Chapter 1.1 - Back To the Beginning
The road towards Dragon City was extremely safe, with creatures that might hold hostility hibernating in their nests from the severe winter. For some reason, all of the danger he continuously felt had vanished, moreover vanishing in an extremely thorough manner.
The reason winter was the natural enemy of a traveler was not only because of the freezing temperatures, but also because of the lack of food and falling snow that was full of radiation. As mutations emerged more and more rapidly, creatures with resistances to cold, heat, and radiation continuously emerged. The things those creatures could feast on were gradually widening as well, so the ability to eat any organic matter was already an instinct that couldn’t be considered to be too rare.
Just like how he usually behaved in the wilderness, he maintained a steady speed as he ran. Due to his injuries not being healed yet, he only maintained a speed of roughly twenty kilometers per hour. Each time he undertook a long and difficult journey, Su was would customarily observe the surrounding environment and compare it to the world he remembered. He found that the mutated creatures he remembered were all becoming stronger at a terrifying speed, and their period of growth was gradually shortening as well. However, their lifespans were similarly shortened, but this couldn’t really be considered a cost.
From the olden era’s point of view, every single life form from the age of turmoil could be considered terrifying, because many life forms’ evolution could be completed in just over ten years, and smaller life forms that were harder to see might even undergo genetic variation several times. In fact, the rate at which humans mutated wasn’t inferior to that of other creatures. Ability domains did not only bring the human race powerful bodies, outstanding intelligence, or sharp perception. The acquiring and advancement of abilities happened on a genetic level. When one’s abilities reached a high enough level, whether a person could still be considered human became a debatable question. However, in the age of turmoil, there were no idiots who would bring up this senseless question, because a lack of abilities meant a lack of means for survival, or perhaps only enabling one to live like a dog. Those with high levels of ability who didn’t have to worry about survival also remained silent on this problem, perhaps due to a hidden fear.
When Su brought up the corresponding information from his eternal memory, among the people he encountered, the average age of death among those surviving in the wilderness was 29, while the age at which women gave birth to their first child was 11, with only a single child out of every seventeen having a chance to survive. Meanwhile, inside Dragon City, even though he hadn’t obtained enough data from the short time he stayed there, it was clear that the data should at least be several times that of the wilderness.
While analyzing this information, even though memories of life in the wilderness would resurface, Su’s mind continued to remain cold and calm with no emotions like pity or sympathy visible. Su would usually always maintain a completely expressionless state. This type of cool-headedness had made him the survivor of countless battles.
While running, Su examined the data recorded within his eternal memory while recalling the important battles he had recently experienced. What left him rather surprised was that the scope of his eternal memory seemed to have broadened, and the amount of data that it could contain had similarly increased. Even though the extent to the improvement was limited, being even maybe less than 5%, this was still the first time Su noticed the eternal memory region inside his brain show some type of upgrade.
He couldn’t think of the application for this upgrade at the moment, so Su didn’t decide to think about it either. He would look around when he returned to Dragon City to see if there was any corresponding information. Perhaps seeking out Helen was a better choice, but his instinctive alienation towards Helen made Su decide that it was best to keep a few secrets from her.
The battle in the northern side could be considered a Black Dragonrider internal struggle. Based on unwritten rules, internal battles were not to be disclosed. This meant that after experiencing the repeated fierce battles, Su wouldn’t receive the slightest bit of merit or reward, nor could he publicly announce that he killed two Black Dragonrider lieutenant colonels.
There was no profit in internal struggles; this was one of the Black Dragonrider’s principles. Of course, when presented with enough interest and reasons, the principle would oftentimes not be that effective.
No rewards but full of losses was the true reality. The spoils of war that had been obtained from fighting against Blue Scorpion and seizing back Pendulum City had already disappeared after purchasing the guided missiles. Even though they ended up killing three vultures from the Black Dragonriders, Ricardo’s subordinates and soldiers suffered heavy losses. It wasn't as if there were no losses among Su's subordinates; the ordinary soldiers that came from Roxland and Kane had been completely wiped out. Manpower, training, and equipment; when all of these were totaled up, the cost Su paid was already an astronomical one.
Dragon City already appeared over the horizon. Su stopped his footsteps and gazed into the fog covered Dragon City below the clouds. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He was angry and also puzzled. The reason he was angry was because the murderous blade came from behind him, and the internal battle provided no profit. Was it just that simple? Did those with enough power not have to show responsibility for their conducts and deeds? Meanwhile, what Su didn’t understand was why Madeline would suddenly appear and fight so ferociously against Persephone.
Persephone already returned north. Her subordinates also suffered severe losses, losing over half their strength. The current number of Persephone’s subordinates didn’t even reach ten, making her self-mockingly state that if this continued, she would really become a general without soldiers. She had to return to the northern side to earn a bit of money first.
She left in quite a hurry without giving Su the chance to ask about things in detail, only warning Su again and again to treat his injuries first when he returned to Dragon City and not chase after the main culprit behind Kafen and the others’ actions. Now was not the time to do so, and Su didn’t have the strength either.
Due to Persephone being in that much of a hurry, Su was unable to find out what exactly happened between Madeline and herself either. Thinking back, it was likely because she didn’t want to answer this question that she left in such a hurry. The answer to this question perhaps rested in Dragon City or some other place. However, the key to obtaining this answer was only power, overwhelming power!
Su released another deep sigh!
Battles, endless battles had also granted him irreplaceable wealth, which were evolutionary points, large amounts of evolutionary points. After fixing his most severe injuries, Su still had 66 evolutionary points! This was enough for him to develop a new seventh level formulated ability. In addition, every seventh level ability, even if they were formulated, possessed the power to immediately change the situation of a battle!
His original coldness once again occupied Su’s mind. For him, Dragon City was not only a resupply point, but also a city filled with unknown enemies. When facing enemies, Su would forever be cold and ruthless.
Dragon City wasn’t the wilderness, and Su was no longer the primitive hunter roaming through garbage and waste products. After returning to Dragon City, he found that there were too many things waiting for him to deal with.
Li, Li Gaolei, as well as even Ricardo, Hanlon, and the two surviving subordinates were staying in Persephone’s private hospital. After meeting them one after another, Su had no choice but to admit that Helen was not only an emotionless technology madman, but also an extremely brilliant doctor. When Su came, even though they had only spent two days in the private hospital, their injuries were all taking a turn for the better. Li needed to stay a few more days, while Li Gaolei could already walk around in crutches. The powerful Combat Domain ability user Hanlon similarly possessed great recovery strength, and in two days worth of time, his injuries had pretty much completely recovered.
The one with the heaviest injuries was Ricardo. Almost half of his internal organs had been blasted rotten, but under Helen’s personal surgical procedures, when Su walked into his hospital ward, Ricard was actually reclining on the hospital bed while chewing on a cigarette and flipping through some olden era porn magazines.
When he saw that the one who entered the room was Su, Ricardo’s eyes immediately lit up. In spite of the nurse’s murderous gaze, he directly spat the remaining half of the cigarette onto the ground and jumped out from the bed!
Unfortunately, Ricardo clearly overestimated the power of his flesh, and when he landed, his face immediately became deathly pale and he rigidly collapsed. Su was startled and immediately supported him.
Only after quite a while passed did Ricardo take a deep breath and color return to his face. He had a somewhat weak smile on his face. After carefully looking at Su, he suddenly sent his fist heavily towards Su’s abdomen! Ricardo, who had just undergone a major procedure, seemed to possess somewhat unexpected power. However, with gentle restraint and release, Su’s abdomen neutralized this fist.
“Seeing you alive really is a fucking great thing!” The recoil of his fist made the color on Ricardo’s face once again disappear without a trace. However, he continued to reveal a large grin in spite of the fact that his smile had already begun to distort.