Chapter 591, Contaminated Zone 6 (XV)

The dilapidated wooden door of the main room slowly closed before our eyes.

The three stood in the courtyard, silent for a long time.

A few minutes later.

Jiang Mu broke the silence first, asking Yun Zhao, "Should we go to the cellar to remove the remains?"

Perhaps because he had seen too many such scenes, he was basically unaffected.

In contrast, there is Xia Mingang.

This chuunibyou teenager put away his usual carefree attitude, his lips pursed into a tight line.

"Hey, you..." Jiang Mu frowned and waved his hand in front of his eyes.

Xia Mingang snapped back to reality, opened his mouth, and only managed to utter a dry, monotone sound: "Damn!"

Yun Zhao put the badge back into the box, took the backpack back from Jiang Mu, and answered his question.

"Take it back to the base and see if we can research it."

"Are we just going to ignore the goalkeeper?" Xia Mingang added in a low voice, but his tone trailed off.

Yun Zhao zipped up his backpack, pursed his lips, and said, "Just like the village chief said, it won't live much longer, so we won't disturb it."

The struggle for territory is a matter of life and death.

How could number four possibly be a match for six goalkeepers?

If you can spend your final moments with your family, isn't that a kind of happiness?

They shouldn't be the ones who spoil the mood.

The three left the village chief's house and headed to the bamboo grove behind it.

The guide was too weak to carry anything, and there was no one around to help him.

A lazy man and a rich young master were forced to work, moving all the wreckage from the cellar to the roof of the vehicle and securing it with chains.

Yun Zhao got on the car early.

I took out my notebook again to organize my thoughts.

It's not hard to tell from the village chief's words that the person it encountered was Yun Jue.

In a good mood, Yun Jue revealed part of the truth to it.

She wasn't around at the time; her father had probably just put her into the sixth contaminated zone and only felt better after learning that his daughter was saved.

But the timeline seems a bit messy.

Shen Ying and the others have seen Yun Jue before, and they've also seen the monsters here. Just how old is Dad?

Or is it that aliens have a longer lifespan?

And what about her?

Last winter, she had her blood drawn at the research institute, and the medical report showed that she was the same as a human. She still has doubts about whether she is an alien.

Yun Zhao shook his head, trying to put the matter aside for the time being.

The most urgent task is to find other people.

The two people outside the car finally finished and got in.

Jiang Mu quickly climbed into the back seat, asking, "Where do we go now?"

Without hesitation, Yun Zhao replied, "The north."

Xia Mingang's hand, which had just opened the car door, froze in mid-air, and the lingering heaviness on his face was instantly replaced by astonishment.

He turned his head and glared at Jiang Mu, who was already sitting upright in the back seat, his brows furrowed into a deep frown: "No, why am I the one driving again?"

Jiang Mu didn't even lift his eyelids, slowly adjusting his posture: "Your technique is good."

"Bullshit!" Xia Mingang scoffed. "You just want to slack off!"

Yun Zhao looked up: "How about I drive?"

Xia Mingang: "..."

Jiang Mu: "..."

Although they hadn't known each other for long, Xia Mingang had heard a little about her driving skills.

It's said that apart from Xie Tu, no one in Team Zero dared to let her touch the car.

If we let her sit in the driver's seat, let alone rest, the two of them would be on tenterhooks.

Xia Mingang resignedly opened the driver's door.

Perhaps because he hadn't completely calmed down from his earlier emotions, he started the car a bit harder than usual. With a roar of the engine, the car shot off like an arrow.

The car eventually stopped on the north side.

As time passed, the polluted area shook more violently, and more dark matter emerged and floated in the air.

Yun Zhao created a barrier to envelop the vehicle, preventing the two sentries inside from being corrupted.

Soon after, large areas of mutated chaste vines appeared in the farmland.

Instead of attacking them, the vines bypassed them and spread along the farmland toward the nearby village.

Jiang Mu clicked his tongue in amazement, then turned to Yun Zhao and said, "I believe this is your home."

All the strange creatures who saw her went around her.

Yun Zhao was still writing and drawing on the paper. Hearing this, he didn't even look up. "Wait, didn't you notice before? These vines are very afraid of my mental power."

The mutant who was impersonating Xia Mingang changed his expression drastically after seeing her take action.

She is more inclined to believe that there is a food chain with survival rules in Zone 6 of the contaminated area.

She just happens to be able to control herself from these things.

Just like that red eye, it restrained her mental power.

"Can't we save the gatekeeper?"

Xia Mingang gazed in the direction the vines were spreading, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend; it might be able to help."

This young master is a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), with a touch of na

Jiang Mu: "Don't use sympathy here. They can no longer be called human. You may feel sorry for them now, but after we eliminate the other gatekeepers, they may be the first to attack you."

"When did I ever sympathize with monsters?!"

Xia Mingang immediately jumped up and retorted, "I'm afraid that after we annex this place, the gatekeepers will become even stronger, and it will be even harder for us to get out."

“If we don’t let Number Six become stronger, then Number Four will become stronger. It won’t benefit us either way,” Jiang Mu said.

Xia Mingang now found fault with everything about him. "Are we just going to stand by and watch this place collapse?"

Jiang Mu replied slowly, "We can't just break through the barrier and leave now. We need to confirm the collapse of the contaminated area with our own eyes. Otherwise, how will you know if something will happen here after we leave?"

Yun Zhao opened a packet of instant noodles and said, "I have nothing to do right now, so I'd like to eat this. Can anyone help me boil some water?"

Jiang Mu: "..."

He turned his head speechlessly. "Does it have to be this time?"

Yun Zhao: "Hmm, let's eat something hot so you two won't keep arguing."

Xia Mingang corrected her: "It's not about arguing, this young master disdains arguing."

"I have to find firewood to boil water, and I'm too lazy to go." Jiang Mu sighed. "We have a self-heating pot, let's open the box and use it to make instant noodles."

Yun Zhao stared at the instant noodles suspiciously. "Will they even cook through?"

The little bluebird fluttered its wings and glared at Jiang Mu: "Boil water! Boil water!"

Now I know just how useful a cook is.

The chef never refuses any request made by the main character.

...

In contrast to the three's casual search, which resembled a leisurely outing, Xie Tu's journey was fraught with peril.

As the last remaining mutated creature convulsed on the steps and dissipated into black mist, a sudden silence fell over the surroundings.

Xie Tu's breathing was steady to the point of indifference, and the viscous, dark liquid on the blade dripped slowly, corroding small pits in the stone steps.

The stairs returned to their original width, as if the previous siege had been nothing but an illusion.

But the lingering fishy smell in the air and the scattered slime on the ground prove that those things did indeed exist.

Xie Tu looked up at the higher place, where a huge creature seemed to be writhing in the shadows.

The gatekeeper made no attempt to conceal his malice, even displaying a certain mocking expectation.

Xie Tu suddenly smiled.

"Is that all you've got?" He flicked his knife, then stomped on the fungal carpet on the ground, crushing it. "Why don't you come out yourself?"

No one responded.

Only the sound of the wind carried a faint whimper, like mockery or provocation.

Behind them, You Fei and the others helped the wounded to stand at the bottom of the steps, glancing worriedly at the circling fire phoenix.

The once bright flames of the phoenix became murky, and wisps of black mist seeped from its wings, like polluted fog entwined around the crimson flames.

They have lost count of how many steps they have climbed.

Each time, the monsters on the platform become stronger.

It took Xie a full hour to defeat all the monsters.

Their backpacks were running low on ammunition and food; at this rate, they probably wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer...