Zhou Ziwei turned around and searched the entire inner wall of the sandy space, but he couldn't find even a single bullet hole, which made him even more puzzled.
If it really was an attack, even if the four researchers who came out of the underground base were all hidden masters, and even if there were already several accomplices from the enemy among the eleven members of the Dragon Group, then... Zhou Ziwei couldn't believe that these people could act so swiftly, leaving no chance for bullets to even fire a single shot!
This was too unbelievable, so Zhou Ziwei was somewhat willing to believe that these people had not been harmed at all, but simply did not want to stay and wait for him, so they left first. However, before leaving... someone had a mischievous idea and drew this ghost face on the wall.
only……
Zhou Ziwei reached out and grabbed the inner wall of the sandy space. He immediately felt that although the walls were made of sand and fine soil, the density of the sand had reached an astonishing level due to the solidification and compression of the earth's power by Zhou Ziwei. It was even harder than ordinary stone.
And... this ghost face pattern is clearly carved by someone with their finger. So... who on earth would be so bored as to draw such a pattern on a wall harder than stone? And who... has such powerful finger strength that they can leave such a deep mark on a wall as hard as rock with their own flesh and blood?
With a cold expression, Zhou Ziwei stretched out his hand and tried to trace the marks of the ghost face. He then concluded that it was actually the mark left by a woman's finger.
Generally speaking, women's fingers are slightly thinner than men's.
Of course... nothing is absolute. There are men with long, thin fingers, and there are plenty of women with fingers as thick as radishes.
However, considering the incredibly lifelike style of the drawing, Zhou Ziwei was almost certain that the ghost face was drawn by a woman.
Among the women in the Dragon Group, which one possesses such formidable strength?
While the Dragon Group's captain, Bullet, possesses extraordinary skill, her expertise lies in marksmanship. As for her actual strength, Zhou Ziwei has not specifically tested it, so it's difficult to say.
However... Zhou Ziwei ruled out the two of them, her and the blind boy, because the blind boy was very short and the bullet was disabled in both legs. However, the position of the ghost face drawn was not low. Under normal circumstances, neither the bullet nor the blind boy would be able to reach their hands to such a high place. So even if they had the ability to draw on hard stone walls, it was not something that the two of them could do.
Furthermore... Zhou Ziwei couldn't quite figure out the Spider Woman. This girl was also quite young, both being minors, but the Spider Woman's special skills were quite extraordinary. Spiders are very fierce creatures, and the Spider Woman had lived with such fierce creatures for many years. Even if she hadn't yet learned the amazing skills of Spider-Man in the movies, she was probably close.
So even though Spider Woman isn't very tall, it wouldn't be surprising if she could draw a picture up to the ceiling.
Of course... it's highly questionable whether the Spider Woman actually possesses such immense power!
Furthermore, Jiang Chunshui was completely ignored by Zhou Ziwei. If asked which of these women he knew best, Zhou Ziwei would undoubtedly choose Jiang Chunshui. The two had shared a bed for a night, and although nothing concrete happened, there had been some physical contact. Afterwards, Zhou Ziwei personally helped Jiang Chunshui regenerate an arm and a leg. During this process, Zhou Ziwei constantly compared Jiang Chunshui's original limbs, essentially reconstructing her body. Therefore, he knew Jiang Chunshui's strength even better than Jiang Chunshui herself, and he was unlikely to make a mistake in this regard.
Besides that, it seems that the female researcher in the underground research base is the most suspicious. However... that woman was bitten by crocodiles in the lake and was covered in blood and flesh without any ability to resist. Could she really be such a master, a master who can draw such a clear picture on a wall harder than stone with just one finger?
Zhou Ziwei shook his head slightly. Perhaps this painting was drawn by an outsider. Then wouldn't that mean that... Zidan Jiang Chunshui and the others have probably already fallen into the hands of others!
Zhou Ziwei estimated that from the time he left until now, it had only been about seven or eight minutes. So even if they were captured immediately after he left, they shouldn't have been able to get very far.
Zhou Ziwei was confident that he could search the surrounding ten-kilometer radius in an instant, leaving no trace within that area. And... no matter how fast those people were, they couldn't possibly take someone away from the original ten-kilometer radius in six or seven minutes!
In that case, unless they left by plane, but... Zhou Ziwei wasn't that far from here just now. If a plane had flown by, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't have been unaware of it.
Zhou Ziwei didn't continue to study what the ghost face painted on the wall meant. Instead, he immediately flew back into the forest and, with a wave of his hand, forcibly gathered all the dozens of small insects that were still flying at night with a gentle breeze.
Immediately afterwards, Zhou Ziwei spared no expense in injecting a large amount of soul power into the bodies of these flying insects. In the blink of an eye, one Kun Pet after another was created by Zhou Ziwei.
Each Kun pet requires a considerable amount of soul power to create. If Zhou Ziwei's total soul power reserves hadn't already exceeded one million, he probably wouldn't have the courage to expend so much energy.
However, now... in such a vast, dark primeval forest, Zhou Ziwei knew that if he relied solely on his soul power to scan the area, he would easily miss some people. It would be more appropriate to subdue some Kun pets and use them as scouts.
Capturing these dozens of Kun pets didn't take Zhou Ziwei much time. After he released all the Kun pets, which had re-condensed into independent souls, and let them each take charge of a direction to conduct a carpet search, Zhou Ziwei immediately swayed and sank into the ground.
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 542: The Overlord Spider
With so many insects searching on the ground, Zhou Ziwei was confident that as long as those people hadn't left the ten-kilometer radius, they would definitely be found by these insects. However... if the Dragon Group members had gone underground, then these insects wouldn't be able to find them. It's not impossible that some natives are accustomed to living in caves, and Zhou Ziwei had to take precautions against that.
The thought of a group of national elites being captured by cannibals in this primeval forest, stripped naked, and then roasted and eaten over a fire sends chills down Zhou Ziwei's spine.
Of course... the possibility of this happening is almost zero. Zhou Ziwei simply couldn't believe that these elites among the elites of the domestic military would be so spineless.
Although most of these people were unarmed at the time, even if they were unarmed, they shouldn't have been bullied so badly by some natives, right? You have to remember that they were only a dozen or so people, but they wiped out an armed group of hundreds of people with good weapons in one fell swoop. How could ordinary natives be a match for these elites?
However, nothing is absolute. The disappearance of these Dragon Group members was too mysterious, and Zhou Ziwei had to consider all aspects to ensure that they could be found as quickly as possible.
Zhou Ziwei moved like a fish swimming in water, constantly searching for any suspicious places on the ground. In a short time, he had already burrowed thousands of meters underground.
Zhou Ziwei did not personally burrow into every inch of the soil underground, after all, his soul power could perform a clairvoyant scan with a radius of 240 meters.
So Zhou Ziwei was basically circling around more than 200 meters underground, and his soul power was radiating outwards in a ray-like pattern, constantly feeding back any unusual reactions from the surrounding soil into his mind.
Suddenly... about two thousand meters away from that dilapidated sandy space, deep underground, Zhou Ziwei discovered that a fairly complete underground city was buried there.
The size of this underground city is unknown; at least, Zhou Ziwei's soul power could not detect it. Within the area that Zhou Ziwei explored, more than half of the city was completely buried by soil, but a small part, due to being blocked by the surrounding mountain walls and rocks, had formed a huge space deep underground.
Zhou Ziwei marveled at the wonders of the world. It was clear that this city must have a history of at least several thousand years. The architectural style of the city was completely different from modern buildings, and it gave people a sense of novelty everywhere.
However, Zhou Ziwei didn't have time to appreciate the scenery. He knew that there were many well-preserved and valuable artifacts in the underground city, but he simply didn't have the time to care about them.
After discovering this strange underground city, Zhou Ziwei simply traversed it from east to west. He found that there was no sign of air movement in the underground city, which meant that the entire city had been buried underground for who knows how many years and should not have been discovered by anyone or become the nest of the current indigenous people.
So Zhou Ziwei left the underground city without hesitation and quickly burrowed deeper underground.
Shortly after Zhou Ziwei's figure disappeared, large swathes of soil were pushed out in all directions from a palace-like building that had been buried in mud. Then, five figures slowly appeared in the open area of the underground city.
All five people were covered in long black robes that appeared to be made of leather. They were all very thin, but extremely tall, and walked with a swaying gait, which looked indescribably strange.
Moreover, if Zhou Ziwei were still nearby at that moment, he would have clearly heard a teeth-grinding "crunch, crunch" sound as the five people took their first steps.
The five of them staggered out of the buried palace, walked together, exchanged glances, and then turned around in unison, all facing the direction where Zhou Ziwei had just disappeared, letting out a series of chilling laughs that seemed to come from hell.
At this time, Zhou Ziwei had not gone far, so with his super hearing that was almost as good as that of a blind child, he could faintly hear some strange sounds. He was secretly surprised. But before he could decide whether to turn back and see what was strange in the underground city, his sea of souls suddenly received a very urgent and rapidly changing sensory signal from one of the Kun Chong.
Something's wrong... Zhou Ziwei was startled and immediately changed direction, his body spinning like a top, heading straight upwards towards the ground...
Originally, Zhou Ziwei and Kun Chong could only communicate with each other within ten times the range of his soul power's scanning range. If the distance was too far, Zhou Ziwei and Kun Chong could only sense a general direction, which was almost equivalent to a coordinate.
Moreover, the greater the distance between the two parties, the weaker and more blurred this spiritual connection becomes.
For example, the soul connection between Zhou Ziwei and his group of Kun Chong in China has faded to the point of being almost imperceptible.
However, as Zhou Ziwei manipulated Kun pets more and more often, he conducted a lot of research on how to make better use of their effects and finally gained a lot of useful experience.
For example... since he and Kun Chong could still sense each other's presence even after going beyond a certain range, this proves that this soul connection still exists. The reason they knew nothing more than the general direction of the other was because neither of their souls experienced any strong or significant fluctuations.
In this situation where they can sense each other, if one of their souls experiences a strong fluctuation... wouldn't the other one be able to sense it immediately?
So Zhou Ziwei used this principle to establish a strange soul language with the insects he controlled. Calling it a language isn't entirely accurate; it would be more fitting to call it a code. This soul language consisted of five phrases… or rather, five different ways of transmitting soul energy. Zhou Ziwei could determine the specific meaning conveyed by the soul energy transmitted from distant insects.
Because the soul language consists of only five sentences, it's not difficult to learn at all. For those connected by their souls, it's even easier to grasp. Therefore, although the dozens of insect pets Zhou Ziwei had just captured might not possess exceptional intelligence or extraordinary abilities, as independent soul entities created within living beings, their intelligence was generally quite high. Thus, Zhou Ziwei effortlessly taught those insect pets the powerful soul language he had invented, a language usable only between him and his insect pets.
Moreover, although these Kun pets were only encountering this strange soul language for the first time, they were basically able to understand and use it. For example, right now... Zhou Ziwei deciphered the meaning that the Kun pet was trying to express from the rapid soul fluctuations it was transmitting—extreme danger... save it immediately.
Zhou Ziwei wasn't sure whether the extreme danger the Kun pet was trying to convey referred to the Kun pet's current situation, or whether it had found a member of the Dragon Group and discovered that the member was in dire straits. It seemed this soul language was too concise, resulting in its imperfections; further improvements were needed.
Zhou Ziwei muttered to himself, but his movements didn't slow down at all. Although he couldn't be sure whether the Kun beast had actually found a member of the Dragon Group, given the current lack of clues, Zhou Ziwei had no choice but to err on the side of caution. Otherwise, if he missed this warning and Jiang Chunshui and the others suffered any harm, Zhou Ziwei would definitely regret it.
With a "whoosh," in less than ten seconds, Zhou had already emerged from hundreds of meters underground.
Such a rapid burrowing speed was many times faster than most people running on flat ground. After emerging from the ground, Zhou Ziwei immediately created a tornado and flew without stopping into the sky above the primeval forest. Then, he flew at top speed towards Kun Chong, who had just sent him a distress signal.
Fortunately, the two weren't very far apart. Zhou Ziwei flew at full speed and estimated he could reach the location of the Kun pet in less than a minute. However… Zhou Ziwei had only flown a short distance when his soul connection with the Kun pet abruptly vanished. The soul connection disappeared, and there was absolutely no way to sense it anymore. In that case, there could only be one conclusion: the Kun pet no longer existed.
He's dead...
With a helpless sigh, Zhou Ziwei knew he had probably made a wasted trip. The distress signal the Kun pet had just sent was most likely directed at itself. It was quite possible that the Kun pet had been flying aimlessly through the primeval jungle, encountered some predator, and been killed. In its dying moments, driven by the instinct for survival, it would naturally grasp at any hope, and its call for help from Zhou Ziwei was perfectly understandable.
After all, every animal has the instinct to survive, and this tiny insect, after receiving an independent soul from Zhou Ziwei, became much more intelligent and even less willing to die easily.
Zhou Ziwei had only just captured these small insects and temporarily created independent souls for them, so there wasn't much emotional connection between him and these little insect pets. Therefore, even though he knew that the insect pet must have died, he didn't feel any sadness.
However, out of caution, Zhou Ziwei decided to go and check the spot where Kun Chong had died. Even though he knew in his heart that doing so was completely pointless…
Zhou Ziwei flew very fast, just like a gust of wind. In a short while, he arrived at the direction from which the soul fluctuation in his memory had come. Then, Zhou Ziwei leaped into the air and, with a whirlwind, floated directly into the forest.
Sure enough... there wasn't a single person in sight. Judging from the withered leaves and weeds on the ground, there was no trace of anyone having passed through this place.
After Zhou Ziwei carefully confirmed the location, he discovered that at the approximate location where the Kun Chong, which had transmitted soul fluctuations to him, had last been, a huge spider web was hanging there. A large spider, about half the size of an infant's fist, with blue and white patterns on its body and an extremely fierce and ugly appearance, was hanging in the very center of the spider web, its round belly bulging out, lazily and half-heartedly repairing the holes in the spider web.
Clearly... a very powerful prey was caught in this net just now, for it managed to wriggle through this enormous web so fiercely. Presumably... it was the Kunlun beast that sent Zhou Ziwei the distress message!
Zhou Ziwei sighed softly, but showed no intention of avenging his Kunchong.
After all... this world is a world where the strong prey on the weak, especially for these creatures living in the primeval forest. These small and weak creatures, or perhaps their only value is to provide food for other creatures that are larger than them.
However, any creature that Zhou Ziwei endowed with an independent soul immediately experienced a significant increase in intelligence, far surpassing that of any other creature on Earth besides humans. Thus, these originally weak insects, having gained intelligence, learned to protect themselves and how to avoid danger. They would quickly steer clear of predators and flee at the first sign of trouble. Therefore, even those insects whose strength did not increase much, as long as their intelligence remained intact, would always live much longer than their original counterparts.
Even if it encountered its most feared natural enemy, it would definitely have the ability to fight back. However, unfortunately... the Kun Chong that just died here encountered an even more formidable natural enemy. Zhou Ziwei had just obtained the soul memories of nearly a hundred researchers by the lake.
It's important to understand that the place was originally a specialized biological research base, primarily conducting various biological studies. Therefore, it housed countless biological researchers.
After Zhou Ziwei recited the Six-Syllable Mantra, he devoured all the souls in that location. The biologist's soul he obtained, after a simple integration, immediately transformed Zhou Ziwei into a rare, naturally gifted biologist. It should be noted that those who could enter that underground research base were definitely not ordinary scholars; each of them possessed unique insights into biology and accumulated years of research achievements and experience.
With the experience and knowledge of so many biological experts, Zhou Ziwei was destined to become a great scientist. After combining the memories of so many biologists, he could proudly say that there was practically no species of living organisms in the world that he couldn't recognize.
The large blue and white spider mending its web in mid-air in the forest was actually a rare Tyrannosaurus Rex. Despite its fierce appearance, the Tyrannosaurus Rex is not poisonous. However, when it unleashes its power, it can even devour a bird that crashes into its web.
Tyrannosaurus rex spiders are born artists; every single web they weave could be exhibited in a museum.
The spider webs they weave are quite strange in style, with patterns layered upon each other, stretching endlessly, almost like a deep maze. These beautiful spider webs are not particularly strong, but they often catch many powerful birds, and if the web is woven near the ground, it can even catch a wild rabbit.
This phenomenon was almost unbelievable. Later, after numerous experiments and studies, biologists were astonished to discover that the spider web woven by the Tyrannosaurus Rex actually had a faint hypnotic and hallucinogenic effect. Of course, this hypnotic and hallucinogenic effect is practically non-existent for humans, but it is an absolutely deadly temptation for insects, birds, and small animals with their pitifully small brains.
Other spiders weave their webs in inconspicuous corners to catch insects that accidentally stumble upon them. But the king spider weaves its web wherever it's bright and conspicuous. Any insect or even bird that flies onto its web is only lured in by the sight of it and willingly walks into it.
As far as Zhou Ziwei knows, very few of these giant spiders have been found worldwide so far, and most of those that have been found are from Southeast Asia.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Ziwei encountered one in the US today. What puzzled him even more was that the spider's web could only confuse insects and birds with low intelligence. Zhou Ziwei's pet insect, having gained an independent soul, should be more intelligent than this spider, right? So how did it fall for this giant spider's trick?
Zhou Ziwei shook his head and was about to turn and leave when he paused slightly, a thought suddenly popping into his head.
This Tyrannosaurus Rex is a unique species found only in Southeast Asia, yet it has appeared in the primeval forests of M continent. This... the climate here is so different from the subtropical climate of Southeast Asia. Even if Tyrannosaurus Rex exists in other parts of the world, it seems unlikely that it would appear here, right? Could it be... that this little thing has some connection with the Spider Woman?
Volume 3, King of the City, Chapter 543: Trapped in One's Own Trap
Zhou Ziwei knew that the Spider Woman kept a lot of spiders on her body, almost all kinds of them. However, this battle was more direct, and these treasures on the Spider Woman's body did not come in very useful.
Zhou Ziwei had always felt a sense of disgust towards these ugly little insects with eight legs, so he never bothered to scan the densely packed creatures that covered the Spider Woman's body. Naturally, he had no idea what kind of spiders the Spider Woman kept on her.
However, theoretically speaking, it is quite rare and inexplicable that a rare spider that only occasionally appears in the vicinity of Southeast Asia would suddenly appear in North M. Or... this spider was brought here by someone else and abandoned here for some unknown reason. That would make sense, right?
Zhou Ziwei looked up at the spider suspended in mid-air and considered for a moment. Then, he suddenly reached out and beckoned. Instantly, the airflow in his palm began to spin rapidly, forming a small whirlwind. Naturally, a powerful suction force was generated at the center of the whirlwind. The Tyrannosaurus Spider, which was diligently repairing its web in mid-air, trembled all over. Then, with a "pop," it was sucked down from the web and landed on Zhou Ziwei's palm with a "whoosh."
Zhou Ziwei really disliked spiders, so he didn't actually let the Tyrant Spider land on his palm. Instead, he held it up with his breath, tilted his head and studied it for a while before finally slowly and intermittently injecting a wisp of soul power into the Tyrant Spider's body.
Zhou Ziwei had caught quite a few insects in the past, but they were almost all small, flying insects. As for spiders, they were never on Zhou Ziwei's radar.
After all, this thing is not only too ugly, but it can't fly and moves extremely slowly, so it really has little to offer.
However, Zhou Ziwei wanted to determine from this Tyrant Spider whether it contained information about Spider Woman and the others, but since the spider couldn't speak, he had no choice but to capture it and create an independent soul within it to see if he could gain anything more.