Formless Ascension: My Affinity Is Limitless

That had been what the Homo erectus called it specifically, and just from that fact alone, Uhtred gained another level of insight into how developed the ancient variants were.

The goal of this prime sapien project was to create a strain of a sapien, taking from all the pools of DNA to create essentially what was a supreme version of a human. How exactly the ancient factions would go about this remained a mystery, but all that their Homo erectus captive had revealed was that the abducted children were vital to the completion of the project.

Despite the fact that the ancient variants were enemies to modern humans, they still recognized that for humans to be the dominant species in the current age, they had to have some unique traits that made them superior to all other species.

Bringing these unique traits into the prime sapien gene pool was going to be supremely beneficial to their cause.

However, the move to actually take the children also pointed to another fact.

"Wait... Aren’t they being too confident?" Diya asked. "This is basically like them saying they are sure they will come out of this global quest victorious, and they don’t want to lose our gene to extinction..."

Her words mirrored everyone’s thoughts exactly. Indeed, the ancient variants were being too haughty with their move to enter into the modern human camps this early. It was as though they saw this as a done and dusted quest, and they simply wanted to get what they wanted early on.

However, as Uhtred continued to explain, the ancient variants’ haughtiness began to seem less like blind confidence and more like an assured certainty.

For starters, the location of the ancient variants’ camp was in Zone 3, according to the Homo erectus scout.

He didn’t say exactly where, but since he had revealed the zone where they resided, Uhtred, along with everyone else, had at least had somewhere to begin.

But whether they could get there was the main issue.

People like Diya, Etounde, and Minh Quan could not understand, but for pioneers like Uhtred, John, and the others, they knew just how difficult it was to survive in Zone 1, not to mention Zone 3.

How exactly a Level 13 Neanderthal and a Level 7 Homo erectus had traveled all the way from Zone 3 to Zone 1 without harm was another mystery to be added to the already piling list. But the Homo erectus scout hadn’t revealed anything about their methods despite how brutal Minh Quan got.

In fact, aside from these two important pieces of information, they had gained nothing else from the Homo erectus scout. His body had gotten so weakened that he could not formulate words, his will so broken to the point where all he wanted to do was simply die. So Uhtred and Minh Quan had unanimously decided to leave him for the time being.

By the time Uhtred was done repeating what the Homo erectus had revealed, they had already walked all the way to the camp.

Uhtred wanted to see the dungeon for himself. He knew it was now a vital resource for everyone in the entire sector, but dungeons usually had floor levels, did they not?

He was sure there was no one that could reach the floors he would reach, which essentially meant he had no one to compete with for floor level, so perhaps this dungeon could still be a resource for him also.

However, as they drew near to the pavilions, seeing the plethora of crowds moving about and seemingly arguing about something yet again, Uhtred asked John about the dungeon in more detail.

"Oh, that?" John muttered. "I think we should just allow everyone else to use it for the meantime. It’s going to be useless for us pioneers after a while anyway."

"What do you mean?" Uhtred asked.

"Huh?" John stared at him in slight surprise. "Because it only has five floors... Did you not know that? It’s literally written on the doorway to the dungeon."

"I told you, I haven’t seen the damn dungeon yet," Uhtred groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. This changed his plans entirely. A dungeon with just five floors was of no use to him.

"Then I guess this is where I’ll leave you guys."

"You’re leaving? What about the quest?" Diya asked after Uhtred spoke. Her response was immediate, without even the slightest beat — enough that it drew John’s attention and made his gaze longer on her in suspicion.

The soldier had always known that Uhtred was not going to stay with them for long, so this came as no surprise to him. However, from Diya’s tone just now, there seemed to be something there that made him begin to think even she might be convinced to leave.

"I am leaving exactly because of the quest. You should already be able to tell that I’m past Level 5 by now. The dungeon is of no use to me. So staying here is only going to be detrimental to my growth."

Uhtred shrugged, then stared at the pavilions ahead of them.

"Besides, I don’t have the time to be dealing with all of that," he nodded toward the crowd of people milling about the camp with their voices loud.

Michael, the politician, could be seen with some other individuals. From the looks of things, the departure of Scorpion, coupled with the fact that there weren’t many pioneers in the camp during the time when the interrogation of the Homo erectus scout was ongoing, had created a power vacuum.

Of course, there was no one on the level of Scorpion, and in fact there wasn’t anyone who was actively terrorizing the camp. Rather, this time it was entirely different.

Smart individuals had started to rise, especially with how tense the situation currently was. It had been a day already at this point, and people were beginning to get hungry.

The control and order Michael had tried to establish in the sector was beginning to fray. People were beginning to break up into their own groups, thinking of how they would get food for themselves, either by going out to hunt in groups, or, for some reason, even thinking of moving into a different sector entirely.

In essence, the situation had turned for the worse again, and Uhtred wanted none of it.

"It looks like you have your work cut out for you," Uhtred patted John’s shoulder and moved forward. "Me though, I need to find Dennis."

"What for?" Diya’s voice perked up again.

Uhtred paused, then turned and faced her.

"To come along with me," he said. "Dennis has asked if I need his skill as an intellectual who knows a lot about many subjects, and I think I actually do. So I need to find him before I leave."

"You do know he’s a non-combatant, right?" John asked.

But Uhtred only shrugged.

"Doesn’t matter. I’m strong enough that no harm will come to him. And with me, he would also get strong enough to protect himself in no time. Far faster than what the dungeon and the messy politics here would provide, for sure."

John could only let out a weary sigh in response. The expression on his face had gone flat. If the other pioneers, along with Etounde and Minh, could not see what Uhtred was playing at, he, on the other hand, could clearly see it.

Since the moment Uhtred had mentioned leaving, Diya’s face had been vacant, as if she was deliberating internally. Uhtred was well aware of this just as much as John was, yet he was acting oblivious... And there could only be one reason for that:

He wanted to rope in Diya to come along with him of her own volition.

It was no secret that Diya was a Healer Mage. The necessity of having someone who can heal others nearby was especially vital in a world like this, where there were no medical facilities at the moment.

John was not one to force people to do things, but as he watched Uhtred continue to act oblivious and saw the changing expression on Diya’s face, her eyes firming up as she came to a conclusion and decision, he couldn’t help but wish he was stronger...

At least then he could have something to put on the table when trying to convince Diya to stay.

But right now, he could only watch and remain silent, accepting what Diya was about to say even before she spoke the words:

"C—Can I come along with you too?" she asked, meeting Uhtred’s eyes. "It’s just like you said. The world has changed, and if we want to survive, we have to adapt quickly. I think the best place to learn to adapt is out there in Zone 1..."

Uhtred stared at her for a bit as if pondering, but Jon, who was watching from the side, nearly rolled his eyes as if to say: Man, who are you kidding? Just accept her already!

As he continued to say nothing, Diya became even more fidgety.

"My class ability can also be of help to you. And I can take care of myself. The—"

"Don’t worry, Diya," Uhtred cut her off with a smile. "You’re very much welcome to come along."

As Diya let out a relieved sigh and chuckled, John could only watch stoically. He turned to Uhtred, about to bid him goodbye and get back to his own duties. However, before he could speak, another voice took him by surprise.

In his Vietnamese language, Minh spoke to Uhtred:

"Can this old man join your party too?"