Chapter 42
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the boots of several people stepped on the wet moss, and the backpacks and clothes rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound.
Jiang Zihan suddenly stopped and ran his hand across the tree stumps along the way. There were three fresh marks carved on them, like scratches left by some wild beast.
She looked at the footprints on the ground and couldn't help twirling her fingertips, a little hesitant: "Feline?"
This place is not far from the gathering place. Zhuifeng and Shunying often hang out here. How could there be other feline war beasts here?
Jiang Zihan raised his head and saw a spring not far away. He probed his spiritual power into the water. Bubbles suddenly appeared on the originally calm water surface, and wisps of black mist rose up.
The live broadcast barrage suddenly increased:
[What's going on? What's that black energy? ?]
[How strange! I thought they were going up the mountain to gather supplies, but it seems they weren't?]
[This is a bit scary... So why did Dr. Jiang lead the team out here? ]
As soon as all the audience woke up, they heard the news that the gathering place had merged with Area E. They waited for a long time before the broadcast started, and countless people crowded into the live broadcast room in an instant.
Occasionally there were voices mocking the military in the comments, but they were drowned out by the sea of words.
At first everyone was joking around, until they saw the black air coming out of the spring and realized something was wrong.
Lu Chenyuan looked alert: "Be careful, things around here have changed a lot."
Since the wildfire, all the alien plants that could escape have run away, and only those with strong lives remained. All the familiar traces were burned clean.
There was a faint sound coming from the forest.
Click.
Jiang Zihan silently drew the potion gun strapped to her thigh. The dark blue liquid flowed through the barrel, reflecting her calm, focused eyes. With sabers unsheathed, Lu Chenyuan and Kui Feng simultaneously defended from the front and back, shielding the others. The stagnant atmosphere made the surroundings even quieter.
Whoosh! A dark shadow suddenly jumped out from behind the bushes, and a big cat with its fur standing on end jumped out from the shadows.
The next second, a blue water bullet was shot out, and disintegrated in mid-air when it was about to hit the big cat. A ball of light blue mist immediately covered it.
The big cat let out a sharp cry and landed on the ground urgently. Its front paws were thrashing around on the ground frantically, trying to use its fur to wipe off the medicine stuck on its face. The originally tense barrage of comments immediately changed direction.
[Oh my god, what is this? It's such a big cat!]
What exactly did Doctor Jiang inject? It shouldn't have any effect on the animal, right?
"How could that be? It's all live now. If something happens to the war beast, she'll have to treat it herself."
[Hey everyone, this looks like a silver lynx? Aren't they endangered? Why is there one on the island?]
[I remember a few years ago, there was one that was diagnosed as severely deformed and was personally sent up by the War Beast Breeding Institute.]
[…But speaking of which, the environment here doesn’t seem to be suitable for the Silver Rock Lynx to survive.]
This live broadcast seems a little unusual.
Jiang Zihan waved the gun in front of the live camera: "This is an improved version of the tranquilizer gun. It has added sedative and inhibitor effects. It won't cause any harm to the war beast."
To speed up the treatment process, Zhao Ming converted the drug injection into an inhalable aerosol bomb. He also prepared several dosage ratios tailored to the size of the beast, choosing the appropriate dosage based on its size. Once the beast inhaled a portion, it would gradually lose consciousness. The effect was indeed much better than pure anesthetics.
The mist of the medicine melted into the skin of the Silver Rock Lynx, and soon its steps became crooked, the world in front of its eyes spun, its eyes widened, and it fell headfirst, completely losing consciousness.
Jiang Zihan put the potion gun on his waist and prepared to move closer.
"Wait a minute." Lu Chenyuan stopped the man. Lynxes are very smart and they might be in disguise. He stopped the man and went forward to test it himself.
As he approached, the lynx, which should have been unconscious, suddenly leaped back into action, its deformed claws lashing out directly at Lu Chenyuan's face, but he easily parried them. The potion must have taken effect, slowing its movements considerably.
The cold light of the saber flashed, and the back of the blade hit the back of the neck of the Silver Rock Lynx hard. After confirming that it was unconscious, Lu Chenyuan called people over.
"Some of the deformed war beasts have already received a lot of treatment at the research institute, and they are already very resistant to drugs. Given their size, I estimate the dosage will need to be doubled."
Jiang Zihan immediately understood that this was something they had overlooked.
She squatted down to check and found suspicious black substance stuck between the teeth of the silver rock lynx, suggesting that it had eaten a highly deformed animal. When she opened its eyes, she saw a thick layer of white film covering its eyeballs.
She sighed softly, "War beasts are very sensitive to distortions, but this lynx can no longer see. Coupled with the effects of its own distortion, it can no longer tell whether its food is safe."
The live broadcast room suddenly became tense:
[The situation is devastating. With severe distortion and the ingestion of contaminated pathogens, how can this be cured? Is there a professional doctor who can explain this?]
[Here we go. Normally, in our hospital, we would first perform gastric lavage on patients, but the aberration spreads very quickly, so there are almost no cases of people being saved.]
The barrage was bleak.
However, while the audience was still lamenting, Jiang Zihan had already taken action.
The scalpel flipped at her fingertips, and she first precisely dissolved the deformed tissue that had grown in the throat. The black substances were absorbed into the flesh and blood and kept wriggling. The live broadcast room was caught off guard and faced these things directly, and couldn't help but feel a little nauseous.
When they were about to take the next step, Lu Chenyuan suddenly pressed her shoulders.
The bushes more than ten meters away swayed without wind. The bloody smell here created a huge temptation. Seven or eight pairs of scarlet eyes appeared, and the group of wild beasts that had completely deteriorated made a humming sound, causing the temperature around them to drop by several degrees.
Jiang Zihan's pupils suddenly constricted. Although the largest beast still retained its human form, its front limbs were sickle-shaped, and it was rushing towards this side regardless of everything.
[What the hell just flashed by? ]
Oh my god! Run, Dr. Jiang!
[How terrifying! Is this a mutated beast from a Deviant?]
[Dr. Jiang’s hands are so steady…]
[Although, my trypophobia is starting to kick in! Can this lynx really be saved?]
Lu Chenyuan turned his head and said, "Kui Feng, hold this side. I'll go over and clean it up."
The beast's movements evoked a foul stench, its fangs growing rapidly as it roared furiously at the team. Lu Chenyuan raised his blade and struck it down, the rattling sound of bones snapping into place making one's teeth ache.
At this moment, a black shadow suddenly flew out from the tree. The highly distorted and deteriorated deformer actually had a pair of wings.
Bang!
The bullet flew past Jiang Zihan's ear and went straight through the beast's head, but the opponent hesitated only for a moment before continuing to attack.
Awen narrowed his eyes, the whites of his eyes quickly turned red, he aimed at the other key points of force and pulled the trigger, the shots were connected with almost no gap, the joints of the beast made a cracking sound, blood splattered all over Kui Feng, and soon he fell to the ground and stopped moving.
[So strong...]
Is this still human reaction speed? Is this person also retired from the military?
Awen moved his joints and felt the thread of mental force holding him loosen, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Zihan was still concentrating on dealing with the deformed tissue. Suddenly, he exchanged a glance with Lu Chenyuan without leaving a trace. The other party was slightly stunned, but cautiously took a half step back. The soil under his feet suddenly sank, and a hidden evil beast broke out from the ground.
If Lu Chenyuan hadn't dodged quickly, the sharp claw would have pierced his throat directly!
Jiang Zihan's mental power swept around again, and only after confirming that there were no other hidden people did he feel at ease to continue the operation.
The audience in the live broadcast room were almost dumbfounded as they watched the warriors slashing with swords with great vigor and ferocity. Wouldn't it be a waste to keep such talents on the island?
The sounds of gunfire and knife strikes intertwined around, and soon all the attacking beasts lost their ability to resist.
Jiang Zihan wiped the sweat off her face and sewed up all the open wounds. The distortions were becoming more and more severe, and just preventing the distortion energy from counterattacking consumed a lot of her mental energy.
Although the operation was completed, if the silver rock lynx was left in the wild, it would soon be eaten by other predators. After a brief discussion, they decided to send someone to send it back to the gathering place for resettlement.
At this moment, an eagle's cry suddenly sounded in the air.
Jiang Zihan was stunned. Could it be that the source of pollution was discovered?
Without saying a word, Lu Chenyuan bent down and carried the Silver Rock Lynx on his back: "Let's go and take a look first."
The few of them took a slight detour and placed the lynx in the forest of Area F. The pool here was regularly maintained and was much safer than in the wild.
At this time, the Silver Rock Lynx had woken up, stumbled to the ground, looked back at Jiang Zihan, and then went into the dense forest without looking back.
…
In mid-air, the goshawk was still circling as a warning.
This was another desolate industrial area, littered with rusted steel frames, like the shattered remains of an ancient beast. It wasn't far from either Zone EF, so no one had expected the problem to arise here.
Beads of sweat kept rolling down Zhao Ming's forehead, the values on the detector in his hand kept soaring red, and the water tank connected to the instrument was glowing a strange green light in the sunset.
Qiu Min originally planned to collect the water, but the extracted water revealed its original appearance in the transparent bottle. There were countless tiny insects twisting wildly in it. She suddenly felt a numbness on her back and couldn't help but throw the bottle away.
She covered her pounding heart and looked down in shock. What on earth were these things?
The rusty iron door was pushed open, and Jiang Zihan crouched down and crawled out. After seeing the scene here, he quickly put on protective gloves. The color of the water looked abnormal.
Qiu Min stood up, her throat tightening. "Doctor Jiang, I'm afraid this isn't just ordinary pollution."
"I know." Jiang Zihan's eyes grew darker as his spiritual power slowly penetrated the water. "The water source on the mountain has a similar situation, but it's not as serious as here."
Lu Chenyuan squatted down and used the iron rod at the side to pick up the floating black flocs. Those objects squirmed and actually left tiny holes on the stick.
Everyone's nerves were instantly tense.
The distortion value on the detector had already exceeded the threshold. Zhao Ming wiped the sweat from his forehead. "This concentration could completely distort a person within a day... This must be reported to the federation!"
Jiang Zihan glanced into the darkness, where a shadow suddenly disappeared. He couldn't help but sneer, "It's too late. I'm afraid we've already stepped into a trap."
She clicked the live broadcast bracelet, and everyone realized that the live broadcast room had been forcibly closed at some point.
Jiang Zihan explained: "The water contains a high concentration of distortion-causing toxins that can directly affect nerves. Just a little contact can induce directional distortion."
She pointed to the rusty sewage pipes and said, "This type of discharge probably started before the Exiled Land was sealed off."
Lu Chenyuan thought of the missing researchers. Could it be that they were killed in advance?
Jiang Zihan was about to analyze further when the system panel, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly popped up:
[New Task: Essence Water Source (Mandatory)]
[Failure penalty: permanent damage to mental strength, countdown: 24 hours]
The countdown begins the moment the task is released.
Her fingertips tightened unconsciously; the system was forcing her to act.
She looked at the pool, and a light suddenly flashed in her mind. She stood up suddenly: "They are not increasing the distortion, they are 'seeding'!"
Sowing seeds? What does that mean?
Qiu Min didn't understand why, but her hands and feet felt cold instantly.
"Don't be impulsive. You said this was a trap..." Lu Chenyuan grabbed Jiang Zihan's wrist and said, "I'll go to the central district and look for them. If I can find the surviving researchers from three years ago, I'll know what happened before the blockade."
Jiang Zihan looked at the countdown on the system panel and slowly clenched his fists: "But we don't have time."
She stared into everyone's eyes. "Those people already know we've discovered the pollution source, so they'll definitely take action in advance. If we don't take immediate action, the entire periphery will become a dead zone!"
No one knew how many such pollution sources there were. If the distortions erupted simultaneously, even if the settlement was self-sufficient, it wouldn't be able to hold out for long under the continued siege...
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