Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 998: Chapter 561: ”Anthropologist

Li Wenxi knows there’s a battle going on above ground now, and she wants to go back and help Xu Xin and the others.

”Go back...” Xu Ying hesitated a little.

”Since this place has been exposed, we don’t need to fear being discovered down below, right?” Li Wenxi fiddled with the watch on her wrist.

The watch had completely lost its ability to connect since coming down here.

”Well... even so, I still feel there’s something fishy about this.” Xu Ying frowned, contemplating.

”Fishy? What do you mean...”

”I suspect the human refuge in the underground world hasn’t been fully discovered.”

”... Huh?” Li Wenxi was a bit puzzled, ”What do you mean? Not fully discovered? You mean they’ve only found part of the human underground hideout? That’s unlikely, isn’t the human refuge connected as a whole? Moreover, this is the core of the human base, right? You’ve discovered those mutant humans here, doesn’t that mean...”

Doesn’t that mean the human underground refuge has been fully explored?

”Ah, what I meant by not fully discovered isn’t quite that.” Xu Ying waved her hands hurriedly, ”I mean, the matter of the human survivor base in the underground world hasn’t been widely spread among the alien invaders, letting them all know.”

”... I don’t quite get it...” Li Wenxi was a bit lost, ”Why do you think that?”

”Hmm, it’s normal you don’t get it, after all, you don’t know those aliens’ attitude towards humans.” Xu Ying sighed lightly at this thought.

”Attitude? What do you mean?”

”Hmm...” Xu Ying tapped her lips with her index finger, giving an example, ”Are you afraid of cockroaches?”

”... Cockroaches?” Li Wenxi blinked, ”... A bit, yes.”

”What if they crawled onto you?”

”... That’s scarier than mutant creatures!” Thinking of that scene, Li Wenxi shivered, shaking her head vigorously.

”Those alien invaders view us the same way.” Xu Ying spread her hands, ”Some of them even have psychological fear of us—screaming, shouting ’monster’ upon seeing us.”

”... Ah?” Li Wenxi’s eyes widened, ”Why? We’re far weaker than them, we can’t harm them.”

”Can cockroaches harm you?”

”Uh, well...”

”So you see.”

Xu Ying walked to the window, leaning against the sill to look outside.

”If the entire group of aliens knew about our underground refuge, they wouldn’t allow billions of humans to survive. They’ve already taken Earth as their backyard—would you allow billions of cockroaches to thrive in your backyard?”

”No... I couldn’t stand it, what if they crawl into the house...”

”That’s likely their thought.” Xu Ying turned and leaned against the window sill, ”If they knew of such a huge human refuge underground with billions of people, would they just let it be?”

”So you mean, only... certain individuals of them discovered this place?” Li Wenxi understood Xu Ying’s thought.

”Exactly.” Xu Ying nodded, ”One of their individuals discovered this place, perhaps out of curiosity, so didn’t report upward but privately sent people down to investigate.”

”That kind of thing... an entomologist who likes cockroaches?” Li Wenxi joked halfway.

”Well, it’s possible.” Xu Ying looked at her seriously, ”Even the survivor drama might be orchestrated by this ’entomologist’, or ’anthropologist’.”

”You mean the collective survival activity of the survivors is done privately by this ’entomologist’?” Li Wenxi asked, surprised.

”That’s unlikely.” Xu Ying walked to the bed and sat down, ”The surface cannot go unnoticed, but perhaps it’s a research project by them or their team, realized upon persuading other creatures. However, they’re still disgusted by humans, so the survivor plan is in the farthest hemisphere from them.”

”Is all this your speculation, or is there evidence?” Li Wenxi asked.

”Ah, although there’s no evidence, this speculation seems reasonable, don’t you think?” Xu Ying lay back on the bed, sighing, ”If this is true, perhaps we’re not in such a dire situation.”

”Hey, do you think this so-called ’entomologist’ could communicate with us?” Li Wenxi suddenly mused, ”Maybe it did all this because it likes humans?”

”It probably doesn’t like us... but I do have the idea of communicating. If it can endure billions of humans, it might also bear communication.”

Saying this, she sat up again: ”So, don’t think of going up now, okay sister-in-law? If it really is the case, and you go up making them discover, that’ll be disastrous.”

”Alright, alright.” Li Wenxi was somewhat disappointed.

Xu Ying propped her chin, gazing out the window, muttering to herself, ”What to do? Should I go explore over there? No... better find out here first, perhaps catch those mutant humans sent to investigate and learn something.”