Su Ze and Zhang Fantie bid farewell to Zhao Yuanyi and drove to Qinggu Airport.
Though Su Ze was completely against it, he couldn't change the fact that Zhang Fantie was coming with him.
'I have to find a chance to ditch Zhang Fantie. Otherwise, I'm toast sooner or later...'
The two arrived at the airport, parked the car, and headed straight for the VIP channel. The airport was somewhat deserted in the early morning, and they didn't encounter many people along the way.
A member of the ground staff was already waiting for them and guided them to their boarding gate. When Su Ze and Zhang Fantie reached the bottom of the aircraft stairs, they saw several beautiful and poised flight attendants smiling and welcoming them.
After boarding the plane, Su Ze deliberately chose a seat far from Zhang Fantie. Zhang Fantie didn't seem to mind and simply leaned back in his own seat to rest.
"Good day, sir. Would you like anything to drink?" a flight attendant with long legs and a sweet smile asked as she walked over to Su Ze and leaned down.
"A Coke with ice, please. Thank you."
A short while later, a glass of Coke, a fruit platter, and some small desserts were brought to Su Ze.
Su Ze took a small vial from his bag. The words "Strengthening Elixir" were written on it—a simple and clear name. Its purpose was to strengthen the body; it was a type of nourishing supplement.
The Life Pharmaceutical logo was printed next to it.
He opened it to reveal small blue pills. Su Ze shook out two, washed them down with a gulp of Coke, and immediately put on a pained expression.
'So damn bitter!'
Even though he had swallowed it directly with Coke, the bitter taste still shot back up into his mouth.
Su Ze quickly took a couple of bites of the small cake to cover up the bitter taste in his mouth.
After swallowing the Strengthening Elixir, the effects were immediate. Su Ze felt his entire body heat up, turning him as red as a cooked shrimp. His face was flushed crimson, as if he'd been possessed by Guan Yu.
About five minutes later, the intense heat subsided, but Su Ze still felt a pleasant warmth spreading through him. It was as if every muscle and every bone was being continuously strengthened.
'As expected of a tonic left behind by Zhao Lingxiao,' he thought. 'The effect is definitely top-tier for its class!'
Every time a human Evolver absorbed an extract, it placed a certain burden on their body. If their physical constitution couldn't keep up, it could very well lead to a failed absorption. Therefore, they had to constantly strengthen their bodies.
Relying on exercise alone provided extremely limited improvement. To achieve breakthroughs beyond human limits, one had to rely on the help of various nourishing supplements.
A regimen of supplements, complemented by high-intensity training, was the most efficient way to improve one's physical constitution.
For every Evolver who wanted to reach a higher level, supplements were an indispensable resource.
The pills must not stop!
The raw materials for these nourishing supplements all came from various evolved animals and plants, which was why they had such potent medicinal effects.
Although extracts from plant life-forms couldn't be absorbed by humans, they were excellent ingredients for making supplements.
Su Ze reclined his seat and leaned back lazily, admiring the scenery outside the window while familiarizing himself with the memories of Blue Star's history in his mind.
A thousand years ago, Blue Star was extremely similar to Earth. The entire planet was covered with hundreds of countries, large and small, and humanity ruled the globe. At that time, the technological level of Blue Star's humans was about the same as Earth's. There was no such thing as evolutionary power, and humanity's focus was still on technological development.
This all changed when a global "Rain of Evolution" fell, completely altering the landscape of Blue Star.
The God of Evolution sowed the seeds of evolution across the world, but only humanity carried an umbrella.
That Rain of Evolution initiated the evolutionary path for all life on the planet. Animals and plants alike began to mutate, gaining all sorts of powerful and strange abilities. Only humans seemed unchanged, forced to take up thermal weapons to fight against the various monsters.
For both animals and plants, their method of evolution was simple and crude: plants could grow automatically over time, and animals could become stronger by devouring other evolved life.
As higher animals and intelligent life, humans lost the initiative in that war of evolution and were forced onto the back foot. Countless people became food for the aberrant beasts, most nations were annihilated in the cataclysm, and humanity's territories continued to shrink.
The war of evolution lasted for nearly five hundred years. During this process, people gradually figured out humanity's own path to evolution. One after another, high-level human life-forms rose up, ending the war and preserving humanity's last remaining habitats.
But there was no shortage of powerful individuals among the aberrant beasts, and they held an absolute advantage in numbers. Humanity had enough strength to defend itself but was powerless to counterattack. Now, most of Blue Star was the territory of aberrant beasts.
If one were to draw a map of Blue Star, they would find that human habitats were merely a few scattered dots.
Currently, there are only three major human settlements on Blue Star, and the Lin Hua Continent, where Mu Country is located, is one of them.
The Lin Hua Continent is ruled by the Sovereign Country, Lin Hua Country, and governs six other nations: Mu Country, Luofan Country, Dongli Kingdom, Ancient An Country, Peninsula Country, and the Great Desert United Kingdom.
The status of these six nations is similar to that of ancient vassal states. Although they govern themselves and have their own competitions and conflicts, they must follow the lead of the Sovereign Country on major issues and obey its directives.
No matter how great the conflicts between the six nations—be it ancient feuds or territorial disputes—they dare not launch large-scale wars. They can only resolve disputes in a relatively peaceful manner under the mediation of the Sovereign Country, Lin Hua Country.
The relationship between Mu Country and Luofan Country is decent, but a stretch of the Black Rock Mountain Range lies at their shared border. It is teeming with countless aberrant beasts and is incredibly dangerous, greatly hindering transportation between the two nations.
Fearing attacks from aberrant beasts on planes flying over the Black Rock Mountain Range, there are no international flights between the two countries. There is only a single cross-border highway, jointly built and maintained by both nations. It is the only "official road" between them.
The starting point of that cross-border highway is located in the border city of Heiyan City in Mu Country—which is also the final destination of Su Ze's flight.
Su Ze lay back in his seat. Having not slept all night, he was starting to feel drowsy and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
When he was gently woken by a flight attendant, he realized it was already noon, and the plane had landed at the airport in Heiyan City.
Su Ze washed his face on the plane, then disembarked with Zhang Fantie.
As soon as they left the airport, they hailed a cab. The moment the driver heard they were heading to Luofan Country—a big fare—his attitude instantly became enthusiastic. A trip on the cross-border highway was tiring, but it paid well.
But who would have known that when the car reached the entrance to the cross-border highway, they would be stuck in a complete standstill.
The driver opened a group chat on his phone called "Safe Travels" and asked his fellow members what was going on. He learned that the cross-border highway had been temporarily closed due to an aberrant beast attack and wouldn't reopen until the next day.
This situation wasn't common, but it wasn't exactly rare either. It happened once or twice a year.
The cross-border highway traverses the Black Rock Mountain Range. Although the powerful experts of Mu Country and Luofan Country had long since cleared the aberrant beasts from the areas surrounding the road, and Evolvers from both nations patrolled it year-round, it was inevitable that a few would slip through the cracks and attack passing vehicles.
Su Ze and Zhang Fantie had no other choice but to have the driver take them to the best hotel in Heiyan City. They planned to stay the night and set off again the next day.
With all the backtracking and traffic, the sky was already starting to dim by the time they arrived at the hotel.
The driver was reluctant to let such a big fare slip away, so he insisted on exchanging contact information with Zhang Fantie, promising to pick them up from the hotel early the next morning.
Meanwhile, Su Ze's mind was completely occupied with how to ditch Zhang Fantie.
'Maybe I'll just sneak away in the middle of the night?'
...