Chapter 114: Investigation (1)

Gentle Breeze City.

This was a snow-blanketed city located in the heart of the Permafrost Wastelands.

The Permafrost Wastelands were cold year-round, and the ground was also constantly frozen solid, making it hard for vegetation to grow. However, there were a few resilient species that were able to survive in this kind of environment, designating them as necessary resources for survival for all of the lifeforms in the area.

Frozen Heart Grass, the most common plant on the Permafrost Wastelands, actually grew quite well in this cold environment. They were the sole source of green color against the eternally frost-covered blue palette of the area and sustained all of the ice-type creatures in the area.

It was food for the Snow Rabbit, the White Fox, and the Ice Field Mouse, which were in turn food for Snow Hawks and Snow Wolves. Snow Wolves and Gumfish served as food for Ice Bears, and at the very top of the food chain were the Intelligent Races. All of the above, whether the Frozen Heart Grass, the Snow Rabbits, the Snow Wolves, or the Ice Bears, were all sources of food to them.

Even so, food on the Permafrost Wastelands was a limited commodity, and no matter how many living beings the wastelands contained, it wouldn’t be enough to support the Ferocious Race’s massive appetite.

This was also the case in the Harvey Plains, Halma Forest, and the Bloody Wastelands; it wasn’t a unique situation here.

The northern regions were usually so scarce in resources that even Demonic Beasts didn’t want to live there.

The Ferocious Race considered themselves to be strong and without peers, but one irrefutable truth among their race remained: the north was where all those who had failed would be banished to.

Only those who had been defeated would live here.

As such, none of the Ferocious Race’s valiance, fearlessness, or bravery could conceal the truth of these residents: they were failures.

They had attacked the southern fertile regions again and again, but failed every time. They also had to defend against the Beast Race’s ambushes and the hunting of the Spirit Race to the west......

Gentle Breeze City was slightly north-leaning, as it was a city that was constantly under pressure from both the Spirit Race and the Beast Race simultaneously.

It was an important strategic town in the northern area of the wastelands, so its defenses were also a little tighter.

This place officially belonged to the Red-Eagle Tribe.

The Red-Eagle Tribe had been quite illustrious in the past.

Three thousand years after Gulan Castle’s transformation, or the year 7900 of the New Star Era, Sorna Red-Eagle had killed Uldritch the Slaughtering Axe, declaring herself the Ferocious Race’s new queen. The various tribes at that time protested and tried to revolt, but under Sorna Red-Eagle’s command, the Red-Eagle Tribe started a long civil war to unify the Ferocious Race under one banner.

This battle to unite the Ferocious Race gave the Red-Eagle Tribe an unprecedented amount of strength at the moment when the Ferocious Race was the weakest. If it weren’t for the fact that the Illustrious Divine Dynasty was on the decline, the Iron and Blood Country might have been completely wiped out at the time.

But in the end, the Red-Eagle Tribe wasn’t able to unify the Iron and Blood Country after a whole three thousand years of conflict, and they themselves were forced to suffer in the end.

In the 11,000th year of the New Star Era, the Red-Eagle Tribe formally surrendered when faced against the combined armies of the various tribes. Bobet Red-Eagle had also died fighting at Gulan Castle, signalling the conclusion of the three thousand year conflict. As such, the Red-Eagle Tribe, which had been so strong for a period of time, had finally died out.

The Red-Eagle Tribe of today was very different from before. They were just a small struggling township near the border. They wallowed in their former glory and had no strength left to try to rise to power again.

At daylight, Su Chen had arrived at Gentle Wind City.

Su Chen glanced at the dark clouds above his head that circled the city, then stretched his neck as he walked into the city.

Along the path he had taken to reach this city, it was possible to vaguely see traces of blood, as the frost permanently encased everything in ice, preserving traces of the battle that had occurred not long ago. Even though he was almost half a month late, Su Chen could still see the many traces of battle left behind here.

The destroyed city walls, the houses in shambles, and the ravine-like roads all proved without a doubt that a fierce battle had occurred here before.

Half a month ago, the Heavenly Might Army had ambushed this place, taking around a thousand lives of the Ferocious Race along with large quantities of resources.

And the reason why Su Chen had come was to verify a suspicion he was having.

Su Chen walked alongside the cold and cheerless road until he stood before a wooden room. The sign hanging from the entrance indicated that this was most likely the location he had been looking for so long for.

He pushed open the front door and saw an old Ferocious Race individual sitting there, lazing around.

Su Chen asked, “Hey, old man, do you have any gophers? I’d like some.”

These “gophers” were Ice Field Mice. They were good diggers and lived underneath the ground of the Permafrost Wastelands, relying on Frozen Heart Grass as their main source of food.

Ice Field Mice had fatty meat and were quite tasty. Whenever food was lacking, the Ferocious Race would often try to dig them up to find a meal. Even when food was not scarce, the Ferocious Race would breed a few of the mice in anticipation of those desolate years. In other words, breeding these mice was an important business amongst the Permafrost Wastelands.

However, the old man obviously had no interest in doing business right now. He didn’t even raise his head and despondently replied, “They’re all gone. They were all snatched away.”

“Snatched away?” Su Chen asked.

“Yes, by those damned humans. Half a month ago or so, they stormed their way through here and stole all of the Ice Field Mice.”

“It seems like they are lacking in rations.”

“That’s a load of crock. If they were lacking in rations, why didn’t they go take New Solemnity’s rations? They have much more there.”

“Perhaps they didn’t know, or maybe they like meat better,” Su Chen replied quite carelessly. “Right, I also want to buy some Cloudstone Powder. Do you know where I can find some for sale?”

“There’s no more. Those damned humans also carried away all of the Cloudstone Powder,” the old man replied.

Su Chen didn’t seem to understand. “Why would they take something like that?”

“Who knows?” The old man shrugged. “They took everything they could get their hands on — rations, medicine, and even metal. No one knows what they could possibly want with these things. They’re probably just venting their frustrations and trying to destroy everything in their path.”

Only the Ferocious Race would want to destroy everything in their path, Su Chen criticized silently in his mind.

However, the words he spoke were, “Fine. It seems like I won’t get anything here today.”

Su Chen left the shop having obtained the information he was looking for, but he didn’t leave the area completely. Instead, he continued to walk down the street.

The remnants of the destroyed city was a recording of what had happened during the battle. The fact that the Ferocious Race, who seemingly had no concept of health or reconstruction, knew to deal with the corpses was already a huge improvement in their intelligence. As a result, even though it was many days after the battle, Su Chen could still clearly see the traces left behind by the battle.

These clues and remains transformed into scenes of the battle in his mind.

It was almost as if Su Chen was personally witnessing the Heavenly Might Battalion charge into the city and wantonly kill everyone present, then taking away the resources that they needed.

“Ice Field Mice, Cloudstone Powder, as well as wood and metal cores…… so everything is pointing in that direction?” Su Chen pressed his lips together. He knew that he was now thinking along the same vein as the Heavenly Might Battalion.

All he needed to do now was go to one more location and confirm his suspicions.

This last place was a forest located near the city.

A unique kind of tree grew here, known as the Yellow Dragon Tree.

Yellow Dragon Wood was a rare material. It easily conducted Origin Energy. This alone was not actually that strange — there were too many ingredients with high Origin Energy conductivity, but the way Yellow Dragon Wood’s Origin Energy conducted Origin Energy was a bit more interesting than most materials.

This was because it possessed a lot of earth-type attributes.

A piece of wood having an earth-type Origin Energy character was exactly why it was such an exotic ingredient. It was also one of the highest exported items out of the Permafrost Wastelands.

However, this Yellow Dragon Tree forest had been completely burned down.

Su Chen stood before the Yellow Dragon Forest to the north of Gentle Breeze City, inspecting the scorched earth. A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Now that he had inspected the Yellow Dragon Forest’s situation, Su Chen could finally verify what had been guesses this entire time.

However, just as he was about to leave, he saw a group of Ferocious Race individuals headed in his direction.