41: Chapter 41 Pre-war Data Terminal Beneath the Altar

"Zzzzt—!!!"

The originally aggressive swarm of leeches, the moment they touched the white powder, acted like pork belly dropped into a frying pan, writhing and convulsing violently.

Their skin rotted rapidly, the moisture inside their bodies was frantically extracted, turning them into pools of pus and blood.

The air was filled with an indescribable, pungent smell.

"Clean up the rest."

Lin Xiao didn't even lift a finger; he just tilted his chin.

Zhao Xiaotang behind him had long been unable to hold back.

"Got it! The feeling of smashing them into a pulp with one strike is just so satisfying!"

She swung her alloy steel pipe, charging into the monster swarm like a human tank, every strike accompanied by splattering juices.

Su Qingqian was much more elegant; her Tang dao danced in her hands, and wherever the cold air passed, the leeches were instantly frozen into popsicles and then shattered into dust.

In just three minutes.

Hundreds of mutant leeches besieging the tribe were completely wiped out.

The high ground fell into dead silence.

The group of swamp survivors remained in their defensive stance, mouths agape, completely unaware that the bone spears in their hands had dropped to the ground.

They looked at the man standing before the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, yet remaining spotless himself.

That look in their eyes wasn't looking at a person; it was looking at a god.

"Thump."

The old man holding Aman was the first to kneel down.

He raised his trembling hands, prostrated himself on the ground, and shouted some syllables that Lin Xiao couldn't understand.

Immediately after, all the tribespeople knelt down in a mass.

"What are they saying?"

Lin Xiao turned his head to look at Luo Yao, who had jumped off the vehicle.

"Is the system translator on?"

"It's on! Analyzing the language structure via AI... Done!"

Luo Yao tapped her wrist terminal a few times.

The next second, the old man's obscure voice turned into standard Mandarin in Lin Xiao's ears (though with a bit of a dialect accent).

"...Great... Messenger of the God of Steel... Thank you for descending divine punishment... and saving us..."

"Messenger of God?"

A playful arc curved at the corner of Lin Xiao's mouth.

This misunderstanding was good.

It saved a lot of trouble explaining things and would make it easier for him to "take" things later.

He cleared his throat and adjusted his stance, making himself look more unfathomable (full pretension mode activated).

"All of you, rise."

The voice was amplified through the loudspeaker, echoing through the valley.

The old man stood up in fear and trepidation, pulling the young girl beside him over.

Only then did Lin Xiao clearly see the young girl's appearance.

Although her skin was a pale cyan, it didn't affect her beauty in the slightest; instead, it added a touch of exotic allure.

She was about eighteen or nineteen, with an incredibly hot figure.

Because of the scarcity of supplies, she only wore a few palm-sized pieces of animal hide over her key areas, revealing large swathes of firm, wild-looking wheat-colored... oh no, celadon-colored skin.

Years of hunting had given her clear abdominal muscles and long, powerful legs.

A few colorful feathers were stuck in her messy black hair, and her big eyes, like a startled fawn, were secretly sizing up Lin Xiao.

"This is my daughter, Aman."

The old man introduced her respectfully, then pressed Aman's head down, making her kneel again.

"Aman, quickly thank the Messenger of God for saving our lives."

Aman lifted her head, her wild eyes filled with adoration and curiosity.

She had never seen such a clean, such a handsome man.

He didn't smell like the rot of the swamp; instead, he carried a faint, pleasant scent (actually the fragrance of body wash).

"Th...Thank you, Messenger of God."

Her voice was a bit rusty, with a primitive huskiness.

Looking at this girl full of wild temptation, Lin Xiao couldn't help but sigh: on this wasteland, there were indeed surprises everywhere.

He reached out, not letting her continue kneeling, but instead grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

His fingertips touched her cool, silk-smooth mutant skin, and the texture was surprisingly good.

"No need for such formalities."

Lin Xiao didn't let go; instead, he stroked her arm intentionally or unintentionally.

Aman's body shuddered violently, a strange blush spreading across her face (appearing as deep purple on her cyan skin), but she didn't dodge; instead, like a tamed little leopard, she lowered her head obediently.

"I am... an explorer from the North."

Lin Xiao casually made up an identity; anyway, whether they believed the title of "Messenger of God" or not didn't matter to him.

"Just passing through; it was nothing more than a small favor."

"The North..."

A trace of awe flashed in the eyes of the old man (the tribal leader).

"That is... the place where it is said the gods fell."

He glanced at the massive Black Iron, hesitated for a moment, and said:

"Messenger of God, your divine beast... seems to need a rest. If you don't mind, please come to our camp to rest, and let us offer you our most precious food to express our gratitude."

The most precious food?

Images of dark culinary creations like roasted lizards and stewed bugs instantly flashed through Lin Xiao's mind.

His mouth twitched, and he was just about to refuse.

But on second thought, since these people had lived here for generations, they must know a lot of information.

"Fine."

Lin Xiao nodded.

"Lead the way."

**[Totem Tribe · Camp]**

This tribe was still stuck in the Stone Age.

Hundreds of shacks built from huge animal bones and dead tree branches were scattered across the high ground.

Although simple, the location was well-chosen, ventilated and dry, avoiding the swamp gas below.

To entertain their savior, the leader brought out the "most precious" things in the tribe—a jar of pickled dried mutant earthworms and a few pieces of moldy compressed biscuits (likely lost here decades ago).

Looking at the black, dried earthworms, Zhao Xiaotang almost threw up on the spot.

Even Su Qingqian silently stepped back.

Lin Xiao, of course, wouldn't eat these.

He smiled and waved his hand.

Shen Man immediately brought a few girls from the logistics team to carry down several boxes of canned goods, ham sausages, and vacuum-packed white bread.

"Since it's a feast, let's all eat together."

Lin Xiao said generously.

"Try some food from our hometown."

When the packaging was torn open and the rich, meaty aroma of the ham sausages wafted out, the whole tribe boiled over with excitement.

The survivors' eyes went straight, and drool flowed down in rivers.

For them, who had only eaten bugs and moss their whole lives, this was truly food for the gods!

Aman carefully took a ham sausage handed to her by Lin Xiao and, imitating him, took a small bite.

The next second, her eyes widened instantly, and tears actually welled up.

"It's... it's so delicious..."

She devoured it while crying, and the sense of satisfaction made Lin Xiao feel that these few ham sausages were well worth it.

After three rounds of drinks (actually a few bottles of Erguotou that Lin Xiao brought out).

The old leader was already dizzy from drinking, and the way he looked at Lin Xiao was even more affectionate than looking at his own father.

"Messenger of God... are... are you here to find 'that thing'?"

The old leader asked mysteriously, hiccuping.

"Which thing?"

Lin Xiao's heart stirred, but he remained calm on the surface, gently swirling the wine glass in his hand.

"It's... it's that iron box under the altar that can talk!"

The old leader pointed to a forbidden area behind the camp.

"That is a holy relic passed down by our ancestors! Every full moon, the box flashes and makes strange sounds... We all say it's the gods whispering."

"But recently... the box has been ringing constantly, the sound is very urgent, as if the gods are angry. That's why the monsters in this swamp have been rioting."

"An iron box that can talk?"

"Flashing?"

"Ringing constantly?"

Lin Xiao and Luo Yao beside him exchanged glances.

A flash of brilliance appeared in both their eyes simultaneously.

This was definitely not any god.

This was... pre-war electronic equipment that was still operating!

And it was very likely some kind of distress signal or data transmission terminal!

"Take me to see it."

Lin Xiao put down his wine glass, his tone becoming unquestionable.

"This..."

The old leader hesitated; after all, it was a forbidden area.

But looking at the big gun on Lin Xiao's back, then looking at the unfinished ham sausage in his hand.

"Since it is the Messenger of God... then of course it is allowed!"

"Aman! Take the Lord to the altar!"

**[Tribe Forbidden Area · Altar]**

The so-called altar was actually a huge natural karst cave.

The cave entrance was piled with the skulls of various mutant beasts, appearing eerie and terrifying.

Aman held a torch, walking in front to lead the way.

In the narrow passage, her wild figure swayed gracefully in the torchlight; as she walked, the animal-hide skirt at her waist swung, revealing a pair of powerful legs, which made Lin Xiao, following behind, feel quite pleased.

"Lord... it's right ahead."

Aman stopped, stepped aside, a trace of awe in her eyes.

**[Totem Tribe · Forbidden Cave]**

**[Time: Third day entering the Death Swamp, evening 17:30]**

Deep inside the karst cave, it wasn't as damp and dark as imagined; on the contrary, it was very dry.

The light of several torches danced on the rock walls, reflecting Aman's wild, beautiful figure.

She knelt respectfully before a huge square stone platform, pointing to an object in the center of the platform covered in thick moss.

"Messenger of God, it is this."

"Every full moon, it emits a red light and makes a 'beep-beep' sound."

Lin Xiao stepped forward and gently brushed away the dry moss with his walking stick.

What was revealed was a metal box half-buried in the rock.

Although the surface was covered in rust and traces of time, one could still see its originally exquisite craftsmanship.

It wasn't any relic of a god, but a typical pre-war military creation.

On the side of the box, a line of blurry numbers was vaguely visible: **[Project-Zero / 001]**.

"Luo Yao, time to work."

Lin Xiao snapped his fingers.

Luo Yao, who had been following behind, immediately darted up like a little cat, pulling out a pile of messy data cables and hacking equipment from her small backpack.

"Wow! This is... the highest level pre-war quantum encryption terminal!"

Luo Yao's big eyes instantly lit up like two light bulbs; the excitement of seeing a new toy couldn't be hidden at all.

"Squad Leader! This interface is still good! Although the energy is almost exhausted, I can use the train's spare battery to recharge it!"

"Don't talk nonsense, see what's inside."

Lin Xiao was not interested in technical details; he only wanted to know the result.

"Got it! Give me five minutes... no, three minutes!"

Luo Yao skillfully connected the lines, her fingers tapping rapidly on the portable keyboard.

Countless lines of green code flashed across the screen instantly.

The "iron box" that had been silent for who knows how many years suddenly emitted a soft "hum".

A red indicator light on the surface lit up; although faint, it appeared exceptionally glaring in the dark karst cave.

"Beep—"

"System reboot successful... Decrypting data packet..."

"Warning! Top-secret file! Attempting to bypass firewall..."

Aman and the old leader standing on the side watched, dumbfounded.

In their eyes, this seemingly fragile little girl, Luo Yao, was currently performing some kind of extremely unfathomable "divine art," actually able to awaken the sleeping "god."

Three minutes later.

"Done!"

Luo Yao snapped her fingers excitedly.

"Squad Leader! The information recorded inside this thing... is simply explosive!"

She turned the screen toward Lin Xiao.

It was a file titled **《Ark Project · Top Secret Memorandum》**.

Although most of the data was corrupted, the remaining fragments were still shocking.

**[Recorder: General Director of the Ark Project · Dr. Li]**

**[Date: Eve of the Catastrophe, 20XX]**

**[Content Summary:]**

"...The Earth's resources have been exhausted, the magnetic pole reversal is irreversible... The 'Black Mist' is not a natural phenomenon, but a... screening mechanism... of a higher-dimensional civilization..."

"...To continue human civilization, we launched the 'Ark Project'. We deployed tens of thousands of specially made trains globally... Each train is an independent ecosystem..."

"...No. 9527... that is the only... prototype... equipped with the... uncontrollable... prototype of the 'heavenly dao system'..."

"...Only a true 'Qualified One' can master it and lead humanity to break through the Black Mist..."

Reading up to here, the file came to an abrupt end.

The subsequent data all turned into garbled code.

Lin Xiao's pupils contracted sharply.

Screening? Man-made? Prototype?

So the so-called "global mutation" wasn't some sudden natural disaster, but a long-planned game of "survival of the fittest"!

And the Train No. 9527 he was on was actually the prototype for the entire project! No wonder the system bound him with the unique identity of "Conductor," no wonder he had that heaven-defying "Daily Sign-in" talent!

Was all of this seemingly arranged?

Or... was he that so-called "Qualified One"?

"Squad Leader... this..."

Luo Yao was also stunned by the massive amount of information, her little face turning somewhat pale.

"If this is true, then we..."

"Shh."

Lin Xiao raised his index finger, stopping her from continuing.

Some things are safer the less you know. Especially in front of outsiders.

He expressionlessly unplugged the data cable and put the terminal back into his storage space.