Chapter 1357: The Situation on the Earth’s Surface
At that time, all kinds of underground creatures were devouring each other in the areas where they had been gathering.
The level-nine creature in the underground realm wasn’t the only one that had a great appet.i.te. The underground creatures on the earth’s surface had a huge appet.i.te for food and energy as well.
Currently, they had been fighting each other crazily. They were killing and eating each other, but weirdly, they didn’t attack the ones that were feeding. They didn’t attack their own kind either.
Each battlefield was guarded by several powerful creatures at level seven or eight. They each guarded one side, quietly watching the chaotic battle among the lower-leveled underground creatures. Some of those creatures were of their own kind, but they had only been observing quietly.
The lower-leveled creatures fought each other as hard as they could. After killing their opponents, they ate up the bodies right on spot and then immediately started searching for the next opponent to start a new round of battle. They had no superpowers and fought with physical strength, but their bodies were all full of energy. They had nuclei in their brains too. After killing their opponents, they would first dig out the nuclei and swallow them, and then start to feed on the bodies.
All those underground creatures had been doing the same thing—killing their opponents, eating them, and looking for a new one.
That was a ma.s.sive dog-eat-dog scene.
About a mile away, a group of people had been observing the battlefield through telescopes. They were confused to find those creatures killing and eating each other.
“What’s going on? Are they killing and eating each other?” Qian Xiaoai asked while observing those creatures through the telescope.
Li Yue Shan from Sea City Base was standing by his side, holding a telescope as well. He thought for a moment and then said, “I think they’re upgrading. Look at the ones who managed to eat their opponents. Their vibes have been growing rapidly! No wonder! These underground creatures have eaten a lot of creatures from the earth’s surface, including humans, mutated plants, and animals, but none of them has upgraded. So, it turns out that they need to eat their own kind to upgrade, right?”
Qian Xiaoai put down his telescope and turned to him, “Really? Eh? Have you guys been paying attention to that?”
Li Yue Shan nodded and said, “Yes, we’ve been following some of them and observing them for a long time. They’ve been feeding all the time, but none of them has upgraded so far.”
Qian Xiaoai raised a hand to rub his bald head as he thought for a moment and said, “If you’re right, they probably gathered together to upgrade. They absorb the energy that belongs to the others of their kind to bring themselves to higher levels… That way of upgrading is so…”
He didn’t finish his words.
“Cruel? A little, indeed. But, maybe that’s the only way. After all, their existence does not fit the law of nature,” Li Yue Shan responded.
Other people were standing near them as well. Qian Xiaoai and Li Yue Shan, who represented All Being Base and Sea City Base, weren’t the only ones who came out to observe those underground creatures’ abnormal behaviors this time. The people from some hunters’ groups were there as well.
The team from Three Months Hunters’ Group was led by Luo Yuanjun. He was a man with strong curiosity, so he had been in charge of the intelligence work.
His group was now in close partners.h.i.+p with All Beings Base, so Luo Yuanjun didn’t mind acting together with All Beings Base people. He even teamed up with them. At that moment, he was standing beside Qian Xiaoai and observing the battlefield. Comprehension dawned on his face as he heard Li Yue Shan’s words.
He still had other questions, though. Why were those higher leveled creatures guarding the battlefield? What did they want?
A huge-scale gathering of underground creatures was happening in that area; at least a hundred thousand underground creatures had gathered there. The higher-leveled ones picked fights against the ones at their own levels in order to upgrade. Fighting the lower-leveled ones would be a waste of time, because the lower-leveled ones couldn’t provide them with enough energy. However, it required a great effort to kill an opponent at their own level.
Finally, a winner emerged from the first batch of level-six creatures. The creature covered in wounds stood before a dead level-six one and reared up its head. It was at the top of level-six, about to enter level-seven.
“Roar…” It bit its opponent to death and first opened its b.l.o.o.d.y mouth to utter a resonant roar. After that, it lowered its head and started to feed on its dead opponent.
Its appet.i.te was as great as that of all the other underground creatures. It ate fast, gulp by gulp. The other underground creatures brushed past it but didn’t attack it.
The level-six creature quickly ate up its dead opponent, even chewing and swallowing the bones. After that, it abruptly bent its limbs, lowered its body, and dropped its head. Then, it tightened its neck and gave a deep growl.
“Roar!”
“Look, I think that one is starting to upgrade.” Luo Yuanjun was the first to discover it and said to the others without thinking. He looked carefully and found that no one among the underground creatures that had been fighting the battle was above level-six. The level-seven ones were all standing by the edge of the battlefield, quietly looking at the lower-leveled ones.
“Where?” Luo Yuanjun’s words aroused other people’s curiosity.
“The west side,” said Luo Yuanjun.
The others turned their eyes to search through the battlefield and soon spotted that weirdly-behaving level-six underground creature. It had its body lowered, teeth bared, and growling deeply. After spending a short while roaring, it started to shake more and more intensely.
Next, waves of energy burst out of its body and spread in all directions, forcing away all the other underground creatures near it.
After being forced to a distance away from it, those creatures started fighting each other again.
The level-six creature’s condition soon attracted the attention of the higher-leveled ones, who were standing by the edge of the battlefield and watching.