To Chen Jian's four-member team, the existence of Blood Skull was a huge shock, making them realize that in this wasteland, giant monsters were not the only threat.
However, to the Holy Blood, the Mechanical God Sect, and even the ordinary people here who were accustomed to the wasteland, the appearance and subsequent retreat of the Blood Skull's water demons might be as common as a big ship encountering a few waves.
After confirming that the Mechanical Soul of the steam engine did not strike, Captain Big Anchor reasonably did not charge the team extra fees; instead, he simply gave Lei Jie a hard kick before letting him off the ship.
This action made the four members of the Holy Blood Team watch in fear, afraid that the offended God-chosen would, in a fit of rage, uncover the canvas on the back of the ox and slaughter all the Mechanical God Sect crew on the ship.
Without a doubt, these four God-chosen could indeed do such things, and they certainly had the capability.
But fortunately, the God-chosen constantly maintained admirable rationality; they merely smiled, as if it were just a joke.
----Perhaps, they really didn't care.
They overlooked everything here, as if watching a group of ants...
Before disembarking, when passing by Big Anchor, Xu Lie patted his shoulder and said:
"Glad to see you survived."
Big Anchor sneered disdainfully and replied:
"They're just some water demons, I've fought them countless times already..."
I'm not talking about those useless water demons.
Xu Lie didn't voice what was in his heart; he quickly caught up with the team up ahead, heading towards the Han Shui City just a short distance away.
Meanwhile, at the forefront, Chen Jian was intently listening to Xie Liu's explanation.
"...The scale of Han Shui ranks in the top ten in the entire Southern Region, with about 5,000 residents here."
"Most of the residents live on the outskirts of the ruins, between the two lakes."
"There is a vast area of land developed even before the catastrophe, growing crops like rice and sweet potatoes; the locals call that land the 'Rice Wilds'.
"East of the Rice Wilds is a large ruin called the Ecological Cocoon, where a lot of crops also grow."
"Curiously, the crops there all grow within a dozen-meter-high wall, as if someone had penned them in."
"Nobody knows why, but do plants need to be penned?
"Anyway, these two food sources support the 5,000 people here, while the various resources within the ruins give the Mechanical God Sect a foothold."
"However, most of the time, the people here won't enter the ruins."
"It's dangerous in there."
After Xie Liu finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully.
According to the old map they had, the Han Shui settlement was actually a small plain between Pinglang Lake and Lu Lake, originally an agricultural area, so it was only natural for a lot of rice to grow here.
As for the so-called 'Ecological Cocoon', it was actually the site of an ecological agriculture company that originally focused on vertical farming, so 'penning plants inside a house' was to be expected.
The only thing he couldn't understand was what danger lay within the city.
Monsters?
He asked Xie Liu, who hadn't answered when Xu Lie, who caught up, responded first:
"It's a massive monster no less than a Level 3."
"Its activity area is at the core region of the ruins, about 40 kilometers from Han Shui."
"The monster's power is immense, and the Mechanical God Sect has organized several hunting expeditions, all ending in total failure."
"From three years ago, all hunting expeditions ceased, and the people here have lived in peace with the monster."
"However, both the Holy Blood Temple and the Mechanical God Sect believe this is merely the monster's temporary dormancy."
"Once it awakens again, it will inevitably flatten Han Shui."
"Therefore, we're also trying to find a way to completely destroy this monster."
"But clearly, we're still powerless at the moment."
"After all, the threat to Han Shui is not just the monster; Level 4 and Level 5 monsters occasionally emerge in the surrounding areas, and each time they appear, it's a hard battle for us..... "
"Is that why you proactively strike?"
Chen Jian interjected.
"Exactly."
Xu Lie nodded and answered:
"As long as we find traces of monsters, even if they haven't shown hostility towards us, we'll try to get rid of them as soon as possible."
"Because by the time they show hostility, we're likely too late to react..."
"Understood."
When prepared, spotting weaknesses, the four of them have a chance to hunt a Level 4 monster.
When unprepared, facing an onslaught from a Level 5 monster, even hundreds might suffer heavy losses.
Quite reasonable.
Chen Jian didn't continue questioning but was already determined to enter the ruins, specifically the old Han Shui City.
Not just because it was occupied by monsters, but possibly also had abundant resources.
More importantly, he had to check out the coordinates pointing to the Ordnance Officer Academy, to see what exactly was there.....
The group entered Han Shui City and found it much more prosperous than the Xia Ma Town Chen Jian had seen before.
Most of the houses and buildings were newly constructed, featuring a strange style blending traditional and modern aesthetics.
There were even paved roads, albeit made of stone and broken concrete, but enough to signify the settlement's level of civilization.
At a glance, Chen Jian roughly judged that the city's development remained quite distorted.
It mixed features of an agrarian and steam era, yet also mingled with some post-industrial elements.
One word, chaos.
Can you imagine neon lights flashing colorful glows with shabby, wood-carrying vendors appearing in the same town?
Can you imagine guards wielding rusty Type 81 assault rifles, wearing vine-armor made from woven vines?
That's Han Shui.
No power system, no large-scale fossil fuel extraction capability, so isn't wood burning a given?
The vast majority of suitably sized metal products have rusted away, so isn't vine-armor a given for reinforcement?
The city no longer showcased a technological gap, it has become...
A technological whirlpool.
A chaotic whirlpool...
Chen Jian followed the Holy Blood Team all the way to the city center, where they saw a towering metal "statue" in the square.
Xu Lie pointed at the statue and introduced:
"This is the Holy Image of the Mechanical God Sect; legend says it was the battle fortress of their Saint Three-One before the Great Cataclysm."
"No one knows what battles it went through here, but it's clear that it's completely damaged, just a pile of rusting steel now....."
"Nonsense!"
Before Xu Lie could finish, a passing bystander interrupted loudly:
"This is the 99 Holy Image, one of the Saint's most powerful fortresses!"
"Even if it has rusted, its Mechanical Soul is forever immortal!"
The other party was agitated, and Xu Lie intended to retort with his Holy Blood status, but Chen Jian reached out to stop him.
Once the person grumblingly left, Chen Jian then spoke:
"He wasn't wrong."
"This indeed is the 99 Holy Image."
"But, it's the 99A."
"99A? What is that?"
Xu Lie didn't understand, and Chen Jian didn't explain.
He just gazed at the weathered 99A quietly standing on the debris-formed platform, falling into prolonged silence.
The Mechanical God Sect was right.
The steel has decayed.
But the soul born from steel is destined to be reborn on this land!