Trickster Hunter

Chapter 288 Mudslide

"To be honest, I don't know much about it myself." Sun Hang shook his head.

"You mean... intuition?" Zhu Long reacted, "Your intuition tells you that the 'Three Monkeys' may appear in this operation, and it is very dangerous... right?"

"Almost." Sun Hang sighed and hesitated, "It's hard for me to describe that feeling..."

"I understand, I will pay more attention." Zhu Long nodded.

Several people looked at each other and jumped out of the cabin together.

Unlike the front observation posts with only a few tents, the No. 7 observation post was rebuilt on the basis of a semi-permanent military fortification. It not only has a waterproof base poured with concrete, but also is equipped with a fully functional air defense tunnel and a lifting air defense turret.

There were more than 30 special agents stationed at the No. 7 observation post. After all the observation posts from zero to six lost contact, the number of personnel here was increased to nearly 100.

"To be honest, this terrain is a bit bad." Zhu Long looked up at the hillside not far away. "If the rainfall continues to increase, the mudslide will bury Observation Post No. 7 at any time. If I were the commander, I would directly let my subordinates abandon this place and retreat to Observation Post No. 8 in the open area."

As Zhu Long said, the most important task of the special agents stationed at Observation Post No. 7 is to reinforce the hillside on one side, set up a blocking belt in front of the post, and then dig ditches on both sides of the blocking belt to guide the mud and earth and rocks sliding down from the top of the hillside... Many figures wearing orange protective clothing trudged through the mud that covered their calves, and nailed the steel drills used to fix the blocking belt deeply into the ground.

Two multi-functional crawler engineering vehicles were lying in front, using two huge buckets to push away the mud that kept rolling down from the heights-before the blocking belt was fully built, they were the only safety barrier for Observation Post No. 7.

The hunters who jumped out of the helicopter landed on the iconic concrete platform of Observation Post No. 7 - this platform is almost three meters above the ground. Under the reflection of the mud and rain flowing around it, it is more like an isolated island in the ocean.

"Finally, check the equipment you carry. You have five minutes... After five minutes, each team will advance to the target area according to the pre-planned route. Remember to keep communication open at all times!" The voice of Ye Xuan, the commander on the front line, came from the communication channel.

Compared with these special agents who are armed to the teeth, the hunters' outfits are more varied. Wang Xiyi and Sun Hang have a black dragon meme, and the other has a black dragon meme plus a Tai Sui meme, which can almost ignore the radiation of dirty rain. Ye Jiu's trick equipment "Killing" can also provide him with all-round protection. As for Zhulong, the pouring rain can't touch him at all.

Among Sun Hang and his group, Zhong Ling was the only one who needed to wear a full set of protective equipment. The heavy barrel-shaped protective suit wrapped the slender girl like a dumpling... It was difficult to walk on dry and flat ground with this equipment, not to mention the bad weather with strong winds and heavy rains, plus the constantly flowing, greasy and slippery mud...

People who often hike and trace rivers outdoors know that those fast-flowing streams look clear and the water depth seems to be only enough to cover the instep, but only after stepping on them can you know how much impact the shallow water has on the ankles - and when the water surface can cover the knees, even master-level outdoor athletes will stay away from such streams.

The density and weight of the mud far exceeds that of stream water, and it is even more slippery than those mossy pebbles. These special agents who wade through the mud rely on the high-strength power exoskeleton in the lower body to resist the impact of the mud. Their boots are equipped with threaded anchors controlled by hydraulic devices. With each step, the four anchors on both sides of the boots will be driven into the hard ground. These anchors are directly connected to the frame of the exoskeleton, which allows these field agents to barely stabilize their bodies in the flowing mud.

"Zhong Ling... Or, why don't you go?" Wang Xiyi glanced at Zhong Ling, "This road is too difficult to walk, and there may be a battle on the way, so we may not be able to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself." Zhong Ling said.

A burly gorilla-like skeleton came over and put Zhong Ling on his back. The skeleton was wearing a special equipment similar to a combat vest, and there was an alloy backpack on the back of the equipment. Zhong Ling sat directly in the backpack and connected the safety buckles on the backpack to his protective clothing one by one.

Obviously, this skeleton was the "transportation tool" specially prepared by Zhong Ling for himself.

"... I don't think you have used this thing before." Sun Hang said.

"Because I didn't use it before." Zhong Ling said, "It was stored in the ice storage of the No. 1 Institute until you disappeared in the occupied area, and I asked the people in the institute to send it here."

"This is also one of the most significant advantages of the puppet master." Ye Jiu came over, "Although the number of ghosts she can control at one time is limited, the number of ghosts that can establish a mind link with her is unlimited. She can completely change different types of ghosts according to the needs of different tasks, just like soldiers choose suitable equipment according to different battlefields... But, from another perspective, the 'ghost equipment' is equivalent to the equipment of qualified people, there is no difference."

"But don't you think this shape is familiar?" Sun Hang seemed to remember something, and his expression was a little strange.

"Familiar?"

"Gagantel." Sun Hang said.

"Gagan... poof!" Ye Jiu thought it was the name of some weird creature at first, but after half a second he suddenly realized that this Gargantel was the name of the giant zombie in Plants vs. Zombies, and he immediately laughed, "Hahahaha... you know what... hahaha... they really look like it!"

"What are you laughing at?" Several hunters who were checking their equipment looked over and looked at Ye Jiu like a fool, "You can still laugh at this time? I hope you can still laugh so happily when you encounter weird creatures later."

"What's the matter? Do you mind me laughing?" Ye Jiu pushed the wolf fang spear in his hand hard on the ground, and the iron rod at the end of the wolf fang spear immediately knocked a dent on the concrete base.

"It's okay, keep laughing." One of the hunters said sarcastically, and then complained to his companions in a low voice, "Didn't they say that the participants in this operation were all carefully selected elites... How could such a young man sneak in?"

"Who cares about him? He's not in the same group as us anyway." Another hunter said, "As long as this guy doesn't lead the monster to our side, it's fine."

"Tsk." Ye Jiu was too lazy to continue arguing with those hunters, and turned to look at Sun Hang, "There are only 20 seconds left, are you nervous?"

"Why should I be nervous?" Sun Hang tilted his head and asked.

"Moderate tension helps to improve the speed of nerve reaction." Ye Jiu moved the joints of his limbs, and a ding-dong collision and friction sound suddenly sounded between the armor plates.

But compared with the sound of rain around, this sound is almost negligible.

"Action begins!" Ye Xuan's voice sounded, and the hunters waiting on the concrete platform jumped out one after another.

The giant skeleton, nicknamed Gargantuar by Sun Hang, carried Zhong Ling on its back and moved forward in the mud as if walking on flat ground. Wang Xiyi directly entered the dragon transformation and tore open the rain curtain in the air with its wings. As for Sun Hang, he tightly grasped Wang Xiyi's dragon tail and hung behind the humanoid black dragon.

There were many hunters with the ability to float or fly, but these hunters were more cautious and almost all chose to fly close to the ground. Only Wang Xiyi recklessly rushed into the air hundreds of meters high and looked down at the ground below from a high position.

"Huh... So cool!" Wang Xiyi's scale-covered mouth curled up a little, "Sun Hang, how do you feel?"

"Very good, just a little dizzy." Sun Hang said expressionlessly, "Can you stop swinging your tail?"

"The tail is used to maintain balance and adjust direction, how can it not move?" Wang Xiyi turned her head and rolled her eyes at him, "If you really feel dizzy, you can climb on my back."

"Then I won't become a dragon knight?"

"You've ridden before?" Wang Xiyi said lightly.

"...Forget it, I'd better hang down below, the field of vision is a little wider." Sun Hang said, "Fly slower, don't leave Zhong Ling behind."

Looking from the sky, you can see the hunters in groups scattering - according to the predetermined battle plan, these hunters will use Chimera 17 as the center of the circle, along the edge of a circle with a radius of 40 kilometers, to complete the encirclement of Chimera 17, and then move towards Chimera 17 from different directions.

Each group must be separated by more than five kilometers, otherwise it is easy to cause Chimera 17's "stress response" due to "excessive number of people".

As for this data, it was completely tested with life - when Chimera 17 was first discovered, a 35-member elite reconnaissance team penetrated to a location only 20 kilometers away from Chimera 17. However, just when they were about to get closer, a laser-like energy stream suddenly shot out from the body of Chimera 17, instantly evaporating the reconnaissance team.

In addition, the Disaster Countermeasures Committee also found that Chimera 17 would not only have a stress response to humans, but also to the weird and infected people carrying memes. But when the committee tried to use a drone to transport fifty mice to Chimera 17, Chimera 17 never fired energy streams at the drone until the drone lost control and crashed due to ionizing radiation.

But after changing to fifty mice infected with the weird meme, the situation was completely different.

The drone was hit by the energy flow that penetrated the rain curtain from 27 kilometers away, and not even a trace of the drone and the box containing the white mouse was left.

The intensity of this energy flow was even stronger than the energy flow that destroyed the reconnaissance team.

The conditions that trigger the stress response of Chimera No. 17 are very special. It must be a human (or intelligent life?) or an object carrying a meme is close to it - only one of the two conditions is met, but it does not matter if both conditions are met. It will increase the triggering distance or intensity of the stress response. The only thing that will affect these two values ​​is the quantity.

In theory, the fewer people there are, the safer it is.

The route assigned to Sun Hang's group is a straight line from Observation Post No. 7 to Chimera No. 17. It is also the closest route among all the hunter groups participating in the operation. On this route, there are still five missing people scattered. Observation Post No. 0 and Observation Post No. 0.

The set of meme collection equipment that Zhong Ling mentioned earlier requires four people to operate at the same time. Only about one-third of the hunter team is capable of carrying it. As for the remaining two-thirds of the team, their task is to assist as much as possible. If possible, clear out the "other weird things" wandering around Chimera No. 17.

Due to the limit on the number of people, Zhong Ling only brought three skeletons this time. In addition to "Gargantel" and "Skeleton No. 1", she only brought the "Overlord" who had fought against Sun Hang before - in the transformation After becoming a skeleton, the "Overlord"'s abilities have become much stronger than when it was a hunter. Now it can not only The solidified air is used to separate the rain curtain, and at the same time, steps made of "air bricks" can be generated under the feet. From Sun Hang's perspective, it seems to be walking in the air...compared to splashing every time he steps down. With "Gargantelle" splashing a lot of mud, "Overlord" can be called elegant.

However, Sun Hang did not see the elusive "Skeleton No. 1"... Due to the special nature of Skeleton No. 1, even if Zhong Ling did not bring it, it would follow him. Since Sun Hang couldn't see it in the sky, it meant that it either had a camouflage ability similar to Skeleton No. 5, or it was swimming in the mud.

Sun Hang is still more inclined to the former possibility.

"Pay attention to the direction and don't go astray." Sun Hang said to Zhong Ling on the communication channel, "Two kilometers further ahead is the lost observation post No. 5. There may be signs of strange activity around, so pay attention to identify them."

Wang Xiyi also gradually lowered the flying altitude. Sun Hang saw the opportunity and let go of the dragon tail in his hand, landing accurately on the shoulder of "Gargantel".

"Slow down." Sun Hang patted Zhong Ling on the shoulder through the thick protective clothing, "We're almost there."

"Can you feel the breath of strange things?" Wang Xiyi asked, "Isn't your nose always very good?"

"I can feel it...but it's meaningless." Sun Hang squatted on the shoulder of the corpse and looked around with squinted eyes.

"Why?"

"Because it's everywhere... it feels like a monster was beaten into paste with a wall-breaking machine, and then evenly spread on every inch of the land." Sun Hang said.

"What kind of strange metaphor are you talking about?" Wang Xiyi folded her wings and landed.

According to the information provided by the drone, their current location is the No. 5 observation post that lost contact not long ago.

"Found it." Wang Xiyi reached into the mud and pulled out half of the deformed steel pipe. "This thing should be the skeleton of the tent... Did they encounter a mudslide?"

"It doesn't feel like it." Sun Hang shook his head, "With the strength and toughness of this skeleton, do you think the mudslide can turn it into this shape?"