Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

Just as the tech hunters in Black Scratch Town seized the long-traveling Tortoise and drove through the wind and rain into the underground river, a figure was walking alone in the deep tunnel of the lower city.

Look at his direction.

It was heading out of the city.

Dressed in a white robe, he raised his hand and opened the last gate. Suddenly, the heavy rain from the depression-like lake blew in.

It hurts a little when the wind blows on my body.

He stood on the edge and looked down. Below him were raging waves. If they did not have a vehicle or at least a strength as strong as Qin's, the rest of them would definitely be trapped in the storm.

There is no way to leave the depression lagoon.

However, this man was not shocked by the wind, rain and waves. He just looked around and then leaned forward, ready to jump into the water.

"Click."

A soft sound was heard in the darkness.

His figure suddenly stopped.

Look back.

A look of surprise appeared on the originally calm face:

"You're here so early?"

Behind him, in the dark tunnel.

In the distance, a white-haired young man walked out slowly with an Old World crossbow fully strung, and a strange light shone on the black gold arrowhead.

Its shape is a bit strange.

But it was taken from Romi's arrow.

The tech hunter once tried to use the long arrow modified from the Blade Walker's weapon to pierce the displayed intelligent core.

If it was a real intelligent core, combined with the power of the Masterpiece Eagle Crossbow, it might actually be shattered, and the arrow itself would also be damaged.

But what it broke was just an empty shell.

It's a bit of a waste of talent.

The arrowheads were naturally left behind. Although Lu Meng was not used to using the Eagle Crossbow, he would not waste it, as the basic knowledge he had learned in making bows and crossbows was still there.

If there is any unusual movement of the person in front of you.

This shot will definitely penetrate him.

——Whatever creature it is.

In the crosshairs of the eyepiece, there was a face that was not so familiar but not completely unfamiliar.

The leader of the Lake Town Law Enforcement Team and the captain of the battleship Reef.

He is also the first person to pledge allegiance to the Watchers.

Be strong and brave.

Just now, he was standing on the Reef, watching the battle between Lu Meng and Qin, but then he led his men to hide in the cabin first.

Missing.

"You win, Red King." Under the guidance of the crossbow from the old world, Zhuang Dayong slowly raised his hands. "But, I just want to find a way to survive. Is it necessary to chase after me and kill me?"

"You can leave," Lu Meng remained unmoved, "but leave your things behind."

"What did you say?"

"You're still pretending at this time... the skin on your face is cracked."

Zhuang Dayong was startled and touched it subconsciously.

However, apart from the wrinkles caused by blisters, the whole area was smooth and there were no wounds at all.

Not even any bone structure was revealed.

Lu Meng sneered.

"You discovered me." The other party had already said this, and Zhuang Dayong no longer concealed it. Under the Old World crossbow that could smash a person to pieces with one hit, he instead put down his hands as if nothing had happened.

The light outside the city shone behind him, leaving only a dark shadow.

But Lu Meng could see it.

There was no expression on the man's face.

Deathly pale.

"When did you change?" Lu Meng paused and shouted: "...Whistleblower."

"Not long."

The other side smiled: "You really know it."

As if in response, a crack suddenly appeared behind his ear, gradually expanding to form a lateral line across his body.

He grabbed it and pulled it.

The skin of this "Zhang Dayong"-looking person was limp and fell off in one piece.

Without nourishment, it quickly lost its vitality and energy and became shriveled. However, the torso under the human skin was full of sticky flesh and blood, but it still stood there and did not fall down.

The creature's round, bulging eyes stared at Lu Meng. It couldn't blink, but its pupils moved.

As if it were a matter of course.

And extremely terrifying.

Biochemical skeleton.

——A living whistleblower.

"With so many skinless bodies on the ship, how could I not have guessed?"

Unconsciously, this special skeleton that can change its form according to human appearance has replaced the captain of the Reef. And from the example of Zero Two, although it is not a necessary condition, the victim's entire set of human skin itself can help them imitate and integrate more quickly.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about - there are only a handful of people in this world who can accurately call out our names." The whistleblower slowly took out a black box from his arms, "It's really nostalgic to still be remembered by others."

Even in the Second Empire where skeletons rule the world, most news about whistleblowers are rumors and speculations.

Not to mention the new civilization that was rebuilt on the ruins of the empire after its destruction.

That is really as ignorant as a baby.

There is only one exception.

That group had already been searching for whistleblowers during the Second Empire, and to some extent they brought alternative companions who were most likely related to the collapse of ancient civilization back into the public eye.

"Sure enough," the whistleblower looked at Lu Meng, questioning with certainty, "You are... a remnant of 'Bone and Flesh Exchange'?"

Bone-flesh replacement, this is a school of thought that was born during the Second Empire but has since disappeared.

They believe that the original form of the skeleton man was the same as the whistleblower, also covered with flesh and blood and with a full torso.

However, because the skeletons need to clear their memories regularly to maintain the normal operation of their programs and thinking, and because their flesh and blood will eventually corrode, and ordinary skeletons cannot replenish their own bodies like the Whistleblower, they eventually became what they are today.

Only a mechanical skeleton is left.

Even they themselves don't remember.

But if that were all, the replacement of flesh and bones would at best be just one of many hypotheses about the origin of skeletons, and it could not even be confirmed.

Even the citizens who believed in this hypothesis were numerous and dominated the limelight at the time.

——They would never be personally ordered to be exterminated by the Eternal Wise King who ruled the empire at that time.

"..."

When Lu Meng heard the words "flesh and bone replacement", his expression changed, and this change was also seen by the whistleblower's bald eyes.

This further confirmed his thoughts.

"To be honest," the skeleton man played with the controller in his hand and sighed, "I am also very surprised..."

"You actually preach among humans."

Rebirth of flesh and blood, just as the name suggests.

They are convertible into each other.

If the idea that humans are the origin of skeletons is just an academic hypothesis, then the deeper proposition behind the bone-flesh replacement is:

Humans can also become skeletons.

In the Second Empire, Skeletons are nominally rulers, but their actual status is more like that of servants. They maintain public order with security machines, use their immortal bodies to advance into dangerous situations that no living creature can reach, mine mines to extract crude oil, produce day and night, build a national power grid covering the entire continent, and transport food produced in swamps to all parts of the world...even though they themselves do not need to eat.

Everything the Skeletons do is to recreate the glory of ancient civilization, even if the so-called "Old Empire" was overthrown by themselves.

And providing for humanity and continuing the descendants of the rulers of this ancient civilization is an important part of it.

Of course, from today's perspective, some of the skeleton survivors believe that this move is completely unnecessary, and that mechanical life can completely rebuild the world with its own strength. To a certain extent, it is precisely because humans have been preserved that the Second Empire was ultimately destroyed.

From a human perspective, the most typical perspective is the teachings of the Oakland Holy Church.

As a rebel, the first Phoenix saw that humans were not the objects of their service as the imperial officials said, but were just pets kept by these dark machines for their amusement.

The children's prison established by Rhino Robot, one of the five marshals, is a great example.

However, with the establishment of the United Cities, the nobles, led by the major lords, had a new judgment on the uprising of the Holy Empire, their old enemy: Human beings are living well under the care of the Skeletons, why are you going to overthrow it?
Now he can only farm in the green fields by himself, working hard but having no food to eat, and he is still shrouded in backwardness and ignorance all his life.

Similarly, the lords warned the people of the empire: once they were separated from the protection and support of the nobles, there would be no more warrior legions to stop the enemy from robbing and burning everyone's wives and children, and no kind-hearted merchants to sell food to everyone, and they would end up like the Holy Kingdom... So they should never rebel.

But no matter what future generations say, and no matter the criticisms that existed at the time, the top founders of the Skeleton Empire have always adhered to the concept of protecting humanity, and it seems that they have their own unique reasons for this.

However, the emergence of the bone-flesh replacement school attracted and even actively bewitched those humans who envied the skeletons' dominance, starting with asking them to give up their limbs, then torso organs, and finally embarking on the path of ascension by replacing their brains and minds...

It has developed into a secret sect.

Those believers who handed their heads to the skeleton host did not expect that even the entire Second Empire, which possessed all the intelligent cores, did not have the ability to encode and preserve living consciousness.

What's more, their scientist was just an ostracized academic scientist at the beginning.

The concept of replacing flesh and blood was never perfected.

In the eyes of the Imperial Police.

Behind these rituals are naked massacres, especially deliberate massacres of human citizens.

At the beginning of the empire, the first group defined as a cult appeared.

General Hat 12, led his police battalion, and set out overnight to wipe out the School of Flesh and Bone Reincarnation. Most of those who died in the process were human believers who believed that their path to ascension was cut off and who rebelled in anger.

However, under the overwhelming violence of the empire at that time, it was impossible to resist the replacement of one's own flesh and blood. But when a school of thought spread, it was easy for believers to submit, but it was extremely difficult to completely eliminate the idea.

There are even rumors that the founder of the Bone and Flesh Reincarnation School himself escaped from the siege.

Even the Second Empire has not been able to explore the entire continent to its full potential, and the search has been fruitless. As a skeleton, the leader has a long life and memory, and may spread his evil ideas again at any time.

In order to prevent the resurgence of flesh-and-blood rebirth, the Empire banned all religious activities and wiped out many established sects in human communities.

Among them, there is a small group that believes in the Lord of Light. Their believers pretend to convert on the surface, but in fact they hide behind the scenes and develop slowly until the empire collapses and reappears at the end of its road. They once again raise the banner of burning hearts and openly declare that their master is Auckland, who was once powerful enough to destroy all the dark skeletons... This is a later story.

However, until the destruction of the Second Empire, the School of Bone and Flesh Reincarnation itself did not revive as the authorities had feared.

This has convinced many people of its demise.

The original rumors.

Maybe it's really just a rumor.

"——But now, I see the 'ashes'." The whistleblower looked at Lu Meng, hinting, "You hid it very well."

"That's perfect, are you interested in making a deal?" He stretched out his hand, and on his bloody palm lay the controller that had been activated and could control all the security spiders in the lower city of the Lagoon. "I just want to find you."

(End of this chapter)