Chapter 1257: Chapter 1257

1257: Chapter 1243: Fog City 1257: Chapter 1243: Fog City “Even though I’ve already received the notification that the city has been attacked by killers…

can this really be the work of a few killers?”

The gray fog had become denser and denser, reaching a point where one couldn’t see a few meters ahead.

“Gold Moon” Hua Xueyi walked amidst these fog-laden streets, yet she maintained her usual composure.

Odor, color, and even spiritual intuition failed to capture her presence now; as she strolled through these dangerous streets, she was an “invisible person,” non-existent.

“…This city, it once had a population of over a hundred thousand, right?

Where are the people…”

Unlike Earth, which already had plenty of five to six-story buildings, the city here was still in an expansion phase, largely consisting of two to three-story buildings that were somewhat sparse.

But even so, walking in the fog for more than ten minutes, Hua Xueyi still had not perceived a single “life form.”

The Life Perception of a fourth-tier Beast Tamer didn’t find any life, but her sense of smell pinpointed the source of the rank decay.

When she got close enough, the deceitful, hallucination-inducing fog barrier finally failed to work, and what appeared before Hua Xueyi was a “Human Ball.”

It was a combination of at least a dozen humanoid creatures, the lower half formed of countless limbs, arms and legs haphazardly connected, and the skull clusters sewn together seemed to constantly struggle and wail, but silent…

the completely decayed vocal cords were merely a fixture, and the Corpse Monster’s haphazardly assembled Human Ball rolled about aimlessly, like marbles casually struck in a child’s game.

“…What on earth is this monstrosity.”

Even Hua Xueyi, who could be considered a senior mercenary, had never seen such an unreasonable thing.

She watched as a Human Ball rolled past her and hesitated, but she did not turn back.

She had a vague sense that this incident was probably not something ordinary mercenaries could handle; whether to continue the support mission or not, information was a priority.

So, she became even more transparent and her presence even more diluted…

She had a reason to dare to enter the fog alone; by now, she had successfully incorporated the “Metal Slime” into her own epidermal cells, possessing a range of powerful traits including “Breath Concealment,” “Optical Invisibility,” and “Sonar Absorption.”

The abilities “Metallized Keratinocyte Cells,” “Control Metal,” and “Metal Slime” mimicry combined together greatly expanded her diverse capabilities.

And with additional part-time career abilities from “Soldier,” “Sentinel,” and “Dancer,” she might not be the most outstanding assassin master, but she was definitely the most well-equipped stealth and reconnaissance master.

But the further she went, the more her heart raced.

The Human Ball encountered earlier was not an isolated case; various collided corpse monsters followed one after another, including long “centipedes,” pillar-like “Thousand-Hand Giants,” and several corpses combined into drifting ghosts, but the most numerous were the simply and crudely stacked Human Balls.

If this was someone’s doing, perhaps at the beginning they were serious about their creation, but now, it was just simple, rough assembly.

And with her Life system abilities, she could clearly sense that all of these were just a group of corpses and dead people.

But what surprised her was not that these corpses could move…

healers and Beast Tamers both had a plethora of similar abilities, but that these corpses were not “controlled.”

“They are clearly dead…

and yet they faintly have self-consciousness?”

Hua Xueyi tried it out; the stones she threw attracted the pursuit of several balls.

They even collided with each other, then thrashed about in confusion…

until they merged together, growing into a larger mass, then continued their aimless wandering.

This scene made even real sixth-tier mercenaries’ scalps tingle.

Now, Hua Xueyi was no longer the novice she used to be.

Before she chose to stay in this world, she had completed her comprehensive “knowledge reserve,” and gradually digested it over a long time and through battles.

A sixth-tier Fighter, fifth-tier Dancer, and fourth-tier Beast Tamer were her main paths, with several third-tier battle-professions forming her rather complex career system.

Actually, she had already been a sixth-tier Fighter two years ago.

Given that she was fourth-tier at the start, after making up for her deficiencies in knowledge and skills, it was normal for her to reach the peak of Decree after a decade of hard training and accumulation of real battle experience.

Apart from Miss Rou, the “genius,” the core of experienced fighters who stayed back then could also have advanced to the fifth or sixth tier with some effort, if they had the “Dual Talents,” “Knowledge Maxed Out Clear Path Ahead,” and “Attribute Shortcomings Fixed by Medicine,” it was indeed something to look forward to.

But the next step, breaking through to Rule-level…

that definitely wasn’t something that could be achieved through sheer hard work.

Hua Xueyi’s greatest gain was not so much her battle profession, but rather her “Beast Taming” and “Craftsman” professions…

After hitting a bottleneck, like most professionals, she turned her attention to other side jobs.

And indeed, after putting effort into the Beast Tamer and Craftsman Paths, she discovered that her talent in those areas actually surpassed that of her main profession, especially since she had the capability of “body metalization.”

Considering that the upper limits of these two professions were actually higher than ordinary battle-professions, and with “Guidance by a Master (a certain cat had left her with enough guidance),” she naturally delved deeper into her potential…

“Go, notify me if you discover ‘Life’.”

The woman’s golden hair extended again, thickening and growing longer before falling to the ground.

Like a scene out of a mythological story turning into reality, strands of hair fell to the ground, transforming into golden snakes.

They hissed as they turned into phantoms and dispersed to perform their tasks.

This was what she couldn’t comprehend.

“Clone” and “living dead” things, whether they were bionic life forms or “living puppets,” were actually not truly alive.

These things were like machines being rebooted, requiring “software” to harness and control them—and that is often the “purpose” for which they were created.

They seemed to move freely, but in actuality, they were merely “puppeted” existences, often “living machines” driven by objectives…

At least within Hua Xueyi’s understanding, this was essentially the limit of the “Life system.”

“Is it a complete Artificial Soul?

No, I didn’t sense a Soul.”

“Then, is it a full set of Virtual Action Command Sets?

Such crude assembly, the creation of their existence didn’t even address the physical mobility and stability, let alone an entire set of extra ‘waste skills’ for biological simulation…”

Yet, these living dead balls actually possessed complete “biological instincts,” actively pursuing, attacking, fighting, feeding, roaring…

If all this were done proactively, it would be like adding conversation, painting, and self-movement capabilities to a washing machine—it might be possible, but it was utterly pointless and both cost and consumption were too great.

Hiding in the ceiling of a house, she “observed” through the vision provided by her snake swarm and noticed the “zombie” residents below still clumsily and slowly mimicking behaviors from their previous lives.

The most obvious was when her snake swarm infiltrated a house; she saw two corpses engaged in “conjugal duties”…

However, as the act failed to progress (since the flesh was rotten), it was not going smoothly.

Without receiving the “proper feedback,” they quickly began to fight each other.

But after growing tired of fighting, the two lumps of decay began again…

“What the hell is this…”

The scene before her was completely incomprehensible.

Perhaps, the more one belonged to the “Life system” professions, the harder it was to understand this abnormality.

What was even more incomprehensible was that the Snake Swarm, which she used to control with ease within several kilometers, had started to lose contact one by one after only a hundred or so meters this time.

Her spiritual intuition increasingly sensed an approaching threat, and considering there was no report after a long time, which could involve others, she chose to leave.

But as she turned to leave, the endless fog obliterated everything.

The “metallized keratinocyte footprints” she had left behind as markers to show her Path, had also vanished without a trace.

It wasn’t just obscured by the fog.

Hua Xueyi could distinctly feel that it was completely gone; the “resonance” between the cells had disappeared…

“This land, it’s devouring Life…”

Her near Rule-level spiritual intuition gave her the worst answer, and at that moment, she seemed to have no way out.

“Heh, I do want to see what kind of ghosts are inside.”

Heroes win when enemies meet on a Narrow Road; the battle-hardened mercenary sensed the danger but didn’t succumb to fear or panic.

The now mature warrior silently walked deeper into the thickening fog.