Chapter 00026: Encounter with the Beast Horde
# Encounter with the Beast Horde
Chapter 26
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 26: Encounter with the Beast Horde
Ding Huan was still planning his cultivation path.
In his previous life, he had left Earth two years later aboard a spaceship from the Gene Alliance.
At that time, there were eleven ships leaving Earth, and the one he was on was primarily focused on genetic research.
According to the Gene Alliance's plan, the journey through space was supposed to take three years.
During this time, they were to search for life forms in outer space, collect genetic material, and send out signals using virtual wave frequencies to seek out alien civilizations.
Thinking of this, Ding Huan shook his head.
These guys were practically asking for trouble.
If they really found an alien civilization like the Changyi Continent, Earth would be in deep trouble.
The Changyi Continent would undoubtedly treat Earth as a backyard garden, forcing all its inhabitants to mine elemental ores.
And that was only because the Changyi Continent's genetic science had developed to a certain level.
Otherwise, all humans on Earth would have been subjected to large-scale genetic experiments.
The Gene Alliance's fleet met with disaster a year after leaving Earth when their ship collided with a black hole.
Ding Huan later learned that this was a wormhole, something that was difficult to describe accurately with current scientific terminology.
However, passing through a wormhole could potentially allow travel from one galaxy to another.
In other words, the straight-line distance between these two galaxies might be countless light-years, but a wormhole could bypass that distance, allowing instantaneous travel.
It was like an infinitely long wall.
To get from one side to the other, you would normally have to go around it, which would take a long time.
But if you could punch a hole through the wall, you could reach the other side in an instant.
A wormhole wasn't exactly like that, but it could achieve a similar effect.
Once the ship entered the wormhole, even a third-level gene cultivator like Ding Huan could only wait for death.
And the strongest among the Gene Alliance's members from Earth was probably only a third-level gene cultivator.
Ding Huan sighed.
He had survived because, after the ship disintegrated, he encountered a starship from the Changyi Continent.
The captain of that ship was a ninth-level gene cultivator, and he had rescued Ding Huan just before the ship completely broke apart.
Everyone else on the ship had perished.
Although Ding Huan never saw that captain again and never learned his name or background, he was always deeply grateful to him.
As his thoughts returned to the present, Ding Huan realized a problem.
If he wanted to leave Earth again, would he have to join the Gene Alliance fleet once more? And would he have to board the same ninth ship as before? That might not work.
In his previous life, he had survived because of sheer luck.
If he left Earth with the Gene Alliance fleet again, even if he boarded the ninth ship and encountered the wormhole a year later, would he definitely survive?
After all, everyone on the ninth ship had died when it disintegrated.
He had only survived because he was in the experimental chamber...
Yes, the experimental chamber.
If he were to leave with the fleet again, he would have to stay in the ship's genetic experimental chamber.
Ding Huan shook his head.
The Gene Alliance's ships were set to leave Earth in about two years.
Even if he managed to reach the fourth level of gene cultivation by then, passing through the wormhole would still be a death sentence.
But if he didn't join the fleet, how could he get to the Changyi Continent? Staying on Earth wasn't an option either, as the spiritual energy here wasn't sufficient for his cultivation.
As Ding Huan pondered how to leave Earth, he heard hurried footsteps approaching from the side.
These were experts.
Ding Huan immediately opened his eyes.
The two people who passed by weren't gene cultivators, but they were at least internal force martial artists.
No, one of them was at least a Yellow-level martial artist.
The two men hurried past the business car, rushing forward.
Ding Huan then realized something was wrong.
Normally, if the railway was damaged, repair crews would fix it quickly, usually within twenty minutes.
But now, it had been almost an hour.
Could it be gene beasts?
It was common for gene beasts to form hordes and block trains.
These beasts were intelligent and would find ways to stop the train before attacking.
Thinking of this, Ding Huan stood up.
He couldn't wait any longer.
If it really was a beast horde, his current strength might not be enough to break through.
"Sir, please remain seated and do not leave your seat," a flight attendant said as Ding Huan stood up.
Ding Huan was about to ignore the attendant and leave when he heard the sound of gunfire, followed by the roar of artillery.
Hearing this, Ding Huan sat back down.
The sound of gunfire meant that the military had arrived.
While nuclear weapons couldn't completely eliminate gene beasts, as long as the beasts hadn't formed a true horde, they were no match for conventional weapons.
The gene beasts blocking the train likely hadn't formed a true horde.
If they had, the windows would already be covered with gene beasts.
The fact that the gene beasts outside the window were scattering and fleeing confirmed that this wasn't a true horde.
In a real beast horde, the gene beasts wouldn't flee; they would charge madly toward their target.
Sure enough, within just ten minutes, the gunfire became sporadic and then ceased entirely.
Half an hour later, the train finally started moving again.
Ding Huan sighed.
He knew this was just the beginning.
Although villages were frequently destroyed by gene beasts these days, a true beast horde hadn't yet formed.
The main reason was that the number and level of gene beasts were still within controllable limits.
But once their numbers exploded and their levels continued to rise, a true beast horde would emerge.
The gene beasts that had blocked the train this time had been driven away, and many had been killed.
This would surely provoke their vengeance.
Gene-mutated beasts were becoming increasingly intelligent, and blocking the railway to stop the train was undoubtedly a planned action.
This time, many beasts had been killed.
Next time, even more might come to block this route.
Unfortunately, Ding Huan knew that his warnings would be useless.
Even if someone believed him and stopped the train, the gene beasts would simply redirect their hatred elsewhere.
As long as the leader of this small-scale gene beast attack remained alive, the outcome wouldn't change.
"Hey, is that you, Ding Huan?" A surprised voice made Ding Huan open his eyes in astonishment.
Was there someone familiar here? Ding Huan quickly realized that it was indeed someone he knew.
He smiled and said, "Long time no see, Liu Aimei."
The girl in front of him was Liu Aimei, whom he had met at Qianluo Mountain.
In fact, he had saved her life back then.
"Ding Huan, what are you doing here? Weren't you in Luohe?" Liu Aimei suddenly lowered her voice.
Ding Huan had a good impression of Liu Aimei.
"I decided to travel around and clear my mind. I happened to take this train. What about you? Did you just leave Luohe City today?"
Liu Aimei crouched down and leaned closer to Ding Huan, whispering, "Ding Huan, I was actually looking for you. When I couldn't find you, I decided to go to Puhai."
"Looking for me?" Ding Huan looked at Liu Aimei in confusion.
He didn't have much of a relationship with her, did he? Back then, he hadn't even left her his contact information, so she should have known he didn't want to stay in touch.
Liu Aimei nodded, looking somewhat ashamed.
"After you left last time, we also left Qianluo Mountain. But Qiao Yi didn't make it out."
Ding Huan frowned.
"What? I remember there were two helicopters. Weren't they there to rescue Qiao Yi?"
Liu Aimei sighed.
"Those helicopters were indeed there to rescue Qiao Yi. But when Qiao Yi came out and didn't see me or Qin Yi, he must have panicked. Just then, he heard the sound of the helicopters. Qiao Yi was probably too excited and ran to the cave entrance, shouting at the helicopters..."
Ding Huan shook his head helplessly.
The Great Desolate Golden Ape's vengeful nature meant that after hiding the medicinal herbs, it would definitely lie in wait for anyone still in the cave.
Sure enough, Liu Aimei continued, "Qiao Yi didn't expect the giant ape to still be outside. As soon as he reached the cave entrance, the ape grabbed him. You probably know the rest. He met the same fate as Bai Chuanqiang. Qiao Yi is dead. You need to be careful and not expose yourself."
Ding Huan looked at Liu Aimei in confusion.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Liu Aimei whispered even lower, "Qiao Yi's background isn't ordinary, and Bai Chuanqiang's family also has influence. Qin Yi and I feel a bit guilty toward you because after Qiao Yi died, we were called in for questioning."
"What do you mean?" Ding Huan frowned.
Liu Aimei apologized, "The Qiao family repeatedly questioned Qin Yi and me about why Qiao Yi didn't escape with us. I told them I had shouted for Qiao Yi, but after he ran into the cave, there was no response. The situation was urgent, so Qin Yi and I had to flee."
Liu Aimei glanced cautiously at Ding Huan.
"The people questioning us were very skilled. They eventually found out..."
Ding Huan sneered, "Did they find out that you wanted to call Qiao Yi, but I refused to wait?"
Liu Aimei nodded, this time without speaking.
After Qiao Yi was killed by the giant ape, she realized that Ding Huan had been right.
If they had waited for Qiao Yi back then, none of them would have escaped.
"Was it you who told them, or Qin Yi?" Ding Huan asked calmly.
He was certain that if they had waited any longer, they would have lost their lives at Qianluo Mountain.
Qiao Yi had run over a hundred meters into the cave.
Even if they had called for him, he wouldn't have heard them.
It would have taken more than twenty minutes for him to get out, let alone one minute.
"It was Qin Yi. In that situation, even if she hadn't said anything, they would have found out eventually," Liu Aimei said, her voice now barely audible.
"So you went to Luohe City to warn me?" Ding Huan asked again.
"Yes. You have no idea how terrifying the Qiao family is. I heard they have shares in Yongtang Gene Company. I went to Luohe City to tell you to leave quickly. But I couldn't find you. I never expected to run into you here," Liu Aimei said, relieved that she had finally delivered her message.
"Alright, I understand. Thank you. And one more thing—don't take this train again in the future," Ding Huan said, expressing his gratitude.
Liu Aimei stood up, giving Ding Huan an apologetic look before turning to leave.
She didn't take Ding Huan's last warning to heart, or perhaps she simply didn't pay attention to it.
Ding Huan sneered inwardly.
He was certain that Liu Aimei's movements in Luohe City had been monitored, though she herself was unaware of it.
Fortunately, he hadn't given her his contact information, or he would have been on the run again.
The Qianluo Mountain incident had happened a long time ago.
The Qiao family and Bai Chuanqiang's backers had surely come to Luohe City to look for him.
But he had been cultivating at Yujiang University, only venturing out occasionally.
The Qiao family didn't know his true identity and couldn't monitor the entire city, which was why they hadn't found him.
Liu Aimei had come to Luohe City, and the Qiao family had hoped she would lead them to Ding Huan.
But she hadn't been able to find him either.
Since Liu Aimei hadn't found him, the Qiao family probably wouldn't follow her when she left Luohe City this time.
(Thank you to our old alliance leader, also the first silver alliance leader of "Abandoned Universe," Liu Lang Guzhu Yizhi, and the multi-account alliance leader of "Abandoned Universe," Liu Jie 7777777, for adding two more alliances to "After Mythology."
Also, thank you to all the fellow Daoists for your monthly votes, recommendation votes, and support.
The new book has reached a certain word count and has automatically fallen off the rankings.
The number of words we release daily now is likely the limit.)
(End of Chapter)