72: Chapter 72 Strange Object: Rocket Launcher

Could the outbreak of the apocalypse have something to do with this black river?

If this river is truly some kind of even more terrifying anomaly, then how did he manage to break free from it back then?

Countless questions swirled in Zhou Che's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more his hair stood on end.

A chill shot up his spine, even colder than when he was being targeted by the Devourer of Calamity just now.

"Mr. Zhou? Mr. Zhou? Are you alright?"

A soft hand gently patted his arm.

Zhou Che snapped back to reality and saw Lin Wan looking at him with a worried expression.

"I'm fine." Zhou Che shook his head, forcibly suppressing the stormy waves in his heart.

He buried all thoughts regarding the black river deep within the recesses of his mind.

This matter was too bizarre; he couldn't tell anyone.

He took a deep breath and turned his gaze toward the rocket launcher in Captain Ma Shangwu's hands.

He had seen the power of that rocket blast clearly just now.

Just how ferocious was the Devourer of Calamity before?

It was immune to physical attacks, could kill a Transcendent silently, and not even Captain Liu Ruyan's whip could touch it in the slightest.

Yet, one blast from this rocket launcher hit it, blasting it into a semi-crippled state, causing its aura to plummet, and forcing it to tuck its tail and flee.

Zhou Che's eyes lit up instantly. He stared fixedly at the uniquely shaped rocket launcher, almost drooling.

He scanned it carefully using the Perceiver Sequence.

This rocket launcher was not an ordinary thermal weapon; it had been modified with strange object materials and possessed innate evil-breaking and anomaly-suppressing effects.

Its power was no weaker than his heaven and earth strange object, and in terms of single-target damage, it was even slightly stronger.

If he could get his hands on this thing, then whenever he encountered any powerful anomalies in the future...

...he could just fire a rocket at them. If he could solve it, great; if not, he could just run away.

Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking.

A weapon of mass destruction of this level was definitely strategic equipment for the Human Alliance.

Even Captain Ma Shangwu only had the right to use it, not ownership; he had to return it to the higher-ups of the Alliance after use.

Let alone trading for it, even if he tried to borrow it, they would never lend it to him.

Zhou Che smacked his lips, filled with regret, and could only tear his gaze away reluctantly.

Captain Ma Shangwu was not feeling well at this moment either.

His face was pale, his lips were bloodless, and his hand holding the rocket launcher was trembling slightly.

That rocket blast just now looked impressive, but the cost was immense.

This thing couldn't be used by just anyone; it had to be a Transcendent, driven by their own Sequence power.

Every shot consumed a massive amount of Sequence power, and the price was a significant drop in strength.

After firing that shot just now, his strength had dropped from the peak of Sequence Five to the early stage of Sequence Five.

If he fired another one, he would likely drop straight to Sequence Four.

But the cost was worth it.

At the very least, it severely wounded the Devourer of Calamity, and it definitely wouldn't dare to come out and cause trouble for a while.

Captain Ma Shangwu took out the tracking mirror and injected his Transcendent power into it.

The mirror surface was gray and dim, without a single ray of light; he couldn't sense the aura of the Devourer of Calamity at all.

"Alright, that anomaly has run away."

Captain Ma Shangwu let out a sigh of relief and said to the crowd, "It was severely injured this time; it definitely won't be able to recover within ten days or half a month."

"For the next period, everyone can rest assured and enter the central urban area to explore; you don't need to worry about being ambushed by it anymore."

"If it dares to come back, I'll give it another blast and send it on its way."

Upon hearing this, everyone showed expressions of joy.

The heavy stone that had been weighing on their hearts for days had finally fallen.

Zhou Che also breathed a sigh of relief, but he still kept his guard up.

He hadn't forgotten that look of extreme resentment the Devourer of Calamity had when it left.

This thing was clearly the type to hold a grudge; after suffering such a huge loss this time, it would definitely not let the matter rest.

Especially since its attempt to manifest as the black river had failed and its strength had plummeted by more than half, it would surely settle this score with him.

But there was no time to worry about that now.

The Devourer of Calamity had run away temporarily, which was the best time to go to the main city and reap benefits.

Once he had gathered enough strange objects and resources and his strength leveled up again, he could pick up the scraps.

The only pity was that the two Transcendents swallowed by the Devourer of Calamity earlier hadn't left behind their Sequences.

Zhou Che had tried it; people swallowed by the Devourer of Calamity vanished without a trace, and the system couldn't recover their Sequences at all.

It was a pity just thinking about it.

Captain Ma Shangwu gave a few more brief instructions before dismissing everyone.

The Transcendents from each squad took their people and returned to their respective camps.

Zhou Che also led the people of the Dawn Convoy and walked back slowly.

Upon returning to the camp, Zhou Che immediately summoned all the Transcendents for an emergency meeting.

Inside the tent, everyone sat around in a circle, their faces showing relaxed expressions.

With the threat of the Devourer of Calamity removed, the next step was to go to the main city to scavenge for opportunities; no one was not excited.

"I called everyone here today for one thing."

Zhou Che tapped the table with a serious expression, "The Devourer of Calamity has run away temporarily, and the window of opportunity is only a few days long. We must seize the time to go to the central urban area and reap the biggest benefits."

"I will personally lead the team into the main city. Luo Xi, you take two Sequence 1s and stay behind to guard the camp. Keep a close watch and prevent anyone from taking advantage of our absence."

"The rest of you, come with me into the main city to search."

"Regarding the search direction for the main city, if you have any ideas, feel free to share."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Zhiming was the first to speak up.

As the only strategist of the The Convoy, he never dropped the ball at times like these.

"Mr. Zhou, I don't think our search focus should be on basic supplies."

Wang Zhiming said clearly and logically, "Our The Convoy has plenty of food, water, and fuel; basic supplies are more than enough."

"Our goal should be strange objects, strange object materials, and materials dropped by anomalies."

"Most importantly, that golden ancient book strange object ranked in the top ten."

"We received news before that the strange object is a book. The most likely places for it to appear would be large bookstores, libraries, and archives in the central main city."

"I suggest we concentrate all our manpower and focus on searching these types of places. We might just find clues to the strange object ahead of time."

Zhou Che nodded; this idea coincided with his own.

Others also agreed, feeling that this approach was sound.

After all, everyone knew that the golden ancient book must be in a place related to books.

The only problem was that the central main city was too large.

All the bookstores and libraries combined, big and small, numbered at least several dozen to a hundred.

Searching them one by one would be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there was no guarantee they would find it.

But there was no better way at the moment; they could only conduct a carpet search.

"Alright, let's do as Wang Zhiming suggested." Zhou Che made the final decision.

"Set off early tomorrow morning. Everyone should bring their weapons and three days' worth of supplies."

"After entering the main city, split into groups of three, search separately, and keep communications open."

"If you encounter an anomaly you can't handle, send a signal immediately to retreat; do not fight head-on."

"Remember, safety first, resources second."

The meeting ended, and everyone dispersed to prepare for tomorrow's exploration.

Only Zhou Che was left in the tent.

Just as he was about to lie down for a rest, the tent flap was lifted.

Wang Laowu walked in, rubbing his hands with a flattering expression.

"Mr. Zhou, are you busy?"