In the BH02 area 284 years ago, the scars left by the old era had been weathered by time into a twisted skeleton.
The crumbling concrete buildings pierced the gray sky like the ribs of a giant beast, and the wind moaned as it whistled through the hollow window frames.
The roar of engines sounded particularly piercing here, shattering the perpetual silence of the ruins.
The fully armed soldiers leaned halfway out of the machine gun ports in the rear beds, their hands resting on the vehicle-mounted machine guns as they kept a vigilant watch.
“Vehicle Two, pick up the pace.”
Lin Mo frowned.
A mixture of rust, mold, and a faint, lingering stench of rot poured into the car with the wind.
His fingers, resting on the edge of the car window, tightened unconsciously until his knuckles turned white.
‘I feel like something is slightly off here.’
It wasn’t just a feeling.
‘These ruins are… too clean. So clean that the concentration of pollution is much lower than in other places.’
In the wilderness, any unusual detail could harbor a fatal danger.
This was the precious experience gathered over hundreds of years of wilderness exploration since the formation of the Pioneer forces.
“Vehicle Two copies,” the platoon leader’s voice came through the radio.
“Captain Zhu, we’ll reach the buffer zone after passing through here. What are the arrangements for the next phase?”
“I’ll announce the assignments later. For now, stay on high alert. Something isn’t right…”
Lin Mo replied in a low voice.
After finishing the call, Lin Mo set down the radio and stared into the depths of the ruins at a cluster of swaying weeds.
The rustling sound was particularly grating at that moment.
The weather in the wilderness was complex and ever-changing.
At this moment, an easterly wind was blowing, so the machine gunners responsible for surveillance on both vehicles didn’t pay much attention to that small detail.
Lin Mo’s brow remained furrowed as the sense of unease in his heart grew stronger.
Shhh, shhh, shhh…
The vehicles rolled through a weed-choked intersection.
Suddenly, the sound of tumbling bricks and stones erupted from the ruins of a half-collapsed shop on the right.
In the next instant, a dark shadow appeared like a ghost.
It tore through the air at a speed exceeding the capability of a normal person’s vision to capture, lunging straight for the machine gunner on Vehicle One.
It was a Swift-Type Special Mutant!
Twisted, exposed muscles and tendons writhed around a head that could barely be called a shape.
A long, deep-red tongue darted out like a venomous snake, covered in barbs.
Foul-smelling saliva sprayed in a disgusting arc as it leaped.
Squelch —
An unspeakable coldness and intense pain instantly seized the soldier’s entire chest.
His body froze.
The sky and the ruins in his vision instantly twisted and dimmed as strength drained from his limbs like a receding tide.
“Heh… hugh, cough…”
The soldier let go of the machine gun grips, which were still hot to the touch.
Before his consciousness sank completely into darkness, a fierce courage born of life’s instinct drove him to use his last ounce of strength.
He raised a trembling hand and tightly gripped the section of the tongue that had pierced his heart, now covered in thick, viscous blood.
“The gunner on Vehicle One is under attack! Report! Vehicle One… damn it!”
The gunner on Vehicle Two felt his eyes nearly burst with rage.
His roar almost drowned out the engine’s growl.
His index finger was already on the trigger, and the heavy machine gun’s muzzle was aimed at the monster crouching over his comrade.
However, he hesitated, unable to pull the trigger.
A searing 12.7 mm stream of bullets could easily tear a mutant to pieces, but it would also rip his comrade — whose life or death was uncertain — in two.
He watched as his comrade’s body went limp.
He gritted his teeth so hard his gums nearly bled, a massive sense of powerlessness and fury almost bursting his chest.
“Establish a defensive formation on the spot!”
Lin Mo had the fastest reaction.
He was the first to open the door and jump out, his Oracle Power erupting instantly as he charged toward the mutant on the roof of the vehicle.
His expression was slightly grim.
This body’s physical capabilities were more than a level lower than his original self.
If he had his own body, Lin Mo was confident he could have stopped the mutant the moment it made its lunging move!
But now, he could only watch as his comrade’s life slipped away.
“Roar — !”
Just as Lin Mo and the other soldiers were getting out of the vehicles, many mutants emitting twisted, polluted auras crawled out of the surrounding ruins.
They lunged from behind broken walls and piles of rubble with roars, forming a realization of an encirclement in an instant.
Luo Yong aimed his rifle at the nearest mutant and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
The bullet struck its twisted head with precision, splashing a spray of dark purple, tainted blood.
“Fire at targets near you! Everyone, watch your aim!” he shouted to all the soldiers with all his might while maintaining continuous fire.
“These aren’t ordinary mutants!”
As soon as he spoke, the platoon leader next to Vehicle Two felt his pupils shrink as he finally realized the truth.
As far as the eye could see, these monsters rushing out from ambush points were either incredibly fast, had claws and teeth flashing with an ominous metallic luster, or had bodies covered in hard, keratinous carapaces… They were all troublesome Special Mutant Types!
Boom — !
During the chaos, Lin Mo had already grabbed the calf of the mutant that had just killed the gunner on the roof.
He exerted a sudden burst of power and slammed it violently from the vehicle’s roof onto the ground.
The massive impact caused the ground to vibrate slightly.
He clenched his fist, his skin shimmering with the frigid, bone-chilling Oracle Power.
Without hesitation, he smashed his fist into the mutant’s face!
Crack!
The moment the biting cold touched the mutant, its exposed flesh and tendons were frozen until they were stiff and brittle.
As the fist carrying immense force landed, the mutant’s hideous and terrifying head shattered like an ice sculpture into countless pieces!
The viscous, dark blood and brain tissue were frozen into ice shards before they could even splatter.
The mutant didn’t even have time to let out a wail.
Its body trembled violently, then it went completely limp, its breath gone.
Lin Mo stood up with a clenched fist.
His cold gaze quickly swept over the mutants growling and surrounding them from all directions.
His expression grew increasingly solemn as he said in a deep voice, “The numbers are wrong…”
‘If there were only this many, it would have been impossible for Outpost Three to fall so completely without even having time to send a distress signal.’
As he spoke, he took the initiative to step forward and meet a hound-like mutant that was trying to approach from the flank on all fours.
His fist was raised high, smashing down with the sound of whistling wind.
The mutant reacted extremely quickly.
When Lin Mo’s fist came at it, it relied on instinct to leap warily to one side.
Lin Mo’s certain strike missed.
A trace of helplessness and irritation flashed in his eyes.
‘Too slow. This body’s neural reaction speed and muscular explosiveness are more than a level lower than my original body.’
If it were his own body, that attack would never have been avoided so easily.
However, his rich combat experience came into play.
After the strike missed, he immediately stomped his foot.
Using the power from his core and the momentum of the swing, he skillfully twisted his body, completing a rapid 270-degree rotation in an instant!
His leg, entwined with the frigid Oracle Power, acted like a steel whip.
With a speed faster than his fist, it lashed out fiercely toward the mutant that had just landed and had not yet regained its balance.
“Roar — !”
This time, the mutant’s reaction was half a beat too slow.
It couldn’t completely dodge the unexpected whip kick.
With a muffled thud and the sound of fine ice crystals forming, the half of the mutant’s shoulder and forelimb that were hit were instantly covered in a layer of thick ice.
Then, under the force of the impact, they shattered into a pile of ice shards and mangled flesh!
The monster lost its balance and let out a painful wail, stumbling to the ground.
“They’ve split their forces!”
Lin Mo shouted in a voice that everyone could hear, his tone carrying an unprecedented urgency as he stepped forward to finish off the mutant that had lost most of its combat power.
“Their real target is the far rear! Finish the enemies quickly; we must send someone back to deliver a message immediately!!”