Only I Walk Alone

Wu Ge led his team to the cave entrance, which the robot guards had already surrounded. He pressed the loudspeaker and shouted into the cave, “Don’t be alarmed, I am human, we mean no harm!”

After shouting in Chinese, Wu Ge used a translation system to repeat his message in Russian, then in English, but no sound came from inside the cave.

Xiao Chao said, “The probability that this creature is human has dropped to 30%.”

Wu Ge responded, “Don’t be too pessimistic. Being isolated from human society for three years could make a person lose their ability to speak.”

Wu Ge had seen a documentary about a person who fled to the mountains to escape war. That person, after just three years in the mountains, had lost the ability to speak. He could understand human language but couldn’t produce the sounds he wanted to make and had to undergo a week of psychological therapy before he could speak again.

Wu Ge turned on the lights mounted on his power armor and slowly approached the cave entrance, with Xiao Chao cautioning, “Please be careful, Wu Ge. This creature may not be human.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be very careful,” Wu Ge assured.

As Wu Ge carefully entered the cave, a large shadow suddenly lunged at him from the darkness. Wu Ge’s quick reflexes allowed him to leap back out of the cave.

The shadow missed and leaped at Wu Ge again. Thanks to his three years of military training, Wu Ge swiftly grabbed the shadow’s paw and threw it over his shoulder to the ground.

The surrounding robots rushed up and pinned the shadow to the ground.

Xiao Chao’s voice announced, “The likelihood of this creature being human is 5%.”

Wu Ge sighed softly, having now seen the creature in full. It wasn’t human, or at least not human anymore. It had a wolf-like head, was covered in fur, and had sharp claws and strong hind legs.

It was a werewolf!

The werewolf roared and struggled fiercely, but seven or eight robots held it down firmly.

Xiao Chao dispatched a robot to collect hair and blood samples from the werewolf, while Wu Ge asked, “So there really are werewolves? Are they transformed humans?”

Xiao Chao replied, “This is likely a descendant of a first-generation werewolf. Only the first generation turned into werewolves due to mental issues, so this werewolf cannot turn back into a human.”

Wu Ge had seen the power of mental strength and had read many historical documents. In China, mental strength could grant longevity and various magical abilities. In foreign lands, it enabled people to cast spells. Similarly, the appearance of monsters, vampires, and werewolves was also linked to mental strength.

Mental strength, intention, soul – different cultures had different names for it, but they all referred to the same thing.

The concept of the soul was widely accepted thousands of years ago among ancient civilizations and tribes before they had contact with each other. They all independently developed the idea of the soul and began exploring its mysteries, developing various mental strength cultivation methods such as cultivation, yoga, magic, and witchcraft. These practices grew in different regions like Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

Despite their isolation and inability to communicate across oceans, their ideas were remarkably similar.

This wasn’t just a coincidence in human history but suggested that the soul indeed exists, leading people to independently discover and explore the soul.

This conclusion was drawn by Wu Ge after reading historical documents and studying mental strength cultivation methods from around the world. However, he could only believe in the existence of the soul without being able to prove it.

Wu Ge carefully observed the werewolf, noting, “I’ve never heard of live werewolves in the news before. I didn’t expect them to appear now.”

Xiao Chao explained, “With humanity gone, these creatures that feared humans are gradually emerging and even flourishing.”

“Fear humans?” Wu Ge was puzzled. “Isn’t it humans who fear them?”

Xiao Chao responded, “As human technology has advanced, creatures that rely on brute strength have increasingly become less of a match for humans. Human territories have continuously expanded, forests have been felled, and mountains have been mined, all in the pursuit of resources or to ensure their own safety. Humans have once extensively hunted these creatures, leading to the extinction of many ferocious animals during that period.”

Wu Ge, familiar with history, knew that after the invention of firearms, a large number of carnivorous animals disappeared, and many large animals like elephants and rhinoceroses were on the brink of extinction. No matter how powerful a creature, it faced a dead end against firearms, especially when those weapons were in the hands of intelligent humans.

Wu Ge asked, “So, are you saying that the Earth might experience a species explosion in the future? Mythical creatures like monsters, werewolves, and vampires might emerge in large numbers?”

Xiao Chao affirmed, “As long as they haven’t gone extinct, it’s certain that these creatures will begin to proliferate massively.”

Wu Ge looked again at the werewolf, which had been sedated by the robots and was now sleeping soundly. Xiao Chao seemed to have no intention of releasing the werewolf; it appeared to want to take the werewolf back to see if its intelligence could be stimulated. If successful, it could then cultivate werewolf scientists.

Although this would undoubtedly be a lengthy process, Xiao Chao had plenty of time to wait.

Wu Ge shook his head slightly, surprised that their target was not a human but a werewolf. This creature likely had both human and wolf genes, but the wolf genes seemed to be more dominant.

Xiao Chao explained that this was the fascinating aspect of mental strength. If Wu Ge were to lose control while practicing mental strength, it could lead to trouble, so he hoped Wu Ge would be cautious in his cultivation.

Wu Ge asked, “Could you use genetic engineering to transform this werewolf back into a human?”

Xiao Chao answered, “No, the majority of the genes in this werewolf are wolf genes. Forcing it to transform into human genes would cause an imbalance among the body’s cells. Before the transformation could be completed, the werewolf would die due to genetic collapse.”

Currently, Xiao Chao’s method of modifying biological genes involved using viruses, but it could only make minor adjustments, such as deleting the “death code” or improving genetic diseases. Transforming a dog into a human or vice versa was impossible.

Xiao Chao added, “Perhaps when you reach the legendary ‘immortal’ state, you might be able to do it. Ancient legends say immortals have the ability to reshape bodies, which likely involves reaching the triple realms of controlling genes, matter, and energy with mental strength.”

Hearing this, Wu Ge couldn’t help but exclaim, “Mental strength really is limitless!”