Su Wan saw at a glance that the wound was caused by a sharp weapon.
The wound was narrow and deep, with neat edges, cut at an angle as precise as a surgical procedure.
The skin and muscle tissue had been sliced open in a single cut, revealing the grayish-white torn ligament underneath.
Su Wan frowned slightly as she observed it closely.
The tissue at the edges of this wound had already begun to contract, and the amount of fluid seeping from it was much less than that of other new wounds.
Estimating based on a Rot-Walker's healing speed, this wound had been there for at least ten days, if not longer.
Su Wan stood up, her gaze sweeping across the Rot-Walker's body.
There was a similar incision at its left shoulder joint.
Both wounds had been precisely cut at key locations, causing functional impairment.
These injuries didn't affect the Rot-Walker's basic mobility, but they would restrict its every movement.
Images of the recent battle flashed through Su Wan's mind.
Its reaction time was actually very fast, but whenever it needed to make a sharp turn, there would always be a brief pause, leaving her room to dodge.
At first, she had thought it was because the Purifier's pulses had interfered with it, or because of a flaw in the Rot-Walker's own physiological structure.
But now it seemed—
Su Wan squatted down, her gaze lingering on the two wounds. The more she looked, the more alarmed she became.
These wounds were not random trauma sustained in battle.
Because they were too precise.
Every cut was made at the most fragile part of the ligament, and the depth was just right.
So, who had caused these injuries?
Su Wan withdrew her gaze and looked at the massive corpse on the ground, an inexplicable sense of vigilance rising in her heart.
A Level 4 Rot-Walker, carrying old wounds precise enough to look surgical, had run out from deep within the Non-Safe Zone at the tail end of the Cold Wave, only to be killed by her on the outskirts of the Terminal Station.
Was this just a coincidence, or was it a sign of something she had yet to realize?
Su Wan couldn't figure it out.
But she quickly put the thought out of her mind.
At this moment, her attention was entirely drawn to the Energy Crystal Core inside its skull.
Looking at the Level 4 Energy Crystal Core resting in her palm, Su Wan felt that it was all worth it.
【Level 4 Rot-Walker Energy Crystal Core】
【Can be directly absorbed to increase mental power intensity and ability proficiency. Estimated absorption time: 2 hours.】
【Can be exchanged for Points: 500,000.】
Five hundred thousand Points.
The corners of Su Wan's mouth curled up slightly as she stored the dark red crystal core in her system space.
Just as she was about to turn and leave, the system's prompt suddenly rang in her mind.
【Ding! An abnormal energy fluctuation has been detected within the target "Level 4 Rot-Walker," unrelated to the conventional energy core.】
Su Wan paused in her tracks.
【Performing a deep scan and analysis of the energy fluctuation...】
【Scanning...】
【Scan complete.】
【Target: Level 4 Rot-Walker.】
【Following the host's kill, the system conducted a tracking scan of residual energy throughout its body, detecting a suspected exogenous item in its abdominal cavity.】
【This item is not part of the Rot-Walker's own tissue, nor is it undigested debris from consumption. Instead, it is a high-density aggregate possessing an independent energy field.】
Su Wan's breath hitched slightly.
There was actually something good in this guy's stomach?
Su Wan sliced open the Rot-Walker's abdomen.
A strong, putrid stench surged from the incision, but Su Wan didn't even bat an eye. She reached into the cut with both hands and pulled the abdominal wall apart to both sides.
Her mental power delved into the abdominal cavity, quickly locking onto the abnormal energy fluctuation.
She reached into the stomach sac, hooked her finger slightly, and a hard object fell into her palm.
Su Wan withdrew her hand, shook off the mucus onto the snow, and looked down at her palm.
It turned out to be a ring, dark silver all over, with no patterns or decorations on its surface. Its matte texture made it look completely unremarkable.
The band was thick, about half a centimeter wide, and the inner side was engraved with several lines of extremely fine writing. It had already become blurred, leaving only the faint outlines of a few symbols recognizable.
【Ding! Item appraisal complete.】
【Item Name: Old Era Ruins - Space Ring (Unidentified)】
【Material: Semm Alloy (A top-tier alloy formula from the Old Era, now lost)】
【Internal Space: One cubic meter (Multi-layered nested folding structure, S-class space stability)】
【Current Status: Unactivated. Requires the injection of mental power or ability energy to use.】
【Remarks: This item is a product of the Old Era Ruins and cannot be manufactured by current-era technology. It may contain items left behind by its original owner, which can be viewed after activation.】
Su Wan had originally been looking forward to it, but upon hearing the system say the ring only had one cubic meter of storage space, she instantly lost interest.
However, hearing that there might be items left behind by the original owner inside made her somewhat curious again.
She stored the ring in her system space, then got up and darted toward the Terminal Station.
The battle on the outskirts of the Terminal Station was drawing to a close.
Feng Mu lowered his binoculars, his gaze sweeping over the mountain of corpses piled up around the outskirts of the Terminal Station, and spoke into his communicator:
“Clean up the battlefield!”
“Collect all Rot-Walker crystal cores and hand them over to the Terminal Station.”
“Send the wounded to the medical center immediately!”
On the snow-covered wasteland, the grayish-white corpses of Rot-Walkers lay in disarray, piled layer upon layer, stretching from the outskirts of the Terminal Station all the way into the depths of the ruins.
The air was thick with a strong, putrid stench mixed with the lingering smoke of gunpowder, making people gag.
Zhao Laoliu stood at the edge of the pile of corpses, half a cigarette dangling from his mouth, squinting as his eyes swept over this slaughterhouse.
He had struggled and survived in the Ruin Zone for decades, but he had never seen so many Rot-Walkers, nor had he ever seen such a clean battlefield.
“What are you all standing around for?” he yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Get to work! Dig out the crystal cores first, then move the corpses! Old rules, groups of three, look out for each other!”
More than three hundred soldiers, over two hundred militiamen, and dozens of experienced old hunters—nearly six hundred people flooded into the battlefield.
Some squatted beside the corpses with daggers, skillfully cutting open the Rot-Walkers' skulls; some followed behind pushing handcarts to collect the crystal cores; others were responsible for dragging the cleared corpses to one side to be piled up.
“Hey! A Level 2 one!” A young soldier dug a pale blue crystal core out of the skull of a Rot-Walker that was clearly a size larger. He rubbed it against his clothes, held it up to the sky, his eyes shining like lightbulbs.
“This is a good item!”
“Brother Zhao, how is it on your end?” A middle-aged man carrying a shovel rounded the pile of corpses. His face was splattered with a few black stains, but he grinned happily.
Zhao Laoliu spat out his cigarette butt, pulled a small cloth pouch from his pocket, and weighed it. It clinked noisily.
“Not bad, about a hundred. Most are unranked. What about you?”
“About the same!” The middle-aged man patted his bulging waist pouch and chuckled.
“After this run, it'll be enough for my family of three to live comfortably for several months.”
Similar conversations echoed across various corners of the battlefield.
The cheers of digging out high-rank crystal cores, the banter between companions, and the creaking of handcarts rolling over the snow blended into a noisy yet cheerful wave of sound.
Rate on N.U.
