Chapter 129: True Monsters

Mud monsters?
There was a moment of uneasiness in Xar's heart, but it quickly subsided.
From Hilis's expression, there was more nervousness and surprise mixed in, and he didn't see any signs of fear or unease.
Things shouldn't be as bad as imagined, at least there haven't been any casualties.
He gently patted his sister's back, helping her regulate her breathing, and handed her a glass of water.
Don't worry, tell me what you saw slowly."
With the comfort of her older brother, the little girl finally calmed down. After drinking a whole glass of water, she thanked Charles and then said:
"It's alive! Brother, plants have grown in the piled up mud and there are also animals wandering around!"
A living creature?!!
Xavier couldn't help but turn his head to the side.
Hilis's serious eyes told him that this was not a joke his sister was playing on him.
Realizing the extraordinary nature of this matter, Char immediately rang the bell and sent someone to notify the others, while he himself followed Hillis to the origin of the incident. Translated:
Arriving at the edge of the mire filled with piled-up mud, the first thing that caught Xavier's eye was a group of militiamen responsible for maintaining vigilance. Through the gaps in the crowd, Xavier immediately spotted the small bush growing on the black soil.
In the surrounding snowy white environment, this plant stands out against the surroundings:
Gray sprouts are rapidly growing out from the branches, with a few buds trembling in the winter breeze. Under the shrub, you can see several smashed fruits oozing juice on the ground, while scattered animal corpses lie here and there.
Growth and decay form a striking contrast, creating an exceptionally eerie picture.
Playing around with this lifeless thing for over a month unexpectedly leads to these new variations...
Tsk.
Rosalia, the fairy of mist, arrived at the scene as soon as she heard the news. The redhead with golden eyes couldn't help but unleash her extraordinary power when she saw the eerie plant in the midst, but Miss Mulan quickly stopped her.
"Do you know what this is, right?" Xavier approached and asked.
"This is the Earth of sin, Lord." The fog elf's eyes flickered with confusion. "Have humans now lost even this knowledge and heritage?"
Shall coughed awkwardly.
Since establishing their friendship, this lady's attitude has become much warmer, but it often seems to be directed solely at Shaer. Even the teachers at school receive nothing more than affirmation and respect as educators, as if the elf considers Shaer to be the representative of humanity.
"I'm only twenty-two, madam. Isn't it normal to not know a lot of things?"
The Mist Fairy paused for a moment, then smiled slightly, "I thought you knew everything... Well, Ruts are actually the leftover remnants after the Storm of Magic is eliminated, just like it was a troublesome nuisance in its previous life."
"Can you be more specific?"
"You must have heard of adventurers and mercenaries before. The strange and varied monsters in those adventure stories are derived from the Sinful Soil," the mist elf quickly restrained her smile and added a touch of coldness to her words, "Just like what you see in front of you, perhaps it is just a seed in bird droppings that gave birth to such a magic plant, and then it attracts a large number of roaming wildlife."
Charles nodded thoughtfully, "So can these fruits from the magic plants and the wild creatures they attract be eaten?"
The icy atmosphere of the mist elf was immediately shattered as she angrily glared at Charles, "Most animals that consume the fruits of the magic plants will die, while those that survive will transform into new monsters. If a monster is unfortunately killed during its expansion, any life lucky enough to consume its flesh will quickly be transformed into a new monster as well."
Xia'er nodded with regret. In just a few minutes of conversation, he saw that the few buds that were about to bloom had withered, and small berries the size of fingertips had grown on the branches.
The speed at which this soil cultivates plants is astonishing. If it weren't for those side effects, we would never have to worry about food supply in the territory again. Just imagine, planting wheat or other crops and being able to harvest a new crop every hour...
"There has been a saying that eating magical plant fruits can grant extraordinary powers. However, I must remind you to think about what these slimes look like and what their food consists of."
The voice of the mist spirit faintly sounds in the forest, and a few militiamen with erected ears quickly understand her meaning.
The monsters that the demonic tide transforms into feed on humans. Even if those things die and turn into plants, do the fruits still contain parts of humans?
As soon as I thought of this, many people's stomachs turned upside down.
Sharl's understanding of the trouble caused by the demonic tides is once again refreshed, as even after the physical destruction, it can still trigger a biological invasion.
He frowned and asked:
"Have you conducted any experiments? How far can this infection spread? Will just contacting the polluted soil be affected, or does this contagion only accumulate through ingestion? And how can we completely eliminate this polluted soil?"
Rosalía spread her hands and said, "I don't know, even the word 'research' in your mouth is a term I just learned after coming here."
According to the usual handling method of Fog Elves, we will directly abandon the contaminated area. Because no matter how we burn and destroy, new monsters will always emerge from unexpected places. The only answer I can give you is that this influence should be only limited to the way of consumption. If merely being in contact with the sinful earth would cause infection and turn into a monster, this world would have been destroyed long ago.
Previously, the territory's encounter undoubtedly proved her point. Earlier, Charles mobilized the majority of residents to clear away the mud, and no one showed any abnormal symptoms.
Shire thought for a moment and asked again, "Have you ever gone back to investigate the areas that you abandoned?"
Finally, we've reached the key point, the mist fairy thought.
"The areas covered in sinful soil will become quiet after one hundred to one hundred fifty years," she said loudly. "I believe it is related to the new monsters that it gives birth to. This twisted method of birthing should also consume a power that we have yet to discover."
Shal couldn't help but look up at her and asked, "Are there any benefits to monsters?"
Without any concern, Rosalia walked into the black soil and plucked a few freshly grown fruits from the bushes. She raised her eyebrows and said,
"Want to give it a try?" "
A batch of weak little chicks were brought over.
Despite Ellyness bringing the best farmers for raising poultry and providing warm and comfortable chicken coops, there are still some chicks that couldn't adapt to the cold temperatures of winter and reached the end of their lives." Translation: "
The young poultry that should have been sent to the kitchen quickly had their final meal: a batch of old wheat flour mixed with crushed fruit chunks, as instructed by Rosalia.
Demon vegetation soon revealed its horror.
Two young birds that were fed special food began to scream and convulse within minutes. Their bodies fell to the ground, uncontrollably twitching, and strange bulges appeared beneath their tender down feathers, as if some bizarre creature had infiltrated their beings.
Immediately after, everyone witnessed a horrifying scene:
A chicken dropped dead on the spot, and one of the young birds had a swollen lump under its armpit that burst open, revealing a withered, hairless fleshy wing. Much to everyone's astonishment, the fleshy wing grew rapidly, seemingly extracting all the nutrients from its host until it reached half of the host's size, even acquiring a metallic bronze color.
夏尔抿嘴看着那只挣扎着的小鸡仔，动物的智慧似乎让它难以理解自己肉体上多出来的东西，它努力的想要像以前那样行走，但因为重心的改变和新翅膀的拖累，走两步便会摔倒下去。
The crowd of onlookers remained silent. In the past, they would have found amusement in witnessing a foolish and clumsy animal, but this time no one could laugh.
Dragging its cumbersome body, the poor specimen died while walking. Translated text:
The mist sprite appeared at the right moment and used a small knife to cut off the special wing from the specimen's body. It then glanced at the other lifeless body lying beside it and regretfully said to Charle, "It seems that we have a bit more than expected, but we still have some gains."
She walked up to Sha'er and showed him her achievement, poking the area in her hand with a small knife:
"The simplest mutation is this kind, where certain body parts of animals undergo a mutation. These changes are often very magical, just like the piece in my hand. It should have been flesh and blood, but now it has turned into a soft metal."
Chael took this piece of material from her hand and pinched it, feeling a similar sensation to squeezing soft plastic. Besides having a certain hardness, it even had a bit of elasticity.
Youth immediately became interested.
Although the source of this material is enough to infuriate his biology teacher, it cannot be denied that this is a new resource income.
The new monsters created by Guilty Soil clearly conform more to Char's definition of monsters. Whether it's in games or novels, people are enthusiastic about adventuring and killing monsters mainly because there are rewards to gain from the enemies.
The reason why the predecessor of the new creature can always generate so much disgust and hatred is precisely because people risk their lives and expend a lot of resources to kill each other, only to end up with a pile of mud and a new and highly dangerous enemy.
Just like how many foreign invaders are considered in Summer's cognition, those foreigners who curse at crayfish in secret to control their proliferation have unknowingly changed their minds. In the end, these creatures have become endangered animals and even require specialized breeding for human consumption.
The mist elves, although also suffering from the magical tide, have found an alternative way to coexist with it.
Charl speculated that the mist elves' knowledge of magical item manufacturing methods and these new magical creatures are closely related, and it is very likely that the magical technology tree mentioned by the other party in recent thousands of years is related to this.
Youth are wise not to mention those questions about core technology, just like Mist Elf did not attempt to extract secrets of engineering from his mouth, but only indirectly asked:
"There have been several instances of demon waves occurring within human territory, so one would assume that there should be a variety of new demonic creatures emerging. Why have I never seen these particular materials circulating in the market?"
Without waiting for the Pixie to respond, Ms. Miu Lan was the first to react. She dismissed the militia responsible for guarding the area, leaving only a few qualified officials to hear the matter. She then reminded Charles with a hint of reproach: "You should be more cautious with your words."
The Fog Faerie doesn't confirm or deny, saying, "Indeed, I forgot that you humans have always been haunted by this matter."
Their actions reminded Charle of something, and he quickly responded, "Has someone done something with the new magical creatures?"
"This leads us to the rise of the Medici Empire," Rosalia's face showed a mocking smile. "The ancestor of the current ruler of the human throne gained power by bringing the flesh of new magical creatures into the previous dynasty's palace and mixing it into everyone's dinner. Poor Palace of Aseti was transformed into a forbidden zone for monsters overnight."
This is indeed something that humans can do, they always manage to find ways to destroy themselves and their kind at the fastest possible speed.
In fact, upon hearing the news about these new monsters, Xavier's first instinct was to think about how to defend himself from anyone who would use these things to harm him.
The flesh of new creatures is a terrifying poison to normal life, but those fruits and chunks of meat are almost indistinguishable from ordinary food.
"You might not have noticed, but I always inspect the food that Xiu Peiluos eats before each meal in order to prevent similar incidents. Although the flesh of the new monsters has been strictly sealed by His Majesty, there are still some shady individuals who are capable of obtaining such poison." Miss Miao Lan explained softly.
She said this, and Charle suddenly remembered that Miu Lan had always brought their food herself, both for him and Cheliska.
"So you mean there is a way to distinguish this kind of thing?" Charle gave her a grateful look.
"This is the problem that the study of elves has been trying to solve for thousands of years. Every component of the native magical current contains no trace of magic essence, but the new creatures derived from sinful soil can evolve materials that are most suitable for magic essence circulation."
Rosalia smiled and said, "If I had the chance, I would also like to know if there is any mystery behind all this."
Her gaze was fixed on Charl, as if he could solve the question just by speaking.
Shal actually has a way to explore. Being able to make a telescope means that making a low-power microscope is just a matter of time for Shal.
He has long wanted to slice the monsters in the magic tide and observe them from a microscopic level.
Just the undecorated gaze of the Sprite of Mist made him feel a bit uneasy in his heart, so he could only awkwardly deflect this matter.
Rosalía didn't delve further, as she had already obtained the answer from the magic props hidden inside her body: This human lord was lying.
But it's actually a good thing, the other party really has the ability to explore the secrets of monsters.
The mist elf glanced casually at the mark on the other party's hand, a smile curling up at the corner of their mouth.