The Witcher: Darkness Falls

Lyon looked at the guy in front of him who claimed to be a scholar and biologist, and wondered why he came to him.

Most people would stay away from him when they saw him, and the looks they gave him were filled with fear and disgust.

After all, who wants to be near a freak?

"Of course I don't mind." Lyon nodded.

Stan naturally came closer, imitating Leon and leaning his arms on the fence, looking at the sparkling water in front of him.

It was already afternoon and the sun was starting to set, which meant it would be dark in a few hours.

Stan slowly said, “I heard that demon hunters are hounds chasing monsters, and they can be found wherever there are monsters.

Then I would like to ask, is there any danger of being attacked by monsters during our journey?"

Leon shook his head and said, “I don’t know if there are any risks in this journey. To be honest, I don’t think there are any.”

After saying this, for some reason, Leon felt a little strange, as if something was going to happen.

This feeling is hard to describe, it's like an intuition, very strange.

But this feeling came and went quickly, and he quickly ignored it.

He continued: “The Alba tributary runs straight to Dar Enrovan, passing through Yarmulak and connecting to the Alba Delta.

This is the only waterway between Vicvaro and Nilfgaard. There are quite a few ships there, and even if there are dangers in the river, they have almost been cleared.

The river flows gently and I have hardly ever heard of a ship being sunk in this waterway.”

Leon is stating the facts.

Judging from the map, the Alba River is indeed the only navigable estuary in the vicinity. The small rivers in other places are either too narrow or too shallow to allow ships to pass through.

The river was used to carry equipment manufactured in Darnlovan, and also saw political prisoners brought to Darnlovan from Nilfgaard.

No other accidents have occurred over the past few hundred years, which shows that the river is safe enough.

Stan said in surprise: “I feel the same way, but because I didn’t take the water route when I came here, I haven’t experienced it myself.

But if there is no danger, why did the captain hire you? Are you here for tourism? "

Leon shook his head and pointed at the merchant Denzel who was talking to the half-elf Gammel.

Stan turned his head and looked over.

Lyon said: "I was hired by him and just happened to be on the way."

"That's... a businessman. Oh, I see. But he hired a team of mercenaries and a demon hunter." Stein said, "This way, your journey will be safe."

"Yes," Leon replied.

"Where is your destination? Sorry, I don't mean anything else, I'm just curious.

After all, with a mercenary team and a demon hunter, it seems that your mission this time is very far away, and the merchant is very worried about this journey. "Stein said.

Leon didn't mind telling the end of this journey.

To him, Stan looked frail and posed no threat at all.

What's more, this was on a boat, and he was 100% sure that he could throw the other party overboard.

“Vizima,” Leon said calmly.

"Vizima!" Stein seemed particularly surprised. "Temeria, that's in the north!"

Leon nodded, and at the same time began to ask curiously, "Have you been there?"

Stein shook his head and said, "No, I have never been there. I have never even left the Nilfgaard Empire."

Leon felt speechless. The Nilfgaard Empire occupied almost the entire southern part of the ancient continent, that is, the vast area south of the Yaruga River except Cintra.

Many people have never been able to leave the Nilfgaard Empire in their entire lives, and may not even be able to leave their provinces.

Except for businessmen.

They travel far and wide, exchanging goods to earn the difference, and are willing to go even to the deep mountains and forests for profit.

The two chatted a lot. Since Stein was a scholar at the Imperial College and had extensive knowledge, Leon was particularly impressed by his research on biology within the Empire.

"The genetic barriers between organisms have not been broken, for example, if a human and a dog are combined, nothing will come out.

But magic can. Ancient wizards conducted countless biological experiments and used magic to create many monsters, which almost made ancient biologists collapse.

Of course, the research at that time did not go deep into the genetic level, and even wizards who were known for their knowledge only called it bloodline. "Stein talked freely.

Leon listened attentively at the side, just like a confused student.

But it is a fact that Leon's life is divided into three stages.

Before he was four years old, he lived in the village. Although he sometimes did not have enough food to eat, it was the most carefree time of his life.

The next ten years were like a year, and he felt like he was living in hell.

Ten years later, he finally walked out of the devil's den alive.

Although he killed the villain who had tortured him for ten years, he immediately fell into confusion after a brief moment of pleasure and joy.

Although Sikori tortured him for ten years, he also gave Leon an understanding of the world.

At the same time, he also taught Lyon a lot of skills.

Although these are not Sikori's subjective wishes, for Lyon, this is the fact.

Sikori was both an enemy who had tortured him for ten years and a teacher who imparted knowledge and gave him strength.

In the following years, he explored on his own, but most of his knowledge came from the notes left by Sikori and some novels and history books to pass the time.

Naturally, his knowledge reserves and cognition are definitely not as good as Stein, who has undergone systematic learning.

Especially since the other party is a scholar and biologist at the Imperial College.

“They didn’t realize the fragility of genes, or bloodlines. They just thought that bloodlines could be broken, altered, or even purified repeatedly to make wizards more powerful and live longer, just like elves.

For this reason, wizards are very keen on various blood experiments, and thus have transformed a large number of monsters, and many wizards have even died at the hands of the monsters they created. "

When Stein said this, Leon could not see any disgust or disdain in his eyes, but instead a look of excitement.

"You seem to have a special liking for monsters, or the genetic engineering you mentioned?" Leon asked puzzledly.

Stein made no secret of his interest and said frankly, "Yes, if you see the beauty of genes, experience the process of genetic modification yourself, and watch the new species created by your hands begin to reproduce.

This feeling...ah!"

He made a sound of pleasure similar to an orgasm.

But that was not what Lyon heard.

“No, I’m not interested.” Leon turned his head and stared at the dim water and said, “You call them monsters, so you should know that they are dangerous.”

Leon said, and added in his mind.

Alzu, one of the founders of the demon hunters, died at the hands of his own transformation.

Even a genetic modification master like Alzu cannot ensure that the monsters he modified are safe, so what about others?

Even magic cannot control the mutation of modified creatures, let alone the means of ordinary people.

If genetic engineering is carried out all over the world and even ordinary people get involved, he can foresee that he will have no worries about finding a job in the future!

"Of course I know." Stan said as a matter of course, "But this is not a thousand years ago. Today's genetic methods are very mature. Combined with magic, it is basically possible to achieve controllable mutations."

"Basically?" Leon showed a half-smile.

He always felt that the other party was too arrogant about this "basic" description.

“It’s a pity that due to the hunting of demon hunters, a large number of monsters have become extinct, which has also indirectly destroyed the ecosystem, further leading to a decrease in biodiversity, making it difficult for current genetic engineering to proceed.

After all, we lack samples of unique organisms." Stan sighed, and immediately added, "Of course, these have nothing to do with you, they were all done by your predecessors.

You are young, and youth is stupid.”

Lyon did not refute. He never refuted facts.

Suddenly, Stan changed the subject, looked at Leon seriously and said, "But I have a request, I hope you can agree to it."

Leon raised his eyes and looked at the other person.

Stan continued earnestly and sincerely, "I hope that when you encounter monsters next time, you can give them a chance to live, okay?"