Chapter 136: The Cannibals Are Coming!

The myna bird flew into the airspace above the Sihai Base, where it saw many people busy repairing the defensive fortifications.

Barring any accidents, the Sihai Base was already aware of the cannibals marching south.

The battle had ceased.

Suddenly, the myna spotted the flash of an explosion in the distance.

"Caw, caw, caw, what on earth is happening?"

Feeling slightly perplexed, it immediately flew toward the source of the blast.

Circling high in the sky, the myna reached the airspace above the cannibal camp in less than two minutes. It saw more than a hundred monsters bursting out of coffins, launching an indiscriminate massacre against the surrounding Sihai Base defense team members.

"Such terrifying monsters, what in the world are these creatures..."

It was somewhat startled.

The monsters frantically lunged at and slaughtered the surrounding Sihai Base defense team members.

Some defense team members with firearms opened fire wildly at the monsters. While a few monsters could be knocked down by bullets, others, despite being battered into bloody pulps by gunfire, would quickly drag themselves back up and deliver a fatal blow to those nearby.

"Ah, ah, ah! Help me, save me!"

Someone suffered a mental breakdown, attempting to break away from the defensive formation and flee.

Yet, after running only a few steps, a monster ambushed him up close, instantly tearing through the cotton padding of his clothes, piercing his chest, ripping out his heart, and biting it to pieces in a single gulp as blood splattered everywhere.

"Everyone, form a concentrated defense!"

Pei Fu, who had been securing the perimeter, led his men into the battlefield.

Fortunately, he had brought a detachment of the defense team to the outer perimeter in advance; otherwise, if the entire defense team had descended into chaos, they likely would have faced total annihilation.

There were quite a few ability users among the defense team. Through their concerted efforts, the line was barely held.

At least, that was how it appeared.

However, a mishap occurred on Xu Ting's end.

Her period had arrived today, and her mood was foul—beyond measure, she was deeply irritable.

She unleashed a torrent of ribbons, binding the monster directly in front of her. "A pack of failed awakening monsters, utterly pathetic."

Xu Ting sneered, tightening the ribbons as she had done previously, preparing to wrench the monster's head clean off.

She had already used this method to kill five monsters.

This one before her would be no exception.

Yet, this time, as she pulled and the ribbons tightened, the opponent's head stubbornly refused to detach.

Xu Ting's expression shifted. Refusing to believe it, she yanked again.

The monster's eyes bulged almost out of their sockets.

It glared viciously at Xu Ting, roaring with unbridled fury.

"Crying your throat out won't do you any good."

Without panicking, Xu Ting drew a blade from her waist, intending to slice the monster's head off manually.

Suddenly, the monster snapped the ribbons binding its body, materialized abruptly right in front of Xu Ting, and exhaled a breath so suffocatingly foul that her mind went completely blank. By the time she regained her senses, the monster had already driven a claw deep into her lower abdomen.

"Ah!"

Xu Ting let out a miserable scream.

With a single slash, she severed the monster's arm, then followed up with several rapid strikes, hacking its body into a bloody mess.

"Xu Ting!"

Noticing the situation, Lin Heming rushed over hastily.

Stopping dead in his tracks, he saw Xu Ting bleeding profusely, with a lean, black-furred claw impaled directly through her lower abdomen.

There was no saving her...

Staggering, Xu Ting looked toward the approaching Lin Heming. "Get me back to the base."

Forcing down the agonizing pain, she believed she could still be patched up.

Lin Heming said, "Alright... Watch out!"

Mechanically turning around, Xu Ting realized that the monster—which she had hacked into countless pieces moments ago—had grabbed her ankle and dragged her down. Pulled right up to it, the skin-stretched bony hand drove upward from below, piercing her once more, straight through to her lower abdomen.

"Ah!"

Xu Ting shrieked in agony once again.

A flash of blade light swept across her hand, successfully decapitating the monster.

Vaguely, Xu Ting caught a look of extreme, grotesque glee on the monster's face.

Before failing its ability awakening, this monster had been a degenerate pervert.

The entire sequence of events transpired far too quickly; Lin Heming was entirely powerless to assist.

The only thing he could do was pick up an assault rifle from nearby and pump dozens more rounds into the headless corpse, obliterating the monster's remains completely.

"Xu Ting, you..."

"..."

Gazing at Lin Heming with resentment, Xu Ting collapsed.

As a powerful ability user and one of the directors of the Sihai Base, Xu Ting had never imagined she would die in such a manner.

She knew that these failed-mutation monsters were dangerous, and she had killed several of them herself.

This time, she had simply grown careless...

High above, the myna bird watched the battlefield below in absolute stupefaction.

It knew quite a bit about Xu Ting. Over the past few days, she had been locked in brutal combat with the cannibal leader Ning Hongmei, fighting with ferocious lethality. It never expected her to be killed here by a monster mutated from a failed awakening.

Then again, the woman somewhat deserved it. Standing there spouting nonsense and putting on airs in front of a monster—who was she trying to impress?

Had she not dawdled and drawn her blade sooner, she would have been fine, wouldn't she?

Yet, looking at it from another angle, the cannibal King of Western Da was truly terrifying, secretly imprisoning so many monsters without a sound.

Fortunately, the defense team members sent to sweep the cannibal camp consisted largely of ability users. After a period of hard-fought battle, they successfully eradicated the remaining mutated monsters.

Even so, a portion of the monsters managed to escape, their whereabouts unknown.

The myna flew back toward the Sihai Base.

The Sihai Base had also come under attack by these mutated monsters.

Taking advantage of the defense team's absence outside the walls and the fact that most people were busy maintaining defensive fortifications, a large number of mutated monsters used the ice and snow slopes piled up earlier by the cannibals to leap directly atop the Sihai Base's walls, initiating a bloody, indiscriminate slaughter.

Watching from high above, the myna felt as though these monsters were practically playing on "God Mode."

A vast majority of those participating in the repairs were ordinary citizens.

They possessed zero ability to resist these creatures.

Often, in the blink of an eye, the monsters were already upon them.

By the time the defense team arrived, over a hundred people had already been butchered, with several hundred more wounded.

Under such frigid conditions, surviving injuries was exceedingly difficult.

Even with the Sihai Base's coal mines and heating systems, strained medical resources meant many were destined to perish from their wounds and ailments.

Yu Yuangui stepped into the fray, cutting down the mutated monsters that had breached the lines, while issuing commands to the various defense regiments to steady the formation and encircle the beasts.

Lan Shaokong acted even faster, instantly slaying several particularly formidable mutated monsters to regain control of the situation.

Still, plenty of powerful mutated monsters remained, and wiping them out entirely would take some time.

Without lingering, the myna turned and flew back.

"Shao Lan,"

Surveying the casualties and the blood-soaked walls of the Sihai Base, Yu Yuangui said, "This is a declaration of war against us by the King of Western Da. We cannot let these cannibals continue to live, or the Sihai Base will inevitably perish before long."

Monsters born from failed awakenings were typically exterminated within the Sihai Base at the very first moment to prevent any accidents.

Yet who could have anticipated that the King of Western Da would manage to temporarily restrain these creatures and unleash them when needed?

The King of Western Da marching his cannibals south was merely a ruse to deploy these monsters.

After all, these creatures attacked indiscriminately.

If the cannibals were to hurl such monsters at the Sihai Base a few more times, the base would undoubtedly collapse sooner or later.

Due to the raid by the hundred-plus mutated monsters, casualties at the Sihai Base reached an alarming 1,300-plus people—and that was without factoring in the losses sustained by the defense team clearing out the cannibal camp.

Lan Shaokong spoke. "The plan."

Yu Yuangui replied, "Tomorrow, we take those things and roll the dice!"

Lan Shaokong fell silent.

Just then, new intelligence crackled over the walkie-talkie: Xu Ting, the crazy woman and one of the directors of the Sihai Base, had fallen in battle.

A dangerous glint flashed in Lan Shaokong's eyes. He took a deep breath and said, "Alright!"

...

Eh?

That smells amazing!

Landing at the villa entrance, the myna knocked on the door. "Your Highness, I'm back. Open up."

Su Miao opened the door, letting the myna fly inside.

Soaring into the second-floor living room, the myna spotted the hot pot on the table and froze.

Its nose hadn't deceived it earlier; it really was a hot pot, and a tomato-flavored one at that.

This, this, this...

Her Highness had actually eaten dinner early and forgotten about it again.

"Your Highness, I want some too."

"Get your own bowl."

Su Miao said.

Her own set of bowls and chopsticks for the myna was kept in the kitchen.

The myna was quite impressive now; it could retrieve its own tableware.

Sipping the broth and eating a slice of beef, the myna looked thoroughly pleased.

"Your Highness, can the vegetables be eaten yet?"

"Mhm."

Eating a piece of beef, Su Miao replied, "There are fresh tomatoes over there."

Glancing at the two- or three-pound tomatoes nearby, the myna grew even happier. "Your Highness, do you have corn? When are we going to plant some?"

Su Miao blinked and said, "Sure."

Suddenly, she recalled how, before the apocalypse arrived, farmers would grow corn, and right around harvest time, certain birds would always tear open the husks in advance to gorge themselves.

She wasn't sure which species of bird had started it, but eventually, all the other birds learned the trick.

Casting a suspicious glance at the myna, Su Miao wondered if it was the type of bird that liked to steal corn.

Sipping its soup and nibbling its beef, the myna reported, "Your Highness, the cannibals have started marching south ahead of schedule, and their direction is us."

Eh?

Su Miao blinked. Had the Sihai Base been wiped out already?

The myna continued, "I don't know the specifics, but the cannibals temporarily halted their attack on the Sihai Base. However, they left behind a massive number of monsters, causing catastrophic losses for the base—even a director-level ability user was killed."

The directors of the Sihai Base were dying?

Scary~

Picking up a tomato, Su Miao took an unconscious bite.

She felt like she was already full from earlier, though.

Well, treat it as fruit then.

Su Miao asked, "What kind of monsters were they?"

The myna answered, "I flew close enough to overhear some chatter. It seems they are monsters mutated from humans whose ability awakenings failed."

Oh?

Just a few days ago, Su Miao had been pondering this exact question.

Since the apocalypse descended, she had witnessed plenty of mutated animals, plants, and humans, but she had genuinely never seen a failed mutation.

She simply hadn't expected humans who failed mutations to be so terrifying—indiscriminate attackers devoid of reason, driven solely by the instinct to feed. That made them far more frightening than talking undead.

Thinking further on the cannibals marching in her direction, Su Miao felt a deep sense of dread.

Su Miao asked, "How many cannibals are marching south?"

The myna replied, "A little over 40,000."

Over 80,000 cannibals had gone to war with the Sihai Base, and after only a few days, only 40,000-plus remained?

The fighting had been brutally intense.

Yet, how did the cannibals still have so many people left?

"Tomorrow, go check where the cannibals are at the earliest opportunity. Let me know if they're getting close,"

Su Miao said between bites of tomato.

"Understood, Your Highness!"

The myna agreed.

Su Miao pondered whether she should cast another round of Undead Revival on the corpses at the God of Fire Base.

After thinking it over, she temporarily dismissed the idea.

She would evaluate the situation and decide when the time came.

Besides, since the cannibals were migrating as a massive army, they likely wouldn't arrive here until the day after tomorrow, or perhaps even the day after that.

There should still be time to prepare; she would make more preparations over the next couple of days.

"You can share the news of the cannibals' impending arrival with those four people,"

Su Miao added.

"Got it, Your Highness."

The myna chirped happily, continuing to eat its hot pot.

...

Night was about to fall.

The cannibals migrating southward halted their march, building an ice-hut camp to rest and regroup. Whatever business remained could wait until tomorrow.

Some were too lazy to construct ice huts, choosing instead to simply carve out snow caves in the snowfield to serve as shelters for the night.

While this carried a certain risk of being buried alive by snow, having a shelter was still better than having none at all.

Drinking wine and watching the meat stewing in the pot, the King of Western Da wore a grim expression.

He trusted that the Sihai Base had already received the meticulously prepared gift he sent them.

Thinking they could outmaneuver him was utterly laughable.

Inside the Sihai Base, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.

Just as they thought they had achieved victory, they were ambushed by mutated monsters, resulting in heavy casualties within the base and leaving the entire population in a state of panic.

Even so, seeing several directors reorganizing the defense team to avenge the fallen rekindled a spark of confidence in the survivors' hearts.

They believed that once all the cannibals were wiped out, the remaining people would surely enjoy a better life.

With all preparations complete, the Sihai Base dispatched a 5,000-strong defense force to march south and pursue the cannibals—the absolute limit of the forces the base could spare.

Directors Lan Shaokong, Yu Yuangui, Lin Heming, and Pei Fu were all among the ranks, leaving behind only the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled to guard the base.

To exterminate the cannibals, the Sihai Base was gambling everything!

...

Waiting time was always exceptionally prolonged.

Apart from studying magic, Su Miao spent the remaining days brewing magical potions.

Hampered by material shortages, she only managed to brew two cauldrons of highly toxic hallucinogenic potion and highly toxic growth potion, hoping they would be enough.

Taking advantage of the cannibals' absence, Su Miao cleared out a vegetable plot near the God of Fire Base, planting some large green vegetables accelerated with the highly toxic growth potion. Beside it, she erected a mutated large tree and hung a sign on it reading: "Vegetables are highly toxic. Do not eat."

A day and a night later, when the greens had grown to about 80 centimeters in height, the myna brought word that the cannibals were about to reach the vicinity of the God of Fire Base.

Inspecting the vegetable plot, Su Miao gathered all the dead wild rabbit carcasses scattered around the area and casually tossed them into a temporarily constructed ice hut.

The ice hut sat directly along the path the cannibals would take to reach the vegetable plot; hopefully, some passing cannibals would discover it.

This would also prevent the cannibals from genuinely believing the giant greens were poisoned.

Now, everything was fully prepared.

Su Miao climbed to a small hill suited for observing the entire landscape and gazed into the distance.

Without needing the myna to report, Su Miao spotted the dense throngs of cannibal figures, her body involuntarily trembling with fear.

So many cannibals—it was terrifying~

Mhm?

Suddenly, Su Miao looked toward the God of Fire Base, a puzzled expression crossing her face.

In the snow near the God of Fire Base, several undead figures were crawling out at a moderate pace. Draped in white bedsheets, they stealthily crept toward the direction of the cannibal camp.

"I didn't cast the Undead Revival spell, did I?"