Chapter 810
Aderick stood atop a hill with his hands behind his back as he looked down at the valley below.
The valley had been transformed completely.
All the trees there had been cut down. Even the stumps under the ground had been dug up. There in place of the trees were giant, pupa-like organic structures.
The organic structures filled practically the entire valley. A tube-shaped object extended down from the bottom part of every one of the pupa-like structures, connecting with one another like spiderwebs to extend to the other end of the valley.
At the other end of the valley was the – much bigger – heart-like organic structure that Aderick used earlier. At present, it had grown even bigger than before. At least several metres in height, it was like a small hill. Every beat would cause the surrounding lands to quake slightly.
Above the giant heart was a huge opening. There, countless mutated citizens lined up orderly, moved forward in a file and were devoured by the massive heart.
All the tubes beneath the giant pupa-like structures were connected to the massive heart in the end. The tubes moved rhythmically, following the heartbeats of the heart. As the tubes were translucent, it was possible to vaguely see – with the illumination from the sun – fluid flowing through the tubes.
Every pupa contracted and expanded slowly, following a certain rhythm. After some time, a pupa would open up and a mutant monster would emerge from it.
These monsters had various forms. Compared to the spore-infected mutant citizens in Los Angeles, the monsters that came out from the pupa were not only bigger, but also clearly more flexible. They seemed in possession of a certain level of intellect.
“Guild Leader, these guys... are you sure they will not become a threat to us?”
Up on the hill, Theodore, who was standing behind Aderick, asked in a whisper. The scene unfolding before them had been going on for half an hour. As for Aderick, he had simply been standing there, his head lowered as he monitored what was happening in the valley. He had not moved even half a step.
After Aderick emerged from it, the massive heart had undergone a rapid secondary growth. At the same time, hundreds of tubes emerged from it before the ends of the tubes transformed into monstrous pupae.
Half an hour ago, the mutated citizens from Los Angeles began arriving non-stop to enter the heart. Like nutrients, the mutated citizens were devoured by the heart and supplied into the monstrous pupae. In the end, even stronger monsters were born.
Although the mutated citizens had been greatly transformed, it was at least possible to see that they were once human. But these monsters that emerged from the pupae, there was no longer any trace of human features on them.
The entire valley had become a massive monster production factory.
“Guild Leader, our location has been revealed!”
Theodore made his way to stand right behind Aderick and asked in a hushed tone, “We... should we move?”
“Move? Why should we move?” Aderick reflexively chuckled. Turning around, he said, “With the protection period gone, our location will be revealed forever. No matter where we go, our location in the participants’ radars will always be refreshed. “
“I know.” Theodore nodded. “I’m just worried that, if they find this place... wouldn’t it be bad?”
It was clear that the monstrous pupae in the valley were creating more soldiers, upgrading the mutants. Although Theodore was uncertain how much stronger they would become after this second mutation, he believed that his Guild Leader would not do anything pointless.
“You mean to say, by moving away, we can prevent the enemy from discovering this valley?” Aderick smiled. “Don’t worry, Theodore. They don’t even have the chance of reaching this place. The number of mutants I’ve modified is now...”
Aderick made a quick calculation. “There are now over 2,000 of them. Judging by their movement speed, it will take them at least one more hour to reach this place. By then, we will have at least 5,000 high-level mutants.”
“How do you know how fast they are moving?” Theodore was taken aback. “Also, just 5,000... is it really enough?”
“Even if those mutants have not been modified before, their bodies share the same alien genes as mine. Do not forget, I have now taken the position of the Species Lord.” Aderick patted Theodore’s shoulder.
“I can sense their general positions. Just now, I sensed a high number of deaths from the zoo. Moreover, it’s coming this way. As for the number of high-level mutants...”
Aderick laughed conceitedly. “As of now, I have completely fused with the Species Lord. These modified mutants have to obey me unconditionally. Their thoughts are my thoughts, my thoughts are their thoughts. Rather, so long as I will it, I can, at any given time, synchronize my thoughts with any one of them.”
“Synchronize?” Theodore pondered it for a moment before responding, surprise in his voice. “You mean... the equivalent of entering those monster’s bodies?”
“That’s an apt understanding.” Aderick nodded.
A monster with a lion’s head, a body completely covered in scales and a scorpion tail on its back had just emerged from one of the pupae and it roared skywards. Suddenly, it turned its gaze to the hill beside it. Its eyes were fixed upon Theodore. “Just like this. Do you understand now, Theodore?”
A wretched shriek suddenly came from the front.
Lun Tai, who was standing on a pickup truck, turned towards the source of the shriek.
Two melee-type Awakened ones were covered in acid and they rolled on the ground. The acid had burned through the low-grade protective suits and was now starting to burn their skin. One blister after another emerged and erupted.
Before them was the giant corpse of a fallen mutant. There was a large blown-up hole on its abdomen area. The acid earlier had burst out from its corpse, which blew up upon its death.
“Members of the same team, help them up the back of your vehicles and start treatment. Continue advancing. Do not stop.”
Every vehicle had been equipped with a walkie-talkie. After Lun Tai gave the command, the team members of the two injured men quickly rushed forward and sprayed the two men with a neutralizing agent. Next, they carried the two up into an empty pickup truck. First, they gave each of the two wounded men a Healing Beast Blood before swiftly proceeding with injury treatment.
“The strength of the acid is not high.” Tian Lie looked at them for a moment before talking into the guild channel. “Only, the timing of the self-destruct was somewhat abrupt. With just a simple treatment, those two fellows will be able to quickly regain their combat power.”
“But we’ve never encountered this type of mutants before.” Lun Tai’s face was grim as he stared ahead at the two Awakened ones who were undergoing emergency treatment on the truck bed.
“Looks like... these monsters are still evolving.”
“True enough. New guys have come!”
Roddy shouted his lungs out.
Up in the sky, sporadic silhouettes of the mutants began to appear. They sported insect-like membranous wings, bird-like feather wings and even bat-like or pterosaur-like leather wings as they charged towards their convoy of vehicles at high velocity.
“Every vehicle, provide fire cover! Our group will increase our velocity to 30 kilometres per hour.”
Lun Tai’s voice came from the walkie-talkies again. Before he even gave the command, though, the men on the pickup trucks had spontaneously brought out their firearms, aimed them at the mutants up in the sky and began firing.
Roddy also swiftly increased the Tidal Fighter’s velocity, expanding its cover radius and changing the aim of the Tidal Fighter’s artillery fire from the ground to the sky.
Nicole was hovering around the Tidal Fighter, the energy cannons of her Floater opening fire swiftly to shoot down all the mutants that came close to the Tidal Fighter.
“If it’s just this, then we should be fine. As long as monsters with long-ranged attacks do not appear in a high number, our overall formation will not be easily disrupted.” Bei Tai was standing on a pickup truck all on his own, a pile of steel ingots beside him. His left arm had transformed into an anti-aircraft machinegun, which he aimed up in the sky to open fire non-stop. “However, judging by the way the situation is developing, that might actually happen.”
“Damn it! If you’re my brother, watch your mouth, you crow’s mouth!” Lun Tai chided with a furious face.
For some unknown reason, the mutants around them had suddenly become much stronger than before.
The previous mutants had still retained a general human form. The new mutants that appeared, however, showed clear changes in their appearances.
Quadrupedal, insect-like, with wings...
This was neither those wild beasts from the zoo that simply had their size increased nor the mutated humans from the second wave. Rather, they had mixed the characteristics of the two groups, as though they had been randomly mashed together.
In terms of offensive methods, these new mutants had more tricks up their sleeves.
Some could spit out acid from a distance and some could fire out spikes. Those melee-type mutants also became better at fighting, more agile and more durable.
“The pressure is a little... big! Brother Lun Tai!”
By relying on his super strong ability to recover and versatility, Xia Xiaolei had been constantly at the vanguard position. At that very moment, however, he too was struggling somewhat. Although the Bug Armour’s regenerative ability was formidable, it required plenty of energy replenishment. Since these new mutants appeared, the rate at which Xia Xiaolei opened fire with his thermal blasters had multiplied several times over. In but a few minutes’ time, he’d had to consume a sack of white sugar to provide more power to the thermal blaster.
“Tian Lie, head to the front!” Lun Tai’s brows furrowed. “Don’t you have area-of-effect skills? It’s time to use them! If you need steel ingots to replenish yourself, get them from Bei Tai!”
“Don’t give me orders, you son of a bitch!” Tian Lie said with a grin, but rushed to the frontmost part of their group. Jumping onto a Thunderstorm Tank, he opened his mouth and roared, creating a soundwave which spread forward.
In the areas swept by the soundwave, cracks split open upon the tar road while the mutants were quaked to the point of being thrown to the ground. The few at the very front were further quaked to the point of having their bodies turned to minced meat.
“This fellow. His temper has gotten better.” Roddy looked down from the cockpit and mumbled softly.