Chapter 602: Arrival
Having previously encountered Lu Yuesheng in an alternate world, Bai Mo's heart remained utterly unmoved by the emergence of an Earth transmigrator on Mars.
“If there truly is a transmigrator, then their starting conditions are far, far worse than hers.”
Transmigrating alone into a primitive tribe that hadn't even developed written language, Qiu Yi's life was evidently far more arduous than Lu Yuesheng’s.
Furthermore, given Mars’s unique environment, the difficulty of developing agriculture and advancing technology was undoubtedly hellish. Thus, even after racking his brains and toiling for over twenty years, most areas on Mars remained pitifully primitive.
In a barren world devoid of coal and oil, without common plants, and with an average temperature of minus fifty degrees Celsius, a lone transmigrator, even with an internet-connected search engine as a cheat, would find it impossible to build a civilization from scratch—it would be like a clever housewife trying to cook without rice.
...
“Those fellows look somewhat like humans...” The ever-cautious Qiu Yi hadn’t advanced to the front lines, merely observing the entire battlefield from a great distance, when he made this shocking discovery.
“Should I try to communicate?” His heart became conflicted once more.
If the other party truly were humans from the space age, even if the Four-Armed Centaurs had abnormal vocal organs, as long as he could write a few words to prove he was a genuine transmigrator, there would always be hope of returning home.
But if they were merely human-like aliens, things would get very awkward.
...
“All the organisms here defy traditional biology... Without Spirit Energy, their structures simply couldn't give rise to life in the conventional sense,” said a scholar among his companions.
He was one of the few in the team who hadn’t landed in prison for murder and plunder.
“Unbelievable, there are actually ‘plants’ composed purely of inorganic matter!”
“Stop spouting so much organic nonsense. Just tell us which of these weeds is useful,” an ill-tempered burly man behind him said impatiently.
If this scholar hadn’t possessed such deep knowledge of plant-based spirit materials and a unique ability, the other criminals, intent on striking it rich, wouldn’t have even considered bringing him along.
“These three,” the scholar casually pointed to three inconspicuous plants.
“All three are excellent substitutes for the main ingredient of Compound Spirit Energy Preparations, capable of boosting their efficacy by at least ten percent.”
In the era of Spirit Energy technology, most mid-to-low-tier so-called elixirs had achieved modern machine mass production, eliminating the need for legendary alchemists to hand-craft them. Compound Spirit Energy Preparations were precisely a mid-grade cultivation aid.
Only a select few high-end products, due to exceptionally rare raw materials and the inability to analyze their core components, still retained the tradition of manual crafting.
Upon hearing this, Bai Mo, who had been contemplating the transmigrator issue, finally directed his attention to his temporary teammates for the first time.
He had originally chosen this exploration team at random, never expecting it to harbor a genuinely skilled senior pharmacist.
...
“Ten thousand Federation Yuan each, in the bag.” The prisoners, having harvested the three plants at top speed, hummed a tune with carefree ease.
Before setting out, they had agreed to an equal split of all profits. Every member of the Sinner Legion also wore a special bracelet; if they attempted to attack another bracelet holder, their bodies would automatically lose all strength, preventing them from turning on each other.
Ten thousand Federation Yuan was already close to a common person’s annual income, and they had been out for less than two hours.
...
“We don’t need to enter the village, do we?”
“Exactly. The entire Mars is hostile; it won’t be easy for just a few of us to break into this village.”
“Besides, what good could possibly be found in such a poor village? Fighting our way in would be a waste of effort.”
“...”
The group arrived at the outskirts of a certain village and began to debate whether they should enter.
“I always had a hunch there was a transmigrator on Mars; otherwise, how could even the architectural styles of the houses be nearly identical? We’ll know the truth as soon as we enter the village.” The team leader had also noticed this peculiarity.
“Why are you going in?!” As the others were still debating whether to enter, they suddenly realized Bai Mo had already walked to the village entrance.
What surprised them even more was that neither the village guards nor the dog-like creatures they held on leashes seemed to notice Bai Mo, who was brazenly entering.
He was like a ghost that didn’t exist in this world, simply ignored by everyone.
“Now that you mention it, that person hasn’t said a single word since the beginning...”
“Wait, is he really our teammate?!”
“Weren’t you the one who brought him?”
“Of course not, I always thought he was your acquaintance!”
“...!”
“Could it be we’ve truly seen a ghost?” This was the conclusion they finally reached after their discussion.
“To be able to influence even our consciousness... if he really is a ghost, he must at least be a legendary Ghost King...” said the team leader, who possessed considerable knowledge of spiritual entities, having explored numerous haunted houses.
Not one of them was weak; clad in power armor, they all possessed Fourth Tier combat power. To silently influence such a group, one would need to be at least a Fifth Tier Ghost King.
Bai Mo paid no heed to the suspicions of the people behind him, for he had discovered something far more interesting—the ‘people’ in the village were speaking a non-standard Huaxia dialect!
“He must have brought the Huaxia language and writing to Mars back then, and various variations formed during its dissemination. If the Federation could establish contact with this person, the difficulty of fully taking over Mars would be significantly reduced.”
Leaving his teammates behind, Bai Mo, invisible through a mind-blocking spell, scanned the village once before drifting directly toward Qiu Yi, guided by the Sky Net connection.
...
“The Ghost King seems to have left, we...” Bai Mo, departing without taking a single cloud, left the exploration squad looking at each other in dismay.
“Let’s bypass this village. Our objective is spirit materials, not to meet ghosts!” The team leader, who had once faced a true Ghost King, knew very well how terrifying those severely schizophrenic lunatics could be.
Creatures formed from countless wandering souls devouring each other, they could have a different dominant personality every moment. One second they might be greeting you with a smile and a genial expression, but the next their claws would be plunged into your heart—they were utterly unreasonable beings.
“But didn’t he also have a bracelet on his hand?” Someone who hadn't seen a ghost before, unwilling to give up, still wanted to gain something from him.
“Even if that bracelet could truly restrain a Ghost King, our very memories can be influenced. Are you certain the bracelet you saw was real?” Seeing his teammates whose hearts were clouded by the lard of greed, the leader felt a headache coming on.
...
“Your Majesty, Heavenly Outsiders are invading outside the palace!”
P.S.: Daily plug for a book, “The Story of a Cop” – though for some reason I always misread it as “The Story of a Gay Man” ORZ. Anyone who grew up watching Hong Kong films will probably get a kick out of it.
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