Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 617 - 610: Sakura Chaos Slash

Chapter 617: Chapter 610: Sakura Chaos Slash

"Do you remember Fula’s description of the Corpse Demons? Although the bodies of the Corpse Demons have begun to rot, no flies dare to touch them. Obviously, the flies must be afraid of the virus. The fact that these body parts are swamped by flies indicates that they are not infected with the virus, which is why the flies dare to settle on them," Luo’er explained.

"So, these body parts..." Cheng Ziang frowned at the flesh swarmed with flies.

"At the moment, we can only speculate. If these body parts were once part of the Corpse Demons, then it means, when a Corpse Demon is killed, or rather has its head cut off, the virus in its body also dies, hence, the flies dare to settle on them. Judging from the decay of these bodies, these Corpse Demons must not have been dead for long, otherwise, they would already be crawling with maggots," Luo’er said.

"So you think that someone has passed through here in the last few days and killed and dismantled these Corpse Demons?" Cheng Ziang looked at him, questioning suspiciously.

"Yes, that’s the only hypothesis we can work with at the moment, no matter how farfetched it sounds," Luo’er replied, his face serious.

"That’s strange, isn’t it? This is the heart of the epidemic zone. Who could have survived through here, and where have the heads of the Corpse Demons gone?" Cheng Ziang bowed his head in thought.

"Guys, you’d better look at that." Hu Daoke seemed to have found something and pointed it out to them while Cheng Ziang was deep in thought.

Following his direction, Luo’er and others detected something on the wall of a house some fifty meters away from them. Luo’er took out a pair of binoculars and used them to inspect what it was, frowning at what he saw.

"What is it now?" Noticing Luo’er’s expression, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but ask again.

"See for yourself!" Luo’er handed the binoculars to him.

Cheng Ziang took the binoculars and observed, it was then he noticed several bulbous things embedded into the adobe wall. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were human heads.

"Who pinned the brains of the Corpse Demons to the wall?" Cheng Ziang blurted.

"If I’m not wrong, those heads once belonged to these bodies," Luo’er replied.

"Something is not right. It seems there are others besides us active within this epicenter of the epidemic," Cheng Ziang mentioned as he handed the binoculars back to Luo’er.

"Yes," Luo’er affirmed, his gaze shifting back to Cheng Ziang, his face displaying utmost seriousness, "Ziang, do you recall what Fula discovered when we first landed?"

"Fula said she sensed the presence of a strange spirit..." Cheng Ziang’s words trailed off as realization dawned upon him, eyes widening in shock, "You mean, it’s that person who killed these Corpse Demons?"

"It’s only a guess," Luo’er cautiously surveyed their surroundings, then unconsciously lowered his voice to say, "If my hypothesis is correct, then the moment we landed, we were probably noticed by that person."

"Should we return?" Tangmo asked a little apprehensively upon overhearing the conversation.

For humans, the greatest fear always comes from the unknown. The Advance Team, having witnessed the abominations that come from the Door of Annihilation, could guess the various attributes of the Corpse Demons, so they did not fear these creatures as much. However, the idea of someone stealthily watching them in the shadows would put everyone on edge. They have no idea who this person is or how capable he might be. This unknown element elicits an intense sense of fear.

"No need for now, we should merely tighten our formation somewhat. I’ll have Fula lower the Transport Plane for immediate assistance if needed," Luo’er ordered, his face solemn.

He remembered the two occasions when the Transport Plane fired earlier. It likely wasn’t because Exotic Beasts or Exotic Insects were nearby, but perhaps this person had inadvertently revealed his traces. If that was the case, then this person was definitely interested in the Advance Team and was likely observing them in the shadows at that very moment.

After some arrangements, a transport plane descended to a height of twenty meters to provide them with accompanying fire support. After briefly organizing the team, Luo’er and the others continued towards the village.

They carefully arrived in front of the earthen wall about fifty meters away and observed the human heads embedded in the wall. Most of these heads were swarming with flies. Cheng Ziang stepped forward and shooed away these irritating creatures, revealing the actual faces of the heads to the group.

The expressions on the faces were indistinguishable due to the erosion of their skin. However, most of these heads had their mouths wide open, with bulging eyes and contorted expressions. The fleshy tumors on their heads had long wilted, forming a hardened lump. The fact that flies dared to crawl on them meant the virus within the tumors was long dead.

Approaching for a closer look, Cheng Ziang discovered that these heads were nailed to the wall with wooden pegs. The pegs were pierced through their wide-open mouths, securing the heads onto the wall firmly. He noticed that the cut at the neck was still very neat, obviously severed by some sharp weapon that had cut through both the neck and spine. Underneath the heads was a puddle of dried-up fluid, most likely the pus-filled brain matter of these heads that had long turned mushy.

Seeing all this, an image played out in Cheng Ziang’s mind. A swordsman came to this zombie-occupied village; a few zombies attacked him, so he drew out his sharp sword and sliced off the limbs and heads of the zombies with a few swift moves. Then, for unknown reasons, he nailed these severed heads onto the wall using wooden pegs.

"Luo’er, there are traces here too!" Suddenly, Baiyue uttered softly.

"Let me see!" Upon hearing her, Luo’er quickly walked to her side.

About ten meters away from the wall, there were several chunks of decaying flesh. Unlike the treatment of the zombies on the other side, the severed heads of these corpses were not nailed to the wall but were scattered in the grass with the rest of the decaying flesh.

"Clearly, this person disposed of a few more zombies here," Luo’er conjectured with a serious expression.

Baiyue squatted to check the nearby underbrush and then frowned, saying, "There is something strange about the grass here."

"How so?" Startled, Luo’er quickly asked.

"Look here; these patches grass have all been cut through, unevenly so," Baiyue explained while inspecting the inclined cuts on the grass.

Luo’er noted that the area was covered with grass clusters of varying heights - some reached up to their shins while others were waist-high. However, the grass looked as though it had been haphazardly cut by a weapon.

Centered around Luo’er, the grass within a five-meter radius had been cut at different lengths - some were diagonally cut, while some were horizontally cut. Based on the degree of withering of the cut-off weeds, Baiyue estimated that the fight had happened within the last three days.

"What happened here?" Cheng Ziang walked over and asked.

"Evidently, this person leisurely chopped down all the nearby weeds after hacking the zombies into pieces," Luo’er concluded.

"Maybe not recklessly; perhaps they were inadvertently cut," Cheng Ziang suggested with narrowed eyes.

"Inadvertently?" Luo’er was momentarily baffled.

"Just like in games or comics, there’s this move called ’Sakura Chaos Slash,’ where unsheathing the sword instantly produces millions of blade aura!" Cheng Ziang jokingly said.

"Even you’re starting to fantasize..." Luo’er shook his head with a bitter smile but quickly grew serious again as he looked around, "If our speculation is correct, then we might be in danger..."

Following that, Luo’er commanded loudly, "Fula, request aerial reinforcements and cancel the previous order. Instruct the transport plane to provide support. They can fire at any suspicious targets without my command. Once the orders are delivered, immediately increase the patrol intensity. I want to be informed even if a fly crosses this area."