Chapter 155: An Absurd Idea

Zhou Liming felt no joy at all at taking this Small Town under his control.

He remembered that in high school, his history teacher once said, “Bloody suppressions can only maintain loyalty temporarily. Only by making the other side willingly surrender can loyalty become lasting.” In everyday slang, this is known as “forced melons are not sweet.” At least, Zhou Liming agreed with these words very much.

From the moment he left X Squadron, Zhou Liming knew he had to learn everything needed to survive.

The Small Town was obtained by him through forceful means. Would the people here be truly loyal? Han Zhengwei and the others were only terrified of him, so their loyalty was only temporary. Who could guarantee that in the future, when super warriors stronger than or equal to himself appeared, they wouldn’t switch sides in front of powerful enemies?

Yes, Zhou Liming could not guarantee this at all.

But for now, Zhou Liming had no choice but to act this way because he couldn’t find a better solution.

After staying in the Small Town for a day, Zhou Liming left again, following the direction in his mind.

“Death Light is extremely powerful, but using it to its full extent seems somewhat not worth the loss.” Zhou Liming, who had only recovered eight or nine percent of his strength, floated in the air and said with a bitter smile. At that time, his thought was simple: use his strongest aspect to make them submit.

Thinking back now, Zhou Liming felt a bit of fear.

Han Zhengwei was only at the Fourth Stage, and his strength was already quite impressive. Yet, Zhou Liming, with only two or three percent of his strength left, didn’t need to fear him. But what if he encountered a super warrior at the Fifth Stage or even the Sixth Stage? If he used his ultimate move once and the opponent still attacked him like a madman, he would be in a passive position and might even be chased around beating a retreat.

Zhou Liming, flying slowly, shook his head and said, “It seems this method should be used as little as possible. If they are not convinced, just punch them until they are.”

To the northeast of the Small Town, there were still continuous hills, and the fields below were full of vitality, but unfortunately, they were all covered in weeds. By this month, there were basically no fruits hanging on the tree branches. The ground was full of fruits that had fallen ripe and were dried by the sun. The villages along the way had become silent.

Six months could change too many things. Abandoned vehicles, exposed to wind and rain for half a year, had some paint peeling off, exposing metal covered in rust. The abandonment of the fields meant that some tile-roofed houses in the villages had lost some tiles to the wind, while others had collapsed completely. The flat-roofed buildings, lacking human presence, had weeds growing in their courtyards as well.

Along the way, Zhou Liming could see fierce beasts appearing from time to time. As soon as they sensed Zhou Liming in the air, they immediately let out roaring sounds and chased him.

The reason people were prevented from returning to the Grand Rear was the fierce beasts. They were spread throughout the Fierce Beast Occupied Area, with various types and stages of beasts interlaced together. Whether you flew or walked on land, as long as you appeared within their sensing range, a battle would immediately be triggered.

At the beginning, many people did try, but those who only possessed genes from low-level fierce beasts simply could not cross this gap. Ultimately, they died under the claws of fierce beasts at a higher stage. The terrifying fierce beasts, in terms of both quantity and ability, far exceeded humans.

In the early stages, anyone who obtained fierce beast genes experienced an encounter akin to a lucky discovery, gaining the ability to protect themselves. Only when they were capable of killing low-level fierce beasts did more super warriors gradually develop. However, this method of directly consuming raw beast flesh and blood had a very low success rate, and only a very small number of people could succeed. Those who failed would turn into a pile of mush during cell division.

Those who mastered this method of creating super warriors naturally saw their ambitions expand, continuously hunting fierce beasts to enhance their own power.

After half a year of development, there were not too many, nor too few, factions possessing over a hundred super warriors. The only shortage, perhaps, was that most of them were mainly at the Third Stage. Super warriors at the Fourth Stage were not numerous, and those at the Fifth Stage were even rarer, almost impossible to see. You wouldn’t expect to use a group of Third Stage super warriors to hunt a Level Five Fierce Beast, would you? Such a gap in levels meant the power difference could not be measured by numbers alone.

More importantly, no one would selflessly contribute a Level Five Fierce Beast for others to use. If one were really successful in creating a Level Five Super Warrior, it would be an uncontrollable existence. Would you expect a Level Five Super Warrior to swear loyalty to you, a Third or Fourth Stage Super Warrior?

As abilities improved, human ambitions also expanded constantly…

It is somewhat funny to say. In the Grand Rear, the people who initially obtained fierce beast genes were invariably the elite of the elite, or the children of important officials. These genes were mostly Third, Fourth, or Fifth Stage. Before Level Six Fierce Beasts appeared, they were indeed at the top. But now, with the emergence of Level Six Super Warriors, these people had instead become a weak group. Before finding a way to reconstruct their genes, they were a highly ironic existence.

The only benefit was that the Grand Rear still had a complete national system, which could constrain these high-level super warriors through many regulations. It was not strange for lower-level leaders to manage higher-level individuals.

But this phenomenon did not work in the Fierce Beast Occupied Area, a place that could be said to have been abandoned by humanity. In a world where the weak are meat for the strong, loyalty is built on the foundation that you are stronger than the other party. Once the other party surpasses you, the status between the two parties might very well be swapped. This is a cruel fact in a chaotic world that no one can change.

Zhou Liming was very clear about this point. However, his fixed level was different from theirs. He would become stronger over time and with the landing of the fierce beasts. For others to surpass him was simply impossible. It was precisely this that gave Zhou Liming an advantage far greater than others.

Looking at the herd of fierce beasts chasing him below, Zhou Liming, flying at a slow pace, allowed them to follow closely.

A “splash” sound occurred as beams of orange-yellow light were emitted by these fierce beasts, continuously chasing behind Zhou Liming. Under the explosions, like water ripples in the air, the energy spread. Compared to fireworks, it was countless times more gorgeous, spreading in circles, extremely beautiful.

Fierce beasts’ attack methods were generally based on Energy Conversion, so halos and other effects would be very gorgeous. But this beauty was a trap of death.

This was a group of fierce beasts somewhat similar to wild boars, but without the sharp fangs of boars. When running, the frequency of their small legs was very high, which made their speed not slow. By visual estimation, it should be over a hundred kilometers per hour. This was an off-road speed. Seeing them charge recklessly through the fields, everything in their path was completely destroyed.

What caught Zhou Liming’s attention was their eyes. They were very spiritual and turned around everywhere.

Fierce beasts did not all look ferocious; some were very cute and beautiful. It was just that their abilities were not cute or beautiful.

This group of fierce beasts in front of him was neither ugly nor particularly pretty. They gave Zhou Liming a feeling like a group of fat pigs? According to Zhou Liming’s understanding of fierce beasts, their meat could be eaten. Once thoroughly cooked, there was no need to fear the fierce beast genes on them from taking effect, and there was no need to worry about any accidents happening.

These data were obtained from Ren Zhigang’s research institute and, having undergone numerous experiments, were naturally credible.

Thinking of meat hunting, while flying in the air and just about to shake them off, Zhou Liming suddenly had an absurd idea: “What would happen if these boar-like fierce beasts were domesticated? Like farm pigs, slaughtered for meat?” Even Zhou Liming was startled by this idea of his, as it was too absurd.

To treat fierce beasts as livestock, Zhou Liming thought he was going crazy, coming up with such things.

Thinking about the abilities of fierce beasts, what could be used to pen them up? Hunting pens made of reinforced concrete? Don’t joke. Look at the Form Skills emitted by these fierce beasts, the diffusing explosive force, even shaking the sky. Could you expect these reinforced concrete structures to trap them? Probably, with just one energy shell hitting, half of a skyscraper would be blasted away.

Precisely because it was absurd, Zhou Liming didn’t think too much about it. After flying to high altitude, the group of fierce beasts below, seeing they could not attack, gave up. Then, a group of dozens of fierce beasts stopped and began to forage. What they ate were some grass roots and plant leaves, and they would also eat some not-too-hard tree branches. Insects were also within their food range.

No matter how you looked at it, apart from their identity as fierce beasts, they looked like a group of wild boars.

Zhou Liming stopped again, stroking his chin in the high sky, and muttered, “An absurd idea? Maybe, but is it also impossible?”

Just thinking of penning up herds of fierce beasts, how tempting was that? The terrifying fierce beasts had become meat on human tables, emitting a delicious and alluring aroma. For the people in the Fierce Beast Occupied Area who had almost cut off meat consumption, this was an temptation they could not refuse.

“But how can we make them obedient?”

This seemed to be a difficult problem. This group of fierce beasts was not to be bullied. Looking at their fierce appearance, he had only just passed above their heads, and they immediately attracted their desperate chase and Form Skill attacks. This was much like the nature of wild boars. Isn’t there a saying: “Better to meet a tiger than to provoke a wild boar”? From this saying, it was enough to prove the dangerous level of these fierce beasts.

“Forget it, without trying, how would you know if this is an absurd idea?”

With his decision made, Zhou Liming dove directly from the air. In the blink of an eye, he landed on the ground with a “bang.”

And this group of fierce beasts, which had just calmed down, became crazy again after discovering Zhou Liming. Letting out a burst of cries, they all gave up eating and charged towards Zhou Liming. The places they stepped on kicked up clouds of dust, with a majestic momentum.