Chapter 407: Chapter 406 Evolution
Obviously, it was all just a plot.
Everyone was on the brink of exhaustion, their physical strength and stamina had significantly diminished. For Xu Lingjun and the others, this situation was nothing unusual; holding on for a few more days was no big deal.
But for Zhao Yang, it was a considerable pressure.
A few experienced veterans exchanged glances and set their strategy... using Zhao Yang’s fatigue to lure everyone to reveal themselves.
The enemy’s objective was clear: first, they took away the warship, then they removed the engineering vehicle, evidently not wanting them to escape...
Or rather, trapping them completely in this space.
If so, then give them a chance...
Zhao Yang was just an ordinary person; if he didn’t sleep it was fine, but once he fell asleep for even a short time, all the fatigue and drowsiness would hit him, and he would definitely be unable to hold on by then.
And once everyone was asleep... the enemy would certainly make their move.
In fact.
Zhao Yang indeed couldn’t hold it, and the enemy predictably fell for it.
Xu Lingjun was not inside the mecha at the moment, leaving it empty. The enemy surely would covet the mecha, but he made the same mistake as Zhou Qianmo; the spatial limit of the mecha could accommodate not just one man and two women, but one man and three women...
Xiaoya had been inside all along.
At this moment, Xiaoya operated the mecha, tightly grasping the thief attempting to sneak into the cockpit. With a crisp female voice carrying a slight echo, she said, "Master, Xiaoya has perfectly completed your task."
"Well done!"
Xu Lingjun’s gaze fell on the person clutched tightly in his palm, unable to move...
Or rather... a stone?
The figure appeared humanoid, but was covered with cracks all over, like a real stone, struggling desperately to break free from the palm of the mecha. However, with strength strong enough that even Zhou Qianmo couldn’t escape, how could he possibly succeed?
He could only leave behind a pile of crushed debris falling down.
"Stone man?"
Han Yun City exclaimed in shock, "Has the stone become sentient?"
"It’s the Shilin Race! One of the mysterious races of the heavens we fought back in the day."
Liu Dong clearly recognized them and exclaimed, "But the Shilin Race should have been completely exterminated by us humans, wiped out with not a trace left."
"Exterminated?"
"That’s correct, the Shilin Race was once the most troublesome and feared race among the mysterious races of the heavens because, although they were human, they had a peculiar Shilinite growing all over their bodies. This scale covered their entire bodies, including internal organs, making them nearly like stones..."
"Stones?!"
Han Yun City looked at the surrounding stones, hastily assuming a defensive stance, and scanned the area.
And Xu Lingjun was equally astonished, thinking to himself that there was nothing but stones on Xuyun Star. But ever since Liu Dong landed on this place, he sensed an endless danger. Could it be just like he imagined Father Wang directly landing in a pile of Void Gold before?
Did he have the same fortune?
Only instead of landing in a pile of Void Gold, he landed among a pile of mysterious races of the heavens.
Those stones were nothing but hidden mysterious races of the heavens, and they had the ability to escape at any time. So these stones remained dormant until they took away their warship and vehicles, and only then began to reveal themselves.
How cautious they were.
And indeed, at this moment, after being called out, the surrounding walls began to move.
Countless stone fragments fell to the ground. Those walls weren’t walls at all, but individuals stacked there, jagged stones without heartbeats or body temperatures. No one could detect that these stones were actually not stones, but lives.
Zhao Yang screamed in surprise, hurriedly jumping up, but all the surrounding walls were moving... he didn’t know where to hide, eventually avoiding to the middle.
One by one, the stone men slowly emerged from the walls.
There were countless, perhaps thousands rising up?
These beings were roughly humanoid, with facial features, but cracked with stones all over them. Their entire bodies were filled with Shilin, their eyes and nose were distinguishable, but only as several holes, looking both disgusting and terrifying.
Even Xu Lingjun couldn’t help but be shocked that they had been staying here for ten whole hours, and they never suspected they had always been under the watchful eyes of these Shilin Race, without the slightest awareness, nor even Xiaoya could detect it.
"I didn’t expect it before either, because the Shilin Race had already been completely wiped out by us."
Liu Dong cautiously looked around but found no space for evasion, and exclaimed, "Back then, the Polar Star Battlefield paid a huge price to wipe out the Shilin Race. The Three Great Empires joined forces, sending a batch of suicide squads to infiltrate Shilin Star, burying powerful nuclear bombs deep in its core, which were then detonated... Outside, accompanied by the powerful artillery of nearly ten Constant Star level warships, and a web formed by hundreds of Monarch level warships, ensuring no survivors. I didn’t expect even after such measures, remnants of the Shilin Race would escape!"
Han Yun City slowly condensed a blood-colored long spear in his hand, and asked, "Deploying ten Constant Star class Battleships at once? That should be our most powerful warships. Are the Shilin Race that dangerous?"
"Extremely dangerous. The Shilin Race is said to not reproduce sexually but rather through bacterial infection. Their whole species carries a contagious disease called Shilin Disease, which passes down through their genes and blood, making them frenzied and bloodthirsty..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yang’s eyes lit up, and despite his fear, his innate curiosity as a researcher made him ask the critical question, "You’re saying, they are actually humans, just diseased?"
"When a whole population is afflicted, it’s not a disease, but evolution."
A low voice said, "It’s surprising that someone still remembers us. So, you’re also a veteran of the Polar Star Battlefield."
Amid the stone men, a figure slowly walked out...
This person was extremely tall, at least two and a half meters, covered entirely in stone cracks, looking like a tattered statue weathered by the elements.
Even with the thick Shilin, it couldn’t obscure the fierce light in his eyes.
Looking like a monster ready to devour anyone.
"Be careful!"
Liu Dong warned, "Don’t come into contact with them. If you have any contact, you risk infection with the same Shilin Disease, and then... as the Shilins cover our bodies and internal organs, we’ll turn into them, growing Shilin, and its toxin will numb our nervous system, leaving us unable to control ourselves until we’re completely assimilated by them."
No contact?!
Everyone’s faces changed drastically simultaneously.
And in Xu Lingjun’s mind, a certain creature emerged instantaneously.
Zombies...
But this Shilin Race is evidently scarier. A zombie needs to bite and injure to infect others, but this Shilin Race doesn’t even require injury. Just physical contact with a living being could transmit the disease to them!
At this moment, they were completely surrounded by these untouchable monsters.
"This is merely the way we propagate our species. The mysterious races of the heavens have all sorts of eccentric propagation methods; why, then, are we Shilin Race so despised, to the point that when you humans suddenly attacked us, those cursed people just watched... even condoned..."
The Giant Stone Man said coolly, "So, when we saw your arrival, our first reaction was panic, but the second reaction was elation... Do you know how we suppressed our elation and the urge to act, first driving away your warship and engineering vehicle? Because it was so rare to see old friends from back in the day, I really feared you might escape."
He shook his head coldly, spilling stone debris all over.
He said, "A specially made 23rd generation Watchtower class battleship, still part of the third production batch, with three times the defensive resistance of normal Watchtower class ships. The fact that you can use such level battleship suggests you are no ordinary people. Are you nobles from the Imperial Capital, or young prodigies from the Martial Tao circle? Whatever you are, before long, all the information you know will become ours."
Their faces turned serious.
Evidently not expecting these beings, dead for over a decade, to reappear on Xuyun Star!