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"It's impossible for the scavengers to be without a leader," Chen Fei said. "Just by looking at the different types of scavengers, you can tell that no matter how they were formed, they all had a plan in the beginning."
"I'm still trying to get some information about the scavengers," Chun San said, "The cleanup team will send me to the City Affairs Office right away after I get it."
"Do you want to use the laboratory?" Chen Fei said, "I have already given you my authorization password, you can use that, but the City Affairs Office is not safe right now. The scavenger has entered Area A and was suppressed and forced out."
"I know," Chun San walked out of the tent and looked at the black iron wasteland in front of him, which was illuminated by the fire. "It won't take long. I just need to know its initial information."
"Do you have any conclusion?" Chen Fei asked.
"I have a vague idea," Chun San said, "I have been observing the actions of the scavengers, and I have not found any communication or cooperation between them. The monitoring stations that can still be used can detect the mental power of the travelers and puppets, but not the scavengers. So they should not be communicating or cooperating, but repeating a set pattern over and over again."
"That makes sense," Chen Fei said. "The people copied from Dewdrop are controlled, and their behavior is somewhat similar to that of the Scavenger. They even use a high-cost combat method where they die as soon as they are injured. Is it because Dewdrop has experienced more than one destruction and got inspiration from the Scavenger?"
Chun San glanced at the Dewdrop hanging quietly. It had not moved since the second round of battle began, as if it was watching the battle and waiting for the final result. If they were destroyed, the Dewdrop would leave. If they survived, they might have to face the Dewdrop's plundering war again.
"It's possible," Chun San said, "A person who has found the entrance to the world will look for the exit in each world."
"Is there any news about Lianchuan?" Chen Fei asked.
"No," Chun San felt a little breathless when she heard the name. She sat on a piece of black iron next to her. "Jiu Yi said that Lian Chuan disappeared in the code. I didn't ask Ning Gu again. He was very nervous. I was afraid that if I asked the wrong question, he would collapse and we would really have no hope at all."
"I don't believe Lian Chuan will die," Chen Fei said, "Every time the main city trains him, it's to let him die. He didn't die when he was a child, so how could he die now?"
"I will keep monitoring it," Chun San took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, "I can recognize Lianchuan's mental power without looking at the analysis."
After the call ended, Chun San sat with his head down for a long time before standing up.
When I turned around, I saw Long Biao standing behind me.
The cleanup team lost a lot of members in this battle. The usually tough Long Biao also had a face full of black smoke and wounds, and his uniform was torn in many places.
"What?" She tilted her head.
"Lei Yu said he wanted to capture a scavenger alive," Long Biao said, "There is a loading box in the transport vehicle sent by Chen Fei, the kind used to hold experimental subjects. He, Ning Gu and I will go and capture one."
"Now?" Chun San asked.
"Well," Long Biao nodded, "take advantage of the fact that the number of scavengers is decreasing now."
"Be careful," Chun San said, "retreat at any danger. I can do the analysis even without the scavengers."
Long Biao smiled and said, "What are you bragging about?"
Chun San also smiled.
"Take my car," Lei Yu got on A01 and looked at Ning Gu, "There are some scattered ones in Area C. If you catch them, you can send them to the City Affairs Office right away."
"I can go alone," Ning Gu said, "We can't have any more casualties on the cleanup team."
Although Lian Chuan usually keeps silent about these cleaning team members, it can be seen that the relationship between the cleaning team members is very close. He doesn't want to see that the cleaning team that once betrayed the main city for him suffered such a heavy loss when Lian Chuan comes back, especially Lei Yu. Nothing can happen to him.
"Not many people died." Long Biao said, "Now is not the time to focus on the losses."
"You can't help much." Ning Gu said.
"First, we can scan the scavenger with our goggles within three blocks. Can you?" Long Biao said, "Second, do you know the way? We know the fastest and safest way to the City Affairs Office."
As a ghost town bully who repeatedly got lost in the Lost Valley and never figured out the layout, Long Biao's second point hit him accurately.
He got into Lei Yu's car.
Lei Yu's car leaped into the air and rushed towards the main city.
Long Biao followed behind them, towing a loading box behind his car.
Ning Gu wasn't sure if he could capture the scavenger alive, but he had to try.
e's condition is deteriorating at a speed visible to the naked eye. It is unknown how long he can last. Once he falls, it is unknown whether the puppet army can control itself and how long it can last.
If Chun San could figure out what the scavengers were and what kind of thing they were, he would be able to fight them in a targeted manner.
In a sense, the scavenger gave him the feeling of E's puppet army. In order to defeat the scavenger, it was useless to just kill the scavenger itself. He had to kill the leader behind the scavenger.
"There are three of them over there," Long Biao said, "I can't tell which one is which."
"I understand." Ning Gu said.
When rushing across the bridge in the middle of the fire wall in area D, Lei Yu opened fire, using firepower to suppress the scavengers first. If they were fast, the scavengers might have arrived in front of them just as they rushed over.
As soon as he passed through the wall of fire, Ning Gu saw three dark shadows and swung his arms at them at the same time.
It is a long-range scavenger.
A golden light burst out and pounced on the scavenger. The opponent's attack disappeared instantly, and then the three scavengers also disappeared.
Lei Yu and Long Biao's car was hovering in the air.
Long Biao turned his head and looked at him: "A little, a little, be gentle."
"Sorry." Ning Gu said.
"It's okay," Lei Yu said, "Next, continue to go to Area C. The closer to the City Affairs Office, the better."
Ning Gu has been in the Black Iron Wasteland. He has not entered the main city since the battle began and has no intuitive feeling of the battle situation.
Now sitting on A01, flying over the main city in mid-air, he realized that the main city was almost completely destroyed.
No building is intact and no street is smooth.
There were corpses everywhere on the ruins.
From the city guards, patrols, travelers, and many self-destructive ez...
What made Ning Gu most uncomfortable were the ordinary civilians who were mixed in. They were unarmed and had no ability to defend themselves or fight. They just hid hopelessly behind a wall, under a table, or even just huddled next to a lamppost, and then they were covered in thick smoke and dust and never moved again.
"The wall of fire in front of us," Long Biao reported the coordinates again, "There are more than four people who just came out."
The two A01 vehicles opened fire with their mounted weapons at the same time, forming a straight line and pressing forward.
Ning Gu stood up in the back seat, and the golden light from his fingertips drew a long strip of light in the air.
After seeing the position of the scavengers clearly, he raised his hand and smashed the two fastest scavengers first. Then the golden light band went around the remaining four scavengers. After suddenly shrinking and entangled, only one long-range one was left, which was trapped in the constantly rotating golden light.
"Cover me," Ning Gu jumped out of the car, "open the box."
"How do we get it in?" Long Biao jumped out of the car, unloaded the box and dragged it to a position two or three meters away from the scavenger.
“…I don’t know.” Ning Gu said.
"Try to drive him in," Lei Yu scanned the surroundings, got out of the car and went around to the other side of the scavenger, "There are no other scavengers nearby."
"Ning Gu, don't run into him," Long Biao added, "I don't know what the scavengers are like, so be careful."
"Okay." Ning Gu raised his hand, and the golden light retracted.
The scavenger trapped in the light moved, as if looking for a way out.
"Doesn't he have eyes?" Ning Gu said, "He keeps spinning in circles."
"Your ability has affected his judgment," Lei Yu said, "keep pushing him into the box."
Lei Yu fired at the scavenger's feet, and the scavenger moved a few steps in the opposite direction. Ning Gu quickly recovered the golden light.
"Safe," Long Biao raised his weapon and stared at the movements around him, "No abnormalities were found."
After several rounds of coordination between Lei Yu's firepower and Ning Gu's abilities, the scavenger reached the entrance of the loading box.
Long Biao had already opened the box door, and the scavenger only needed to take one more step before he could enter the box.
"Go on." Lei Yu said.
"Yeah." Ning Gu responded.
Just as he raised his hand, the wall of fire in front of him suddenly made a deafening explosion, as if it was erupting from deep within the earth, or from all the cracks.
The ground beneath my feet was shaking so violently that it was almost impossible to stand steadily.
"Lei Yu!" The leader's voice came from the intercom, "What happened? Location, I'll take people there right away."
"Don't come over yet. We don't know the situation and scope!" Lei Yu said, "Loading will be completed soon. We can retreat. Don't come over!"
A huge black shadow rose from the wall of fire behind Lei Yu.
"Captain!" Long Biao raised his weapon and fired at the wall of fire.
Lei Yu didn't look back. He rushed to the side a few steps before turning around and starting shooting.
Ning Gu looked at the black shadow in the wall of fire. This was not an ordinary scavenger. It was the first time they saw such a large black shadow in the fire.
"Ning Gu, hurry up!" Long Biao shouted.
Ning Gu suddenly retracted the golden light, but the scavenger in the light suddenly stopped and stopped moving, allowing the golden light to explode on his body.
If it is recycled again, the scavenger may be killed directly by the ability.
"He's not moving." Ning Gu said, "Did we... alarm the leader?"
"Give up!" Lei Yu gave the order decisively, "Give up!"
Ning Gu has no ability to take it back.
He looked at the dark figure in the firelight.
If they have alarmed the thing behind the scavenger, judging from the state of that thing, it will definitely not be willing to let them capture the scavenger alive. If they give up this time, they may have no chance.
Ning Gu gritted his teeth, reached out and pushed the scavenger who had already walked to the loading box.
At the same time, the golden light that erupted from under his feet quickly spread to the crack and exploded along the fire.
Win every bet!
But this push by hand felt a little strange.
The scavenger is not a physical thing, and it will just disappear quickly after being killed. But if you say it has no substance, Ning Gu feels that this push was not just pushing into the air.
When he was about to withdraw his hand, his vision suddenly went dark.
All the lights disappeared, and he seemed to be standing in front of a black curtain.
Images flashed in the darkness ahead.
It pushed towards him little by little, like a holographic image with poor signal.
When the picture was suddenly pushed in front of his eyes and enlarged, Ning Gu saw a black figure sitting on a huge chair. There were countless thin tubes wrapped in black mist extending into the darkness in all directions.
He opened his eyes wide, trying to see the face of the figure on the chair.
He wanted to see what this person looked like.
He kept staring at the figure as soon as it flashed in front of him.
He didn't want to believe it.
But we must make it clear.
That familiar, intensely familiar feeling.
But I still can't see clearly.
The human figure was always just a blur of black.
Ning Gu slowly raised his hand.
Clench your fist tightly.
A series of small spots of light flashed under the skin on the back of my hand.
Then he saw the same small spot of light flashing where the shadow's hand was on the chair.
"Lianchuan."
"What did you say! Stop being in a daze! Ning Gu!" Lei Yu's voice came clearly into Ning Gu's ears from the intercom, "Go!"
Then Ning Gu heard the sound of the A01 engine.
When he turned around, Lei Yu's car had stopped beside him and the loading box had been placed behind Long Biao's car.
"Are you okay?" Lei Yu grabbed Ning Gu's arm and pulled him to the back seat.
"It's okay," Ning Gu came back to his senses. After sitting down, he looked around. There was no huge black shadow in the wall of fire, and there was no scavenger. "Did you catch the scavenger?"
"I caught you," Long Biao said, with a hint of anger in his voice, "Don't be so impulsive next time. What if something went wrong with that push just now? It's too dangerous! Consider the overall situation in everything! You are our greatest hope now!"
"Yeah." Ning Gu responded, "Where's that black shadow?"
"I was forced back by your power," Lei Yu said. "When the power exploded, the shadow was pressed back into the crack... Are you okay? Don't you remember?"
"I feel a little... dizzy." Ning Gu said.
"Hold me tight." Lei Yu said, "We are going to the City Affairs Office now. The cleanup team is sending Chun San there. There is a medical cabin in the City Affairs Office. That one cannot be moved. Go check it out."
Ning Gu didn't say anything else.
In his ears were the crackling sounds of the main city burning, the sound of the wind carrying smoke and dust, and the voice of Long Biao reporting the location of the scavengers from time to time.
But the only thing in front of my eyes is the scene in the darkness.
The string of light spots on the back of the black shadow's hand.
He would never forget that series of light spots, even if he died a thousand times, he would remember it.
That is Lianchuan’s number, there is no mistake about it.
He couldn't remember the way, couldn't remember many people's appearances, but he would never make a mistake in remembering the number.
He had memorized the number the first time it flashed on the church screen and never forgot it.
The black shadow is Lian Chuan.
He had sensed it the first time he saw it.
Even if it was just a silhouette, he could recognize Lian Chuan.
And that string of light spots confirmed his feelings.
Why is Lianchuan there
Where is that place
The scavenger's lair
Why is Lianchuan there
Looking at those pipes and Lian Chuan’s seemingly unrestricted and even somewhat relaxed sitting posture… Is the scavenger controlled by Lian Chuan
How is that possible
but…
The scavenger did appear only after they entered the dew and Lianchuan disappeared.
What kind of causality is this? What kind of logic is this
Ning Gu looked ahead blankly.
"Jiuyi, go to a place where there is no one." Ning Gu stood in the corner of the laboratory.
Chun San and several staff members were using a robotic arm to place the loading box into the experimental cabin, and the cleanup team members were holding their weapons nervously.
He contacted Jiu Yi using the bat's dedicated channel.
"I'm on top of the molten fire pipe," Jiu Yi said, and suddenly shouted, "Ji-Mo-ah-"
"I saw Lianchuan." Ning Gu said.
"Where?" Jiuyi stopped being crazy instantly.
"When we were catching the scavenger, a big thing came out of the fire," Ning Gu said, "I was so anxious that I pushed the scavenger into the box..."
"Another contact of consciousness," Jiuyi said, "Where did you see Lianchuan? What's his condition?"
"He..." Ning Gu glanced at the busy man, turned his body, and whispered, "I feel like he is controlling the scavenger."
There was no sound from Jiuyi.
"Jiu Yi?" Ning Gu called him softly, "How could this happen? How could it be Lian Chuan? Do the scavengers select people from each world to control them? Isn't there someone in charge?"
"Maybe it has always been Lianchuan." Jiuyi said.
"What do you mean?" Ning Gu was stunned. "Lian Chuan is only in my world! He is mine!"
"No one is competing with you," Jiu Yi sighed, and was silent for a while before saying, "There is no time, no cause and effect, no logic. These worlds are just countless random Ouroboros. You never know which word, which step, which action will appear."
Ning Gu didn't say anything. Jiu Yi probably thought he didn't understand, so he added, "You can be the beginning or the end. This isn't the first time you've encountered such a situation. Who knows if you created the Scavenger?"
Jiu Yi's words shocked Ning Gu so much that he was a little dazed.
"What should we do?" Ning Gu asked.
"I don't know," Jiu Yi said, "If there is a way, it can only be you."
"Get ready to open the box," Chun San said, "pay attention to the readings."
"Auntie Chun." Ning Gu stopped Chun San who was about to press the start button.
"What's the matter?" Chun San looked at him.
"I want to go in." Ning Gu said.
"What?" Chun San looked at him in surprise, "What did you say?"
"I want to go in." Ning Gu said.
"What are you doing in there?" Lei Yu came over. "What on earth happened to you just now?"
"Let me in," Ning Gu said, "I want to go... meet the leader of the scavengers."