Chapter 904
Chapter 904 - 890: Bird King
1,648 words
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9 min read
A city gone?
When Lu Ping’an learned of the news, he was somewhat dumbfounded.
"Xiachuan City, a third-tier small city, had a population of two hundred and seventy thousand according to the last census, now the survivors are probably around 1,067 people... Uh, it could be even less than a thousand, as a considerable number of people are still in the hospital fighting for their lives, but I’m afraid it’s unlikely they’ll make it over this hurdle."
Lu Ping’an took the hefty brown paper bag; the red "Skull Warrant" seal on it made one feel uncomfortable.
This wasn’t a special gift meant for him, but rather a reward all Changping State explorers received upon their return home.
As soon as Lu Ping’an opened it, a bunch of wanted posters fell to the ground, ranging from rewards of five points to several tens of millions, but even the one worth five points (for a minor offender) was marked with the words "dead or alive."
Obviously, this incident had thoroughly enraged the officials.
Lu Ping’an browsed the briefing... ha, the same old acquaintances.
"Blood Feast...."
The one causing trouble was one of the Church of Life groups Lu Ping’an had encountered before. Their strange Path of "Cannibalism" had left a deep impression on him. That vampire-like high-level Priest was cunning and difficult to deal with, a perfect biological specimen with the qualities of high speed, high attack, and high recovery... until they encountered the replicated Ascension Ceremony and the Avatar of Big Cat.
If we speak of origins, Meow Meow still has two pieces of quality Silver taken from that high-level Priest.
"...Sadly, his death wasn’t tragic enough; those two Taboo items didn’t even turn into ’relics’."
Although not permeated by vengeful spirits, those two items were considered one of Meow Meow’s powerful foundations, enhancing its agility to an extremely useful degree, avoiding any situations where it might have to fight to the death.
"Underlings of the Blood Feast, the Bird Delicacy Sharers’ Culinary Society..."
The name seemed harmless, but if one looked closely at the range of "ingredients" for their "cooking," it was very questionable.
It was this so-called Gourmet Association that turned a city into a Sacrifice and created a "New God" — "The Blood-crow that Overlooks a Myriad of Life Forms."
Lord of the Blood Feast went mad; such blatant betrayal... Originally, because of past "issues," It stood no chance of passing the Proper God’s review.
But with this incident, It faced attack from both inside and out.
At least ten Quasi-Gods desperate for "a piece of the action" acted simultaneously, nearly causing the Lord of the Blood Feast to fall on the spot... It was only confirmed the next day that It was just a scapegoat.
That wasn’t even the worst of it... That "Blood-crow" was a being of the same Path as It; seizing Its distress, it snatched away f small part of Its Authority and also took away at least one-tenth of Its core followers.
"Is It still around?"
"Obviously It made an escape... but this time, the manhunt isn’t limited to Earth."
Lu Ping’an flipped through the files; aside from the one who used to be called "Yao Wenyun" and is now known as "Blood-crow," there were two Rule-level individuals and eleven Decree-level individuals on the execution list.
Times have changed, for better or for worse.
This time, their harvest was probably not just a divine throne.
"Have they all escaped?"
"Not necessarily, but if they are still on Earth, there’s no chance for them to survive..."
The policymakers of the New Era probably didn’t expect that even in the New Era, Quasi-Gods could go so crazy.
"Just my luck, having it happen in Changping..."
"Yeah, no one saw it coming... The governor was recalled to the central government, directly reprimanded at the joint conference all afternoon. Our previous ’infighting’ made the criticism particularly harsh."
The most frustrating part was that this incident happened right in one’s own area.
"These people, are they to be executed?"
"To be executed, no matter which world."
Actually, at this stage, the situation was no longer just a heinous crime.
If not properly handled, if the criminals aren’t punished, there will only be more copycats... In a sense, it’s a slap in the face to the officials, to the Nirvana Plan.
If "punishment of the guilty" cannot be achieved, the central government, the officials, and the authority that tends to support explorers, will all suffer, one might even suspect that there are chaotic forces behind this incident.
Lu Ping’an rubbed his overgrown beard from the long journey, thinking about stopping by the barbershop later while pondering the possibilities ahead... then he gave up.
Why bother with all this speculation? I’m just a Soldier, encounter them and kill, that’s it.
"...The Blood Feast is a bunch of garbage, and the Bird Culinary Society, garbage of the garbage."
At this moment, Big Cat took the initiative to speak up, claiming that while they were a bunch of garbage, they were also a bunch of dangerous waste that must be taken seriously.
Lu Ping’an nodded slightly to show that he was listening... Although he didn’t know why Big Cat had become a lot more proactive, such information was always welcome.
"The Life system is profound and extensive, described as free from all taboos, but ’cannibalism (industry slang for self-consumption)’ is considered taboo by most professionals in the Life profession..."
"Why? Is it too inhumane, and thus met with collective hostility?"
"There are too many life-oriented systems that oppose humanity and society. To be precise, I’ve never seen anyone who strictly follows the rules without crossing any lines and still makes a name for themselves in this domain... In the Life system, it’s always result-oriented, with efficiency taking precedence. As long as the results are good, everything is OK."
This sounded rather inhumane ... or perhaps, was it just that Big Cat’s circle was generally too extreme?
"Then why is it considered a forbidden zone? Is the effect not good?"
"...On the contrary, the effect is too good."
What Big Cat spoke of was probably the darkest part of the entire Life system.
"You are what you eat" might have been a slogan for health products in the past, but in the Life system, it could very well be a reality.
Beings of the same origin and species, compensating for each other’s needs, with an extremely high digestion rate, the improvement they bring is also tremendous...
"...Sophist."
Although he’d lashed out at him countless times, this time, Lu Ping’an couldn’t help but think of him.
With the abilities that man had at barely twenty, he clearly practiced a form of "self-consumption."
"Is the risk the same?"
"Yes, if one consumes too much and cannot digest it all, retaining everything, when the ’storage’ far exceeds everything you have. Then, it becomes hard to say whether you’re the one eating or the one being eaten..."
The self-consumers who push moral boundaries, more than 90% suffer from severe schizophrenia and often carry more than four or five types of mental disorders.
What does being extreme count for? Without a host of quirks like "Thirst for Blood," "Fear the Sun," "Autism," "Self-talk," you wouldn’t be considered part of the Blood Feast.
Big Cat then recounted some common "solutions," one of which was targeted choices, setting a standard, selecting specific content to absorb, and continuously "expelling" waste.
For instance, a soldier would continuously absorb fervent military ideas and warfare, constantly suppressing and expelling unnecessary impurities, accumulating in a targeted manner, eventually becoming a "conceptual" representative.
The "Vampire" that Lu Ping’an had encountered certainly fell into this category.
"Is it helpful?"
"They go mad more slowly, the first thing they expel is usually their scant humanity and personality."
"What about those from the Gourmet Association?"
"They are another type, but essentially, there’s no difference..."
The other type, like what the Sophist attempted, was also a form of "expulsion."
They try to turn victims into "food for the birds," crafting a kind of humanoid puppet creature, turning it into their "clones," then absorb them conveniently, and evolve in this process.
Although it sounds more complicated, in reality, the number of victims is greater than the first kind because they’re quite "wasteful with food."
"How are these bastards not thoroughly eradicated yet...."
"Garbage always lies in a garbage heap, and the Blood Feast is one such garbage heap. Now that the garbage heap has been overturned, all the garbage has come out, naturally stinking up the place..."
This time, Lu Ping’an fully understood.
Some beings... or rather, things that were once human, couldn’t hold back any longer.
The New Era had restricted their range of activities, but just like blood-sucking mosquitoes, they couldn’t survive in the ordinary way.
The result of being suppressed for a long time was that they made a big move all at once, and then ran off with their "food."
Lu Ping’an took a deep breath, ready to pass the document bag around to the entire team. There was nothing much to say, these creatures were a threat to other life forms just by existing in the world, and the rules were simple: kill on sight.
This time, inspections for entry were noticeably stricter, military vehicles and soldiers could be seen on the streets. Clearly, both the officials and the military were enraged.
Any targets associated with the Gourmet Association... No, the Blood Feast were met with a kill-first-ask-questions-later approach.
However, the real trouble didn’t lie with these "mortals"....
"Blood-crow... that Newborn Deity, must die. I didn’t expect to witness a Divine War so soon."
— End of Chapter 904 —