Chapter 448: Deification Capsule
“They died of fatigue because they fought too fiercely?”
It was very common for humans to die of fatigue during battle because they could not withstand the overly fierce spirit energy impact to their bodies.
But it was not THAT common. How could everyone die of fatigue?
Also, Meng Chao noticed something strange.
Manager Jiang mentioned that there were only three superhumans in the developing area. The dozens of other pathfinders were all normal people.
However, before the pathfinders had died of fatigue, they had killed hundreds of normal monsters and dozens of Nightmarish Beasts.
Such fighting strength was a little over the top, no?
It has to be known that normal people were completely helpless against Nightmarish Beasts. Once they ran into them, they would usually face one-sided slaughter. That was how Nightmarish Beasts got their t.i.tle!
But around them, on average, two normal people managed to kill one Nightmarish Beast and from three to five normal monsters. Why were they so strong?
Meng Chao did not think that the pathfinders were hiding their strength.
If they had the strength to kill so many monsters before they left Dragon City, they could have just gone to the related departments to get a.s.sessed for the legal permit to develop the area.
So, did they become stronger after coming to the wild?
But that made no sense!
Meng Chao continued searching, and he finally found a blood-stained gap on one side of the developing land.
There were more than one hundred dead bodies piled up there. By the looks of it, this was where the monsters had focused their attacks. Once they tore a gap there, they faced the humans’ wrath and were chased out. Both sides were engaged in a fierce battle, and countless living creatures had died.
Meng Chao stepped on the blood puddles and examined each human’s corpse.
He found that they suffered from different degrees of dehydration, and some of the corpses were still really hot. Their organs even showed slight signs of carbonization.
It was as if they had ignited, and their blood as well as all liquid in them evaporated, which was why they died of dehydration and fatigue.
At that moment, a new corpse captured Meng Chao’s attention.
That human had also died of dehydration. He looked like a withered black log.
But his right arm was deformed and swelled up. There were sharp scales that stood straight on his arm, as if there were dozens of daggers stuck in his skin. No matter how one looked, it did not seem to be a human arm.
“What’s going on here?”
Meng Chao knew that once superhumans entered Spirit Transformation Realm, some of their limbs and organs would change a little due to the stimulation by spirit energy and show signs of crystallization.
The sight before him was similar to atavism. It was not a normal change in a superhuman.
Besides, there should not be that many two-star superhumans in the developing land.
Right then, Meng Chao heard a moan.
His eyebrows shot up, and he rushed toward the sound like an arrow.
Hidden behind a heavy machine gun, he found a pathfinder lying sprawled on the ground.
Even though his limbs had withered and his face was so haggard that he looked like a skeleton with only skin on it, his heart was still beating weakly in his skeletal chest. He was not dead yet!
Meng Chao sighed in relief. He made a gesture and had the Dragon Fang Commandos who rushed over later check on the survivor while injecting medicine and high-calorie nutritional fluid in him.
Then, they found three other near dead pathfinders.
All of them were withered, looked haggard, and could not say a single word.
One of the men’s right arm was burnt to a crisp.
Another person’s entire right arm had a corneous substance. It was as if it had turned into a bone blade, which was huge, sharp, and looked like the G.o.d of Death’s scythe.
When the Dragon Fang Commandos injected high-calorie nutritional fluid into him to stabilize his condition, the bone blade slowly softened and regained the elasticity that flesh should have.
“What happened in the developing land? Why did you end up like this?” Meng Chao asked with a frown.
He searched through his memories but could not find having ever seen something like this in his previous life.
While the survivor’s physiological parameters were rather stable, his mind seemed to have received a huge shock, and he appeared to still be immersed in a terrifying nightmare. He ignored Meng Chao’s question and just kept mumbling something.
“Dei...fication...”
Meng Chao and Manager Jiang looked at each other. They did not understand what the survivor said.
At that moment, the Dragon Fang Commandos found a female survivor deep in a file cabinet within the developing land.
Her hair was a mess, her face pale, and only deep-rooted fear could be seen in her eyes.
Even when she was saved by her human companions, she only knew how to scream. She even started scratching at them. She could not describe the entire process of the battle and the secret behind why the humans burned or turned into monsters at all.
However, she held a metal tube tightly in her hand as if it was a secret weapon that brought her an endless sense of security.
For her safety’s sake, the Dragon Fang Commandos could only inject a tranquilizer into her so that she would sleep deeply.
After they made a headcount, they found a total of seventy-two human corpses.
There were five other survivors, oh, and if they added the superhuman who transformed into an ape, they actually had six survivors.
The survivors were either drained of strength or in a panic, so they could not say anything clearly.
Fortunately, the CCTVs and computer system in the developing land were not spoilt.
Manager Jiang used the female survivor’s cornea and thumbprint to turn on the computers and brought out the surveillance footage from a couple hours ago.
Dozens of surveillance footage from different positions and angles were grouped together. It showed them that the monsters had launched their attack two hours ago.
It was about the same time as when the Tyrant Mammoth led the monster horde to ambush Soaring Dragon Construction’s forward operating base.
By the looks of it, the b.l.o.o.d.y Moon Wolves and Ghost Leopards had gained some cunning during their evolution and knew that they should attack when humans were so wrapped up in trouble that they could not even save themselves, let along provide reinforcements.
The pathfinders in the developing land naturally panicked.
Many of them started pacing up and down like boiling ants, while others struck their chests and moaned about how their luck was so horrible that they were attacked by monsters even though it had just been a while since they set up camp in the wild.
Of course, once they realized that panicking and moaning would not solve their problems, these fierce and tough Dragon Citizens summoned their courage and armed themselves to the teeth.
Unfortunately, all the b.l.o.o.d.y Moon Wolves and Ghost Leopards that were chased into the jungle by the Tyrant Mammoth had gathered together and formed a monster invasion.
The automatized multi-turreted cannons and electrical nets around the perimeter of the developing land were soon torn to shreds by the monster claws or shattered by their charges.
Heavy banging sounds came from the metal sh.e.l.l of the developing land. The gates trembled, and it looked like they might be flung open by the monsters at any moment.
All the people in the developing land were stark pale, and it looked like their souls had fled from their bodies from fear.
“Sh-Should we use ‘that’?” someone stuttered.
“You’re mad!” another retorted. “It doesn’t have any production license. The side effects might be really strong! If we really take it, even if we don’t die, we’ll end up near dead!”
Bang!
A deafening crash came from outside. Through the CCTV installed on the fence, they could see a b.l.o.o.d.y Moon Wolf King, which was as built as a rhinoceros, charging at the door like a battering ram.
The lights in the developing land started flickering.
Then, for a total of three seconds, all the pathfinders were enveloped in darkness.
Once the emergency lights started glowing red, they immediately made their decision. “Quick! Take the Deification Capsule!”
Then, Meng Chao saw the girl who was discovered in the cabinet walking out of the screen. When she came back, she carefully opened the metal tube and brought out tiny capsules that were crystalline and shone with a strange, green light. They were the size of a grape.
“Normal people should take only one while one-star superhumans should take two. Big Brother Liao, you’ll take three. It’s enough to bite through them and swallow them.”
A young adult with the sides of his head completely shaved and only a tuft of hair at the center helped the girl distribute the capsules.
Everyone aside from the girl swallowed one. As for the three superhumans who had equipped themselves to the point that they looked rather ridiculous, they took more as had been said.
The girl sealed up the remaining capsules, tightened the lid over the metal tube, and was about to swallow her own capsule when the pathfinders who had already bitten through the capsules and swallowed the medicine inside started going through astonishing changes.
“Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!”
“AAARRRGGHHHHH!”
“HRRAGGGHHHHHH!”
They suddenly widened their eyes, and their eyeb.a.l.l.s looked like they were about to pop out of their eye sockets. Dozens of thick blood vessels protruded around them, making their eyes look even more sunken.
All of them started sweating badly. Their muscles twitched, as if they had just completed a five-kilometer dash in a short ten minutes. Their sweat turned into white plums of smoke and surrounded them, which made them look even more mysterious and monstrous.
Their muscles expanded rapidly, causing the parts connecting their fighting suits to break. Red lines of injuries also appeared all over their skin at a rate their regenerative speed could not keep up and heal.
On some of them, sharp bone spikes sprouted out from their limbs and back. They looked like monsters who had spiked armor on their bodies.
Others’ arms turned into bone blades resembling the G.o.d of Death’s scythe or osteoma that reminded of a morningstar.
Yet others gained st.u.r.dy scales or thick fur and became human-shaped monsters.
“Huff... huff... The Deification Capsule is really effective. I feel like my strength has increased at least ten times!”
“A monster invasion? Heh. We’re the real monsters here!”
“Kill them! Kill all the monsters! Rip them to shreds! Don’t leave a single one behind!”
The survivors at that moment were completely different from before. They laughed hideously and roared.
And if the normal people were already this bloodthirsty after they took just one Deification Capsule, the three superhumans were worse.
One of them was surrounded by beautiful flames. He also had two small fireb.a.l.l.s circling him like satellites.
The other person’s skin gave off a black, metallic shine. It was like he had turned into a metal statue.
Big Brother Liao was the superhuman who took three Deification Capsules. He turned into the two-meter tall monster resembling an ape that Meng Chao and the rest had met.
After Big Brother Liao turned into an ape, he grinned and said hoa.r.s.ely, “I feel like... I’m about to reach Heaven Realm!”
Whoosh!
He swung his fist casually, and his arm left afterimages. An explosive sound that resembled sonic booms followed his move, and it scared the girl hugging the metal tube. The Deification Capsule in her hands fell to the floor. Then, with loud clattering sounds, it rolled under a cabinet in a corner.
The girl crawled to the corner and wanted to pick it up when the monsters burst in through the door of the developing land with a bang.
“Kill them!”
The pathfinders, who were now human-shaped beasts, were incredibly excited. They howled and pounced on the enemy.
The two hordes of monsters clashed against each other.