Chapter 205 - Reached Graveyard Forest
Chapter 205: Reached Graveyard Forest
While they still had time, Lin Chuan introduced the other members in the team to Meng Chao.
The first was a professional mine exploration squad led by the veteran mine explorer, Zhang Weiyan, who came from Sky Pillar Corporation.
Most of them were support class superhumans who were skilled in blending their spirit energy magnetic fields with the planet’s magnetic field so that they could sense the slight changes in the world. After doing that, they could outline the alignment of the spirit energy ley lines and identify thousands of minerals.
The best mine explorers could even inject their spirit energy ripples into the depths of stones to change the particle structures of the stones and affect the geographical structure within thousands of meters.
They could then display the effect of a human tunnel boring machine and dig out a tunnel that had a diameter of more than two meters in length. They could also create rockfalls and stalagmites to seal up or support cracks that were about to collapse.They could even create weak earthquakes.
Hence, even though they were weak, no one dared to underestimate them. Instead, they were the key parts of the squad and the targets that the fighting class superhumans had to protect.
Then, there was a woman called Professor Ye.
Meng Chao had a deep impression of her from yesterday.
It was because she had a red hair clip with her. At first glance, it was a red flower in full blossom, but when he looked at it carefully, it was in the shape of a Blood Flower.
Lin Chuan told Meng Chao that Professor Ye was a mate of theirs from Agricultural University, but she came from the biochemical course and was a specialist researching Blood Flowers. She was the “secret weapon” of their team.
Lu Siya firmly believed that Blood Flowers only mutated because of the radiation from Red Radiance Jades.
Hence, if they searched based on the tracks of the Blood Flowers, they would be able to find the source of the Red Radiance Jades.
Besides, Professor Ye knew how to deal with Blood Flowers. She had created a special suppressant that could decrease the activity of Blood Flowers in carbon-based life, which would make them enter a state that was similar to hibernation.
“Blood Flowers are not pseudo fungi that can reproduce endlessly,” Professor Ye told everyone. “In truth, they are smarter than viruses and bacteria. They know that they can’t drain their host to keep reproducing. If they split and reproduce endlessly and infest all living creatures, it will lead to a lack of food. The hosts and Blood Flowers would then both die.
“Usually, when the host’s brainwaves are really strong and their vitality is great, the Blood Flowers will not try to take over their bodies. Instead, they will enter a semi-hibernation state and will only stimulate their host’s metabolism and increase their fighting power.
“Many of the hosts don’t hate being infested by Blood Flowers. Instead, they welcome this win-win parasitic relationship.
“It’s only when the host dies that the Blood Flower completely awakens. They occupy their host’s body, so you can say that they’re a pseudo-fungus that is very ‘reasonable’.
“My suppressant can affect Blood Flowers and make them think that the hosts are still alive, so they won’t react in extreme ways.
“So, even if we run into Blood Flower infested creatures deep underground, we don’t have to worry. If we kill them and inject the suppressant in time, the chances of them turning into undead will be very low.”
Her explanation relaxed most people.
After the support-class specialist superhumans were the fighting-class superhumans.
Lin Chuan told Meng Chao that the main fighting power in the squad was from a superhuman squad called Sharp Blade.
They were a veteran fighting squad which had fought for more than five years in the wild. They killed countless monsters and took up many escort missions for exploration teams, mining teams, and all sorts of missions issued by labs focusing on research regarding the wild. They were very experienced fighters.
The nicknames of the members in the fighting squad were also very unique. They were named after all sorts of cold weapons. Their leader, Scimitar, was a four-star superhuman like Lin Chuan. He had a secret skill called Spirit Energy Resonance.
He used it to stimulate the mitochondria in the cells and make them release even stronger energy as well as modify the particle structure of weapons and equipment, which turned normal weapons into amazing weapons that could cut hair and release burning flames that could destroy everything. Of course, he could also use the principles of maglev to levitate in the air and could be considered to have officially entered the ranks of first-class fighters.
However, Scimitar had a dark expression on his face, and he did not seem to want anyone to get close to him.
“Lin Chuan, I heard that this is the first time your junior will neter the wild?” Scimitar stared at Meng Chao but spoke to Lin Chuan. “I don’t understand why Ms. Lu would spontaneously stuff a brat at Spirit Tattoo Realm into our team. Taking care of those mine explorers and that Blood Flower expert is already troublesome enough. So, it’d be best if you kept an eye on your junior. Anything can happen in the wild, and if he walks to his own death, I won’t risk my life to save him.”
“Scimitar, just pay attention to your own business,” Lin Chuan retorted stiffly. “He’s my junior, and it’s not your place to make him know his.”
Scimitar’s moustache was like two black scimitars. They curled up as his face muscles moved when he glared at Lin Ghuan. Then, he walked away.
“Half a year ago, Sharp Blade received an escort mission to protect a small biology research group to set up a temporary lab in the wild.
“I heard that someone in the biology research group decided to be wilful and refused to listen to the commands from Sharp Blade. He provoked an incredibly fierce high-grade superbeast and caused devastating losses to Sharp Blade. They were practically crippled by it.
“Sharp Blade returned to Dragon City to lick their wounds after that. They’ve been resting for a few months and only accepted Lu Siya’s employment because they want money to rebuild their group. That’s why Scimitar is a little paranoid. He is extremely skeptical towards all amateurs who don’t seem like they have any experience in fighting in the wild.
“He might sound harsh, but he’s very professional. Sharp Blade has always had a very good reputation. So, try to listen to his arrangements as much as possible. Observe his movements and think about why he does certain things. Learning from him would be good for you.”
The team was made of support-class superhumans led by Zhang Weiyan, fighting-class superhumans led by Scimitar, Lin Chuan (the guide), Meng Chao (the harvester), and Lu Siya.
Based on what Lin Chuan said, Lu Siya herself was a veteran mine explorer and crystal specialist. She was a support-class superhuman and did not possess great fighting strength.
But she had a female bodyguard who stayed by her side all the time. Her name was Lu Fengying, and she was taken in by Lu Siya’s father and taught carefully. Then, she was sent to all sorts of training camps to learn professional killing methods. She was in Heaven Realm and was a four-star superhuman in Spirit Wielding Realm.
They had three fighting-class superhumans in Heaven Realm and at least eight people from Sharp Blade at the peak of Earth Realm. This was enough to explore the depths of Graveyard Forest.
As they spoke, the aerial fortress started quivering.
Through the porthole, they could see that Graveyard Forest was right underneath them, and Raging Waves was in front of their eyes.
They were now close to the place where the spirit energy ley lines were gathered. Hence, the extreme weather changes caused by the spirit energy resonance were even more intense there. Thunderclouds crackling with lightning surged like raging waves to Graveyard Forest from Raging Waves. Each one was higher than the last, and the aerial fortress swayed. It was like a lone ship in a raging sea. One moment, it was raised to the top by a wave, and in the next, it dropped dozens of meters and practically landed in the forest.
There was fierce fighting in Graveyard Forest despite the strong winds and rain.
Humans used napalm bombs to repeatedly burn the depths of the forest, and the carnivorous etherealized plants screeched and swung their vines like demons in a lake of fire.
As the light from the fire illuminated them, wisps of black smoke rose into the sky. It squirmed as it possessed life.
Based on Lin Chuan’s explanations, Meng Chao knew that the smoke was not actually smoke. Instead, it was formed of clusters of mutated pests and insects. The smoke suffocated them, so they fled.
If the Dragon City did not use napalm bombs to smoke out the terrifying insects and if they really crawled into the strengthened exoskeletons, they could suck a human dry.
But while the insects flew away, there were still a lot of Hell Beasts lurking deep inside Graveyard Forest, which made the place into real hell.
But even real hell would not be able to take away hope.
If they looked into the distance, even though they could not hear the whistles from artillery, they could see balls of colorful light exploding in the forest. The waves of impact traveled with a momentum that could tear through everything and tore down the towering trees like weeds. Even black mushroom clouds rose into the air.
The rising and falling of explosions was even louder than the roaring thunder and howl of the rain.
The roars came from Heaven Realm humans as they suppressed the Hell Beasts in Graveyard Forest.
As human civilization continued its perilous journey of expansion, several patches of large, empty spots appeared in the originally dark Graveyard Forest. All the carnivorous etherealized plants in the place were cut down and burned, which allowed humans to turn those places into battlefield airports that could accommodate armored airships and aerial fortresses.
A large number of heavy construction machines were sent over by armored airships. The forts which had been constructed modularly and broken down into parts by the rear could also be built completely within a short twenty-four hours. The battle fortresses could then be stationed like needles deep in the territories that had belonged to the monsters for thousands of years.
The aerial fortress slowly descended in a battlefield airport in the southeast of the Graveyard Forest.
More than ten fortresses were built around the airport. Three trenches were dug around it, and double-layer electrical fences were set up. There were also automatic gun towers and high-voltage defense towers. The defense was incredibly tight, since it was one of the forward operating bases in the Graveyard Forest.
There were already more than ten armored airships parked there, along with two aerial fortresses that employed maglev technology.
Meng Chao saw that most of the outer shells of the armored airships and aerial fortresses had the emblem of Sky Pillar Corporation or some other major corporation painted on them.
By the looks of it, this place was the gathering place of a lot of mine exploration teams.
If they went further into Graveyard Forest and got closer to Raging Waves, the spirit energy magnetic field would turn even more chaotic. The extreme weather would be even more dangerous, and there was a high possibility that the aerial fortress would be torn to pieces in the air.
Hence, the mine exploration teams could only park their armored airships and aerial fortresses here. Then, they would split up into their respective squads and start exploring.
Their goal was the same, and they were competitors, so it was only natural that there was no harmony among them.
Meng Chao saw Lu Siya pridefully walking to another aerial fortress with Sky Pillar Corporation’s emblem painted on it and started pointing and giving commands to the mine explorers left over there to guard the aerial fortress.
By the looks of it, Lin Chuan was not exaggerating things when he said that the competition in Sky Pillar Corporation was very fierce and that the fight for power among the second generation and third generation was even more complicated than palace fights during ancient times.
In just a moment, Lu Siya came back. Her expression was a little gloomy, but her gaze was even more intense.
“There are five mine exploration teams ahead of us, and among them are two of my idiotic brothers. But they went the wrong way. We should hurry. We must find the Red Radiance Jade mine ahead of everyone else!”