Retired for A Hundred Years: Re-Employment for the Apocalypse Bigshot!-Chapter 371 - 366: Eternal Life Sect

"Brain chip implant? Doesn’t that sound like something the Eternal Life Sect would do?" Superpower user Ah San suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention.

Ah Da gave him a sideways glance and, seeing Ji Ning looking over, reluctantly explained, "What Lao San said about the Eternal Life Sect is a joke a Hunter once told us during a mission years ago."

"What joke?"

Ah Da noticed Ji Ning’s serious expression and his heart tightened.

After pondering a bit, he began to speak, "That Hunter, on a mission to the Outer Continent, once witnessed the Eternal Life Sect preaching in a village. They duped the villagers, claiming that the main god would perform miracles. If you donated your brain before death, you could achieve immortality. Out of curiosity, he pretended to join the Eternal Life Sect, and they gave him a preaching booklet. It depicted a dying person wearing a helmet bestowed by the main god, whose soul turned into a gem on the helmet. As long as the gem remained, they achieved immortality. What the villagers didn’t know was that the gem was actually a chip. And this preaching booklet was adapted from an online comic."

"A comic?" Ji Ning raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, the protagonist in the comic is a super-smart scientist who became a vegetable after a car accident. His friends used a device the protagonist developed to convert his brain consciousness into data and stored it on a chip. Then they implanted the chip into their self-developed bionic robot, reviving the protagonist and achieving his immortality."

This comic is rather niche, and it just so happened that the Hunter had seen it, so he told it as a joke to outsiders.

But observant people would always find some clues in it.

Lin Yuanyang glanced at Pan Qing and boldly speculated, "Perhaps the Eternal Life Sect isn’t just adapted from a comic. Maybe they’ve already achieved this data immortality?"

Everyone’s eyes turned to Pan Qing.

At this point, Pan Qing’s face still showed shock and disbelief, muttering, "Impossible..."

Ji Ning asked, "Which continent was that Hunter on a mission to?"

Ah San raised his hand to answer, "I know this one, he went to a slum on the northern side of the West Continent."

Everyone in the room who knew Pan Min’s true identity had a stern look in their eyes.

The West Continent again?

***

Nanling, South District Planting Area.

Xiao Shun cautiously stayed near the Forest Guard uncle, observing his every move.

After watching all morning, the uncle just worked honestly, with no unusual movements.

Just as Xiao Shun was about to leave, he suddenly heard the Forest Guard’s startled shout from not far away.

"Everyone run, mutant beasts are coming again!"

The Forest Guards who could come to plant in the semi-polluted zone weren’t pushovers; each person had at least a B5 level physique.

Their skills might not be top-notch, but they could run faster than ordinary people.

Xiao Shun saw the surrounding Forest Guards drop the saplings and run in a specific direction, and he joined the fleeing crowd.

Once they finally reached the nearby shelter, Xiao Shun looked around and realized he had lost sight of the uncle.

Outside the shelter, three mutant cows with green-glowing eyes were wagging their tails, strolling through the planting area.

They were munching on the saplings the Forest Guards had just brought.

This was Xiao Shun’s first time seeing mutant beasts up close, and curiously pressed against the gap of the door to watch.

The mutant cows were smaller than ordinary cows, with no flesh on their bodies, their shriveled hides clinging tightly to their bones, revealing the outlines of ribs and joints.

Watching them gobble up saplings, the Forest Guards were heartbroken.

"Heavens, how many times is this? Will people ever catch a break?"

"Damn Hunter Alliance, they just want to make us miserable!"

Complaints and curses went back and forth.

After more than half an hour, the Hunters defending the south finally "arrived."

An open-top off-road vehicle carried three Hunters wearing sunglasses.

None of the three wore gas masks, just black face scarves.

In dirt-yellow camouflage, they carried strings of bullets on their backs.

After the off-road vehicle stopped, the two Hunters in the back seat raised their machine guns, aiming at the sapling-eating mutant cows.

With the sound of "rat-tat-tat..." the three mutant cows fell without even struggling.

Seeing the mutant cows dead, the three jumped out of the vehicle, lifted the carcasses, and walked back to the off-road car.

After the three left, the Forest Guards cursed and swore as they emerged from the shelter.

Such simplicity brought a hint of doubt to Xiao Shun’s eyes.

Taking advantage of helping the Forest Guards clean the scene, he slowly approached where the mutant cows had died.

The soil was already blackened there.

The Forest Guards needed to shovel the soil stained with mutant cow blood, bag it, and transport it out of the planting area.

Xiao Shun took the opportunity to collect a small handful of blood-stained soil, intending to analyze it back home.

But after finishing his work and leaving, two "tails" suddenly appeared behind him.

***

First Base, Base Chief’s Office.

Fu Lishen looked grim as he listened to his subordinates’ reports.

"Chief, led by the Black Snake Gang and the Fierce Wolf Group, the Hunter Team demands the base immediately release the detained goods and people. They claim the defense pressure is too great. Many members were injured blocking the mutant wolves. If the base unjustifiably detains their people and materials, next time it won’t just be sapling-eating mutant beasts breaching the defense line..."

"Bang—"

"Outrageous!" one of Fu Lishen’s advisors slammed the table harshly, "Chief, we can’t indulge them any longer. Their disregard for human life, not to mention the smuggling of toxic plants outside, can’t be tolerated on the defense line, or problems will inevitably arise sooner or later!"

"Lao Zhou, this isn’t something we can just manage as we wish; it’s a historical problem. When the old chief expanded the defense line, they really didn’t have enough manpower, so they cooperated with the Hunter Alliance, who’ve been rooted here for over a century. It’s not something we can just change," a round-faced, slightly plump advisor looked at Fu Lishen’s expression and gently advised.

But Lao Zhou was like a firecracker, easily ignited, eager to clash daily with the Hunter Alliance people.

"So we just let them be reckless, threatening us all the time?"

"Aren’t we communicating now? The Hunter Alliance’s higher-ups are negotiating with those Hunter Teams."

"Communicating, communicating... It’s been three months. Go look at those ravaged woods. The South District’s planting leader comes to me crying daily; next time, you go greet him!" Lao Zhou glared, speaking impatiently.

The room suddenly fell silent.

The reporting officer swallowed and looked toward Fu Lishen, seeing his slight nod, continued to report, "Secondly, today our people noticed a few new faces following Miss Bai’s group from when they left the city, seemingly monitoring their movements. We have sent people to protect them secretly, with no anomalies so far."

Yet Fu Lishen’s face turned even darker than before, his brows furrowed deeply, showing displeasure in the depths of his eyes.

Being Fu Lishen’s confidante, Advisor Yu asked directly, "Why did they go out of the city today?"

"They’re still planting trees."