...But the corrosive substance is still skyrocketing." Grey's pupils widened in shock as he sensed these changes.
Many of the gazes that locked onto him dissipated after a few moments, as if saying that Grey was not worth their attention. Only slightly weaker senses locked into him with malicious intent.
Of course these gazes were deep in the corroded zone and could not get him from this distance but the fact that something was watching you still have you that chill you would feel in a horror movie and the worst part was, they weren't even trying to hide it.
Just as he thought of going back, he heard a loud bang in the sky and a bright light pierced the clouds. The entire earth seemed to tremble with the loud thunder that followed.
"No way..."
Yes, rain was falling, acid rain was falling. As Grey remembered the last acid rain he bore witness to, his face paled in fear.
The red clouds that seemed to have been hovering over the corroded zone seemed to stretch into the distance and in the time it takes for six breaths to elapse, it's had already covered the sky over Grey.
"Dammit." Left with no other choice, Grey burst into a sprint as he dashed wildly towards the corroded zone.
The forest and its residents also started to run and scatter as they fled to their various abodes that would offer them safety from the acid rain.
None of the creatures even looked at Grey as they sought safety for themselves and Grey didn't mind them too.
Instead, his eyes darted left and right as he tried to remember any familiar paths or signs that could lead him to the broken house he lived in before but there was none.
It looked like after the corroded zone entered its nascent stage, the paths and terrains all changed as well.
As Grey was still furiously thinking, he saw another bright flash of light in the sky and loud thunder sounded. The thunder seemed to echo for much longer than it should have as Grey felt his hearing go distant and sharp pain filled his head.
When his hearing came back, he felt the tremble of the ground beneath him as if it was responding to the thunder.
Grey's touched his ears and felt blood running down his face. But he didn't care too much about it as he circulated the Sky Mist art and the purple crystal kicked into action and began to heal him.
Just as soon as the thunder left, Grey felt something small land on his shoulder and then a piercing pain followed.
The rain had started falling.
Without wasting any time, he erupted with speed as he ran through the forest. His breathing became laboured as he put all his strength in his legs.
But there was not buildings in sight. The rain was now starting and more piercing pain in form of drops landed on his skin one after another.
Very soon, he felt his body began to slow down as he felt the rain drops tear holes through his clothes and shoes and began to pierce his feet.
But just as he thought all hope was lost, he saw a weirdly shaped boulder about four meters in height.
It had a deformity which led to there being space in the boulder. Because the boulder was over four meters, the acid rain could drip within the space.
Grey did not waste any more time and instead dove under the protection of the boulder. Under the boulder, Grey felt the piercing pain stop.
As he leaned on the boulder, his gaze swept by a mutated wolf under the rain. The rest of the wolves were hidden under the trees and there was almost nor space left. The wolf tried to squeeze inside, but the rest of the wolves bared their fangs against it and pushed it away.
As the rain drops continued to beat its skin, the wolf turned his head away to look for a place to hide when it caught sight out of Grey under the boulder.
The lone wolf then growled and dashed towards him but with a distance of about fifteen meters, the wolf didn't make it and had its entire body burnt and pierced. Its flesh emitted sizzling sounds as it died swiftly under the merciless rain.
"Cruel world, kid." Grey said as he looked the body of the wolf that was already being turned to little more than bones and diced flesh.
"Everyone for himself. It was how the world was..." He seemed to be saying to the wolf but he was also reminding himself not to be left behind to die like this wolf.
That wolf was in the fifth level of Qi accumulation, but under the downpour of the red clouds, it died like it was just an ordinary animal.
Grey was certain he could have killed it if did eventually get to him, but he doubted he could deal with a wolf in the fifth level of Qi accumulation in under five breaths.
In fright, Grey looked at his own skin which was slowly repairing itself under the light of the purple crystal.
He had actually gotten the purple crystal from this corroded zone and it was what was helping him heal the wounds on his body. He didn't know what to feel at that.
The rest of the wolves eyes Grey in anger and some even let out low roars as if enraged, but none tried to come out of the cover of the forest leaves. They just roared at him from the distance.
"Yeah, come at me you senseless fools. You saw what the rain did to him, come and try the corroded zone." Grey shouted at the wolves to provoke them.
But of course, no one tried to attack him. They had seen very much what the rain did to they comrade. It pelted him into blood and mincemeat.
But they did roar at him from the distance, their eyes growing red with bloodlust. After seeing that his first taunt did not work, Grey ignored them and continued to circulate the Sky Mist art, but now too fast. He was inside a corroded zone so it meant that the corroded substance would be much more denser than it was outside. If he was not careful, he could mutate before he could negate the effects with medicinal pills.
"So the Captain was telling the truth when he said that the corroded zone was still in its nascent stage. What would have happened if I had not listened?" The implications would have been severe.