1177 Something Happened on the Way

It took some time for the news to travel to All Being Base from the Northwest. By the time Wu Chengyue learned that Si Kongchen had withdrawn, Lin Qiao and her troop were already on their way back.

A series of slightly modified vehicles were driving on the road at a high speed. On top of the last vehicle was a huge mushroom, standing there firmly against the strong wind.

"Awowowowo!" In Lin Qiao's car, the young tiger put its forepaws on the window frame and roared toward the outside from time to time. From the front seat, Lin Qiao turned and said, "Can you please be quiet? You'll get tired soon if I let you out to run. It's exhausting to take you back and out repeatedly!"

The young tiger was actually fast. However, it was too young to keep running for a long time, able to run after the motorcade for half an hour at most. The mushroom loved running, but after a few hours, it hopped onto the car and stopped moving as well.

Bowwow and Black were still in the forest nearby, relaxedly following the motorcade. They were both at level-six, and their energies could allow them to keep running for a few days without resting. Besides, the motorcade wasn't moving very fast in their eyes. For them, the current speed was the same as jogging.

The mushroom was the same as them, actually. It was just tired of running…

"Awo!" Hearing Lin Qiao's complaints, the young tiger turned back and gave her a roar, then lay on the seat and wagged its tail from side to side.

"When do you think Lan Lu will find the level-eight nucleus and give it to you?" While driving, Duan Juan looked straight at the road as she asked Lin Qiao.

"Soon, I think. Haven't you noticed that all the mutated beasts and plants seem to have grown stronger after the second explosion of the virus? They're upgrading rapidly now. Otherwise, how could we even see two level-eight beasts show up together? You can find a lot of level six and seven now," Lin Qiao looked outside the window as she said blandly.

"I guess you're right," Duan Juan thought for a moment and said.

"However, the upgrading speed of human beings has dropped. Zombies are upgrading more quickly than before." Lin Qiao continued, then she abruptly looked at the road in front of her and said, "Stop the car!"

"What's wrong?" Duan Juan slammed the brakes, then turned to her and asked. A shrill squeak was generated by the tire skidding against the ground.

"Hrrr…" The young tiger suddenly gave a deep, warning roar.

From the rearview mirror, Duan Juan saw the little tiger hunch its back, as well as curl its limbs and tail under its body while baring its teeth and flattening its pair of round, small ears. The tiger seemed to be in a panic as if it had seen something horrible.

"There're something in the front," Lin Qiao opened the car door and got off the car with a serious look, standing beside the car as she carefully looked around. They were on a highway, with mountains on both sides. No towns or villages were seen nearby. Standing there, she sensed a faint, familiar, yet disturbing vibe coming near her. However, she couldn't detect the source of that vibe.

She sensed the surrounding smells, but nothing unusual was found. Nonetheless, she felt that something was approaching.

"What is it?" Duan Juan got off the car as well and walked to Lin Qiao's side, carefully observing the surrounding environment. The latter raised an arm and put the little tiger into her space along with the car, then shouted at the people behind her, "Watch out!"

The others came out of the cars, and Lin Qiao put all the cars into her space.

Hearing her voice, people instantly grew vigilant as they scanned the surrounding area with their eyes. At that very moment, the ground quaked slightly.

"Underground…" Lin Kui dropped his head to look at the ground and murmured. Meanwhile, the others had sensed the vibration coming from the underground as well. Lin Qiao furrowed her brows as a bad feeling flashed across her heart.

"Be careful! Whatever is coming up from the underground might be the same as those multiple-eyed creatures," she warned the others, then hopped onto a tall mutated tree in the forest nearby. Standing high, she prepared herself for the things that were coming out of the ground.

Following behind her, the others all leaped onto tall trees.

About ten minutes later, waves of intense vibration attacked the highway, then the ground cracked. As the cracks grew larger and larger, a dangerous and disgusting vibe gushed out of them along with thick, black smoke.

"What is that?" Shui Mingjun furrowed his brows and asked.

Mo, who was standing on the other side of his tree, responded to him expressionlessly, "I don't know, but I guess it's nothing good. This smell is seriously disgusting." While speaking, she knitted her brows into a deep frown. At last, she couldn't help but pinch his nose with her fingers.

The other zombies had all covered their noses with their hands as well.

Shui Mingjun sniffed around and then said, "Why didn't I sense any smell at all?"

Mo gave him a glance, then replied with a snuffled voice, "Because you're not a zombie. Would you like to become one and try to feel that smell?"

"No, no, no, thank you!" Shui Mingjun quickly shook his head.

Lin Qiao had also covered her nose, as that smell was strange, pungent and very unpleasant. That disgusting smell had brought discomfort to her nose.

"Owowowoooo!" Bowwow was hopping around by the side of the highway, barking at those cracks with his teeth bared. The mushroom and Black had sneaked into the forest and disappeared; no one knew where they had gone to. Apparently, they didn't dare to linger in the area, as they considered the situation too dangerous for themselves.

"Can it be a kind of creature you've seen before?" Duan Juan was standing on the same tree as Lin Qiao. She was squatting on a branch a little lower than the latter's foothold, looking down at the road.

Lin Qiao shook her head as she fixed her eyes on those cracks on the road alertly and said, "No, the vibe is different. The energy contained in this dark mist is different too. I think it's something else."

The ground was still shaking, and the cracks were growing larger and larger. Meanwhile, the dark smoke that came out of the cracks spread in all directions. Lin Qiao carefully observed the plants shrouded by the dark smoke. As she thought, as same as the plants near the multiple-eyed creatures' valley, those plants died too.

Within a blink of an eye, those plants withered and died. However, the area didn't turn black like the valley. Instead, the place turned dark yellow. The plants withered and died, then turned into yellow powder and dissipated in the air.

With that, the air quality in that area dropped instantly.