A month of survival in the wilds outside Lungmen had long shattered Li Lin's unrealistic fantasies about this world.
This world was undoubtedly barbaric and terrifying. Under the threat of Catastrophes, various diseases, wars, discrimination, and famine emerged endlessly. It was simply like the apocalypse prophesied in Revelation, filled with the terror and unease preceding the arrival of disaster.
Li Lin focused on a stable life, wanting to use simple novels to maintain his livelihood also stemmed from this. Only by using such indirect means to seek survival benefits could Li Lin maintain a sense of detachment from this world, not experiencing so directly the cold and cruel taste contained within this world. But how should I put it, when reality truly slapped a corner of this world right in front of Li Lin's face, he found he still wasn't as indifferent as imagined.
Despite witnessing battles and killings multiple times, as a normal person, he could never remain indifferent.
"A mutated terrorist attack."
Driving the vehicle away from the area and setting up warning signs on the road, Texas leaned against the edge of the car door, looking remotely at the ice-sealed girl, and said in a low voice:
"Determine the critical value while the Oripathy-infected person is still alive, then freeze them to death in ice. Then place the entire ice block on the road. If it's those heavy trucks and mobile homes, they basically won't see this kind of ice sculpture. And Originium detection has a response time; often, by the time you realize it, it's already too late."
"…Why would those attackers do this?"
"There are many reasons: for better robbery, because the Originium signal triggers a stop for inspection, which is a good time for them to ambush. For example, to create more Oripathy patients; for example, some crazy religion; for example, some radicals wanting to do something to announce their existence. And then there's the most malicious kind: they simply want to watch this world fall into ruin."
"What meaning does this hold for them? Clearly, they themselves will also die."
"When life is hopeless, one will think of turning the surrounding world into the same color as one's own heart. You've said it before too, right? Those hells on earth you've seen. You've even witnessed industrialized assembly-line killing; why be shocked now?"
"After all, those were data, while this before my eyes is reality."
Looking at the ice crystal that showed no sign of melting even under the sunlight, Li Lin shook his head.
The person who arranged this terrorist attack was not only cruel in method but also very clear in thinking. To prevent melting by sunlight, causing the Originium aura to leak and the corpse explosion to fail, they deliberately sealed a portion of Originium Arts ability in the middle, maintaining the integrity and reliability of the corpse.
In other words, this thing was now like a contact bomb. Simple sun exposure and rain wouldn't do anything, but if you drove into it, the first thing you'd face is the Originium explosion from the Oripathy patient's corpse, followed by secondary radiation from the scattered flesh and blood tissues. Basically, after this whole process, even if you weren't infected, you could basically forget about wanting the vehicle anymore. One Oripathy patient, one large truck. In the attacker's eyes, this was undoubtedly very profitable.
In times of war and chaos, the measure of human life is often much cheaper than in normal times.
Li Lin and Texas looked at the scene before them in silence.
Not long after, Exusiai and Croissant, who had gone around to set up warning signs on the road ahead, also returned. Along with them came the road police from Lungmen and Chernobog.
As a trade city, Lungmen attached great importance to the condition of the surrounding roads. And Chernobog, as an industrial output city, was equally concerned. Both sides drove over several large vehicles with sirens blaring. The scene instantly became very noisy, yet orderly.
Batches of medical personnel wearing various thick protective suits began to clean up and seal off the scene. Investigating police officers started photographing the surrounding environment and road conditions, attempting to find evidence of the attackers. Although mostly futile, they didn't want to give up even a one-in-ten-thousand possibility. No one liked living in a place where terrorist attacks happened every day. These police officers, all with grim faces, efficiently handled everything around them.
"Damn Oripathy, damn infected, damn terrorist attacks… When can they just be stable for a bit?"
"Can't they just stay obediently in the concentration zones? What are they thinking?"
"There are always people causing trouble here… Bastards."
Looking at the frozen fragments, the workers cursed under their breath. After putting on a full set of protective gear, they carefully lifted the huge block of ice and placed it inside a lead-protected box. This kind of frozen corpse sealed within some substance could easily explode upon any shaking.
Only after confirming that the ice sculpture, which could almost be labeled an explosive, was carefully placed inside the blast-proof box, the protective cover closed, and then sealed with several layers of Originium Arts sealing tape, did these workers let out a long sigh of relief. Some even let out short cheers. But the overall work was still not finished; a batch of construction workers equipped with complete equipment pried up the road surface where the ice sculpture was, relaid a layer of road surface using Originium Arts, and cleaned the surrounding gas and debris.
This section of the road already carried the risk of infection and couldn't be used anymore. And the surrounding area of several hundred meters also needed to be sealed off for observation.
This was the main reason for the workers' resentful expressions.
"Chernobog Road Security Department, you can call me Pamir."
A male Forte police chief with enormous horns got down from a tall vehicle. After distinguishing the group of four, he extended his hand towards the only male and shook it.
"Thank you very much for alerting us about the terrorist attack incident on the national highway. A batch of truck supplies is expected to pass through here this afternoon to compensate for the supplies destroyed in the last disturbance; it would have been disastrous if they encountered such a terrorist attack. Many Originium radiation cleaning devices would have been contaminated, and in that case, the factories and mines that have been shut down for two months due to the disturbance could only resume work forcibly without protection. Thank you for saving Chernobog's miners. Later, we will need you to go to the checkpoint to make a statement; sorry for the trouble."
"Ah, it's nothing. It's what we should do. We just saw it while delivering a package and reported it to the police. It's nothing."
"We will not let heroes go without their due reward; you will receive the reward for reporting terrorists. Converted to Lungmen LMD, it's about fifty thousand per person. It just needs media verification. But please rest assured, your appearances and voices will be censored, and the broadcast delayed."
Glancing at the three girls curiously looking over beside Li Lin, this sturdy Forte man looked left and right, then said to Li Lin in a low voice:
"However, I suggest you still avoid appearing on the news, just deliver the package and return to Lungmen."
"How so?"
"Chernobog, these past few years, has been unstable."
The Forte man shook his head, uttering a slightly unclear, yet somewhat dangerous-sounding word.