Chapter 304 Differences in Mentality

Han Xiao's eyes flickered. He stared at Meros' eyes and saw the tension and hesitation within, as if he cared a great deal about his upcoming answer.

Han Xiao suddenly felt a little emotional. Ever since he had become a Calamity Grade, his prestige in the eyes of B-grade cadres had been increasing day by day. He had been with Meros for several years and knew his personality quite well. Meros had been decadent for many years before he began to serve his race. Compared to those Sunils who had suffered greatly, he seemed less decisive and had more thoughts.

In his previous life, Meros had exhausted himself and died to resist the Disaster, which was very heroic. But now, his experiences were different from his previous life, and his mentality had naturally changed.

"You're thinking too much. There are not so many moral constraints in the struggle for survival. It's all about the difference in positions. If I don't help, the Sunils will be finished. Isn't that why you hired me, to avoid this?"

Han Xiao patted Meros on the shoulder. "Indeed, the Sunils are outsiders, and the Underground Species are innocent. They did nothing wrong. But the law of the jungle is eternal. The Underground Species are hindering the survival of the Sunils. Since you have no other choice, then don't sympathize with your enemies…"

"I know, but if we do this, what's the difference between us and DarkStar?" Meros hesitated.

The Sunil's mother planet was invaded and destroyed by DarkStar. They were also victims, but now they had transformed into invaders like DarkStar. This role reversal made Meros feel indescribable.

"The Sunils are not DarkStar. DarkStar destroys for the sake of destruction, while you are doing it to continue your race. The motives are different. This is a racial battle for survival. Since your Sunils cannot move, then the only goal is to eliminate your natural enemies. There is only the distinction between strong and weak, not right and wrong. Don't feel too guilty…"

Han Xiao paused and added, "If the Underground Species paid me to drive away the Sunils, maybe I would stand on their side. You don't want me to drive away your race, do you?"

As a Chaotic Neutral and a mercenary with a strong sense of professionalism, this kind of problem was nothing to him. He had no intention of pointing fingers at the Sunils' actions.

In every corner of the universe, the struggle for survival resources was being staged every day. A large number of species were born or died every second. One's own race was different, and survival was the first need.

Meros smiled helplessly. Han Xiao's attitude made him feel relieved. It was good that Black Star did not hate him because of this.

"Stop chatting, let's get started quickly."

Sherinde, who was beside him, was impatient and jumped straight into the cave with a cold tone.

Seeing this, Meros sighed and followed him down.

Han Xiao activated the Frenzied Ape Armor and followed closely behind.

…

The three of them flew down for a while, and the entrance of the cave gradually disappeared. The field of vision was completely dark, without any light source. Han Xiao turned on the night vision device.

Only after reaching a depth of several kilometers below the surface did the three of them reach the end of the cave and step onto flat ground.

Before them was a dark underground space, with complex and tortuous passages, like animal paths. There were several Twisted Language Stone ore veins nearby, occupied by several Underground Species nests. The Sunils only officially discovered the existence of the Underground Species after digging here. They lost some exploration teams, so they stopped digging.

Only the area around the cave had traces of artificial excavation. Further away was the world of the Underground Species, which was very vast. The area that had been discovered alone was far larger than Senyuan City. It was unknown how many years the Underground Species had reproduced to build such a spectacular underground world.

The ground temperature at this depth was very high and rich in geothermal energy. Han Xiao turned on the life detection radar. A nest in the distance was full of dense light spots, which represented the Underground Species. The number was extremely terrifying. A single nest was home to tens of millions of Underground Species.

The Sunils had numbered these nests. They were going to the nearest No. 1 nest.

This was just the tip of the iceberg of the underground world. The Sunil Star was so large. No one knew how many undiscovered nests there were. The scale of the Underground Species was in the hundreds of millions. They were the undisputed masters of this planet.

The nests spread outward with the Twisted Language Stone ore veins as the center. The density of the light spots around the ore veins was the highest, just like the city center.

Following the radar's guidance for a while, the three approached the outer edge of the nest. The corrosive mucus on the bodies of the Underground Species gradually appeared on the ground and rock walls. Over time, it had become a thick colloidal blanket, which felt very thick and tough to the touch.

Beep beep—

At this moment, the radar suddenly issued a warning. More than a dozen different species were passing by in front. Han Xiao activated the long-range vision function and locked onto this group of different species.

Han Xiao accelerated and instantly approached the different species. The movement brought up a series of afterimages. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen different species were all knocked to the ground. In the face of the absolute strength of the Calamity Grade, there was no suspense in the battle.

Meros and Sherinde followed up and controlled these different species. Their task was to act as coolies.

The Underground Species were more than a meter long and had some Zerg characteristics. The carapace protected the muscles, and the gaps were covered with fluff, which oozed mucus. The head was very small and had not evolved eyes at all. There were only four flexible tentacles, and the mouthparts were full of fangs. They fed on rocks, had four muscular reverse-jointed legs that could run and jump, were vertebrates, and had a hard carapace tail. The end was a shovel-shaped bone. The overall appearance was very ferocious.

"The samples have been caught. Shall we go back?" Meros whispered.

"You go first, I'll go deeper into the nest to take a look." Han Xiao waved his hand. The two naturally had no objections. They did not need to worry about Han Xiao's combat power. They obediently acted as coolies and returned the way they came with more than a dozen Underground Species.

Only Han Xiao was left. He looked at the battle information just now. The attributes of the Underground Species came into view. The average level was between 30 and 40. They were beast-like creatures, all with the specialty of Mental Resistance. Other than that, there were no other highlights.

"The Mental Resistance is indeed very high, so it won't be affected by the Twisted Language Stone." Han Xiao nodded secretly. Next, he needed to figure out the reason why the Underground Species lived near the Twisted Language Stone.

Activating the stealth function, Han Xiao moved at high speed toward the depths of the nest and began to encounter the Underground Species frequently. However, the Frenzied Ape's stealth was naturally not something that the Underground Species could discover, so he went smoothly all the way.

The further he went to the center of the nest, the larger the Underground Species became. From a size of more than a meter, they gradually grew to three or four meters, and the carapace became thicker.

Han Xiao suddenly found a rock wall with crooked scratches, which were combined into incomprehensible drawings. He carefully identified them for a while and confirmed that these were murals carved by the Underground Species with their tails.

"Is this a way of recording? The Underground Species' writing?"

Han Xiao's heart skipped a beat. The emergence of a way of recording often represented the beginning of civilization.

Were the Underground Species transitioning from beasts to intelligent species?

The thought flashed through his mind, and Han Xiao continued to move forward. He soon arrived near the Twisted Language Stone ore vein and found that there were no traces of mining. It was as if the Underground Species had never used the Twisted Language Stone. They were just guarding the ore vein.

Did the Underground Species just like the mental radiation of the Twisted Language Stone? Han Xiao was a little curious and suddenly had the idea of destroying the ore vein to test the reaction of the Underground Species.

Han Xiao canceled the stealth and released the Watcher's Oath, bombarding this small ore vein wantonly.

Rumble—

Explosions rang out one after another, and this passage quickly shook.

The next moment, the radar showed that the Underground Species in the entire nest seemed to have gone crazy and were frantically gathering toward this place.

The surging tide of Underground Species was rushing over, sealing off all space. Han Xiao was not flustered and set the Watcher's Oath to blast-type attacks, opening fire freely. Beams of light cannons shot out and exploded in the herd. The powerful power easily tore apart pieces of the Underground Species.

The Underground Species were constantly coming, one after another. However, none of them could rush to Han Xiao's side. All of them were beaten into minced meat, piling up higher and higher. Han Xiao strolled leisurely. The huge gap in strength made the number of Underground Species meaningless.

Although there was no danger, this phenomenon made Han Xiao realize a problem.

"Why does the entire nest riot and come at me when I cause damage to the Twisted Language Stone ore vein?"

This phenomenon was a bit like the reaction of hitting a vital part of a living body… Han Xiao's eyes flickered, and he began to guess.

The collective riot represented that a nest had a group consciousness. Perhaps the way the Underground Species communicated was through mental waves. The entire nest formed a collective mental network, and the Twisted Language Stone happened to have mental radiation, which had affected the Underground Species for many years, leading to the evolution of the Underground Species in mental strength… Perhaps, the Underground Species were using the Twisted Language Stone to maintain the mental network?

So, the Underground Species used the Twisted Language Stone as a "tool," a "communication base station"?

This could explain why the Underground Species had to build nests near the Twisted Language Stone ore veins… Perhaps "tribe" was more appropriate. Only one Underground Species tribe was allowed to exist in one underground ore vein. Each tribe was a closed ecosystem, and the Twisted Language Stone ore vein was considered an external organ of the Underground Species.

This form of racial characteristics… How was it a bit similar to the World Tree civilization?

Suddenly, Han Xiao felt a slight dizziness, and the panel popped up with a screen of notifications like flowing water.

[You have been subjected to a mental attack. The level difference is too large. You are immune to this damage. Negative effects are being judged… Judgment passed. You are immune to the [Disturbance] state!]

"They even have mental attack methods?" Han Xiao was shocked and immediately checked the battle information. He found that ordinary Underground Species did not have this ability, but those elite species that were three or four meters tall all had the [Mental Disturbance] skill.

The level difference was too high, and Han Xiao also had the resistance of [Advanced Mental Tenacity]. Most of the elite species' mental attacks were ineffective, but there were also a few attacks that were lucky enough to pass the judgment and disturb his mind.

Han Xiao became vigilant. Mental attacks restrained his blood-blue exchange. He no longer stayed and the Frenzied Ape instantly activated, turning into a black light, crashing out a bloody path in the tide of beasts, unstoppable, and left.

Following the way back to the cave entrance, the Calamity Grade's killing power was very amazing. In a short period of time, he had killed thousands of Underground Species. As long as Han Xiao had enough time, it would not be difficult for him to wipe out all the Underground Species by himself. Unfortunately, the level difference was too large, and he only had 1 point of kill experience. Even if he killed ten million Underground Species alone, it would only be 10 million experience, which was far inferior to cutting leeks.

However, for the players, slaughter was a quick way to level up. In his previous life, there were players who did this, and in the end, they were wanted countless times. They could use up their resurrection times every day, which was more reckless than Mechanic Han.

After collecting a lot of information, Han Xiao went up the cave and flew back to the surface. He saw Meros and the two waiting for him at the edge of the cave at a glance. The dozen or so captured different species had been put into cages and firmly controlled.

"Black Star, what did you find?" Meros smelled a strong bloody smell.

"Yes, there is a lot of interesting information. I'll tell you when we get back."

The three boarded the spaceship and returned to Senyuan City. The Sunil Scientific Research Department was waiting early and successfully handed over the captured Underground Species.

Han Xiao told the Sunil Scientific Research Department about his findings, the signs of the Underground Species' civilization budding, the role of the Twisted Language Stone ore vein, and so on.

This trip easily completed several small goals of the Sunil main mission, especially the "Slayer" series goals were all completed, earning millions of experience points, and the mission evaluation was significantly improved.

Next, they would wait for the Sunil Scientific Research Department to complete the research on the Underground Species, and the interstellar engineering team to come and build the third base. After completing these two points, they could officially eliminate the Underground Species.

…

At the same time, Nest No. 1.

Just after Han Xiao left, the Underground Species collected all the corpses and piled them together. The scene was extremely bloody. If ordinary people saw this scene, they would probably feel nauseous and vomit.

Countless Underground Species tentacles were shaking wildly, as if they were conducting some kind of silent communication.

After a long while, all the Underground Species seemed to have reached a consensus. They all gathered in the ore vein area, lowered their bodies, as if they were worshipping the ore vein, like an ancient totem worship.

Immediately afterward, all the Underground Species suddenly began to dig the ore vein with their shovel-shaped tails, mining piles of Twisted Language Stone raw ore, piling them together, and protecting them strictly.

Hundreds of Underground Species wanted to swallow the Twisted Language Stone raw ore, but they were attacked by their companions and quickly bitten to death.

The Underground Species' digging speed was very fast, and there was also a huge base. Before long, the huge ore vein was quickly mined, and all the Twisted Language Stones were dug out.

The elite species that were three or four meters tall moved pieces of huge Twisted Language Stone raw ore, forming a huge team, which was protected in the center by countless of their kind. Then, this tribe of tens of millions of Underground Species abandoned their original nest and began to move toward the distance.

During this period, a porter who ate the Twisted Language Stone was also ganged up and bitten to death. His companions tore open his body and dug out the undigested Twisted Language Stone from the corpse's stomach and continued to carry it.

This Underground Species tribe began its migration, moving further and further away from the cave that Han Xiao and the others had entered.