Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

Black scratches, large library.

The Shak girl, wearing light armor, strolled between the floors and bookshelves. The various covers and book titles from different eras made her feel amazed and even frightened.

Seto's cultural education was completed by Bayan, and his office was probably the place with the highest "word content" in the entire Shak Kingdom; when he arrived in Shem, the ancient scientific books collected by the Nameless One were so valuable that they were enviable.

But no matter where it is, compared to the great library in Black Scratch Town, it is definitely just a drop in the bucket - after all, it is a collection of the results of all the technological hunters' adventures, explorations, and missions over the past thousand years.

Unlike At World's End, among the books that technology hunters collect and back up, not many of them actually like to read and study them; what hunters really like and borrow more are the story notes or survival manuals left by various legendary predecessors.

As Lu Beiyou's disciple, Princess Seto's mission went quite smoothly. The Black Scratch Town was shocked by what happened in the Flash Land and almost accepted their conditions in full.

When Seto stayed here.

The Tech Hunters' construction team for the relay station has already set out. Judging from how quickly they acted, they must have made preparations in advance, but the specific location has not yet been determined.

During this time, Seto even met with a member of the Inner Circle, who was said to be the leader of the Northern Hunters.

However, the other party did not come because of the relay station. He just heard that the silver card of the Guardian of the Sorrowful Mine Town was sent back, so he came to pay tribute.

The major factions had different reactions when they heard the news. Most of them realized that the inner circle might continue to expand and began to plan. For example, Seto keenly noticed that the hunters from the Gray Desert looked at them with hostility, and they would not do anything in the Black Scratch Town; while the hunters from the Shek Kingdom came over with some interest to say hello, meet her, the little princess, and inquire about the news... Only the leader of the northern hunters not only acted most directly, but also really had no interest in a seat in the inner circle, which left a deep impression on Seto.

At the same time, the other party's identity also surprised her.

"Robben." The middle-aged man took off his armored mask briefly and put it back on quickly.

The watcher of Xinkun Peninsula.

Representative of the Northern Hunters.

But what is more familiar to Seto and the world is his other identity - the owner of the fortress city and the leader of the cannibal hunters.

They are active in the extreme north of the continent, and have dedicated their lives to exterminating the cannibalistic Painted Tribe. Unlike the passively defensive Holy Nation and the United Cities, the Cannibal Hunters are the only armed force that will actively attack the Dark Finger, the Northern Coast and other areas controlled by the Painted Tribe. On the other hand, the mountain dogs they train and breed are famous for their patrolling and concealment, and are regarded as the best hunting dog breed.

For a long time, the cannibal hunters' purpose was pure and they rarely appeared in the public eye, so they were sometimes shrouded in mystery. But it was not until Robben revealed his identity in front of Seto that she understood everything.

Cannibal hunters have been fighting alone for years. Where do they get their funds, equipment, and supplies? Their foundation is not as strong as that of the big countries, so why are they able to improve and domesticate mountain hounds? On the other hand, the Tech Hunters are usually unwilling to take risks in the north, but they can still get ancient books and relics from the Painted Plains... These were once used as evidence of cooperation between the two, but it was unexpected that the Cannibal Hunters were actually one of the Tech Hunters' factions in the north!

However, Seto, who accepted the teachings of Bayan and the Nameless One, soon figured it out: the northern faction of the Cannibal Hunters is probably quite independent even within the Tech Hunters, and can almost be considered a semi-autonomous organization.

Tech Hunters are hired by Mechanics to explore ruins and occasionally act as bodyguard mercenaries; but the Northern faction has always been committed to extinguishing the threat of the Painted Tribe, or at least confining these cannibalistic demons to their own territory and preventing them from spreading, and almost every hunter has a personal vendetta against the cannibals.

For example, Seto had heard a rumor that Robben, the Northern Watcher, had once escaped from the camp of the Painted Tribe alone and then joined the cannibal hunters.

As for the fate of the relatives, friends and companions who were arrested together, it is no mystery.

The two organizations are both affiliated and cooperative, just like the Mechanics and the Tech Hunters themselves - the little princess thought, if her master were to evaluate it, he would probably say that this is just outsourcing.

It was no coincidence that Robben traveled thousands of miles south to Black Scratch, because he originally came for the town of Sorrow Mine. When there were rumors that the Tech Hunters would take over the Sorrow Mine from the United Cities, the Northern Watcher set off, leading many people to conclude that he wanted to serve as the ruler of another city outside the Fortress.

Perhaps this was really his purpose.

This is just puzzling: the Northern Hunters have never been interested in factional struggles, and if Robben forcibly intervenes in the Ai Mine Town, not only will it be across the entire continent, it will also inevitably lead to a conflict with Qin, the Lagoon Watcher, which is not worth the loss.

What was even more surprising was that after Robben met Seto and learned that the nameless person had taken over the commission of the Mine Town, the Watcher gave up the desire to fight for it. Not long after, he set off again to return to the Fortress City, which showed that he really had no interest in fighting for another inner circle seat for the Northern Faction.

Only Seto knew that Robben said something to her before leaving.

This may be the reason:
"The Red King... He wasn't called that at that time. It was when he had just arrived in the Shark Kingdom. Our people reported that two copies of the information sent to the Stan Desert Relay Station were bought by someone. The field was too niche and was written in ancient language. No one should have been interested in it."

"You probably know what happened next: a human warrior participated in your Shak Kingdom's Thunder Arena and eventually won the championship... and he used a rare new weapon in the arena."

【Flesh Cleaver】

Top-heavy, with a straight, thick blade.

That is a weapon exclusive to cannibals.

Although some of them have flowed out from other places on the continent over the years, they are all second-hand goods processed by northern hunters, and their quality is often questionable. The scrap masters in Kaiton City do not have or cannot read the forging drawings of the Flesh Cleaver...so the answer is obvious.

This information is no secret within the Tech Hunters. When Lu Beiyou became famous, someone naturally collected and analyzed it. However, this small detail is insignificant to other factions, but in Robben's eyes it is of great significance.

Why did he buy the cannibal hunter's report and use the weapons of the Painted Tribe? This was not a taboo, and weapons were not sinful. But the important thing was that Lu Beiyou really knew the effect of the Flesh Cleaver and could use it to chop bones and cut flesh. In addition, his vision...

At least he knew something about cannibals.

Even, understand its "curse".

Unlike other people in the world, who regard it as a fictitious legend used to scare people and seek out the curious.

Then, he should understand what they might encounter after entering the Sorrowful Mine Town.

The Bloody Rebellion was caused by famine.

A former imperial capital, a mining town, has been sealed off by high walls for at least three generations and decades. What will the people inside experience?

Can be imagined.

It would be fine if all the 'blood remnants' were really killed as the coalition forces expected - but if in this situation, the will to survive overcomes the fear... being alive would be the most terrifying thing.

As the chief of the Northern Hunters, Robben has always been fighting on the front line against the Painted Tribe. He is more aware of the seriousness of the problem: their enemies were not even conquered by the Second Empire, making the Cannibal Plains the last place on the continent that the Iron Men have not been able to conquer, and they can only rely on defense and blockade.

It can be said that he has been killing all the time.

But I could never get rid of the nightmare.

If you want to solve the problem fundamentally, there is probably only one way.

That is, don't start the curse of cannibalism from the beginning.

After bidding farewell to the watcher, the Shek girl came to the Great Library, and with the permission of the watcher, she went up to the attic and read the notes written by the hunters of the past. This was undoubtedly their privilege, and it was also one of the tasks assigned to her by the Nameless One.

However, her original order was to record all the floor structures and emergency exits of the library, and to draw up a plan to ensure that she could escape smoothly after clearing out all the books... Seto thought it would be more reliable to just take over the Black Scratch Town.

She knew that this was just a mental exercise and she was not required to carry it out. However, coming from the mouth of an unknown person, she always felt that there was a possibility that the fake would become real.

As for what to do specifically, it is up to the little princess herself.

Lu Meng's trip actually gave Seto a high degree of freedom. After all, as the child grew up, if every single thing was arranged and left for her to do, it would be detrimental to the training of a princess of a kingdom.

However, Seto also received a "gift" from him before he set off: it was a felt made of hemp grass, which looked like a cushion. Lu Meng asked her to rent a house in Black Scratch Town and put the straw mat in it separately.

She did so.

Time passed in the great library, dust rose and slowly fell, Seto changed the books in her hands one after another, this time she picked up a rather old meeting record.

Judging from the dust on it, it's clear that few people have read it. Perhaps it has been lying here quietly since it was sent to the library.

It has a history of at least several decades.

I didn’t meet my first reader until today.

"… Other researchers have made many arbitrary assumptions when proving the hypothesis that ancient people created skeletons. Whether it is organic life or skeletons, we cannot determine their exact origins. Judging from the damage to the ruins, the destruction may have been caused by natural disasters or super weapons. They may be the cause or result of internal conflicts and foreign invasions."

"From a logical point of view, if the ancients are assumed to be the dominant race, then the skeletons, as their creations, should be at the forefront of the battle and face the brunt of destruction. However, the opposite is true. The skeletons are the survivors. This phenomenon prompts me to propose another possibility..."

"Bone people are the dominant race of this civilization."

——Sabina.

Seto didn't know what this name meant to the mechanic, she just recited it in her mind and then turned the page.

"Unlike my colleagues, I admit that the existing hypothesis cannot fully explain the continuity of the skeletons. However, her theory of the racial dominance of the skeletons was actually popular during the Second Empire and is not sufficiently creative. In my opinion, only by starting from biological and environmental factors can we uncover the mystery."

"Ancient civilizations must have mastered highly developed biotechnology. They are fully capable of conducting biological warfare, and the special structure of the Skeletons gives them a natural immune advantage in this catastrophe. What's more noteworthy is that this biological attack is likely launched by the Skeletons themselves."

“In the excavations at the Central Mining Area, we found evidence of large-scale resource extraction. Toxic pollution caused by over-exploitation, coupled with natural disasters such as plague and famine, could have changed the ecology of this land - the transformation of depression lagoons and the transformation of the black desert into a land of death are both examples.”

"Recently, when I was studying geological samples in the mining area, I found some interesting chemical residues. The molecular structure of these substances indicates that the byproducts of ancient mining activities may indeed cause biological mutations and diseases. For organic life, this environmental change is fatal, but for skeletons, it has become a selective advantage..."

"This is a report from the local watchers: Deep in the ruins, brave hunters have discovered some remains of special experimental facilities. According to their description, the layout and structure of these facilities remind me of some kind of biological laboratory. If this speculation is true, are the skeletons involved in these experiments? Did they foresee the impending disaster..."

Just when Seto wanted to continue flipping through the pages to read the rest of the text, he saw a sea of ​​red stamps and annotations.

[Researcher Atticus' report is quite interesting, but according to the committee's review and confirmation, the instrument samples sent back are quite new, and were manufactured no more than a hundred years ago. In any case, it is impossible to be related to the previous "mass extinction". Therefore, the subsequent inferences have lost their value. It has been decided to remove them from the series of archives and thesis collection. ]

【Researcher Finch objected.】

Finally, there is a new line of small print:
[Due to the riots in the South, this research project could not be continued. The preface and summary are now retained for future scholars to refer to and criticize.]

at the same time.

The main force of Kaiton City advanced deep into the Ai Mine. The scouts and vanguards cleared the road very well. The citizens with strange behavior were no match for the armored warriors and most of them died by their swords.

In order to prevent the outbreak of plague, Tian Xinli ordered that all the bodies of the dead in battle be burned and buried together, treating them like enemies.

But at the same time.

The scouts and pioneers who had made great contributions were in great pain and their spirits were dispirited.

They hadn't eaten for five days.

(End of this chapter)