As expected, the extremely oppressive black clouds proved that extreme weather was coming. The blizzard had arrived.
This couldn't help but remind Caelus of the time in the Honkai world, where he had also encountered a blizzard. After walking for a long distance, he had met that girl who fell from the sky.
This blizzard had arrived quickly, but it would not leave quickly. Caelus was not in any hurry. He simply strolled across the snowy plain.
He knew his identity as a Catastrophe Messenger was not for notifying nearby people about some trivial minor disaster, but rather for major catastrophes that truly threatened survival.
On this planet called Terra, or rather, on the continent beneath his feet, there was something different from all other worlds, a high-energy mineral known as Originium.
While this high-energy mineral brought great convenience to the technological advancement of this world, it also caused immense disasters. This was because the mineral itself possessed extremely strong infectious and contagious properties. Once infected, there was no cure. At most, the symptoms could be alleviated through various medicines, but complete recovery was impossible.
What was even more terrifying was that when an Infected person suffering from Oripathy died in a state of severe infection, their body would be deconstructed by Originium. This could even lead to a situation similar to a dust explosion, causing a large amount of Originium dust and debris to scatter. If someone were contaminated by this, even through a small cut on the skin or a single breath, it would result in an Oripathy infection.
In a situation where every Infected person was equivalent to a walking time bomb, people on this continent had never treated the Infected well throughout history, even going so far as to use them as disposable slaves.
And the so-called even more terrifying natural disasters were Catastrophes, disasters that appeared to be natural phenomena but were actually mixed with the presence of Originium.
Under such disasters, once a person was caught in them, not to mention the terrifying natural disaster amplified by Originium, even if they were lucky enough to escape, they likely would not live long due to severe infection.
So in this world, once someone was infected with Oripathy, they basically lost their human rights.
Based on his current identity as a Catastrophe Messenger, Caelus knew that the country beneath his feet, named Ursus, was one of the most brutal nations on this land toward the Infected. Once discovered to be infected, even officials would be directly escorted to the mines and worked to death.
"So, is the struggle within this country's business and political circles simple and crude? Can you just find a way to infect the other party with Oripathy to physically eliminate them?"
Although Caelus was walking across a snowy plain where an ordinary person would struggle to take even a single step, he did not sink into the snow at all. Even though he was stepping on the snow, he left no footprints behind.
[Most worlds' business and political circles can be resolved this way. High-level struggles often adopt the simplest and crudest physical methods. Just like sometimes, when someone holds too much national debt and creates repayment pressure for the country, you only need to find a way to eliminate that person, and there will be no problem.]
"Indeed, this simple and crude method is actually efficient. As long as you aren't caught red-handed, or your own strength can steamroll everything, it doesn't really matter."
Caelus nodded. After all, when he reached the final stage of the main quest in the Warhammer world, he only had to kill, and that was it. He did not even need to find the targets himself. How simple that was.
Walking across this vast snowy plain, due to the obstruction of the blizzard, his line of sight was heavily obscured, making it hard for people to see the right direction. But for Caelus, who had already stepped into the Fifth Order and was akin to a god in ordinary worlds, worthy of being called a Celestial Immortal, it did not matter at all.
However, due to the difference in systems, he did not possess the divine sense that those gods and immortals had, which could sweep across thousands of miles in an instant. His mental energy was too special due to personal reasons, so generally, he would not release too much, only maintaining a certain level that allowed him to clearly see the colors of the surrounding world.
Caelus suddenly stopped, because he had unexpectedly encountered someone in this kind of weather.
"Hmm?"
The person opposite him, completely wrapped in a black robe with an indistinguishable appearance and figure, also seemed surprised to encounter a traveler in such awful weather. Moreover, the other party was not wearing anything warm at all. What race was he? How could he move normally in this weather without the slightest change in expression?
"Hello, my name is Caelus, and I am a Catastrophe Messenger."
Caelus politely introduced himself, while the person opposite him hesitated for a long time before finally saying their name.
"Um, I... I am... Talulah."
That person seemed to feel that saying their name would lead to something bad, so they appeared hesitant. Yet they did not choose to give a fake name, and instead directly stated their real name.
"Alright, Talulah. Under these circumstances, meeting like this is a kind of fate. Shall we travel together?"
Although Caelus could hear that the other party's voice was female, he had not seen what she looked like under the cloak. To avoid any misunderstandings, it was better to address her by name for now.
As for using mental energy to directly scan the other party, that would be too rude. Caelus stated that he was a person with manners and upbringing.
"Well, okay then."
No matter how she looked at it, Talulah did not think the person in front of her was a bounty hunter or one of the search teams pursuing her. And given the current level of decay in this country, Talulah really could not believe that bounty hunters or search teams would have already tracked her down in just one day.
She reckoned that all those nobles were busy dividing up Kashchey's inheritance right now. How would they have the spare time to deal with an unimportant little person wandering outside?
That was what Talulah thought.
Moreover, Talulah also noticed that the place where this person had walked left absolutely no footprints. Just based on this ability to walk across snow without leaving a trace, Talulah knew that this Catastrophe Messenger across from her was definitely exceptionally strong.
Caelus and Talulah walked together across the snowy plain. In this blizzard, Talulah felt her body temperature getting lower and lower. Previously, relying on her powerful Red Dragon bloodline, she had been able to maintain her temperature in this low-temperature region, but now the temperature was getting lower and lower. If this continued, even she would not be able to hold on. She had to find a place to shelter from the wind and snow.
However, in this vast expanse of heavy snow, her line of sight was strongly obstructed by the wind and snow, and movement was becoming increasingly difficult. If this continued, she feared that even with her powerful Red Dragon bloodline, she would likely meet an ominous fate.
"Do you need to rest for a while? I can build a place for you to take a short break, and we can rest for a bit."
"Can you? Will it cause you any trouble?"
"It's fine."
In Talulah's eyes, Caelus did not do anything, but she saw countless trees suddenly emerge from the snow in the distance and then directly assemble into a wooden house.
Caelus pushed open the door of the wooden house and walked in. Although Talulah was a bit surprised by the process of the wooden house being directly created, this land truly did not lack all sorts of strange Originium Arts, so after thinking about it, she followed him in.
After stepping into the wooden house, Talulah found that the interior was actually quite complete, to the extent that there was even a burning campfire in the center of the room.
This made Talulah, whose body had originally felt a bit stiff and numb, feel much more relieved. The rise in temperature even made her almost cry out in comfort.
The two sat around the campfire, both holding wooden cups in their hands, which even contained hot water.
Talulah took off her hood, revealing her appearance. She tentatively glanced at Caelus beside her, only to find that he was just fiddling with the campfire in front of him and was not even looking at her.
Alright, it seemed he really was not here to hunt her down.
Talulah set her heart at ease and then began to drink the hot water in the cup to warm her body.
(To be continued.)