Chapter 131: No Advantage This Time

Chapter 131: This Time There Is No Advantage

The Anqing ruins lie on the west bank of the Yangtze, while Anqing city sits further downstream on the east bank.

As the wooden barge drifted downstream to the vicinity of the Anqing ruins, every crew member aboard grew tense.

And when Chen Jian demanded they stop on the east bank right there, they refused outright, one after another.

According to them, although the east bank was not the demons’ turf within the Anqing ruins, the presence of a bridge meant occasional demon activity nearby, making an impromptu stop far too dangerous.

——

But Chen Jian and his companions had offered far too much.

Thus the squad landed smoothly near the east bank’s Anqing Bridge, quickly cleared the surroundings, erected a rudimentary camouflage, launched the drone immediately, and began close-range aerial reconnaissance of the ruins five kilometers away.

Chen Jian synced the drone’s feed to his smart goggles and PDA, then handed the PDA to Zeng Yi and the others so they could receive the intelligence in real time.

Everyone stared intently at the drone’s screen, and soon the first anomalous heat signature appeared before them.

The drone lowered its altitude, switching the imaging to white-light mode.

Chen Jian saw that within the Anqing ruins, on the west shore of the great lake, more than a hundred assorted shanties had been erected.

Bonfires burned in the midst of the shacks, but the illumination was not solely from the flames.

A few sturdier, more refined shacks emitted the cold glow of electric lights, and following the direction of the wires, Chen Jian also spotted a generator located on the southern side of the shanty area.

A human-and-animal-powered generator.

Several massive rat‑cages drove the generator’s rotor continuously, feeding electricity steadily into the shanty district.

Chen Jian zoomed in and discovered that those laboring inside the generator were not the captives he had initially imagined, but rather relatively robust demons.

They had already formed a social division of labor within this settlement, utterly unlike the demon camp near Hanshui City!

This was an ominous sign.

If further evidence should show that their social structure is trending toward complexity,

then this horde of demons would no longer be a mere rabble, but could potentially evolve into a loosely commanded 'army'!

When the number of combatants rises past a certain threshold, each incremental gain in organization yields a leap in fighting power.

Here there are already hundreds of demons—so how many might be lurking throughout the entire Anqing ruins?

Chen Jian gestured for He Shuo to raise the drone for continued search, and soon they discovered yet more scattered demon encampments within the urban area.

Most of these camps consisted of outdoor shanties, though a few made direct use of the low‑lying structures within the ruins.

All the camps were loosely scattered around a hospital building, forming a ring.

Paths had been cleared between each camp, allowing the demons within the ruins to move and communicate smoothly.

Such 'urban planning' cannot be called highly sophisticated, but at least

it is certainly not something that brainless orcs could devise!

Chen Jian’s mood grew ever heavier; after a long observation, he spoke:

"The demon population within the Anqing ruins is conservatively estimated at over three thousand, and that is merely a rough guess based on the number and size of the camps."

"If we also consider the small bands of demons that roam the ruins outside the camps, the total would rise further."

"Four to five thousand is probably a reliable figure."

"It’s quite troublesome."

"It’s very troublesome."

"Did the Ring Merchant Guild not know there were this many demons here before issuing the task? Has no one ever approached the Anqing ruins to attempt close‑range reconnaissance?"

"Probably not."

Beside him, Xing Ji shook his head and said:

"Anqing was already practically exhausted as a ruin; it is one of the most important waypoints on the trade route."

"Decades ago, the Machine God Sect cleared the area of active monsters at any cost, even eliminating a third‑tier beast."

"Afterward, the Machine God Sect led masses of civilians in scavenging the Anqing ruins, using the resources found there to establish a new Anqing City on the east bank."

"Having reached this point, they further lacked any motivation to explore deeper into the Anqing ruins."

"At least ten or more years have passed with no one entering the Anqing ruins, since the trade route bypasses it and there is nothing of value there."

"Even if they knew demons lurked inside, it would not draw Anqing City’s attention—after all, where aren’t there demons?"

"Although the demons here occasionally raid the trade routes, the losses are generally minor, so no major faction has the incentive to exterminate them."

"Perhaps only the Ring Merchant Guild would issue such a task; they simply enjoy doing things that make no sense."

When Ji Xing finished speaking, Chen Jian shook his head and said:

"That makes sense, yet it also doesn’t."

"A force of over four thousand demons is nearly on the scale of Anqing City itself."

"Their daily resource consumption is enormous; could they possibly be self‑sufficient?"

"The hunting grounds to the north."

Zeng Yi added:

"They are likely to conduct raids and hunts toward the north and west."

"You should know that blood‑skeletons can eat monster flesh."

"Their blood is even more stable than that of monsters."

"Even if contaminated by monster matter, the odds of continuing to breed blood‑skeletons remain high." "And those monsters bred from them, due to some latent bloodline link, become special blood‑skeletons—just like the Blood‑Sun General we saw earlier."

Chen Jian nodded in sudden realization.

Zeng Yi’s remarks were things Chen Jian had also guessed, but he had deemed them "not that important" and thus never sought confirmation from others.

But now it appears this trait is far from trivial.

What, exactly, is Huadu researching?

Could their research also be tied to this special genetic stability of the blood‑skeletons?

Damn.

Could they too be trying to save humanity?

With such a method??

Chen Jian turned his gaze to Shen Yue, whose eyes were equally grave.

After a few seconds of hesitation, he spoke slowly:

"If it were me, after discovering that the blood‑skeletons’ genetics possess a stability far beyond that of ordinary humans, I too would attempt to study them."

"Judging by instinct, this is indeed a path that could allow the human lineage to endure."

"The blood‑skeletons’ genetics are far more stable than the so‑called holy blood, and they are innately resistant to monster genes."

"What if we were to introduce this gene into the human genome?"

"Those colossal monstrosities clearly possess no means of reproduction; they are merely the byproducts of aberrations."

"If this path proves viable, humanity might not even need to treat the monsters as enemies."

"We would only need to hide, survive as best we can, and wait for them to face natural extinction."

"The sole complication lies in how to effectively contain the temporarily unstable Blood Skulls—and Huadu's solution is cheap narcotics."

"Damn, the logic comes full circle!"

Shen Yue exhaled a long breath and promptly spoke:

"Things really aren't that simple. Once we take Anqing, we must gather as much of their research data as possible."

"Perhaps their data truly will offer us some inspiration."

"As much as we can."

Chen Jian pondered for a moment before speaking:

"Eight against four thousand—the advantage is clearly not on our side."

"The strike must be swift, efficient, decisive, and highly lethal."

"Even if we cannot eradicate every last Dread Terror, we must precisely eliminate the majority of their leaders, as well as the Huadu personnel among them."

"We need to deploy a meticulous and thoroughly detailed operational plan."

"This is going to be a... massive war."

Meanwhile, in Huayang Town.

Wang Lizi had just arrived when he received tidings from the Ring Chamber of Commerce.

The Cathay Army squad had departed Huayang hours ago, heading for the Anqing ruins fifty kilometers away.

Along the way, they had annihilated two scattered settlements of Dread Terrors, displaying ultimate might and an exceedingly high efficiency of slaughter.

Wang Lizi was well pleased with the news, yet even so, he still harbored little confidence regarding the impending battle.

Standing beside him, Qin Yuan silently watched the river waters flowing eastward, and after a brief silence, asked:

"Sir, do you truly believe they can resolve the matter in Anqing?"

"There are thousands of Dread Terrors there, heavily interspersed with forces from Huadu."

"The difficulty of this task is a bit too steep. Perhaps we should have told them the details frankly from the very beginning."

"At least then they would have had time to prepare."

"That would be incorrect."

Wang Lizi shook his head and said:

"You must first understand your trading partner before you can formulate a trading strategy."

"If we had disclosed the mission details to them at the start, this could only ever have been a simple transaction."

"But what they are doing now has already transcended the transaction itself."

"I wager that even if we do not raise the stakes, they will find a way to eliminate the Blood Skulls in the Anqing ruins."

"Because that is the kind of people they are."

"Our plan is already half successful. Next, it is time to offer them more assistance."

"Open up the tier-two controlled materials to them."

"For this battle, they will require more weapons!"

(End of Chapter)