“No…No!”

Erni opened her mouth wide, swallowed a mouthful of air mixed with the smell of feces, and exhaled heavily. Then, she took the remaining ring-handled sword from the sheath behind her shoulder, held it with both hands, and presented it to the old woman:

“I am willing to pay for the right to use it once, with my hands… to carry out your wish.”

Erni knew the rule that prevailed in the wilderness – you have to pay for what you want. Her friendship with the old woman was not enough to offset the reward required for this pursuit; therefore, Erni could only take out the most valuable thing on her body – the qualification that allowed her to wield the knife.

“Ah, alas.”

The old woman smacked her toothless mouth and uttered two short, meaningless sighs.

“Yes, yes. You are a very good swordsman. Strong and fast. Unlike these ones in my family…” The old woman slightly turned her neck half embedded in the golden seat; “these rubbish were not born for swords and blood and fire.”

“Go with our exploration team to do an excavation in Yingshui. As long as you can bring half of the people back alive, I will ask the ancestors to predict your fortune in your dreams.”

As the conversation continued, the old woman’s words became longer and more fluent.

“Help them bring back a new…’heirloom’.”

……

The family of technology – a family formed by people who gather together because of technology. They are connected not by blood or lineage, but by common knowledge: this is the original appearance of the tribes of the barbarians. Originally, they were just a group of people who used the same programming language, then shared data warehouses and the same magical development tools – until they evolved into the same philosophy of life and behavior.

Until even this kind of similarity has disappeared, the people who survived in this way no longer remember the reason for coming together, but the tribe still continues: the new people of the wilderness can also obtain some old but useless knowledge from the consciousness warehouse of their deceased ancestors.

……

Erni stared at the old woman’s eyes, which seemed to be struck by countless lightning and sparks of fire – she wanted to make sure whether the other party was joking with her: although she also understood that the old woman would not take such a thing lightly.

“Yingshui”. Also known as the “Automatic Urban Ecological Community No. 73”, the only “dead city” between Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The old woman wanted her to serve as a military escort for this expedition, but…

Half? As long as I can bring back half of the people alive?

She turned her eyes away –

She had rushed into the camp in such a hurry that she didn’t pay any attention. But now, Erni realized that there were at least thirty barbarians preparing: five times the number of the normal dead city survey team.

With such a large number of people, there is only one possibility – they want to go deep into the core of the dead city. And this is a gamble: given the danger of the dead city, a single tribe alone is simply unable to protect such a large excavation team…

But the old woman thinks that things will be different if she is included?

“You guys…are leaving?”

The old woman didn’t respond, but just looked at her, waiting for Erni’s choice.

Erni immediately understood what Old Lady Le wanted: this tribe of barbarians was going to migrate far away. Not from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, a short distance of 350 kilometers – but to a farther place, even beyond New Malaysia; so they were going to conduct the largest and most grand excavation. With their understanding of “Yingshui”, they might be able to get enough resources to gain a foothold in their next home.

Now, the old woman wants to bring back the “heirloom” from the dead city that can maintain or even strengthen the entire tribe.

If I were to move to a completely new place, I might not have such a good opportunity.

The barbarians would not go to such a far place casually – unless they thought it was closely related to life and death. A real expedition that would gamble the future of the tribe… Even the old woman thought that Kuala Lumpur was about to be hit by a catastrophe?

She clenched her fists, her nails digging into the lines and flesh of her palms: Why does everyone act like the world is ending?

Puzzles, confusion and resentment rushed into Erni’s heart, howling in her brain – reminding her that she was still the same useless person who had never changed. Nothing could be changed, nothing could be changed; the world was like a stream flowing past her, and Erni, who came from Penang and grew up in the wilderness, was just like the bewildered girl more than a decade ago, with nothing she could grab in the turbulent flow.

but……

If only I could get the knife back…if only I could have the power again.

Everything might be different.

Erni put the ring-handled sword back on her back and nodded heavily to the old woman:

“Grandma, deal. I’ll take the order.”

……

……

Chapter 371 In the Abyss (Part )

……

……

The fairy beasts dragged the carriages modified by the wild people across the gray land, leaving a series of pits consisting of four-toed hoof prints and tire marks on the barren ground.

Er Ni drove an iron horse and followed these huge and swift beasts – the fairy beasts had endurance and speed comparable to machines.

They were born from the fifth generation of Kirin product line breeding iterations, and still retain the characteristics of “goat head, wolf hoof, round top, and colorful body”. But other than that, they are very different – three pairs of limbs maintain balance, two tails swing as they move forward; the hairless body surface has pre-set, pigmented patterns and words to indicate which tribe bred them.

At the same time, the fairy beasts were also used as emergency food by the wild exploration team:

Originally, the immortal beasts could not be used as food at all when they were first developed; this was naturally due to commercial considerations. As the original immortal beasts, they were modulated and their bodies were accompanied by poison sacs containing aminoperhydroquinazoline compounds – extremely toxic neurotoxins, to prevent the immortal beasts from being used as meat livestock for consumption:

Once they die—from being slaughtered or having an accident—the toxins in their entrails and cystic glands seep into their muscles and do not break down even at high temperatures.

After the barbarians cracked the breeding code, they removed most of the deadly toxins contained in the innate Qi, as well as the emetic and odorant components that would appear in the flesh; this is why most of the fairy beasts circulating in the wilderness outside Kuala Lumpur can now be used as food.

Therefore, visitors to the wilderness have stronger digestive systems than urban residents in New Malaysia who drink nutrient solution all year round.

Erni simply loves the way the fairy beasts look when they are running – that is a completely different kind of elegance.

……

“The Yingshui is almost here.”

In fact, Erni didn’t need to be reminded, she also knew that they were about to reach the destination of this exploration –

Mottled blocks of color and uneven spots of vibration spiraled upward; fluffy clouds of red and gold wrapped around an inverted semicircle, vast and towering, like a strangely shaped mountain range.

It stands out so abruptly on the barren gray land that it hardly seems like a sight that can be seen in the human world.

The mirage created by the overflow of dying auras that have not yet completely disappeared. The haziness left over from distant years lingers on the shell of the dead city and wraps around the remains of the past: but no one can interpret the meaning of it.

……

The team leader stretched out his strong, dark hand and pointed to the densest location in the bright clouds: then he clenched his fist and swung it from top to bottom, making a knocking motion – a small group of the exploration team followed the direction he pointed out and led the fairy beast into the bright red and gold block.

“Leave some people outside to support them.”

The leader politely nodded to Erni, with the dark green juice of the dried meat dripping from the corners of his mouth; his jaw was already stained with green. The people of the wilderness seemed to have this habit: chewing the rubbery fairy beast meat repeatedly, over the years, making the muscles on the sides of their cheeks bulge high.

“The next thing is the opening ceremony. Not many people have seen it, it’s very interesting.”

This added a bit of weirdness and horror to his already tall and strong body, with muscles bulging like a rubber toy – the leader joined the tribe of barbarians only after he became an adult, and according to him, his original name had been forgotten; all that was left was the code name of “leader”.

“It doesn’t matter if ‘Canned Girl’ hears it, ha.” The barbarian named Shalan dragged the fairy beast and came around from the side. He said this to the leader, but he did not hide the hostility in his eyes towards Erni. He even puffed up his arms to show the flowing tattoo on his arm:

These lines of code symbolize the surname “JAVA” – this is a tribal surname, symbolizing the origin of why the entire tribe gathered together. But the computer programming language referred to by the word has long been lost in the tide of time.

Shalan should be the second in command of this expedition…right? Erni was too lazy to tell the difference, anyway, he was the one who talked the most nonsense:

“Gan Lin’s mother! All you can say is ‘canned boy, canned girl’?” Er Ni grinned with her sharp and shining white teeth, rubbing the knife handle with the gap between the bulging jade shoots, and the sound of high-speed collision was like beads rolling on a jade plate; “I have been sitting on this gray land for many more days than you, tutbalazi.”

Many residents who make a living in the wilderness always regard Erni as a “city person” who grew up in Penang – although now there are no city residents who live on canned food, and nutrient solution is the popular staple food in New Malaysia – until she speaks the wilderness dialect fluently: a new dialect that is a mixture of Hakka, Min, Putian, Fuzhou, and swear words from all over the place.

At this time, the people of the wilderness will realize that Erni is actually from the same place as them. Just like now——

The strong aggression in Shalan’s yellow eyes faded a little, replaced by confusion:

“You are from this place? Then why are you following me to grab the offerings from the King of Hell’s table and send–“

throat!

A gong-like sound came from the chest of leader A, cutting off the unfinished words. Leader A narrowed his eyes and glanced coldly at Shalan’s quickly closed mouth, and once again struck the gong embedded in his chest.

throat!

Sound after sound, the raised gong piece in the middle of the leader’s scarred chest, which was integrated with the pectoral muscles and the xiphoid process of the sternum, sounded again and again; the majestic and long sound resounded throughout the whole area.

In a low, loud and strong tone, leader A sang loudly:

“The mountains are green and the rivers are clear,

The mountains and rivers of my hometown are always close to me.

The mountains and rivers are far away, yet we still see each other.

It’s hard to resist the homesickness.

Standing at the gate looking at the stars,

My hometown is sparkling.

Listen carefully to what grandma said,

Blood ties bind us together…”

……

Like a spell, like some kind of mysterious ritual to attract the gods –

As the leader sang loudly, the clusters of colors slowly spread out to the sides, like clouds being gathered around by invisible hands:

Revealing…a brightly colored perfect circular opening.

“go in.”

The leader finished the chant and let out a long breath. He patted the fairy beast’s neck and walked towards the hole.

Erni twitched her nose and sniffed the scent of the wilderness again: a little bit of burnt, numbness and tingling in her nasal cavity, and electric charges overflowing in the air – it was not the usual smell.

She shook her head slightly, then followed the convoy and drove into the gate of the dead city.

……

“Dead” city.

If you only look at its literal meaning, it is undoubtedly extremely inaccurate – Erni has never seen a place more vibrant than what is before her.

At least… everything is in constant “motion”.

And it doesn’t look like a “city”:

Octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron, sphere, torus, barrel, prism, pyramid…

……

……

Chapter 372 In the Abyss (Part )

All kinds of planes and curves, ranging from those so huge that they could cover the sky to those as tiny as dust and floating everywhere, were all around the exploration team and spread to the extreme of their vision. Their origin had been swallowed up by seemingly endless “shapes”, but there was still a straight and wide path ahead, like a guide in some direction.

The geometric bodies were moving all the time – drifting in a straight line, moving in circles around each other, or scurrying around like drunken bees; at least Erni didn’t see any geometric body that was still.

Their surfaces are not mirrored, nor do they have patterns, text, or projected images—only rich, pure colors: it seems that all the natural colors contained in color maps can be found in them…

“Hmm…but it seems to be missing some color.”

Erni glanced around: the colors of the geometric shapes were flat on the surface, and there was no color difference that could be observed by the naked eye. There were no shadows around the survey team, but the bright light allowed them to see each other clearly; it was difficult to tell where the light source came from.

Maybe it was some kind of effect similar to that of a shadowless lamp, but Erni couldn’t be sure.

It’s more like a dream in the gap between reality and nirvana after an overdose of electronic bliss:

Was there really a “city” here hundreds of years ago?

But everything was exactly as Erni imagined—because she had never thought about what the dead city would look like.

Observing after reaching the target environment is a more cost-effective option for couriers: Erni also did this.

……

Shalan sat on the roof of the car, tapping the windows rhythmically with the heels of her feet. The fairy beast maintained a cruise control while pulling the car, waving its hands enthusiastically at the geometry around it, acting as a tour guide for Erni who had just arrived in the dead city:

“Cubes and balls are all living spirits – that’s how it is now. But once they leave the dead city, they will soon die.”

“I calculated the time accurately and came in when the spiritual energy was at its most dormant, which is safer. But when the spiritual energy is active, it’s not that dangerous – it’s just too bright and it can hurt your eyes.”

After learning that Erni was also a wild child born and raised in the wilderness, he seemed to spontaneously become familiar with her and even felt an inexplicable intimacy with her:

“But if you see them turn ‘white’, then it’s dangerous. Let me tell you, in all the excavations at home, we have only encountered——”

boom!

A wet, crisp sound interrupted the conversation. Erni suddenly stretched out her hand to block Shalan’s next words. Her other hand pointed towards the end of the team: