Chapter 56
, 1130 Close-In Weapon System, Activate!
Dark forest...
This forest is like a splash of ink from God, appearing abruptly on this wasteland.
The surrounding area was a gray-white Gobi desert and withered yellow grass, but this forest was unique in that all the trees had an unsettling charred black color.
"Buzz—"
Lin Hui's RV slowly drove into the dark shadows.
The light around us was eerily distorted; it was daytime, but as soon as we entered the forest, it felt like we had fallen into the dead of night.
Under the headlights, everyone's vision was restored.
The tree trunks here are twisted like ghost claws, and the leaves are as black as iron, densely intertwined, completely blocking out the sky above.
Looking at the pitch-black forest in front of her, Su Qingqian unconsciously swallowed.
Liu Xi sat in the operations room on the third floor, observing the surroundings through the scope. Her voice was grave. "The radar shows that the magnetic field in this area is very chaotic, but the reconnaissance radar is still barely working."
Lin Hui gripped the steering wheel, his expression remaining calm.
"Be careful, this place is a bit eerie."
Moreover, it was unusually quiet.
Once inside the forest, the sound of the wind vanished instantly, replaced by a deathly silence. Only the low rumble of the RV engine echoed through the trees, sounding particularly jarring.
Sudden.
"Boss, stop the car!" Bai Ling's voice came from the laboratory at the back of the vehicle. "Look at the side of the road!"
Lin Hui stepped on the brakes.
Following Bai Ling's direction, several skeletons were scattered among the dark bushes.
Those weren't the bones of a different species, but those of a human.
Bai Ling had already put on her protective suit at some point, jumped out of the car to check it out, and then ran back with a skull in her hand, her face full of excitement and confusion.
"Boss, something's not right."
She pointed to the weathering marks on the skull, "Based on preliminary carbon dating, this body has been dead for at least fifty years!"
"Fifty years?"
Lin Hui and the two women exchanged glances, all seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
The "Highway Survival Game" has only been going on for less than ten days.
How could there be a modern human corpse that has been dead for fifty years in this wasteland?
"Could it be..." Liu Xi took a deep breath and posed a chilling guess, "...that this game... has already been played many times before us?"
"Or perhaps, this place was once a civilization highly similar to Earth, and then... it was destroyed?"
This speculation weighed heavily on everyone's minds.
If that's really the case, then what terrifying truth is hidden behind this so-called "highway survival game"?
"No matter what happened in the past."
Lin Hui broke the silence, restarted the car, his eyes resolute.
"As long as we live, we will know the answer someday."
Just then.
"Beep beep beep beep—!!!"
The reconnaissance radar on the center console suddenly emitted a rapid alarm.
On the screen, the few scattered red dots suddenly multiplied as if a commotion had broken out, with dozens appearing in an instant!
Moreover, they are extremely fast!
"Boss! Three o'clock! An aerial target is approaching! Speed... 300 kilometers per hour!!" Su Qingqian exclaimed in surprise.
"They're here."
Lin Hui suddenly looked up at the window.
"call--!"
A huge black shadow swept across the roof of the RV, bringing with it a foul stench.
It was a monster the size of a small airplane.
It had a pair of rotting fleshy wings with a wingspan of over 3 meters. Its body resembled a skinned human torso, and its limbs had transformed into sharp claws.
The most terrifying thing is its head.
That was a huge human face!
But what's most terrifying is its face.
That wasn't a bird's beak, but a pale, bloodless human face!
The face looked like that of a middle-aged woman, with a wooden and eerie expression, rolled-up eyes, and even a strange smile on her lips.
"This is... the human-faced owl?" Liu Xi gripped the sniper rifle tightly, feeling a chill run down her spine.
"Squeak—!!!"
A sickening metallic scraping sound rang out.
The owl swooped down, its claws, sharp enough to slice through a tank, gripping the side armor of the RV.
Sparks flew everywhere!
however.
The expected sound of steel being torn apart did not occur.
The human-faced owl felt a jolt in its claws, as if it had grasped an unshakeable piece of divine iron.
On its middle-aged woman's face, however, lay a remarkably human expression of confusion.
???
All that could be seen on the dark blue car body were a few faint white marks!
Moreover, in those few seconds of its daze, those white marks seemed to come alive, quickly healing and disappearing, becoming bright and new again!
[Entry effective: Automatic repair]
"Huh?"
The middle-aged woman's previously wooden expression instantly became extremely vivid.
It stared wide-eyed, displaying a puzzled expression that seemed to say, "This is not scientific," and even tilted its head, looking both comical and terrifying.
"puff--"
Inside the car, Su Qingqian couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Boss, it seems like it's questioning its own existence."
"So you're already questioning the bird's existence?" Lin Hui's lips curled into a slight smile. "The real show is yet to come."
It seemed to be angered by the sturdiness of the RV.
The owl suddenly let out an angry scream.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
Its facial features twisted like dough, instantly transforming from the face of a middle-aged woman into the face of a young man!
The new face was contorted with rage, its features contorted and its eyes bloodshot.
"Ha, you change your tune pretty quickly."
Sitting in the car, Lin Hui looked at the strange face and felt not fear, but rather a sense of amusement.
Bai Ling shouted excitedly from the back of the truck, "This kind of mutant is so interesting! I want to study it! Boss, can you capture one alive?!"
After changing his appearance, the human-faced owl's speed instantly doubled!
It transformed into a black afterimage and launched another frenzied attack on the RV.
At the same time, several other owls nearby could no longer contain themselves and swooped down.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
The sound of claws striking the armor was as dense as a torrential downpour.
however.
Faced with absolute defense, all fancy tricks are futile.
No matter how they clawed, pecked, or even rammed into it, the dark blue steel behemoth remained as steady as a mountain, without even a sway.
"Defense test complete."
Lin Hui calmly took a sip of cola. "Perfect-grade blue titanium alloy, it certainly didn't disappoint me."
"Since you can't break through, it's my turn."
He glanced at the human-faced owls who were still attacking frantically, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
"Sister Liu, fire control radar locked."
"Target locked!" came Liu Xi's voice.
Lin Hui shouted, "Type 1130 close-in weapon system, activate!"
......