82
This round of scavenger attacks officially marked the beginning of the destruction of the world.
The fire burned as big as the sky because of the appearance of the scavenger. Flames kept falling from the sky, smoke and black fog were mixed together, and visibility was less than half of the usual level.
The wind began to blow from the wasteland, and the last bit of tranquility that distinguished the main city from the wasteland disappeared.
Those without goggles had their eyes turned red by the smoke-laden wind.
There were no cracks around the mall, and the scavengers' attack was temporarily still near the cracks. Guang Guang jumped onto the windowsill and looked out while clinging to the window frame. Most of the travelers in the mall had left, and only a small team was left here to guard the supplies and take care of the refugees. When the injured travelers came back to rest, someone in the team would take turns to go out.
"Where is your patrol team?" Sister Qi ran into the mall.
"He went to the back building," Guangguang jumped down, "Why?"
Some refugees finally realized that the main city was no longer a paradise, and the leaders of the main city were no longer their protectors. If they wanted to die, they just had to rush out, but if they wanted to live, they had to do something.
So they formed a patrol team that took turns patrolling around the mall, checking for cracks and observing whether there were scavengers or other dangers approaching so that they could notify travelers in time.
"It's okay," said Sister Qi. "The Bats just sent some equipment over and put it on the first floor. The travelers won't need it for now. You patrol team can take it for self-defense."
"Okay," Guangguang jumped off the windowsill, "I'll ask them to pick it up."
"You," Sister Qi held her back, "bring a few women to get the weapons. Divide them according to the number of people. Give them only to the patrol team members. Don't give them to other refugees. Hide the extra weapons."
Guangguang understood what she meant and nodded.
"My companion is injured. I'm going to the city boundary now," Sister Qi said, "You can talk to others if you have anything."
"Yeah." Guang Guang nodded.
"The scavenger has appeared," Sister Qi said, "Don't be soft-hearted, even to your own people. When death is in sight, many people will do anything."
Guangguang responded and felt his nose a little sore.
Sister Qi jumped out of the window of the shopping mall and rushed to the southern city boundary of District D, where two large cracks intersected. The small cracks on the ground were like spider webs. As long as the cracks were more than one meter, scavengers would appear. That was one of the locations where scavengers were more concentrated. Li Xiang and his men had been staying nearby.
There was a crack across the front, and in the middle was a narrow bridge built by an engineering vehicle. When Sister Qi jumped onto the narrow bridge, she saw a black shadow in her peripheral vision. She rushed forward and waved her hand fiercely at the black shadow, and the black shadow was cut in half.
But as she jumped off the bridge, a dark figure rushed out from the other side and grabbed her hand.
There was no real feeling, just a burning pain that could instantly burn into my heart.
"Go to hell!" she yelled, and swung her hand violently, cutting off the shadow's arm.
The shadow's hand, which was still grasping hers, gradually faded like a layer of mist. She shook it vigorously a few times, and the mist disappeared. She saw five fingerprints on her hand that were burned black by the high temperature.
"How is your injury?" The first thing Li Xiang asked when he saw her rushing towards him was her injury.
"It's okay," Sister Qi said, "It's just a minor injury. How is it?"
"We can suppress them for now," Li Xiang said, "they can't come out as fast as we can kill them."
"That's good." Sister Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xiang glanced at her and said, "We can't always maintain this level of physical strength and attack capability."
Sister Qi frowned.
The scavengers attack at a constant speed, and all of them, from the very beginning, are burdened with the pressure of fatigue and energy shortage. The longer the time goes, the weaker they become.
No one knows whether there is a fixed number of scavengers or whether there is a possibility of them all being killed.
There was a whistling sound coming from the front left.
Sister Qi jumped up and when she rushed over she saw three scavengers coming out from the ruins behind the house.
The hammer was opposite her, and she pressed her hand on the ground. The scavengers paused at the same time. Sister Qi raised her arm, and the black shadow was split into several pieces. Then, like a burning piece of clothing, it shattered into a huge black dust.
"There's one more!" Hammer shouted.
The two chased in the direction the hammer pointed. A scavenger had already left the ruins and was preparing to cross the crack.
When Sister Qi pounced over, the scavenger turned sideways and waved his hand forward, as if throwing something over.
Several balls of black mist suddenly appeared in front of Sister Qi. They were so fast that she dodged the first one, but then two balls of black mist hit her chest and shoulders, like black dye, instantly dyeing her neck and half of her face black.
Then came an intense burning sensation, so painful that she could hardly open her eyes.
"Sister Qi!" Hammer rushed over and pulled her back.
Two travelers from the puppet army rushed out from the side, with a dark silver light, directly smashing the black shadow into pieces.
"How is it?" Hammer supported Sister Qi and stared at her face.
"It's disfigured!" Sister Qi shouted, "What else can it be!"
"No..." Hammer said, "Not really. You're just average looking."
"If I died, it definitely wasn't the scavenger who killed me," Sister Qi supported his shoulders to stand steady, the pain from the wound made her hands tremble a little, "it was you who was mad at me to death."
"I'll take you back to the mall." said Hammer.
"You want me to go back with this little injury? What are you thinking?" Sister Qi frowned. "I'll be fine after a while. Where is Lao Ba? Ask him to help me deal with it."
"Take cover in front," Hammer said, "I'll carry you over."
"Go away!" Sister Qi pushed him.
The bunker is very close to the crevice, which is a pile of rubble, allowing the traveler to observe the emergence of scavengers in the crevice and attack at the first opportunity.
The battle here was much more intense than imagined. When Sister Qi sat down, there were seven or eight injured travelers around her. Lao Ba and several travelers with healing abilities were busy. Lao Ba, who always used spitting to distinguish his own healing ability from others, stopped spitting.
"Uncle Eight," Sister Qi said, "you're not going to spit anymore?"
"I can't spit it out anymore." Lao Ba sighed, "I spit it all out."
Sister Qi didn't say anything else. After the battle started, she had been in the mall. There were not many injured travelers coming back to rest, and she always thought that the situation here should be relatively stable.
Now when she saw her injured companions around her, she realized that there were far more injured people than she had imagined, and most of them could not return to the mall to rest.
Just as Lao Ba was treating her, the scavenger rushed out from the crack again.
"I'm fine now." Sister Qi jumped up and rushed out of the shelter with a group of travelers.
"Protection!" someone shouted.
The defense was put up, and a team of puppets rushed to the front. At the same time, they raised their hands, and a dark silver light flashed in the fire. Some scavengers fell down, and the abilities of all travelers were activated at the same time, attacking the remaining scavengers.
There are several types of scavengers.
Some are very fast and come in close contact. They are made entirely of black mist and can wrap the entire person up in their bodies, as if they were swallowing them. It is almost impossible for anyone to survive after being attacked by such a scavenger.
The other type is what Sister Qi encountered just now. It has long-range attacks, but it is difficult to judge the direction. The attack can only be seen when it is in front of you, and it is hard to defend against.
The first wave of attacks from puppets and travelers are these two types. Put up a defense to block most of the attacks, and then attack again to clear most of them.
The third type is reserved for bats.
This type of scavenger moves slowly, but can withstand several waves of travelers' attacks, like a shield wall. This is also the reason why the main city's physical attack is limited. They can help other scavengers block most of the firepower, and only the attacks of travelers and puppets can penetrate their cover.
After two rounds of attacks, Black Ring suddenly appeared from the darkness and swung out the whip in his hand.
The Shield Wall Scavenger was broken into pieces by the Fine Iron Bat Rope and then dispersed by the puppet.
The Nine Wings leaped into the air, and a thin and sharp sound came out from the finger spikes. At the same time, the Black Ring turned to the right and pounced on the Scavenger who rushed out of the fire again.
The cold light of the finger spikes was sandwiched in the attack of the bat rope, like a net, cutting the scavenger into pieces.
The scavengers that came out this round were pinned near the crack by the firepower of the cleaning team, but their number was greater than before and they had to be killed as soon as possible. The position of the cleaning team was to cut off the scavengers' route into the main city. Although they could use firepower to force the scavengers into the attack range of travelers and bats, they were always in a state of being attacked from both sides. If there was any mistake in coordination, they might be attacked.
Jiuyi never thought that one day he would live such a hard life, jumping up and down, and the amount of activity in one hour would be as much as what he did in the Lost Valley in a month.
"Why would I do this?" Jiuyi pounced on the scavenger. "Why would I do this..."
When two groups of scavengers attacked him, he suddenly leaped into the air. The black mist thrown by the scavengers exploded under his feet. He waved his hand fiercely, and a large net of cold light pressed down from the air.
When the scavenger landed on the ground, he had turned into black smoke, but it still had the last trace of burning. The falling smoke burned shallow marks on the black iron ball under his feet.
"Their attack has little effect on Black Iron," Jiu Yi pressed the intercom, "Where is Chen Fei's machine?"
"It will take time to come over from the Black Iron Wasteland along the city boundary," Lei Yu said. There is a crack in the middle."
"Hurry up and think of another way!" Jiu Yi said, "If we keep fighting like this, we will lose in three days at most. The scavengers' attacks never stop. I don't even have time to eat when I'm hungry!"
As if to prove that Jiuyi's words were true, cracks on all sides suddenly burst open at the same time, flames shot up into the sky, and a large number of scavengers poured out at the same time.
Jiuyi was located right in the middle of the scavengers. The flames rolling down from above caused chaos. When Jiuyi was about to jump up, a black mist thrown by the scavengers suddenly appeared around him.
It's only been a short while since we started fighting and he's already injured.
Jiuyi raised his hand, and the cold net woven by his fingertips pounced on the scavenger in front of him. Protect your face first, and your back later.
After he blocked the attack from the sweeper in front of him, the attack from behind did not come.
When he turned around, he saw Li Xiang.
Li Xiang's defense blocked the attack from behind, but a large black area on Li Xiang's back was shocking.
"Mind your own business." Jiuyi clicked his tongue, rushed over and picked up Li Xiang, dragged him into the air, and with a flick of his finger, a black ring rushed out from the darkness.
"If you can't cure it, tell me." Jiuyi threw Li Xiang next to the bunker, "I'll modify it. A bat with such strong defense must be amazing..."
Before he could finish his words, cracks appeared again.
Just like the previous round of outbreak, a large number of scavengers poured out like a tide, like a floodgate opened.
"Go quickly." Li Xiang gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Traveler, stop ordering me around!" Jiu Yi turned around, took two steps and leaped into the air.
This round of attack by the scavengers was unprecedented. The number and speed were astonishing. Jiu Yi saw in the air more than a dozen travelers being wrapped up in their bodies and disappearing. Many puppets were also chopped down and struggled to get up.
"We can still hold on for another five minutes!" Lei Yu's voice came from the intercom.
"Leave it to me." Jiu Yi said.
With a flick of the finger and a sound, the Black Ring rushed into the pile of scavengers, and the Nine Wings followed suit.
The cleanup team's suppression barrier cannot be broken, otherwise everyone here will be doomed.
Between the interlaced light and shadows of the cold light and bat rope, the black rings kept falling.
Jiuyi's eyes were burning with pain, but he knew that as long as he could hold on for a few seconds, Ning Gu, who was still in the Black Iron Wasteland, would be able to rescue them.
The scavengers in the wasteland have not been able to attack because of E and Ning Gu.
The two of them, along with the Traveler and the Golem, can overwhelm a large number of Scavengers on the wasteland.
This is the savior, the persistent savior who cannot bypass the destruction program.
When the golden light erupted in the city boundary, most of the main city could see it.
Guangguang stood on the windowsill, looking at the golden light that rose into the sky like a mushroom cloud in the distance, and then spread around like thick clouds, and the dark silver beams that kept flashing through the golden light like lightning.
"What is that!" Everyone rushed to the window.
"I don't know." Guangguang said.
It's a miracle.
Maybe they are the world that holds miracles.
A fierce golden light swept past Jiuyi, coupled with the strong wind, Jiuyi felt that if it weren't for the two black iron balls under his feet, he might have been blown away.
Many black rings and travelers around were blown to the ground and rolled far away.
Jiuyi turned his head and spat at the crumbs that flew into his mouth.
What a shitty savior.
Ning Gu crossed the city boundary and stood on top of the broken city wall.
There was a constant stream of golden light all around, and the flames rising from the cracks were suppressed by the golden light.
Everywhere I looked, large swathes of scavengers had disappeared.
Ning Gu withdrew his hand, but the golden light did not disappear and was still rolling in the air. From time to time, a dark silver light would extend from it to the ground, scattering the scavengers that appeared.
"How long can this state last?" Ning Gu turned his head and asked.
"I don't know. No one can do this." E, who was standing behind him, took away the hand that was supporting his shoulder. "I never thought I could achieve this."
"How are you?" Ning Gu asked.
"It's okay." said E.
"Take this opportunity to bring the injured out!" Lei Yu said on the intercom.
"I'll go down and take a look." Ning Gu said, stretching out his hand to support E, "You..."
"I'm right here," E said, "Just tell me if anything happens."
"Okay." Ning Gu didn't say anything more and jumped off the city wall.
"Was it Ning Gu who did it?" The leader's voice came from the intercom, "There are fewer scavengers in the main city."
"Me and E." Ning Gu looked back at E standing on the city wall.
“If the scavengers have a leader,” the leader said, “there may be changes after this round. We should take this time to rest.”
"E's condition isn't very good," Ning Gu said, "Do you want to go see him?"
"No," the captain said, "He lived for the last battle, and he wants to die here. We said goodbye to him when we came from the ghost town."
"Yeah." Ning Gu responded.
Jiuyi came over with Fulu Shouxi and pointed at him: "Do you have any accuracy? You blew away half of the attack."
"It's better than dying," Ning Gu said, "I can't control it completely yet, I need E to help me."
"He's dying," Jiu Yi looked up, "You have to adapt quickly, or no one will be able to help you."
"Lian Chuan can." Ning Gu said.
Jiu Yi looked at him and waved his hand: "Fu Lu Shou Xi, go check on the black ring and the bat."
"Okay." Fulushouxi jumped and ran away.
Jiuyi turned back and looked at Ning Gu: "Lianchuan is not here."
Ning Gu looked at him without saying anything.
"Consider the reality of the situation. You have to control yourself before you find him," Jiu Yi said. "The scavenger won't wait until you find him before coming out."
"I won't consider it." Ning Gu said.
"Psycho—" Jiu Yi roared.
"You are." Ning Gu said.
"Where do you think Lian Chuan is?" Jiu Yi lowered his voice. "Where are you going to find him?"
"If it's not in the dew," Ning Gu looked at him, "it's in the fire. The chances of it being in the fire are higher."
"Why?" Jiu Yi asked.
"Taking possession of dewdrops won't help us much," Ning Gu said, "it's most useful in the scavenger's nest."
"…Are you sure Lian Chuan is not idle?" Jiu Yi sighed, "You are too optimistic."
"I wouldn't be so optimistic if it were you," Ning Gu said, "Even if Lian Chuan only has one hair left, he still wants to live."