Chapter 40: Disappearance of the Reconnaissance Team
Big guy?
Even after just witnessing a colossal Corrosive Vulture, for me to still refer to an entity as a ‘big guy’, it definitely wasn't small.
The hurricane in the air had subsided, but the hurricane in people’s hearts still raged.
The crowd, having just experienced a series of shocks, craned their slightly stiff necks and looked through their binoculars in the direction I pointed.
At the end of their line of sight, a humanoid shadow was slowly emerging from the hazy dust with its advancing steps.
The change in size due to distance, coupled with its seemingly slow movements, made its appearance far less imposing than when the Corrosive Vulture appeared.
However, a horizontal comparison with the surrounding buildings on the same level revealed that this humanoid figure was almost as tall as a two-story building.
“That… could it be…”
Luo Shi muttered to himself.
Even though he had become somewhat numb after the Corrosive Vulture’s appearance, his heart still stirred considerably at the sight of that figure.
In all his years as a Security Team squad captain, this was the first time he had lost his composure to such an extent.
In the world of the wasteland, humanoid monsters could mostly be classified as ‘walkers’.
As the figure’s silhouette became clearer, its identity was confirmed.
Its bluish-gray skin was distinctly different from both ordinary walkers and Swift Walkers.
Its basically humanoid form was also severely deformed.
Unlike the slender build of Swift Walkers, the Giant Walker’s bloated and robust physique was extremely exaggerated.
Its body had more accumulated fat than muscle, piled up in rolls around its abdomen.
Compared to its massive body, its head appeared abnormally small.
Its movement was more like a moving mountain of flesh; its heavy body caused the ground to crack further with every step it took.
Giant Walker……
Upon seeing it for the first time, information about it accurately surfaced in my mind.
Like Swift Walkers, Giant Walkers were also a branch in the mutational process of walkers.
Similar to Swift Walkers, they were a relatively common type of walker.
And the reason I remembered it so vividly was not just this, but a more profoundly engraved past experience that made my impression so deep.
Although the category of Giant Walker was relatively common, the individual Giant Walker before us was not within the so-called ‘common’ scope.
And the reason why everyone was once again shocked was precisely the same: the evolutionary stage of this Giant Walker.
“Tier two and a half… No, that’s not right, it’s a true Tier 3.”
The initial judgment of the Giant Walker’s stage was very simple and direct, based on judging the subject’s height and build.
Luo Shi had dealt with monsters for over a decade, and the size of that Giant Walker was definitely the largest individual of its kind he had ever seen.
Its height of nearly six meters alone showed a significant difference from its Tier 2 counterparts.
Reaching this conclusion, even he himself found it hard to believe.
Tier 3… In the sixteen years since Chu Sheng City was built, the number of recorded Tier 3 monsters was only in the double digits.
No one doubted Luo Shi’s conclusion, and this also made me and Han Nianling involuntarily think of the Tier 2 Headhunter Wild Dog we had seen in the subway station.
Mutated beasts and walkers were two completely different populations.
It was impossible to accurately compare mutated beasts and walkers of the same tier horizontally.
However, it was obvious that the comprehensive strength of this Tier 3 Giant Walker was far superior to that Tier 2 Headhunter Wild Dog, drastically increasing the danger level of the central urban area of the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area.
“It’s heading towards the city center.”
Following the same route as the Witch and the Corrosive Vulture, this Tier 3 Giant Walker that had entered our line of sight was also heading towards the center of the JD Ruined City.
This discovery further convinced them that there was indeed something in the center of the JD Ruined City that attracted the Witch and a host of high-tier monsters.
“Second Reconnaissance Team, can you hear me? Second Reconnaissance Team, please respond!”
When the Giant Walker’s massive form disappeared behind the buildings, we all then realized that the figure of the Witch ‘Tyrant’, who had been overlooked, had also long since vanished from her original spot.
Luo Shi immediately began trying to establish contact with the second team, but behind the continuous static, there was never any response from the other side.
Just now, while their attention was briefly diverted, the reconnaissance team had lost contact……
Luo Shi’s heart plunged to freezing point.
He raised his hand and looked at the signal sources of the two reconnaissance team members on the display screen.
The rhythmic signal waves came in bursts, like a beating heart rate.
However, from this, Luo Shi couldn't feel any vitality of life.
He was already considering the worst possible scenario.
“First Reconnaissance Team, immediately approach the signal source of the Second Reconnaissance Team. Others, follow behind, ready to provide support at any time.”
The squad, having left the building, immediately headed in the direction where the Second Reconnaissance Team had disappeared.
However, after the shock of the series of high-risk monster appearances just now, no one dared to lower their guard in the slightest.
When they approached the building where the Second Reconnaissance Team had last taken cover to avoid the Corrosive Vulture, the faint smell of blood made everyone’s expression turn ugly.
Their footsteps paused slightly at the window.
When Luo Shi cautiously peered inside, the scene that met his eyes immediately sent him into a fit of extreme rage.
In a dark corner, more than a dozen walkers were gathered in several groups, heads down, gnawing on the tattered corpses in their midst.
The mangled, bloody remains were no longer recognizable as human, but the surrounding scraps of clothing proved that they had once been part of a Security Team member.
“Damn it… Fire!”
As soon as Luo Shi shouted this command, the squad members had already aimed their guns at the walkers devouring their comrades’ corpses.
In the blink of an eye, bullets spewed from the muzzles and hit these walkers, who were oblivious to the danger and still enjoying the flesh and active cells.
More than a dozen walkers were killed on the spot, without even having time to let out a roar.
After a few seconds of silence, Luo Shi was the first to step into this bloody scene, walking straight towards the center of the gore.
The dust on the blood-soaked ground had already coagulated into clumps.
As he stepped down, a deep, bloody footprint was left behind.
The congealed dust did not stir in the slightest; it had solidified along with the blood.
These military boots had clearly trodden through countless pools of blood, but when they stepped on the blood of his team members, it felt like walking into a muddy swamp, each step taken with such effort.
While taking off his tactical gloves, he slowly knelt beside the shattered corpse, disregarding the blood and filth, and rummaged through it with his bare hands, searching for something.
It wasn't until he found an oval-shaped metal piece from the corpse that he moved towards another piece of remains.
It was the Security Team’s identification tag for personal information.
This scene made me involuntarily reach for my pocket, where I kept the mercenary ID I had obtained before entering the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area.
This cold piece of metal separated the realms of life and death, but no matter how cold it was, it was still warmer than this world.
It seemed… the Luo Shi before me wasn't as detestable as I had previously imagined……
“Take care of it……”
After finding both team members’ identification tags and putting them into the pocket of his tactical vest, Luo Shi slowly walked out of the small building, silently breaking the silence that had persisted from beginning to end.
The team members who had been observing then entered the building, collecting and cleaning up the weapons and equipment scattered around.
“Ordinary walkers could never have done this.”
Coming before Han Nianling, Luo Shi lowered his voice and said, his calm tone seeming to suppress something.
He already had a judgment about the culprit who killed his two team members.
It wasn't just him; I and Han Nianling both agreed with his statement.
A mere dozen ordinary walkers could not possibly be a match for two fully armed and well-trained Security Team soldiers, let alone prevent them from even sending out an alarm.
The breaks in the corpses were not just bite marks from walkers; those smooth cuts could only have been made by a sharp weapon.
And the only one capable of doing this was the Witch ‘Tyrant’.
“Report our specific location to the observation post. Continue tracking the Witch.”
“Understood.”
In the next second, an abrupt wave of intense heat suddenly came from behind them.
The abnormality in temperature made me glance back.
The team members responsible for cleaning up were exiting the building one after another, and that bloody scene was engulfed by rising flames.
Amidst sporadic explosions, all traces were burned to ashes.
The black visors under the team members’ helmets reflected the leaping flames.
Even the end for a Security Team member was merely this.
At this moment, they were no different from mercenaries, scavengers, or commoners.
This was also the best outcome in such a high-risk area: along with everything else, turned to powder, avoiding the fate of their remains being devoured by monsters.
And the living had to take over the baton from the dead and keep moving forward in this wasteland.