Alien Knights

Todd's body has just finished mutating, and his clothes have turned into a pile of cloth strips. The metal scales have not completely receded, and the strengthened muscles are still in an excited state.

Meredith, who was sitting next to Rachel, first glanced at Todd's lower body, then squinted at the turbulent waves of the woman beside her, and blinked: "If you need, I can avoid it."

Later, she added: "Of course, if you don't mind, I'd be more than happy to be a spectator."

Todd was taken aback for a moment, and later he realized that the other party had misinterpreted his intentions.

"Things are not what you think!" Todd pointed to his clothes and said anxiously: "There are a large amount of radioactive ore buried underground in the Kingdom of Shadows. If you have stayed underground for a long time, these radioactive substances will stain your skin and clothing and cause continuous damage to your body. Therefore, the most important thing right now is to change your clothes quickly and rinse your body with clean water!"

Seeing the two women with his own eyes, he still had a half-understanding look on his face.

Todd jumped up anxiously, and ran back to the main hall of the temple in a hurry. He rummaged through the supplies on the ground and found water bags, dry cloths, clothes and furs.

Returning to the door of the stone room again, he put all the supplies in his hand on the ground, and said loudly to Rachel in the room: "Quick! Wash your body with clean water, and put on a set of clean clothes! Meredith, help her!"

After saying this, Todd turned around and returned to the temple hall, took off all his clothes, first dug out a bag of clean water, cleaned up the radioactive mineral powder on his body, and then changed into a set of unowned clothes.

Todd, who had done all this, waited anxiously in the hall for ten minutes, and finally saw Rachel appearing in the corridor wearing a new dress.

Regardless of the other party's questions and protests, Todd put her into a sleeping bag made of animal fur, tied the sleeping bag on his back, and took a few necessary daily necessities, walked out of the gate of the temple, and headed towards the top of the mountain along the ridge path.

Leaning on Todd's shoulder, Rachel looked at the snow-covered mountains in the distance, and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Go to the highest place in the Kingdom of Shadows, it is the only safe place to stay away from underground radioactive sources."

"Radioactive source?"

Todd knew that to explain this term, it would inevitably involve a series of special concepts - "nuclide", "radiation field", "ray"...

In desperation, he explained to Rachel in a relatively simple way: "You can think of the radioactive source as a huge gas spore, which emits harmful gas all the time, which can pollute the surrounding water, soil and air. If any creature gets too close to it, it will slowly kill the tissues and organs in the body."

"And this gas spore is located in the sacrificial hall, the place where I sat all day and all night..." Rachel seemed to finally understand her situation.

Todd stepped on the snow with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and comforted her: "Just stay away from the radiation source, throw away all the contaminated clothes on your body, and wash your skin. You can rely on the body's natural healing ability to slowly reduce the radiation damage."

Rachel's thoughts slowly opened up: "According to this, the reason why the water, air and food in the land of shadows are deadly is actually due to the existence of radioactive sources?"

"It should be so."

"What about the animals here? Why weren't they killed by the radiation source? Also, those who passed the test, they didn't seem to be affected by the radiation either."

Regarding Rachel's questions, Todd already had a vague answer in his mind, all of which may have something to do with the legendary "tyrant". But in the absence of real evidence, this is just speculation.

Climbing along the path to the top of the mountain, the wind and snow are getting bigger and bigger.

The fatigue brought about by the mutation just now, as well as the blizzard-ravaged weather, made Todd's pace slower and slower.

Holding Rachel on his back tightly behind him, Todd used his body as a barrier to block the wind and snow; while looking back at the way he came.

If it is just to stay away from the radioactive source, it should be enough to reach this height. The key now is to find a suitable shelter.

There was a clear chirp in the sky, causing Todd to look up.

A griffin, grabbing its prey with its two claws, staggered and fell to the snow not far away in the snowstorm.

Seeing this scene, Todd grinned.

The problem is solved.

Carrying Rachel on his back, he walked for ten minutes in the direction where the griffin landed.

Todd found a hidden cave under the snow all over the sky.

Comparable in size, but only one person tall and wide.

Carefully stepping on the snow under his feet, Todd jumped into the hole, first checked carefully, and after confirming that there was no threat, he dragged Rachel out of the sleeping bag and put it on the ground.

"Walk behind me and try not to make a sound." Todd used the ability of "Night Vision" to observe the surrounding terrain while leading Rachel to the depths.

The cave is narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, with a ventilation hole at the top, making it an excellent place to stay.

Along the way, there was no trace of radioactive ore, which made Todd heave a sigh of relief; but the biological bones all over the ground made him nervous again.

Turning a corner, Todd and Rachel finally saw the owner of the cave—two male and female griffins, and their three eggs.

The male griffin immediately discovered the intruder. While warning his mate loudly, he rushed forward to meet the enemy with his body.

With the weak light in the cave, Todd and the griffin met face to face, and both the man and the beast were stunned.

It turned out that this griffin was the unlucky ghost who was driven away by Todd in the barbarian tribe.

Todd was a little embarrassed, and raised his hand to greet the griffin opposite: "Ha, the world is so small..."

Adding new grudges to old grudges, the male griffin yelled angrily, and flew over in the air, pointing his beak at the top of Todd's head.

The latter unhurriedly stretched out his hand to knock, and the male griffin was immediately knocked away by a huge force, hitting the stone wall heavily.

Ten minutes later, Todd placed Rachel in a leeward place, and took a closer look at the goat brought back by the griffin by the newly lit bonfire.

Turning over the prey that had already been pecked through the throat, Todd pointed to the brand mark next to the goat's tail, and said to Rachel: "Look here, this sheep should not be a creature in the Kingdom of Shadows, it may belong to a certain village on the southern continent."

Rachel nodded, agreeing with this opinion: "That's right, when we met last time, it was also hunting among barbarian tribes."

Todd turned his head and glanced at the Griffin couple huddled in the corner of the cave: "In other words, this sheep should be safe to eat and has not been contaminated by radioactive sources."

The mutton was roasted and then sprinkled with the salt that she brought. Rachel swallowed a piece first, and after confirming that it was safe, she began to eat it.

Seeing the invading human beings occupying their own homes and eating their own food, the male griffin was heartbroken, flapping its wings and making mournful calls.

Todd looked back at the "couple", thought for a while, and threw half a roast lamb over, along with some dried fruit.

After people and beasts had eaten and drank enough, the sound of wind and snow outside the cave gradually became quieter, and the light gradually dimmed.

Adding some dead branches to the firepit, Todd looked at Rachel who was sleeping soundly in his arms, and worried about what to do in the future?

The environment under the mountain, if Rachel was allowed to live again, it would be tantamount to slow suicide.

However, living in the cave on the top of the mountain is not a long-term solution.

The running around during the day, coupled with the fatigue after relaxing, made Todd put aside this problem for a while, and slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, he was awakened from his dream by a strange growl.

Opening his eyes, Todd saw the Griffin couple staring at the entrance of the cave, looking like they were facing an enemy.

Turning the gaze to the hole, a huge visitor, the shadow on the wall is getting longer and longer. Todd wakes the sleeping Rachel and motions her to hide behind him.

Finally, a regular visitor of Todd's came into the cave—the manticore he gave up on.

Looking at this monster, stepping on the bones on the ground, completely ignoring the existence of the griffin, it slowly walked in front of itself, knelt down on the ground, and stretched its head towards itself.

Todd immediately understood the other party's intentions.

The creature that once pulled him into another soul world wanted to talk to him in this way.