Chapter 449.1: Titan Awakening

Ample Time: Don't get too excited. Try to recall exactly what happened?

Falling Feather: I really don't know, I was gone the moment the nuclear bomb exploded. QAQ

Night Ten: What about before the nuclear bomb exploded?

Falling Feather: ... It seemed like a plot was triggered, but it was cut off by the nuclear explosion not long after it started. Damn! Just a few more minutes would have been good... I haven’t even asked about the cost...

Ample Time: Plot? What plot? And what's this about the cost?

Falling Feather: There was a Mutant Slime Mold’s Mother Body... Oh right, and an old monster who's lived for over 100 years. He’s the author of the Oasis Beneath the Tzobar Mountains, a researcher from the Academy.

Ample Time: Damn!

Night Ten: Damn??

Falling Feather: Uh... Does this have to do with the bug? Didn't the planner say I was bugged out by the nuclear bomb? (｡﹏｡")

Ample Time: That may not necessarily be the case, you'd know if you played more games, sometimes even the officials don't know where the bug is.

Night Ten: +1, in the end, if it can't be found, pulling out the big guns and rolling back three days isn’t out of the question. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Falling Feather: Oh man, really?

Ample Time: Hard to say. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Tomato Eggs: Speaking of which, who’s going to remind them? There's a Mother Body in the Lost Valley... is it a Hive or a Mother Body? I still haven't figured out the difference between the two.

Gale: Where's Mosquito? Didn't he take on the mission?

Old White: ... He hasn't replied to my messages. He’s probably logged in.

Falling Feather: He can't still be alive, right? It’s a megaton nuclear bomb, bro! What carbon-based life can withstand that?

Irena: Psh, in this game, a megaton is just a warm-up. Haven’t you seen big scenes in Clearspring City? Did the Hive there get scared of us? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Falling Feather: (ᵕ • ᴗ •)

...

Lost Valley.

The narrow pass leading into the valley was blocked by several collapsed boulders, obstructing everyone’s path.

Jumping down from the truck, Sisi walked to the middle of the road in her protective suit, pushed the stone lying in front, and found it immovable.

At the same time, as she approached the area, the Geiger counter on her VM began to tick, and the radiation index shot up.

The residual radioactivity from the nuclear bomb was no joke.

In reality, taking two more steps inside would mean certain death.

Luckily, they were playing a game!

Before putting on the protective suits, everyone had been injected with anti-radiation medicine, and Roshan had even taken two doses.

"It probably flew over from the center of the explosion... Digging this place up is going to take some time."

Stepping back from the boulders in the middle of the road, Sisi looked back at the people on the truck.

"We should walk."

"That's the only option now." Escaping Mole nodded, jumped down from the truck, and Mosquito followed suit.

The group consisted of six people and one bear.

Besides the players, there was also a local guide from Petra Fortress.

Tail, who wore a steel helmet for some reason, had already hoisted an entrenching tool and an iron shovel on her shoulders. She yelled enthusiastically, "Whoa! Where do we start searching?"

"No clue." Roshan scratched the back of her head. "Did we get any specific coordinates?"

Flicking the VM screen incessantly, Mosquito's face was filled with strange expressions. "Uh... No, the coordinates given by the administrator seem to be just a rough location."

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Escaping Mole couldn't help turning back to ask, "So you mean the whole Great Rift Valley could be possible?"

Mosquito scratched his head. "Yeah, kinda."

Escaping Mole felt his eyelids twitching.

The radius of a Levee in the desert was 10 kilometers wide... That alone meant that they had to search through 314 kilometers purely on the surface!

How the fuck...

Not to mention things wouldn’t be that bad if the damn bomb didn’t explode.

A VM, as a life sign monitor, could send out its encrypted coordinates, which were shared among players.

But having been hit by a nuclear bomb... If the feature still worked, that would be truly impressive.

"Actually, we're not completely without clues." Pinching her chin and pondering for a moment, Sisi spoke, "Assuming there are remains left, the shockwave from the nuclear blast would have pushed the debris horizontally to the perimeter. We don’t need to go too deep into the valley. All we have to do is to walk around the perimeter...”

"That makes sense!" Escaping Mole's eyes lit up, then he added, "Brother Falling Feather's attack direction was from south to north, so it's highly likely that it would fall on the southern or northern side of the valley's center!"

Sisi nodded earnestly. “To be precise, he was on the north side. I roughly saw when it flew into a mountain.”

Saying this, she looked to the guide who had come here with them. "Could you wait here for us?"

The guide hesitated.

Before setting out, the fortress lord had specifically instructed him, since the New Alliance was a partner of the Camel Kingdom, to ensure the safety of their distinguished guests.

"But..."

"I'll be frank, the situation inside might be more complex than we think, and you following us might become a burden."

Hearing her, the guide no longer insisted and finally nodded.

He had heard various legends about Lost Valley and clearly didn't want to get close to the haunted place. In the end, he simply uttered a warning, "Be careful... this place is very sinister, there was a merchant who passed through here at midnight and heard the cries of evil spirits."

Sisi nodded, cocking the submachine gun in her hand. "I got it."

The group climbed over the boulders and entered the valley, searching along the inner side of the mountain for the crash site.

The shockwave generated by the nuclear blast had completely altered the landscape, and Sisi was surprised to find that the situation was completely different from when she had last visited.

"Wow... Is that the crater created by the nuke?" Mosquito looked towards the center of the valley with his binoculars, only to see a striking crater imprinted on the ground.

Tail yelled, "Oh! The explosion was spectacular! Tail even recorded a video!"

Mosquito’s eyes sparkled. "Let me see!"

While the group was whispering, a hoarse roar suddenly came from the front.

Walking in the front, Escaping Mole stopped in his tracks, raising the LD 50 in his hand.

"... Cruncher?" Sisi furrowed her brow.

"Doesn’t sound right... I've never seen this kind of monster in Clearspring City." Escaping mole revealed a wary expression, pulling out a signal gun and firing it into the sky.

A bright red flare soared into the sky.

The crimson light illuminated the entire area, and the monster hidden in the darkness was fully revealed.

It was four humanoid creatures, crawling on the ground, their heads embedded in their shoulders. Their sharp teeth were like those of sharks, and pairs of scarlet pupils emitted a sinister light.

The characteristic red Slime Mold on them indicated their identity.

There was no doubt about it. They were Mutant Slime Mold!

"Fire!"