Chapter 31

(PS: Congratulations to me, I am Dong Nanxiang's second book captain ~~~ moved, thank you, I hope you will continue to support this book)

"Exactly what kind of hideous monster is that?" Tang Sanli couldn't help but interject.

Yuan Tengfei sighed and said, "A mutant, an unknown mutant of some kind whose species we don't know. This world is becoming increasingly unfamiliar and terrifying."

The others fell silent.

"An unknown species..." Chu Nan murmured softly.

"Perhaps Professor Chen's theory is correct."

"Gaia's genes have awakened from their slumber, and this world will undergo terrifying mutations, like a series of dominoes. Even more terrifying things may be yet to come."

Yuan Tengfei said, "Don't be so pessimistic. I believe that if we really encounter such a predicament, heaven will also give us a way to solve it."

Chu Nan slowly took a breath, glanced at him, and said, "Adrenaline? The so-called Awakened ones?"

Yuan Tengfei slowly clenched his fists and said, "I don't know, but in any case, our fate must be in our own hands."

His eyes revealed determination.

Chu Nan didn't say anything more. They had good luck afterward and were not harassed by the undead or mutants again. As the sky gradually brightened, this terrifying and bloody night finally passed. Chu Nan, Yuan Tengfei, and Su Yao's physical strength slowly recovered.

Standing up, Yuan Tengfei stretched a bit and began to climb to a high, partially collapsed wall to get a better view and assess the direction and the surrounding situation.

Chu Nan was famished and parched, but he could only endure it. The continuous release of adrenaline last night had severely drained his energy, and he needed a lot of food to replenish it. In his mind, he was thinking about the battle between the hundreds of zombies and the groups of hideous mutants last night and how it had ended.

Both sides must have suffered many casualties. Those were all pineal glands, treasures that could make him stronger.

"Brother, how is it?" Su Yao asked from below.

After standing on the wall for a while, Yuan Tengfei slid down and said, "It's not good. After careful observation, we need to go in that direction to return to Jiangtian City. The direction we ran last night was the opposite, leading to a large mountain, which we clearly can't enter."

Yuan Tengfei explained and pointed. Su Yao frowned slightly. To return to Jiangtian City, they had to turn back and cross the area where the zombies and mutants had fought last night to reach the city.

"However, once we cross this ruins, we will be very close to the city. If we have good luck, we can return to the city soon," Yuan Tengfei added, looking at Su Yao and Chu Nan. "What do you think?"

Crossing the ruins of last night's battle would quickly lead them to the city. Conversely, if they chose another route, they would have to go around a large mountain, which would be a much longer detour, and no one knew when they could return to Jiangtian City.

Su Yao was still frowning, but Chu Nan said, "Since that's the case, let's cross the ruins." He was planning to collect the pineal glands from the zombies and mutants, and crossing the ruins was exactly what he wanted.

Tang Sanli was startled and his face changed. "Go back? There were so many last night..." The experience last night was like a nightmare.

Yuan Tengfei pondered and said, "I also agree with Chu Nan. In last night's battle, most of the zombies and those unknown mutants must have died. We can be careful, and if the situation is wrong, with our current speed after the adrenaline surge, we can escape as long as we're not completely surrounded."

Su Yao nodded, took off her casual hat, let her hair down, and then tied it up again, putting the hat back on. "Alright, I agree."

"Since you agree, let's set off then," Yuan Tengfei said. However, he noticed Chu Nan walking to the other side, smashing the head of the undead killed by Canker Ear, and retrieving something from it. Then he went to the other side to find the corpse of the hideous mutant torn in half by the undead, searching inside it as if looking for something.

"Chu Nan, what are you looking for?" Yuan Tengfei asked curiously.

Tang Sanli knew what Chu Nan was looking for and explained, "Chu Nan is a doctor. He is collecting the pineal glands from these corpses to take back for research."

Yuan Tengfei and Su Yao were both surprised. "Research?"

Just as they said this, Chu Nan indeed found one in the body of the hideous mutant, but it was about half the size of a human or zombie's, and the color was also a reddish-brown.

Chu Nan already had 22 of these withered pineal glands, and now he had two more. The one from the undead was the most special, with a lighter color than the one he had obtained last time, indicating that there was a difference in the levels of these two types of undead.

Ignoring Yuan Tengfei and Su Yao's surprise, Chu Nan put the two withered pineal glands away and said, "Let's go."

Yuan Tengfei looked at him strangely and said, "Chu Nan, you really want to use this for research?"

Chu Nan smiled slightly and said, "What else can I do? I once read a prescription in ancient medical books that used the pineal gland from the human brain, dried and used as the main ingredient, along with ox bile, Tiankui seeds, Chinese plum, and bracken, which had strong anti-cancer effects. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the pineal gland before, but after this earthquake, such an opportunity has appeared. Besides anti-cancer, there are other research values."

After Chu Nan finished speaking, Yuan Tengfei and Su Yao were half-believing and half-doubting. Su Yao said with a smile, "Is that so? Then I'll get a few to take back for research later. They are treasures."

Chu Nan smiled faintly. It was normal for them to be skeptical.

The four of them slowly returned along the original path. Chu Nan found a steel bar about a meter long on the ground and held it in his hand, moving slowly through the ruins, with everyone on high alert.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from the distance.

The four immediately became alert and looked over. If the situation was wrong, they would immediately evacuate.

"It's us..." A deliberately low voice came, and the four breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing it.

Then, two people emerged from behind a cracked wall in the distance. One was a middle-aged man with thick glasses, and the other was a man like a mountain of flesh, Chen Mo and Tao Zhi, both Level 1 Awakened ones. They both looked very disheveled, covered in blood.

"It's you two?" Yuan Tengfei was delighted to see they were still alive.

Su Yao said, "I thought it was just the four of us left."

Chen Mo smiled bitterly, and the mountain of flesh, Tao Zhi, whose body jiggled as he walked, said, "Last night was too dangerous. I almost died, but fortunately, my fat layer was thick enough to provide strong defense, and I managed to survive."

Chu Nan noticed a tightly bandaged wound on his chest, which looked quite severe. If the fat layer hadn't been thick enough, it might have hit a vital spot, and he would have died.

"Who would have thought that being fat has such an advantage. The defense is indeed stronger than that of a thin person," Chu Nan thought.

"Good to see you're still alive. Since you're fine, maybe others are still alive too," Yuan Tengfei said, feeling more spirited. "Let's go together. I just checked, and if we cross this ruins, we can reach Jiangtian City soon. If we're lucky, maybe most of the zombies and those hideous mutants are dead."

Chen Mo said, "Those were unknown species last night. My guess might have come true. The entire world may fall into even more terrifying disasters, not just this area, Jiangtian City, or China."

"Alright, Professor Chen, now is not the time to discuss this. The most important thing is to survive. I believe that heaven will not leave us without a way out."

Chen Mo's lips moved, wanting to mention the extinction of dinosaurs millions of years ago to prove that sometimes heaven can be merciless, but seeing that everyone's minds were not on this, he didn't say it.

The group now consisted of six people, carefully approaching the place where the zombies and hideous mutants had fought last night. Yuan Tengfei climbed to a high spot and observed carefully for a while before signaling the others. They nodded, spread out, and moved cautiously, ensuring safety.

Soon, they returned to the site of last night's battle. What they saw was a hellish scene.

Corpses were everywhere.

There were zombies, humans, and the bodies of those unknown hideous mutants, scattered in all directions, in various states of death. Blood had long since coagulated, and from a distance, there were at least two or three hundred bodies.

There might be survivors, but they had probably left. After observing for a while, they slowly came out.

Seeing the bodies of familiar people and their tragic deaths, everyone sighed.

"It seems the battle between the zombies and mutants last night was very intense," Yuan Tengfei sighed, looking at the ground covered with corpses, unsure which side had the upper hand.

Chu Nan said nothing, picked up a solid piece of concrete, and started smashing the heads of the corpses to retrieve the withered pineal glands.

Tang Sanli also helped.

Chen Mo and Tao Zhi were both shocked.

"What are you doing?" Both were surprised.

Yuan Tengfei looked at Chu Nan and Tang Sanli and said, "Chu Nan said he wants to collect these pineal glands for research and that they can be used as a main ingredient, even to treat cancer."

"Research?" Chen Mo frowned. He had previously studied the pineal glands in the zombies, which were already withered and had no research value. However, seeing Chu Nan and Tang Sanli collecting them so seriously, there must be a reason.