Rivet Town.
Seele followed the traces all the way, constantly moving forward.
Bronya and March 7th followed closely behind.
As they walked, they realized they were heading in a direction that led out of Rivet Town.
March 7th couldn't help asking along the way:
"Are we sure this is okay? This is the road leaving Rivet Town."
Seele stared at the marks on the ground and said seriously: "No mistake—they definitely went this way. Look, there are still some deep scratches on the ground. Clearly left not long ago."
Looking at those traces, Bronya agreed:
"Yes, our direction should be correct. Let's keep looking."
The three cleared their thoughts and continued moving forward in Rivet Town.
But what surprised them was that it seemed too quiet here.
They had run for so long, yet hadn't encountered a single Fragmentum creature.
"Huh, where did all the monsters here go?" Seele felt something was off.
Even if Zeig or Dan Heng had taken action, given the three's pursuit speed, they should have seen some monster remains.
When they encountered the disabled Perkins in the storage room earlier, the three had already discerned the monster remains on the ground.
The ones left relatively intact were most likely killed by Dan Heng.
The ones dismembered into fragments.
No need to guess who did it…
But along this entire path, they hadn't seen a single monster remnant.
This was a bit unbelievable.
"Hey, look—the brick walls here are cracked in many places!" March 7th touched the wall and discovered a new clue.
"Is it possible that all the Fragmentum creatures here were lured away by something? Because there were too many, they even cracked the brick walls from crowding?"
Hearing March 7th's words, Seele and Bronya also began examining the brick walls.
The cracks started from the workshop area, growing more severe along the way, leading straight ahead.
As if a horde of demons had passed through—the ground and brick walls barely damaged from bearing the weight of massive numbers of monsters.
"The damage traces are fresh. Let's keep going forward." Seele said gravely.
She held her scythe, walking at the front.
The degree of destruction around them grew more obvious. A bit further ahead, even the walls on both sides had collapsed, scattered messily on the ground.
There were also signs of frantic trampling on top.
After crossing those obstacles, the three advanced another distance.
After turning a corner, Seele suddenly stopped dead!
"Ah——!!" March 7th was following too closely and nearly crashed into her, hurriedly braking.
"Seele, why did you suddenly stop!" March 7th said reproachfully.
Seele didn't reply, only slightly opening her mouth, staring straight ahead.
March 7th also looked in the direction of Seele's gaze.
In an instant, a great chill rose in her heart, as if falling into an ice pit.
She stared blankly at the scene before her, feeling a chill down her spine.
Small mountains piled from monster fragments, as tall as the surrounding houses, blocked their path.
A cold wind blew gently.
Some fragments fluttered slightly, like duckweed in the wind.
The air was filled with a strange smell—a combination of ice and embers—making the three shudder.
These Fragmentum creatures had been so domineering; just looking at the damaged traces on the surrounding brick walls showed their ferocity.
And now.
They were like discarded garbage, casually stacked here.
They emitted red or blue glows, overlapping together, slowly dissipating from parts.
March 7th widened her pink-blue eyes, already having some guesses in her mind.
Besides that guy, who else would be so deranged?
The girl couldn't help exclaiming: "What heavenly law did these Fragmentum creatures violate?! Chopped into what now!"
Looking closely, each fragment was no larger than a coin—cut like this was practically lingchi execution!
Roughly estimating the volume of these few mountains, March 7th could approximate the number of monsters buried here.
Absolutely no less than fifty!
Plus some fragments that had already dissipated, this number was still conservative.
Seele frowned, quickly calming down:
"It seems Zeig fought here not long ago."
Bronya gazed at those peaks and murmured thoughtfully: "I wonder why the Executor chopped them so finely. Is there some ingenious reason for handling them this way?"
The most shocked among them was still March 7th.
Her impression of Zeig's combat power remained from the Herta Space Station period.
Back then, in the Simulated Universe, Zeig was enveloped in flames only when serious to have this kind of destructive power.
But the three had pursued all the way, seeing every movement in Rivet Town.
And they found no large-scale energy fluctuations.
It could be said that the certain someone had only used cold weapons.
March 7th didn't know if he used that greatsword, but she was certain the three hadn't seen any firelight along the way.
"How did he become so badass?" This doubt involuntarily arose in the girl's mind.
When the three arrived in Rivet Town, even cooperating, their advance was extremely slow.
Yet the countless mountains placed before them showed the certain someone's terrifying efficiency.
After killing this scale of monsters entirely, he even had the leisure to meticulously dismember them one by one into coin-sized fragments!
Seele gazed sharply at the scene ahead:
"The fragments over there have dissipated, leaving a path for people to pass. Let's continue forward."
Bronya and March 7th followed without hesitation.
Rivet Town at this moment was exceptionally quiet.
Nearly ninety-nine percent of the Fragmentum creatures had died at this person's hands.
They wouldn't respawn in a short time.
After passing those few mountains piled from fragments, a few more turns led to Rivet Town's exit.
Seele's footsteps didn't stop, continuing to advance quickly.
Suddenly, she smelled a strange meat aroma.
"?"
Bronya and March 7th were also stunned.
They smelled it too.
Not far from Rivet Town's exit, behind a stone mill, wisps of green smoke rose.
Glug glug glug—
In the steaming hot pot, boiling water bubbled continuously.
A man sat on a chair, his pale green eyes leisurely, silently adding greens to the hot pot.
He then picked up long chopsticks to stir inside the pot, afterward taking tongs from the coal pile beside the chair to add some coal to the flames.
At this point, the other man sitting beside him spoke:
"No, the water's already bubbling glug glug—why are you still adding coal?"
Dan Heng said leisurely:
"There's still meat not added yet. It'll be good once added. March and the others should be on their way—let's cook a bit more."
He added some more beef rolls and lamb rolls to the pot. The boiling splashes paused momentarily, slowly quieting down.
In this cold wind, the firelight flickered on the two's faces, shining brightly.
On the table to one side of Dan Heng were arrayed all sorts of ingredients.
Behind Zeig was a long table lined with various beverages and alcohols, even tissues.
The two sat respectively in grand redwood armchairs, with several empty ones around—clearly prepared for others.
A white-haired girl lay on a chair nearby, eyes closed, faintly emitting even breathing sounds.
Suddenly, a distant voice rang out.
Breaking this tranquility.
…
"You two celebrating New Year's here——?!" March 7th's pink-blue eyes widened greatly.
…