Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 128 - 37: They’re All Pregnant?

Chapter 128: Chapter 37: They’re All Pregnant?

When the team left Caohe Town, all the residents of the small town came running out, kneeling on the ground as if worshipping gods to bid farewell to the few people.

Perhaps for Chen Jian, this was just a simple trade with a settlement within his territory.

But for them, it was a matter of life and death.

What do a few heaps of plastic matter?

If the Mechanical God Sect were to do the same thing, they might even demand more than half of Caohe Town’s population as a price.

Compared to that, the actions of the Yellow Stone City Huaxia Army couldn’t be called merciful anymore.

It was simply... a blessing!

Chen Jian paid no attention to the kneeling crowd and after a simple adjustment of his equipment, he boarded the cart and drove away.

Their next target was Susong Town, 60 kilometers away, where they planned to rest for a night before continuing their journey.

A significant section of the road was damaged along the route, slowing their progress.

They had to hurry to reach the town before dark.

The cart sped forward, Ji Xing and Zeng Yi switched positions, while Chen Jian operated the PDA and spoke to Zeng Yi:

"Xie Liu discovered something unusual in the Horror Demon Camp. I didn’t have her bring it over, but the drone took photos."

"Take a look at this."

Chen Jian handed the PDA to Zeng Yi and then said:

"This is a dried human arm, turned into an ornament by the Terror Demons."

"The arm has a distinct tattoo pattern, which according to Xie Liu, is a unique design found on the Huadu Banshees."

"What do you think, does it look similar to you?"

"No need for similarity, it is exactly that."

Zeng Yi nodded affirmatively and then said:

"The tattoos of the Huadu Banshees are very distinctive, each one is different but the style is unmistakable."

"Only they would have such tattoos—but why would the Terror Demons have the arm of a Huadu Banshee?"

"Would they dare to attack Huadu? Impossible, right?"

"We’ll talk about this later."

Chen Jian swiped the PDA to switch to the next image and continued:

"This is a hairband made from a human spine. Did you notice anything different?"

"...No difference, really, but it seems... quite intricately made?"

Zeng Yi responded thoughtfully.

"Yes, exactly, it’s too intricately made. This piece of spine hairband shows signs of fine craftsmanship, something those clumsy Terror Demons couldn’t produce."

"Given that we saw that high-intelligence group of Terror Demons before, I now suspect that either Huadu gathered the high-intelligence Terror Demons they found, or they discovered a way to enhance Terror Demon intelligence."

"However, the former seems more likely."

"Now, take a look at the third image."

"This is a single-shot rifle engraved with inscriptions, indicating it came from someone in the Anqing City Defense Team."

"This gun was likely seized during a confrontation between the Terror Demons and the Anqing City Defense Team, yet the real problem is how it ended up here."

"Caohe Town is nearly two hundred kilometers from Anqing. If the Terror Demons could bring things here, it suggests their influence has extended to its limits and they have begun to expand outward."

"This might not be a good sign."

Upon hearing Chen Jian’s words, Zeng Yi nodded slowly and then said:

"Not necessarily."

"The migration of the Blood Skull is inherently random, driven by their instinct to seek fresh blood and more slaughter."

"If the human settlements near the Anqing Ruins cannot satisfy their slaughter needs, migrating to other areas is normal."

"The appearance of this gun here cannot simply be declared a ’bad omen’ and could even be a good sign."

"Perhaps it indicates that Anqing City has managed to restrain the Terror Demons’ expansion, forcing them into other areas."

"Makes sense."

Chen Jian nodded and said:

"Either way, we can confirm that the Terror Demons here are related to Anqing, and also that they are migrating on a large scale."

"So, it’s possible that the places we’re heading to next might have more traces of Terror Demons."

"The closer we get to Anqing City, the worse the problem might become."

"We need to be prepared."

"Small groups of Terror Demons are easy to deal with, but we haven’t actually fought against large-scale Terror Demons yet—we must stay vigilant."

"Understood."

Zeng Yi instinctively tightened his grip on his gun, while Xie Liu interjected:

"The overall number of Terror Demons is not as many as Water Ghosts. According to our previous estimates, the entire southern continent has an upper limit of about 100,000 Terror Demons."

"And most of these Terror Demons are spread across various regions, so the size of each Terror Demon camp won’t be too large."

"If we eventually find that the Terror Demon camps near Anqing City exceed a certain... threshold, then there’s a problem."

"I don’t know what Huadu is doing, but I have a feeling that maybe their trade with the Blood Skull is related to their shared fertility worship?"

"It’s possible."

Chen Jian retracted the PDA, after a moment of contemplation he said:

"According to your explanation, Terror Demons are a species balanced by super high fertility and super high mortality, so Huadu might indeed take them as research subjects."

"But... let’s discuss these issues when we reach Anqing."

"Understood."

No more words were exchanged among the group as the cart continued its journey. Zeng Yi and Li Shi cleared away a few unknown small creatures with their cold weapons, making the road ahead clear and unobstructed.

At 5 o’clock in the evening, the convoy was close to Susong Town. The group remained on the outskirts of the town, with Zeng Yi entering inside for communication.

This was also a small settlement with only hundreds of people, but due to its location by Longgan Lake, rich in fishery resources, life here was evidently more prosperous than in Caohe Town.

Numerous towering wind power installations stood along the lakeshore. Although most were completely rusted, some collapsed or twisted, and no longer turned, the striking modern structures starkly contrasted with the extremely primitive town and village, giving Chen Jian a strong sense of contradiction.

Chen Jian suddenly understood a bit why the Mechanical God Sect would take "San Yi" as their worship symbol.

Not to mention them, even Chen Jian himself was inwardly amazed when standing below the massive wind turbine blades.

While waiting on the outskirts, Chen Jian noticed a few residents walking towards a wind turbine that was still somewhat intact and slowly turning. They lit a bonfire and started performing a strange dance.

The dancers were covered in white paint, arms extended, constantly spinning as if imitating the movement of the blades.

The people around them raised burning sticks, striking them in the air to create sparks.

Whenever a strong wind blew, causing the blades above to turn, a sharp friction sound would echo alongside exhilarating cheers.

This scene even made Chen Jian feel a little creepy.

Humans, imitating objects?

What kind of environment had given rise to such beliefs?

Moments later, this simple "ritual" came to an end.

Several people gathered their scattered torches and returned to Susong Town, just as Zeng Yi, having finished negotiations, also rejoined the team.

"No problem, we can stay here for a night as merchants."

"Susong Town occasionally has merchants coming for metal material trade, so they’re not unfamiliar with merchants."

"There are accommodations specially prepared for merchants. I just checked, and it’s quite clean."

"So, shall we go in now?"

"Let’s go—are there any anomalies with the people here?"

"Nothing unusual for now."

Zeng Yi shook his head and answered:

"They worship the ’wind wheel’ and electricity, but the irony is, there’s no sign of electricity use here at all."

"Probably long ago, everything related to electricity here was taken by the Mechanical God Sect."

"Including batteries, electrical wires, and the like..."

"In general, this is just an ordinary settlement with somewhat peculiar beliefs."

"Understood."

Chen Jian nodded and led the way into Susong Town.

As the cat car’s headlights lit up, all the residents here looked at them curiously, their eyes filled with a bit of envy.

They worship electricity, yet they have none.

Perhaps they can only witness the "miracle" created by electricity from outsiders.

How ironic.

Upon entering the prepared room in Susong Town, Lei Jie suddenly spoke up:

"What do you think, with so many wind turbines here and the main parts apparently unrestored, could we dismantle these things and convert the generators to water wheel type to take back to Yellow Stone?"

"...The units are centuries old, can they really still be used?"

Chen Jian asked with some skepticism.

"At least the permanent magnets inside won’t demagnetize easily; those are valuable."

"We can consider it, first update it in the PDA as a clue."

Chen Jian placed the Model 201 on the table in the room and then shifted the conversation:

"Set aside the generator issue for now—didn’t you notice anything a little off about this town?"

"I did notice."

He Shuo took off his helmet and said:

"There are too many pregnant women here."

"Indeed."

Chen Jian’s words made everyone realize at last.

Ji Xing said suddenly:

"It’s true... It seems like every adult woman we’ve seen here is pregnant, and they’re visibly showing..."

"It shouldn’t be this concentrated, should it? Do these people have such unique physiques?"

"...Unique, my ass."

Chen Jian rolled his eyes at Ji Xing and then said:

"Perhaps it’s a coincidence, or maybe there are certain factors we’re not aware of affecting this."

"Either way, this doesn’t concern us much."

"It’s too late now, tomorrow morning, we’ll look around the town to see if there’s any tradable goods."

"If there are, then trade; if not, we’ll just leave."

"Just passing through here and mapping out the route is what matters."

"Follow-up plans, temporarily..."

"Ah!!!"

Chen Jian’s words were cut off by a sudden, heart-wrenching scream from outside the door.

Everyone instinctively grabbed their weapons, with Chen Jian moving close to the bed, listening carefully for a few seconds before saying:

"It’s a woman’s voice."

"Xie Liu, go take a look."

"Everyone else, hold your positions!"

"Understood."

Xie Liu flipped straight out the window, with Ji Xing right behind her.

Chen Jian wanted to stop them but their figures had already disappeared.

He frowned with displeasure but could only wait there.

A few moments later, the two returned through the main door.

She said:

"It’s a childbirth."

"But... something seems wrong!"