This voice sounded very polite, somewhat timid, and trembly.
It seemed like someone with social anxiety, who struggled to muster up this single sentence.
[Travelers, can you save me?]
Lu Yuan swallowed, his expression changing slightly, "Did you all hear a strange voice?" Continue reading on empire
"Heard it, let’s get out of here," Old Cat said expressionlessly.
[Travelers, I... I was eaten by a bug on the tree, can you... save me?]
This scene, does it seem familiar?
Lu Yuan looked towards the direction of the voice, it was a plump white caterpillar lying on the tree emitting the magical voice.
Lu Yuan exclaimed, "Perhaps, every ’Demon’ chooses to fabricate a similar lie? Or maybe, I have a special physique that attracts ’Demons’?"
Keep in mind, his tricycle was engraved with "Stealth," meaning only species with high Divine Attributes could detect their group.
Lu Yuan hastened the pedaling of his tricycle.
"Draft’s picking up, let’s scoot!"
The tricycle began to flee.
Having high intelligence as a ’Demon’ was too frightening.
Lu Yuan didn’t want to entangle with these creatures; dealing with one Mirror Demon was already bothersome enough. Facing another, he feared he couldn’t bear it.
[I’m... I’m not some demon at all!??] That crisp voice grew anxious, stammering, [When I woke up, I found myself embedded inside a large tree!]
[I might have been eaten by this tree, then after it died, a bunch of bugs came.]
[Then I was eaten by the bugs.]
[I might also be the offspring of this tree? If so, who am I? Why am I here?]
[It’s really weird... can you save me? I’m inside the bug’s belly! Please save me, please! It’s so boring staying here!]
This voice began to babble incessantly, then started to mull over the ultimate question of life, "Who am I?"
It began to feel the joy of communication, growing excited on its own.
From an earlier timid voice, it turned into a babbling one within minutes.
"Could it be a newly born ’Demon’?"
"Do ’Demons’ have intelligence?"
"Depends on the species," Old Cat said, "Some do, some don’t, but even if they have intelligence, it won’t be very high."
He pursed his lips, glancing at the Undying Giant Turtle.
"So, if I blow up the ’Demon’ with a cannon, does it mean I could complete a cultural Milestone?" Lu Yuan stopped the tricycle, excitedly said.
Old Cat scoffed, "You better be careful. You know how deceitful ’Demons’ are, spouting nonsense there, tricking you into being fooled."
"But its tone seems somewhat genuine."
"’Demons’ can fake personalities, just like those researchers from the Great Lai Empire. Didn’t you also not realize it until the very answer was unveiled?"
"Sigh, right, no harm in being too careful." Lu Yuan wiped the sand off his forehead.
The Undying Giant Turtle shouted, "You’re not a researcher from the Great Lai Empire, are you?"
[I... So I am a researcher? Do you know me?]
"Of course I know!" the Undying Giant Turtle said bluntly, "You’re a bug!"
[You you you… you’re the bug! But I’m not a bug!]
"I’m a turtle! You’re a bug!" the Undying Giant Turtle said resoundingly, full of confidence.
Greedy Demon God·Lu Yuan, seeing the corpse of an Anomaly but not daring to pick it up, was already feeling uneasy.
Moreover, there’s now a talking rubbish making Lu Yuan feel even worse.
Old Cat, with his amber-like eyes, stared in the direction of the voice, "The situation now, indeed does not seem like a ’Demon’."
Old Cat said, "Intelligent species can pretend to be not smart or very pitiful."
"But smart people must follow logic. With so many bugs around, shouldn’t a ’Demon’ just take over any bug and flee?"
"But it also shouldn’t be a ’Demon.’ I’ve never heard that ’Demons’ have reproductive abilities, otherwise ’Demons’ would have taken over the world already. So I think..." Old Cat’s eyes twinkled as he reached a final conclusion, his chubby cat face becoming serious, "Mr. Turtle is right, it’s a cunning, talking bug pretending to lure you in, wanting to eat you."
[You you you... I am a bug?] The voice sounded like experiencing injustice for the first time, nearly crying at the insult.
"Very logical!" Lu Yuan stepped on the tricycle as he looked at sandworms fighting in the distance, feeling somewhat sad.
Finally encountered something that could talk, but it turned out to be a bug...
Though I’m not the president of the Appearance Association, I also can’t stand hanging out with a giant cockroach.
Your voice being nice is not enough.
We better not meet ever.
The crisp voice got anxious, [I’m not a bug? I was just eaten by bugs... eh? Who exactly am I then? But I’m definitely not a bug.]
[I only know, I am very smart.]
[Look, in just a few days, I’ve learned your language...]
[Smart things, they look beautiful. I look like... like what exactly?]
[I can’t describe because here, I’ve only seen trees and bugs. I don’t know the shape of other creatures, so I can’t describe.]
Lu Yuan suddenly paused.
True, this creature was speaking Chinese, something he had almost overlooked.
"So, this thing has been eavesdropping all along?"
Even Old Cat initially stumbled over his Chinese, becoming fluent only later on.
This creature learned after a few days of eavesdropping; its intelligence must be extremely high.