Chapter 012: Wild Mountains and Wild Ridges

"Don't kill me, I'll tell you everything!"

The poisonous spider held its head with its hands and squatted on the ground obediently, with its feet tucked in, looking like it would kneel down at any moment.

What a joke—I just escaped from the monster and I ran into the rejection team!

The inside of the abyss is not even a wilderness. The armed personnel can shoot whenever they want without even leaving any garbage dump.

Her expression was distorted and she looked like she was about to cry.

Fortunately, the members of the rejection team had steady arms and even steadier guns, and there was no accidental discharge.

Professor Miroku stood behind a heavy shield, his gaze retracted from the darkness and fell on her: "Tell me, what happened on the train? What's the situation?"

Gurgle.

The poisonous spider's throat moved, pretending to be obedient. "I'm a non-staff member of the Mad Wolf Mercenary Group. This time I'm on a mission on the train to assassinate a target with the [Abnormal Nullification] ability. Just now..."

Tap, tap, tap, the sound of eager footsteps came from behind.

She took a peek at the reaction of the rejection team and found that they had also turned the muzzle of the gun to the side a little, so she squinted her eyes and looked to the side.

A vague figure emerged from the darkness.

The effects of the Abyss Mist's [Light Devouring] and [Isolation] were invisibly lost, and the girl's figure became clearer and clearer. She approached quickly in just half a minute, and restored the inherent color of the human body.

Chen Xiao'er gasped for air. Seeing the police's riot shields and rifles, she quickly raised her hand and waved. "We are, haha, passengers on a train. The train exploded for some unknown reason. It might have been done by terrorists!"

"Is this classmate Chen Xiao'e? Please stop for a moment."

The magnetic voice made her stop immediately. Xiao Ai looked up and found that the university professor she had interviewed was standing in the line of police officers.

Are the school and the police department one and the same? Or is there some kind of cooperative relationship between professors and the police...

She suppressed her doubts and nodded obediently. "Okay, teacher."

Lin Lang also caught up and whispered quietly: "Don't run so fast next time. What did you just see?"

"Well, I saw a light and thought it was the elevator."

Seeing the light... Lin Lang narrowed his eyes.

Visibility in the abyss was very low, similar to deep sea and thick fog. However, when standing next to Chen Xiao'er, she could also see the surrounding situation clearly with her naked eyes.

A group of armed men stood about fifteen meters away. Judging by the insignia on their uniforms and weapons, they were likely a church-affiliated rejection unit. Led by a full professor from the academy, they were likely carrying out a classified mission.

drop.

Milo clicked the frame of his glasses, and a layer of blue filter spread out in the dim light, bypassing only Chen Xiao'er.

She glanced at the Pasteurometer, silently lowered her hand, and took two steps forward. "You and Lin Lang still need to go to school, right? Go straight to the left, take the elevator to the surface, and find a bus stop to go directly to school. Don't waste time on the road; it's very unsafe in the wilderness."

"Thank you, teacher!" Chen Xiao'er nodded hurriedly, took Lin Lang's hand and walked to the side, pulling the trolley case loudly.

She wanted to know what the teacher was doing, but how could she ask casually when it came to police duties?

Lin Lang was even more silent, not even his eyes wandering around.

Their backs disappeared into the darkness, and the rules of the abyss's light-devouring nature gradually recovered a dozen meters away, converging everyone's light source within 3 to 5 meters.

Milo withdrew her gaze and moved her fingers. Her knuckles regained their flexibility. The side effects of facing the explosion at close range were wiped out in less than 60 seconds.

Is this also the effect of the superpower [Reset to Zero]?

If so, the value of Chen Xiao'er as an individual should be re-evaluated, the church's approach must be further changed, and - the problem with "me" must be found.

"All team members, prepare to shoot."

Professor Milo withdrew his gaze and wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with his gloves.

The next second after she finished speaking, the black and gray mist surged silently, boiling into one ripple-like bubble after another.

It is a shadowy growth produced by the collision of upper-level anomalies, and has the instinct to float "upwards", assimilate, and hunt.

"First, focus on isolating yourself from the contamination and trying to protect yourself."

"Secondly, any individuals with a Pasteur Radiation Index exceeding 500 will be killed first."

Professor Milo opened his coat and took out an antique silver-white gun from inside, holding it firmly in his hand.

A slightly crazy smile appeared on her face, and she pointed the gun at a group of strange creatures that were howling and wriggling as they crawled out.

"Everyone, behind you is the well ladder. Thirdly - those who are severely contaminated, shoot them!"

…

The elevator slowly rose, and the darkness in the tunnel was dispelled by the light.

Chen Xiao'er leaned against the glass, peering down, the professor's expression still lingering in her mind. She felt... a little surprised? As if she'd witnessed something unbelievable.

"puff."

As she thought about it, she couldn't help but smile.

That’s right. I was riding the high-speed rail and encountered terrorists bombing the train. How unlucky am I?

The smile on his lips gradually turned bitter as it spread, and the joy of escaping death was diluted by all kinds of worries.

It is unknown how many other passengers were injured or killed.

But the professor and the police are nearby, and the ambulance should be here soon. They will definitely take the victim to the hospital.

Pop.

There was a crisp sound from the side.

Lin Lang was seen with half of his body slumped on the ground, one hand tightly grasping the suitcase.

"Oh, are you okay?!" Chen Xiao'er quickly reached out to support the classmate next to her and helped her push the suitcase aside to prevent it from hitting her calf.

"It's okay, I'm all up. Phew~ I'm much better."

Lin Lang wiped his face and forced himself to stand up.

I never thought that there would come a day when I would walk around in the abyss of Depth 2 without wearing protective clothing and seek death.

Half of the reason I didn't die was thanks to the alienated technology of the Soul Front, and the other half was all thanks to the guidance of the big guy.

She looked at Chen Xiao'er and forced a smile: "Thank you very much. If it weren't for your help, I would have died down there."

"No, I should be the one saying thank you. I relied on you in the car. Those terrorists were horrible."

Chen Xiao'er's cheeks turned slightly red. If it weren't for this classmate with great skills, she wouldn't even be able to climb through the window and would have been stabbed to death by the bad guys in the carriage.

Ding Dong.

The elevator door slowly opened, leading to a concrete platform.

The platform was lit with very dazzling lavender lights, illuminating the nearby hillsides, bushes and parking lots, giving a modern and reassuring feeling.

However, when Chen Xiao'er looked outside the aperture, her heart skipped a beat.

The wilderness...Teacher, the wilderness you mentioned is too wild! She had only been to the suburbs before and thought that the city was surrounded by plantations and development zones. She had never seen the scene before her.

The platform faced a hillside, a rolling mountain range at least thirty meters high. Trees with thick roots filled the entire area, making it difficult to climb.

There was only a narrow, deep passage running through the mountain, barely wide enough for a car to pass through. There were no streetlights or guardrails along the road.

If you encounter a wild beast inside, you will have to roll from the top of the mountain to the bottom if you lose your footing while escaping.

The daytime on Chixing is shorter than the nighttime.

Although it was summer, the sun set before 5 a.m. Occasionally, a few black-feathered birds flew through the dark clouds, chirping at them.

Chen Xiao'er glanced at the dark and narrow path in the forest and couldn't help shaking her shoulders.

She shrank back to the back of the platform. At least there were some modern buildings on the side.

The shop was dark. There was a night light on at the cash register, but the clerk was nowhere to be seen.

Most of the sales counters behind the glass were empty, and the goods on the shelves were dumped randomly, and may have been expired for two or three years.

Next to the store is a parking lot where abandoned vehicles are piled crookedly in the open space, making strange creaking sounds when the wind blows.

As for the toilet at the edge of the parking lot, it was even heavier. Half of the door fell to one side, and the paint and rust on it looked more like blood than blood, a large bright red mass.

Mmm.

Chen Xiao'er covered her eyes in pain, not daring to look anymore: Both of your sides look too much like classic scenes from horror movies.

The only difference is that one monster will jump out from the back of a junked car, while the other will wait until your car breaks down and you get separated from your friends before jumping out!

She shook her head, forcing all the horrific thoughts out of her mind, and turned to ask Lin Lang, "It's so dark, should we spend the night in the store? At least there's a room there to keep out the wild animals."

She thought this plan was reliable, but she didn't expect Lin Lang to shake his head without hesitation: "No, let's take the mountain path. It's more dangerous to stay here."

Chen Xiao'er thought about it and felt that it made some sense.

Lin Lang should have more life experience than I do. Besides, the teacher also warned us not to stay, as I'm afraid the security outside of Chixing City is very poor.

An abandoned house like this might house some terrible gangs committing crimes. Maybe the terrorists who bombed the train have other accomplices hiding nearby.

We must leave here as soon as possible! How can we leave safely? I got it!

Chen Xiao'er's eyes lit up: There are quite a few bicycles in the parking lot.

You can drive a car on the mountain road, and of course you can ride a bicycle. Whether you encounter wild animals or humans, you can run much faster with a means of transportation.

"Chen Xiao'er?"

A gust of wind blew around her, and Lin Lang quickly raised her head. She watched in horror as her senior classmate rushed into the pile of monster corpses, rummaging around with his empty hands.

After hesitating for a few seconds, she gritted her teeth and rushed over: "What are you doing? Don't touch the things here, they are very dirty."

"What are you doing? These anomalous fragments are toxic and difficult to process."

"Ah?" Chen Xiao'er raised her head. The remains of the monster in her hand gradually gathered together under the twisting of an unknown force.

Click, click, click, click.

The tiny reconstruction sounds made Lin Lang's teeth ache, but the black-haired girl smiled brightly as if she couldn't hear anything at all.

She pushed out a nearly new mountain bike from the darkness and shook it proudly. "Look, this bike is pretty good, right? It only has a broken wheel, which I just replaced. I even added a rear seat for luggage."

Chen Xiao'er parked her bike and pointed at the pile of junk behind her. "There are a few good ones in there. Can I get you one? These bikes are all unwanted by others. Riding a bike is always faster than walking."

“…”

Lin Lang looked at the bicycle beside her with a complicated expression. From any angle, it looked like an ordinary mountain bike. It only had an awkward external rear seat, but the other details were actually quite nice.

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she always felt that the moment the bicycle was completed, the sense of crisis lurking in the darkness suddenly disappeared.

That’s right, if I saw my friend being molded into a bicycle with bare hands...hiss.

Lin Lang met the girl's hopeful eyes and nodded slowly: "Okay."