Chapter 476 - 448: The Uncanny "Pseudo-Ashen Descendant

Chapter 476: Chapter 448: The Uncanny "Pseudo-Ashen Descendant

Roland weighed the heavy, strangely-textured Rock Core Block in his hand, then looked up to meet Hom’s gaze and asked.

"What exactly is this thing?"

Hom met his gaze. His voice was still hoarse, but it carried a certainty passed down through generations.

"This is a ’Rock Core Block.’ My elders, and their elders before them, all told us so."

"It’s produced in Sui Cang Hall. A... food, left over from ancient times."

"Food?"

Roland raised an eyebrow, his mind racing.

’Produced in Sui Cang Hall, a relic from ancient times...’

’In other words, this thing called a Rock Core Block is a creation from the Crystal Era?’

’But...’

’Food?’

He looked down again at the "stone" in his hand, utterly unable to connect it with anything he recognized as edible.

Hom seemed to notice the doubt in his eyes and began to explain, his tone tinged with a weary resignation.

"It is indeed food. There’s no doubt about that."

"Just a small piece can soothe the gnawing hunger in our bellies and our unbearable thirst, allowing us to... survive."

He glanced around at his companions, who were all gaunt and hollow-eyed, a flicker of deep helplessness and confusion in his eyes.

"But... as you can see, by relying on it, we’ve survived, yet our bodies have only grown more emaciated. The reason for this... we don’t know either."

"You aren’t trying to deceive us, are you?"

A clear voice sounded from behind Roland.

The Elf Maiden, Avril, had at some point left the Shell Ship and come to stand by Roland’s side.

She wrinkled her delicate nose, her eyes filled with unconcealed doubt as she stared intently at the Rock Core Block in Roland’s hand.

Although she knew that given the survivors’ current situation, there was nothing to be gained from deceiving them, the appearance of this "stone" was just too far removed from her understanding of food.

Avril’s words, though born of simple doubt and spoken without any provocative intent, were like a stone tossed into stagnant water, instantly sending ripples through the survivors across from them.

They cowered before the clearly stronger physiques and unknown power of Roland’s group, not daring to make any overt moves. But from within their sunken eye sockets, an intense resentment suddenly erupted, as well as...

...an almost unconcealable greed for the Rock Core Block in Roland’s hand.

Roland paid no mind to the complex emotions in their eyes.

He focused his mind and slowly extended a thread of his Perception, like an invisible tendril, cautiously probing the internal structure of the Rock Core Block.

A moment later, he retracted his Perception, a strange look on his face.

Without another word, Roland’s fingers suddenly tightened. With a soft, crisp sound like a shattering crystal, he broke off a small fragment from the edge of the incredibly hard Rock Core Block.

Then, with a soft POOF, a small, stable, orange-red flame flickered to life on his fingertip. He placed the fragment in the flame and heated it for a moment.

Having done this, just as he was about to put the heated fragment into his mouth, a slender but firm arm blocked his way.

"Hey! Roland!"

Avril frowned, her tone filled with obvious worry.

"We don’t know where this thing came from, and it looks very... suspicious. It’s best if..."

"Don’t worry, Avril."

Roland gave his companion a reassuring look, then slowly placed the Rock Core Fragment into his mouth.

Of course, Roland didn’t fully believe Hom’s side of the story.

But the confidence to try it came from his own Trait, [Harmony of All Things].

Any food or Potion he handled would have its unstable Energy and even potential negative effects perfectly purged.

This had been proven back in the Golden Valley Kingdom when he took the rather risky bloodline-awakening Potion concocted by Danny.

’Besides...’

Roland began to chew the heated piece of rock.

The texture was incredibly coarse, as if he were gnawing on a piece of hard, dry clay mixed with fine sand. It had almost no taste to speak of, only a heavy, dull flavor of minerals and dust that filled his mouth, making it difficult to swallow.

However, the very instant this unpleasant sensory experience registered, another of his Traits automatically activated.

[Taste Empathy].

In a flash, precise information about the substance in his mouth flowed into his mind like a stream.

’Clay and specific mineral powders...’

’Mixed with inert Arcane Dust as a stabilizer to solidify its form and extend preservation...’

’Shaped by a specific Solidification Array or high-temperature environment...’

"Just as I thought..."

Feeling the very real sense of fullness that quickly spread through his stomach after swallowing the coarse fragment, and the genuine relief from his thirst, Roland raised an eyebrow. His thoughts focused on a familiar term within the recipe in his mind.

Nutrient Concentrate.

He was no stranger to this Potion.

It was one of the Potions that the mysterious and powerful Witch Vanessa had developed and shown him back in the Land of Mist.

Its effect was that a single small bottle could satisfy an adult’s basic nutritional and water needs for an entire day.

However, perhaps to maximize the "food’s" shelf life, or perhaps due to flaws in the production process, the dose of Nutrient Concentrate contained within the Rock Core Block was extremely minuscule.

This turned it into a sort of dangerous "placebo."

It could deceptively alleviate intense hunger but was completely incapable of providing the sufficient nutrients and Energy needed to maintain a healthy body.

This perfectly explained why Hom and his people, despite surviving on the Rock Core Blocks, were inevitably sliding into the Abyss of emaciation.

At this thought, a new question surfaced in Roland’s mind.

At the time, Witch Vanessa had explicitly stated that this Nutrient Concentrate was her own unique, self-developed formula.

So why would it appear in this Relic, supposedly from the Crystal Era thousands of years ago?

’Is Hom lying? Did this Rock Core Block not come from the depths of Sui Cang Hall?’

’Or could it be...’

Recalling Witch Vanessa’s beautiful and inscrutable face, always adorned with a mysterious smile, Roland gently shook his head.

’There’s no point in dwelling on this now.’

In any case, the Rock Core Block in his hand was, at the very least, real.

Since it was claimed to be from Sui Cang Hall, it was highly likely that the hall contained more of the finished product, or the raw materials needed to concoct the Nutrient Concentrate.

With the deep understanding of the Potion’s ingredients and principles provided by [Taste Empathy], as long as he could find the necessary materials and equipment, Roland was quite confident he could successfully replicate the complete Potion.

Once he could mass-produce the Nutrient Concentrate, the core problem of food and water for their upcoming journey across the Aiselon Continent would be solved.

Having made up his mind, Roland noticed that Hom’s gaze had been fixed on the Rock Core Block in his hand the entire time, his eyes a mixture of longing and humble pleading.

Without hesitation, he handed the remaining large piece of the Rock Core Block back to Hom.

"We believe you, Hom."

Roland said calmly, then made another request.

"Therefore, we need to enter Sui Cang Hall. It may hold the key to solving your plight, as well as our needs."

Hom’s hands trembled as he took the precious Rock Core Block. He carefully re-wrapped it in a dirty cloth and clutched it tightly to his chest, as if it were a priceless treasure.

He took a deep breath, as if steeling himself, the wrinkles on his face twisting in anguish. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Honorable Veil Breaker, it’s not that we are unwilling... but... Sui Cang Hall has been taken over by a terrible monster."

His voice trembled with fear.

"We tried to fight back, to reclaim our Holy Land... but the price... was too heavy."

He glanced at his people around him, their faces etched with fear and sorrow, his eyes filled with profound grief. He then turned to Roland with an almost pleading gaze.

"If... if you truly possess great power, I implore you, help us drive out, or even destroy, the monster that has taken up residence in the hall!"

"As long as you can restore peace to Sui Cang Hall, we are willing to offer all the Rock Core Blocks our clan has saved! And... anything inside the hall, if it catches your eye, you may take it!"

Although Hom hadn’t said so explicitly, his expression and tone had already led Roland to guess the situation inside Sui Cang Hall. Therefore, hearing the man’s desperate plea came as no great surprise.

"Alright."

Roland’s reply was crisp and decisive, and he immediately cut to the chase.

"What does the monster in the hall look like? How many are there? How strong is it?"

Seeing that Roland hadn’t refused, a light of excitement and hope erupted in Hom’s eyes. He hurriedly told him everything he knew.

"Only... only one! It... its skin is an unnatural pale white, completely bald, without a single hair. Its eyes are like two empty sockets that emit a faint, unsettling red glow in the dark! It moves as fast as a phantom and is frighteningly strong..."

As Hom’s description hung in the air, Roland’s brow slowly furrowed.

’Pale skin, completely hairless...’

’These features are identical to the monsters I encountered at the Seventh Observation Station, but...’

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the dark mass of nearly a thousand survivors before him, his voice tinged with clear confusion.

"Only... one monster?"

Based on his previous encounters, the "Pseudo-Ashen Descendants"—not fully mutated and distinct from the true Ashen Descendants he met in Rusted Town—weren’t actually that powerful.

Their physical Power was only slightly greater than that of a robust human. Their only advantages were perhaps their vision in the dark and their beast-like brutality and instincts.

’With nearly a thousand people, even with crude equipment, they shouldn’t be completely helpless against a single Pseudo-Ashen Descendant using human-wave tactics, right?’

Hom clearly saw the doubt and confusion in Roland’s eyes. He hastily elaborated, his voice trembling with urgency.

"You don’t understand! The terrifying thing about that monster... isn’t its strength or speed. It’s... its fighting style! It’s unlike that of any living thing!"

He struggled to find the words to describe the desperate scene.

"It seems to know how to use every weapon."

"Our men would thrust with Long Spears, but with a simple parry and flick, the spear would be knocked from their hands. We’d swing our Stone Axes, and it would sidestep while flicking its wrist, somehow snatching the axe away. It would then use its own strange way of generating force to precisely cleave through our defenses with our own axe. Even if it just picked up an ordinary wooden stick, it became as dangerous in its hands as a sharp sword wielded by a veteran of a hundred battles!"

Hom’s face was filled with lingering fear.

"It always seems to predict our every move, to know what we’re going to do next."

"We tried to form a line, but it easily found the formation’s weakness. We tried to surround it with our numbers, but it was as slippery as an eel, always finding the most unexpected opening to slip through before the encirclement closed. Every one of its strikes was simple, precise, and aimed for a vital point. Our people would fall inexplicably, without even managing to touch it."

"That wasn’t a battle. It was... a one-sided slaughter!"

Listening to Hom’s terrified description of the monster’s almost artistic, exquisite, and efficient Combat Skills, Roland slowly frowned.

’Why does that sound so much like... [A Knight Does Not Die Unarmed]?’