CHAPTER 700: CHAPTER 695: INHUMAN

"Underground... again underground..."

As Ronald safely landed a few meters down in the pitch-black tunnel, he couldn’t help but mutter to himself.

Ever since he arrived in this world and got involved with the mystical side,

he had lost count of the number of times he had delved underground while chasing after incidents.

It was quite normal for him to deal with Casters on a regular basis, Ronald had grown accustomed to it, and couldn’t be bothered to complain further about that.

But today, even the life forms influenced by the original scriptures seemed to prefer hiding below ground.

Truly, if he didn’t grumble about it, he felt as though his chest would be suffocatingly constricted.

While grumbling out loud, Ronald also set Helle down. The little girl was very well-behaved at this time, not even asking the curious questions she had.

Meanwhile, Costate, who had descended before him, spoke up:

"Sir, there are no signs of recent activity in the vicinity."

"This passage ought to have been used solely by Orland."

The reality was indeed as Costate described.

The underground passage here was enveloped in darkness, making it impossible for ordinary people to see anything. To someone like Ronald, however, the path was smooth and extended, with a circular cross-section that wasn’t exactly easy to traverse.

He pondered over his experiences in Yizi Forest.

It was highly probable that the passage was the result of some plant roots growing underground, carving out a pathway before relocating and leaving it behind.

With that thought in mind,

Ronald reached out to touch the wall of the tunnel beside him.

The soil here contained a lot of moisture, and his acute hearing could detect the sound of running water in the distance—a very typical subterranean environment.

"Let’s keep moving."

Having made the decision, Ronald now took the lead in the group.

Initially, the underground path wasn’t steep, and after advancing just over ten meters, water could be seen emerging and then gradually coalescing into a subterranean river that began to flow.

Helle naturally didn’t possess the abilities of Ronald and Costate.

So, upon hearing the underground rustling, the little girl became noticeably uneasy.

"Mr. Ronald, is that the sound of water?"

"That’s right," Ronald replied as he held Helle’s hand and began to explain immediately, "The underground environment is quite complex, and there’s more than just soil and rocks."

Snap—

At this moment, Costate gently snapped her fingers.

A soft and pale light source appeared beside the maid, offering the desperately needed illumination to the entire group, or rather, to Helle.

The youngster quickly noticed the unique aspects of their surroundings.

Unlike the forest floor, the soil beside the underground river had a fine texture and was gray-green in color like slate. Although walking on it wouldn’t sink one’s feet into the dirt, clear footprints would still be left behind.

And further away, in the subterranean river,

the water’s flow contrasted sharply with the color of the ground, and a layer of reddish material floated on the surface.

"Mr. Ronald, what is floating in the water?"

"The water here contains iron, and over time it leads to this," Ronald explained to Helle.

"Oh, I see..."

Ronald continued to give explanations to Helle,

while the three of them also continued to venture further into the tunnel.

At first, the underground passage was relatively gentle, but after two turns, they soon came upon a cavern with a steep incline.

This place no longer resembled an area that had been squeezed out by tree roots.

The long-accumulated state of the rocks and soils indicated that this was a natural cavity that had existed here for a long time or that had formed long ago.

The original subterranean river continued along the incline, its current growing fiercer.

"Sir, look—"

Costate spoke up to draw attention at this time.

Ronald followed the direction pointed out by the maid and saw, some distance away in the underground tunnel, two circular holes similar to this one—corresponding exactly to the number of entrances that Orland had previously mentioned.

However, that wasn’t what was important.

Because of the nature of the soil, Ronald could clearly see some footprints at the edge of the farthest round entrance; the fine soil held the traces well.

It seemed the owner of the footprints had quickly realized this as well.

So after just a few steps, the footprints on the ground completely vanished.

"..."

Ronald frowned.

With a leap, he arrived directly at the entrance to examine the details of the footprints.

The traces were very fresh.

The moist soil not only preserved the traces but also allowed one to infer the time—these were traces left within the last hour.

Think back to the recent attack on Banica’s camp.

The situation was not hard to imagine.

Those who were aware of Banica’s situation and were also in conflict with "Mother" Rhein, likely also planned to invade this place.

Ronald almost immediately expanded the scouting range of his "Fury" to the maximum.

However, at this moment, aside from the Caster who had just dealt with Orland, he did not detect the presence of any humans in the vicinity.

His gaze returned once more to the ground.

These footprints... they seemed larger than those of an ordinary person.

Initially, Ronald thought it was just that the owner of the footprints was tall, but taking into account the average height of the era, he realized how exaggerated these two-meter-tall imprints were.

"Heh..."

Ronald couldn’t help but sneer to himself.

No wonder he hadn’t been aware of the attack sooner.

In the Yizi Forest, not only are most of the wild animals and plants no longer animals and plants, but it seems that even a portion of the humans are no longer human!

The Divine Comedy, being an original text closely related to humanity.

If the target encountered is not human, then truly there is nothing to be found.

In just a few seconds, Costate walked up to Ronald with Helle:

"Sir, it appears you have discovered something?"

"Yes," Ronald nodded, "Biologically speaking, humans have nothing unique. It seems that because of the interference of the Organic Encyclopedia, the people we are dealing with now are no longer human."

Costate showed keen interest in this issue:

"Sir, do you think if a person is no longer human in the biological sense, would they still be considered human in practical terms if they retained their original personality?"

Ronald clearly perceived the maid’s curiosity in her words.

He looked at Costate and then answered seriously:

"If it were my personal opinion, then at least in the social sense, they would still be considered human."

Costate nodded slightly and fell into thought.

"Is that so..."

Ronald then timely interrupted the maid’s contemplation:

"My answer only represents myself."

"If you have the chance in the future, you could ask more people about this question, and they might have many different answers."

"As for now..."

As he spoke, Ronald’s tone paused for a moment, and Magic Power surged:

"From the perspective of the relationship between the entire Earth and the sky, we shall start to form our understanding..."

He activated the Flying Spell to lift himself and his companions into the air.

Finally, Ronald concluded:

"As for now, let’s focus on our work."