Chapter 156 - 135: Elk Village’s Foundation

Chapter 156: Chapter 135: Elk Village’s Foundation

They looked at Chen Jianghuai, Village Chief Chen. They had just heard the discussions among the powerhouses of Elk Village. They figured that the only person who might have some understanding of the Pseudo-Men was this incredibly powerful Village Chief.

Shi An was equally eager to learn about the Pseudo-Men’s situation. Earlier, many of the Elk Village villagers had been in critical condition. Now, seeing that the survivors’ situation was gradually stabilizing, he asked Hair Ghost to invite Chen Jianghuai to the Safe Zone.

"Understood. I also wish to inform the Manager in person of the information regarding the Pseudo-Men and some of my speculations," Chen Jianghuai said with a nod.

He straightened his clothes, then followed Hair Ghost up the winding stairs inside the Lighthouse.

He wondered, "Is the Manager at the top of the Lighthouse? Is he controlling it?"

To Chen Jianghuai’s surprise, although there was indeed a control room on the top floor of the Lighthouse, it was completely empty. Instead, in the corridor outside the control room, directly opposite its entrance, stood another door. It was an arched, dark brown door.

"Mr. Chen, we have arrived," Hair Ghost said. "Once we pass through this door, we will reach the true Safe Zone."

Chen Jianghuai was bewildered. If he remembered correctly, the space behind the wall where this door was located should be the outside of the Lighthouse, right? However, as an experienced Extraordinary Powerhouse, Chen Jianghuai had seen a lot. It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen a Space Gate before; he was just a bit surprised to find one here.

Hair Ghost pushed the door open. Gathering his thoughts, Chen Jianghuai stepped inside.

Chen Jianghuai had anticipated many scenarios. For instance, he imagined walking through a winding, narrow Space Tunnel before arriving at the main camp of the Safe Zone. He had also envisioned various appearances for the Safe Zone’s camp. But he had absolutely never expected that the moment he crossed the threshold, a wave of bustling noise and lively atmosphere would wash over him.

In a daze, he felt as if he had been transported back to a Tavern in the real world, long before the Cityfall Catastrophe. At the bar counter, a bartender was wiping glasses. Not far away were several tables where guests chatted leisurely. On the tables sat drinks, tea, and various snacks.

No, wait—it didn’t just seem like it. Was this the scene on the other side of the door? The legendary Safe Zone camp?

It took Chen Jianghuai several seconds to gradually recover from his daze. He took a deep breath, as if trying to firmly etch this scene—which looked identical to life before the catastrophe—into his heart.

At that moment, he heard Hair Ghost say, "Welcome to the Safe Zone, Mr. Chen. Please follow me this way."

The two of them went up to the second floor, an area that had been opened up after the business district’s second expansion. In the innermost private room, Chen Jianghuai finally met the legendary Manager.

Once again, his expectations were subverted. This Manager was exceptionally... young!

Not only that, but he also didn’t seem to perceive any glow of an Extraordinary Life from the Manager. However, someone who could build such a camp was undoubtedly a Transcendent, and very likely an Extraordinary Being of a higher Tier than himself. Chen Jianghuai could only marvel at the Manager’s unfathomable power.

Shi An and Chen Jianghuai shook hands. This was the first, and currently the only, person in the Extraordinary Realm he had ever met. Well, the only human in the Extraordinary Realm, to be precise. The only other Extraordinary Realm entity he had encountered—an eerie aberration—had been beaten to death by him not long ago.

Chen Jianghuai merely looked like an imposing middle-aged man; he couldn’t exactly be described as extremely robust. It was hard for Shi An to imagine that such a terrifying amount of energy could be contained within the man’s body. With a casual punch, he could collapse a prefabricated house. Even after being smashed into the ground by the Pseudo-Man Extraordinary, he had gotten back up as if nothing had happened.

This made him look forward even more to his own breakthrough, as well as that of Little Blood and Zhuo Ling, into the Extraordinary Realm.

It wasn’t appropriate for Shi An to directly ask about matters concerning Extraordinary promotion, nor was it a good time to do so. But as long as Chen Jianghuai stayed, he would get his answers sooner or later.

Right now, Shi An needed to gather all available information related to the Pseudo-Men.

Chen Jianghuai said, "I thought about it for a while just now. Combining it with the erosion suffered by the others, I can roughly draw a conclusion: the true form of the Pseudo-Men is a type of small bug.

"In other words, these bugs act as the eggs of the Pseudo-Men. They parasitize our human bodies, then erode and replace us, eventually growing into full-fledged Pseudo-Men."

Chen Jianghuai shared his assessment, "Before a Pseudo-Man completely replaces a human, using Purification-type Treasure Medicine, Potions, or Abilities should be somewhat effective in killing the Pseudo-Man inside the body. But once the Pseudo-Man egg has grown into a true Pseudo-Man, trying to tear off their disguise..."

For a moment, he really couldn’t think of a way. The best method was the Safe Zone’s Lighthouse.

Shi An fell deep into thought. The Pseudo-Men were major enemies, far more dangerous than any other aberrations. Moreover, they seemed to be an aberration species where every single member possessed intelligence, making it all the more imperative to eradicate them.

At present, however, Shi An still had no idea where the other Pseudo-Men were. He planned to compile the information and notify Fen Huo, Lu Qing, and the others from the Countermeasures Bureau. Matters of the Present Realm still needed to be handled by the Countermeasures Bureau.

If conditions allowed, he would much prefer to slack off and coast by. Unfortunately, it seemed he had no choice but to exert some real effort now. He needed to advance to the Extraordinary as quickly as possible. Only by possessing Extraordinary Power could he truly have the Ability to interfere with and influence the outside world. Otherwise, he could only turtle up and guard his own little corner of the Safe Zone.

During their conversation, Chen Jianghuai steered the topic toward the survivors of Elk Village. Shi An stated that they were all welcome to stay.

"But in exchange, I need you all to work for me, developing the mining area and constructing the camp," he added.

The Safe Zone didn’t need that many employees for the time being.