Absolute Gate

Chapter 48 First Disasters, Then Humanity

After crossing the Jinsha Bridge, they officially entered the territory of Zhigaoling.

You don't need to enter any specific scenic area; there is beauty everywhere.

The car played upbeat music as it traversed the Hengduan Mountains, winding its way through alpine meadows. The view was incredibly expansive, giving one the feeling of walking in the sky.

They traversed towering mountains and deep valleys, and crossed the Dongda Mountain Pass at an altitude of 5,000 meters.

Finally, after navigating a series of winding mountain roads, the altitude gradually decreases, revealing a vast grassland.

The grassland is like a huge, fluffy green carpet that stretches all the way to the horizon, filling every inch of the view.

Majestic snow-capped mountains, winding rivers, scattered villages, and leisurely cattle and sheep create a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

"It was worth it, it was worth it..."

Wu was completely absorbed in the moment until night fell, at which point Luo Yi parked the car on the herder's pasture.

"I'm exhausted from traversing the Dongda Mountain Pass. The terrain ahead is even more unpredictable. Let's rest for the night." Luo Yi looked dejected and yawned.

Seeing him like this, the others naturally didn't rush on their way.

Xia Heng paid the herders a sum of money, allowing them to camp anywhere on the vast grassland and set up their tents.

The bus was well-stocked with food, including meat, eggs, dairy products, and plenty of fruit, all of which had been prepared in the several counties we had passed through.

"I feel like I have a huge appetite, I'm never full..."

Wu Zhong was very hungry, and the more he ate, the hungrier he became. His stomach felt like a furnace, and once it started to churn violently, he could eat more than ten kilograms of meat without stopping.

Xia Heng and Yang Chunsha also had large appetites, but neither of them had such an abnormal appetite as him.

"It's okay, eat more."

"With twenty times the physical fitness, your appetite is also twenty times that of an average person."

"It's okay to go a few days without eating, but once you start eating, you have to eat until you're full."

Luo Yi lay on the grass, smoking and looking at the starry sky.

The night sky here is clear and the starlight is so dense that it is beyond imagination. You can see the dazzling Milky Way stretching across the sky with the naked eye.

"Mmm!" Wu Zhong ate a full thirty catties of beef, plus some other food, before he felt better.

"That feels good... Master Luo, why aren't you eating?"

All three of them had eaten and drunk their fill, but Luo Yi didn't eat or drink anything. He just kept smoking, his eyes glazed over.

Luo Yi shook his head slightly and yawned: "I'm not hungry, I don't want to eat. I've been driving for too long, I just want to lie down."

"Oh..." Wu Zhong didn't say anything.

With their physical condition, going hungry for a few days won't hurt them at all.

Including Yang Chunsha, they haven't eaten a proper meal in the past two days. They've been in the car the whole time, only eating snacks.

"Then you should get some rest."

Seeing that Luo Yi was particularly tired and exhausted, Wu Zhong did not disturb him. He walked to the other side and saw Xia Heng playing on his phone. He took out the seeds in his pocket and asked him about them.

"Brother Xia, do you think my seeds are any good?"

Xia Heng looked up: "What kind of seed?"

Wu Zhong asked in surprise, "Don't you recognize it? This is what the vegetable man left behind after he died."

Xia Heng raised an eyebrow: "Oh, the vegetable seed looks just like a regular cabbage seed."

"This thing only costs 0.2 Bitcoin on the platform, and two will be generated when the vegetable man dies, so theoretically you can grow more and more."

"Of course, if you just plant them in the usual way, you will only grow ordinary vegetables."

Wu finally understood what he meant: "What conditions are needed for people to grow vegetables?"

Xia Heng glanced at him and said quietly, "It requires the body of a living person to plant it."

Wu Zhong suddenly realized: "A living body? Then... what happens after that?"

The wind on the grassland ruffled Xia Heng's hair, and he said in a cool tone, "The seed will take root in the human body and continue to develop."

"The first day is fine, but from the second day when it starts to sprout, the person will feel extremely uncomfortable, with an intense craving for sunshine and a lot of water. Too cold or too hot is not good."

“Up to this point, there is still hope for the person, but starting from the third day, the person will be covered with vegetable sprouts. These sprouts are indestructible. Although they can be destroyed by the interaction of vegetables, their growth penetrates all the blood vessels inside and outside the body, along with every piece of internal organs and flesh, making them impossible to separate.”

"After that, how long he can live depends on how strong his vitality is. Most people would die in half a day."

"With your constitution and healing abilities, you might be able to last until the seventh day, but you'll suffer greatly, and in any case, you'll die on the seventh day!"

“The vitality of all cells is forcibly drained, and a vegetable person will emerge from the withered shell, treating the grower as a mother. As for physical condition, it depends on the recipient.”

Wu was horrified; the vegetable figures in the refrigerated truck were actually grown using living people.

The thought of a living person being drained of their life force step by step in despair, eventually becoming the waste of a vegetable person, suffering torment and dying in despair, made Wu Zhong unable to look at this thing the same way again.

Then, remembering something else, he quickly found a small bottle, put the two seeds in it, and tightened the cap.

"I can't believe I've been carrying this with me for so many days..."

"If I get injured in battle and accidentally fall into my flesh, wouldn't that be the end of me?"

As Wu Zhong spoke, he put the bottle back into a small cloth bag so that even if the bottle broke, the seeds would still be inside the bag.

Xia Heng watched his actions calmly and said, "There's no need to be so afraid. Once it's inside your body, it'll be fine after you take it out for the first two days."

Wu Zhong said in a deep voice, "That Lion Grass Mercenary Group, any one of them can pull out several vegetable people."

"Moreover, judging from the fact that the vegetable grower's strength is the same as that of an ordinary person, it must have been grown using ordinary people's methods..."

Xia Heng said softly, "You've misunderstood the Lion Grass Mercenary Group. Although they aren't good people, they wouldn't easily harm ordinary people, much less dare to!"

"These are rules jointly advocated by five major foreign powers and several powerful organizations."

"Remember, once we enter the circle of disaster-related events, we are no longer protected by law. Our lives and deaths are determined by fate and our own abilities."

"You killed someone from the Disaster Realm. The person seeking revenge might be their relative, brother, or someone with some other background."

"But if you kill ordinary people, the situation is different."

"This is a provocation against the five great powers, as well as ancient guardian organizations such as the Blue and White Society and the Sisterhood. They are facing a powerful group of 'order-makers'."

Wu finally understood: "The Order-Makers... I see."

He thought about it and realized that there must still be order in this world.

The world of supernatural beings is so powerful, with so many strong individuals. Without a strong order to suppress them, how could ordinary society still be as peaceful as it is now?

How could his life of the past twenty-odd years have been so peaceful? He probably was killed by someone long ago.

The person who killed other victims of the apocalypse may have had connections.

But the person who killed ordinary people actually had a much bigger background!
"Then what's with this vegetable person? His manners are just like ordinary people," Wu Zhong asked.

Xia Heng rolled his eyes: "Who told you that those who are superhuman must have strong physical abilities?"

“There are many physically weak mercenaries in this world, no different from ordinary people. For example, Yang Chunsha, before she became a member of the Mad Blood Clan, was not as physically strong as you.”

Wu scratched his head, thinking to himself that it made sense.

At this moment, Yang Chunsha came over and asked, "What's the story behind the disaster that caused the destruction of a country?"

"I saw many horrific cases on the forum."

Xia Heng grinned and said, "No... you only look at the horrific cases, but don't you see how horribly they died?"

"You bought a copy of 'The World's Most Horrible Crimes,' it's full of horrific cases too. Does that mean everyone is like that?" "The things posted on the forum are meant to warn you newbies. So you only see how brutal they are, but you don't see that they died in the end?"

"Except for a very few individuals, most of those self-proclaimed invincible fools who acted with impunity are already old and their graves are overgrown with weeds."

"In the entire realm of calamities, who dares to claim invincibility? Who dares to say they are undefeated?"

Even the most recognized strongest individuals are actually on guard day and night, cautious and careful, worried about being ambushed and killed, and probably can't get a good night's sleep.

Wu Zhong and Yang Chunsha nodded in agreement: "A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be felled by the wind."

The greater one's fame, the more careful one must be; those in high positions must be even more cautious. Being out in the open makes one too easy to be targeted. It's likely that the true big shots in the supernatural world are all hidden.

Thinking of this, Wu Zhong's face turned green: "No... the ghosts and gods have been trying to make me a target of hatred."

"How is my reputation now? Are people still talking about me? Has the buzz died down a bit?"

Xia Heng chuckled: "Still a little bland? You've already made a name for yourself."

"Liongrass vowed to kill you and take revenge... He even put up a kill order for you, with a bounty of 80 million, and it's paid in Bitcoin."

Wu Zhong pointed at himself, one eye bigger than the other, and exclaimed, "Huh? Eighty million? A bounty on me?"

Xia Heng continued, "And there's more, the Ruan family has also issued a reward of 100 million."

"So your current total bounty is 180 million!"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. The bounty had already exceeded 100 million?

Yang Chunsha counted on her fingers: "Bronze is worth a million, silver is worth tens of millions, gold is worth hundreds of millions... Killing you is a gold-level mission."

Luo Yi also complained, "It's too little."

Xia Hengshen agreed: "It is indeed too little. It's only because you and I are two top-tier mercenaries that we're given such a paltry sum."

Luo Yi stared blankly: "They didn't know I was here, so it's because you, Lao Xia, weren't intimidating enough."

“Uh…” Xia Heng blinked, it seemed so, these people looked down on him.

He has indeed completed many difficult missions, but he has never had any particularly famous achievements.

They tend to run away when they encounter strong enemies, giving the impression that they are not good at direct combat.

Speaking of his most impressive feat, it was actually his recent fight with Lu Guangqi where he escaped unscathed. Unfortunately, this reputation was falsely attributed to Wu Zhong through a fabricated story...

"Actually... it's not a small amount..."

"This is a revenge killing order to take Xiao Wu's life. It does not require him to be captured alive. Everything obtained from killing him belongs to the executor."

"So this 180 million should be the bounty for protecting him..."

Xia Heng was trying to find a way to compensate, but his reasoning was sound.

Killing Wu would bring him some benefits; otherwise, why would mercenaries come looking for him?

So the 180 million is practically just a bonus; those who complete the task already receive a very high reward.

"The Ruan family? I've never even met anyone from them, yet they've put a 100 million bounty on my head?" Wu Zhong laughed angrily.

Xia Heng shrugged: "Let me do the math. So far, one member of the Ruan family has fallen, and three members of Tijuana have fallen. Of course, they were all at the Bronze or Silver level."

"The Matsutake team was wiped out. One Gold and three Silver members were killed. Except for Gourd, they were all main combatants. This is all your fault."

Wu Zhong gasped, "No, I... I just... huh?"

He was indeed the one who carried out the Matsutake Squad incident. He ignored Matsutake's illusions and killed Cliff Cypress and Flying Peng. The capture of the remaining two was also related to him.

"But Matsutake was caught by 985, I only killed Cliff Cypress and Flying Eel, those two are only Silver."

Xia Heng shook his head and said, "985 has not released any information."

"From the outside perspective, it was the Matsutake Team that first found you, and then they all lost contact."

"At that time, Hulu escaped to Matsutake's side. Matsutake had just reported the news of the two's deaths to Lion Grass when he was attacked by mental energy, plus the Laughing Grenade and the air shield that suppressed him... He couldn't send out any news."

"By the way, just yesterday, the Day Wanderer took advantage of a landslide to kill several more scattered mercenaries."

Wu Zhong sighed, "Well, another stroke of the pen..."

Then he murmured, "985 should know that this is all a frame-up by ghosts and gods, right?"

Xia Heng said, "Besides the few of us, the people who understand your abilities best are those from 985 universities."

"They should know that you can't control ghosts and spirits, and judging from the way they spread rumors, they also know that ghosts and spirits are deliberately trying to harm you and use you as a tool to kill someone."

"Considering your characteristics and the fact that you were born on the same day as the spirits of Mount Lu, plus what you left behind, it's easy to guess that you are a companion of the cyclone, mutually restraining and killing each other."

"Therefore, 985 is the least willing to kill you; they only want to capture you alive and resolve the Lushan incident."

Wu Zhong took a deep breath: "Is it possible for us to cooperate?"

Xia Heng said, "The various official military units all have a strong desire for control, and the premise of all cooperation is equal dialogue."

Wu Zhong said excitedly, "If I say I want to shut down the cyclone, they will definitely agree."

Xia Heng tilted his head: "And then? Are you willing to be imprisoned indefinitely? You don't expect me to rescue you alone, do you?"

Wu Zhong fell silent.

Xia Heng crossed his arms: "You need to understand what a containment force is. It's a force that specifically contains us catastrophic creatures."

"You are first and foremost a calamity, and only then a person."

"You escaped once, which means they didn't quite understand your abilities. But they won't let you leave a second time, otherwise it would be a containment breach."

"You need to have a powerful force backing you up, not some 'wild disaster', before you can have a proper talk about how to resolve the cyclone and then walk away unscathed."

Wu Zhong pondered for a moment and said, "I see. What level of mercenary group do we need to join to be qualified to sit down and have a proper talk?"

Xia Heng was taken aback, then chuckled: "Mercenary group? Hahaha... Okay, I didn't explain it to you clearly."

"Xiao Wu, don't be fooled by the fact that you've offended the Lion Grass Mercenary Group and the Awakener Family, as if you've offended half the sky. In reality, all the mercenary groups and the Awakener Family are not even ranked in the Cataclysmic Realm."

"So far, all those who have come to you are small fry, and all are individual actions by small groups."

Wu Zhong was taken aback: "Huh? None of the mercenary groups and families are even on the list?"

"What ranks among the top?"

Xia Heng explained it to him, and Wu Zhong quickly understood.

It turns out that the various forces in the Disaster Realm can be divided into three categories.

The first category is official institutions, mainly referring to the containment forces of the five major powers.

The second category is containment organizations, including the Free Mercenary Club, the Multicultural Academy, the Blue and White Society, the Sisterhood, the Illuminati, Gödel Asylum, and certain churches.

These two organizations are the truly powerful entities in the world of supernatural disasters.

The third category doesn't even deserve to be called a containment organization; it belongs to small forces and small circles. Various enlightened families, mercenary groups, and fringe groups fall into this category, often being vassals of other organizations.

Without a doubt, while the Lion Grass Mercenary Group has a considerable reputation, it cannot compare to any true disaster containment organization.

"There is a fundamental difference between the two. Containment organizations, as the name suggests, have the core objective of containing anomalous objects. They both have their own principles and a strict organizational structure."

"As for mercenary groups and enlightened families, compared to them, they are just people who make a living, and their core goals are survival and fame."

"To put it bluntly, they belong to the category of 'those to be detained'."

……

　P.S.: Sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)