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Translator: Silavin
In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
The blizzard showed no signs of stopping.
During these two days, Lu Fan’s 13th Exploration Squad had basically finished resting and were ready to depart at any time to continue their exploration Mission.
Lu Fan went to find the blacksmith Old Zhu to retrieve his Never-Melting Ice.
Indeed, although Old Zhu looked scruffy, his craftsmanship was excellent.
A piece of Never-Melting Ice had been carefully carved by him, instantly transforming it into a crystal-clear three-petaled flower. It was exquisitely beautiful.Old Zhu even used some equipment crafting materials to make a thin platinum necklace and strung it up.
Although this necklace had no Attributes, its appearance alone justified wearing it. It could easily sell for over 100,000 Dragon Coins.
Lu Fan was very satisfied with this and specially gave Old Zhu a bottle of good wine he had smuggled out of Tu Jing’s study.
Lu Fan carefully stored away this necklace prepared as a gift for Senior Sister, and then went to meet up with Lui Fei and the others.
At this time, Lui Fei and the others had also prepared to head back into the depths of the Extremely Far North Ice Plains, each carrying many supplies, conservatively estimating they could stay in the Wilderness for at least fifteen days.
After the four gathered, Lui Fei crushed a Transfer Stones, and everyone entered the Transport Array in turn, being teleported to the outpost they had previously set up at ‘967’.
Lu Fan was the last to enter the Transport Array. After a brief feeling of being pulled, as soon as Lu Fan set foot in the Wilderness, what he perceived immediately made him frown.
Without even needing to look up, Lu Fan could sense that they were surrounded by countless Monsters.
As the outpost collapsed, except for Lu Fan, Lui Fei, Lu Changkong, and Shen Cai all trembled, looking at their surroundings in disbelief.
All around them were various kinds of Monsters, their roars rising and falling.
It was clear that all the Monsters within a hundred kilometres had gathered here, specifically waiting for Lu Fan and the others to return.
The number of Monsters was conservatively estimated to be four to five thousand. Among them were several dozen that were obviously much larger than their companions nearby, at least Mini Boss Level Monsters with High Attributes and Combat Power.
This was just the Monsters on the ground. Besides them, the sky was not as peaceful as it appeared on the surface.
In the wind and snow, countless Snow Women danced in the wind. Lui Fei and the others couldn’t see these concealed Monsters, but Lu Fan could clearly sense their presence.
Originally, the number of Snow Women was already quite shocking in the blizzard. But now, with all the Monsters gathered here, the number of Snow Women was even more terrifying.
As far as the eye could see, in the entire sky, it was full of dancing Snow Women.
With so many Snow Women swarming in, even a Monster as big as a mountain would probably have its blood instantly drained.
The total number of Monsters added together was almost equal to the total number Lu Fan and the others had killed in the past few days.
Lui Fei and the others all felt their scalps tingle, unable to imagine that upon returning to the Wilderness, this was the sight awaiting them.
“How is this possible!? The location where we placed our outpost was kept secret and was well hidden. How are there so many Monsters around when we return!?” Shen Cai’s face was extremely pale.
The secret outpost was made by her. Before making it, she had carefully observed that this place was secluded with no traces of Monsters setting foot here. It should have been very safe.
Lu Changkong’s face also looked particularly dark. “Did we insert our outpost directly into a Monster’s lair? We are in for it now…”
Lu Fan looked around and narrowed his eyes, saying, “This isn’t a Monster’s lair. So many Monsters gathering here isn’t a coincidence. Something’s not quite right here. All these Monsters have been sent here, waiting for us to come back!”
Hearing Lu Fan say this, Lui Fei also noticed the problem. “Lu Fan is right. So many Monsters are gathered here, surrounding our secret outpost, but not destroying it. They really do seem to be waiting for us to come back. Moreover, they’re all Actively Hostile Monsters, yet they’re currently just here glaring at us, without actively attacking. This situation is strange in and of itself.”
Lu Fan thought for a moment and said, “Brother Lui, you’re wrong. They’re not actually Actively Hostile Monsters. They’re Fallen Corpse Puppets.”
Lu Fan’s words immediately enlightened Lui Fei.
“You mean their abnormal behaviour is being controlled by ‘that thing’ in the shadows?” Lu Fan was about to say that ‘that thing’ now had a name, called ‘Ancient God’.
Just at this moment, accompanied by the sound of whistling wind, a figure rose from among the Monster horde, flying towards Lu Fan and the others, then stopping in mid-air. This figure was particularly eye-catching.
Seeing such a figure, Lui Fei and the others were initially delighted, because the mount he was riding was obviously a Griffin. He was very likely to be a member of the Griffin Legion.
But in the next second, they suddenly remembered, [How could there be anyone from the Griffin Legion appearing in this godforsaken place?]
However, whether it was the Griffin Mount under him or the uniform on his body, they were clearly the same as Lui Fei and Lu Changkong’s. This person was obviously from the Griffin Legion.
Lu Fan had good eyesight and narrowed his eyes to check up on this person.
He should indeed have been from the Griffin Legion before, the reason for saying ‘have been’ was because his face was now greenish, with bone-chilling cold emanating from his body.
His appearance was exactly the same as the Fallen Corpse Puppets Lu Fan had seen before. The only difference was that there were no wounds on his body. Clearly, he has not been invaded by the bizarre energy after death to become a Fallen Corpse Puppet.
Lu Fan directly used Appraisal Eye on him, and sure enough, the Appraisal Eye worked.
This person’s name was Li Luo (Fallen Corpse Slave), Level 76.
Unlike Fallen Corpse Puppets, the suffix of his name was Fallen Corpse Slave. He was clearly a grade higher than the Fallen Corpse Puppets. This was made more evident by how he was not immediately pouncing on his enemies like the Fallen Corpse Puppets.
He rode a Griffin and continued to hover in mid-air, leading countless Fallen Corpse Puppets to surround Lu Fan and the others. He was clear with his own intentions.
The appearance of this person also attracted the attention of Lui Fei and the others. Everyone looked at him and, like Lu Fan, used Appraisal Eye.
Upon learning his name, all three were greatly shocked.
Especially Shen Cai, whose expression became extremely strange. She was almost unable to stand.
It was thanks to Lu Fan’s quick reaction, supporting her with a hand, which prevented her from collapsing to the ground.
“Sister Shen, what’s wrong?” Lu Fan quickly asked.
Shen Cai covered her mouth with one hand, tears falling from her eyes. “It’s… it’s Li Luo. It’s Li Luo!!”
Lu Fan asked, puzzled, “You know him?”
“More than just know him.” Lui Fei’s face looked grim, “Li Luo is a Silver Wing officer of the Griffin Legion. He was also Shen Cai’s fiancé. When Shen Cai first entered the Griffin Legion, it was Li Luo who had personally trained her. The two were in love, and a year ago, Li Luo followed the Griffin Legion get station in the Far North. As a core member, he was one of the first to approach ‘that thing’. After ‘that thing’ opened its eyes, Li Luo and the other nine people had disappeared. I didn’t expect him to appear here of all places…”
Lu Changkong elbowed Lui Fei, signalling him to stop talking.
Upon Li Luo again, Shen Cai’s emotions were clearly very unstable. Bringing up old matters would definitely make her even more devastated.
Lu Fan had also heard Tu Jing mention before that when the Griffin Legion first came here and discovered the Ancient God, they sent ten people to conduct an exploration Mission. As a result, the Ancient God opened one eye, and the ten who were affected by it disappeared in this icy snowy land.
He did not expect one of them to be Shen Cai’s fiancé.
Shen Cai’s Combat Power was not exactly strong, and being a woman, she should not have been assigned to explore such a dangerous route. The fact that she could come on this route for the exploration Mission and persist for a year might have been to find Li Luo.
But unexpectedly, when they met again, Li Luo had already become a Fallen Corpse Slave and could no longer be called ‘Human’.
Although she knew that he was no longer Human, Shen Cai hesitated for a moment before still calling out in his direction: “Li Luo! Is that you?! I’m Cai’er! I miss you so much, will you come back with me…”
Her voice echoed in the cold wind, quickly drowned out by the roars of the surrounding Monsters. Nevertheless, he seemed to have heard Shen Cai’s voice and actually responded.
“Cai’er… long time no see…” These simple six words made Shen Cai burst into tears.
However, the expression on Lu Fan’s face became even more solemn. [The intellect possessed by a Fallen Corpse Slave seems to be no weaker than that of a real person.]
Shen Cai found it hard to consider these things at the moment. She was both shocked and delighted, calling out to him: “Li Luo, will you come back with me? Your Mother will be so happy to know that you’re still alive…”
“I won’t go back. Will you stay here with me instead?” Li Luo’s voice came from afar.
“Stay… stay?” Shen Cai was stunned.
Li Luo’s voice continued: “You, all of you, must stay. Stay here with me and serve the awakening God! If you obediently listen, I will bestow upon you his essence, allowing you to have intelligence like me and become his glorious servants. Perhaps, his essence might even make you stronger. As long as you’re willing to do anything for his revival, God will grant you everything! But if you’re unwilling, you’ll be torn apart by these puppets and you’ll become like them, walking corpses, only obeying the orders of us Fallen Corpse Slaves, rather than having your own mind and will to think.”
At this point, his voice became gentle again. “Cai’er, are you willing to stay here with me and serve God?”
Although his voice was gentle, Shen Cai now had a look of disbelief on her face. She was not the kind of foolish woman who would blindly agree to him and sacrifice herself for whatever her loved one said.
She was chosen for the Griffin Legion because she was smart, so she immediately realised that this was not the Li Luo she knew. Maybe Li Luo was not dead, but he was no different from being dead.
Seeing Shen Cai’s expression, Lu Fan knew he did not need to bother persuading her with things like: ‘Wake up and see if this is the Li Luo you know’, ‘Don’t believe his nonsense, he’s been controlled’, ‘Don’t go over there’ and so on.
If Shen Cai were really that mindless, Lu Fan would probably spit out a mouthful of blood.
Although Shen Cai was reluctant and desperate, she still unconsciously clutched the necklace at her chest through her clothes and looked at the others, saying: “What should we do next…”
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