Clown Game
Chapter 268 - 255: The Return of the Dark Realm (Part 10)

Chapter 268: Chapter 255: The Return of the Dark Realm (Part 10)

Chen Xiao swayed to his feet and shook off the flecks of flesh from his body.

"Uh... I just got the information on the Dark Realm not long ago, but I’ve read it over a few times, and it seems that among all Aberration Levels, there’s none that emit roars like wild beasts," mused Chen Xiao while shaking, suddenly turning his gaze to the person who had pulled him out. "You’ve been on many missions, have you ever heard of such a thing?"

The person was taken aback by the stare, but because of the helmet, their expression wasn’t clearly visible. They also pondered for a moment and shook their head.

Seeing the other party’s negative response, Chen Xiao appeared quite pleased and chuckled to himself.

"So, the creations of the Dark Realm have already evolved to a previously unheard-of level... Then, if they are left unchecked and they consume more humans or other creatures, what will the Dark Realm evolve into eventually? Perhaps it won’t take long before it surpasses human intelligence... and the body goes without saying, the human body is simply the weakest in the biological world. Oh... thinking about it this way, the evolutionary path of humans giving up physical strength seems a bit against common sense. Could it be that humans are actually a form of aberrant evolution in this world, and it’s just ridiculous that we stand at the top of the food chain."

Chen Xiao began to speculate wildly. Of course, these thoughts just surfaced unconsciously in his mind and weren’t spoken aloud. His thinking was also quick enough that the person standing beside him didn’t notice anything unusual.

At this time, the dozen or so people behind them had also come over... One person looked at the inanimate Aberration and said gravely, "Let’s go, something seems off... We need to hurry and regroup with that person."

Several people obviously trusted this person’s words, immediately readied their weapons: "Go! Don’t waste any more time, the sooner we regroup, the less danger we’re in... I have a particularly bad feeling."

Bai Xiong circled around the group and came beside Chen Xiao, opening the team channel: "Have anything to say?"

No sooner had the words fallen than Chen Xiao’s sharp voice rang in his ear.

"Ah... yes, yes, I was just thinking about the meaning of human existence, um... After we’re born, we maintain a relationship of consumption and nurturing with all other lives, and after we die, we’re either cremated or buried, with most not entering into the natural cycle. Thinking about it, we seem to be a life form that continuously modifies nature yet completely detaches itself from the natural world... I remember many cynical novels compare humans to a virus in nature, heh, in reality we’re not even comparable to a virus, we’re just things that eat without excreting. So, our kind of existence almost has no meaning... um... A life form that has evolved above all others but lacks a purpose isn’t just ridiculous, it’s absurd... In contrast, something like the ’Dark Realm’ is very interesting. It absorbs all self-sustaining fleshly life forms, but bypasses vegetation. Think further, microbes rely on other life forms to survive and reproduce, while the Dark Realm accumulates all life, living or dead, other than that to evolve together... This is simply the most perfect model of life! I even feel that at the other end of this Dark Realm, there might be beings of an even higher order

Like..."

Suddenly, Chen Xiao paused, a flash of brilliance crossing his mind. He lowered his head, gazing blankly at his hands, as if thinking of something, but then it was instantly forgotten.

Just at that moment

"Alright, I’m not in the mood for this, do you have a plan for this mission or not?"

Bai Xiong said firmly, had Chen Xiao not been speaking so fast, he probably would have interrupted his babbling already.

And Chen Xiao remained in his previous state.

"No... no..."

Bai Xiong must have been taken aback: "What did you say?"

He even thought he might have heard wrong.

Under these circumstances, Bai Xiong had been ready for Chen Xiao to spout a whole bunch of plans, until he himself was reluctant to listen anymore. But he completely didn’t expect to hear "no!"

"What’s wrong with you?" Bai Xiong quickly asked, sensing something was off with Chen Xiao.

"I... I was just thinking of something..." Chen Xiao moved his gaze from his hands, looking meaninglessly at the other person.

"Thought of what?"

"I don’t know..."

"..." Bai Xiong was silent for half a second:

"Oh!"

He responded briefly and then turned toward the crowd.

He was just inquiring about Chen Xiao’s thoughts. Since the other party was ’sick’ at this moment, he let it be. Often, the simplest plan is the best plan.

Regrouping with the mission leader was the best course of action.

So, the group returned to silence, moving along the predetermined route with even more caution than before.

But within the crowd, Chen Xiao seemed a bit off; he stopped bouncing about, stopped humming tunes, and became unbelievably quiet.

...

Meanwhile, at the city’s center, Abraham Ken was huffing and puffing as he ran... though it was called running, his pace was hardly different from walking. With a large belly that swung with each step, his footfalls left impressions about a centimeter deep on the ground.

"Huff... slow down, I can’t run anymore..." said the man with a large beard, panting, then simply stopped and stood still.

On the road filled with abandoned cars, the scene suddenly distorted for a moment, like a television screen with a bad signal, and then... a man gradually appeared on the street.

Tall with a fierce look, he wore a somewhat form-fitting combat suit. Like Abraham, he didn’t wear a helmet and carried an excessively long rifle on his back. He looked at the bearded man with a pained expression, "Isn’t your body charged? Do you get tired too?"

Finally catching his breath, Abraham responded, "Cut the sarcasm, my heart is still my own! Do you know how heavy this hunk of metal is? Do you know how old I am? Huff... huff..."

The man with the rifle rubbed his head, looking rather helpless.

"Well then... let’s split up, that might save us some time. You heard it just now..."

Abraham thought for a moment and nodded.

"Okay, this instance of the Dark Realm seems a bit different. After all these years, it’s the first time we’ve heard of an Aberration that cries out..."