Chapter 511: Secret Behind the Bleeding Desert. (Bonus Chapter)
"What did you just say?" Thoren asked, his voice dangerously low.
The ancient scorpion stared at him without blinking, her enormous eyes remaining completely still as she observed the sudden change in his demeanor. Yet deep within those ancient eyes, Thoren could feel something.
He tried to wrap his head around what it was, but he couldn’t.
Nevertheless, he did not dwell on it as he continued to lock eyes with the ancient scorpion.
His body remained perfectly still, but the atmosphere around him had subtly changed.
Until he learned what he wanted to know, he was damn sure he would leave this hole without bringing it down.
The ancient scorpion seemed to sense that determination. a sigh escaped from her mouth.
"Between you and her, I don’t know who was more stubborn," she said casually.
Even hearing this, Thoren did not respond as he continued to stare at her.
His eyes never left hers.
He was no longer interested in whatever hidden meaning existed behind her words. There was only one thing occupying his mind now, and that was the answer to the question she had just raised.
"I’m not sure at first, but now, I’m sure. But kid, do you want to find out?"
Thoren’s brows tightened slightly.
"You must remember, your time is limited, else you are going to miss them."
Them?
’Who were them?’ Thoren furrowed slightly, his thoughts racing as he tried to understand what she meant.
For a moment, several possibilities flashed through his mind, but none of them made sense. His heart, however, did not waver.
Whatever she was talking about, whatever secret was hidden behind her words, he would find out. Seeing that he would not depart no matter what she said, she reluctantly began.
"What do you think of the Bleeding Desert? Not our world, but the very desert itself."
She asked casually, but Thoren could detect the seriousness in her tone. The moment those words left her mouth, his expression changed slightly.
The question seemed simple.
Yet coming from an existence like the ancient scorpion, it clearly carried a meaning far deeper than the words themselves suggested.
"I don’t know... But I feel it is not as simple as it looks on the surface," he responded.
It would be a lie if he said he had not thought about the strangeness of the Bleeding Desert.
From the moment he entered this world, there had always been something unsettling about the desert.
This was the first time he had ever seen a desert that behaved as if it were alive.
Feeding and devouring people whole.
Having favorites and whatnot.
There were moments when the Bleeding Desert seemed to react to the people moving across its endless sands, almost as if it possessed some form of awareness that ordinary beings could never comprehend.
Sometimes, its behavior appeared completely irrational.
Other times, it seemed almost deliberate.
The Bleeding Desert did not behave like an ordinary natural environment but like a colossal beast with people walking on its back.
Even thinking about it made a faint chill travel through Thoren’s body.
But the thought of it was absurd.
There was no way a creature could be as massive as the entire Bleeding Desert.
That was the conclusion he had reached, and it was the reason he did not dwell on the topic too much in the past.
However, now, listening to the ancient scorpion, he realized the situation might be far more complicated.
"Just as you have guessed, the Bleeding Desert was far from simple as you see. What lies beneath is something that is beyond anything I’ve ever seen," the Ancient Scorpion said slowly.
Thoren did not speak as he listened to the ancient story.
He remained completely silent, his eyes fixed on the colossal scorpion as he patiently waited for her to continue.
The more he listened to the story, the more his expression changed.
From expressionless to curiosity.
From curiosity to surprise.
From surprise to shock.
From shock to disbelief.
And finally, from disbelief to genuine terror.
Each revelation struck him harder than the previous one, leaving him struggling to process the sheer absurdity of what he was hearing.
His pupils repeatedly contracted as different possibilities flashed through his mind, while his breathing gradually became heavier without him even realizing it.
It turned out the Bleeding Desert was nothing but an ordinary plain filled with sand, streams, and trees.
The Bleeding Desert was nothing but a failed experimental project from one of the Veyrath Companies.
Thoren’s breathing briefly stopped.
A failed experiment?
The entire Bleeding Desert?
The thought alone was enough to send another chill down his spine.
With the intelligence and knowledge of the Veyrath, their Sages feared what all lifeforms feared the most.
Death.
And thus, to conquer death, they began to look for immortality.
They realized that no matter how much they grew stronger, pushing the boundaries of soul research to the limit, they could never escape the claws of death.
Watching their kings die, their priests decay, and their warriors weaken with old age before eventually perishing, the Veyrath became increasingly obsessed with the one enemy they could never defeat.
Even their greatest pride eventually faded.
Their intelligence and wisdom withered with old age, their memories disappearing alongside their weakening bodies.
Their greatest discoveries could not save them.
Their greatest achievements could not protect them.
Their accumulated knowledge could not prevent their final breath.
And so, their research into immortality spiraled completely out of control.
It became the life goal of the entire Veyrath race.
They started experiments using fellow Veyraths, studying how they could break the boundaries of the mortal shell.
But all the experiments failed repeatedly. No matter how many methods they attempted, death remained undefeated.
And thus, they shifted their targets to other lifeforms in their world.
Animals and plants.
And this was where the Beastmen species appeared. Even at that, the result failed to meet their goal.
The Beastmen possessed intelligence.
They could think.
They could communicate.
But none of those things granted the Veyrath what they truly desired.
Immortality.
Without relenting, they continued their search for their immortality. And still, the Veyrath continued experimenting.
Finally, after so many years, they thought they had found their answer. Beneath the deepest oasis of their world, they found what it was called.
The Crimson Womb.
Thoren’s eyes widened again.
For several seconds, he remained completely silent, his mind attempting to connect everything he had just heard.
Yet one question remained.
"But what does all this have to do with me?" Thoren couldn’t help but ask.
Every piece of information the Ancient Scorpion revealed was something that could potentially change his understanding of the Bleeding Desert forever.
But he did not want to meddle in troubled waters and thus wanted to leave while he still had the chance.
The more he learned, the more dangerous the situation seemed.
He had originally come here searching for clues about his trial.
Now, he was standing before an ancient existence and learning that the entire Bleeding Desert might be connected to an ancient experiment involving immortality.
That was far beyond what he had expected.
"Human boy, patience," the Ancient Scorpion said calmly.
"When I complete my story, you will realize how everything is connected to you."
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[AN: This Chapter is sponsored by: Scott_Berry_3382]