The group opposite seemed to obey the man very well. However, Zhou Haimei felt that the woman speaking to her was the most intelligent person in this team.
Hong Ying’s expression also turned grim.
“You misunderstand. These rats were not driven by us. We discovered them migrating as we passed by, so we followed them. We originally thought it was a large-scale migration due to animal instinct. We didn’t expect it to be an organized mass escape out of fear.”
After hearing Hong Ying’s words, Xu An’s expression instantly darkened.
They all understood the implication of her words.
If these rats were not migrating due to being driven away by Liu Chang and Hong Ying’s team, it would prove that something terrifying was approaching from the north towards the south.
This matter clearly caught Xu An’s attention.
She was no longer silent and looked at the people opposite.
“When you traveled here, did you encounter anything?”
Liu Chang felt awkward and did not speak. It was Hong Ying who was communicating with Xu An.
“When we arrived, we only encountered small monsters, but we killed them. We didn’t encounter any large-scale or massive monsters, so we don’t know why these rats were fleeing and why we followed them all the way here.”
……
At this moment, although both sides had ceased fighting, some were very dissatisfied.
These were the organizers of the competition and the viewers in the live stream.
They had been anticipating a battle between ability users, but they did not expect both sides to throw a fireball and then cease fighting.
Following that, both sides seemed to cooperate, beginning to communicate and converse.
The viewers in the live stream naturally were not buying it. They came to watch ability users fight, not to see them shake hands and talk.
The organizers now looked at the screen with frustration, as if wishing they would fight to the death.
After all, they were not the ones in the arena, nor were they the ones whose lives were at risk.
These people only wanted to see exciting, thrilling, life-and-death battles.
They did not care how much blood was shed or how many people died.
They also did not care that the monsters these people killed were all for the future survival and development of humanity, gaining much-needed space.
They only cared that they had spent money and wanted to get the viewing experience they desired.
Xu An and the others were like beasts in the Roman Colosseum, with the surrounding audience only wanting to see bloody and exciting duels. They paid no attention to whether humans or beasts in the arena were involved, their lives were not considered by these people.
……
“Are you also ability users?”
Hearing Xu An’s question, Hong Ying felt a strange sensation in her heart.
Wasn’t this an obvious matter? But why would the other party continue to ask this question after seeing Liu Chang’s fire ability?
“What’s wrong? Haven’t you already seen it?”
For some reason, Hong Ying’s heart felt inexplicably strange.
Xu An looked at Hong Ying and Liu Chang, her gaze lingering and scrutinizing both of them.
Xu An understood the feeling of ability awakening. When Ze Yuan helped her awaken her ability, she had asked Ze Yuan.
Could everyone awaken abilities?
Of course, the answer was no.
Ze Yuan told Xu An at the time that only certain humans with natural factors capable of stimulating abilities in their bodies could use energy crystals to awaken their abilities.
Of course, this condition screened out a large portion of people.
This was because not everyone possessed these supernatural natural factors within their bodies.
When Xu An awakened her space ability, she could faintly feel the wondrous sensation of the surrounding space.
There seemed to be invisible and intangible particles around, and it was these particles that constructed the generation of her space ability.
And she felt this same natural power on Zhou Haimei.
However, Xu An looked at Liu Chang and Hong Ying and did not feel this mysterious and powerful force on them. Their abilities were more like clothes they wore, superficial.
Xu An didn’t even feel the slightest ripple of ability from them.
It was as if their abilities were stored in sealed cans, disposable items.
Once used, they could be discarded at will, and these two people were merely containers for that powerful force.
This strangeness was not only felt by Xu An; Zhou Haimei felt it too.
At this moment, a sallow-faced man walked out of Liu Chang’s team. His eyes were sunken, and his eyes were half-closed, as if he had difficulty seeing. He seemed to have snow blindness.
He trembled his hands and looked at Xu An and the others with a humble, almost begging tone.
“Please! Can you give me some food? I haven’t eaten for three days. My eyes can’t see now, and I’m really hungry. Please, I’ll do anything you ask, just for a mouthful of food.”
After the man finished speaking, three or four more people walked out from behind him, men and women. Their purpose was the same as the first man’s: to beg Xu An for food.
The reason they initially followed Liu Chang was simply because they thought Liu Chang was powerful and that they might get some food from him. Everyone had thought of this competition too simply beforehand.
But seeing their companions die one by one, these people finally knew fear. The result of knowing fear was their desperate struggle to survive.
Therefore, they wanted to rely on the stronger ones to survive in this cannibalistic snowfield.
They no longer cared about rankings or rewards. They just wanted to endure this month and return to Lighthouse to reunite with their families.
So, when they discovered that Liu Chang was an ability user, everyone unreservedly followed him, hoping that Liu Chang could provide them with protection.
But the outcome was not as they wished.
Although Liu Chang was an ability user, after each use of his skill, he would disappear for two to three days, hiding alone in his tent, seeing no one. At this time, only Hong Ying could enter Liu Chang’s tent.
But every time everyone asked about Liu Chang’s situation, Hong Ying would tell them nothing.
There was no trust or team spirit in this team. Everyone gathered here only for their own interests. Therefore, everyone understood that there must be some secret between Hong Ying and Liu Chang that could not be revealed to others.