In the bamboo forest...

The white fog seemed less dense; in fact, it had dissipated considerably.

After dealing with the frogs, Wang Lan and his group immediately moved on, not daring to linger in one place for too long.

At this moment, everyone had completely lost their sense of direction and had no idea where they were going.

This battle dealt a huge blow to the team.

The "Holy Soldiers" regiment led by the Holy Envoy now has only one white-armored soldier left.

Of the Hope Village that Wang Lan led, only Ding Taishun, Gu Li, and Zhao Ping'an remained.

Even the Tomorrow Task Force, which is supported by powerful and advanced weaponry, suffered a severe shoulder injury as its captain, Sassa.

The group walked forward a little further.

They stopped to rest only after arriving at a fairly spacious open space.

Ding Taishun and his group arrived late, dragging a giant frog with them.

Since the group was running out of food, and frogs were said to be edible, they decided to eat the frogs as darkness fell.

On the one hand, it can replenish energy.

On the other hand, it can also be seen as a way to avenge the deaths of his comrades.

Ding Taishun and his companions were sullen, perhaps because their companions had died before their eyes, and the constantly appearing monsters had given them a huge shock. So much so that although they had survived by sheer luck, they felt no sense of relief. They looked at each other and sighed indifferently.

“There’s no need for this,” Wang Lan said to the group. “You still don’t understand. Don’t forget, we are in the apocalypse. Death is a normal thing for us. If you are always so sad, your chances of survival will gradually decrease. Remember, to survive, you need to be both kind and cold-blooded.”

“Sigh…” Ding Taishun glanced at Wang Lan and said, “Yes, Mr. Wang, we will adapt as soon as possible.”

Wang Lan nodded.

Nan Chen suddenly shouted at Wang Lan, "Hey!"

"Hmm?" Wang Lan looked at Nan Chen.

Nan Chen tossed Wang Lan a bottle of water and said, "Have some water, then let's go over and discuss the next steps."

“Okay,” Wang Lan took the water, unscrewed it, and took a sip. She found the water sweet and delicious, quite palatable. Then she looked at the huge broken tree that Ding Taishun and the others were leaning against and frowned.

For some reason, he felt that the broken tree was strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was strange about it.

Ding Taishun was listless, his head down, and he didn't see Wang Lan's expression.

Gu Li asked curiously, "What's wrong, Mr. Wang?"

"It's nothing," Wang Lan shook her head and said, "You all get some rest, I'll be right back."

After saying that, he took another careful look at the broken tree and couldn't help but think of that towering divine tree that had fallen in the sea. Although it was uncertain whether it was dead or alive, it was most likely dead.

Thinking of this, Wang Lan felt a little disheartened and turned to follow Nan Chen toward the others.

“Brother Wang is here.” The special task force members and the Holy Envoy sat down on one side. Zhang Jian was treating the wound on Sass’s shoulder. When he saw Wang Lan coming over, Sass quickly forced a smile and said to Wang Lan, “Please sit down. We are analyzing the situation of this bamboo forest.”

Wang Lan found a place to sit down, then glanced at Ding Taishun and the others in the distance with unease, before looking at Sha Si and asking, "What's going on with this bamboo forest?"

"To be precise, it's not just the bamboo forest, it should be this entire mysterious forest," the envoy said. "This mysterious forest is indeed terrifying, capable of instilling fear in animals. From the centipedes and millipedes we encountered at the beginning, to the spiders and frogs we met later, it seems that this forest is mainly inhabited by insects, and the distribution of these insects seems to contain certain patterns."

“Hmm, that makes sense,” Wang Lan said. “Do you think there’s any pattern?”

The envoy thought for a moment and said, "I remember that ancient books once recorded that spiders and frogs are among the five poisonous creatures, while centipedes and millipedes belong to the family of millipedes. In other words, they all appear with a certain special species."

As Wang Lan listened, he felt for a moment that there seemed to be something wrong with what the Holy Envoy said, especially regarding the classification of several animals. He remembered that Sun Muchen had studied something related to this before, although he couldn't remember it clearly, it was definitely not as the Holy Envoy described.

"Mr. Wang?" Sha Si greeted Wang Lan when he saw him lost in thought.

Wang Lan was taken aback upon hearing this.

Sha Si smiled and asked, "What's your opinion on what Mr. Saint said?"

"I wouldn't call it an opinion," Wang Lan said. "But what's the use of figuring out these patterns? How can they help us?"

“Of course it helps,” the Holy Envoy said. “Since these insects are classified into different categories, it means that although they have evolved due to the mutation, their sex remains unchanged. Most of these insects are nocturnal, and even the time they are attacking us today is closer to darkness. This can be seen from the current sky, which is gradually getting dark.”

Sha Si continued, "So, we just discussed it and figured that since this place is relatively safe, why don't we rest here for the night and take turns on duty? Of course, this is just our idea, and we'd also like to hear your... um? Mr. Wang?"

As Sha Si was speaking, he noticed that Wang Lan was in a daze again.

It wasn't until Sha Si called him several times that Wang Lan came back to his senses, but he simply said, "I have no objection," and then got up and walked towards Ding Taishun and the others.

Gu Li was the first to see Wang Lan approaching, but upon closer inspection, he noticed Wang Lan's furrowed brows. He quickly patted Ding Taishun on the shoulder and said, "Brother Ding, Mr. Wang is here. He doesn't seem very happy."

Ding Taishun immediately raised his head and looked ahead, only to find that Wang Lan had indeed walked over, and his expression was indeed furrowed and very serious.

"Mr. Wang, what's wrong?" Ding Taishun quickly stood up, the gloom in his heart from the sacrifice of his fellow villagers instantly vanishing, and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

"Shh..."

Wang Lan immediately made a shushing gesture to him, then waved to the three men, signaling them to hand over their guns, while also gesturing for everyone to hide behind her.

Ding Taishun handed the gun over directly, and Wang Lan took it, lowering his voice to ask, "How many bullets are left?"

“There are 30 more shots,” Ding Taishun replied, puzzled. Again, he kept his voice very low, and to make sure Wang Lan understood what he meant, he even made a “3” gesture.

Then he saw Wang Lan aim at the broken tree and pull the trigger.

The crowd not far away was immediately stunned by Wang Lan's mysterious actions. They stared blankly as the bullets left a row of bullet holes in the broken tree until, after thirty shots, Wang Lan released the trigger.

He stared at the broken tree in front of him in silence until a while later, when he finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Hey, it seems I was overthinking it."

As soon as he finished speaking, just as Wang Lan was about to turn around, the broken tree in front of him suddenly trembled violently!