In the God-forsaken land, it was a night with very low lightning frequency.

Several human-like creatures cautiously approached a mass of flesh with six legs and a dozen eyes.

They were wrapped in animal skins or simple clothes whose original materials could not be identified, and they walked through the deep and boundless darkness with the help of a few lanterns. Their expressions were very solemn.

Some of them had dozens of tumors on their faces, some had eyes almost squeezed together, and some had no noses at all, with a black hole in the place where they should be.

After a fierce battle, they successfully dealt with the monster, and then divided into two groups, one group to guard the surroundings and the other group to collect the spoils.

During this process, the man with multiple tumors on his face was dissecting the monster's corpse and collecting the edible parts when his movements suddenly stopped.

"Adar, what's wrong?" the noseless woman asked in confusion.

The man called A'dar slowly withdrew his right hand and revealed an item he had found on the monster.

It was an amulet carved from a piece of corroded stone.

“This is…” The man, whose eyes were almost squeezed together, seemed to understand the reason and hesitated without finishing his words.

A'dar looked around and said:

“Sin, Ruth, this was given to my father when I was a child.

"On the day I came of age, he felt that he could no longer control himself and chose to leave the city-state and enter the depths of darkness..."

Xin and Russ were silent for a while after hearing this, and they could understand A'dar's feelings.

This happens often in Moon City.

Because there are not enough safe food ingredients, they can only pick mutated plant fruits and collect monster flesh and blood to survive.

This causes them to accumulate toxins and go crazy, and after their physical condition declines, they either die quickly or gradually lose control.

In order not to affect the surroundings and cause damage to the city-state, the latter would often arrange everything after realizing that something was not right, take a torch and a small amount of food, leave the defense circle, and go away alone in the darkness that never dissipates, never to return.

The residents of Moon City can all imagine what their fate will be. Either they will be killed by monsters or they will become monsters. There is no other possibility.

After seven or eight seconds of silence, Xin, the woman without a nose, hesitated and said to Adar:

"Perhaps, this is the monster that killed your father."

"It has a belt made of animal skin wrapped around its body..." A'dar's voice gradually became lower. He raised the dagger made of bones in his hand and thrust it down hard, cutting out a piece of relatively normal flesh and blood.

The members of the hunting team skillfully completed the collection in silence, until Russ, with his eyes almost squeezed together, suddenly spoke in a low voice:

"There are more and more deformed babies among newborns..."

The price of accumulating toxins and madness from generation to generation is far more than just a decrease in the average age. Those who remain in normal physical condition will gradually show certain abnormalities, like Adar, who has a lot of tumors on his face.

Likewise, the accumulated toxins and madness could be passed on to future generations, leading to the emergence of deformed people. Russ and Xin in the hunting team belong to this category.

Their lives will be shorter and more likely to get out of control and mutate.

The hunting team present knew very well what the increasing number of deformed children meant. That was that within two or three generations, the population of Moon City might get out of control before they could grow up and give birth to a new generation.

In that case, even without an external attack, Moon City would be destroyed quickly, leaving only stone buildings, wall paintings, etc. to prove that they once existed.

"I hope the high priest and his men can find a new direction..." A'dal stood up with the lantern in his hand and answered in an unusually weak voice.

Over the past two or three thousand years, Yuecheng has sought ways to escape its current situation. They have sent out one exploration team after another into the depths of the darkness. Some returned after encountering serious setbacks without gaining anything, while others have never been heard from again, disappearing into the endless darkness.

In addition, some distance east of Yuecheng, there was a gray-white fog covering the sky and the earth.

They are like an invisible barrier that not only blocks the line of sight but also prevents any living creature from passing through.

The residents of Moon City once believed that this was where hope lay, that the place shrouded by the gray fog was a normal country, and that on the other side of the gray fog was a land not cursed.

They tried again and again to enter the gray mist, but failed:

They dug a long tunnel, trying to pass through the ground without an invisible barrier, but the corresponding area deep in the earth was also shrouded in gray fog;

They managed to gain the ability to fly and tried to fly over it from high in the sky, but they could not see the top of the gray fog until they were struck by lightning.

They mobilized the power of all demigods and seals, attacking the target again and again. After two or three thousand years, day after day, they failed to wear down the invisible barrier in the slightest...

After hearing what Captain Adal said, the members of the hunting team felt desperate and sad, as if they were slipping slowly down the edge of the "abyss" and unable to save themselves.

Those deformed people are the type that have difficulty controlling their emotions. At this moment, they all feel that something is suppressed in their hearts and they want to explode.

In Moon City, two or three hundred years ago, deformed people could not become extraordinary people, and those who joined the hunting team could only do gathering work. However, as manpower became increasingly scarce, the high priest and other senior officials relaxed the restrictions.

"Let's go, this little food is not enough." A'dal looked around, holding the lantern, and walked deeper into the darkness.

They did not risk extinguishing the fire and letting monsters emerge from the darkness, as they would likely be unable to deal with them.

In the suffocatingly quiet environment, the members of Yuecheng's hunting team couldn't help but feel that the darkness had no end.

This is just like Yuecheng’s current situation, where there is no hope forever and the lantern in his hand can only burn for a shorter and shorter time.

When the last ray of light disappears, they will be completely swallowed up by the darkness silently.

As he walked, a hint of yellow suddenly appeared in Adar's eyes.

That was a little fire, not the fire of the hunting team!

This bit of firelight then shone into the eyes of all members of the hunting team, filling their pupils.

A'dar, Xin, Russ and the others opened their eyes wide uncontrollably, with strong feelings of surprise rising in their hearts.

In their lifetime, in the historical records of Moon City after the Cataclysm, there has never been any fire coming from anywhere else!

It is true that many monsters possess the ability of fire or solar domain, but before launching an attack, they lurk in the darkness without revealing any light.

And now, a glimmer of fire emerged from the depths of darkness!

A'dar, Xin, Russ and the others began to tremble slightly. They thought a lot for a moment but could not come up with the answer.

They quickly reviewed the arrangements for this hunt and confirmed that there was no possibility of any Moon City residents appearing nearby.

Since the fire does not belong to Moon City, where does it come from?

The entire hunting team slowed down. They were shocked, stunned, curious, fearful, worried, and panicked.

They had also discovered some destroyed city-states and knew that any abnormality in the darkness could be fatal.

"...Be alert!" A'dal finally came to his senses and gave the order.

The hunting team immediately deployed into battle formation, waiting for the dim yellow light to approach.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment, and every second was so slow. Finally, when the fire grew bigger, a human figure was revealed.

There was only one person... The members of the Moon City Hunting Team held their breath at the same time.

It seemed that they might, perhaps, be about to meet an outsider!

Two or three thousand years later, finally other people set foot on this land.

They are no longer the only ones in this abandoned world.

As for who could cross the endless darkness and arrive here, Adar and his companions had no experience at all and had no idea who it was.

As the fire grew larger and more obvious, the members of the hunting team gradually saw the figure clearly:

He was a tall young man with black hair, brown eyes and a stern expression. He was not a deformed person and had not shown any abnormalities.

He was wearing a strange hat, strange clothes, and holding a lantern made of special material. He walked out from the depths of the darkness step by step.

The light from his lantern was brighter than that of the hunting party combined, making the darkness around them fade away quickly.

It didn't take long for the light to shine on A'dar, Xin, Rus and others.

The figure stopped, looked at the Moon City hunting team, and said in a low voice:

"Where are you from?"

He was speaking Giant language... His eyes were clear and he could communicate... A'dal opened his mouth, but stopped the urge to answer subconsciously.

He asked back:

"Who are you?"

The figure holding the glass lantern responded calmly:

"German Sparrow."

After more than half a year of traveling and overcoming one difficulty after another, Klein's spiritual intuition finally told him that he was about to reach his destination.

He also met the first group of living people on this "journey" to the God-forsaken land.

"Where are you from?" A'dar asked, remaining alert.

Klein's eyes swept across their faces and he said in an unchanged tone:

"I come from the City of Silver.

"And from outside the cursed lands."

After hearing this answer, all members of the hunting team felt dazed, wondering if they were too expectant and thus had hallucinations.

…………

In the autumn of 1351, Backlund was in the midst of war.

Ever since Feynaport declared war on Loen, the war that had been going on for a while finally lost its balance. Loen and its allies, Lunburg, Masi, and Segar, lost a lot of territory. Only the last few lines of defense were struggling to resist and were crumbling.

After seeing the long line of people at the food distribution point from the carriage window, Audrey slowly withdrew her gaze and said to her personal maid Anne:

"To the Church of Saint Samuel..."

PS: Double last day to ask for monthly tickets~