Chapter 129: Why Did the Cannibals Suddenly Go Mad?

Su Miao stared at the female undead before her, completely bewildered. No matter how she looked at it, an undead that could speak was terrifying. If this undead weren't under her control, Su Miao would have instantly tossed a blue fireball at it to send it to its final rest.

"Kill all the cannibals who have entered the Vulcan Base." With no idea what else to say to the creature, Su Miao simply issued an order.

"Yes, Your Highness!" The female undead bowed respectfully. "Your Highness, may we take these corpses away?"

Su Miao glanced at the corpse of the cannibal leader, Fu Junxiang, drained of all blood. "Yes, you may take all the corpses here."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" the female undead replied. She carried the remains back into the Vulcan Base.

About twenty minutes later, the female undead emerged again. "Your Highness, all the cannibals who entered the Vulcan Base have been killed."

Clutching her Type 95 assault rifle, Su Miao said, "Good, you may go back now."

The female undead hesitated. She seemed to have something more to say, but appeared afraid to speak. If Her Highness Su Miao were willing to enter the Vulcan Base, she could easily explain how they had used the corpses to construct a blood pool. Experiments had shown that the undead felt more spirited and energetic when tainted by blood. With this pool, even if Her Highness Su Miao dispelled her magic, the undead would not immediately fall into a deep slumber and could move freely. However, expressing this was far too complex and difficult for the current female undead.

Su Miao simply watched her. Since the creature didn't speak, she certainly wouldn't ask. It was already terrifying enough that the undead had consciousness; the fact that they could speak was something she didn't want to dwell on.

The female undead returned. Su Miao dispelled the Undead Resurrection spell. Looking toward the Vulcan Base with a hint of dread, she decided that from now on, she would avoid using that spell whenever possible.

Just then, the Golden-Winged Roc chirped softly. The Myna bird spoke up: "The Golden Eagle says its wounds have flared up again, and it asks for Your Highness's help to heal them."

That was simple enough. Su Miao took a cup from her magic space, tossed a small water ball into it, and heated it with a small fireball. "Drink."

The Golden-Winged Eagle gulped the water down. Afterward, it appeared invigorated and chirped in gratitude.

"You may go back now," Su Miao said, clutching her rifle. "Myna, go check on the Four Seas Base and report back immediately if there's any news."

"Yes, Your Highness!" The Myna flew off, followed by the Golden-Winged Eagle and its eight grey eagle companions.

Once everyone had left, Su Miao immediately jumped on her snowmobile and returned to the mutant forest belt. She huddled with her rifle, shivering for a long while before finally gathering the strength to continue using small blue fireballs to drip growth serum onto each mutant tree. They had not yet fully matured.

"You need to grow faster," she murmured.

...

At the Four Seas Base, every so often, cannibals with crippled limbs would charge forward. The Four Seas defense force showed no mercy, gunning them all down. Of course, some cannibals were not charging blindly; they used the terrain of the snow to maneuver, threw rocks, and tried everything to break through to the base's positions.

"This isn't right," the commander at Four Seas remarked. "These cannibals are on a completely different level of combat capability compared to the ones that appeared yesterday."

Someone nearby added, "Our scouts saw the cannibals dragging away all the corpses from yesterday. I suspect they are using our guns to slaughter their own food supply."

Hearing this, everyone turned pale. These cannibals were truly deranged.

"They’ve lost all humanity."

"Do they not fear death?"

"Supervisor, what should we do?"

Pei Fu observed the battlefield with a grave expression. "Assign some men to stand guard!" Because Yu Yuangui was heavily injured and recuperating, Pei Fu had become the supreme commander against the cannibals. He grumbled internally: *This whole mess was stirred up by Lin Henian and Xu Ting's schemes—why am I the one taking the blame?*

Suddenly, a series of explosions snapped Pei Fu back to reality. Several cannibal squads had been blown up. No problem there. The Four Seas Base had plenty of ammunition. The only thing to worry about was the sudden appearance of the cannibal leader, the Great Western King. According to intelligence provided by Yu Yuangui and Lin Henian, the Great Western King was terrifying; none of them could stand against him alone. Unfortunately, even after a bloody battle with the Great Western King, Yu Yuangui still didn't know what his awakened ability was, and Lin Henian, who had also seen him, knew even less.

When powerful ability users fought, they usually tried to figure out each other's powers to prepare counter-strategies. Without intelligence, how were they supposed to play this game? Pei Fu hoped the Great Western King might accidentally nod off and get blasted by a mortar shell. Of course, if he actually charged in, it wouldn't be the end of the world, as Xu Ting and Lin Henian were also present.

"When will this Great Western King appear?"

Xu Ting stood in the shadows, stomping her feet. It was too cold outside, and she hated such field missions. Lin Henian, wrapped in an old military overcoat, replied, "I don't know, but for the Great Western King to take the initiative to attack the base, he must be well-prepared."

Xu Ting said, "I don't understand why he’s been letting his men throw their lives away so far. Isn't he worried about a mutiny?"

Lin Henian explained, "To the cannibals, those sent to die are simply rations for the coming days. If they go to the battlefield, they have a chance to live; if they don't, they get eaten on the spot. If someone rebels, they are suppressed and turned into stew. If someone tries to flee, they are reported, caught, and turned into the reporter's dinner. Their internal control is terrifying. As long as the Great Western King lives, this force won't disband."

Xu Ting chuckled coldly. "Disgusting." Her gaze drifted into the distance, wondering what the cannibals' next move would be. If they continued to send the old, weak, and sick to exhaust their bullets for the next few hours, it would be terribly boring.

As luck would have it, her prediction held true. For the next several hours, the pattern remained unchanged. It was tedious.

...

At the cannibal camp, inside a snow hut, the Great Western King was feasting on meat and wine. Those who knew him understood that he always ate heavily before a major battle, especially the meat of ability users. Many had died in the clash with Yu Yuangui yesterday, just enough to last these few days.

"Great Western King, shall we strike?" Shamo asked, impatient to wash away his shame through combat.

The Great Western King glanced at him. "And go up there to eat bullets, mortars, or rockets?"

Shamo was left speechless. Just then, He Chao entered the ice hut, adjusted his glasses, and said, "Great Western King, two hours ago, we received intel from Liu Long and Fu Junxiang. They discovered the ruins of the Vulcan Base and encountered four ability users."

The Great Western King's eyes flashed with a murderous light. "Are they from the faction that destroyed the Vulcan Base?"

He Chao replied, "The report didn't say, but Liu Long mentioned that the task these four powerful ability users were performing near the base was... logging."

*Logging?* A joke. Even the military wouldn't do that. The Great Western King had seen the military's style; if they were logging, they would bring a large force to transport the wood. Four powerful individuals doing it alone? Clearly not the military. Absurd. How strong was this mysterious faction?

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"Great Western King, the latest report is that Fu Junxiang used an assault rifle to attack that Myna bird..." He Chao felt extremely conflicted saying this, as the Great Western King had specifically ordered them not to provoke that damn bird, no matter how it taunted them.

Shamo, standing to the side, turned pale. No one knew better than him just how vile that Myna was. Not only was it insufferable, but it really would call other mutant birds for help. He still had psychological trauma from the Golden-Winged Eagle incident. If the Great Western King hadn't saved him, he would have died.

The Great Western King nearly smashed his bowl on the table, but restrained himself, realizing it contained meat, not rice. As a cannibal, wasting meat was a grave shame.

"Send someone to investigate," the Great Western King commanded, suppressing his anger.

"Yes, Great Western King," He Chao replied. *First provoke a faction that likely wiped out the Vulcan Base, then provoke that foul-mouthed bird... they have more guts than brains.*

Shamo added, "Great Western King, please don't worry. After Fu Junxiang transformed into a werewolf, his power surged. Even if the bird brought other mutant birds, they could handle it. I doubt there's a second one like the Golden Eagle."

...As he said it, even Shamo lost confidence. If the bird could call one, it could call another.

"Great Western King, a Myna bird has appeared near the battlefield," reported Ning Hongmei, the only female leader among the cannibals. She was responsible for the camp's defense and kept a close eye on the bird that had scouted them before.

The Great Western King stopped eating. He took the binoculars from her and exited the hut to a vantage point. Sure enough, a Myna bird sat on a large tree a thousand meters from the battlefield.

He tossed the binoculars to Shamo. Shamo took one look and shouted excitedly, "Great Western King, that's the bird! I’d recognize it even if it were burned to ash!"

"Call He Chao," the Great Western King ordered.

Based on the earlier report, Liu Long and Fu Junxiang had provoked the bird. It wouldn't let it go; it would certainly have brought a flock of birds for revenge—but it had come here instead. Did this mean the revenge was already complete? The Great Western King's expression turned grim.

He Chao arrived. "Great Western King, there are four possibilities for the bird's presence: one, Liu Long and Fu Junxiang have already met their end; two, the bird failed to recruit help and postponed its revenge; three, it took matters into its own hands; or four, the mysterious faction that destroyed the Vulcan Base took action. The most likely scenario is that the bird did it itself. Regardless, I suggest suspending exploration in the direction of the Vulcan Base."

The Great Western King sneered, "Do you think a bird that flies here is going to let things rest?"

He Chao thought quickly. "Apologies, Great Western King, I cannot predict its next move."

"Then launch the plan early. Take the Four Seas Base."

He Chao was stunned. "Great Western King, the original plan would allow us to take the base with minimal losses. Launching it early will result in incalculable casualties."

"Execute!"

Feeling the murderous aura radiating from the Great Western King, He Chao trembled. "Yes, Great Western King!"

Shamo and Ning Hongmei quickly followed. The Great Western King glanced at the skull floating in his pot, scooped it out, devoured the brain matter, and tossed it aside. As his strength hit a bottleneck, the taste of this meat was becoming increasingly bland. He hoped the Four Seas Base held better fare.

Six minutes later, several snow tunnels erupted near the Four Seas defense line. A swarm of cannibals burst forth, firing weapons at the guards, while powerful cannibal ability users charged directly at the base's defenders.

"Ninth Battalion, move!" Pei Fu, commanding from the frontline, shouted his order. But as he did, a deafening boom shattered his ice hut command post.

"Pei Fu, right?" Shamo saluted mockingly. "You can die here."

"Can I?" Thorny vines erupted around Pei Fu. "I think you’re the one who will die."

The vines coiled around Shamo, but his body turned hard as steel, and he broke free. "Too weak."

With a massive explosion of snow, Shamo lunged at Pei Fu. Pei Fu remained cold and calm; a thorn flower blossomed before him, grew instantly, and swallowed Shamo. The engulfment lasted only a second before Shamo tore through the flower and burst out. Pei Fu side-stepped, avoiding the attack.

A fierce battle erupted. Lin Henian and Xu Ting, hiding in the shadows, didn't wait; they appeared instantly to deal a thunderous blow to Shamo.

"Old man, do me a favor—don't be such a sneaky coward," He Chao said, slicing through the void. Lin Henian was pulled by a mysterious force and "detained" before him.

"Young man," Lin Henian retorted, "I think you're the one seeking death." In the next instant, Lin Henian appeared beside He Chao, a sharp dagger slashing down. Where he had stood a moment before, a lingering afterimage remained, making it look as if he had never moved.

"Able to rescue people from the Great Western King? Sneaky old man, truly terrifying!" He Chao stood still as the dagger pierced his neck, but not a drop of blood flowed, nor was there any sign of impact.

*Huh?* Lin Henian was surprised. *Another afterimage?* No, it was a glamour!

He Chao's counter-attack followed. Lin Henian retreated, and when he stopped, his military overcoat had a massive gash. He tore off the collar, saying, "Playing dirty against an old man? You have no respect for your elders."

"My apologies, you old fossil," He Chao replied.

As they spoke, two afterimages shattered. Both men had simultaneously left their positions to strike from the shadows again.

Elsewhere, Xu Ting was intercepted by Ning Hongmei. "Little sister, you're so pretty. Why don't you let me eat you?"

Xu Ting’s red dress fluttered, and a shotgun appeared in her hand. "Trash. Die."

Ning Hongmei's figure twisted. She giggled, "Little sister, getting so angry—it's my fault. Life is so hard in this apocalypse; let big sister eat you to protect you."

Xu Ting didn't waste breath. She fired shot after shot, and as each shotgun ran dry, she pulled a fresh one from her red dress.

Ning Hongmei was genuinely surprised. "Little sister, are you a magician? Do you have so many shotguns hidden in your dress? Or are they hidden in your forest?" She giggled, "Little sister, you're so strong; I’m afraid I have to concede."

"Die!"

Xu Ting’s rage was ignited. She pulled out five shotguns at once and fired them simultaneously.

The battle turned fierce. The Four Seas Base, having lost its commander, fell into chaotic, decentralized fighting as cannibals swarmed from all sides.

"Hold the line!"

"Don't retreat! If you retreat, these cannibals will storm the base and eat your parents, siblings, and children!"

"Fight them to the death! These cannibals are starving; we can kill them!"

"Support! There are too many of them, ahhh..."

"Ahhh, don't eat me..."

"Help!"

The guards fought desperately. Previously, they had the advantage of distance, allowing them to gun down the approaching cannibals as long as they had ammo. But in the chaos of close-quarters combat, that advantage was gone.

In the distance, the Great Western King emerged, watching the battlefield with a calm expression. The cannibals had provoked the unknown force that destroyed the Vulcan Base. To avoid a two-front war, he had to finish off the Four Seas Base quickly.

At the Four Seas Base, the supreme supervisor, Lan Shaokong, was forced to step out, locking his gaze on the Great Western King. He had wanted to identify the King's ability before engaging, but the rapid deterioration of the battle had ruined his plans.

On a tree a thousand meters from the battlefield, the Myna bird looked on, confused. It couldn't understand why the battlefield had suddenly turned so brutal. *Why did these cannibals suddenly go insane?*