Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 380: Chapter 181 Extreme Cold Mountain Range

After seeing the action log of High Mountain Commerce, Li Yelai and Little Mad King exchanged glances, both understanding the cost of the Nether River Horn.

It could indeed resurrect the dead, but the body had to be well-preserved.

If the brain was missing or the body had completely decayed, then resurrection was impossible.

Further, the resurrected would, after a period, turn to ash and vanish completely. Dust to dust, ashes to ashes...

However, the truly defying aspect was that the resurrected retained their consciousness from before death. They could truly experience a temporary resurrection!

Even if only for a brief time, it had crossed the boundary between life and death, allowing those gone to return once more.

Li Yelai felt a sigh of regret within him. He longed to see his mom again, but had only been able to cremate her... Had he known this before, would he have been able to see her again if he had kept her body frozen?

”No luck in this life after all,” Li Yelai sighed inwardly.

The horror of the horn lay in its connection to the awakened dead.

If the bodies of powerful warriors killed in battle could be preserved, they could be resurrected when necessary...

Although such actions might seem inhumane to outsiders, as a Processor, he wouldn’t mind these things.

Tasks left unfinished in life, would be completed after death!

Under desperate circumstances, this could be a trump card that would turn the tide of battle.

Just this fact alone made it very valuable!

The cost of using the horn, as the logs indicated, involved the user being gradually beguiled; a Spiritual Ability User, after using it a few times, would begin to stitch various creature’s limbs onto themselves, and those limbs would become parts of the user.

The ghost-faced giant ape, for instance, had stitched its own body bit by bit and even found the hand bone of Supreme Vast in the ruins of the city.

From this, it seemed to possess the function to actively identify the strength of corpses and seek them out.

Initially a One or Two Awakenings giant ape, it had forced Li Yelai, a Four Awakenings, to summon Heavenly Thunder to strike it down. This showed just how terrifying the cost was.

If left unchecked, it would continue to kill, amassing more bodies to grow stronger.

Should it acquire the corpses of powerful beings like Overlords, Supremes, or even Kings, perhaps no one in the world could contend with such a monster.

A creature with the potential to grow, fortunately, the environment in the abandoned city did not allow it, despite once being a battlefield, where all bones had been annihilated.

”In the end, this is an incident of a Taboo Item going out of control,” Little Mad King said, ”That’s why Taboo Items must be controlled by the authorities. Otherwise, they lead to various disasters.”

Li Yelai nodded; it was indeed so.

This was also why the wilderness was dangerous, scavengers were too good at finding things.

Abandoned cities contained all sorts of supplies; finding a piece of fractured technology could mean striking it rich.

But finding a Taboo Item in some corner meant disaster.

This time, the Nether River Horn was such an item.

And in any Giant City, for ordinary people, becoming a Scavenger was the quickest way to make money.

There was no way to stop these incidents from happening.

Li Yelai took the journal and said to Red Dart Commerce, ”You’ve avenged your colleagues and obtained enough reward. You can handle their bodies now.”

Li Yelai pointed at the corpses of the High Mountain Commerce personnel.

”I know you Scavengers don’t mind leaving bodies out in the wild, but... don’t let their bodies be desecrated by other animals.”

”Of... of course! Night General Sir! I’ll bury them properly,” Xu Shi, thrilled with the outcome. Although he hadn’t seen the journal, his gains had been substantial.

The remnants of extraordinary creatures, the supplies left by High Mountain Commerce, all became his property. Even if he returned directly to No.3 Border City now, his Red Dart Commerce would make a tidy profit. Naturally, there were no complaints.

Perhaps as a way to show gratitude, when Li Yelai was about to leave, Xu Shi offered him gasoline to stock up.

Li Yelai didn’t refuse and continued, ”If you see anything strange in the wilderness, don’t go near it. It’s deadly. If you encounter a similar situation again, notify the nearest Giant City immediately, whether it be the City Defense Army or the Guard Hall. Otherwise, a greater disaster might occur.”

”Yes, yes, yes...” Xu Shi nodded repeatedly, though it was unclear if he really took the warning to heart.

Afterward, Li Yelai and Little Mad King drove away.

....

In the vehicle, Li Yelai asked, ”The Nether River Horn... How should we deal with it?”

The strategic significance of the Nether River Horn was immense; if used properly, it could even turn the tide of battle.

”For now, there’s no time to send it back to the Giant City. Let’s keep it with us. It might be useful for the assassination of Mei Wu later,” Little Mad King thought before responding.

Li Yelai nodded slightly.

The most important task was still the assassination of the human traitor.

Then, Li Yelai drove as directed by Little Mad King and the official map, speeding along.

After leaving the abandoned city, the wilderness roads became increasingly steep. Years of neglect had left many roads completely desolate.

Overpasses had collapsed, tunnels had caved in, and highways had cracked... This forced the vehicle onto the rugged, steep paths.

As they moved closer to the Forbidden Zone, they saw no settlements or villages along the way.

In the entire wilderness, traces of human life had vanished completely. Even with Li Yelai’s vision, no smoke from cooking fires could be seen.

It seemed only wild animals moved around the land, and they even seemed eager to attack the vehicle.