Chapter 39: The Most Shocking
Stepping over the monster carcasses, we left the thick, bloody stench behind.
The squad’s pace didn't slow down much because of these.
For the rest of the journey, no other mutated monster corpses were found, and even those wandering monsters had disappeared.
The pile of carcasses just now seemed like a boundary, dividing this street into two distinctly different areas.
Without the threat of mutated monsters, the team members no longer needed to keep firing to clear the path, but the chill in our bones grew even stronger.
Everyone knew what this abnormal phenomenon meant.
Mutated monsters had not deviated from the essence of living beings; avoiding danger was an instinct in their lives.
Within this area, there was only one danger worth their avoidance.
Those tattered Black Rat carcasses were the explicit warning.
What was she doing here?
Why issue such a warning?
No one knew the answer to such questions at this stage, but what they all knew was: the Security Team squad, ignoring the warning, had crossed the boundary and stepped into this forbidden zone demarcated by the Witch.
Once discovered, they would directly face the most direct hostility of an enraged Witch.
Luo Shi looked at his arm uneasily.
"There, a small, fixed electronic display continuously showed the signal band strength and precise position of the two reconnaissance team members, who were still moving at a steady, unhurried pace."
At least so far, no sudden situations had occurred.
Based on the positioning of the reconnaissance team's signal and the markers along the way, they soon caught up with the reconnaissance team’s footsteps in a half-collapsed residential building.
At the entrance on the first floor, the rifleman with the chest number ‘10-B1’ was lying prone at the window, on guard.
When Luo Shi and his group entered the residential building, he immediately jumped down from the windowsill he was guarding, and with hurried steps, rushed to Luo Shi to report the situation: “Reporting to Captain, target has been locked on. Currently 350 meters ahead, proceeding eastward along the road. J1 is monitoring from the second-floor window.”
I noticed his breathing was slightly labored through his gas mask.
The short distance from the windowsill to the intersection was clearly not enough to make this elite Security Team member pant.
It seemed the weight of the task of monitoring the Witch was not light for him either.
“You’ve done very well. Maintain vigilance. Immediately transmit the location back to the observation post. Reconnaissance Team Two, take over and follow. Researcher Han……”
The search process of over ten minutes felt so long for the Security Team, but it finally came to an end.
In this operation concerning the Witch, any mistake or misjudgment could lead to extremely severe consequences, which placed considerable psychological pressure on them.
Fortunately, the Witch’s detailed location had now been confirmed, which made everyone’s heart thrill with excitement.
This information, crucial to the safety of the entire Chu Sheng City, was extremely important.
Luo Shi dared not be a bit careless and immediately reported it to the observation post.
After a word of encouragement and issuing orders, Luo Shi looked towards Han Nianling.
The two of them, one after the other, quickly walked upstairs.
After glancing at the busy Security Team members around, I also immediately followed.
Although the part of this residential building facing the street had collapsed and was in a semi-collapsed state, the staircase passage was still relatively intact.
Most of the surroundings were also just low-lying ruins, with some remnants of walls at most, so the field of vision was very broad.
The place chosen by the reconnaissance team as a monitoring point would naturally not be bad.
The intact staircase could safely reach the fourth floor at most.
The three of us each held up our binoculars and observed in the direction pointed out by the team members just now.
Through the hazy dust floating in the air, our gazes were immediately drawn to that moving figure.
Against the deathly silent background, that figure became the only dynamic element.
A windbreaker of mixed dark red and black, a petite figure carrying a giant scythe on her shoulder – this iconic attire and appearance could not be mistaken.
It was undoubtedly that Tyrant Witch.
At this moment, she was walking forward step by step.
During her advance, both her stride length and frequency remained at a normal level.
With each step, her slightly swaying body seemed to be moved by the giant scythe on her person, yet she always maintained her forward movement, as if something not far ahead was attracting her.
‘That thing… belongs to me’
I recalled the words she had spoken before leaving the subway station.
That thing?
Was this Witch ‘Tyrant’ searching for something in this JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area?
And why would she say that?
Was the mercenary squad hiding behind the cover truly worthy of her addressing them like that?
“This… is the Witch?”
Now that the Witch’s position had been confirmed, and the target’s movement speed didn’t seem to pose any risk of losing her, the trace of impatience in Luo Shi’s heart also disappeared.
His freed-up mind, in addition to apprehension, gave rise to a curiosity aimed at exploration.
The Witch… one of the most dangerous existences in the wasteland, not so commonly seen.
Compared to a photograph, a living presence could better stimulate the curiosity that accompanied the fear of the unknown at this moment: “She looks… smaller than in the photos……”
“Captain Luo Shi, in this world, the principle that danger is not proportional to size should be more profound to you than to me, right……” Han Nianling’s words were simple and light, seemingly just a simple response to Luo Shi’s previous sentence.
However, when these words fell into Luo Shi’s ears, he couldn't help but shift his gaze, which had been firmly fixed on the Witch, to me at the side – this young girl who had recently been made Han Nianling’s temporary personal operative.
At the beginning of their meeting, let alone ‘temporary personal operative’, he even doubted whether I possessed the abilities consistent with the identity of a ‘mercenary’.
Since Han Nianling made this decision, there must be a reason behind it.
And during this period of traveling together, my calmness when facing those Black Rat corpses had slightly diminished his doubts.
The brief companionship hadn't provided more opportunities to witness my capabilities in various aspects, but at least in terms of mental fortitude, I was indeed sufficient.
Could the meaning of this sentence be… hinting at him?
Luo Shi’s thought was correct; Han Nianling was indeed, from her perspective and with her influential status, accelerating the change in Luo Shi’s impression of me.
If it were ordinary times, Han Nianling would not have gone to such trouble.
Compared to verbal statements, my own performance would have been more directly convincing.
But the current situation did not fall into the category of ordinary.
Everything that followed was unknown.
It was doubtful whether I would have enough opportunity to display my abilities and gain Luo Shi’s trust before a real crisis arrived.
The impact of a lack of trust between team members was extremely significant, even determining the life or death of any one person at a critical moment.
Since there was no time, she had no choice but to step in.
The target… has stopped?
Without any warning, the Witch in our line of sight suddenly stopped moving, simply standing in place without any extra actions.
And this abnormal behavior made our hearts, which had not been calm for long, hang in suspense again.
Could it be that the reconnaissance team was discovered?
No, the Witch didn't launch an attack, but actions in response to the Witch’s reaction had to be adjusted accordingly.
Luo Shi frowned deeply.
Just as he was about to call the reconnaissance team to slightly increase the distance, Han Nianling had already beaten him to it and opened the communication headset channel: “Reconnaissance team, immediately find a building that can cover your heads and hide!”
“How…” Before Luo Shi could even think, the answer to the question arrived proactively, accompanied by a sharp, long cry and a gust of wind.
The entire, originally peaceful street was immediately enveloped by dust stirred up by the wind.
“Away from the windows!”
Han Nianling grabbed my arm and pulled me close to the wall.
Luo Shi’s reaction was also extremely swift; he reacted at the first moment.
In the next second, a strong wind pressure burst into the room through the windows, and our ears were filled only with the roar of the strong wind.
The severely damaged interior naturally had no sealing properties whatsoever.
The powerful draft swept up the furniture debris and rubble inside, blowing them out of the room and onto the street outside with heavy thuds.
Carried by the wind, the dust quickly spread and intensified.
Amidst the dust-filled air, countless dark green water droplets were mixed in.
As they fell and touched objects, they burst, and the splattering liquid spread further.
Amidst a faint ‘sizzling’ sound, white smoke rose from the places touched by the liquid.
And the instigator of all this was flying over their heads, in the same direction as their advance, towards the central urban area of the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area.
"The raging strong wind finally subsided, leaving the already ravaged street in an even more unbearable state."
“Corrosive Vulture?”
Looking out the window, his widened eyes stared fixedly at the giant mutated bird flying past them from behind.
Luo Shi could suppress his voice but not the shock in his heart.
Why… why would such a monster exist in the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area?
Coupled with the Witch appearing here, the danger faced by Chu Sheng City was several times higher than he had imagined.
Han Nianling, who had taken off her goggles, exchanged a glance with me.
Their mutual gazes confirmed that this Corrosive Vulture was the same one we had seen before.
“Captain Luo, calm down. That one is still a juvenile.”
Han Nianling coughed lightly as a reminder.
Luo Shi immediately reined in his shock, his mental state returning to that of a Security Team squad captain.
“The corrosive liquid was sprinkled from its feathers, not secreted from its glands and discharged from its tail organ. Compared to an adult, it still has some way to go.”
Juvenile?
A juvenile is already this large?
“I will immediately transmit this information to the observation post and request air support.” Wiping away the cold sweat that was about to drip from his brow into his eyes, Luo Shi only then realized that his palm was sore.
At some point, he had unknowingly applied so much force to the hand gripping the gunstock.
Was this fear?
It was truly a long-lost emotion.
“It’s not over yet! It’s not just the Corrosive Vulture!” I, who had returned to the window intending to catch a glimpse of the Corrosive Vulture, made another discovery.
This discovery was no less shocking than that of the Corrosive Vulture, forcing my voice to tremble involuntarily, “To the east, there’s another big one also moving towards the central urban area!”