Chapter 288.1: Fierce Battle In The Jungle

Every street and every tall building was covered with greenery.

Dense vines and tree roots criss-crossed through the collapsed buildings, and the concrete walls were covered with cracks and moss.

It was hard to imagine that it was once a bustling city.

The vast jungle and the city seemed to be integrated together. Although many urban areas in Clearspring City were the same, the Bull and Horse Squad were completely floored when they saw it for the first time.

Looking around, every frame was like a world famous painting! Every shot was like a work of art!

Is this the height that human modeling technology can achieve?

Ample Time couldn't help but use the ear-mounted camera to take a picture. While being shocked by the scene in front of him, he also felt troubled. How were they going to get there?

From their vantage point, they were 1 kilometer away from their mission target. However, the short 1 kilometer journey seemed so far away with the uneven ruins!

"According to the background information we were given... This is one of the core business zones in the eastern district of Clearspring City. The giant egg directly in front of us is the destination of our trip." Standing next to Ample Time, Old White wearing a Light Cavalry exoskeleton said while referring to the pre-war map.

"What's that place?" Quit Smoking asked curiously.

Gale replied casually, "The zoo."

The full name was Clearspring City Third Ecological Protection Park. The structure of the facility was similar to the artificial biosphere they discovered in the Central Continent Aerospace Experimental Base before, but the purpose was different.

One was to provide research support for outer space colonization, and the other was for the recreation of the surrounding citizens.

In terms of the technical content, the former was definitely more advanced than the latter.

But in terms of scale, the Ecological Protection Park was much larger.

Night Ten said with a delicate expression, "... I suddenly have an ominous premonition."

"Me too, be vigilant and prepare for the possible battle," Old White turned off the display screen on his arm, removed the rope made of nylon fiber from his waist, and threw it to Gale who was standing beside him.

"Time to work."

Work, of course, referred to the hidden mission of the scientific expedition team.

Actually, it wasn’t a hidden mission. The mission they accepted just happened to have higher requirements. They were the only ones who met the standard for accepting it.

The rewards were also naturally quite generous. If they were able to determine the specific location of Shelter 401 and gain control of the area, they would gain a reward of 5,000 silver coins!

Well... That was the best case scenario.

Since they had no information on the area, the team speculated that the shelter might be located under the zoo or a nearby subway station.

If they used the VM to scan the area to find that Shelter 401 didn’t exist, or if they retreated after encountering terrifying enemies like Deathclaws, they would only get several random rewards.

However, Old White felt that it wasn’t a big problem.

He was a man who had killed a Deathclaw before anyway...

Well... It had been crippled by marauders before, but that didn’t matter! He was still the person with the first kill achievement!

The rope was thrown from the half-collapsed building.

Old White skillfully descended to the slope below. After confirming that the place below was safe, the other 4 members of the team also descended to the surface through the rope one after another.

Wearing the heavy KV-1 exoskeleton, Quit Smoking walked in the front with a hatchet in his hand, followed by Old White who had already released the safety of his LD-47. Night Ten, who was the perception type, walked in the middle of the group, followed by Ample Time who was holding his Dawn compound bow.

Gale released the Y-1 Firefly quadrotor UAV, set the following path with a tablet, and let it maintain a certain flying height while following the group.

The group of people gradually went deep into the concrete jungle.

The soles of their boots creaked across the wet concrete slag, and the dampness mingled with the rustling of the woods and the sound of insects.

Everyone's nerves were extremely tense... Well, it might be more of excitement than anxiety.

The rustling sound behind them made it feel that something was spying on them in the dark, waiting for an opportunity to make a move.

However, there was no danger even as they made their way over.

Apart from encountering a few hyenas foraging for food, only a boa constrictor hanging from a tree branch startled everyone.

The boa constrictor was as thick as a tree trunk, and there were 2 silver stripe patterns spread from its mouth to the corners of its eyes, resembling a clown's smiling face.

It was coiled on a tree branch, probably sleeping. Night Ten didn't sense its existence until it opened its eyes and looked over.

"This is good stuff! I can use it to make wine!" Cutting off the snake's head with a knife, Quit Smoking happily picked up the snake and put it into the backpack behind the KV-1 with blood dripping everywhere.

Smelling the bloody smell, Night Ten took a step aside in disgust. "Hey, why are you like Irena? Do you really have to eat everything?"

Quit Smoking chuckled, "There is still a difference between a snake and an insect. So I'm not like him, okay?"

Ample Time asked curiously, "Is that really useful?"

Gale couldn’t help but explain at the side, "Based on a rational analysis, alcohol can cause protein denaturation and inactivation. Snake wine... Is completely useless."

Old White coughed dryly at the side, "Okay, this topic is moot... Let's continue moving."

Recycling materials was also part of fighting monsters.

Some prey could also be taken to the Hunter's Guild or warehouse in exchange for money and contribution points.

Like the 3 hyenas that Ample Time killed.

The only reason they didn’t lug it back was because they were too far away from Dawn City. Compared to the high-yield mission they were carrying out, wasting time on prey wasn't worthwhile.

The Bull and Horse Squad continued to move forward. After passing through a large area of undulating dense jungle and building cracks, the group finally arrived near the moss-covered giant egg-like structure.

The streets there were finally relatively spacious, and a collapsed high-rise fell right between the zoo and the subway station.

Seeing several corpses lying beside the iron fence at the security checkpoint, everyone became alert immediately.

Old White gestured to Ample Time next to him, signaling him to get ready to cover the team. Communicating through the headset, he lowered his body with a rifle in his hand, approaching the corpses carefully.

The chests and heads of several corpses had scars from blunt force blows and traces of being pierced by sharp instruments, which were obviously not left by wild animals.

"Judging from the traces of corrosion... This should have happened within the last 10 years."

Or 20...

He was not a professional doctor, and only knew some simple first aid measures such as stopping bleeding, bandaging, and suturing.

"After these people died, they must have been eaten by wild beasts because there were many bite marks on their bones... However, the fatal injuries were still from arrows piercing their vital organs."

Listening to the voice from the communication channel, Ample Time looked in Old White's direction and frowned slightly. "Arrows?"

"Mhm... I don’t see any bullet marks," Old White searched around, and suddenly frowned. "What is this?" He reached out to pick up a rusty iron plate that was half buried in the soil.

The vegetation in the area was dense, and the light here was very dark, but with the mottled light, he could still clearly see the outline of a triangular base and a flame drawn on it.

A torch?

A look of surprise appeared on Old White's face.

Several versions ago, after the shelter defeated the Bonechewer Clan, the NPC store put 37 Torch Mind Interference Devices snatched from Black Snake on the shelves. The function of that device was to use brainwaves to command mutants.

Although there were some intelligence type players who had developed the pet gameplay, there were too few intelligence type players who were of the Combat Profession. Most intelligence type players chose the Lifestyle Profession route, so the gameplay had never had a sense of existence.

It can't be wrong...

This should be the symbol of the Church of Torch.

But why does it appear here?

Just when Old White was confused, 2 whizzing sounds suddenly came from the side and 2 arrows flew straight for his chest and head.

Clank!

Although the arrows were as fast as lightning, they only left shallow scratches when they hit the polymer bulletproof plate and helmet of the Type 5 Light Cavalry exoskeleton.

"Shit!" Old White, who was attacked by surprise, was startled. He quickly raised the muzzle of his gun without hesitation, and pulled the trigger, shooting in the direction of the arrows.

Bullets were shot through the densely forested streets with loud bangs, and wood chips splintered everywhere in the dark.

After shrill screams came from the darkness, something fell from the tree.

Ample Time and Night Ten immediately noticed the situation. They set up their rifles and fired to cover Old White who was attacked.

"Old White, what's the situation on your side?" Ample Time asked quickly.

"It's still unclear! I can’t see what they are, but I should have taken out two of them. Gale, can you see them over there?"

Gale, who had his eyes closed tightly, shook his head before opening his eyes. "The high-altitude vision is so poor that the drone can't see anything."

A few more whizzing sounds rang through the air. The arrows that came from the darkness went after Old White again. But this time, a Molotov Cocktail flew out along with it, throwing the entire place into chaos.

"Oh fuck!" Receiving attacks from 3 sides, Old White cursed inwardly. While firing back, he quickly retreated more than 10 meters, moving behind a collapsed concrete block. He leaned against the cover to observe his surroundings vigilantly.

Visibility around him was absolutely shit! Not to mention the fact that the other side was hiding in the dark.

If it was just arrows, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Although the Light Cavalry exoskeleton was not known for its defensive performance, it was still no problem to block a few bullets, let alone a cold weapon.

However, what Old White was worried about was that the enemies in the dark still had other weapons.

Like Molotov Cocktails...

It was not the first time that Old White had experienced how cunning the hostile NPCs in Wasteland Online were. In this game, even hyenas knew how to flank and find weak points to attack, let alone humans.

"Fuck, why didn't I notice them at all?!" Night Ten clenched the PU-9 submachine gun in his hand, staring at the densely forested street ahead.

The field of view was narrow, so the sniper rifle was not useful at all.

Gale said calmly, "Maybe the other party's hidden attribute is too high, so the passive perception detection failed. Didn't similar things happen before? Don't rely too much on the panel attribute...By the way, what about your killing intent perception?"

Night Ten frowned. "I sense it now! Fuck! They're everywhere!"

"..."

Ample Time commanded decisively, "Old White, there are too many enemies! Withdraw!"

"Okay." Old White reloaded his rifle and moved away from cover.