Chapter 4577
Zerg!
The next morning, the Howling Wind Adventure Group was already fully armed. After receiving the tactical bracelets from Captain Rand and confirming that the equipment was correct, they boarded a jet-black armored vehicle.
This armored vehicle is made entirely of extremely high-density composite metal, which can resist erosion by most ember dust, and its surface is also painted with the Adventurer's Guild's iconic emblem - Howling Wind.
When the morning light pierced through the clouds, the armored vehicles of the Howling Wind Adventure Group had already entered the steel corridor of the outermost ring of the Scourge City.
"I never thought that after leaving the City of Disaster again, I would actually join a D-rank adventure group."
Ron sat in the driver's seat, a thick cigar in his mouth, sighing.
Captain Rant, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, also turned around and introduced the next itinerary to the team members.
First, you must pass through the high walls of the City of Disaster, and identity verification is an essential step.
“The process of leaving the city may take some time.”
Lant sighed and said calmly, "Because of the theft in the Judgment College library half a month ago, most adventure groups were unable to leave the city to carry out their missions. Now that it has finally reopened, I think there will be many adventure groups rushing out of the city at the same time, so I want to leave the city early in the morning."
"But I never expected that everyone is so smart and would come so early in the morning!"
Huang Shaotian looked out the window. Wow, there was a lot of traffic, all of which were armored convoys!
Lant smiled awkwardly, "It's good enough if we can leave the city before noon."
"At this snail's pace, it will be good if we can get out of the city before dusk. Some will have to wait!"
Huang Shaotian curled his lips and walked straight to Ron, "Brother Ron, give me one too."
Ron pressed a button casually on the operating panel, and then a storage cabinet on the right hand side popped out automatically, filled with cigars.
Ron blew out a smoke ring and laughed, "I can't say anything else, but I'll have plenty of cigars!"
Huang Shaotian picked up a cigar and took a deep sniff. He then walked to the end of the armored vehicle, sat back down next to Ling Feng, and said to him with a smile, "Tiger, light a fire."
Ling Feng rolled his eyes, but still cooperated by snapping his fingers, and flames ignited at his fingertips, lighting the cigar.
Huang Shaotian took a deep breath and then puffed out the window.
Bai Qiangwei, who was sitting next to Ling Feng, frowned and said, "It's so choking, it smells so bad."
Huang Shaotian chuckled and deliberately blew a puff of smoke towards Bai Qiangwei's face.
"you!"
Bai Qiangwei quickly held her breath and slapped herself hard in front of her face a few times, then she snorted angrily, "Don't you know that smoking is harmful to your health?"
"I'm in good health, so this doesn't matter to me." Huang Shaotian said indifferently.
"Then I have to tell you, this thing can damage your kidneys! Be careful of kidney deficiency!"
"Ahem!" Huang Shaotian's face froze, but he still said stubbornly: "I have kidney deficiency? I'm really strong!"
Ron, who was at the front of the car, coughed a few times and silently put out his cigarette.
"I can cure it!" Ling Feng on the side couldn't help but laugh.
Huang Shaotian immediately blurted out: "If you don't mind, I'd like to be your foster father!"
"Pfft!"
"Ha ha……"
For a moment, the atmosphere in the car became cheerful.
The armored vehicle moved slowly forward as people chatted and played.
Finally, around noon, we reached the edge of the high wall.
From afar, the kilometer-high curved barrier looks like the spine of a giant beast. Its surface is covered with a honeycomb-shaped energy shield, and each hexagonal crystal lattice is emitting faint blue ripples in the morning light.
This is the last survival barrier built by the humans of the Miracle Civilization using the most advanced technology in the desperate situation after the end of the world.
There is a tower fortress every several thousand meters, each equipped with heavy particle cannons and anti-psychic cruise missiles. The connections between these fortresses are covered with holographic sensing matrices, which can capture even the smallest particle fluctuations.
High in the sky, the Beiming Military Academy’s fleet of floating warships hovered on top of the barrier like steel vultures, and the “Beiming Heavy Industry” logo sprayed on the side of the ship shone brightly in the sun.
Ling Feng's gaze passed through the reinforced glass of the cab and fell on the high wall that stretched across the sky in the distance.
"This is the legendary wall of disaster..."
White Rose couldn't help but sigh, "It's even more spectacular than I imagined."
"Yes, this is also another miracle created by the natural disaster after the destruction of the miracle."
Ron held the steering wheel with both hands and said softly, "Since the high wall was built, humans have finally had a place to live on the earth. At least, they can bask in the sun again."
As they were talking, the armored vehicle slowly approached the high wall.
When the convoy was still two kilometers away from the high wall, it was blocked by a transparent energy barrier. Then, an unmanned aerial reconnaissance aircraft appeared in the sky, emitting a scanning beam.
"Everyone, turn on the authentication module!"
The experienced Ron reminded that this was not his first time to carry out an exploration mission.
The others in front of him are just rookies.
As he finished speaking, everyone activated the identity authentication module on their communicators, and the armored vehicle also sent out a response signal at the same time.
After the sensors on the high wall captured this information, several complex optical patterns were projected into the void. These patterns rotated rapidly, like a huge three-dimensional puzzle.
"Wow, this is a scene that can only be seen in science fiction novels!"
Huang Shaotian couldn't help but exclaimed.
"Stop marveling at this! Cooperate with the identity verification immediately."
Ron urged urgently. At this moment, a powerful and cold voice came from the high wall: "Newly registered adventure group? Slow down and pull over. Everyone get off the car for routine inspection!"
Before he finished speaking, a metallic hatch slowly opened and a dozen robotic guards walked down.
Their bodies were covered in black alloy armor, and their eyes glowed with a faint blue light.
Each of the intelligent robot guards carries a heavy particle submachine gun on its back, with purple lines faintly visible at the muzzle. It is a reinforced psychic energy amplification device.
Ron opened the car door and frowned slightly. "Damn it, no wonder the line in front of us is so slow. This process is much more complicated than before."
Having said that, he jumped off the seat first.
The other members also got out of the car to cooperate with the inspection.
The robot guard walked up to Ron, and a spherical probe floated up from his left shoulder. A blue light was emitted and swept across Ron's face. Then a clear prompt sounded: "Beep - the identity code is confirmed, and you are allowed to pass."
Then came Rand, Li Wei, and Selina...
The team members passed the verification one by one, and when it was Ling Feng and the other two's turn, their breathing became a little faster.
After all, their identities were completely fabricated.
But fortunately, after the probe scanned Ling Feng and the other person, it did not find any problems.
It seems that the traces of identity forgery that Night Owl had helped them deal with before came in handy at this time.
"Let them go!" After nearly ten minutes of strict inspection, their identities were verified and the guards did not make things difficult for them.
All members of the adventure team got back into the car, started the engine, and slowly drove towards the high wall.
"What a hassle! I didn't expect that I would have to verify everyone's identity one by one when I just left the city and had already reported it!"
White Rose couldn't help but complain in a low voice.
"We can't help it. The entire Calamity City is in a sensitive period right now. The academy incident has just passed, and the Beiming Military Academy must have strengthened the control of the exits from the city."
Lanter explained.
Ling Feng, Huang Shaotian and Ye Xiao looked at each other and understood each other tacitly.
All of this, in fact, is thanks to them.
With the roar of the gate hydraulic rods, the armored vehicle rolled over the last 300 meters of buffer zone filled with basalt fragments.
When the armored vehicle entered the buffer channel, Ling Feng saw a shocking scene through the car window: inside the twenty-meter-thick alloy wall, countless dormant war machines were arranged like a honeycomb.
Automatic turrets, psychic mechas...
There are even more than a dozen Titan-class Annihilators that are 100 meters tall!
When he was about to pass through the high wall, Ling Feng suddenly felt that the origin of his soul seemed to have hit an invisible barrier.
Then, in a trance, the armored vehicle finally completely penetrated the high wall.
……
“Huh…it’s finally out!”
Huang Shaotian let out a long breath, turned around and looked at the high wall, his expression suddenly changed drastically, "What...what is that?"
I saw dozens of giant creatures with strange shapes soaked in the wall, with thick cables piercing their heads and soaking them in a light green solution. Whenever the current flashed, these creatures would twitch violently.
"That's the Zerg."
Night Owl's voice was unusually solemn. "The brains of these Zerg remain highly active. Through special amplification technology, the entire Scourge City is covered within the range of their brain waves, thus shielding the Zerg's mental detection."
"Zerg?"
Ling Feng's eyelids twitched slightly. He had heard of the concept of Zerg when he was in the bottom city before.
According to Natalie, the human races in this world are divided into: humans, sub-humans, skeletons, intelligent machines, and Zerg.
Ling Feng had seen all the previous ones, but this was the first time he had actually seen the Zerg since he had heard of the term.
"The Zerg were once part of Scourge, but they are no longer so since they adapted to the erosion of the Embers. The Zerg now..."
Ron thought for a moment, then continued: "You can understand that they are equivalent to the Annihilation Beasts in the Miracle World, except that they have human intelligence. Compared to the Annihilation Beasts, the Zerg are a more terrifying enemy."
Ling Feng's eyes narrowed slightly. When he was reading the information stored in the brains of those living libraries, he had also seen chapters about the Zerg.
Although I only took a quick look, I still have some initial impressions.
The high-ranking Zerg leader seemed to have once been a member of the Priesthood of the Arbitration Council.
This also means that the Zerg have clergy.
About three thousand years ago, the Zerg betrayed the Judgment Council, and all the Zerg tribes left the City of Scourge directly.
Most of the Zerg died due to the pollution of the ember dust, but some of them mutated, adapted to the dust, and gained even more terrifying power.
This period of time is also a taboo in the City of Disasters, and few people know the truth.
Ling Feng narrowed his eyes. His only goal was to find the Glory of God. He didn't care about the specific relationship between the Zerg and the Judgment Council.
But from another perspective, the Judgment Council is his enemy, the enemy of his enemy...
Perhaps, he could use the Zerg in turn.
……
About half an hour later, the armored vehicle suddenly shook violently, which meant that they had entered the real wilderness, the world of miracles.
In the rearview mirror, the metal dome of the City of Disaster was gradually swallowed up by the bloody morning mist.
When the last trace of artificial light disappeared, breathing sounds were heard in the cabin.
The dark red wasteland looks like a skinned beast, with sulfur-smelling steam emitting from cracks in the ground from time to time.
The armored vehicle's tires rolled over the rusted metal wreckage, making a teeth-grinding groan.
The sky was a strange dark red, as if polluted by some invisible force.
There are tiny black particles floating in the air, which are the "ember dust" that people in the city are afraid of.
"Everyone, put on your protective clothing. If you get too much of this stuff on you, even a Truth-level warrior will go crazy." Ron said in a low voice, sitting in the co-pilot seat.
Everyone quickly put on protective clothing, and Brian directly activated the Silver Armor.
They are all teammates and must act together in the future, so Brian naturally cannot hide too much from them.
However, Brian did not specify that this was the Silver Armor. After all, from the appearance, there was not much difference between the Silver Armor and the ordinary Spirit Armor.
"Is it that exaggerated?"
After Li Wei put on the helmet, she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and asked.
Ron sneered and called up a holographic image. In the image, a Judgment-level adventurer was corroded by dust, his skin gradually carbonized, and eventually turned into a twisted monster.
"The ember dust is not an ordinary pollutant. It is the 'residue' of the 'old world' and carries a certain 'will'."
Ron said in a deep voice, "It will corrode the consciousness of living things, causing plants, animals, and even machines... to mutate."
"Machines can also mutate?" Bai Qiangwei swallowed.
"Correct."
Ron nodded. "It is because the Zerg have acquired this mutated power that they have become the natural enemy of adventurers. If any adventure group is unfortunate enough to encounter a large number of Zerg, the only outcome will probably be death."
"Is it so scary?" Li Wei's pretty face turned pale with fright.
"of course."
Ron said in a deep voice, "Ten years ago, the SS-level adventure group 'Silver Blood' encountered the Zerg Queen in the Abyss Zone, and the entire group was eventually destroyed."
There was a sudden silence in the car.
Even Huang Shaotian rarely made jokes.
Seeing that everyone was already shocked and understood the danger of the exploration mission, Ron said, "But everyone, relax. The place we are going to for our mission is only the overclocking zone. Even if we encounter Zerg, they will only be a few alone. It won't be a big problem."
However, everyone still looked solemn and dared not let their guard down anymore.
Ling Feng squinted his eyes and looked out the window, only to see a few twisted black plants vaguely on the distant horizon. Their branches were wriggling like tentacles, as if they were "watching" them.
"This place... looks much more dangerous than I imagined." (End of this chapter)