Outside the stone forest.
Tianjiang put Yanbing down. Wearing exoskeleton armor, he weighed more than a normal person. Of course, this was nothing to Tianyang.
Those who were unconscious were carried out of the stone forest one after another and placed on the hard ground. When Lida arrived, everyone tried to wake them up.
However, no matter how they were yelled at, slapped, or even Lida's heat and cold, they could not wake up. They continued to sleep soundly, as if they could sleep until they were old.
Considering the mummies surrounding the stone pillars in the stone forest, this was not impossible. Fortunately, after about a quarter of an hour, the people who had fainted, including Yan Bing, woke up one after another.
"what happened."
Yan Bing sat up and held his head: "How come you fell asleep suddenly?"
Other soldiers had similar questions.
Tianyang stared at the stone forest thoughtfully and said, "I've heard of a kind of plant that feeds on mosquitoes and flies. They release a scent that their prey likes to lure them into the trap, and then they kill them in one fell swoop."
Lida read some meaning from his words: "You mean, those blood-sucking creatures in the stone forest will release substances that make creatures sleepy, and then suck their blood when their prey is asleep?"
Tian Yang nodded first, then shook his head: "Even if the prey is not asleep, they will still attack. Those substances that make people sleep should be just a means for them to deal with their prey."
"In addition to the substances that cause sleeplessness, they may also be able to release substances that can make people crazy or fall into hallucinations."
"Those mummies surrounding the stone pillars might have fallen into some kind of hallucination, which is why they are worshipping those stone pillars."
"What I really want to say is that the things in the stone forest, like some plants, may not be able to leave the stone forest, so they have to adopt this passive hunting method."
"In that case, can't we just go around the stone forest?"
Lida stroked her forehead and nodded in agreement: "That's right, we can first explore the scope of the stone forest. If the scope is limited, we don't have to force our way in, we can just go around it."
At this time, several stranded intelligent weapons in the stone forest came out under the control of the operators. These machines were not attacked. It seemed that the monsters in the stone forest were only of interest to biological beings.
It took more than half an hour to complete the exploration of the stone forest, and the results surprised everyone.
This stone forest is unexpectedly vast. Due to the presence of black fog, the limit range of wave energy detection can only reach about one hundred kilometers. Even within the limit range of the detector, the end of the stone forest is still not visible.
In other words, this stone forest covers more than one hundred square kilometers. What a vast area it is.
It is obviously unrealistic to bypass such a large stone forest. In this case, it would be better to enter the stone forest at the junction of the rift and open a path for the expeditionary force to pass through.
So, based on the above considerations, Rita summoned the captains to hold a brief combat meeting.
On a falcon chariot belonging to her team, an incomplete model of a stone forest appeared in front of everyone. Lida pointed to the part of the stone forest near the rift valley and said, "Tianyang just made an interesting hypothesis, assuming that the monsters in the stone forest are regional and will not leave their own area to forage."
"If this is confirmed, then what we need to do is relatively simple.
If we can clear a 'road' for the expeditionary force to pass through, we will achieve our goal."
"As for other places in the Stone Forest, we don't have to worry about them at all. So the question now is how can we determine that the monsters in the Stone Forest are regional."
Kun Lan raised his hand and said, "This is very simple. In the wilderness, there are many wild beasts, even evil creatures. These things have a strong sense of territory. If you leave its territory, they will not continue to chase you."
"Assuming that the blood-sucking monsters in the stone forest are regional and have a sense of territory, then we just need to piss one of them off, lure it out from underground, from the stone pillar, and then flee to another place."
"If it turns back halfway, then it's almost certain that these things have a sense of territory."
Lida nodded and said sincerely: "Your experience in the wilderness is really helpful to us. So, we need one, or even a team of people, to provoke the monster."
"It's not easy to stir up a hornet's nest like this. Is there anyone willing to do it?"
Kun Lan was the first to raise his hand again: "I'll do it. I have a lot of experience in how to piss these things off."
Tian Yang couldn't help but glance at him, wondering how he had ever lived in the wilderness before, and how he had this kind of experience. Then he also said, "Let me go with Kun Lan. I can run fast. If necessary, I can take him with me."
"This mission is just to test the monsters' territorial awareness. I don't think it's necessary to deploy too many people. Kunlan and I are enough."
Kunlan agreed and said, "Baimao is right. Too many people will only get in the way."
Lida said very straightforwardly: "Okay, then do as you say. If you need anything, tell me."
Tian Yang thought for a moment and said, "In a place like Shilin, I think a single-soldier motorcycle should be able to run quite fast."
Kun Lan slapped his thigh and said, "Yeah, why do we have to use our legs to run? It's a waste if we don't use the tools."
Lida smiled cheerfully: "I'll have someone get two single-soldier motorcycles for you."
Basically, each Falcon tank is equipped with one or two single-soldier motorcycles so that they can be used when needed. Soon, two single-soldier unicycles came in front of Tianyang and Kunlan.
They jumped on and drove the motorcycle into the stone forest.
The stone forest has returned to calm. Under the light of the locomotive, vague human figures can be seen in the thick black fog.
"How do you plan to piss off the blood-sucking monsters underground?" Tianyang felt it necessary to understand his companions' approach first. Of course, he didn't have much hope for Kunlan's so-called "method".
"It's simple. What could make it hate me more than beating it up?" Kun Lan responded with a matter-of-fact look and a smile showing his white teeth.
Tianyang smiled slightly and said, "Let's do it."
Sure enough, simple and rough is this guy's style.
In a blink of an eye, they saw the stone pillars surrounded by mummies. The tentacles that had originally stretched out from the stone pillars had long been retracted. If it weren't for the mummies falling, there would be traces of residual elemental power around them.
Tianyang even doubted whether they had been to this place before.
In order to prevent accidentally inhaling air containing various special substances, the two wore a respirator so that they did not need to breathe outside air until the oxygen ran out.
At this time, the ground is the same as before
Usually, it trembled slightly at first. As the frequency increased, a dozen thick and thin tentacles suddenly shot out from a nearby stone pillar.
They opened their mouths and bit Tianyang and Kunlan, trying to suck all the blood from their bodies.
Kun Lan drew his double blades, jumped off the motorcycle, and spun like a windmill, circling the stone pillar and trimming all the tentacles.
With the purpose of completely enraging the other party, Kun Lan did not stop there. He used both blades to sweep out waves of air containing the "destruction force field".
In just a few moves, the stone pillar was knocked down. The stone pillar shattered with a loud bang, and fragments of all sizes fell to the ground, burying the stone body around the pillar.
Because the column was so tall, the upper half of the column that was not affected by the force field and airflow remained intact. So it fell heavily onto another nearby stone column, and the violent collision caused the second stone column to tilt as well.
Tianyang was not idle either. He drew out the "Moonlight" and released the gray-blue crescent, which also destroyed a stone pillar and caused a chain of destruction.
The two men joined hands to dismantle the stone pillars and had a lot of fun. In a blink of an eye, a circle of pillars fell down in the nearby stone forest.
In the dense smoke and dust, suddenly thick black shadows broke through the air and lashed towards Tianyang and the other man like whips.
The two of them avoided it in their own ways. The thick black shadows fell to the ground, smashing it into pieces. Then, tentacles shot out from the cracks.
"Almost there, keep trying!"
Kun Lan reached into his arms, pulled out a few high-energy grenades, and threw them hard at the tentacles.
Tianyang shrugged and did the same thing, but what he took out was the more powerful "Hellfire" grenade.
The two Hellfires, plus Kunlan's three or four high-energy grenades, immediately set off a violent explosion. In the high flames, countless tentacles were blown off, splattering with mucus, and fell to the ground, where they were burned by the fire and made a sizzling sound, and green smoke rose.
As if really angered by the two people's behavior, a roar came from under the ground, and in the violent vibration, it seemed as if something was about to break through the ground and climb onto the surface.
"Okay, run, Baimao." Kunlan cheered and ran towards his own motorcycle excitedly like a child.
Tianyang put away the "Moonlight" and followed closely behind. The two of them jumped onto the motorcycle and heard a loud noise from behind. A large amount of sand and stones were sprayed from the ground. Seven or eight stone pillars around shook and collapsed. Countless stones rose from the sky like meteors, smashing everything into potholes.
The two men quickly started the motorcycle and drove in the opposite direction of the rift. The motorcycle weaved between the fallen rocks and stone pillars. They both heard angry roars coming from behind them.
In the midst of his busy schedule, Tianyang looked back and saw a huge figure quickly appearing in the light of the flames and the diffuse dust.
Suddenly, a huge head popped out from the thick smoke. It was unclear whether it was a man or a woman, and it was made up of a mass of wriggling rotten flesh. When it poked its head out of the smoke, flesh pulp still fell from its huge face from time to time.
Then an arm stretched out, passed through the stone forest, knocked down countless stone pillars, and chased after Tianyang and the other man.
Tianyang looked up and saw that the arm was made up of countless tentacles of different sizes and thicknesses twisted together. It opened its five fingers and slapped the two of them.
Under this palm, Tianyang and Kunlan were like two tiny mosquitoes and flies!