Chapter 104 The Difficulties of the Rescue
After uttering the words, "Pollution! They want to pollute Xiao Qi!" a sense of despair filled the surroundings.
For a soldier, isn't being contaminated a more shameful way to die than being killed?
But Yu Shuang and Zhao Bohan exchanged a glance; their years of partnership and tacit understanding allowed them to comprehend each other's thoughts through just a look.
“Xiao Qi won’t be corrupted.” Yu Shuang blinked. “If the Fallen Insects find they can’t corrupt her, will they kill her, or will they become interested in her and capture her?”
Zhao Bohan frowned and held up one hand.
The chances are about 50/50.
Yu Shuang stared intently at him: "Half a chance is enough! We have to go save her!!"
Zhao Bohan did not nod immediately.
This is extremely difficult! It takes more than just determination.
The first difficulty was that the mine was extremely large and deep underground, and the thick rock layers would cut off all communication.
How will they find Qi An?
The second difficulty, of course, is that below lies the true enemy's lair, teeming with fallen insects, where every molecule in the air is a source of pollution! How could they dare to venture deeper?
They need a purifier, one as powerful as Qi An!
......
Qi An has developed a fever; she is thirsty and can feel the heat in her breath.
She touched the cold object in her hand, mentally assessing the possibility of the people on the ground organizing a rescue.
No normal person would think that she could survive being captured underground.
But the captain and vice-captain know that she has the ability to remain uncorrupted. Will they want to come and save her?
Qi An couldn't immediately tell whether he felt anticipation or rejection.
Their team is out of purifiers, so if the captain and vice-captain want to rescue her, they'll have to find a purifier from another team.
Who are you looking for? You Zi?
This is a life-threatening job, would You Zi be willing to do it?
Qi An banged his head against a rusty steel pipe to try and clear his head.
After receiving the captain's sincere praise that "you are a treasure of humanity" and their promise that "if anyone wants to harm you, they will have to step over our dead bodies," she seemed to become greedy.
It's important to understand that going down into a well for rescue isn't just a matter of willingness, but also a matter of capability!
You Zi's mental enhancement value is only 7. Even if she goes down the well, can she protect a small team? She will only lose her own life!
The captain and vice-captain's arrival here, and Zhuang Xiao's group's arrival here, will only lead to their deaths.
And it might also spread the secret that she is immune to contamination.
When Qi An was holding the piece of cloth that had been bound by the yellow-robed priest, she pulled off the pollution detection bracelet that she had hidden and stuffed it back into her sleeve.
The deputy captain is quite rational and should not agree to go down into the well for rescue.
Qi An closed his eyes again, reminding himself to stop fantasizing, rest his mind and recover his strength, and think of other ways to escape.
......
Just as Qi An stepped out of the ventilation shaft, and as Yu Shuang and Zhao Bohan exchanged glances, Chen Xi swept towards his own tent like a gust of wind.
Gu Liansheng paused for a moment, his eyes turning bloodshot, and was about to jump into the well:
"I need to see him alive or dead, even if he's turned into a corrupted insect, I still have to see him!"
It was him, it was Gu Liansheng's inadequate protection that led to Qi An being dragged down!
This proud soldier, who always prided himself on his superior strength, was now overwhelmed with self-reproach and self-loathing. He felt that if he lay there any longer, he would feel ashamed and saddened and want to peel off his own face!
Chen Yuezhou was jolted back to his senses by the shout. He grabbed Gu Liansheng and threw him aside.
Just as Chen Xi could lift Gu Liansheng's nearly 100-kilogram body like a chick, Chen Yuezhou could also throw him far away in one go.
Then he shouted to those around him: “Go back and guard your respective territories and check the defenses of all the cave entrances!”
If such an accident occurs again, those responsible will be executed!
The team members around them, each with a different expression, all tensed up, quickly saluted, and then dispersed.
However, the team that was in charge of the area, including the cave entrance, dared not leave, and the team members were sweating profusely.
But Chen Yuezhou knew that wasn't the point at the moment; he seemed to know the point was long gone. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but ask Xu Le:
"How long can you endure being corrupted by the Yellow-Robed Priest in the underground environment?"
Xu Le gritted his teeth: "At most... 10 minutes."
Being contaminated by higher-level wisdom insects is certainly rapid, but if the mutation level reaches level 3 or above, a person can still delay it by resisting with their willpower.
He was exaggerating, considering that the longer humans delay their mutations, the stronger their will to resist, and the higher their level will be after the mutation.
Perhaps the fallen insects discovered that Qi An was very resistant, and they would deliberately prolong the time she resisted.
What if we manage to get a Yellow-Robed Priest or higher?
Xu Le knew that Qi An's mental enhancement value was the same as his, but when he thought of the scene of Qi An purifying You Zi, he felt that Qi An must be more resilient than him.
Chen Yuezhou even thought that Qi An could hold out for at least 20 minutes!
He rationally knew that the chances were very small, and sending someone down the well to rescue him was not a decision a competent commander should make.
There are too many difficulties. The biggest difficulty is that even Xu Le may not be able to withstand the purification intensity required to go down into the well.
But he still quickly gave Xu Le the order:
"Two minutes to prepare advanced filters, purification agents, blocking agents, silencers, and poison gas bombs..."
The latest filter cartridge for the face mask can block 80% of olfactory contamination. It was brought out by Chen Yuezhou from the new student base, and there was only one set.
Gan Ning Medicine has released a small red pill that can replace some of the emergency purification effects, but it has significant side effects.
Xu Le's expression was complicated, but Chen Yuezhou shouted, "Go now!"
Xu Le ran away frantically.
On the other side of the cave entrance, Lin Jiaran looked at Chen Yuezhou with even greater astonishment than when she discovered Chen Xi's intention to go down the well.
She asked, stunned, "You want to go down too? Are you willing to die to save her?"
Chen Yuezhou seemed to only notice her at this moment, looking at Lin Jiaran as if she were a dead person.
He didn't answer the question at all, but walked to the large cinder block, to the very edge of the hole.
If you look closely, you can see that the steel plates there have been cut.
Although the cut was only one section and so thin as to be almost invisible, the weight of the sand would create gaps on both sides of the cut.
There should be cut marks on all three holes in this area.
The fallen insects probably couldn't predict exactly how far the mimic insects could run while being hunted by humans, so they took multiple precautions.
This is a meticulously planned trap.
Is the purpose of the trap simply to obtain a superior wisdom insect, or to kill someone in revenge?
At this moment, the only important thing for the underground worms is to break through...
As Lin Jiaran approached again, Chen Yuezhou turned around and pressed his pistol against the girl's forehead.
"Did you notice the cut?" he asked in an icy voice.
But Lin Jiaran seemed not to hear her, still staring at Chen Yuezhou, and repeated the same question.
Unable to contain his anger, Chen Yuezhou loaded a bullet.
But the next moment he panicked, knowing he couldn't kill Lin Jiaran.
Lin Jiaran and Chen Xi were the ones in the base who had explicitly warned him not to kill or touch them.
Sending Lin Jiaran away was the limit of what he could do to protect Qi An.
Out of panic, unease, and fear of something, Chen Yuezhou loosened his grip on the trigger.
Lin Jiaran stared at Chen Yuezhou, his gaze surprisingly imposing and filled with a sense of psychological pressure.
Answer me! Are you willing to give your life for Qi An?
The shouts became even more oppressive, and Chen Yuezhou gritted his teeth and replied, "Yes."
"In the same situation, would you be willing to risk your life for Lin Ran?" Lin Jiaran asked again.
This question puzzled Chen Yuezhou, but Lin Jiaran shouted again, "Answer me!"
"I don't want to," Chen Yuezhou replied, biting his tongue and forcing himself to pull the trigger again.
Lin Ran, the true chief purifier of the newborn base, is one year younger than Chen Yuezhou. Before the apocalypse, she and Chen Yuezhou were in the same orphanage.
Lin Ran was Chen Yuezhou's childhood friend and, to some extent, an ally, but that was all.
Seeing that things were not going well, Yu Shuang and Zhao Bohan pointed their guns at Lin Jiaran's back. Chen Xi, who had returned, did not draw his gun, but stared at her with cold eyes!
Lin Jiaran looked at Chen Yuezhou carefully, and then smiled with a complex expression, her eyes crinkling.
"I'll go down the well with you to rescue them."
Chen Yuezhou, and everyone present, were stunned.
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