Chapter 555 - 259: Searching for Qin Hu, Markers, Five-Clawed Footprint

Chapter 555: Chapter 259: Searching for Qin Hu, Markers, Five-Clawed Footprint

"Four days is too long. Even with his immense Willpower, Qin Hu couldn’t have held out against the corrosion of the Slaughter Realm."

"By now, he’s either been mutated into a human-zerg hybrid by the Slaughter Realm or he’s already dead and respawned somewhere else."

"Even if we find the trail he left, the chances of finding Qin Hu himself are incredibly slim..."

However, before Lin Feng could finish, a nearby Genetic Warrior suddenly cried out in alarm:

"Everyone, over here! I found something!"

The speaker was the same team member, both bold and meticulous, who had found the first saw blade.

When the others drew near to look, they saw he had followed the direction the tip of the triangular saw blade was pointing and discovered another one.

"The Federation’s Tiger-toothed Chainsaw Sword has a total of twenty-four blades on the chain," another warrior from Qin Hu’s unit explained, holding up his own. "We also typically carry twenty replacement blades in our gear packs, just in case."

Lin Feng and Ling Yi exchanged a look, deciding to keep the grim conclusion from their earlier conversation to themselves for now.

After all, they had come this far. It was better to take things one step at a time and see if these trail markers could provide more clues, rather than demoralizing the group with their theory.

If they actually managed to find Qin Hu, there would be no need to hurt everyone’s morale unnecessarily.

And so, the party continued on, following the direction indicated by the tips of the blades, and soon arrived at the base of a massive boulder.

The boulder was coated in a thick layer of volcanic ash.

It showed no signs of having been disturbed.

But upon closer inspection, the team soon discovered that at the base of the boulder, which was stained blood-red by the Slaughter Realm...

...a narrow, half-meter-wide opening was hidden, sealed with a slab of Obsidian.

After they moved the slab aside, they saw clear marks of excavation around the entrance to the pit.

"Qin Hu must have rested here," Lin Feng couldn’t help but say as he thought of Qin Hu struggling alone for days. "He was by himself, so he couldn’t rest and keep watch at the same time. He would have needed to find a concealed shelter."

As he stepped closer, a faint, bloody odor wafted out from the opening. The others near him caught the unusual scent as well, their brows furrowing in concern.

This was because the smell wasn’t like the sulfur-tinged odor of blood that permeated the rest of this place.

It was the distinct smell of human blood.

Overcome with anxiety, one of Qin Hu’s men volunteered and squeezed into the pit. He eventually climbed back out, carrying several dozen irregular fragments of Zerg Armor.

Lin Feng recognized it at a glance. ’This must be the Zerg Outer Armor that grows on a Genetic Warrior’s body during the Assimilation Form.’

Evidently, while he still had his sanity, a terrified Qin Hu had torn these pieces of Zerg Armor from his own skin—flesh and all—just as Shen Jie and Zhang Liying had once done. It was a desperate attempt to stop the spread of the mutation.

Now, as they looked at the dried blood and bits of flesh still clinging to the back of the armor fragments, the group’s anxiety deepened.

"Let’s go. We need to check the surrounding area. If this was his hideout, Qin Hu should still be active somewhere nearby."

After finding what seemed to be Qin Hu’s camp, Lin Feng took a deep breath, stood, and scanned the surroundings.

He led the team in a systematic search, using the boulder and the pit as the central point.

It wasn’t long before they made a new discovery.

The Vice Commander of the Battle Group—the same one who had earlier remarked on how eerily realistic the Land of the End was—spotted some strange terrain and immediately called everyone over.

Once everyone had gathered, he pointed to an area of disturbed, thick volcanic ash and exposed, shattered rock fragments. His voice was grim as he spoke:

"There was a fight here. And General Qin was most likely involved."

"Look. Several of these Red Crystals... the way they’re shattered is completely different from the ones that have broken off naturally. These were destroyed by heavy blows during an intense fight."

"And look at this..."

As he spoke, he crouched down and brushed away a layer of ash that had settled on the ground.

In the next moment, a bizarre and chilling image was revealed, causing everyone to hold their breath and their eyes to widen in shock.

There, on the Obsidian surface beneath the ash...

...was a massive claw print, a full half-meter wide!

Judging by the deeply sunken and fractured Obsidian, the massive print was made by something with five long claws of varying lengths and thicknesses, much like a human hand...

And this was clearly not a track left by the Spine Zerg Race.

Everyone present was stunned into silence. Finally, Lin Feng, his face a mask of disbelief and confusion, turned to Ling Yi.

"This is..."