The enemy entered from underground, Red Kestrel couldn't penetrate buildings to gather information, and it wasn't until they reached the safety passageway in the underground garage that they were discovered.
Zhou Yi led the team and lay in ambush behind the display cabinets.
A white spindle-shaped creature emerged from the passage, followed by a second one, then a third... They headed straight for the basement level of the supermarket as though they knew their way around.
They were all Bone Fish.
Bone Fish were not very intelligent; most of the time, they were either searching for bones or lying still.
They moved in groups but never had a leader; they basically swarmed following one Bone Fish. Thus, the fish sometimes veered to the left, sometimes to the right, and sometimes swung back and forth, making irregular and unpredictable movements.
Zhou Yi had been trying to attune his consciousness with the Bone Fish, but they turned out to be even more bizarre than the Light Absorption Monster, with no capacity for communication nor expression, simply enjoying the energy they absorbed.
Their greatest advantage was their extremely high birthrate in the Dead Sea.
Using tools on Bone Fish seemed a bit beyond their capabilities.
Yet this group of Bone Fish burst in and dived into the tool section, rummaging everywhere.
Red Kestrel hovered in the air, capturing their every move very clearly.
The Bone Fish were, as always, utterly indifferent to electromechanical life. They quickly swarmed up to the second floor, into the digital and electronics stores, and after swallowing scattered tools, they rummaged around before quickly returning to the underground passageway they had come from.
Red Kestrel followed from a distance, moving forward along the underground parking lot of Da Run Fa, to a hole leading up to the surface.
The Bone Fish streamed out of the hole.
Zhou Yi led the Scavenger Team back to Sea God first, and then followed the Bone Fish from afar in a submarine.
The group of Bone Fish swam to the side of a broad river, whose waters twinkled with pinpoints of Death Light. They followed the winding S-shaped river upstream and arrived at the side of an undersea mountain, then expertly swam up the mountain.
This mountain they hurried to had stone stair trails and long city walls, looking like a military base from some cold weapon era. But now, enshrouded by the Dead Sea, the mountain was void of any vegetation, a barren, light-stricken sight.
Zhou Yi saw the name of the place engraved in stone. Read complete versıon only at novel·fire·net
He remembered it was an ancient battlefield, which had become a tourist spot in his own era, although he had never visited, only heard its name.
Zhou Yi looked at the screen of the remote control in his hand, and the Bone Fish had already reached the inner city of Fishing City, where they were meeting with a group of Bone Men.
These Bone Men each wore different clothes; one of them dumped a bag of bones on the ground. So, the Bone Fish started selecting their favorites and affixing the white bones to their own bodies to further increase their size.
After trading, the Bone Fish each found a spot to lie down and rest; eat and then sleep, just as Zhou Yi had stereotypically expected.
The Red Kestrel transmitted a message, "Zhou, it is these Bone Men who train the Bone Fish to go out and look for supplies. I am electromechanical life and will try talking to them first, which might reduce their hostility."
With Zhou Yi's consent, the drone lowered its height and approached where the Bone Men were.
"Excuse the intrusion, I am the rescue drone from Wasteland Development Company, Red Kestrel."
Initially startled, the Bone Men relaxed seeing it was a small electromechanical life-form.
One Bone Man wearing a motorcycle helmet and dressed in a gray ski suit said, "Are you here to refill your Energy Pack? Or perhaps you need oil? We have both."
"Thank you, but I did not come for supplies."
Red Kestrel said, "I followed that group of Bone Fish here, originally searching for some supplies in the nearby Divine Era Relics. I hadn't expected to find a settlement of yours here."
"Yes. This is Small Mountain Town."
The Bone Man introduced himself: "My name is Chen Shi. Are you from Wasteland Development Company?"
"The same company as Wasteland Express?"
"You know of our company?"
The helmeted Bone Man became visibly excited, "I saw your Bone Fish delivering goods, but no matter how I greeted them or fed them with bones, they ignored me; they have such strong wills."
Red Kestrel said, "How did you find out about us? Can you communicate with Bone Fish?"
"It's because of 'Tree Monster Territory.' Small Mountain Town and Tree Monster Territory have regular trade; we exchange collected tools and Dead Sea Documents for Light Seeds and Energy Packs with them. The Bone Fish you see are our helpers and partners. We have been living here for decades and are very familiar with the area..."
Bone Man Chen Shi was quite talkative and outgoing.
Zhou Yi remembered that Tree Monster Territory was one of the nine cities covered by Wasteland Express, located further south, ruled by the sea lord 'Tree Monster Lord.'
The Tree Monster Lord's core city was Tree Monster Territory; he ruled and cultivated the Guangna Species called Tree Monsters.
Tree Monsters lived on land, tall and slim like towering spires, not adept at fighting. They were awakened by mutations from trees under the irradiation of Death Light, their life core being the roots at the bottom. They grew fast, lived long, and could move by relocating when necessary.
Just regularly pruning their trunks and branches could yield a large quantity of wood.
Tree Monster Territory also specialized in exporting wood.
Although he had no direct dealings with the Tree Monster Lord, Zhou Yi was still deeply impressed by the wood-producing Tree Monster Territory.
"The chairman is also here? Small Mountain Town welcomes your arrival," Bone Man Chen Shi said amiably.
None of the other Bone Men expressed any objections.
Zhou Yi ascended the hill alone.
The looks of the Bone Men all came his way in unison.
"Human beings can actually enter the bottom of the Dead Sea..."
"No need to wear any equipment, just able to move in the Dead Sea... can humans really achieve such a state?"