Kranos deduced from the creature's behavior that it wasn't particularly powerful—at least not yet. However, once it succeeded, its power could grow to an unprecedented degree. Moreover, the only reason it had managed to corrupt the world to such an extent was because the experts of this realm had been extremely careless.
"Kranos?" He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of a voice next to him.He turned to see Ross standing there.
"What happened? You just touched the tree and became unresponsive. I hope there isn't a problem." With consternation, Ross inquired.
Kranos hesitated for a moment on whether to tell them what he had discovered. However, he realized that even if he told them, not much would change.
"It's nothing," he stated. "Let's keep moving forward."
After a brief pause, he added, "How long until we reach the safe haven?"
After giving it some thought, Ross answered, "At our current pace, it'll take us about a munth."
Kranos frowned. He wasn't certain that a month would be sufficient before the creature attacked the safe haven.
All Kranos could say was, "Let's move a little more quickly." He was aware that they were already traveling as fast as they possibly could.
After all, they were mostly ordinary people, if it was just him, he would have reached there in a shorter time.
He had already asked Ross for directions earlier, but he didn't have a map or any reliable means of navigation, they had no choice but to proceed slowly.
As time went by, the purplish sun gradually grew darker, signaling the arrival of night. Kranos and the others found a safe spot to rest while he stayed up to watch.
At his cultivation level, he didn't need much sleep, so in the meantime, he spent his time cultivating the time element. He could feel his connection to time growing.
…
Time passed and in the blink of an eye Kranos and the others had journeyed for about two weeks…
Bang!
Kranos threw a sword slash, unleashing a gust of wind and a streak of light that tore through the tentacles emerging from a middle-aged man, destroying them in the process.
In a flash, Kranos activated space teleportation and appeared behind the man. Before the enemy could react, Kranos' blade severed his head. The man's body slowly dissolved into a puddle of purplish liquid and slithered slowly back into the forest.
"The last one, you can all come out." After putting his sword away, Kranos spoke. His voice was followed by eleven figures emerging from a large tree.
"Great job, Kranos," Ross praised. Over the past two weeks, they had encountered numerous monsters but without fail, Kranos had continuously slain all of them.
Kranos nodded and responded, "the monsters are increasingly getting stronger."
When they first left the village, they only came across three or four monsters every now and then, and the majority of them were only at the first stage of Qi Condensation. However, now, they had increased to almost 10 and some of their cultivation had reached the fourth stage qi condensation realm. Thankfully, Kranos still had the strength to deal with them.
They resuned their journey when Kranos heard a metallic clank. He paused for a moment, crouched down, and picked up a strange piece of metal. The moment he laid eyes on it, he was stunned. The metal object had the appearance of a laptop.
How's this possible? Kranos could hardly believe it.
He turned to the elder and asked, "Elder, do you know what this is?"
But then he noticed that Ross was looking at something else, it wasn't just him—all the villagers seemed entranced. Kranos glanced over and was momentarily taken aback.
It seems we've finally encountered a city, Kranos said in his heart. Unfortunately, the city was in ruin. Many buildings had collapsed, and Kranos spotted several destroyed devices similar to the one he held.
"Elder, do you know which city this is?" Kranos asked, seeing the expression on the elder's face.
"Yes," Ross said with a nod. "I visited here a couple of times, and then this city was so lively. Who could have predicted that things would turn out this way? Shaking his head, he entered the city. Kranos trailed behind him with the others.
Let's take a look around. See if we can find anything valuable," Ross instructed. Picking up one of the mana-powered devices, he added, "Also, check for these mana devices. If we find one that still works, we might be able to transmit a signal—maybe even contact the safe haven." He chose a distance and left without waiting for the others to finish speaking.
Before long, they all parted ways, as Ross had instructed.
Glancing at the mana device in his hand, Kranos appeared a little taken aback. So this is called a mana device, huh? Now, where do i head to? Kranos put the device away, looked around at the destroyed city, and then decided on a course and started walking.
Surprisingly, along his way he didn't encounter any presence of monsters. There was no sign of living beings in the city either. He strolled about, taking in the surroundings.
A couple more mana devices caught his eye along the way. He stored them in his spatial ring and continued on his way. I wonder what kind of planet this is. From the traces Kranos could see, he could guess that this was a different kind of civilization.
Eventually, he stumbled upon a building that was still intact. He went inside after carefully checking the area to make sure there were no monsters hiding there. Inside the room, there appeared to have been a fight. Kranos noticed that other equipment, including chairs, had been destroyed. Upon closer inspection, he also noticed a skeleton in the space.
He approached the skeleton to examine it. There seemed to be a box in the skeleton's hands. Kranos took the box from the skeleton. After a brief moment of hesitation, he opened the box, his mind on high alert in case something went wrong.
Swoosh!
Three things were inside when the lid suddenly flew open. The first thing he pulled out… was a photograph.