Chapter 572: The Reason for Victor, Fragments of Civilization?

Hans’ words caused Yu Yuan’s eyes to narrow instantly.

He carefully studied the layer of oil film on Victor’s body surface. It was pitch black and glossy, indeed somewhat similar to the oil creatures.

“There’s definitely something wrong.”

The motel door swung open, and the Parasitic Blood Vine dragged the restrained Victor inside.

“Hans, wait outside. Inform me immediately if anything happens!”

“Understood, sir!”

As the door closed, Yu Yuan turned to face Victor. “Who are you? When did Hans betray me?”

Victor’s expression had actually improved somewhat compared to earlier. At least he was no longer so neurotic. He now had a hint of the Burning Fortress leader’s demeanor.

Yu Yuan found it novel.

“Is that thing really that terrifying to you? And how did you leak this stuff all over yourself? What do you know?”

Victor let out a self-deprecating smile at the words. Then his expression turned cold as he stared at Yu Yuan.

“Whoever you are, the fact that you can make it to my Burning Fortress in this environment proves you’re someone I absolutely can’t afford to mess with—I admit that. But…” “If you don’t want to die, I advise you not to go prying into those things. I’m not just scaring you… because…”

He looked down at his own body, hesitating for a moment.

“I’m the proof.”

Yu Yuan raised an eyebrow. “So you really do know what those things are? Spill everything you know. As for how to judge it, that’s my problem.”

“Don’t you agree, Chief Engineer Xilai Victor?”

Victor frowned, glaring hard at Yu Yuan. What he saw was an unyielding gaze and a faint, teasing smile—mixed with a confidence he couldn’t comprehend!

After a long pause, Victor gave a slight nod. “Fine! Didn’t expect anyone still remembers my identity. Since you want to die, I’ll grant your wish!”

Hearing Victor relent, Yu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

Back then, Yu Yuan had seen a copy of the *Green Forest Enterprise Star* newspaper on the Magazine Display Stand. It contained a news report about the strategic cooperation agreement between Green Forest Sea Oil Group and Songyuan Oil Refinery. The article introduced the refinery’s chief engineer—Xilai Victor.

Yu Yuan had previously guessed that “Black Lung” Victor was this very Xilai Victor. He hadn’t expected it to actually be him.

The reason he hadn’t been certain before was that the current Victor was a completely different person from the photo in that newspaper. In the newspaper photo, Victor had been a standard engineer—in his thirties or forties, medium build, wearing glasses. But the Victor before him had not a single hair on his body, his head, face, and torso all covered in fiery red tattoo marks, plus the black oil film coating him entirely.

No one would recognize him as that former engineer.

Victor sank into his memories, his body beginning to tremble again as he spoke slowly.

A long time passed.

After finally hearing the whole story, Yu Yuan understood why Victor was so terrified of those oil creatures.

Back then, just before the wasteland descended—shortly after signing the strategic cooperation agreement with Green Forest Sea Oil Group—he had led the group’s technicians to the Songyuan oil wells to inspect their crude oil extraction technology. But during the inspection, they suddenly encountered a conflict between two military factions. The fighting forced everyone to take cover from the impending danger.

Victor and a few others from the Sea Oil Group, being near the oil well, hid close by. But in his panic, he fell into an abandoned well. During the fall, his head hit something, leaving him half-conscious. He only remembered feeling as if he were soaked in crude oil, trapped in a dreamlike haze.

Strange voices kept echoing in his mind, and scenes of various oil creatures formed from crude oil kept appearing. These oil creatures gathered around a crystal fragment emitting a black-golden light, guarding it silently.

His body had changed back then.

“When I woke up, I was back on the surface. My body had undergone a huge transformation, and I had gained the abilities to control fire, manipulate crude oil, and sense earth veins.”

“I only wanted to survive. But when I displayed my fire-controlling ability in the face of danger, more and more people flocked to me, making me their leader. By the time I returned to the refinery, three factions were already fighting over it.”

Victor paused here, a hint of a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“So I used my abilities and my knowledge of the refinery to blow all three factions sky-high. From then on, I established the Burning Fortress.”

Damn. Victor’s story was actually quite inspiring.

By this point, Yu Yuan already understood where Victor’s fear came from. He had likely evolved in that abandoned well, gaining Bronze-tier combat power. Though he had built a faction through this accidental ability, the terror of nearly dying had left severe psychological trauma in his heart.

Moreover…

What he had thought was just a dream now turned out to be a nightmare that had become reality, leaving him helpless. This had only worsened his psychological trauma, turning him into what he was now.

“Victor, you said that in the dream, you saw those oil creatures gathered around a crystal fragment emitting a black-golden light. Do you still remember what that fragment looked like?” Yu Yuan immediately zeroed in on the key point.

“A crystal fragment… just a glowing shard floating in an underground chamber. The chamber was filled with crude oil and those monsters.”

Yu Yuan thought for a moment, quickly teleported back to the shelter, grabbed a photo, and came back to Victor. “Take a look. Is it like this?”

Victor glanced at the photo, and his pupils instantly dilated, a look of stunned disbelief spreading across his face. “This…”

He looked at Yu Yuan in disbelief.

“Is it?” Though it was a question, Yu Yuan had already gotten his answer from Victor’s expression.

“Aside from the color being off and it being a bit larger than the one in the photo, it’s basically the same. But… what exactly is this?”

With Victor’s confirmation, Yu Yuan’s gaze also fell on the photo. The object in the photo was none other than the “civilization shard” that the Casino Manager had taken away when the Zero Infected appeared in the casino on the 12th floor of Freedom Tower.

In other words, the source of the oil creatures in Fuel Town was actually a civilization shard. This was something Yu Yuan could never have imagined before. Green Forest World actually harbored a civilization shard. It was absolutely ridiculous.

No wonder Greenfield couldn’t predict those oil creatures. That explained everything.

Now that he understood the situation, Yu Yuan decided not to linger. He still needed to check out Fuel Town. But before leaving, he had one more thing to do.

“You just said you gained the ability to sense earth veins and control crude oil?”

Victor sensed a bad feeling creeping in as he stared silently at Yu Yuan. After a few seconds of hesitation, he said, “Yes. What do you want?”

Yu Yuan already had the Rat Tail Whip in his hand. “Nothing. Your talent is wasted here. There’s a place that suits you much better…”