Chapter 277: sublimation 1

The next moment after the Elite Commander detected this change, the air rippled and he disappeared. King followed shortly behind; an exciting feeling of anticipation rising in his heart.

When they arrived at the slope’s peak, Clark was still standing rigidly, his eyes still looking in the direction of the cave.

The only problem was that no emotion was detected in the eyes, they seemed just like those of a dead man.

The look on his face was extremely calm like he just entered a wonderland, with a soft goose-bumps-inducing smile lining his face.

Seeing all this, the Elite Commander confirmed what he said. He now had a solemn expression on his face, he rapidly thought about all the various scenarios that Arnold prophesied.

“He really made the legendary 100 thresholds for all his attributes! Back then, I thought Arnold was lying, but now I don’t know what to say. I’m speechless”.

“I think he’s the only soldier that has ever achieved such an impossible feat!” The old man Titus stroked his chin.

Though he was awed by Clark’s outrageous improvement speed, he knew that the sublimation was the real trouble.

According to Arnold, if the chosen one could start the sublimation process, there is more than an 80% chance that he would finish it.

The only scenario where the chances would be lesser than 80% is if the chosen one brought all his attributes to 100 by sheer luck.

“F*ck you, Arnold. How the hell am I supposed to know if it is by sheer luck or by hard work and talent?” He wanted to strangle the grizzled old man right here and now.

“You said what?” King prodded softly from the side when he noticed his Master muttering words.

“No, nothing”. Elite Commander Titus denied before finally grabbing Clark’s figure, he disappeared from the spot again, this time with Clark’s body.

When King teleported back to the cave, he saw that his Master already placed Clark on the special healing pool.

Seeing the questioning look on his face, his Master sighed before speaking. “I don’t know how long the sublimation process takes. Arnold never knew, he said that was the extent of his prophecy”.

“I have to prepare for the worst-case scenario, the scenario where the sublimation process takes years”.

King was shocked. “Then how would he survive without food?”

“This!” His Master pointed at the pool with a grin. “This is one of my most precious treasures, without the appearance of Clark you wouldn’t have even set your eyes on it”.

King pouted a bit but he still kept his priorities straight. “This pool can keep him alive even if he doesn’t eat for years?”

“Yes! The magical processes of this pool work at a cellular level, it’s a brilliant work of top-notch medical technology. I dare say that some super high-grade countries don’t even have this”.

“Though this pool can sustain his life, surviving is still up to Clark”. Elite Commander Titus sighed, all his enthusiasm draining away all of a sudden.

“What does that mean?” King frowned.

“It means that Clark has a high chance of dying in this process!”

…

“Why is everywhere so white?”

“This cannot be another research lab, right? No! No, I want out. Professor Granit, you bastard!” A croaked voice howled in grief as the owner’s eyes shut close in horror.

Clark waited and waited but nothing happened, he started having doubts. He was here for so long already, no Professor, no evil fusion machine; he was suspicious, the dubious scientists were not so benevolent.

From his few encounters with scientists, he already had enough experience to give them the fear that is due to them.

Counting the seconds in his mind, he waited for 5 minutes but still no one.

He hesitated before finally opening his eyes again to peek out stealthily. From his short peek, he quickly deduced that this was no research lab.

And shockingly, the white background that surrounded him on every side before was now gone and he was in a forest. What the hell!

He noticed that he was sitting on the forest floor without any cushion.

Scrambling hastily, he quickly stood up and directed a wary glance at his surroundings. He didn’t know where this was but he was prepared for the worst-case scenario, he had to be ready for battle if the need came.

After doing this, he finally had a complete take on his surroundings.

His first observation was that this was a smooth surface bamboo forest and not necessarily a rainforest that he originally thought, bamboo trees and bushy grasses filled his sight on every side.

His second observation was that no threat was currently in his sight, making him heave a much-needed sigh of relief.

“Where is this? What happened?” He finally started expressing his doubts, openly poking at the nearest bamboo.

He still had all his memories before now. The last thing that he remembered was directing a glare at his Master’s cave due to not being appreciated, he still felt sour about it.

Cursing softly, he quickly threw that thought aside.

From the great Himalayan peaks straight to a bamboo forest, what type of voodoo is that? He just couldn’t wrap his head around the facts that were presenting themselves before his eyes.

Is this another round of training organized by his Master? “F*ck! I always knew that he was to no good. He’s never tired, I think he’s secretly a masochist”.

“Master!” “Master, can you hear me?”

“Is this another training trick? Please I don’t like the vibe being emitted by this region, I want to go back to finish my last climbing lap. I promise to be more diligent now. Can you hear me?”

“Is anybody here? If you can hear me, please answer”.

Getting no response after talking for so long, he finally started noticing the strangeness of this forest. He didn’t know where this was but the short stay here was already grating at his nerves.

“I want to go home! King, Master, you bastards!”

After hauling a few dozen curses at the air but still not getting any response, he finally confirmed that he was alone here.

There was no way that his Master could take so many curses and still be patient, the old man is a hot-blooded no-nonsense bastard.

He was now really perplexed and a little frightened. With a serious expression on his face, he leaned against a tree while watching his surroundings alertly before starting a mental brainstorm.

“What actually happened?”

After thinking for another 5 minutes, he had a few guesses but he was not sure about any of them. He could only put his fear aside; for now, he had to go out to check out this place more.

“I’m a high-grade soldier for Christ’s sake! No need to be afraid, chill man. If an enemy comes, you just blow them up in the face. That’s the Spartan way, that’s Clark’s way”.

Pumping his confidence a bit with this, he finally took the first step forward to exploring this region.

Another notable fact that he observed was that he was still in his dirty white clothes, none of his weapons and armor were with him, which brought him much relief.

He concluded from this that he was not going insane and that he didn’t transmigrate into some shitty fictional world. That would have been a horrifying scenario.

Thinking of transmigration…, “Whoa, man that’s a huge relief! My little brother is still there, I’m still a man”.

Turning to a woman is a frightening scenario that he did not dare think about.

As he made these little check-ups here and there to confirm that everything was okay with him, he already walked a sizeable distance from the previous location where he just appeared here.

He was already noticing that the density of bamboo trees was gradually reducing in the direction that he was going in, this made him feel anticipation a bit. This brought hope that not everywhere here was a bamboo forest.

He suddenly stopped, eyes glittering like stars as he looked into the distance. “Is that a chimney? If it’s a chimney, then that’s a house!”

He was overjoyed, almost throwing himself on the forest floor to celebrate it. Though he was still stable, he was starting to fear the scenario that he was the only human in this forest.

Increasing his pace, he started going in the direction of the building at a faster speed, making disturbing noises as his feet marched past the dried grasses on the forest floor.

Snap!

He reacted extremely fast, diving and rolling forward as he narrowly evaded the vicious bite that was aimed at his head.

Cold sweat filled his back as he rapidly turned to face this sudden foe. He felt like crying, this forest was not completely free of predators Afterall. He should have known, nowhere was safe in the world.

After he turned his head, he finally laid eyes upon this animal. “Sheesh! Is that a dinosaur?”

He was completely shocked by the sight before him. “But these things are extinct!”

As he took in the shock, the irritated dinosaur was already re-orienting itself. Clark could not understand dinosaurs, but he could still make out that this big fellow was irritated after missing its prey.

He felt like crying. “You didn’t expect me to turn myself into a special KFC pack, right?”

He was just like a dwarf in the presence of this predator, he had to raise his head to see its face.

The next second, Snap!

This time the speed of the bite was so fast that he opened his eyes wide in shock. He tried jumping to the side at the last second, he escaped death but most of the lower half of his body was eaten away.

“An exobeast with 4th rank high-grade strength!” Now, Clark was horrified.

Seeing the dinosaur’s enormous maw that was descending for the kill, he was unwilling and shocked. “Is this how I’m going to die?”

Crunch! Crunch!

With 2 horrifying munching sounds with blood spurting about, Major Clark was turned into a snack by the enormous dinosaur.

After successfully eating its prey, the dinosaur let out a satisfied roar, turned around before lumbering deeper into the bamboo forest.

A few seconds later, Ding!

With a bright light flashing, Clark saw himself falling from the skies. He dropped down to the floor ruthlessly, falling at an awkward angle but he didn’t care about that at the moment.

Hastily standing up, he looked into the forest with horror now printed on his face like a label.

He didn’t even try to think about how he was still alive after experiencing going into a dinosaur’s belly, all that was on his mind now was… “Run!!”

Balancing his center of gravity, he picked up speed and ran at a record-breaking speed for as fast as his legs could carry him straight in the direction of the house.

15 minutes later, he finally got to the house.

Huff! Huff!

Breathing rapidly while frequently stealing glances back to see if he was being pursued, he finally raised his head exhaustedly to look at this house.

He was stunned. “Is this…, my ancestral home?”