Chapter 810
Aderick stood atop a hill with his hands behind his back as he looked down at the valley below.
The valley had been transformed completely.
All the trees there had been cut down. Even the stumps under the ground had been dug up. There in place of the trees were giant, pupa-like organic structures.
The organic structures filled practically the entire valley. A tube-shaped object extended down from the bottom part of every one of the pupa-like structures, connecting with one another like spiderwebs to extend to the other end of the valley.
At the other end of the valley was the – much bigger – heart-like organic structure that Aderick used earlier. At present, it had grown even bigger than before. At least several metres in height, it was like a small hill. Every beat would cause the surrounding lands to quake slightly.
Above the giant heart was a huge opening. There, countless mutated citizens lined up orderly, moved forward in a file and were devoured by the massive heart.
All the tubes beneath the giant pupa-like structures were connected to the massive heart in the end. The tubes moved rhythmically, following the heartbeats of the heart. As the tubes were translucent, it was possible to vaguely see – with the illumination from the sun – fluid flowing through the tubes.
Every pupa contracted and expanded slowly, following a certain rhythm. After some time, a pupa would open up and a mutant monster would emerge from it.
These monsters had various forms. Compared to the spore-infected mutant citizens in Los Angeles, the monsters that came out from the pupa were not only bigger, but also clearly more flexible. They seemed in possession of a certain level of intellect.
“Guild Leader, these guys… are you sure they will not become a threat to us?”
Up on the hill, Theodore, who was standing behind Aderick, asked in a whisper. The scene unfolding before them had been going on for half an hour. As for Aderick, he had simply been standing there, his head lowered as he monitored what was happening in the valley. He had not moved even half a step.
After Aderick emerged from it, the massive heart had undergone a rapid secondary growth. At the same time, hundreds of tubes emerged from it before the ends of the tubes transformed into monstrous pupae.
Half an hour ago, the mutated citizens from Los Angeles began arriving non-stop to enter the heart. Like nutrients, the mutated citizens were devoured by the heart and supplied into the monstrous pupae. In the end, even stronger monsters were born.
Although the mutated citizens had been greatly transformed, it was at least possible to see that they were once human. But these monsters that emerged from the pupae, there was no longer any trace of human features on them.
The entire valley had become a massive monster production factory.
“Guild Leader, our location has been revealed!”
Theodore made his way to stand right behind Aderick and asked in a hushed tone, “We… should we move?”
“Move? Why should we move?” Aderick reflexively chuckled. Turning around, he said, “With the protection period gone, our location will be revealed forever. No matter where we go, our location in the participants’ radars will always be refreshed. “
“I know.” Theodore nodded. “I’m just worried that, if they find this place… wouldn’t it be bad?”
It was clear that the monstrous pupae in the valley were creating more soldiers, upgrading the mutants. Although Theodore was uncertain how much stronger they would become after this second mutation, he believed that his Guild Leader would not do anything pointless.
“You mean to say, by moving away, we can prevent the enemy from discovering this valley?” Aderick smiled. “Don’t worry, Theodore. They don’t even have the chance of reaching this place. The number of mutants I’ve modified is now…”
Aderick made a quick calculation. “There are now over 2,000 of them. Judging by their movement speed, it will take them at least one more hour to reach this place. By then, we will have at least 5,000 high-level mutants.”
“How do you know how fast they are moving?” Theodore was taken aback. “Also, just 5,000… is it really enough?”
“Even if those mutants have not been modified before, their bodies share the same alien genes as mine. Do not forget, I have now taken the position of the Species Lord.” Aderick patted Theodore’s shoulder.
“I can sense their general positions. Just now, I sensed a high number of deaths from the zoo. Moreover, it’s coming this way. As for the number of high-level mutants…”
Aderick laughed conceitedly. “As of now, I have completely fused with the Species Lord. These modified mutants have to obey me unconditionally. Their thoughts are my thoughts, my thoughts are their thoughts. Rather, so long as I will it, I can, at any given time, synchronize my thoughts with any one of them.”
“Synchronize?” Theodore pondered it for a moment before responding, surprise in his voice. “You mean… the equivalent of entering those monster’s bodies?”
“That’s an apt understanding.” Aderick nodded.
A monster with a lion’s head, a body completely covered in scales and a scorpion tail on its back had just emerged from one of the pupae and it roared skywards. Suddenly, it turned its gaze to the hill beside it. Its eyes were fixed upon Theodore. “Just like this. Do you understand now, Theodore?”
Theodore watched as Aderick’s voice rang out from the monster’s mouth. Shocked, he turned to look at Aderick, who turned around and smiled at him before saying with the same tone, “Just like this. Do you understand now, Theodore?”
“This…” Theodore was practically flabbergasted.
“As for their combat power… since you’re worried, you should give it a try.” Aderick smiled. Without any overt movements from him, several of the monsters below leapt up. With just a few jumps, they made it to the top of the hill. “I want you to fight with everything you have!”
…
After leaving the zoo, the number of mutants instantly increased.
Two Thunderstorm Tanks were at the vanguard position, moving forward at medium speed. Their turret muzzles would always aim ahead at areas with the highest concentration of mutants. Every volley would blow tens of mutants into smithereens.
There were around seven to eight men standing on either side of each Thunderstorm Tank. Holding firearms, they opened fire non-stop to complement the Thunderstorm Tanks’ main turret’s firepower.
Additionally, there were over ten men wielding melee weapons who formed a semi-circle shape to protect the Thunderstorm Tanks. They stared ahead with vigilant eyes. Occasionally, when a mutant made their way through the bombardment, they would promptly charge forward to stop the mutant. Upon killing the mutant, they would quickly retreat and not become entangled in a fight.
Behind the two Thunderstorm Tanks and their escorts were tens of pickup trucks. Those pickups were not system props. Rather, they were vehicles that were collected from the streets earlier for use. Every vehicle had a driver while the rest were on the truck bed. Half of them were seated, resting while the other half were standing vigilantly.
At the very end was the third Thunderstorm Tank driven by the Moonlight Lizards Guild. It had the similar arrangement of personnel for fire support and melee defenders. While advancing, they also wiped out the mutants coming from the rear.
Lun Tai oversaw them all from the very centre. He was constantly monitoring their surroundings. Soo Soo and Qiao Qiao were there beside him while the rest were scattered amongst the various teams. Each of them was in charge of several teams.
As for Roddy, he was piloting the Tidal Fighter, hovering above the whole group at a low altitude of 100 metres. He provided them with fire support from above at all times.
Their group had been advancing for half an hour. Every ten minutes, they would rotate shifts, making sure that one third of their men were always standing guard around the Thunderstorm Tanks. Those men would have a 20-minute break.
Lun Tai did not mess with the original structure of the various teams. Instead, he did his best to have them maintain their original structure as they advanced. Every team would – following their size – travel in the pickup trucks and change shifts punctually.
They had the Thunderstorm Tanks as their pillar and the Tidal Fighter hovering around providing support. Thus, even though the surrounding mutants had been constantly rushing towards them, their group had not suffered from a single casualty thus far. All they accomplished was leave blown-up bodies of the monsters behind the group.
“The situation appears fine, Lun Tai! With this speed, we will need at most 20 more minutes before arriving at the location. The coordinates have not changed at all. Looks like the other party is very confident. He’s staying there, waiting for us to arrive and die to him.”
Roddy said through the guild channel. He was seated in a lazy posture in the Tidal Fighter’s pilot seat. After the identification of friendlies and foes had been inputted into it, the Tidal Fighter was completely capable of automatically flying and opening fire at the enemy on the ground.
There were enough men and firepower on the ground. Thus, in order to conserve energy and ammo, the Tidal Fighter would only open fire upon areas with the highest concentration of mutants. It was merely aimed at dispersing them. So far, not a single flight-capable mutant that could threaten the Tidal Fighter had appeared. With that, Roddy became the most idle person in the entire group.
“He does have the ability to do that.” Lun Tai raised his head to look at the Tidal Fighter above them and said coolly, “He is an [S] class leader of Zero City’s resident guild. And now, in this instance dungeon, he has obtained such power. One careless move from us and we could end up facing a complete guild extermination in seconds.”
“Hehe… don’t we also have an [S] class on our side?” Xia Xiaolei interjected, joining the guild channel. “Brother Da Gang may not necessarily be weaker than him, right? With him here, our odds of winning are not that low.”
Even though he already knew that Da Gang was Tian Lie, Xia Xiaolei was still more accustomed to addressing him as Da Gang.
Roddy stopped talking.
“Enough. Next time, if there’s nothing, don’t spout nonsense!” Feeling distressed for Roddy, Qiao Qiao hastily said in a fierce tone. She then said to Xia Xiaolei, “Be careful of our surroundings and keep an eye on your radar at all times. Do not think that you can act casually because of your strong regenerative power. Even someone with a monstrous body like Tian Lie can die, let alone you.”
“Understood!” Xia Xiaolei obediently lowered his head to admit his mistake. Suddenly, he said, “Eh, Sister Qiao Qiao, it looks like… there are some life signatures moving very quickly. Additionally, they are moving in a straight line!”
They were still at the edge of the city area. And while there were no longer any high-rise buildings, the layout of the buildings made it so the mutants could only move along the roads.
For Xia Xiaolei’s sensory organs to detect creatures moving in a straight line, perhaps…
“Roddy, be on alert. Flying creatures might appear at any time. Nicole, take to the sky and prepare to cover for Roddy.”
Nicole and Tian Lie had joined Meteor Rock Guild for now, allowing them to temporarily use the guild’s guild channel inside this instance dungeon.
“Understood.” Nicole gave a short reply and immediately flew up from the front part of their group into the sky where she hovered around the Tidal Fighter.
“Argh!”
A wretched shriek suddenly came from the front.
Lun Tai, who was standing on a pickup truck, turned towards the source of the shriek.
Two melee-type Awakened ones were covered in acid and they rolled on the ground. The acid had burned through the low-grade protective suits and was now starting to burn their skin. One blister after another emerged and erupted.
Before them was the giant corpse of a fallen mutant. There was a large blown-up hole on its abdomen area. The acid earlier had burst out from its corpse, which blew up upon its death.
“Members of the same team, help them up the back of your vehicles and start treatment. Continue advancing. Do not stop.”
Every vehicle had been equipped with a walkie-talkie. After Lun Tai gave the command, the team members of the two injured men quickly rushed forward and sprayed the two men with a neutralizing agent. Next, they carried the two up into an empty pickup truck. First, they gave each of the two wounded men a Healing Beast Blood before swiftly proceeding with injury treatment.
“The strength of the acid is not high.” Tian Lie looked at them for a moment before talking into the guild channel. “Only, the timing of the self-destruct was somewhat abrupt. With just a simple treatment, those two fellows will be able to quickly regain their combat power.”
“But we’ve never encountered this type of mutants before.” Lun Tai’s face was grim as he stared ahead at the two Awakened ones who were undergoing emergency treatment on the truck bed.
“Looks like… these monsters are still evolving.”
“True enough. New guys have come!”
Roddy shouted his lungs out.
Up in the sky, sporadic silhouettes of the mutants began to appear. They sported insect-like membranous wings, bird-like feather wings and even bat-like or pterosaur-like leather wings as they charged towards their convoy of vehicles at high velocity.
“Every vehicle, provide fire cover! Our group will increase our velocity to 30 kilometres per hour.”
Lun Tai’s voice came from the walkie-talkies again. Before he even gave the command, though, the men on the pickup trucks had spontaneously brought out their firearms, aimed them at the mutants up in the sky and began firing.
Roddy also swiftly increased the Tidal Fighter’s velocity, expanding its cover radius and changing the aim of the Tidal Fighter’s artillery fire from the ground to the sky.
Nicole was hovering around the Tidal Fighter, the energy cannons of her Floater opening fire swiftly to shoot down all the mutants that came close to the Tidal Fighter.
“If it’s just this, then we should be fine. As long as monsters with long-ranged attacks do not appear in a high number, our overall formation will not be easily disrupted.” Bei Tai was standing on a pickup truck all on his own, a pile of steel ingots beside him. His left arm had transformed into an anti-aircraft machinegun, which he aimed up in the sky to open fire non-stop. “However, judging by the way the situation is developing, that might actually happen.”
“Damn it! If you’re my brother, watch your mouth, you crow’s mouth!” Lun Tai chided with a furious face.
For some unknown reason, the mutants around them had suddenly become much stronger than before.
The previous mutants had still retained a general human form. The new mutants that appeared, however, showed clear changes in their appearances.
Quadrupedal, insect-like, with wings…
This was neither those wild beasts from the zoo that simply had their size increased nor the mutated humans from the second wave. Rather, they had mixed the characteristics of the two groups, as though they had been randomly mashed together.
In terms of offensive methods, these new mutants had more tricks up their sleeves.
Some could spit out acid from a distance and some could fire out spikes. Those melee-type mutants also became better at fighting, more agile and more durable.
“The pressure is a little… big! Brother Lun Tai!”
By relying on his super strong ability to recover and versatility, Xia Xiaolei had been constantly at the vanguard position. At that very moment, however, he too was struggling somewhat. Although the Bug Armour’s regenerative ability was formidable, it required plenty of energy replenishment. Since these new mutants appeared, the rate at which Xia Xiaolei opened fire with his thermal blasters had multiplied several times over. In but a few minutes’ time, he’d had to consume a sack of white sugar to provide more power to the thermal blaster.
“Tian Lie, head to the front!” Lun Tai’s brows furrowed. “Don’t you have area-of-effect skills? It’s time to use them! If you need steel ingots to replenish yourself, get them from Bei Tai!”
“Don’t give me orders, you son of a bitch!” Tian Lie said with a grin, but rushed to the frontmost part of their group. Jumping onto a Thunderstorm Tank, he opened his mouth and roared, creating a soundwave which spread forward.
In the areas swept by the soundwave, cracks split open upon the tar road while the mutants were quaked to the point of being thrown to the ground. The few at the very front were further quaked to the point of having their bodies turned to minced meat.
“This fellow. His temper has gotten better.” Roddy looked down from the cockpit and mumbled softly.
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