Chapter 155: Wildfolk Camp
“Were there hidden sentries?”
According to the intelligence provided by the young man, when Zhou Ming entered the forest covered in thick snow, he immediately sensed that someone was secretly monitoring the surroundings.
With Half-Beastman Class Advancement as the core, the newly perfected profession of Ruler that had been opened up after restructuring allowed Zhou Ming, who had stolen the bloodline of the Ironthread Snake, to naturally possess abilities related to snakes.
Snakes could detect residual information molecules in the air. Zhou Ming’s nose could also reach such a level, and at the same time he could sense extremely subtle vibrations.
Without relying on the Radar Sensory Domain constructed by the Ironthread Snake, Zhou Ming himself already had fairly good perception abilities.
After briefly distinguishing the directions, Zhou Ming immediately released his beast Inkband.
Although Inkband’s size had not increased much, its concealment ability ranked first among snakes, and its snake venom was mainly paralysis-based, with extremely precise control over dosage.
It could make people fall unconscious, but would absolutely not cause them to never wake up.
Since he had already regarded the Wildfolk here as private property, he naturally would not easily kill them. After all, living Wildfolk were the ones with value.
Inkband affectionately rubbed against Zhou Ming’s finger before burrowing into the snow and heading toward where the hidden sentries were concealed.
Near a mountain hollow, two hidden sentries wearing thick snow-marten coats were lying prone in the snow, monitoring the surroundings.
“Linhai, do you think it’s unnecessary for those above to have us guard this place in such heavy snow?”
Although equipped with cold-resistant snow-marten coats, the one speaking still felt somewhat cold, unconsciously rubbing his hands together.
“We’re Wildfolk. If we’re not careful, sooner or later we’ll be caught and sold as livestock.”
Linhai, who had a claw mark on his face, responded to his companion in a self-mocking tone.
“It won’t be as serious as you say, right? Otherwise the Ironfang Gang wouldn’t trade with us. Why wouldn’t they just capture us directly?”
“After all, we’ve been trading for so long. They should have had chances to find our hiding place, right?”
Linhai’s companion, barely in his early twenties, did not think their situation was that dire.
Linhai glanced at him before slowly replying.
“Zhang Qiang, do you even understand the difference between eating your fill once and eating your fill every meal?”
Without waiting for Zhang Qiang to answer, Linhai immediately explained.
“The resources we collect are bought by the Ironfang Gang at less than one-tenth the price. Once taken into the base, they can earn nearly ten times the profit.”
“They don’t touch us and instead trade with us and even provide protection because we are their slaves, allowing them to continuously reap benefits.”
When Linhai said this, his voice became somewhat low, and resentment in his heart spread like weeds.
“If one day we can no longer provide the benefits they want, do you think we’ll still have a chance to survive?”
Hearing Linhai’s explanation, Zhang Qiang also fell silent, his self-deceiving thoughts completely shattered.
But what could be done? It was because his father couldn’t control his underlings, committed crimes, and was exiled to the wilderness.
Fortunately, on the day he came of age, he personally sent his father to heaven so he would not suffer anymore.
That was also the only way he could show filial piety.
And while the two were talking, Inkband had already quietly lurked beside them.
Because Zhou Ming had used the Spirit Descent skill, he planned to act only after the two finished chatting.
A streak of black lightning flashed. Linhai and Zhang Qiang instantly felt their bodies go numb, then fell unconscious.
“Crunch, crunch…”
The sound of snow being trampled and compacted rang out as Zhou Ming walked over to the two men lying prone in the snowdrift.
“Strong bones, solid muscles. Quite good talent for practicing martial arts.”
Like a buyer inspecting livestock, Zhou Ming directly checked their physical condition with his hands, his tone filled with indifference.
Whether it was influence brought by his bloodline, or simply his natural disposition, it was unclear.
If Lei Yuan had not left him, he probably would not have become this cold-blooded.
However, according to Zhou Ming’s plan, his attitude toward the Wildfolk was already considered merciful, much better than being reduced to experimental subjects.
After all, even ordinary citizens within the base did not regard Wildfolk as normal people.
Grabbing one in each hand, Zhou Ming immediately walked toward a rock crevice in the nearby cliff wall.
The crevice was about half a meter wide and extended dozens of meters underground, with an underground dark river flowing through it.
According to the intelligence provided by the young man, there were several hundred people in this camp, most of them strong adult males.
Wildfolk rarely had elderly people or women, for only one reason—insufficient survivability.
Most of them were descendants of exiled criminals, while some were exiles themselves.
Upon entering the underground passage, there were still guards secretly stationed inside, all of whom were dealt with by Inkband at the first opportunity.
There were three hidden sentries in total. After Zhou Ming finished dealing with them, he saw bright lights coming from afar.
Relying on the water flow of the underground dark river, the camp had simple hydroelectric generation to provide lighting.
The Wildfolk were exiles, not true savages. Moreover, those exiled to the wilderness were all individuals with special skills.
Through unfair trade, they could still obtain equipment that had already been eliminated by the base.
“The young man said that there were rumors in the camp that the managers had hidden escape tunnels. I should find these rats’ escape routes first before making a move.”
The shadows beneath Zhou Ming’s feet wriggled as dozens of Ironthread Snakes appeared.
Under his control, the Ironthread Snakes, already adept at concealing their aura, would be difficult to detect even for Beast Tamers.
This was also the advantage of Ironthread Snakes evolving into Ferocious Beasts. Under Zhou Ming’s control, they could learn to actively restrain the aura belonging to Ferocious Beasts.
Inside the camp, women who were either small in stature or unattractive lay in the corners with sallow faces and lifeless eyes.
Those who were strong and robust were either silently practicing martial arts or gambling with various materials as stakes.
There were even beautiful women held in the arms of some minor leaders, treated as objects for casual amusement.
As for younger children, they were placed in specialized caves to receive knowledge about surviving in the wilderness.
The underground dark river passage before his eyes was like a miniature society, complete with the same hierarchical divisions as the outside world.
The strong possessed more, while the weak could only wait for death.
Instead of banding together for warmth due to their shared plight, the strong continuously exploited the weak.
Zhou Ming did not make many comments on what he sensed.
Because the world itself was like this. The Alliance maintaining a bottom line was already considered commendable.
Unfortunately, Wildfolk without hope would never produce farsighted individuals.
“Found it?”
Not long after, when an Ironthread Snake discovered a concealed cave, Zhou Ming immediately commanded dozens of Ironthread Snakes to block the escape route.
Now it was time for him to make his appearance.
The once-quiet underground dark river passage was instantly filled with an oppressive, terrifying aura, stirring violent winds that howled through the tunnel.
Beside Zhou Ming, the Ironthread Snake swarm surged out like a tide, immediately fusing into a dark-gold, purple-patterned giant python.
“Clang, clang…”
The alarm signaling an intruder rang out.
The Wildfolk camp, which had been relatively quiet just a moment ago, instantly became like a herd of maddened wild boars, everyone gripped by panic.