Chapter 16 Curiosity

The sound of flesh being cut and bodily fluids moving paused for a moment, as the knife holder appeared to be shocked by the unexpectedly surprising information, falling into deep thought.

But quickly, the sound of cutting resumed, and the analysis of the human body continued.

[The bodies of Terra Humans don't appear to be naturally evolved at all—most natural organisms have structures that are extremely complex, useless, or even contradictory, and they just need to be adequate... For example, like a crooked and twisted tree, ugly and unappealing, but still able to live quite healthily.]

[However, Terra Humans' bodies are not like this; they are like straight, towering pine trees, healthy with a sense of vitality in their beauty. Whether it's their more rational lung structure, their extremely strong liver, or some unknown organs whose function isn't clear yet, they all seem vibrant and full of life.]

[Um, speaking of which, what are these protruding cartilages around the spinal and cervical vertebrae?]

[Let me think, right, they must be to reinforce the spinal structure. Indeed, their ability to withstand impact would be much stronger, and ordinary collisions would hardly cause concussions in Terra People. They are truly armed to the teeth—Terra People are literally armed to their teeth!]

[Even on Earth, achieving such results would require genetic modification starting from the fertilized egg stage… Speaking of which, that gizzard looks very familiar, and it's quite similar to the 'Gluttonous Type III Auxiliary Digestive Organ,' but that is a high-grade genetic organ equipped only by the elite members of extraterrestrial exploration teams, which ordinary people wouldn't need at all.]

[With the current tools, there's no capacity to perform dissections on the brain, but the results are already sufficient to draw a conclusion: Terra People are a high-grade species comparable to New Humanity.]

[The bodies of Terra Humans are incredibly robust, even uncivilized and relying solely on instinct and basic animal intelligence, they could adapt to nearly all natural environments and are very difficult to exterminate.]

[Add to that the enhancement of the body by Spirit Energy… The power hidden behind this world might be far beyond my imagination.]

[Eh, wait, this leg…]

...

In the depths of the night, the lakeside forest was not darkened by moonlight but was instead quite clear and bright.

Around the body wrapped in tarpaulin, blood amassed but did not spread everywhere.

Rather, because the dissection was not of a living person but rather of a body deliberately placed there for some time, the amount of bleeding was surprisingly little.

Ian, holding a Fish Dividing Knife, had a delicate little face covered with a simple burlap cloth serving as a mask.

In those eyes, as blue as gemstones, when reflecting upon the sight of his uncle's corpse, which was too horrific to behold, there was not the slightest fluctuation, as tranquil as an ordinary person looking at a common pebble by the roadside.

But now, within those tranquil eyes, a rare ripple appeared.

For a wisp of mist with an unusual color was rising from the mutated right leg of the corpse.

"A pale blue halo."

Setting down the small knife and washing his hands with lake water, Ian nodded thoughtfully.

The activated Foresight View allowed Ian not only to see clearly under the moonlight but also to notice the mist rising from the deformed leg covered with shells and keratin.

"This is no ordinary matter... Ordinary humans, even with tumors or cancer, wouldn't exhibit such mutations in their legs."

"Moreover, there is a pale blue halo?"

Ian pondered with a frown.

You see, Suboer Sleep Powder, an unreasonable sedative, is already preposterous enough, and it's merely blue.

And what then is this thing that is just a little less than the Sleep Powder, with a pale blue halo?

Driven by curiosity, Ian walked over, and along the seam of the carapace, he cut open the mass of deformed flesh and blood.

After quite an effort, he finally extracted an abnormally shaped 'L'-shaped bone.

This bone was exceptionally sturdy, it was the entity surrounded by the faint blue mist, Ian tried to cut it with an iron knife, feeling as if he was cutting through steel—the hardness of this thing was even comparable to a high-quality iron-nickel alloy!

The L-shaped bone was roughly fifteen centimeters long, ten centimeters wide, with a cross-sectional edge about four centimeters in length; its shape was highly abnormal, covered with densely packed erosions and pits, even forming some sort of peculiar pattern.

When Ian held it, it felt incredibly heavy, and although it wasn't as heavy as an equivalent volume of steel, it was much heavier than ordinary bones.

This clearly wasn't bone material that ordinary biological creatures could grow, at least ordinary human bones couldn't be sawn through even with knives and saws.

"If this leg developed fully," Ian thought for a long time and couldn't understand what kind of shape such a deformed bone could grow into, but just the hardness alone was formidable, "Surely it would be an iron leg, right? At a minimum, it would have the strength of a military-grade modified prosthetic, fully capable of blocking bullets."

He rubbed his sore hands, then nodded toward Ossenna's battered remains: "The humans of this world, if they aren't the result of genetic modification, must at least have a developed spirit energy, a magic civilization behind them. At least my knowledge provides no other explanation."

"However it may be, the mysteries of Terra Continent are layer upon layer, truly intriguing."

All brutal pleasures will eventually end in brutality, Ossenna delighted in torturing Ian and his brother, and his death provided Ian with extremely important information, resolving many of Ian's doubts.

—Can Earth's physiological knowledge be applied to the Terra people? Are they also flesh and blood?

—If one must fight and struggle, where are the Terra people's vulnerabilities?

Now, all these questions have answers, which is rather pleasing.

"It's time to deal with the body."

Ian stood up, stretching his somewhat sore back from bending over for a long time.

Then, he picked up a spade, ready to go to an open space by the lakeside to dig a hole and bury the body.

And just at that moment, the old knight who had virtually witnessed the entire dissection process from beginning to end, also took a step forward.

Previously, he had stood to the side, preventing other woodland creatures near the lake from approaching, and now, he stepped forward, walking alongside Ian.

The two walked along the lakeside under the moonlight, the man gazed at Ian's blood-stained hands, pondered for a moment, and then finally spoke up, "Why do this?"

Although there was no specific reference, how could Ian not know what he was asking?

Although Ian didn't know the ethics and morality of the Terra world and whether his actions constituted desecration of a body, the old knight had not stopped him. The man's brow was indeed furrowed, but he did not show any opposition.

Even, there was a hint of surprise.

"It's very important, and very necessary action,"

So, the white-haired boy responded plainly; he was somewhat tired, long physical exertion coupled with the activation of Foresight View, made Ian feel hungry again.

However, afterward, he perked up and after pondering for a while, he spoke up again, explaining earnestly, "I wanted to see what the structure of the human body is really like."

Raising his head and looking into the solemn face of the old knight, Ian answered frankly, "Or to put it simply, I'm curious."