Chapter 550: Another Disappointment

Huai Geng cocked his head. "Why would the lifeform go find food?"

Zhu replied, "According to my father, genetic lifeforms are very interesting creatures. If their lairs are destroyed, they will preferentially seek out a new lair far away, not nearby."

Zhang Lie mulled over her words. "It's possible."

Doing so might be a natural safety precaution—the fact that a lifeform's lair had been found and destroyed might mean that it was being targeted by an enemy.

"But what does this have to do with hunting for food?" Huai Geng asked.

Zhu countered, "What do you have to do before a big move?"

"Prepare as much food as possible, of course—oh!"

Zhang Lie nodded his head. They weren't in a developed country anymore, and the alien races couldn't simply make use of storage-type soulshards like humans.

This was one of the primary reasons the Yeluo had so coveted the humans' storage-type soulshards, which were so convenient that they were almost a necessity for life.

The first thing that Zhang Lie and his ilk had to do when moving from place to place was to pack up, but those races of the second realm would have to prepare large quantities of food, especially if they were making a long voyage. If they didn't have food or the ability to hunt for food, they would starve halfway through their journey.

Disaster-grade lifeforms surely had it better off, but Zhu's suggestion that it might be trying to find one last meal before it departed was certainly quite likely.

Huai Geng asked, "In that case, where do you think the lifeform might go to hunt for food?"

Zhu replied, "Are there any easy sources of food nearby?"

"Of course not! Even if there were, the village would have—" Just as Huai Geng replied, a huge explosion and countless terrified yells could be heard from their surroundings.

Zhang Lie frowned. "It looks like the lifeform's just found that easy supply of food!"

Huai Geng rushed out of the cave, followed swiftly by Zhang Lie and Zhu. Huai Geng glanced stupefied at the village in the distance as he stepped out of the mountainous cave.

Zhang Lie stood by his side. Indeed, as he had expected, half the village was a pile of smoking ruins. Its buildings were destroyed, its inhabitants exposed, and the sea threatened to swallow it all up. With Zhang Lie's enhanced eyesight, he could see what was going on within the village. It was under terrible danger—a black lifeform covered in seaweed was invading the village.

Some fighters from the village were trying to put up a resistance, but they were no match for the seaweed lifeform.

Naturally, the easy supply of food nearby for the lifeform was the little village by the sea.

The disturbance that Zhang Lie and the whirlpool tyrant had caused during their fight had long since scared the nearby oceanic lifeforms away, and the only readily available source of food nearby was the village.

Zhang Lie peered at the village carefully. "Given the scale of the damage, this isn't a disaster-grade lifeform."

If a disaster-grade lifeform were to attack, the entire village would be destroyed in just an instant.

Huai Geng ignored the two of them and leapt into the sea, causing Zhu to stomp her feet. "Oh, that fellow—!"

He was so weak he had fainted just from Zhang Lie's aura! Did he really think he could save his village? Zhu glanced toward Zhang Lie, her eyes sparkling. She didn't speak, but her eyes harbored an obvious plea.

Zhang Lie scratched his head. "In some sense, I was the one who caused this disaster. I would have saved the village even if you didn't say anything."

Zhu smiled.

Huai Geng returned to the village to find it in shambles. Half the buildings had fallen. The seaweed monster was continuing to destroy his surroundings and the villagers around.

A frond of seaweed shot toward Huai Geng, who was wholly unprepared to respond. A figure rushed up and blocked the attack. "Kid, what are you doing back here?!"

The person who blocked the attack was the middle-aged man who had scolded Huai Geng for yelling about a seaweed monster in the village square.

"Where's my mother?"

"She and the other villagers went to seek shelter. Go with them!"

"No!" Huai Geng shouted back. "I'm a man of the village too—it's my responsibility to fight!"

"The rest of us haven't died yet—it's no time for kids like you to join in. Scram!"

Black fronds of seaweed came toward them from all directions, as though they were in the center of a hurricane. The man was decently strong, and he managed to block all the fronds coming his way.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He howled out, "Come at me, you brainless monster! Come at me if you dare—I'll pull out all your hair!"

Just then, a black frond of seaweed silently crept to the man's back and made to target Huai Geng. When the man noticed, his eyes widened. He pushed Huai Geng away and allowed the frond of seaweed to penetrate his chest. Huai Geng's eyes widened as he rushed toward the man.

As the man spat out blood by the mouthful, he murmured, "I'm sorry, I never revealed that I believed you. I saw your father leave with a few members of an alien race with my own eyes, and I knew that he was trying to protect the village, but I was never able to convince others of the truth."

Rumors spread far more easily, after all, and no matter how much the man had tried to explain what he had seen, the rumors only got worse and worse. To protect the unfortunate mother and son, the man chose not to argue any further.

It was difficult for a single mother to raise a child, and Huai Geng was half brought up by the entire village. Huai Geng couldn't help but remember how mischievous he had been as a child, and how it was always that man who had caught him and brought him to all the nearby houses to apologize.

The man coughed up more blood. "Ignore me—leave!"

However, it was far too late. The fronds of seaweed nearby had entombed Huai Geng and the man, and they were about to be torn to shreds at any moment. Before that could happen, however, a violent gust of wind shredded those fronds.

A familiar voice rang out, "Didn't you want me to teach you a few lessons?"

Zhang Lie walked slowly forward with Zhu. They stepped into the disaster-stricken village so casually as though they couldn't see the calamity unfolding all around them.

"Your first lesson: only do as much as you can handle. Find an opponent that you're able to challenge. Challenging stronger and stronger foes is a shortcut to becoming strong, but also a path that can easily lead you down to hell. It's important to become strong, yes, but you need to survive to be able to do so."

Zhang Lie sauntered forward.

"Please, Mister, please save this man!" Huai Geng shouted.

Zhu ran forward and poured the vial of potion that Zhang Lie had given her over his prone body.

"Do you understand what I said?" Zhang Lie asked.

Even more fronds of black seaweed appeared. Zhang Lie turned to those fronds and unleashed his aura. "And when did I allow you to move?"

The genetic energy, ancient and primordial like the sun, sapped away all strength from those around him. The seaweed monster, never having felt such immense power, was so scared that it curled up into a tiny ball...