked like a bear, he seemed more like a charmingly naïve black bear. Overall, he wouldn't draw the dislike of people who had just met him.
"It's fine, this place is already very good. It's much better than camping in the wild." Bai Yi wasn't patronising him, as these were Bai Yi's genuine thoughts.
"Is it, hahahaha." Gary started laughing.
"So, why did Mr. Bai Yi come to this snow valley?" asked Gary after awhile of idle chatter.
Bai Yi put down the tea cup in his hands and raised his head. "Gary, how long do you think we evolved humans can endure in New Zealand?"
Gary didn't expect Bai Yi to ask this question from the get go. He suddenly turned serious, grasping his bear paws together.
"Are you testing me?"
"No, I'm genuinely asking you for your views. No matter what, you are doing much better than a lot of other people, and you even have a small power under you now," Bai Yi shook his head and said seriously.
Gary looked at Bai Yi, and at the other people surrounding him. Finally, he relaxed his body. "I'm sorry, but I can't see where the future of the evolved humans lies. Although the snow valley is considered safe for now, that's just because this place is located in the deep areas of the mountain range. Despite this, the number of people in the snow valley is actually still continuously decreasing from various kinds of threats. Over this period of time, there wasn't even a single baby born. In the long term, we would probably become extinct."
In the end, Gary decided to not attempt to guess the motives behind Bai Yi's question, but told them his views first.
"You are very honest. In truth, that is the situation of New Zealand now." Bai Yi nodded.
"I know you want to obtain something from me, like information that I didn't reveal to the world," Bai Yi said again with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Gary immediately started to laugh after he heard these words. This wasn't something that anybody could judge him for. Who didn't want to acquire more information? Moreover, the Bai Yi opposite him seemed to be the same as the rumors, more straightforward and easy to talk to. However, at this time, Bai Yi took a deep breath.
"Sadly, I do not know any extra things either. There's a set of information here, it might be more detailed than what you guys already know, but there's really nothing special inside," Bai Yi said and passed a stack of information to Gary.
"You must have realised that there are 2 missing people from my team. Of course, this isn't anything strange as well, we just encountered danger like any other people. In New Zealand now, there's absolutely no meaning in fighting to accumulate whatever little power under us. Unless we can solve our problem at its roots, we will all die in New Zealand, the Devil Island now," Bai Yi slowly said. Everyone's moods became low along with Bai Yi's tone, because all these heavy things that he talked about were the truth.
"The reason why I came here is to ask those with power to search among the people under them, to see if there are any past researchers and protect them well. Only these people can develop a drug that can let us truly regain our human form, letting us escape from this kind of life. Of course, you guys can put your hopes on other people to develop this drug as well."
Putting our hopes on other people, who can we put our hopes on?
Bai Yi conversed at length with Gary. Anybody who could become a leader of a power at this time couldn't possibly be a short-sighted fellow. After Bai Yi described the crucial points, Gary also agreed to gather the learned people under him. Although he couldn't provide the facilities for research to these people now; he still had to protect them well first.
After that, whether they build a new research facility or they take the risk to look for a pre-existing research facility was a problem for later.
……
After Bai Yi left, Gary was still staring into blank space. After a long while, a woman walked out from behind.
"What percentage of his wordss were true?" Gary came back into focus after hearing the footsteps.
"90%!" the woman replied.
"90%, so high?"
"That's right, perhaps there's still some stuff that he concealed, but those things are definitely the most important of the most important of information. Let's not try to dig those things out, if Bai Yi doesn't want to tell, nobody could possibly know. If we try to dig things out regardless, we will end up offending him. Other than that, his suggestions don't threaten your status at all. This area is completely under your leadership now, and you don't have to worry about Bai Yi stealing credit from you either because there are just too few people in their team. If you could really solve the problem of all evolved humans, then your reputation would become incomparably greater." The woman analyzed meticulously.
"So it's like that!" Gary listened as he nodded.
This was the reason people would say that behind every successful man was a noble woman!
Chapter 130: A Well Known Worry
Wairarapa Snow Valley looked just like its name suggested; it was a valley covered with snow. There was already snow halfway up the Tarurua Mountain Range, and it would be hard to even walk outside in the winter. Unfortunately, this was exactly the season now, but the vegetation that had assimilated with the activated cells did not wilt and die like normal plants. Instead, they still grew to be very lush. A field of green and white entwined together appeared before them; it appeared to be extremely beautiful.
Before they reached the snow valley, they could already see the figures of other humans. However, rather than saying humans, it was more like a campsite for monsters to gather.
There were many different strange shapes around. There were flying types, crawling types, aquatic types, four-legged types, and many more. With the human body as the base and fusing with genes from other animals, these were the evolved humans of New Zealand now.
If there were only one or two that changed to become like this, then naturally everyone would see them as monsters. However, if everyone became like this, then they were all be the same and everyone gradually got used to it. On the contrary, if somehow a pure human appeared right now, even if that person was the most ordinary person before, they would probably get surrounded and stared at by these evolved humans.
Such as now, when Bai Yi's team entered the snow valley, some of the people by the side focused their eyes on Bai Yi and Momo. It wasn't that they could tell that Bai Yi was the team leader, but it was because Bai Yi's form did not look too different from before. If not for the visible tiny soft fur growing on his face and neck, all of them would have probably really started to gather around and stare at him.
Arriving at the entrance of the snow valley, Bai Yi's team stopped at a simple guard pass in front.
"I've never seen you before, new here?" There were 4 evolved humans at the checkpoint, and one of the guys with many lumps on his face asked, as he looked at Bai Yi's team.
"En, first time coming to this snow valley." Bai Yi nodded.
"Oh, then go over there and take a picture to make an identity card. After that, handover a portion of your prey. 20 kg of meat can let one person stay in the valley for 10 days. If you do not wish to handover any, then you must do some construction work in this snow valley. Of course, once you enter the snow valley, we Snow Valley Guards will have the duty to ensure your safety. You won't get bullied even if you enter alone." This ugly looking toad-like guy was actually very gentle. He did everything by the book and didn't make things difficult for Bai Yi's team.
"Oh ok, thanks then."
"Nothing much, it's good as long as you get it! My name is Berkley!" Berkley waved his hand casually. At the same time, he brought them to an empty space nearby, taking out a camera afterward.
Bai Yi's team naturally knew what the 'ensuring your safety' meant. New Zealand was now completely a wicked world. If you didn't have a team and was alone, it was possible that some other team would treat you as prey and slaughter you. A world without law was just this cruel. That was why law, or actually not even law, just a group that obeyed basic rules, was absolutely necessary at any time.
"Hi, can you smile?" Berkley opposite them cracked open a wide smile.
Bai Yi's team didn't know how to reply after hearing this, but they still followed his instructions and revealed their smiles.
"Very good, nice smiles! It's already hard enough just living in New Zealand now. If we still frown every day, then we would stifle ourselves to death sooner or later." Berkley gave a thumbs-up to Bai Yi's team. They started laughing once they heard him saying this, although the genes that Berkley had fused with were ugly, his personality seemed to be quite good. No wonder they let him guard the valley entrance.
"Are they your pets?" After taking pictures of the 4 of them, Berkley looked at Sharpei and Pupu questionably. Although they all looked like monsters now, it was still possible to tell the difference between evolved humans and other evolved lifeforms.
"En, pets."
"They have to be considered as a person too, I hope you can understand. After all, everybody looks like monsters now, we won't see them as pets but count by the number of entities."
"It doesn't matter." Bai Yi nodded.
"Then pacify your pets and I'll take a photo of them." Berkley looked at Sharpei with some fear and caution. After all, Sharpei really looked very sinister now. If not for him being together with Bai Yi's team, they would have started attacking him long ago at the entrance.
"Sharpei, Pupu, go take your photo one at a time," Bai Yi directly said.
Sharpei and Pupu walked up one by one and took a photo at the empty ground. This kind of human-like behaviour immediately surprised Berkley greatly. There were some people who had pets in the snow valley, but there weren't many of them. After all, all lifeforms were in the Brutal Stage now, and animals were still animals. Who knew when they would become too hungry and suddenly go berserk, attacking their owners.
"That's all, you just have to hand over some food over there now," Berkley said and stowed away his camera.
"There's still one more."
"En?" Berkley immediately looked over, There's still one more? Where? After looking around for a while, Berkley finally saw the little cat sitting on the ground and gazing up at himself.
"It's fine for this small little thing, one more picture taken means you have to pay more food you know."
"It's fine, take a photo of it. Chinchilla is also by itself and not an addition," Bai Yi said. To Bai Yi's team, it wasn't very hard for them to hunt for prey, so they of course didn't mind this.
"Meow, meow meow!" Although Chinchilla didn't really understand what was going on, it seemed to sense that it was getting underestimated and immediately cried out threateningly at Berkley. Honestly speaking, it was just mimicking how Sharpei usually barked, but its voice made it seem extremely adorable.
"Little guy is angry huh." Berkley laughed as well. Since Bai Yi insisted, then he couldn't be bothered to say more either. The prey that the alligator-like guy carried was so huge, so this was apparently a very powerful team. They definitely wouldn't mind this bit of food.
Chinchilla was very small, so Bai Yi placed it on top of a rock and let Berkley take a close up shot.
"Smile!" Probably because it became a habit, Berkley said this to Chinchilla before taking the photo.
"Meooow~!" Chinchilla opened its little mouth and its tiny paw reached out for the camera out of curiosity. This appearance was immediately captured by the camera.
"Ok then, you can hand over your food over there. 10kg of meat for each photo. After all, New Zealand is scarce in resources now and it isn't easy to obtain them either. Oh, bones are fine too. After that, it costs 2 kg of meat to stay in the snow valley per day, and at least 10 days of meat must be submitted each time." At this time, the other people from the guardhouse came out as well and prepared to help.
"Name." One of them took out the developed photo and made a copy, creating a simple identity card.
"Bai Yi!" Bai Yi smiled and said.
"Bai Yi, en…" The guy grabbed a pen with his claw and wrote on the identity card. Suddenly, he became stunned. "You are Bai Yi?"
"Yes, are there any problems?"
"No no, no problem at all, I just didn't expect that it would be you. Are you really Bai Yi?" This guy still asked again in disbelief at the end.
"Is there a problem?"
"Actually there was somebody who tried to impersonate you before, and he got treated as a VIP guest by the guard leader. In the end, we found out that he was a conman, and you should be able to guess the rest," this guy said.
"I'm not too sure about this impersonation thing, but I am indeed Bai Yi," Bai Yi said with a smile as he kept the identity card.
The appearances of Woolf, Heloise, Momo, Sharpei, and Pupu indeed matched what Bai Yi's team was rumored to be like. However, shouldn't Bai Yi's team have a few more people? Berkley and the 3 others looked at Bai Yi questionably.
"New Zealand is called Devil Island now!" said Bai Yi.
Bai Yi had guessed their intentions, and his face immediately became heavy. With just a sentence, it made all of their expressions become heavy. That's right, New Zealand was called Devil Island now, there wasn't any absolutely safe place here. If this Bai Yi wasn't fake, then it meant that people could die, even in Bai Yi's team.
"You guys can weight this thing yourselves, and count it toward our time here," Bai Yi said and turned around. Woolf then let the unknown creature that was more than 5 meters tall on his back fall on the ground with a 'boom!'. The ground shook for a moment and all of them headed inside the snow valley.
After they left for a long time, the 4 guards finally came back to their senses. The moment when Bai Yi's expression dimmed, all of them felt a pressure. It was a pressure on their hearts. Was this what people meant by an aura? All of them thought in their hearts that this team was probably the real Bai Yi's team. Otherwise, they wouldn't feel this pressured.
They looked at the prey that Woolf had thrown on the floor just now…They were very generous too! The 4 guards all thought that only those with real strength wouldn't mind something like this.
"Oh right, I still have to inform the guard leader!" Berkley suddenly recalled at this time.
If the guy was indeed Bai Yi, then he had to inform the guard leader. One must know, ever since Bai Yi and Yu Han released the information about activated cells, they had gained great reputations among all the evolved humans. Moreover, these people still carried some other thoughts inside their heads, like whether Bai Yi or Yu Han knew of even more detailed and important information that they hadn't disclose. This was a normal human reaction, nobody could avoid this way of thinking. In truth, Bai Yi's team really did have even more important information.
If he was really Bai Yi, then they would definitely have some response.
Bai Yi of course thought of this long ago, the owner of the snow valley would probably come and invite him over in a while. However, there wasn't a need to focus on this for now. First, they were going to take a look at this gathering point for evolved humans and tour the place.
Chapter 131: Weapon Armor Maker
"Shit!" Berkley suddenly shouted. "I was stunned by that sense of intimidation just now, so I forgot to tell them about the rules inside the snow valley!"
"Well, it really is easy for newcomers to the snow valley to have some problems, but Bai Yi should be fine."
"What could happen in such a short period of time? Zola, quickly tell the guard leader about Bai Yi coming to the snow valley. Guard leader will definitely go look for him very quickly, nothing bad will happen," the other guy reminded.
"Right right, I'll be quick." Zola nodded and flapped his wings, flying away powerfully.
After seeing Zola fly away, the few of them finally looked at the prey laid on the floor. There usually weren't many newcomers entering the snow valley, and the veterans usually submitted their goods at the resource center. This was actually their first time receiving such a huge prey. The few of them glanced at each other. With such a big prey, could they take a bit for themselves?
……
There weren't too many people in the snow valley, but with how tight the space was, it was still quite lively with many different people in all shapes and sizes. It had only been slightly over 5 months since the Ice Peppermint was discovered and the evolved humans slowly gathered at this place. However, after some construction work by the evolved humans, this place was already starting to look like a small town.
Of course, this small town was quite strange, and all the buildings were very unique. After all, every evolved human looked vastly different from each other, it wasn't possible to build something that would be suitable for everybody. Many of the buildings were just big sheds. They only had to shelter them from the wind and snow and be big enough for people to enter. This was the most common type of construction here. There were also some caves dug into the sides of the mountains, while some had made igloos out of ice.
Transitioning from the Binging Stage to the Brutal Stage, the body was now basically stable. The lostness and panick from the start had already calmed down, and everybody started to get used to life like this.
There was some barter trade going on along the street. After the crumble of the currency, only this primitive form of trade could continue to exist.
Food, weapons, medicine, supplies from the old New Zealand… anything that was useful could be put up for trade. There could trade as long as there were people, and after a while it turned into a primitive market. After all, these evolved humans were initially people who used to live in a prosperous society.
Bai Yi's team walked along the road, being very interested in everything around them.
However, the main purpose of their trip this time was to look for new teammates. They weren't sure if there was a place where they could find teammates here. They knew that the other gathering points had a public square like this. In those public squares, there were many individuals looking for a suitable team and also many teams looking for suitable individuals. It was very hard for an individual person to survive in New Zealand now. Of course, if the person had bad judgment and joined a trashy team, he might die even faster.
"Hey, friend! Is there a place to look for teammates around here?" Bai Yi asked a guy beside him covered with lizard scales and selling weapons.
"Weapons!"
Bai Yi smiled. He expected that this guy wouldn't tell him information for nothing, even if it was simple information like this. "Ok then, I'll pick a weapon. Can you tell me where to find teammates after?" Bai Yi said.
"Ok!" When he saw that Bai Yi was so straightforward, the other guy smiled as well.
The weapons sold by this guy were all grinded from hard places in evolved lifeforms like their teeth or bones. His wares were split into 3 levels, and they could exchange with meat or materials that could be used to make weapons. The cheapest one could be exchanged for with only 10kg of meat. Although Bai Yi's team had already left their prey at the guardhouse, there was still more food inside the bag on Sharpei's back. Moreover, it was all meat that was more tasty and nutritious.
Bai Yi opened the bag and sliced off a chunk of meat, throwing it toward this guy.
"Tell me, where do people usually go to find teammates?" Bai Yi saw the guy taking out a mini balance scale to weigh the meat and couldn't help but chuckle soundlessly. With Bai Yi's knife skills, he wouldn't go wrong with things like this. That piece of meat was exactly 10kg. The difference would definitely be less than a few grams.
"It's heavier by a bit, do you want me to return it to you? There's a mouthful of extra meat."
"It's the balance scale that is broken How long have you been using it for? The spring inside is definitely loose." Bai Yi really wanted to laugh bitterly, this guy is really…"Ok then, so where exactly can I find teammates around here?"
"The spring is loose? No wonder…Walk straight from here, then turn left. After walking past a small alley, you will see a plaza." After the guy heard Bai Yi's words, he quickly placed this piece of meat inside his bag.
"Thanks," Bai Yi said and wanted to walk away.
"Wait wait, you haven't picked your weapon yet!" The guy stopped Bai Yi when he saw that Bai Yi was about to leave.
Bai Yi looked at this guy and felt a bit disheartened; this guy was really so rigid. If it was a normal shop owner, they probably couldn't be happier if he left just like that. They could save on a weapon as well. However, Bai Yi actually felt quite happy inside, he didn't dislike this kind of rigid person. Since it was like this, then he had to carefully pick a weapon.
10kg of meat was the lowest price for weapons here, which also meant he could only choose the lowest quality of weapons. Bai Yi casually picked up a half a meter long short sword and drew it out of its leather sheath. Bai Yi could tell with a look that this sword was very sleek and sharp, as he had already become quite familiar with swords now. Using his finger to flick the yellowish-green blade, the blade immediately gave out a clear ring. The toughness was quite good, but it could only be considered a normal weapon. It wasn't considered too good, but it was worth the price of 10kg of meat.
"I'll take this one then." Bai Yi returned the short sword into its sheath and asked candidly, "From which monster teeth was this sword grinded from?"
"Large-sized Decay Feeding Bug, from its horn."
"Oh…" Bai Yi turned around but suddenly paused for a moment. Decay Feeding Bug, that was not right. That monster was only a meter at its largest. Although it did have a thick and short horn on its head, its horn was only 20-30 centimeters long. The small horn was also more for decorative purposes than for attacking, and based on what Bai Yi knew it wasn't too hard either. This guy, just how did he process that small horn to become half a meter long with decent hardness and toughness?
"Decay Feeding Bug, the bug that is about a meter long?" Bai Yi turned his head and asked.
"En, that's the bug."
Bai Yi immediately felt interested and squatted down again, carefully looking at the weapons in this store. There weren't many weapons here, and the quality of most of them were similar to the one in Bai Yi's his hands now. There were 4 other weapons that were a bit better and could be considered barely decent. As for the last and best weapon, it was actually only half complete and there was only a spearhead.
He didn't realize it just now, but after observing it from a close proximity, Bai Yi noticed that this dark red spearhead was incredibly heavy and sharp. Additionally, it faintly emitted a stench.
"This isn't for sale. I'll only exchange it for weapon materials and they must be top-grade."
"What material was this made from?"
"Blood-Scaled Centipede fangs!"
"Blood-Scaled Centipede fangs!" Even Bai Yi's team were slightly shocked at this. The Blood-Scaled Centipede wasn't too big in size, and it was normally only about half a meter long. However, this Blood-Scaled Centipede was an evolved lifeform that many people hated meeting, as most people would basically die once they encountered this monster. It had a hard body, sharp and incredibly poisonous teeth, and agile movements. This caused many people to feel fear just from looking at it.
The Blood-Scaled Centipede fang was indeed a good material, it was hard and also carried a powerful haemolytic poison. However, the only problem was that it was too small. It was too short to even make a dagger from it. This spearhead was roughly 20 centimeters long, and its size looked completely different from a Blood-Scaled Centipede fang. It was more like 4-5 fangs being fused together.
Fused together!
Bai Yi immediately discovered the marks on the spearhead once he thought of this. He initially thought that they were natural markings, but now it was clear that these markings were created when they got fused together.
This guy was definitely a top-level Weapon Armor Maker!
"I'm very curious, why is a top-level Weapon Armor Maker opening shop at a place like this? You don't seem to be doing very well either."
"Top-level Weapon Armor Maker…hehehe!" This guy revealed a bitter smile as well.
"You saw it too, I don't have many weapons on display in my shop. Actually, these are all the weapons that I managed to forge over 3 months. With an efficiency like this, do you still think that I am a top-level Weapon Armor Maker?" said the guy.
"Weapons are valuable because of its quality and not their quantity. The Chinese have a saying: 'It takes 10 years to sharpen a sword'. As long as it's a real quality weapon, spending more time on it is just expected."
"Who do you think has the energy now to make a weapon once every 10 years?"
"That's not wrong either." Bai Yi started laughing. Now that New Zealand was so dangerous, who could wait for 10 years to create just 1 weapon? Moreover, other than the poison fang spearhead from the Blood-Scaled Centipede, the rest of the weapons here couldn't be considered too good. However, what Bai Yi was interested in was how did this guy manage to process these materials.
"I'm sorry, I still don't know your name after so long," Bai Yi asked this Weapon Armor Maker.
"Melvin, my name is Melvin."
"Then Melvin, although this is a bit sudden and impolite, are you willing to make a weapon for me or even interested in joining my team?" Bai Yi asked. He knew that it wasn't possible for him to get the method for forging these materials if he asked directly.
"I can help you to make a weapon but forget about me entering your team. Most of the time, I will probably only be a burden to the team. Also, you must provide the materials for forging the weapon, and the fees are expensive as well."
Bai Yi stood up and fished out a fang from the bag on Sharpei's back. This fang was more than a meter long. It was as thick as a thigh, heavy and crystal-like.
"This is?!"
"A fang from a type of evolved lifeform, I won't talk about what lifeform it is. Can you forge this?"
"Probably…not!" Melvin hesitated for a moment, and could only smile bitterly as he returned the fang to Bai Yi.
"Is it so, then it's really a pity." Bai Yi felt disappointed too when he heard this reply. This fang was from an experimental monster, and they had only managed to kill it after a desperate battle.
"One year! If you can wait for one year I can forge it. However, you must supply me with sufficient food, medicine, and a safe environment within that year," Melvin suddenly said on impulse as he recalled the saying of 'taking 10 years to sharpen a sword' from Bai Yi.
Chapter 132: Giant Bear Gary
They had to provide sufficient food, medicine, and a safe environment for a whole year. If it was the previous peaceful world, this might not have been a difficult request, but in New Zealand now…
Bai Yi's fang sword was forged by a Weapon Armor Maker that had just started to figure out a way to create weapons from monster materials. From what Bai Yi knew, that guy used the acid inside the meat lumps of the Corrosion Fluid Monster that Bai Yi had obtained to corrode the fang sword. After that, the fang sword would become weak and soft, and only then could he start to grind it down. From the start of processing to forming its final shape, the fang sword didn't even take a week to complete. Although this method succeeded in shaping Bai Yi's fang sword into a blade, a large component of the material was wasted. Moreover, it also ruined the original quality of the material, greatly deteriorating the hardness of his fang sword.
However, the weapons that Melvin made didn't just not waste any materials, but managed to increase their hardness and toughness. That was why Bai Yi wanted to invite Melvin to join his team.
"One year, why don't you just join my team?"
Bai Yi knew that this kind of direct invitation was somewhat reckless, but the situation was just like this now. There wasn't enough time to understand a person thoroughly and only invite the person to the team after that. He had to solely depend on his judgment, no matter if it was those teams choosing individuals or individuals choosing teams.
"I don't wish to join any team. I'm sorry, just take what I said before as a joke," Melvin still shook his head and rejected Bai Yi.
"Really? Then that's just a pity." Bai Yi didn't try to force the matter either.
At this time, 4 or 5 people rushed down the street to their location. The leader of the group was wearing a monster leather armor. The leader was more than 4 meters tall, and looked even bulkier than Woolf. He had dense fur growing from all over his body, and he looked just like a giant bear walking upright. Beside this guy was the guard they met at the guardhouse, Zola.
"Guard leader, that's them."
"En." The giant bear guard leader gave a simple reply and observed Bai Yi's team while walking over.
Giant Bear Gary. This man who looked just like giant bear opposite them was the ruler of this snow valley. No matter how crude he looked like, the fact that he was the temporary owner of this area now meant that he wasn't as simple or as dumb as his appearance suggested. Melvin had already lived for several months here, so he naturally knew what kind of person Gary was. When he saw Gary walking toward them, he couldn't help but feel afraid. Don't tell me that these people did something wrong here?
"I am Gary, Giant Bear Gary, the temporary protector of this snow valley. I'm very delighted to welcome you to this snow valley, Mr. Bai Yi." While Gary walked over, he continuously analyzed Bai Yi's team and compared them with the information he had. In the end, after comparing them with the information in his heart, he ascertained that these people were probably legitimate.
"I am Bai Yi. I'm not here for any special purpose, I just happened to pass by!" Bai Yi said.
"Hahaha, I understand. Just passing by, you're just passing by. But Mr. Bai Yi's is quite reputable among the evolved humans. No matter what, I still have to be hospitable. I've already ordered my subordinates to make some preparations. Does Mr. Bai Yi and his team want to follow me over?" Gary smiled boorishly and asked.
"En, that's fine too." Bai Yi nodded and didn't reject him.
He knew long ago that once his identity was revealed, the leaders of these kinds of small powers would want to interact with him. They would hope to get something from him in the end. It was just normal human reaction, as long as they thought they couldn't get the things they want from Bai Yi, they would give up naturally. Of course, there might be some idiots who were more obstinate and too confident in their own strengths.
Was Gary…one of those idiots?
In truth, after Bai Yi's team left with Gary and walked toward the heart of the snow valley, Gary's subordinates immediately gathered all the details about their movements since they entered the snow valley. Moreover, the information about the part where Bai Yi stopped at Melvin's shop was incredibly detailed. Making use of an opportunity to leave them for a moment, Gary quickly looked over all the information.
Melvin: An evolved human that entered the snow valley 4 months ago. He was initially a member of a small team, but the team met a powerful evolved monster while they were out hunting once and basically got wiped out. Only Melvin and another woman survived.
Melvin was traumatized by that experience and decided to change his profession to become a Weapon Armor Maker or a Medicinal Maker. These two professions didn't need to fight on the frontlines, and he could obtain the respect of others at the same time.
However, these two professions were completely new, and there was nobody that could guide him along either. Those without talent couldn't possibly achieve any results. Melvin had created some weapons and armors over this period of time, but it really wasn't too different from the ones that others made, so they couldn't see any potential in him.
Did Bai Yi only stop at Melvin's shop by chance?
Gary couldn't see anything strange in this short period of time either, and only let his subordinates keep tabs on Melvin.
"I'm sorry, I had some matters to attend to! This is the residence for the guard team of this snow valley, but it's very simply built." Gary's apology seemed very sincere. He had left for a while but came back very quickly. Although he looked like a bear, he seemed more like a charmingly naïve black bear. Overall, he wouldn't draw the dislike of people who had just met him.
"It's fine, this place is already very good. It's much better than camping in the wild." Bai Yi wasn't patronising him, as these were Bai Yi's genuine thoughts.
"Is it, hahahaha." Gary started laughing.
"So, why did Mr. Bai Yi come to this snow valley?" asked Gary after awhile of idle chatter.
Bai Yi put down the tea cup in his hands and raised his head. "Gary, how long do you think we evolved humans can endure in New Zealand?"
Gary didn't expect Bai Yi to ask this question from the get go. He suddenly turned serious, grasping his bear paws together.
"Are you testing me?"
"No, I'm genuinely asking you for your views. No matter what, you are doing much better than a lot of other people, and you even have a small power under you now," Bai Yi shook his head and said seriously.
Gary looked at Bai Yi, and at the other people surrounding him. Finally, he relaxed his body. "I'm sorry, but I can't see where the future of the evolved humans lies. Although the snow valley is considered safe for now, that's just because this place is located in the deep areas of the mountain range. Despite this, the number of people in the snow valley is actually still continuously decreasing from various kinds of threats. Over this period of time, there wasn't even a single baby born. In the long term, we would probably become extinct."
In the end, Gary decided to not attempt to guess the motives behind Bai Yi's question, but told them his views first.
"You are very honest. In truth, that is the situation of New Zealand now." Bai Yi nodded.
"I know you want to obtain something from me, like information that I didn't reveal to the world," Bai Yi said again with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Gary immediately started to laugh after he heard these words. This wasn't something that anybody could judge him for. Who didn't want to acquire more information? Moreover, the Bai Yi opposite him seemed to be the same as the rumors, more straightforward and easy to talk to. However, at this time, Bai Yi took a deep breath.
"Sadly, I do not know any extra things either. There's a set of information here, it might be more detailed than what you guys already know, but there's really nothing special inside," Bai Yi said and passed a stack of information to Gary.
"You must have realised that there are 2 missing people from my team. Of course, this isn't anything strange as well, we just encountered danger like any other people. In New Zealand now, there's absolutely no meaning in fighting to accumulate whatever little power under us. Unless we can solve our problem at its roots, we will all die in New Zealand, the Devil Island now," Bai Yi slowly said. Everyone's moods became low along with Bai Yi's tone, because all these heavy things that he talked about were the truth.
"The reason why I came here is to ask those with power to search among the people under them, to see if there are any past researchers and protect them well. Only these people can develop a drug that can let us truly regain our human form, letting us escape from this kind of life. Of course, you guys can put your hopes on other people to develop this drug as well."
Putting our hopes on other people, who can we put our hopes on?
Bai Yi conversed at length with Gary. Anybody who could become a leader of a power at this time couldn't possibly be a short-sighted fellow. After Bai Yi described the crucial points, Gary also agreed to gather the learned people under him. Although he couldn't provide the facilities for research to these people now; he still had to protect them well first.
After that, whether they build a new research facility or they take the risk to look for a pre-existing research facility was a problem for later.
……
After Bai Yi left, Gary was still staring into blank space. After a long while, a woman walked out from behind.
"What percentage of his wordss were true?" Gary came back into focus after hearing the footsteps.
"90%!" the woman replied.
"90%, so high?"
"That's right, perhaps there's still some stuff that he concealed, but those things are definitely the most important of the most important of information. Let's not try to dig those things out, if Bai Yi doesn't want to tell, nobody could possibly know. If we try to dig things out regardless, we will end up offending him. Other than that, his suggestions don't threaten your status at all. This area is completely under your leadership now, and you don't have to worry about Bai Yi stealing credit from you either because there are just too few people in their team. If you could really solve the problem of all evolved humans, then your reputation would become incomparably greater." The woman analyzed meticulously.
"So it's like that!" Gary listened as he nodded.
This was the reason people would say that behind every successful man was a noble woman!
