Malin nodded: "Have you ever dissected something ?" "I don’t know, Your Highness, maybe you should ask our Chief Scientist when you return to the main camp," the elf replied. Malin nodded: "Alright, I understand." With that, Malin jumped off the War Rhinoceros, and a portal appeared beneath him. Diving in, Malin brought out Nameless’s longsword, emerged from the portal, and with an outstretched left hand, a long wall of Spiritual Energy followed, directly blasting most of the different kinds of ghouls in front of him into the air. They had just managed to stand up with difficulty, only to be knocked against the cliff by Malin’s strike. The two ghouls closest to Malin couldn’t respond in time, and by the time they did, affected by the slow spell formation, they hadn’t had a chance to lift their two left arms towards Malin before he had already moved to their right side, and the longsword sliced upwards, severing their two right arms. Hmm, the shell is extremely hard, only with Malin’s strength and the sturdiness of the longsword could a single strike succeed. It’s indeed possible to penetrate their shell with a firearm’s armor-piercing bullet, but for general swords and mortal strength, that’s unlikely to happen. When the first ghoul lost its balance and fell, the slashing longsword cleaved open its waist, a relatively soft spot, suitable for mortals to attack. The ghoul fell heavily to the ground, howling as it tried to rise after being bisected, but having lost its lower body, it could only struggle helplessly. At this time, the second ghoul finally noticed the prey in front of it missing, not realizing why, when Malin from behind chopped off the ghoul’s head with the longsword—their neck, like their abdomen, has no shell protection. Holding the head, Malin went to the first ghoul, seeing the giant, tumor-ridden stomach that slipped out of the shell. Malin kicked the exterior and then sliced it open with the sword. Inside were various bloody remains, some human, some non-human, and even animals and spirits. Like scavengers, could it really be that, like zombies, these were lifeforms created by humans, that became different kinds over eight millennia? Thinking this, a portal formed on the ground behind Malin, and before leaving, Malin lifted a finger, and the ghoul still displaying tenacious vitality on the ground was levitated. With a flick of his fingers, the first ghoul was flung to the cliff wall, dying from the impact, then Malin stepped back into the rift. As he fully entered the rift, Malin noticed more ghouls appearing on the slope... It seems, these ghouls and the zombies have one more thing in common—they also prefer group activities. The next second, Malin sheathed his sword and popped out of the rift, plopping back into his chair. "Prince Malin, though I know you’re adept at spatial positioning, could you perhaps give a heads-up before you leave next time? You gave us quite a scare just now when you jumped down," Onor said, looking at Malin. Malin nodded with a smile: "I just went to check on the ghouls. The shells on their limb parts are extremely tough, but their necks and abdomens have no defensive capability. Also, consider this head a trophy." With that, Malin tossed the ghoul head with two horns, four eyes, and a mouthful of sharp teeth towards Onor. The Knight Commander caught the head. Although a Mage, he was, after all, the Knight Commander. Catching the trophy, he smiled and hung the head on a hook beside his saddlebag. "To the right, the bridge ahead was damaged in the last ghoul tide; we’ll cross the water at the ford." The elves led the Rhinoceros Team through the ford. These giant beasts slowed down crossing the sandbar, but the nearby canine spirits drinking from the water looked over, most retreating, though a few large canine spirits remained unmoved. After all, they were facing a gargantuan monster, three meters tall and weighing tons, a terrifying combination of the planet’s most dangerous bipedal ape. Those that could withstand such a terrifying moving flesh mountain without flinching must indeed be fearsome spirits. But the leading elf blew a whistle: "Joe, come here!" Maybe it heard the call, the largest canine spirit raised its tail and ran over, snatching a chunk of meat thrown by the elf operating the crossbow at the riverbank. "Your pet?" Malin’s curiosity piqued again. "You could say that, Your Highness. Three years ago, my patrol team was scattered by ghouls in this area, and if it weren’t for Joe leading me in evasion, I would’ve died." After saying this, the elf jumped off the War Rhinoceros, waded to the shore, and joyfully embraced the canine spirit, which happily received its master’s pats. Then its companions also ran over, and Joe barked to warn them after pouncing on a puppy that tried to attack the elf. The elf then opened his backpack, took out a considerable amount of jerky, and placed it on the stone beach. Then the elf returned to his post, and the War Rhinoceros Team began to move again. Malin watched these canines eating the meat—hmm, the elf seems to have a routine of feeding these spirits, and these canine spirits understand that the elves are not enemies, especially the leader of this spirit pack, the large female canine spirit named Joe, who seems familiar with the elf. Interesting, the elves seem to be expanding their presence here. Malin thought for a moment—though elves can be quite old-fashioned, being relatively long-lived and not having good relations with other races, at least they speak and act like people. In Malin’s records, elves have repeatedly joined forces with humans to fend off Chaos invasions. So if they want to carve a niche on the New Continent, it’s not impossible. Plus, those dogs just now seem both wild and intelligent, understanding human speech and willing to protect those they consider friends. Maybe in the future, these dogs will become new favorites for adventurers and tech hunters—after all, the largest canine spirit is big enough to serve as a mount. Of course, if the subject is a giant, just pretend Malin didn’t say anything. At this point, the Rhino Team had climbed the slope, traversing the ancient highway. Malin saw the road stretch forward, littered with countless broken vehicle columns. "These vehicles escaped from the north of Saluda for unknown reasons and were abandoned here," the elf loudly introduced to everyone in the group. "Such is the Great Cataclysm, we can’t know what happened here," Tainor sighed, looking at the Golden Oak Leaf: "What do you think, Mr. Ambassador?" "Yes, you’re right, stories from eight thousand years ago are no different from legends to us," he said, turning his gaze to Malin. Malin smiled: "Let’s just keep looking ahead. What’s past should stay in the past." The Rhinos continued forward, cresting the hill, where Malin saw defenses appear on the distant highway. Skirting the perimeter of this defense, Malin sighed—no matter what, in that era of destruction, those soldiers did not run away, but faced despair, choosing to fight to the last moment. As they bypassed the defenses, the number of vehicles on the road grew until they even appeared outside the highway. They seemed to be fleeing the city. It makes sense—after all, when the Great Cataclysm came, the city was not a paradise but a true hell. Life halfway to hell, too dangerous, isn’t it?