Chapter 133: Traces of a Fallen World [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]
Bones were scattered across the ground ahead.
At first, the size made it difficult to understand what he was looking at. Several enormous white structures protruded from the black-gray soil, half-buried beneath layers of dust and broken stone.
Then the shape became clear as it was a humanoid skeleton.
And an enormous one at that.
Much of the lower body had already collapsed or disappeared beneath the ground, but enough remained to reveal its original proportions. One of the ribs alone was longer than a normal car, while the partially exposed arm bone was thicker than Cain’s entire torso.
Evelyne stared at the remains.
"That’s... a person?"
"Not our kind of person."
Cain approached slightly closer without stepping onto the bones.
The enormous skull lay several meters away from the rest of the skeleton. Despite a large portion of it being shattered, the shape was unmistakably humanoid.
Ron looked between the skull and the massive rib cage.
"A giant?"
"Looks like it."
Cain’s Dragon’s Eyes swept across the remains.
Nothing supernatural remained inside them. Whatever being had once possessed that body had died long enough ago that even most of the residual energy had disappeared.
Nearby, something metallic protruded from beneath the soil.
Jack walked over and pulled away part of the loose dirt with his boot.
An enormous section of armor appeared.
The curved metal plate was larger than a normal human shield, yet judging from its shape, it had probably covered only part of the giant’s forearm.
Elara looked around the area more carefully.
"So this race actually lived here?"
"Maybe."
Cain glanced toward the surrounding ruins.
"Or they came here for the same reason we did."
Nobody had a better explanation, as they also had no idea how the remains of such a massive creature had ended up here when this place clearly belonged to the Zombie Race.
They then continued deeper into the region.
The farther they traveled, the more traces of the giant race appeared.
Broken weapons lay half-buried beneath the soil, several of them so large that ordinary humans would have struggled to even lift them.
Pieces of massive armor occasionally protruded between the dark rocks, while ruined stone structures rose from the landscape with doorways and shattered walls built on a scale far larger than anything meant for humans.
At one point, Cain noticed the upper half of a massive statue lying on its side.
Even when it was broken, it stood taller than Jack.
The statue depicted a broad humanoid warrior with thick limbs and a heavily built body. One enormous hand rested against the remains of its chest, while part of a greatsword could still be seen carved along its back.
The missing lower half had been completely destroyed.
Professor Irina approached carefully before stopping several steps away.
"These ruins weren’t destroyed naturally."
Cain looked toward her.
"What makes you say that?"
She pointed toward the statue as there were several deep cuts across its chest and shoulder.
One had been carved almost halfway through the stone.
Professor Ian moved closer and inspected the damaged surface.
"Those came from weapons."
Cain’s gaze shifted toward the surrounding ruins again.
Once he started looking for them, similar traces became easier to notice.
Part of a nearby wall had been split apart by a clean diagonal cut. A massive metal weapon buried farther away had been broken near the middle rather than simply rusting away.
The same thought had already crossed Cain’s mind.
The words of the 1st Echelon zombie they had interrogated only made the implication harder to ignore.
The giant race had most likely entered this place before them.
Perhaps their world had once faced the same invasion Earth was experiencing now.
And if that was true, the ruins around them showed how their attempt had ended.
Cain did not seem particularly disturbed as the destruction of another world meant very little when they knew nothing about the circumstances behind it.
For all they knew, the giant race could have entered the Corridor after their world was already close to destruction.
Or perhaps they had simply encountered something they could not defeat.
Either way, Cain had no intention of deciding his world’s fate based on the failure of a race that had probably disappeared long before he was born.
Nathan suddenly slowed down.
Cain noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Nathan did not answer at once.
They had entered an area where enormous pieces of ruined architecture covered much of the terrain. Broken walls and collapsed sections of stone created several blind spots ahead.
Nathan focused for a few seconds before raising one hand.
"There’s a group ahead."
"How many?"
"A few dozen."
Everyone immediately became alert.
Nathan’s expression grew more serious as he continued sensing the presence beyond the ruins.
"Several are definitely 1st Echelon."
He paused briefly. "And one is much stronger."
Cain’s eyes lit up.
"A 2nd Echelon?"
"Most likely." Nathan nodded.
"Zombie King level?"
"Definitely not."
Nathan shook his head as he continued, "Not even close."
"It actually doesn’t matter whether they would be at the Zombie King’s level or even stronger now." Cain chuckled lightly.
He unsheathed his sword.
"Let’s go."
Elara looked toward him.
"You’re attacking immediately?"
Cain glanced at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why wouldn’t we?"
"There could be more hiding nearby."
"Then we just need to kill them too, right?" Cain shrugged.
Elara sighed softly.
That was exactly the answer she had expected from Cain’s mouth.
Cain looked toward the others.
"Stay in formation."
Then he turned toward Nathan as he continued.
"Lead the way."
Nathan moved first and the others followed closely behind him.
They passed between the remains of two massive stone walls before the terrain opened into a wide, relatively flat area.
A large dark tent stood near the center.
Unlike the temporary shelters commonly used in his world, this one was made from thick black material stretched over heavy supporting poles.
Several wooden crates had been stacked beside it.
A number of weapons rested against the outer wall.
Before Cain’s group could move much closer, a voice suddenly came from inside.
"Intruders!"
>>>
GUYS, I have an announcement for next month!
For September, the Golden Ticket Bonus Chapters will be TRIPLED!
Yes, TRIPLED!!!
For every 100 Golden Tickets, I’ll release a total of 6 Bonus Chapters. However, half of those Chapters will be saved for a huge Mass Release on October 1st!
Here’s how it will work:
50 GT = 1 Bonus Chapter released immediately + 2 Chapters saved for the Mass Release
100 GT = Another 2 Bonus Chapters released immediately + 1 Chapter saved
150 GT = 1 Bonus Chapter released immediately + 2 Chapters saved
200 GT = Another 2 Bonus Chapters released immediately + 1 Chapter saved
And the same pattern will continue throughout the entire month!
So, for every 100 Golden Tickets, you’re basically unlocking:
3 Chapters released immediately + 3 Chapters saved for October 1st = 6 Bonus Chapters total!
That means if we manage to reach 500 Golden Tickets by the end of September:
500 GT = 15 Bonus Chapters released throughout September + 15 Chapters MASS RELEASED on October 1st!
That’s 30 Bonus Chapters in total!
And if you guys somehow manage to reach 1,000 Golden Tickets...
1,000 GT = 30 Bonus Chapters released throughout September + 30 Chapters MASS RELEASED on October 1st!
That would be 60 BONUS ChapterS!!!
So yeah...
I’m already gassed just thinking about how high you guys might push it next month.
Or maybe this changes absolutely nothing since I’m still a newbie :))
>>>
In case you’re wondering why I’m doing this, it’s because I’ll be having surgery around the end of next month or maybe early Oct (idk, we’ll see).
After that, I might not be able to write as much for a while since there’s a good chance that I’m going to be cooked at that time (there’s a quite high chance that it might be cancer, although I really hope it isn’t. Physically, I still feel completely fine so far, so wish me luck :))