Qiu Shi had previously thought about what kind of "water transportation" the vagrants would use, big ships or small boats, and even the amphibious motorcycle that he and Xing Bi had robbed before. He had thought about it all.
But he didn't consider that they were actually using "underwater transportation".
This underwater thruster looks very sturdy. It is not the ordinary kind that you hold with both hands to move forward. Instead, it can be fixed to the arm with a belt, so that you can free up one hand underwater.
It seemed like a very reasonable design, but even though Qiu Shi had never dived, let alone used any thrusters, he could still feel that it was not very reliable.
"It's hard to keep balance with this thing, right?" He put the thruster on his arm and tried it out. The weight didn't have much effect on the biological body.
"A little bit, so they all use two." said Bai Zhan.
"It's OK if the two just move forward," Qiu Shi said, "If you have some movements with your hands, you'll have to go crazy in the water."
"Yeah." Bai Zhan smiled.
Feng Zhi took a diving goggles from the equipment vehicle at the back. It had a camera on it that could transmit what Bai Zhan saw underwater back to the vehicle.
"I'll go too." Sang Fan looked at the thruster in Qiu Shi's hand.
"You have a mission on the shore," Xu Jie said. "As soon as Bai Zhan and his men get into the water, all teams will begin to advance along the coastline. As long as there is any movement underwater, regardless of whether Bai Zhan has detected it or not, we must begin the attack."
"After the fight, go down and play for a while." Feng Zhi said.
Sang Fan immediately became motivated after hearing this and looked at Xu Jie: "Arrange the tasks."
Before Xu Jie could speak, the nomads on the reef suddenly let out another shrill cry. More than a dozen jet skis hidden among the reefs rushed out, jumping up and down on the reefs with both the people and the skis, and it seemed that they were planning to rush directly into the sea from the large reefs.
There were even more strange water equipment in the cracks of the rocks, and it looked like at least half of the hundred or so people were about to rush into the sea.
"Now?" Even Xing Bi was caught off guard.
"So many people?" Qiu Shi was shocked. "Are they afraid that the symbiote won't know that we have started to act?"
"Bai Zhan." Xing Bi looked at Bai Zhan.
"Damn it," Bai Zhan cursed, flipped off the road and jumped onto the rocks, "This might be a bit troublesome... Where's Old Seven!"
The vagrants are very powerful. They don't take their own lives seriously, nor do they take the lives of others seriously. They live a savage and simple life, just like the beasts in this desolate world.
The freedom they want is to do whatever they want without considering any consequences, even death.
Although they and Yuncheng have the same goal at this moment, this alliance is more fragile than any other relationship. For the vagrants, it doesn’t matter whether they keep their promises or not.
In their view, if we have to fight, then we should fight. As long as we fight, there will be no problem. They don't care about following orders or coordinating operations.
"You don't want your equipment anymore, right?" Bai Zhan roared, and his already hoarse voice became even hoarser.
A bald man jumped out from nowhere and yelled, "We'll fight if we come! We're not here to watch the show! We're not here to listen to your orders!"
There were screams of excitement all around.
"We are not obedient biochemicals!" A man with pigtails came out from the cracks in the reef on a motorcycle, "We are human beings—"
You are stupid!
Fuck your ancestors!
At this moment, Qiu Shi was so anxious that he was furious. This group of people could not communicate at all. Whether they rushed into the sea immediately or fought with the Yuncheng army here, it would be fatal to today's mission.
But this mission really needs the Nomads. Without this group of risk-taking people, they would have a hard time facing the dying symbiote army. However, the Nomads who are on the verge of losing control at any time are themselves a huge danger factor.
Qiu Shi frowned, thinking that negotiation alone would not be enough to solve the problem with this group of people.
"Fuck you!" A figure suddenly flipped out of the road and jumped onto the reef.
"Wow." Bai Zhan turned his head and looked at him with joy in his eyes.
"Third Master." Xing Bi said, "Be careful with your words."
"Are people without brains also considered human beings?" Mr. Li said carelessly, and then added a very confusing nonsense, "The reason why you are still alive is simply because you haven't had time to die yet!"
"Li Rui!" Ji Sui walked forward and tried to pull him back.
But Xing Bi stretched out his hand to stop him, and Ji Sui stopped.
The girl with pigtails laughed sharply, twisted the handlebars, and the bike roared over the rocks towards Li Rui, who showed no sign of trying to hide.
"Qiu Shi." Xing Bi said in a low voice.
In this emergency situation where it was obvious that Xing Bi would take action, he called out Qiu Shi's name.
When Qiu Shi rushed out, he didn't know what Xing Bi meant, but he had never used his brain much before and only now realized how many things a person's brain can think of in an instant.
What do you want to do? Kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
Why does he have to go? It has to be a human being, and the other party has to be convinced.
Qiu Shi flipped off the road, rushed onto the nearest reef, jumped out from a high place with a powerful kick, and crashed into the motorcycle while pulling out the knife hanging on his leg.
He kicked the motorcycle off balance and slashed his throat with a knife.
The motorcycle flew past Li Rui, and the man with a pigtail on the motorcycle fell heavily onto the rocks in front of Li Rui with blood spurting from his throat.
When Qiu Shi landed on the reef, the homeless man did not give him a chance to breathe, and immediately chopped a long machete in front of him.
Without even thinking, he raised his left hand and caught the blade. The gloves he wore to hold the gun more steadily blocked the strongest force, but the blade still cut into his palm.
He did not let go, but raised the knife in his right hand, and the tip of the knife accurately pointed at the opponent's throat.
He didn't intend to kill this person, killing one would be enough...
But this man didn't seem to have any intention of stopping, and he didn't even think about whether he would still be alive if he didn't stop the knife.
With his other hand, he held the knife and stabbed towards Qiu Shi.
The style of this knife is very similar to that of Qiu Yu back then.
Qiu Shi showed no mercy. He flipped the knife that was pointed at his throat, held it horizontally, and slashed it across the throat and downward, smashing the arm that was stabbing upwards.
The man's blood sprayed all over Qiu Shi.
When Qiu Shi loosened his grip on the blade, the man fell backwards onto the rocks.
"Are there any more?" He looked at the homeless people who finally stopped rushing forward. He was silent for a while. When he didn't hear anyone talking, he spoke again, "Do you want to take our weapons and follow our instructions to kill people to your heart's content later, or do you want to be killed here and there by us now?"
"Use your brains a little," Bai Zhan looked at Lao Qi, "You are not the only powerful humans out there."
"How do we do it?" asked Lao Qi.
"I will take ten people into the water," Bai Zhan said, "and the rest of you will follow the convoy. They will walk on the road, and your people will sneak through the reefs."
"Wait for their signal." Bai Zhan handed the whistle in his hand to Qiu Shi.
"And then?" asked Lao Qi.
"Then go and kill." said Qiu Shi.
"You are not a soldier," Lao Qi looked at him, "Who are you?"
"The corpse collector." Qiu Shi said and turned to walk away. He took two steps and then stopped. He turned back and asked, "What is the signal to start the killing?"
"One long and two short." said Lao Qi.
Qiu Shi didn't say anything. He bent down and grabbed the body of the homeless person on the ground, dragged it next to the previous one and put it down, then stepped over the two bodies and returned to the side of the convoy.
"Third Master is back." Qiu Shi glanced at Li Rui who was still standing on the reef.
Li Rui stepped back, looking at him with a stern face and excited eyes: "Brother Shi."
"Xu Jiejisui, make some arrangements," Xing Bi said, "Start the action within two minutes. I think these people only have two minutes of patience. Let them move so that we can control them."
"Team leader," Xu Jie pressed the headset, "drive the weapons truck over here and give these vagrants some light weapons, and control the amount of large-scale lethal weapons..."
"Xing Bi and Qiu Shi will lead one team, Feng Zhi and Sang Fan will each lead a team..." Ji Sui also began to make arrangements.
"Daxiong and I want to be on the same team with Sister Fan." Li Rui said.
"Go." Ji Sui shook his head.
Li Rui and Daxiong immediately followed Sang Fan into the car.
Several undercover guards each brought a team of soldiers, and in the combination of one or two vehicles, everyone was soon in position, and the vehicles heading south started to set off.
The team led by Xing Bi and Qiu Shi only needed one car. Their main task was to follow Bai Zhan and his team's underwater route and provide support at any time.
"If you can't find a hidden spot, just stop by the roadside," Xu Jie said in the headset, "It doesn't matter if you hide or not if the infected rush over."
"receive."
"Can you see it?" Bai Zhan asked, standing by the car door.
"Yes," Qiu Shi nodded. His own face had already appeared on the screen in front of him. It was uploaded from Bai Zhan's diving goggles. "We just need to determine the location and approximate area of the underwater part of the institute. If conditions permit, we can go into more detail. Where is it broken? Where is water leaking in? Is there any place that can be entered without going through the entrance on land?"
"Yeah." Bai Zhan responded.
"Why are you so absent-minded?" Qiu Shi glanced at him, "Do you know what conditions allow? Do you want your senior to emphasize it to you again?"
"I know what conditions allow," Bai Zhan looked at Xing Bi next to him, "Don't use him to pressure me."
"No matter what, we have to leave some room for us to rescue you." Xing Bi said.
"Yeah." Bai Zhan adjusted his diving goggles, patted the car door, put on the thrusters, then jumped onto the reef and sat behind Lao Qi's motorcycle.
After a whistle, five jet skis jumped between the reefs amid the excited roars of the tourists, and then rushed into the sea from the highest reef one by one.
The nomads on the reef disappeared again in the gaps between the reefs within a dozen seconds and moved southward.
Qiu Shi closed the car door, and their car began to move slowly forward along the edge of the road following Bai Zhan's position.
Xing Bi looked at the images transmitted back on the screen. Qiu Shi didn't look at it. He kept looking out the window. Although the distance was far, he could still see the five motorcycles rushing into the sea.
Qiu Shi took the telescope and looked again.
I don’t know if it’s because the distance was shortened, but the sea seemed particularly scary. The wind was strong today, and the white splashes brought up by the waves were like a thick chain, constantly wrapping around the people on the motorcycle, as if trying to pull them into the water.
"The waves are big," Bai Zhan's voice came out, wrapped in the whistling sound of the wind, "Let's prepare to go into the water early."
"Got it." Xing Bi replied.
A few seconds later, Qiu Shi saw through the telescope that Bai Zhan and Lao Qi leaned to the left at the same time. Bai Zhan stretched out his left arm, and then the two of them fell at the same time and slid into the sea.
The sea water was clear and sparkling, and when the two were wrapped in the sea water, they looked like two little bugs in a huge piece of green amber.
Unable to see anyone, Qiu Shi threw the telescope aside and moved closer to the screen.
There were bubbles and rolling water everywhere, and I couldn't see clearly what was in front, behind, left or right.
However, soon the screen showed Bai Zhan's outstretched left arm and the thruster firmly fixed on his left arm. The thruster had been started, and the broken water splashed backwards. It could be seen that the speed was not slow, but the forward direction was a little unstable.
"Is this okay?" Qiu Shi frowned.
A few knocking sounds came from the headphones.
"They need to dive a little deeper," Xing Bi said, "the waves are too big near the surface and the current is unstable."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi stared at the screen.
"Would you like to change your clothes?" Xing Bi asked him.
Qiu Shi looked down at his bloodstained coat, then looked back and saw Song Heng and several fully armed soldiers sitting in the back of the car.
I wasn't paying attention to this just now, but now that I've noticed it, I realize the smell of blood is hitting my nose.
He took off his coat, thought for a moment, opened the car window and threw it out.
The soldier behind him handed him a new uniform jacket, and he took it and put it on.
The scene on Bai Zhan's side of the screen gradually became calmer. The white splashes caused by the waves disappeared, and the surrounding area was filled with clear sea water with fine particles floating in it.
Bai Zhan began to look around and upwards. He could see that he was already very deep underwater. The waves had disappeared and the sunlight was shining through the water, turning into small spots of light along the way. When bubbles passed through them, it seemed a little unreal, as if in a dream.
He turned his head and looked to both sides. He could see the homeless people who had gone into the water with him. These homeless people who grew up by the sea had strong diving abilities. It was said that they would only come to the surface to breathe every few minutes.
In order to ensure more flexible movements underwater, they, like Bai Zhan, did not carry any breathing equipment. Now they were moving lightly up and down like fish, dragging one or two white bubbles behind them. They looked less crazy and domineering than on the shore, and more cheerful and free.
Qiu Shi even saw a few homeless people happily turning around underwater.
"That's pretty impressive," he said.
"Don't be envious," Xing Bi said, "you will skip stones."
"Shut up." Qiu Shi glanced at him.
Everything in front of me became relaxing because of the clear and lively sea water, as if this was not a dangerous exploration, but an underwater tour led by Bai Zhan.
Only when Bai Zhan tapped the headset to report the situation to Xing Bi, Qiu Shi was suddenly startled. Under the sparkling and clear sea water, hidden was the research institute that had not been built but still witnessed the human race being dominated by fear and desire and heading towards destruction.
"There's something ahead, huge," Xing Bi said, "He's planning to go around it in the direction of the deep sea."
Qiu Shi took a look at the coordinates.
"We can't follow any further," the driver said. "The suspected entrance is about a kilometer ahead. If there's a symbiote, we'll be exposed."
"Hide behind that reef." Xing Bi turned around and looked at the soldiers behind him, "Get out of the car and be on guard. Watch out for the infected."
Several soldiers at the back jumped out of the car and disappeared among the rocks.
Qiu Shi opened the map in front of him and could see soldiers scattered around the car, with no other suspicious objects.
The images transmitted from underwater began to darken, and Bai Zhan was diving deeper.
The homeless people around him also followed him. It can be seen that they were divided into three groups and took turns going up to breathe and then diving again. Their physical fitness was extremely strong.
While Bai Zhan turned his head and looked around, Qiu Shi saw a huge black shadow appearing right in front of the screen.
"What was that just now? The wall of the research institute?" Qiu Shi asked.
Bo Zhan's knocking could be heard through the headphones.
"Undersea tunnel." Xing Bi said, "It should be the entrance connecting the research institute and the shore."
"This is the tunnel under the bridge that Grandpa mentioned..." Qiu Shi said softly, "What about the bridge?"
"It's possible that it was destroyed," Xing Bi said, "in order to hide the location of the research institute."
In the picture, Bai Zhan begins to approach this huge tunnel, probably intending to follow the tunnel to find the main part of the institute. According to Grandpa, there is more than one tunnel. Theoretically, there should be four tunnels, leading to the four parts of the institute, but the institute has not been completed. In other words, among the several tunnels here, only one leads to the hiding place of 249...
"Bai Zhan, don't get too close." Xing Bi said.
Bai Zhan knocked a few times.
"Don't prove yourself at a time like this." Xing Bi said.
Bai Zhan raised his right hand in front of the camera and raised his middle finger.
Xing Bi smiled.
"Is he going over?" Qiu Shi asked.
"The detector he brought showed that part of the tunnel was made of a different material, possibly glass. If so, we can see the situation inside the tunnel," Xing Bi said, "whether it is damaged, whether water has entered, and whether it is passable."
"Yeah." Qiu Shi bit his lip, a little nervous.
Xing Bi reached out his hand and pinched his cheek, and his lips popped out from under his teeth.
"Fuck," Qiu Shi couldn't help laughing, "What are you doing?"
"Relax," Xing Bi said, "Bai Zhan is very strong, don't worry too much."
"You just told him not to pick this time to prove himself," said Qiu Shi.
"Didn't he agree?" Xing Bi said.
"Does he agree?" Qiu Shi raised his middle finger and shook it at Xing Bi.
"Don't learn from that biochemical guy." Xing Bi said.
The black shadow in the picture grew larger and larger, slowly occupying most of the picture. The sunlight coming through from above was also slowly disappearing, and the surroundings seemed to have lost their color due to the black shadow in front of them.
Qiu Shi could also slowly see the outer shell of the tunnel. It was very old, covered with various seaweeds and strange, indistinguishable creatures, but there were no signs of fungi.
Compared with those vagrants, Bai Zhan was still very cautious. He did not get too close to the tunnel. The vagrants, on the other hand, had already pounced directly on the tunnel, grabbing various protrusions and seaweed on the tunnel, and moving deeper along the outer shell of the tunnel, like a group of strange reptiles.
Then the picture became brighter, and a section appeared in front that was different from the current gray-black tunnel outer wall.
"It's really glass." Qiu Shi was a little shocked.
The tunnel ahead turned into glass. The round glass lay quietly in the sea water, with a soft white light shining through the inside of the glass.
Bai Zhan tapped his headphones a few times.
"There's a light inside," Xing Bi said, "so there shouldn't be any water seeping in."
Bai Zhan made another gesture, indicating that he wanted to go over and take a look.
"Pay attention to your surroundings." Xing Bi instructed.
Bai Zhan turned off the thrusters and slowly approached the glass. Two colorful fish swam past him and Qiu Shi's eyes widened in shock.
"Fuck, fish," he said. "Fish!"
Bai Zhan had already arrived in front of the glass and could see that it was a circular tunnel with a white floor inside. The entire tunnel was inlaid with light bands emitting white light, making it look exceptionally calm.
Bai Zhan approached the interface between the glass and the tunnel shell and leaned over to take a look at the situation in the obscured part of the tunnel.
Qiu Shi stared at the screen and followed Bai Zhan's gaze.
When a pair of bloodshot eyes suddenly popped out from that side, Qiu Shi leaned back on the chair: "Fuck!"
Bai Zhan was obviously also frightened, but he didn't retreat as much as he did.
"There's an ambush." Xing Bi said, "Retreat! Bai Zhan! Retreat!"
Bai Zhan turned on the thrusters and retreated.
But as he lowered his head and looked into the depths of the sea, Qiu Shi was shocked to see from the screen a row of infected people rushing out of the water at a rapid speed from under the tunnel.
This speed is faster than Bai Zhan with the thrusters.
This didn't come from the bottom of the water; it was catapulted up from the bottom of the water by something.
The author has something to say:
To be continued tomorrow⊙▽⊙.