A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

Before dying, the adventurer gave himself a quick death by unleashing a massive burst of flames.

And so, the charred corpse that remained before this monster was left behind.

But he didn't show any disgust and continued to gnaw on it, even though it was charcoal, he still liked it very much.

His hunger was essentially a perverse existence—it wasn't just a simple appetite.

This is a kind of appetite mixed with a despicable, insane need to harm one's own kind.

"So hungry...so hungry..." His mind was a complete mess; he knew nothing, not even how to walk normally, let alone what fighting was.

All actions were driven by the last remaining vestiges of instinct.

Even the phrase "I'm so hungry" is nothing more than a remnant of physical memory.

Perhaps he himself doesn't even know the meaning of the two pronunciations.

But it didn't matter; he was satisfied.

He moved forward in an odd posture, heading towards the most delicious spot.

This deformity was altered by the influence of concepts, but it itself no longer has much to do with those concepts.

It's like killing someone with a concept; that person is actually dead, and they won't be resurrected even if they're sent to a safe zone.

Similarly—this monster will have no problems once it enters the safe zone. Luo Shiqi followed Bray out of the safe zone of the imperial capital and into the abandoned central city.

This was the first time he had voluntarily left a safe zone; the previous time was a forced escape, not a voluntary departure.

If the safe zone hadn't fallen, Luo Shiqi wouldn't have left it.

Everyone knows how dangerous the outside world is, and everyone wants to live in a cradle rather than be harmed in the storm.

Luo Shiqi's motivation was to survive, so this choice was reasonable.

"Was this place very prosperous before?" Luo Shiqi asked Bray, who was walking ahead of him.

This time, only Bray was leading Luo Shiqi.

For some reason, Brelen Levy didn't bring her along; he was the only one taking care of Rocchio.

"This is the central city of the imperial capital, the second most prosperous area."

"The most prosperous place is where you were just now, called the inner city," Bray explained casually.

Luo Shiqi nodded, indicating that he understood.

However, it must be said that even though this place has been reduced to ruins, you can still see how prosperous it once was.

It is at least twice as prosperous as the town where Luo Shiqi originally lived.

The town he originally lived in was not particularly prosperous, but it was not poor either.

Even in that town, after being trampled by the Silver Seeds, it was completely empty.

Could the area after that be called ruins? Probably not; it was just a place smashed to pieces and burned to ashes.

The resources available there are simply too few.

Compared to Luo Shiqi's original small town, the capital city is simply too good.

The resources are far superior to those of other safe zones.

If it weren't for the extreme danger of the journey, many people would probably want to live in the Imperial Capital Safe Zone. Even knowing that the zone couldn't possibly accommodate so many people, people would likely still flock there like swarms of bees.

Until this place is crushed, everything is divided up, and it is completely devoured.

In the end, the entire safe zone fell silent, all because the Black Iron race had perished at its own hands.

Of course, these are all just possibilities.

Regardless, this place is indeed very prosperous.

"That's great, our only food is hunting monsters." Luo Shiqi sighed.

Normal wild animals are almost impossible to find; the only food available is from monsters.

Many people have even categorized edible monsters to prevent unsuspecting people from getting food poisoning.

“It’s pretty much the same here, except we have more expired processed food that we can find.” Bray glanced at Luo Shiqi.

The current situation in each safe zone is similar to that of a "slum" in peacetime, perhaps even slightly worse.

But in the apocalypse, such a life is better than one can imagine.

What threatens the lower species is nothing other than the "death" bestowed by the demigods; life is not particularly difficult.

Because of them, people's living space has been reduced, and their ability to produce has been greatly weakened.

Like domesticated livestock, they live comfortably but are slowly dying.

If this continues for another ten or twenty years, civilization will gradually decline, especially since many things will be lost due to the current information isolation.

This is similar to the Dark Ages at the end of the Second Age, but not exactly the same.

Back then, lower species at least had the potential to develop, but now that possibility is practically nonexistent; it's good enough if they don't degenerate.

“This should be called the Dark Age of the Third Age,” Bray said casually.

"What is the Dark Ages?" Luo Shiqi often asked all sorts of questions, the kind that required answers, because the questions he asked weren't particularly stupid.

"The Second Era also had a Dark Age, when the Bronze Age invaded, and now the Silver Age is invading," Bray explained, trying to clear up the kid's confusion for the time being.

"It was as desperate as a sky full of dark clouds with no light, hence the name Dark Ages."

"..." Clearly, Luo Shiqi had never heard of such strange tales before, and remained silent for several minutes.

"How did we survive back then?"

"Good question. It's all thanks to miracles." As someone who witnessed the end of the Second Age, Bray's words carried great weight.

That's right, it wasn't due to any effort, but simply a miracle.

Without that miracle, everything would be meaningless.

First of all, "Divine Source" is not something that comes easily; it is extremely rare throughout the entire Kapras.

Meanwhile, the targets chosen by "divine source" are also random. It may appear not only on people, but also on animals, or even on inanimate objects.

Then, those who obtain the "Divine Source" will also have a high probability of dying on the spot when they use it.

After overcoming numerous conditions, a hero of the Black Iron race became a Wild God, reversing the entire battle.

As an adventurer who had traveled through most of Kapras, Bray had seen no more than ten Aragami.

In the most perilous time of the Second Age, a "great hero" named Kalogaris appeared.

There is no other explanation besides calling it a miracle.

As he walked, Bray made casual remarks about the Second Age.

Luo Shiqi, who was standing to the side, listened in a daze.

"It seems like you know a lot about what happened back then."

“Because I have researched the history of that time, well, from absolutely authentic books,” Bray said after a moment of contemplation.

The boy fell silent, seemingly believing Bray's words.

Bray didn't lie; he just told the other party in a relatively acceptable way.

Who the hell would believe that someone once experienced the Second Age with an elven queen?

"Let's look around and see if there's any useful trash." After arriving at a certain spot, Bray squatted down and began rummaging through the rubble.

“Give me an example, otherwise I’ll know what to look for,” Luo Shiqi tried to ask.

Luo Shiqi didn't know exactly what he and Bray were supposed to do, but Eric had only told him to just stick with Bray.

He could only do as he was told, hoping that he could learn a lot by following behind.

So far, he has only learned a buried historical truth.

He still hopes to learn more useful things.

“Anything powered by magic is a good thing, even everyday items can be,” Bray said, stroking his chin as he gave some examples.

He didn't accept any commissions, so he came out of the safe zone purely to collect junk.

"How about this?" Luo Shiqi keenly noticed a magical engine in the pile of tiles, so he dug it out and showed it to Bray.

“Good stuff, all the parts of the magic vehicle are very valuable.” Bray raised an eyebrow. These kinds of things are only found when Nia or Naruko are around.

That kid... he's lucky.

No wonder they were able to speed from one safe zone to another.

Luo Shiqi later found some other disassembled parts of the magic vehicle.

It was like we were locked in a battle with a magical vehicle, constantly searching for spare parts.

Occasionally, Bray would also want him to find something similar to raw materials, such as cement, which was also in short supply in the safe zone.

It would be even better if we could find some useful plants.

"Lord Bray, come and take a look." Luo Shiqi knelt on the ground, holding a clump of wet mud in his hand, his expression somewhat solemn.

Since he didn't know what to call him, Luo Shiqi called Bray "Sir," which would make him seem humble and probably make the other person happy.

Yes, Luo Shiqi did it on purpose.

However, Bray knew that the little guy was doing it on purpose, but he didn't say anything. Anyway, he was used to being called "Mr. Bray" so much that it was nice to change things up.

"Something good?" Bray raised an eyebrow and asked casually.

“No, this seems to be blood, fresh blood,” Luo Shiqi said.

The blood seeped into the mud, and it's still a bit damp.

But the faint smell of blood emanating from the soil proved that it was indeed blood.

It smells similar to rust, but there are decisive differences.

Although Luo Shiqi couldn't quite put his finger on it, he was certain that it was blood, not rust mixed with water seeping into the mud.

“…” Bray frowned instinctively after hearing Luo Shiqi’s words.

Actually, it's not particularly surprising that someone gets into trouble, but Bray still had a bad feeling about it.

Suddenly, a miniature version of Naruko appeared in his mind, shouting, "My intuition tells me that something terrible is about to happen!!!"

He closed his right eye, and when he opened it again, he casually slashed the ground nearby with his sword.

After the sword hit the ground, it bounced back quickly like a spring, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The powerful bombardment split the pile of rubble apart, revealing what was buried underneath.

“The corpse,” Bray uttered.

He stared at the several unrecognizable corpses, lost in thought.

It looked like it had been killed and eaten clean by a normal monster, but Bray could tell from the wound that it wasn't.

The teeth marks looked very similar to human teeth marks; it's rare for monster teeth marks to resemble human teeth marks so closely.

Having been an adventurer for so long, Bray does have some experience... Although he's a bit of a slacker, he's not exactly a clueless good-for-nothing.

"Are there still cannibals these days?" Bray murmured, walking closer to examine the corpse, not afraid that it might suddenly rise from the dead.

If it's a zombie... if it's a zombie, just one sword strike will do.

Nothing in this world is immortal. No matter how fast the recovery speed is, it can still be dealt with in one sword strike. There is no need to bombard it to the point that not a single cell remains.

Simply cutting off the root cause is enough; there's no need for such trouble.

"Eating people..." Upon hearing Bray's words, Luo Shiqi's pupils suddenly contracted, and his hands trembled involuntarily.

He couldn't possibly be unafraid, because he had witnessed that guy eating people with his own eyes, and that madness still haunted the boy's mind like a nightmare.

Luo Shiqi was far less composed than he appeared.

"It's that guy, he's caught up with us." Luo Shiqi's heart skipped a beat.

"This is a person, no, a monster in human skin. We can't let him into the safe zone." The boy's expression changed from his previous calm to slightly agitated.

Being chased by that guy is alright, it's not something particularly scary.

But if that monster in human skin were to infiltrate the safe zone, that would be a real nightmare.