Chapter 85 Guide 13

Chu Jianfeng had a terrible reputation at the outpost, almost to the point of being infamous. He had gone on two missions with the elite squad and was rude to everyone. On the battlefield, they not only had to guard against enemies and pollutants, but also against this senior's whimsical "little jokes." Once, Wei Jing was almost pushed into a pile of contaminated material.

Chu Jianfeng had the worst attitude towards Wan Hong, looking at him with disdain. However, Wan Hong was very wary, and Chu Jianfeng tried several times to "play games" with the younger generation, but Wan Hong nimbly dodged each time.

No one likes someone who poses a threat to their life.

Chu Jianfeng's addition unexpectedly united the seemingly fragile but actually sympathetic team. Chu Jianfeng became the next person to be isolated, but he seemed completely unconcerned. His sinister and neurotic eyes darted around all day, as if observing something or searching for something.

Summer is the most unbearable time in the southeastern border region. Although the dense forests block the direct sunlight, they also trap the air, causing the temperature to rise higher and higher. The sweltering air makes everyone feel suffocated, and the smell of decaying organisms mixed with the humid air makes it feel like a polluted area even though it is not.

A while ago, a new contaminated area appeared near the outpost. Preliminary tests showed that the pollution index was moderate to high. The newly formed contaminated area must be assessed as soon as possible to avoid being caught off guard by subsequent evolution. However, due to a shortage of manpower, the outpost could only send Lu Xuejin to lead a team to conduct preliminary exploration and collect some pollutant samples.

Based on past experience, the boundary zone of the contaminated area is not very active, and it is mostly composed of weak or even harmless pollutants. Humans are not as easily infected as ordinary humans. As long as they are careful not to get injured or inhale pollutants, the exploration mission is actually not dangerous.

Camps have already been set up outside the boundary zone. The inspector looked at the constantly changing instruments and said, "The index is not high and has been very stable. I estimate there are a few large ones in the central area, so the boundary zone should still be considered safe."

“However,” he paused, “in my personal experience, I advise you to remain vigilant. The pollutants in this area… they have surprisingly shown a certain degree of 'tolerance'.”

Unlike other pollutants, it did not instinctively devour all the resources on earth, nor did it hunt down powerful humans with abundant energy. This is precisely what makes it so terrifying.

[Baby, this wasn't mentioned in the plot. The novel starts with you returning to District 1.] Dongyao wanted to help, but was powerless to do so.

In this world, it even chatted with Lu Xuejin less often, often seemed to have no presence, and it was unclear whether it was upgrading the system or handling other matters.

After changing into combat uniforms, check everyone's filters and communication channels, and ensure that tactical knives, tactical batons, rifles, jammers, barrier generators, stun devices, sedatives, detectors, etc. are carried on their person.

This set weighs at least ten kilograms.

After having a meal at the camp and taking a nap to recharge, Lu Xuejin led her team into the border area with renewed energy.

Light first usurped cognition.

The sky above was no longer there, nor was the damp, decaying earth beneath my feet. Everywhere I looked, above, below, left, and right, the entire world was bathed in a uniform, softly fluorescent pink. It was omnipresent, filling every inch of air, even tinging my vision with a pale pink, blurring all outlines. The air was thick, each breath carrying a faint, indescribable sweet, fishy odor, as if I were inhaling diluted syrup rather than gas.

If Lu Xuejin hadn't known beforehand that she was entering a contaminated area, she would have thought she had stumbled into a fairy tale world.

Whether it's a towering tree or a low shrub, the surface is covered with a layer of translucent, jelly-like gel. Through the semi-transparent gel shell, you can see wispy, flocculent matter suspended inside. The pollutants clinging to it appear as jelly-like clumps of varying sizes.

All around was deathly silent. There were no birdsong, no insect chirps, and even the sound of the wind seemed to be absorbed and filtered by the viscous pink medium, leaving only the barely perceptible breathing and heartbeats of the sentries in their monitoring headsets.

This silence, far from bringing peace, felt like an invisible net tightly enveloping people, filled with a suffocating sense of oppression.

Lu Xuejin recalled a poem describing a polluted area: Beauty is a disguise; silence is its gaping maw. Be very careful, it may fall asleep at any moment, or awaken at any moment.

The guide's mental energy formed a hidden barrier, enveloping the team within it. However, this method of concealment could only reduce the fluctuations of mental energy, but could not hide the fact that they had stepped into the boundary zone. In the past, pollutants would have rushed towards humans due to the slight tremors of the ground in the polluted area. Here, there was no reaction at all, so indolent.

The border area was so calm that it was as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, the group became highly vigilant, and Chu Jianfeng spontaneously walked in front of Lu Xuejin.

Lu Xue silently swiped the surface of the communication device, generating a message that was broadcast on the channel: "Don't move. First, observe the ecological composition and predation habits."

The ecological composition of the boundary zone appears monotonous on the surface, and since no predation behavior has been observed since its entry, further analysis is difficult. Lu Xuejin can only make a preliminary estimate, numbering the pollutant as 9821, and taking several photos for record-keeping.

After waiting for some time, there was still no activity from the pollutants. They seemed to be asleep or dead, showing no reaction.

Lu Xuejin deliberately revealed a trace of her spiritual power to test them, her protrusions already hovering above them, yet they remained completely still.

Luo Mang: Could it be a mindless creature?

Some pollutants possess the ability to absorb time and space, almost like supernatural powers, at the cost of losing the five basic senses that are the most basic requirements for living beings.

Lu Xuejin: I don't know, the situation is strange, we need to finish this quickly.

According to the division of labor before entering, Luo Mang and He Cang were responsible for capturing and cutting the pollutants, Chu Jianfeng was their escort, Wan Hong was responsible for measuring various indicators, and Lu Xuejin was their trump card.

The soft tissue was placed into the empty petri dish, and the whole process was completed quickly and incredibly smoothly.

But often, the smoother things go, the more ominous it seems. The sentries kept Lu Xuejin in the very center, not daring to relax their guard for a moment. Maintaining high alert, they slowly retreated, returning the way they came.

But this time, no matter which way they went, they couldn't get out of the contaminated area.

Román: Has spatial abilities.

Wei Jing: It could also be some kind of visual illusion.

The pointer she was carrying was spinning wildly due to some inexplicable magnetic field interference. Lu Xuejin turned around, only to find that the person next to her had disappeared without a trace.

【Baby, go find the male lead first. He'll be really happy to see you go to him first.】 Dongyao never misses an opportunity to harvest dedication points.

Some time ago, the two's "mutual assistance" entered the spiritual realm and formed a spiritual chain, so even if she couldn't see Wan Hong, Lu Xuejin could vaguely sense his approximate location.

Once he unleashed his mental power, the locations of everyone else appeared in his mind, though not as clearly as Wan Hong's. Wan Hong was closest to him; if he went to find him first, he could also find the other two.

However, Lu Xuejin said, "Let's find Chu Jianfeng first. I'm afraid he'll do something stupid."

Chu Jianfeng was roughly 45 degrees to the left. Lu Xuejin walked in that direction. The tranquil pink forest paid no attention to human movements. It was visually dreamlike, like a fairy tale wonderland, but looking at it for too long could easily make you dizzy.

As they passed several twisted trees, a gust of wind suddenly swept past from behind—a hand gently gripped their neck, a hot body pressed against them, and the sentry smiled maliciously: "How can our commander be so unvigilant? If we had encountered the enemy, you would already be a corpse."

With a gentle press of his rough fingertips on the spinous process of her spine, Lu Xuejin turned around, the cold glint of her tactical knife aimed at Chu Jianfeng. The sentry seemed not to notice, and thoughtfully sized him up: "Hmm... Commander Lu, even as a corpse, you're still a sight to behold."

In the contaminated area where he was constantly threatened with death, he was surprisingly not nervous at all and appeared unusually relaxed.

"Let's go, I'll take you away from this awful place."

Lu Xuejin said, "The others should be nearby as well."

Chu Jianfeng clicked his tongue: "Those consumables will die sooner or later, why bother with them? Just consider them as dying early, it won't be so painful."

Lu Xuejin glanced at him: "You should know that if your team has another accident, the Sanctuary will execute you."

“Sanctuary, come on.” The sentry’s gray-green pupils contracted for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, yielding. “Of course, I will follow your orders, Commander.”

The two then headed towards the nearest city, Roman.

Just then, the previously silent pink wonderland changed—a fine mist of pink spores began to rise in the air, visible to the naked eye. Their origin was unknown, and they seemed to possess the ability to become invisible; by the time they were detected, they had already penetrated his combat suit and seeped into Chu Jianfeng's skin.

Feeling neither pain nor itching, a fierce glint flashed in Chu Jianfeng's eyes, and he immediately drew his sword.

A flash of cold light—a piece of flesh, stained with spores, was ripped off and thrown to the ground. The movement was so fast that only a blur could be seen.

"Go!" He turned his head sharply and roared at Lu Xuejin, veins bulging on the side of his neck.

Even if the spore is removed in time, a continuous stream of spores will seep through the protective layer of the combat suit and into the skin. The belated, nerve-wracking pain, coupled with something colder and more sinister, spreads rapidly within the body. Muscles bulge and twitch uncontrollably, and bones creak dangerously. A primal, violent restlessness explodes from the depths of the mind, frantically breaching the dam of reason—a harbinger of loss of control, the edge of rage.

For some reason, these seemingly gentle and harmless spores did not approach Lu Xuejin, but there was no time to think about that now. In a short period of time, a large number of spores entered Chu Jianfeng's body. They could not be stopped or cut apart, like matter from another world, yet they completely detonated the Sentinel's precarious mental state.

"Chu Jianfeng, immediately release your mental barrier!"

Lu Xuejin decided to build a defense mechanism within the Sentinel's mental landscape to observe the activities of the spores in the mental world.

Chu Jianfeng suddenly retreated.

"Go! Go now!" His eyes were bloodshot, and he roared like a wounded beast, trying with his last shred of reason to scare the guide away. "Do you want to be torn to pieces if you don't leave?!"

Lu Xuejin didn't move for a moment, afraid of provoking the Sentinel and letting him escape, which would make it impossible for him to catch up and would also cause the Sentinel to die too quickly. But his hand silently reached for the destruction device in his chest pocket, pressed one of the buttons, and the Sentinel was struck by a strong electric current, his tense body showing a momentary opening.

This is the moment.

Several psychic synapses tightly bound Chu Jianfeng's mental image, affecting his body from the mind. The sentinel, in a semi-mad state, still wanted to resist, but his limbs had already gone limp, and he could not put up any resistance.

Lu Xuejin bound his entire body, and her violent mental power swept through the scene as if it were empty, instantly eradicating the spores rooted in the corpses, flesh, and filthy soil.

Chu Jianfeng regained some of his composure at this moment, and his first words were: "If I tell you to leave and you don't, I'll strangle you first if I really go crazy."

His attitude toward his savior was appalling.

Lu Xuejin ignored him, squatted down and straightened Chu Jianfeng's combat uniform, picking out the spores embedded in his skin one by one.

"You really aren't afraid of death?" Chu Jianfeng said with a sinister smile, enduring the pain.

Lu Xuejin immediately slapped him and said coldly, "I am your superior. Now, you only need to follow orders."

"Shut up."