Because the two of them had been walking close to the side of the rock wall, they were now closest to the waterfall. The waterfall's flow was incredibly powerful, and the sound of the rushing water was deafening. The surrounding moisture was also extremely heavy, and their clothes were soaked through in no time. Zhao Qiang had no choice but to lead Donna a few hundred meters into the green world and stop in front of a large lake formed by the waterfall's impact. Beyond the lake was an even denser world of plants. Because their view was obstructed, they didn't know what lay beyond the green world, but based on their observation from the high vantage point, it appeared to be a forest of even taller plants. Beyond that, it was beyond their sight.
Just walking and protecting himself had consumed a third of Zhao Qiang's energy. Finding a dry spot, Zhao Qiang and Donna sat down. They needed to drink water and rest, and also consider their next plan.
Donna observed as she said, "It must be the water that created this underground plant world. When we were walking above, the ground was so dry that it could be crushed into powder, so of course no plants could grow here."
Zhao Qiang said, "Don't you think the soil composition here is much more normal? Before, when we were walking in the wasteland, the soil there was practically like iron sand."
Donna said, "Now that you mention it, I do remember. Even if there's water there, probably nothing would grow there."
Zhao Qiang took out the compressed biscuits from his bag. He first lay down by the lake and drank some water, then lay down on the unknown grass and ate the biscuits while carefully observing his surroundings. The plants here were all a bit strange, possibly prehistoric plants. Zhao Qiang wasn't interested in them. When he saw some messy marks by the lake, Zhao Qiang frowned.
Donna, of course, noticed Zhao Qiang's movement: "What, is there something here?"
Zhao Qiang said, "It could be an animal that came to drink water, since plants can nourish animals."
Donna tentatively asked, "Killing them shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Zhao Qiang said, "That depends on the size of the opponent. If it's a dinosaur, we'll only have to run for our lives." Without weapons, it would be a pipe dream for Zhao Qiang to kill a huge dinosaur with just his fists.
Donna swallowed a mouthful of compressed biscuit with a hint of panic. "What do we do next?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Let me recover my strength, then you stay here and I'll go inside and scout ahead." This place isn't like the wasteland we traversed before, where you could see far into the distance at a glance. In this green world, dangers are hard to spot until you get close, and bringing Donna along isn't a good idea.
Donna pointed to the green world ahead and asked, "Are you planning to go deeper?"
Zhao Qiang asked, "Do you have any other ideas?"
Donna said, "I don't have any other ideas, but since we can't go up, why don't we go down? It's not worth going around in circles in this forest and coming back."
"Go downhill?" Zhao Qiang asked. He was a smart man and understood immediately. Looking downstream from the lake, there was a winding river. It's common knowledge that water flows downhill. If we went with the river, we would definitely reach a lower place. However, whether we would find a way out was still unknown. But it was definitely better than running around the forest.
Volume 2 [735] The Prey
Even the smartest person, even with the assistance of a biochip, sometimes cannot consider all aspects of a problem. Zhao Qiang had been thinking about how to get up, but he hadn't really thought about how to get down. Even when he encountered the bright crack, he was just curious and wanted to explore the source of the light. However, later, probably because of the earthquake caused by the impact during the landing, Zhao Qiang was bounced back up, and the bright crack disappeared. Only then did Zhao Qiang give up. Now that Donna has proposed to go down, Zhao Qiang naturally has to consider it.
Needless to say, there was no hope of going up, unless the anti-gravity device was restored. In that case, no distance would be a problem, but the anti-gravity device was not working at all. So, the chances of going up were slim. Since he couldn't go up, exploring this unknown underground world became the only thing to do. Although Zhao Qiang couldn't find that urgent sense of familiarity anymore, he figured the root of it must be underground. Walking on flat ground might take several days to explore the entire underground world, so he decided to follow the river to the lowest point of this underground world and see what was there.
Donna said, "We can only survive if there's water, don't you think? Besides, we won't get lost if there's a river. Otherwise, we don't even have a compass here, and we might get lost as we walk." This was Donna's reason for going downhill.
Zhao Qiang said, "You're right. Let's follow the river. But I think we've already walked quite a distance today. We should rest here for eight hours before heading out again. Maintaining our strength is more important than anything else."
Donna said, "It's mainly because you're too tired, and you have to carry me. Don't give me any more food unless I'm really starving."
Zhao Qiang pointed to the green forest in the distance and said, "I'll go take a look around there. Maybe I can catch some prey. There are animal tracks on the ground."
Donna was a little worried: "Let's forget about it. We don't know anything about this place. Let's just bear with it for now."
Zhao Qiang said, "How long can we endure this? If we don't eat today, if we don't eat tomorrow, won't we starve to death the day after tomorrow?"
Donna looked at her with concern: "Then be careful, you are my everything now."
Without the X-ray glasses, he couldn't scan, and Zhao Qiang felt incredibly awkward. He stood among the dense plants, which somehow photosynthesized, each one extremely tall. Ahead of him, a tree-like plant lay fallen to the ground. Zhao Qiang glanced at it casually, and what surprised him was that this tree-like plant still had tender green leaves, indicating that it wasn't dead. Moreover, most of its trunk was missing, as if it had been torn open by something. If it had been eaten by some kind of animal, then the animal that could bite through this tree would have immense strength, and its mouth shouldn't be so small anymore.
Zhao Qiang carried a stick he had just picked up from the ground. He weighed it in his hand, unsure how much of a threat it would pose to a large animal, but he had no other weapons. He listened intently; the underground world was deathly silent. Were there only plants here, no animals? Where did the footprints by the lake come from?
Zhao Qiang continued his search forward, but the terrain became increasingly uneven. Suddenly, his foot slipped, and he felt the ground shake. This startled him, and he immediately leaped upwards. Normally, with the help of his running shoes, this jump would have been enough to get him out of danger, but now Zhao Qiang only jumped two meters high. This would be difficult for an ordinary person, but it did not help solve the current problem. Zhao Qiang quickly landed, and the ground continued to churn upwards. At the same time, he heard a whistling sound, and a long, thick object swept across him.
Zhao Qiang's body tumbled along with the ground. Even with his great strength, his body had no foothold. When that long, thick thing lashed out, Zhao Qiang had no way to dodge. He could only release a large amount of energy to protect his body, then spread his arms to meet the thick thing and hug it. Thud! Zhao Qiang was hit hard, but the long, thick weapon didn't send him flying. Instead, Zhao Qiang grabbed it. It couldn't swing back to hit Zhao Qiang again, so it could only shake desperately in the air. Zhao Qiang used his hands and feet to exert force, and the thing shook several times but couldn't shake Zhao Qiang off. Then it slammed Zhao Qiang hard against a tree.
Zhao Qiang was having a really tough time. Before, with his top-tier equipment, this kind of situation would have been almost impossible. But now, he hadn't even seen what the enemy looked like; he was just being tossed around. Zhao Qiang was so dizzy he felt like vomiting. Without top-tier equipment, he was practically inhuman. Fortunately, he had energy to protect himself, but even that would eventually deplete if this continued.
Zhao Qiang was thrown up again, knowing he would be slammed to the ground the next moment. Taking advantage of the momentum, Zhao Qiang leaped away from the thing, his body bouncing away. Only then did Zhao Qiang see clearly what had attacked him: a huge animal with a short neck and a flat body, but with a long, thick tail. The thing Zhao Qiang had grabbed was the tail. The ground Zhao Qiang had stepped on wasn't the real ground at all, but the body of this huge monster. It must have been sleeping quietly, and Zhao Qiang must have woken it up by stepping on its body. So it got up from the ground, and Zhao Qiang thought the earth was shaking.
Zhao Qiang landed on a large tree. Without pausing, he leaped off, and the giant monster stomped down the tree. Zhao Qiang landed with a thud, running and jumping across the ground. The monster's massive size made it agile, allowing Zhao Qiang to catch his breath. He knew that if he didn't kill the monster, it would relentlessly pursue him. Besides, Donna was nearby; escaping himself shouldn't be a problem, but Donna couldn't. Therefore, he had to destroy it.
Zhao Qiang immediately spotted the monster's head, smooth and shiny like a light bulb, which looked somewhat comical. Although the monster's body was enormous, its head was relatively weak, theoretically its weak point. Zhao Qiang immediately separated his energy and enveloped the monster's head. Because the distance was a bit far, Zhao Qiang struggled quite a bit, but he finally succeeded. Under the influence of the energy, the head exploded with a bang, splattering everywhere. The huge monster, which had been relentlessly chasing Zhao Qiang, crashed to the ground, crushing a large area of jungle. In the face of such powerful energy, it was utterly vulnerable.
"Zhao Qiang! Zhao Qiang!" Donna heard a sound in the green forest. She leaned on a stick and went into the jungle to investigate. When Zhao Qiang emerged from behind a big tree and saw her, a large head was already above Donna's head. It was another monster, possibly a pair with this one, but it had just arrived and happened to bump into the reckless Donna. At this moment, Donna was completely unaware and was still shouting Zhao Qiang's name as she hurriedly limped in.
Zhao Qiang cursed under his breath, immediately shooting out energy while simultaneously rushing towards the monster. The monster took a bite, only to find that its delicious meal was blocked by an invisible barrier on the other side. Enraged, the monster stomped down. Zhao Qiang could only intensify his energy delivery, then pounced on her, shoving the still unaware Donna aside. He then grabbed her around the waist and ran off into the distance.
Donna stood there dumbfounded for a long time, not reacting. Then she heard the sound of the monster stomping and shattering Zhao Qiang's energy ball. A deafening boom erupted, sending dust flying and even knocking the enormous creature to the ground, demonstrating the power of Zhao Qiang's energy. However, Zhao Qiang's energy was waning, and the monster was proving too difficult to deal with. He also needed to carry Donna, so he had to kill it quickly.
Zhao Qiang immediately fired another energy ball to envelop the monster's head. Because it was invisible, the monster had no way to dodge. Boom! The energy ball under Zhao Qiang's control exploded, and the head was completely blown off. The headless monster crashed to the ground. Although it was clean, the impact on Zhao Qiang's energy was too great.
Donna stared at the two enormous corpses, trembling as she said, "What... what are these things? I suspect the virus from New York might have spread here." She had indeed encountered more powerful mutated monsters in the NYU lab, but those things should have been gradually eliminated after a cure for the virus was found.
Zhao Qiang said, "I don't think so. These two might be native inhabitants of this underground world."
Donna asked, "Do you think they might be dinosaurs? Our discovery has shocked the world, it's a pity we can't take pictures, what a shame."
Zhao Qiang said, "Regardless of whether they are dinosaurs or not, the appearance of these two monsters means that things are not peaceful here. We must be on high alert."
Donna said, "I knew you were worried even though you didn't say it. I was just advising you not to come in looking for food, but the noise from inside almost scared me to death." Donna was genuinely concerned about Zhao Qiang; even though she knew his foot was injured, she insisted on coming in to check on him.
Zhao Qiang said, "We definitely need to find food. We have two carcasses that we can't finish eating, so let's cut some meat and roast it to have a taste."
Donna said, "Let's get out of here quickly. I'm afraid there might be other monsters. Look how rough its skin is, it definitely won't taste good." Those two monsters did look disgusting, and someone like Donna who had never experienced hardship would definitely not be used to them.
Zhao Qiang didn't care too much. As long as he could eat, he could replenish his energy. Rather than continuing to venture deeper into the forest, he might as well try the meat of this monster. Since he was already in a desperate situation, based on his understanding of his own body, Zhao Qiang believed that eating the meat wouldn't make things any worse.
Zhao Qiang has never had the habit of carrying a dagger with him. His knives are always transformed from any kind of equipment. But now that thing can't obey his commands. So Zhao Qiang encountered his first problem: to eat meat, he first needed to find a knife to cut it. Otherwise, if he had to bite these two huge creatures with his teeth, he probably wouldn't be able to eat roasted meat for several hours.
Donna bent down and fumbled around on her lap for a moment, then tossed it to Zhao Qiang: "Here you go, I knew you wouldn't carry a knife with you."
This is a Swiss Army knife, which Donna probably carries with her in case of emergency. Unexpectedly, it actually came in handy. Zhao Qiang smiled gratefully. He needed to replenish his food, otherwise, if he ran out of energy and a few more of these big monsters appeared, he would be in big trouble. He had already struggled quite a bit to blow off the heads of these two monsters with his energy. If he didn't replenish his energy, he wouldn't be able to do anything else.
Zhao Qiang casually chose the monster that was closest to him. Although it was headless, the nerves in its legs seemed to still be responding, twitching occasionally. When Zhao Qiang plunged his knife into its ugly and thick skin, it shuddered violently, but it did not affect the large chunk of flesh that Zhao Qiang cut off.
This thigh was as thick as a large desk, and that wasn't even the thickest part. Zhao Qiang, after cutting off a large chunk of meat, was afraid it wasn't enough, and seeing that the meat behind seemed to have even more fat, he made another cut. Donna's knife was quite sharp; the sizzling sound of it cutting flesh was almost unbearable. Zhao Qiang slashed down hard. A regular multi-purpose military knife, after all, wasn't military-grade, and its length was limited. Zhao Qiang could only rely on his strength to try and cut the meat off completely in one stroke. But because he used so much force and cut too deep, he actually encountered the monster's leg bone. With a sharp, metallic scraping sound, Zhao Qiang was stunned. How could animal bones make that sound when a military knife clashed?
Volume Two [736] Downstream
Donna didn't notice anything amiss. Her quick thinking couldn't compare to Zhao Qiang's. Seeing Zhao Qiang's hand freeze, Donna asked, "What's wrong? Don't you want to eat anymore? I think you should just hold off and wait until today."
Zhao Qiang said, "No, did you hear the sound?" As he spoke, Zhao Qiang slashed a few times, and the military knife made a metallic scraping sound against the monster's leg bone.
Donna then noticed, "What was that sound? Why are its bones so hard?"
Zhao Qiang quickly sliced open the flesh on the monster's leg, revealing a section of snow-white, gleaming bone mixed with blood.
"This...this isn't bone, it's metal!" Even Donna realized something was wrong.
Zhao Qiang said, "Yes, I've never heard of an animal with metal growing inside its body. Could it have had its bones broken and then been set?" At this moment, there was still a lot of flesh hanging on its thick legs, so it was impossible to see the whole thing. Another possibility is that this animal was born with such a skeleton.
Donna chuckled: "Are you kidding me? I think we're the first visitors here in thousands or even tens of thousands of years. How could anyone have set the bones of these behemoths?"
Zhao Qiang continued cutting with his military knife. Now that he had discovered the strange thing, there was no reason to stop. Soon, the flesh separated from the bone. This was because Zhao Qiang was strong enough; otherwise, it would have taken at least a day to cut open that thigh.
An hour later, a complete leg skeleton appeared before the two of them. Donna was completely speechless and was speechless again, because what was placed in front of them was a mixed skeleton. The front half of the leg bone was obviously made of metal, but the back half, including the bones deep inside the huge body, was not significantly different from those of ordinary animals on the ground.
Zhao Qiang didn't waste any more time. He had already seen the result he wanted. He casually picked up a large piece of meat from the ground, pulled Donna along, and walked towards the lake. Donna then woke up. "It really is a bone graft. Otherwise, all its bones should be made of metal. But it only has half a leg. It's clearly been grafted by a skilled doctor."
Zhao Qiang said, "Yes, so we are not the only intelligent beings in this underground place. Therefore, we must replenish our strength immediately. After all, we do not know if the other party is friendly, so we must be more vigilant."
Donna was a little scared. She already needed Zhao Qiang's support to walk, and now she was practically nestled in his arms. Zhao Qiang simply picked her up, but because he was still carrying meat in his other hand, he could only half-hug her, pressing his arm almost entirely against her chest. At first, neither of them noticed, as they were all focused on the half-metal frame. Later, when they were away from the fighting area, Donna's chest felt constricted. Looking down, she saw her half-naked breasts severely deformed by the pressure, and her face flushed red. After all, no matter how open-minded she was, she was still a girl.
Despite his exhaustion, Zhao Qiang ran with all his might, walking downstream for at least two kilometers. He was genuinely afraid that the battle had alerted some unknown creature, or perhaps two more of those enormous monsters, so keeping his distance was the best policy. Finally, the two stopped on a sandy bank at a bend in the river. Some withered plants lay discarded on the water's edge, perfect for starting a fire. Whether the smoke would attract anything was of no concern to Zhao Qiang; he needed to replenish his strength, but he couldn't stomach eating raw meat.
The lighter was in his backpack, and Zhao Qiang himself was a smoker and always carried cigarettes with him, so starting a fire was no problem. He casually tore off a branch and put the meat on to roast. Zhao Qiang checked Tang Na's foot injury, which had been aggravated by Tang Na's unauthorized entry into the battlefield. The newly seeping blood had soaked through the gauze bandage.
Zhao Qiang took out gauze from his bag and re-bandaged Donna, while admonishing her, "Don't be reckless. If something happens, you must protect yourself first. This is not to say that you should desert, but that you can't really help if you stay. Instead, you will distract me."
Donna was somewhat dismissive: "I know, you're just being long-winded. From now on, I'll do whatever you ask me to do."
Zhao Qiang tied the gauze back on, removed Donna's foot from his thigh, and said, "I hope so."
Zhao Qiang leaned closer to the fire and smelled the meat. It was sizzling with oil and didn't have any unpleasant smell, so it shouldn't be bad. It was a pity there was no salt. Zhao Qiang turned the meat over and thought to himself, occasionally making a few cuts in the meat with his military knife to make sure the meat inside cooked through quickly. Zhao Qiang didn't have time to wait, even if he had to replenish half of his strength first.
Judging that there was no blood left, Zhao Qiang cut off a piece and was about to throw it to Donna when Donna hurriedly waved her hand and said, "Don't worry about me, I'm hungry first. Take care of yourself first. I can tell you're really hungry."
Zhao Qiang didn't force her. Besides, it was still unknown whether ordinary people would have any problems eating this meat. They would wait until Donna finished the compressed biscuits before making a decision.
A dozen minutes later, about six or seven pounds of roasted meat had entered Zhao Qiang's stomach. To be honest, Zhao Qiang couldn't quite taste it. It certainly didn't have the aroma that real roasted meat should have, but it wasn't bad either. After it went down his stomach, it was immediately broken down into energy, which warmed Zhao Qiang's body. He felt a little more at ease and was much more at ease. He wasn't in such a hurry to stuff the rest of the roasted meat into his stomach. He tried to let it cook a little longer, thinking that it would taste better that way.
Donna was a little frightened and started to feel sleepy. By the time Zhao Qiang finished all the barbecue, she was already snoring softly, her hands half-covering her chest, making her breasts look even more alluring. Zhao Qiang stared at her for a while, worried that Donna might catch a cold, since the temperature inside wasn't very high. He took off his clothes and covered Donna with them. Perhaps it was the pebbles under her that were bothering her, but Donna turned over and released her hands from her chest. Instantly, her two mounds of tender flesh spread out to the sides like an exploding watermelon, creating a strong visual impact.
Zhao Qiang quietly sat down next to Donna, stared at her chest for a moment, then poked it with his finger. Feeling good, Zhao Qiang chuckled, lay down next to Donna, and pulled her into his arms. Donna was half asleep, but she knew it was Zhao Qiang. There shouldn't be a third person here. She didn't resist Zhao Qiang's embrace at all. Instead, she snuggled closer to Zhao Qiang and slept even more soundly.
While sleeping, Zhao Qiang had to be vigilant about the surrounding noises. He couldn't sleep soundly because there was a girl in his arms. However, Donna slept very soundly and didn't wake up until seven hours later. Her previous fatigue and pain from her foot injury seemed to have been swept away.
“Let’s go,” Donna said, pointing downstream. The path they had just walked was still within the large lake beneath the waterfall, but they were already at the edge. They could see the lake water flowing down from the wide river channel. Because the channel was wide enough, the sound of the water was gentle and almost imperceptible.
Zhao Qiang sat up and stretched. His energy had recovered to two-thirds. If he hadn't had to carry Donna and take ten more pounds of meat, he would have fully recovered his energy. The meat tasted ordinary, but it was definitely high in energy.
"No rush," Zhao Qiang said.
Donna said, "Not in a hurry? Are you going to take another nap here? Don't forget that we're not far from where those two monsters appeared."
Zhao Qiang said, "We need to build transportation. With transportation, we can achieve twice the result with half the effort." As he spoke, Zhao Qiang pointed to the tall plants further away on the shore.
Donna slapped her forehead: "That's right! Since we're going to follow the river, we can build a raft. That way we can save energy and speed up our journey."
Zhao Qiang said, "It's just that our tools are too limited, and cutting down trees will take quite a bit of effort."
Donna clenched her fist and said, "Don't be afraid, we'll definitely succeed if we work together."
Zhao Qiang said, "Your strength is just a drop in the ocean. I'll give you an easy job: help me grill meat."
Donna said, "Sure, but my skills are just average. Are you planning to go back to the previous battlefield to get more meat?"
Zhao Qiang nodded. "That's why I want you to hide well first and not come out until I get back. No matter what happens, don't act impulsively."
Donna nodded in agreement: "Don't worry, you should be careful too."
However, their worries seemed somewhat unnecessary, as Zhao Qiang encountered no danger upon returning to the spot where he had killed the two monsters. The leg skeletons that had been removed earlier remained motionless. This time, Zhao Qiang chopped down a tree branch, skewered several large pieces of meat onto it, and carried it back on his shoulder. Donna emerged from her hiding place; she seemed to have been very obedient, hiding well while Zhao Qiang was away. Zhao Qiang placed the meat near the fire, and Donna's task was to turn it over occasionally to prevent it from burning.
With food as a reserve, Zhao Qiang felt more at ease. He released his energy and quickly knocked down several tall plants, binding them together to form a raft. Considering Donna's injured foot, he specially added a layer to the raft to keep it away from the water and prevent water from splashing onto her wound. He also cut a straight and long plant stalk to use as a steer. By this time, the roasted meat was cooked. Zhao Qiang lifted Donna onto the raft, touched the riverbed with the long stalk, and the raft entered the water.
Indeed, it was time-saving and labor-saving. The raft drifted downstream at a pace similar to a person walking briskly. The riverbanks were lined with low-lying plants. The raft drifted for more than half an hour, and the light remained relatively constant, almost stable at a level that was a few degrees dimmer than the outside sunlight. Zhao Qiang observed that the source of the light should be on the arched ceiling above his head, but he didn't know what it was, and that wasn't the point.
"Look, what's that?" Donna shouted, pointing to the shore. Zhao Qiang turned his head and saw a group of unidentified animals drinking water. They were startled by Donna's shout, but instead of running away, they looked up at the raft with curiosity.
Life can thrive wherever there is water and plants, even if it is thousands of meters underground.
"How exactly did this magical world come into being?" Donna couldn't help but ask.
Zhao Qiang said, "To put it more vividly, this is a large bubble inside the Earth. It may have originally been part of the Earth's surface, but as the Earth's crust shifted and collapsed into the depths, the plants and animals that were originally on the surface multiplied here, thus forming this world."
Donna asked, "Why was there no grass growing where we walked before?"