Chapter 41: The Battle of the Security Team
Death, especially the death of two elite security team members, gave Zhong Jing a deeper understanding of the ‘high-risk’ level of the nuclear wasteland area.
It also made her profoundly realize how fortunate their previous mercenary team had been to leave with all members intact.
This was a zone where even the security team could not escape death.
The loss of two members was undeniably significant for a security team squad of only ten.
However, the mission to locate and report the witch’s position remained their primary objective, and the task did not stop because of the losses.
“The observation post’s army has entered from the west of the JD Ruined City Nuclear Wasteland Area and is currently at the stronghold, with teams dispatched to advance toward the central city area.”
This piece of information, just obtained through Han Nianling’s communication with the observation post, slightly alleviated the gloomy atmosphere brought by the team members’ deaths.
Death was commonplace in the wasteland.
Only the inheritance and remembrance of the survivors kept death from becoming cheap.
After regrouping and boosting morale, the security team resumed their pursuit of the witch.
Although they had fallen some distance behind, as long as the monitoring device in Han Nianling’s hand was still functioning, they could determine the witch’s direction of travel and trail her from afar.
However, this distance did not provide much actual safety.
Everyone had come to a shared realization: deadly dangers were not only near the witch.
Besides the witch, there was also the corrosive vulture fledgling, the Tier 3 giant walker, and all the high-risk monsters they had yet to observe.
The density of high-risk monsters in the entire 02A… no, the entire central city area, had probably reached an unprecedented peak.
The gathering of these monsters turned the central city area into a massive vortex.
They were like a small boat that could be torn apart at any moment by the waves stirred by these monsters.
Perhaps even a single ripple could be fatal, just like the predicament they were facing now…
Hidden in a narrow alley between buildings, barely half a meter wide, they pressed against the walls as if longing to blend into the darkness.
No one dared to make a sound.
Even their breathing became extremely faint.
What kept them in such a suppressed state were the monsters rushing past the alley’s entrances, one after another.
Among the monsters were headhunter wild dogs and swift walkers.
Under normal circumstances, with a little searching, it would not be difficult for them to discover this hiding human team.
But at this moment, the monsters had no intention of hunting or feeding.
The crystal cores in their brains had prioritized survival, stimulating their host’s neural systems.
These monsters only wanted to escape this troubled land, to get far away from the dangerous central city area.
The reason for all this was a fierce conflict several hundred meters ahead: two monsters, each several meters long, were fiercely grappling with each other.
They twisted and fought, their massive rolling bodies having already flattened the nearby area.
Dark red and black blood had almost formed a pool beneath them.
The roars of the monsters filled their ears.
Through their boots, they faintly felt the ground trembling.
Such intense conflicts between monsters were rare.
High-tier monsters rarely clashed with each other.
With their budding intelligence, they were not mindless beasts but had learned to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
High-level mutated beasts, in particular, used their pheromones to mark territories, reducing the likelihood of conflicts to a minimum.
But with this inexplicable migration of high-tier monsters, gathering in the central area, the territorial boundaries no longer existed.
The ripple caused by the conflict between these two monsters had brought a massive crisis to the team.
“Boom boom boom!!!”
A thunderous sound suddenly erupted in the distance, accompanied by violent vibrations that caused a series of debris to peel off the walls.
Tiny particles fell onto the team’s helmets or hoods, making faint rustling sounds.
It startled the team members.
“Scout team, report the situation in our surrounding area immediately. What happened?”
The fleeing monsters had dwindled to just one or two.
No longer needing to hold back, Luo Shi immediately contacted the first scout team through the communication earpiece.
“The low-tier monsters have mostly left. The battle between the two high-tier monsters seems to be nearing its end… but…”
But?
Nothing was more unsettling than a turn after good news.
The scout team’s next words confirmed that their unease was not misplaced.
“To the south… a large-scale zombie horde has appeared. Based on current observations, it’s estimated to number around a thousand, and it’s moving in our direction.”
A zombie horde?!
Zhong Jing’s heart tightened.
The severity of their current situation was no less dire than when they had fallen into the subway.
The monsters ahead blocked their path, and a massive zombie horde was surging from behind.
Caught in the middle, their fate was easy to imagine.
“Keep observing. Can we bypass the monsters ahead and take another route to pass through? Rendezvous with us depending on the situation.”
Luo Shi peered through the alley’s gap at the rooftop of a building not far away, where the scout team was currently positioned.
The annihilation of the second scout team had made Luo Shi wary of letting the scout team stray too far.
The first scout team was kept within a maximum distance of two hundred meters from them.
However, this greatly limited the scout team’s reconnaissance range.
When a crisis arose, they had little time to react, which led to the dangerous moment the team had just experienced.
Unable to confirm whether nearby buildings were suitable for holding off monsters, they could only retreat to the nearest hiding spot.
Fortunately, everything had passed without incident.
“This…” The voice on the earpiece hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I’m afraid it’s difficult. The northern route has collapsed, with large areas of standing water that would be hard to cross. The western direction is blocked by buildings, so we can’t see the situation clearly, but that’s the direction most of the monsters fled toward earlier.”
So, they were blocked?
Bad news kept coming.
Behind his gas mask, Luo Shi’s brows furrowed.
After a brief silence, he nodded faintly.
“Alright, I understand. Keep observing…”
Repeating his earlier instructions, Luo Shi turned his gaze to the team members beside him.
Without any hesitation, his resolute voice rang out firmly.
“Security Team Tenth Squad, prepare for combat!”
As expected.
Luo Shi’s decisiveness reminded Zhong Jing of her memories of him from the dream.
But more than that, it stirred a slight excitement in her heart.
This was the security team’s combat!
Even in her dreams, she had never seen a squad-scale combat operation.
“Researcher Han, please have you and your operative cooperate in the upcoming combat.”
Han Nianling didn’t say much in response to Luo Shi’s request, merely nodding to show her agreement.
Luo Shi was the expert in combat and the most familiar with the security team’s operations.
Han Nianling was well aware of her role in the team.
…
As the scout team had reported, the battle between the two monsters was nearing its end.
In the collapsed ruins, the crawling giant lizard, one of the combatants, was biting down hard on the throat of the headhunter wild dog, its opponent.
Dark red blood and hissing sounds continuously poured from the gash in its throat.
Both were Tier 2 monsters, but compared to the headhunter wild dog, which excelled in group combat, the crawling giant lizard’s individual combat ability was superior.
As the loser of this deadly struggle, the headhunter wild dog could only thrash and twitch futilely, slowly marching toward death.
The crawling giant lizard only needed to maintain its bite, using suffocation and blood loss to kill its opponent.
“Combat Team One is in position.”
“Combat Team Two is in position.”
“Explosive rounds have been loaded. The scout team is ready to provide fire support for the battlefield at any time.”
“…”
The communication earpiece continuously relayed reports from the security team’s various groups as they got into position.
A faint smell of gunpowder began to gather in the air.
But none of this concerned Zhong Jing.
She and Han Nianling were more like spectators in this combat, stationed on the rooftop of a tall building a hundred meters away, participating only with their line of sight.
Nominally, they were reserve forces.
The weapons of the two fallen security team members had even been handed to her for use.
But it was clear she was not considered a combatant and was not assigned any combat tasks.
Zhong Jing wasn’t particularly eager for a fight.
More importantly, her original hope of closely observing the security team’s combat had been dashed.
However, she also knew that, as a temporary operative, her more important duty was to protect Han Nianling’s personal safety.
Still, a trace of regret was inevitable.
“Here, if you want to watch, you can use this.”
Han Nianling seemed to have seen through Zhong Jing’s thoughts and handed her the sniper rifle slung on her back.
This was the weapon of the deceased security team sniper, its barrel and stock wrapped in camouflage cloth, carried by Han Nianling all this time.
This was the security team’s sniper rifle?
The thick barrel embodied the truth of caliber supremacy within its range.
Its overall length was almost as tall as Zhong Jing.
The weapon exuded a deadly aura, clearly a powerful tool used by the security team against monsters.
Though she had prepared herself mentally, when she took the rifle in her hands, its weight nearly made her stumble forward.
No wonder Han Nianling had rejected her earlier offers to share the load…
“JC-1001 sniper rifle, only loaded with specialized explosive or armor-piercing rounds, generally used against monsters with tough scales or armor. But with your physique, don’t even think about firing it. The recoil alone could dislocate your entire arm.”
Han Nianling explained while observing through her binoculars.
“Even a professionally trained security team member can’t fire a second shot without using a system activation potion.”
During Han Nianling’s explanation, Zhong Jing set up the sniper rifle’s bipod in front of her.
Through the scope, she took in the battlefield’s situation.
Observing from a distance was slightly regrettable, but it allowed her to see the security team’s combat actions more clearly.
At this moment, the two combat teams had approached the massive crawling giant lizard and completed their encirclement.
How they would deal with the crawling giant lizard was something to look forward to.
…
One exam was over, but June’s exams were far from just one.