Chapter 1537: Chapter 1535: Gratitude
A few dozen minutes later.
"Tap tap tap tap..."
The urgent sound of horse hooves came from the horizon, dust flying up, as a large group of humans riding horses appeared.
The horses they rode were nearly two meters tall, like fleshy tanks. In contrast, the humans riding on horseback appeared somewhat smaller, most of them being under one meter sixty in height.
These twenty humans were all wearing cloaks in camouflage colors of yellow and green, with serious expressions, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings.
They carried heavy mechanical crossbows on their backs, almost bending under their weight, with black metal arrows already strung, ready to shoot at any time. The ends of the metal arrows were connected to semi-transparent ropes, which looked very long, piled on horseback, with the other ends tied to their waists, likely used for climbing something.
"Tap tap tap tap..."
The group rode forward for a few hundred meters, stopping before several hundred-meter-tall giant trees.
The leading middle-aged man took out a parchment map from his chest, glanced at it, and said to those behind him, "It should be around here. According to the Investigation Corps’ First Squad report, there are an unknown number of giants active here, posing a certain threat to our city. There is a suspicion they might be concentrating forces to launch an attack on our city.
Therefore, our Ninth Squad’s mission is to investigate the giants, to ascertain their numbers, strength, and whether there are any evolved bodies. If conditions permit, we’ll try to hunt a lone giant and bring back its blood for analysis. Is everyone clear?"
"Yes." The people behind the middle-aged man nodded unanimously, among them not lacking youthful faces, yet all with serious expressions and resolute eyes.
"Everything... is for our city, for the sheltering walls that never collapse, and for the dawn of civilization." The leading middle-aged man bowed his head, with a devout demeanor, as if praying for something.
"Everything... is for our city, for the sheltering walls that never collapse, and for the dawn of civilization." The others echoed, and after saying this, they all drew their weapons readying for battle.
"Action!" The middle-aged man suddenly waved his hand.
"Swish!"
The others immediately dispersed towards the surroundings, cautiously starting to scout a vast area.
Among them, a red-haired young man riding a black horse chose to head east, bypassing a dozen tall trees and widening his view. Subsequently, his eyes abruptly contracted.
A hand hastily reached into his chest, pulling out a whistle and blowing it hard.
This was a specially made whistle, capable of emitting a low-frequency sound heard by companions but not disturbing most creatures, including giants.
The red-haired youth’s whistle sounded, and soon the others rushed over. Just as they were about to inquire about the situation, they froze at the sight before the youth, including the leading middle-aged man, all showing stunned expressions.
On the vast ground lay a nearly hundred-meter giant, motionless, evidently dead.
Strangely, the giant’s body showed no battle scars—neither special wounds from being shot by mechanical crossbows nor deep marks from being strangled by ropes. There was only a subtle wound near its heart.
This was evidently not slain by their City Reconnaissance Corps, nor by ordinary soldiers like them.
Rumor had it that distant cities had transformed soldiers with special abilities who could kill giants in a sneak attack, but they couldn’t possibly come to help and do good deeds in their city area.
What on earth happened?
The middle-aged man pondered when a subordinate rode close to him, patting his shoulder and pointing to a more distant spot, speaking in a slightly trembling voice, "Captain, look over there."
"What?" The middle-aged man looked in confusion, following the direction pointed by the subordinate, seeing a small mound.
After two seconds of staring, he blinked his eyes, his mouth suddenly agape in shock, realizing it was not merely a small mound, at least not a naturally formed one, but a mound of corpses made from giant bodies.
There were at least thirty giant bodies piled densely on top of each other, all dead. Their causes of death were similar to the first giant, with almost no signs of battle injuries, just a subtle wound near their hearts.
The middle-aged man, thinking hard, couldn’t fathom any existence capable of killing so many giants... Even the prehistoric civilization members destroyed by giants couldn’t achieve this, otherwise how could they have become ancient history...
Completely baffled, utterly baffled.
The middle-aged man, filled with confusion, involuntarily rode closer to the mound of giant bodies. As he maneuvered around the mound, he saw more giant bodies spread across the ground, stretching far into the distance, one after another, countless in number.
Here, the middle-aged man saw, among the bodies, terrifying giants he had never seen before, nearly two hundred meters tall; such beings, if alive, leading a team of ordinary giants, would be enough to break through their high walls, destroy their city, and become everyone’s nightmare.
But there are no ifs. Even such powerful and terrifying giants now lay like ignoble dead dogs, motionless.
The middle-aged man felt somewhat suffocated, and those accompanying him also felt suffocated, believing they had encountered the most incomprehensible event of their lives.
According to their reasoning, the situation was evidently more serious than reported by the Investigation Corps’ First Squad. This area had a congregation of far more giants than imagined, undoubtedly poised to attack their city and annihilate the few remaining sparks of civilization.
Yet before the Giant Army launched their assault, unforeseen factors intervened, slaughtering the giants, forcibly altering their city’s impending doom.
So what is this unforeseen factor?
The middle-aged man took out a small monocular telescope from his chest, pulled it out with his hand, pointing it in the direction where the giant bodies stretched, peering further into the distance towards the mountains.
Then he saw within the mountains, a Giant King exceeding two hundred meters in height roaring furiously, but just as he opened his mouth, his body swayed and collapsed straight down.
A seemingly ordinary person appeared, walked to the Giant King’s side, waved his hand, and something tiny flew from the Giant King’s heart, landing in his hand.
Afterward, the person thrust his hand into the air, as if grasping the handle of a transparent door, a gray light flickered and disappeared, followed immediately by the person’s vanishing without a trace, leaving only mountains covered in bodies.
The middle-aged man put away the telescope, opened his mouth, then in the puzzled gaze of his subordinate, jumped off his horse, bowing towards the distant mountains with utmost reverence.
In the middle-aged man’s view, he completely couldn’t comprehend the existence of the man in his previous vision, but that didn’t prevent him from expressing the most sincere gratitude, thanking the man for saving the lives of the entire city’s residents, including his own.
