Chapter 599: Chapter 422: Rout_2
The bones that were once shattered all over the ground were reassembled by a pair of invisible hands, as if they were building blocks.
At this moment, they were like sandwich cookies wrapped in the middle, watching the scene before them, and everyone’s heart suddenly brightened.
Suddenly, someone spoke, "If we could charge through just now, we can fight our way back, too. Let’s not worry about the powerful skeletons in front for now, let’s return to the camp first. Although the skeletons behind us are weaker, ants can kill an elephant, so let’s secure our retreat first."
Hearing this, everyone instantly agreed, because they had already fought with them, so they knew very well the weak combat strength of those skeletons behind them. Therefore, without trying to cover each other, everyone charged on their own towards the skeletons at the rear.
Unlike their previous intention to annihilate all the skeletons, their goal this time was simply to break through the Skeleton Army and return to the temporary camp they had set up.
Although they were using cold weapons at that time, they had brought quite a few firearms with them, and not only that, there were also people left behind at the camp. So as long as they made it back to the temporary camp, they would be in a favorable position to advance or retreat.
Whether it was because the skeletons had a period of weakness after resurrection or not, they found it noticeably easier to break through the Skeleton Army on their counter-charge than before.
However, even so, some of their members still sustained wounds, although they were external and didn’t affect their mobility. But those wounds, small as they seemed, were rotting at an alarming rate. During the battle, they couldn’t treat their injuries, causing the wounds to fester and grow.
By the time they returned to the temporary camp, what were once minor scrapes had festered to the size of a palm, and the skin around the wounds emitted a stench like rotting flesh.
Moreover, the good flesh around the rotting areas was also visibly accelerating in decay. Seeing this, many hardened their hearts, bit down, stomped their foot, and used a knife to cut off the rotting flesh from their bodies.
In the camp, although most had prepared medical kits, few carried painkillers. So to avoid hesitation in cutting, they asked other team members to do it for them.
After cutting off large chunks of the rotting flesh around the wounds, they immediately sprayed on a hemostatic agent, a new product developed after the catastrophe with excellent results. No sooner had they sprayed it on than within five seconds, wounds that were gushing blood began to scab over.
But with the large amount of blood loss during the removal of the rotting flesh, the injured members who cut away their flesh were now all pale and weak.
Besides those injured hunters treating their wounds, the uninjured team members, upon returning to the camp, immediately took out their firearms and began attacking the skeletons advancing towards them.
Due to the sheer number of skeletons, and even though most of the skeletons were riddled with holes, the hunters didn’t worry about missing their shots, firing indiscriminately. After all, even if the bullets went through the front skeletons, they would hit those behind them. Hence, everyone unrestrainedly fired off all the bullets in their magazines without any conservation.
Facing what seemed like an endless stream of bullets, the skeletons fell in droves like wheat being harvested in a field.
Yet unlike humans who would stay down for a while after falling, as long as their skulls weren’t shattered, these skeletons, even if blasted to pieces, would rise again before too long and continue to charge at the camp.
Furthermore, although some skeletons had their skulls shattered by bullets, their Soul Flames had barely floated out before being absorbed by other nearby skeletons.
Despite the charging skeletons constantly falling, the distance between the Skeleton Army and the camp was rapidly shortening. As skeletons with Green Soul Fire in their eye sockets joined the charge, the Skeleton Army’s distance from the temporary camp was quickly closing in.
Seeing this, everyone understood that it was likely impossible to hold out any longer. So while they arranged for some to continue using weapons to hinder the approaching Skeleton Army, they also organized team members to start the vehicles parked behind the camp.
As the distance between the Skeleton Army and the temporary camp shortened to less than a hundred meters, some vehicles parked at the rear of the Hunting Team began honking, alerting the other teams nearby that they were about to start retreating.
With more and more vehicles honking, those Hunting Team members who had been stationed at the front of the camp to intercept the advancing Skeleton Army stopped firing their weapons decisively, and sprinted back to the vehicles at the rear of the camp, which had already been warmed up and ready to go. When the drivers saw the team members were on board, they immediately drove away from there.
Watching the vehicles quickly escape from the temporary camp, Dong Tianyu’s Divine Sense unexpectedly discovered several "unlucky fellows" who had been abandoned by his own team; for some reason, these unfortunate souls had not boarded the vehicles that had already left.
Watching those distant vehicles, they didn’t say a word—instead, they discarded the weapons in their hands, and while running away, they removed the heavy items they were carrying, and then swiftly fled from that place.
Although the skeletons appeared lightweight, their running speed was only a bit faster than that of the average person, and even compared to Martial Artists in the Body Tempering Realm, there was still a significant difference in speed.
Watching the unlucky ones escape into the distance, Dong Tianyu didn’t pay much attention, and instead turned his focus to the skeletons below.
After the Skeleton Army charged into the camp, they didn’t stay, but continued to chase after the fleeing Hunting Team.
Though the Skeleton Army was not fast on the march, Undead Creatures basically had the stamina to move without stopping, so they continued to chase at a steady pace.
However, before they caught up with the fleeing survivors, their Undead Vision spotted other creatures hidden in the deep forest. Consequently, they gave up their original pursuit and instead launched an attack on the creatures lurking in the forest.
Unlike the previously lifeless forest, the deep woods now not only harbored a variety of ancient creatures but also housed many of the Bug Race hiding in burrows, so the number of living beings in the forest was not scarce.
The vision of most Undead Creatures differs from that of normal living beings; in the vision of the Undead, there are basically only three colors: grey, white, and black.
Black represents something thick and impenetrable, such as rocks or buildings.
Grey indicates things that can be easily destroyed, like thin wooden boards or shrubs and other obstructions.
White signifies living beings.
Thus, in the vision of the Undead, living creatures, even when completely hidden behind cover, could not block the sight of the Undead.
Lower-level Undead lacked much wisdom, but they would instinctively attack the living beings closest to them. So, upon discovering other creatures nearer to them, they would abandon the Hunting Team members who had escaped far away and directly shift their target of attack.
The small ancient creatures that had been hiding in the deep forest had already been alerted by the arrival of the Hunting Team. However, upon realizing that they were not the target of the Hunting Team, they did not flee immediately but stayed in place.
But as the skeletons approached them, these ancient creatures immediately leaped out and launched an attack on the skeletons.
Just as Undead Creatures naturally harbored enmity and would instinctively attack living beings, living beings, when faced with the Undead, also unconsciously felt disgust. Although they did not have the Undead Vision to detect the presence of Undead from a distance as the Undead did, when directly confronted with the Undead, if their own strength exceeded that of the Undead, they would have an instinctive urge to destroy and reduce the Undead Creatures to dust and ashes.
