Chapter 344.1: Evolved Type... Evolved Type Everywhere!

Over Clearspring City, a Dragonfly transport aircraft hovered along the edge of the fifth ring.

Looking at the boundless yellow-green mist outside the aircraft, Unprofessional Retort couldn't help but click his tongue in surprise, his eyes filled with astonishment.

The spore cloud, amassed at the heart of the city, mirrored a descending waterfall from the heavens, forming an illusion akin to a colossal, foliage-rich tree; its monumental trunk loomed over the land, gradually consuming it with an insatiable appetite, while its sprawling branches aggressively encroached upon the expansive sky.

Is there really a weapon in reality capable of destroying this thing?

Even a nuclear bomb...

Feeling a slight chill crawled up along his line of sight, Unprofessional Retort shook his head and picked up the radio hanging over his shoulder, calling out, "Are you guys ready?"

Amidst the static noise, Old White's intermittent voice came through the headset. "We're ready."

The signal had begun to fluctuate erratically, signaling to Unprofessional Retort that this area had already reached the aircraft's utmost limit for safe approach without electromagnetic interference protection devices. Trusting his intuition, he swiftly grasped the side control lever and took immediate action.

Accompanied by an unstable tremor, the locked tailgate slowly lowered, turbulent airflow instantly rushed into the cabin.

"The cargo bay door is open."

"Good luck, everyone!"

Old White, standing at the cabin door, immediately gestured to the teammates behind him and, braving the whistling airflow, stepped out of the cabin first.

From the distance, one could see a few dots separating from the aircraft, darting toward the center of Clearspring City, and not long after, 6 parachutes bloomed in the airspace above the third ring.

After landing, the team quickly gathered towards the airdropped supplies, retrieving ammunition, RPG rocket launchers, and other support equipment there.

Meanwhile, on another front.

At the radar station located at the edge of the west of the third ring in Boulder Town, the vigilant operators had already spotted the aircraft hovering in the sky.

"Unidentified flying object approaching our airspace!" The operator sitting in front of the radar control terminal was the first to notice the red dot on the screen.

However, rather than being nervous, he was excited and yelled.

Instantly, the radar station bustled with activity.

The mood of the personnel here was mostly the same as his.

They hadn't seen aircraft from other surviving factions appearing within the radar alert zone for far too long.

"Damn it, it must be the aircraft from those scavengers in the northern suburbs! I'm sure of it!" One operator exclaimed excitedly.

"No response from them to our communication!"

"Could it be that they simply don't have wireless communication devices to receive signals?"

"Haha, it's possible!"

While they conversed, a staff member managing the anti-aircraft system had already aimed a rapid-fire cannon at the slow-moving silver bird.

The computer had calculated the pre-aiming circle based on the aircraft's movement parameters.

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

All he needed to do was press the fire button, and then the silver bird would become a ball of fire.

"The target has entered our firing range!"

"Should we shoot it down?"

Unlike the excited operators in the radar station, the station's manager, in charge, appeared notably cautious.

"Wait a moment."

The aircraft didn't continue advancing towards Boulder Town; instead, it soon turned around, heading back towards the northern suburbs of Clearspring City.

The personnel operating the weapons showed a slightly disappointed expression.

He'd been stationed in the station for nearly 10 years, and the anti-aircraft system on the giant wall had never been put to use.

"They’re provoking us!" said a disgruntled staff member.

"Whether it's a provocation or not will be decided by the mayor," the radar station's manager interrupted the conversation, looking at his deputy, "Immediately report this incident!"

The deputy standing beside nodded. "Yes, sir!"

...

South of the third ring in Clearspring City.

The Bull and Horse Squad landed safely and successfully gathered near the airdrop crate, obtaining the weapons placed inside.

However, the expressions on everyone's faces weren't optimistic.

The situation was much worse than they had imagined.

In fact... It completely exceeded their expectations.

The dark red fungal blanket almost covered every building, every elevated highway, and every inch of the streets.

Ferocious Crunchers, and mutants fiercer than Crunchers, roamed aimlessly on the fragmented streets.

What made it even more challenging was not just these; it was the intricate and complex terrain that multiplied the danger in this area.

The towering skyscrapers, connected by tunnels, penetrate deep into the clouds, transforming this place into a true forest of steel.

When parachuting down earlier, Night Ten almost got caught on a pedestrian overpass. Fortunately, he was lucky; the parachute passed through the gap between the broken bridge sections, allowing a safe landing and a smooth rendezvous with his teammates.

"Damn... So this is what the city center of Clearspring City looks like." Wearing a gas mask, Night Ten stood by the damaged wall on the 50th floor of a kilometer-tall building, holding binoculars to gaze in the direction of the crash site.

The wreckage of the W-1 Mosquito glider was stuck on the outer wall of the skyscraper opposite to them, with its front half embedded in the wall. The body of Falling Feather should be inside.

Night Ten glanced downward.

Beneath him was like an abyss without a visible bottom, and the thick spore cloud resembled toxic liquid, limiting the observable area significantly.

Due to the spore cloud gathered in the city center, the visibility here was less than 200 meters.

However, due to the numerous building debris and reinforced concrete, the actual visibility was even less than half of that.

It was much more intense than the Tide.

"Have you guys never explored this area before?" Quit Smoking asked nervously.

Gale shook his head. "Haven't heard of anyone coming here."

Ample Time added, "There's no mission here, and no progress can be saved. So, coming here seems meaningless."

Without powerful equipment, they wouldn't be able to travel far, but taking powerful equipment meant they would have to consider the risk of losing expensive stuff.

While this game didn't restrict players' specific gameplay, it emphasized that everyone was an adult and needed to take responsibility for their choices.

Actually, they had attempted to explore deeper into the third ring from Boulder Town in the past. However, the mutants they encountered along the way grew increasingly powerful. They wasted a considerable amount of ammunition without gaining anything, so eventually they gave up.

Carefully observing the situation on the path forward, Night Ten's expression became increasingly grave. "... There are quite a few Evolved Types here." He said, lowering his voice.

Upon hearing the term, everyone immediately became serious.

"Are there Rotten Knights?" Old White asked with a serious tone.

Night Ten shook his head without speaking, but instead, gestured lightly towards the concrete elevated highway connecting another building outside.

There lay the wreckage of many cargo drones, roughly counting to nearly a hundred, with packages and takeout boxes from 200 years ago scattered around.

Their dark red shells looked like rust at first glance. However, upon closer inspection through binoculars, it would be evident that what covered the surface of those drones wasn't rust at all.

It was a shocking fungal blanket!

"I can sense that those things are alive," Night Ten said in a low voice. "And they're probably not easy to deal with!"

Gale frowned. "Should we pass them?"

"The situation below isn't much better. Haven't you forgotten what we saw when we came up here?" Old White took out an RPG launcher from behind, inserted a high-explosive shell, and gestured to Quit Smoking carrying the heavy machine gun. "We can only try."

Passing them was not an option.

The stealth difficulty in this game was exceptionally challenging, especially with those Mutant Slime Mold creatures. In areas covered by spore clouds, it was as if they had search antennas on their heads. As soon as they got only a bit closer, those mutants would immediately rush towards them with loud howls.

The best strategy was to choose a relatively safe path, lure out and clear the monsters in the area, and then continue moving forward.

Seeing Old White take out the RPG, the other team members instinctively moved to their respective combat positions, their weapons already ready.

"I'm ready."

"I'm good to go."

"Me too."

"..."

The teamwork among everyone was incredibly synchronized. After all, this wasn't their first time teaming up; they had already endured countless battles together.

Seeing their teammates ready, Old White pulled the trigger.

The afterburners ignited as a high-explosive shell blasted right into the midst of that dense swarm of drones!

As the flames and thick smoke erupted instantaneously, numerous drones were sent flying by the explosion's shockwave and shrapnel, hurtling downwards in a freefall.

Not far away, Quit Smoking, manning the machine gun, also pulled the trigger, unleashing ferocious firepower towards the swarm.

The rapid 10mm bullets weaved into an orange-yellow curtain of fire, ruthlessly mowing down the drones stirred by the disturbance.

"Oh dang, this thing can really fly." Ample Time, rifle in hand, exclaimed with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

It has been 2 centuries already. Unless it was nuclear-powered, no chemical battery could last this long!

Clearly, those Mutant Slime Mold had replaced the drone batteries, becoming the new power source and, in a peculiar way, activated the propellers. Even evolving part of the fungal blanket into the propellers.

However...

Against absolute firepower, none of it mattered. The swarm of drones surging through billowing smoke was mowed down in swathes by the bullets.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

Some of the drones that were shaken off by the high-explosive grenade didn't all crash to the ground. Some surviving ones wobbled back up into the air.

Simultaneously, more and more drones flew out from the Elevated Highway and even from the buildings opposite, starting to encircle them from both sides.

The Bull and Horse Squad behind cover immediately found themselves in a fierce battle.

"God damn it! There are too many of them!" Emptying an entire drum magazine, Quit Smoking cursed, swiftly changing the magazine.

At that moment, Gale, who was pouring down fire, suddenly spoke. "Is it possible that..."

"What...?"

"The mimetic ability of the mutated Slime Molds might not just mimic individual drones but mimic an entire drone swarm itself..." Pausing, Gale continued, "In simpler terms, what's attacking us isn't just a single courier package but an entire courier locker."

Night Ten was shocked. "Don't jinx us, damn it!"

"It's not exactly jinxing; if we can find the drone mind controlling these little guys, we might be able to disrupt their organization..."

As Quit Smoking's machine gun resumed firing, Gale took out the drone strapped with an IED from his backpack, preparing to command it to fly towards the opposite building.

With his VM activated. the neural interface device was put on his head.