Volume One, Chapter 15: Resonance of the Origin Crystal
"Well done."
Zhang Nan grinned broadly, the intimidating bronze sheen on his body gradually fading to reveal numerous fresh, fierce wounds, but he paid them no mind.
"Heh heh, Brother Xuan, this is damn exhilarating! Way better than fixing cars!"
They began cleaning the battlefield and tallying their losses.
In this fight, the base had lost three comrades, and seven or eight others were injured.
Thanks to Su Mengyi, those who were critically wounded and near death were pulled back from the brink.
The gains were equally impressive.
At the foot of the mountain, the corpses of the fish monsters piled into a mound of flesh, enough to sustain them for quite some time.
More importantly, beyond dozens of dull gray common source crystals, Zhang Nan had smashed the heads of two fish monster leaders, securing two gleaming white source crystals!
Li Hexuan weighed one of them in his hand, sensing the energy pulsations far surpassing those of the gray crystals.
This was the real treasure.
After this battle, the newly arrived survivors looked at Li Hexuan and Zhang Nan not just as strong men.
They saw them as gods who could lead them to survival.
The words "Thunder God Base" had today firmly established their presence here at Falling Leaf Mountain.
With Zhou Yong's help, Su Mengyi organized people to clear the fish monster corpses and gather scattered source crystals.
When she picked up a gray source crystal, a tingling sensation suddenly spread through her fingertips; she could actually sense the flow of energy inside the crystal—a feeling she had never experienced before.
"Huh?"
She looked down at the stone in her hand, somewhat dazed.
At that moment, the vast water surface at the foot of the mountain stirred again.
Several pitifully small, battered rafts were struggling to paddle toward Falling Leaf Mountain.
The people on the rafts were gaunt, their clothes tattered—clearly having endured great hardship.
"Brother Xuan, look over there!" Zhang Nan's sharp eyes were the first to shout.
Li Hexuan raised his telescope and peered at the tiny black dots.
On one raft, a man, seemingly drained of his last ounce of strength, let out a desperate roar in the direction of Falling Leaf Mountain.
"Help! Please, save us!"
"We escaped from Linjiang City! Chen Hao... that monster Chen Hao! He's not human!"
Chen Hao!
Those words pierced Li Hexuan’s ears like burning hot steel needles.
His knuckles whitened as he gripped the telescope tightly, the hard barrel emitting a faint creak.
The battlefield was littered with chaos; the stench of fish monster corpses mixed with the acrid smell of burning filled the air at Falling Leaf Mountain’s base.
Li Hexuan scanned the scene, his voice steady and unfaltering.
"Zhou Yong, take people to clean up. Divide the edible parts; bury or burn the bones and entrails deeply. Don’t let this shit invite more trouble."
"Understood, Mr. Li!" Zhou Yong immediately rallied the team, having witnessed the fierce battle firsthand and following Li Hexuan’s orders without hesitation.
Zhang Nan shook his still-tingling arm, feeling the surging power within him, grinning widely and rubbing his hands together.
"Brother Xuan! I feel like I could punch an elephant down right now! Just... this damn strength isn’t quite under control yet!"
Excitedly, he made a gesture but didn’t watch his footing, nearly kicking a half-person-high stone flying.
Li Hexuan glanced at him and said calmly, "It’s your first time using it; take it easy. This power is enough."
Su Mengyi squatted on the ground, gathering scattered source crystals with several women.
Those dull little stones were now precious lifelines.
She picked up a gray source crystal stained with blood and filth.
As her fingertips touched it, a faint tingling came through, and the subtle energy flowing inside was clearly perceptible.
"Eh?"
She switched to another stone; the strange sensation reoccurred, but this crystal's internal energy was noticeably weaker.
Frowning, she hurried to a small fish monster leader’s corpse whose head Zhang Nan had smashed.
The gleaming white source crystal was still embedded in the fractured skull.
Su Mengyi carefully reached out to take it.
The moment her fingers touched the white crystal, she sensed energy waves far clearer and stronger than those in the gray crystals.
She could even "see" the raging torrents of energy within, and her spirit brightened!
"Mr. Li!" Su Mengyi hurried to Li Hexuan, holding the white crystal and several gray ones, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
"I... I can feel the energy inside these stones is different! The difference is huge!"
Li Hexuan took the crystals from her hand, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.
He pulled out the green source crystal they had seized and handed it over as well.
She held each in turn.
The gray crystals had the weakest energy signals, almost imperceptible.
The white crystals were much clearer, brimming with energy.
When she held the emerald-green crystal, a surging, pure power burst forth, so intense it made her heart leap even through the crystal’s shell.
"This green one... its energy is too strong! Much stronger than the white!" Su Mengyi exclaimed in delight.
"Good! Excellent!" Li Hexuan’s excitement was genuine this time as he patted Su Mengyi’s shoulder.
"Mengyi, with this talent, you’ll be our Thunder God Base’s live treasure detector from now on!"
The ability to directly sense the strength of source crystals’ energy—and possibly distinguish their different attributes—was invaluable in this resource-scarce apocalypse.
From now on, their hunting for source crystals would be like having a cheat code!
"Mr. Li! Brother Zhang!"
Liu Zhong, on watch at the mountain’s foot, suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Boats... several boats coming! They look like refugees!"
Everyone immediately turned to the water.
In the distance, several rickety rafts crudely bound together with broken planks and scrap drifted shakily toward Falling Leaf Mountain.
The figures aboard were ragged and gaunt, as if clawing their way out of hell.
On one raft, a skeletal man seemed to have exhausted every last bit of strength as he rasped a desperate, hoarse cry toward the mountain.
"Help! Please, save us!"
His voice broke with sobs, suffocating with helplessness.
"We escaped from Linjiang City! Chen Hao... that monster Chen Hao! He’s no human!"
Chen Hao!
Those two words stabbed into Li Hexuan’s ears like burning iron rods.
His grip on the telescope tightened suddenly, a faint creak sounding as his veins bulged on the back of his hand.
That scoundrel who, in his past life, ruined his family and left him without a whole corpse!
That treacherous bastard who would stop at nothing to achieve his ends!
He had indeed awakened an ability and was already brazenly terrorizing Linjiang City, baring his fangs!
Within Li Hexuan’s chest, the flames of revenge exploded violently, churning his viscera.
Chen Hao’s appearance tightened his nerves once more.
He must—he absolutely must—rapidly increase his strength!
Not just for himself, but for the entire Thunder God Base!