Outer Gods invade, stuff them all into your equipment inventory.

Suddenly Sean stopped in his tracks, his pupils contracting slightly.

"This is……"

There was a corpse on the ground.

Strictly speaking, it was only half a corpse; the upper half of the body, from the waist up, had mostly disappeared.

The fracture surface appears to have been forcibly torn apart by immense pressure and corroded by strong acid.

A layer of fine, dull metallic granules was scattered on the ground and around the remaining lower body.

From the remaining parts, it can be vaguely discerned that this is not a human, but a humanoid creature—a centaur.

The D-rank hero badge that had fallen to the ground beside the corpse proved the other party's identity.

A D-rank centaur hero.

The Gaia Federation is not only inhabited by humans; there are many other intelligent races that also belong to the Gaia Federation.

"According to history books, the Gaia Federation is a hodgepodge."

Their ancestors, or rather, "their" ancestors, came from many different planes that were destroyed for various reasons. After arriving in this world through an unknown "gate," these races ultimately chose to band together for survival in the face of a common threat to their existence.

Initially, they formed numerous loose alliances, which gradually evolved into the Gaia Federation as we know it today.

"No one can say for sure what this so-called door is."

It seems that the descriptions of the form and appearance of "doors" differ in the ancient documents passed down by each race.

However, almost every intelligent race's historical records mention that this world was actually a "playground for the gods" or a "testing ground."

Whether it's the intelligent beings of the Gaia Federation or the monsters that keep appearing in this world, they are all just playthings for the gods to amuse themselves.

"However... this is only a historical record."

After all, no one has ever seen the so-called gods appear.

"Perhaps someone has actually seen it, but no one dares to speak out about it..."

At least Sean had never heard of it.

The eastern region of the Gaia Federation is predominantly inhabited by humans, with very few other intelligent races present.

Humans make up 99% of the total population, while all other races combined make up only 1%.

This is especially true of the Thirteenth Settlement under the jurisdiction of New Chang'an, the 261st megacity in the eastern region of the Gaia Federation, where Sean is currently located.

All non-human intelligent races combined probably don't even number 1.

"I wonder if this centaur hero is from Settlement Thirteen, or from some other settlement..."

Sean casually picked up the other person's hero badge.

He wiped the stains off the badge with his sleeve and carefully put it away.

He planned to hand over the badge to the Hero Association after returning to the settlement.

With this badge, the Hero Association can quickly identify the person and process their death.

In this way, the other party's family members can successfully receive the compensation provided by the association.

The Heroes' Guild has a rule that every hero who dies in battle in the wild will receive a substantial compensation.

This is to alleviate the heroes' worries.

However, the Hero Association is relatively rigid in its procedures for determining death.

Either bring back the other person's body, or retrieve their hero's badge as evidence.

If that's not possible, then it can only be treated as a missing person case.

Missing is not the same as being dead.

During the minimum five-year period of extreme disappearance, the family of a deceased hero will not be able to receive corresponding compensation.

The case of Sean's parents is a perfect example. Although everyone knows that their chances of survival are slim, without solid evidence, they can only be listed as "missing persons" in the association's records.

It wasn't until a year ago that the Hero Association confirmed their deaths.

Sean's parents left him a considerable fortune, and he could have lived comfortably even without this compensation.

However, not all families of heroes are like this, and perhaps the timely distribution of this compensation can save a broken family.

Actually, there are also people selling Hero Badge hacking services on the black market.

It is possible to bypass the backdoor and crack the Hero Badge through certain illegitimate means, and then transfer the remaining Hero Points in the badge to other heroes.

If Sean keeps the badge and manages to find a black market channel to decrypt and transfer it, he might unexpectedly gain a considerable "windfall"—

A D-rank hero can usually accumulate a considerable number of points.

However, he still couldn't do it.

After putting away the Hero's Badge, Sean continued to examine the corpses on the ground.

"All the bones in his body are shattered; he must have been hit head-on by the Steel Slime..."

Since he's a D-rank hero, this centaur hero's base stats shouldn't be too low, yet he was knocked down like this in one go...

"Does this steel slime possess abilities similar to ramming?"

wrong……

This mutated steel slime weighs over ten tons. When a monster of this weight runs, even without using any skills, the kinetic energy it carries is comparable to that of a car traveling at high speed.

Its inherent mass is the most lethal weapon.

"Since they are centaur race, they are most likely heroes who focus on agility..."

"Strength is not his forte, and his physical defense is not particularly outstanding."

"From this perspective, it's understandable that it would be violently crushed by the Steel Slime."

Sean sighed deeply.

A D-rank hero who takes an agile approach can use his superior mobility to maneuver and fight even if he is outmatched, by taking advantage of the open space on the ground.

At least there's no problem with escaping unscathed.

Unfortunately, in the confined space of an underground cave, his agility advantage was completely neutralized by the terrain, forcing him to engage in close-quarters combat with a heavyweight opponent who was the one who best countered him and excelled in strength and defense.

"So... the first thing you need to do is understand yourself..."

Never fight with others in an area you are not good at.

"Luckily, I have an equipment slot available. As long as I prepare in advance, there is no area that I am not good at."

After careful analysis, Sean felt much more at ease.

"Judging from the scene, I can still handle this high-risk mutated steel slime."

After examining the body, Sean began searching for any items and equipment the body was carrying.

"I'm going to take down the mutated Iron Slime in a bit, which will be a way of avenging him."

"In that case, what's wrong with me taking a small fee beforehand?"

Dead people do not need items or equipment.

But he soon realized he had miscalculated—

All the equipment was destroyed.

"It couldn't have been due to an impact; some special force must have sucked all the metal parts out of these devices..."

Does this steel slime have the special ability to absorb metal elements?

Sean frowned slightly.

If that's the case, he'll have to be extra careful in battle.

"No, we have to bring something!"

Otherwise, it would be too much of a loss.

After searching carefully for a long time, Sean finally managed to remove an energy panel from the back of the area information panel that had been almost completely smashed.

"Thank goodness! This energy panel is still intact and usable..."

The area information board used by this centaur warrior is the same model as Sean's.

Since they are the same model, the energy panels can be used interchangeably.

He just happened to be missing a spare energy panel.

This piece is just right.

After doing all this, Sean quickly dug a hole and buried the remaining corpse of the centaur warrior along with his belongings.

A hero should not be left to die in the wilderness.

This is the most basic respect for the deceased.

From beginning to end, he never considered trying to use the other party's corpse to fill his equipment slots as a type of remains equipment.

Even though the attributes provided by this centaur warrior's corpse are certainly much higher than those of the gel slime body remains.

Some bottom lines have nothing to do with the strength of one's power or the amount of one's interests.

This is his conviction as a "human being".