135: The second battle, two mutant polluters

You are awake.

How does your body feel? Is there anywhere that hurts badly?

Qin Shuang’s face appeared in Xu Jingzhe’s line of sight, her eyes filled with concern.

Hungry... Xu Jingzhe opened his mouth to say.

The energy within his cells had been absorbed by the golden pollution core, and a strong sense of hunger flooded his brain. Right now, his only feeling was hunger.

Very hungry.

Extremely hungry!

Pfft~ Qin Shuang covered her mouth, unable to hold back a laugh, and the gloom in her heart dissipated.

She hurriedly took out compressed food from her battle suit and placed it into Xu Jingzhe’s mouth. This type of compressed food was nutritionally complete; eating one piece would keep you from feeling hungry for two days.

Xu Jingzhe ate five pieces in a row before his body gradually regained its strength.

Bai Binger and the other two gathered around simultaneously, letting out a long sigh of relief. Xu Jingzhe waking up meant they could continue deep into the Pollution Zone.

The delay over the last two days had caused the Qin Zhan Wushuang Squad to fall far behind the other squads.

Thank you, Lu Fei, Bai Binger said.

This time, I, Yang Shuang, am truly convinced. Brother, no need for thanks for such a great favor; I’ve got your back from now on, Yang Shuang said nonchalantly.

Zheng Peng crossed his arms, expressionless, and said, Thanks.

Xu Jingzhe stood up, feeling a stronger power circulating through his body than before, and said, We are all in the same squad; saying thank you makes it feel like we are strangers. I believe if you guys had discovered the danger first, you would have done the same.

After confirming that Xu Jingzhe’s injuries were not serious, the group packed up and prepared to set off.

Arriving downstairs, Xu Jingzhe looked at the somewhat familiar unfinished buildings and looked back. He found the one where he and Zhang Manyue had stayed, his gaze moving upward and fixing on the thirteenth floor.

A barely audible sigh escaped him.

In the distance, the corners of Zhang Manyue’s mouth lifted slightly; she put away her heavy sniper rifle and disappeared from where she stood.

The five of them continued on their way, and Bai Binger concealed her figure. Combat had already begun, and as a sniper, she needed to remain hidden in the ‘darkness’ at all times to protect her teammates.

She looked at the large hole in the back of Xu Jingzhe’s Second-level Alloy Battle Suit, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

Today’s sky was gray, and the path they had chosen showed no traces of battle for the time being.

Two days later, the five of them encountered a twenty-year Contaminator.

Its body had mutated; a scarlet, long tongue, fully two meters long, dragged vertically on the ground from the corner of a gaping abyss of a mouth.

The tongue continuously secreted viscous, transparent liquid, emitting a foul, fishy stench, and palm-sized flies buzzed around it. It rolled its long tongue, and with great speed, a fly entered its mouth.

Green juice dripped down the corners of its mouth onto its body. Its entire body was also covered in dense, writhing tentacles, as were its arms. Each one was a meter long, and the tentacles were entwined and moving without any pattern, looking very creepy.

Hehe... Humans... Fresh, fresh blood.

It initiated the attack! The tentacles on its arms suddenly straightened, the tips transforming into arrow-like shapes, and dozens of tentacles shot out simultaneously.

They carried a whistling sound as they cut through the air.

Zheng Peng, you and I will be the main attackers! Qin Shuang said.

Zheng Peng nodded, his feet exerting force, and he rushed out. He opened his left hand, and five green vines shot out, intertwining to become a huge green shield.

Two seconds later, the tentacles hit the vines, making a sizzling sound like winter ice meeting boiling water, and white smoke rose up.

Zheng Peng’s expression changed drastically; as if avoiding a snake or scorpion, he hurriedly shook his left hand and cut off the vines.

However, neurotoxins had already invaded his body through the vines.

Suddenly, his vision went black, and he began to foam at the mouth, falling to the ground and convulsing uncontrollably.

Qin Shuang’s heart skipped a beat; she had not expected the first Contaminator they encountered to have such strong toxins. She was just about to go rescue Zheng Peng when she suddenly felt a slight sound from beneath the earth. Her pretty face turned cold, and she extended her jade hand, slapping down toward the ground at her feet!

Boom!

With a dull thud, dirt and stones splashed, and a tentacle shot out from underground. It was as thick as a forearm, covered in fine scales, and whipped toward Qin Shuang’s pretty face.

Qin Shuang tapped her toes on the ground, her posture graceful, and she retreated dozens of meters; the tentacle missed its mark.

The tentacle twisted silently in the air, looking quite smug.

Silent Wall!

Qin Shuang parted her red lips, using her ability in front of Xu Jingzhe for the first time. Her long hair moved without wind. A vortex gradually formed beside her, whipping up stones and dust from the ground.

The vortex, which had been only three or four meters high a second ago, was twenty or thirty meters high the next second, rapidly sweeping toward the tentacle monster. When it reached the vicinity of the tentacle monster, four walls cast from stone and dust appeared.

There were four in total, forming a rectangular shape, trapping the tentacle monster inside.

Silent Wall can briefly interfere with its mental world, leaving it in a dazed state, unable to attack anyone. Lu Fei!

Xu Jingzhe nodded, Black Gold Long Saber in hand.

Run-up.

Jump.

Holding the saber with both hands, he chopped down with force.

At the same time, the Silent Wall turned into dust and fell in a rustle.

The tentacle monster watched helplessly as a long saber descended from the sky, splitting it in two, and blood splattered everywhere.

The whole process was short and spectacular, taking less than ten seconds.

This was teamwork!

Nice!

Qin Shuang gave Xu Jingzhe a thumbs up, then looked at the convulsing Zheng Peng lying on the ground and shook her head helplessly.

Xu Jingzhe chuckled, found the pollution core from the tentacle monster’s split body, and handed it to Qin Shuang.

Yang Shuang came over, took out an antidote, and injected it into his body.

Before long, Zheng Peng woke up. Looking at the corpse split in two in the distance, his face burned. He defended himself: I really did not expect a Contaminator on the periphery to have such strong toxins.

Let us go. This is a good start. Looking at the color and weight of this pollution core, it has at least twenty-some years of strength. Qin Shuang held the pollution core and looked up at the gray sky; because there was no sun, the rings of the pollution core were a bit blurry.

Boom!

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet collapsed, and a dozen arm-thick tentacles shot out from underground, wrapping around their legs and pulling downward.

These sudden tentacles were exactly the same as the ones that had attacked Qin Shuang earlier.

Bang.

Bang!

Two bullets arrived in an instant, hitting the tentacles. At the moment of the fall, Xu Jingzhe felt his legs loosen and immediately swung the Black Gold Long Saber in his hand.

Black liquid sprayed; the tentacles at his feet were severed, and from deep within the earth, a shrill scream was vaguely heard.

He turned and stabbed the long saber into the wall of the collapsed earth, sliding down the wall for six or seven meters before stopping his fall. Qin Shuang, who had fallen and disappeared, suddenly reappeared, with a disk woven from green vines beneath her feet, carrying her up.

The vines shook and suddenly disappeared.

Xu Jingzhe was quick-witted, grabbing Qin Shuang’s hand, and threw her upward with force, landing her steadily on the ground.

Afterward, he used the Black Gold Long Saber to flip himself back onto the ground.

Wasn’t the tentacle monster killed?! Is this another Contaminator? Xu Jingzhe asked in confusion, looking at the bottomless pit from which a foul aura was slowly rising.

It is... a Double Mutation Pollutant! Qin Shuang said, her shock mixed with a certain surprise.