Sauron is indeed in a bad mood now, and the reason for the bad mood comes from a battle provoked by non-human creatures encountered on the way.
After he knew that Zero was taking Lia to Remut, he gathered the team and left the Z7 base. If all goes well, Sauron can definitely visit this settlement the day after Zero arrives at Remut. If things had gone this way, Zero would never have ventured into the ruins of the university city of Lampez, nor would he have known Su and Ben. He and Leah will be detained by Sauron, and then brought back to the headquarters of the Dark Council.
But life does not have the word if.
The reason why Sauron was "late" was because they encountered a cluster of living corpses on the road.
The migration of living corpses that Zero and Teddy saw during their night camp on the outskirts of Silvertree City was no accident. Quietly gathered in the ruins of the city. Sauron was on the road day and night in order to chase Zero. At night, the living corpses wandering on the side of the road smelled the fresh flesh and blood of the members of Sauron's team, so the first encounter took place.
Of course, the number of living corpses, not even a hundred, was no match for Sauron's team. The battle ended shortly after it started, Sauron didn't care, and ordered the team to move on. He didn't think that in the ruins not far away, more living corpses heard the gunshots and were attracted to them. So during the second encounter, Sauron faced hundreds of thousands of living corpses.
It's just that if this is the case, it won't delay Sauron for too long. However, among the group of living corpses that came to attack, there were actually high-level living corpses such as Butchers and Rippers, and there were quite a few such elite monsters. You must know that no matter whether it is a butcher or a tearer, there are usually not many such high-level goods in every group of living corpses. And among the group of living corpses that came that night, there were as many as twenty Butchers and Rippers.
Unlike Butcher monsters like human tanks, Rippers are short in stature. Their appearance is no different from ordinary living corpses, but their bones have been highly mutated. The bones of any part of the Ripper's body can be deformed and combined into sharp bone blades that can easily tear apart armored vehicles, and their flexibility and speed are beyond the reach of the Butcher.
In certain situations, the Ripper is far more dangerous than the Butcher. Take the second encounter with the living corpses as an example. The Ripper, who was among the same kind, launched a surprise attack when they approached Sauron's team. Treating their companions as cannon fodder, they put a lot of pressure on Sauron's side.
In the end, it was Sauron who went out in person to temporarily force the group of living corpses back. But soon, the scouts sent a message that another group of living corpses had assembled and were heading towards the road. After knowing that his troops were not enough to destroy more living corpses, Sauron reluctantly gave the order to evade, and the team retreated into Silverwood City. Using the cover of the city buildings, Sauron's team fought a three-day tug-of-war with the living corpses in Silvertree City.
After no one could do anything to anyone, the living corpses were evacuated. And Sauron didn't dare to rush on the road overnight when the number of soldiers in his team was almost reduced by half. They began to go out day and night, and during this period, Sauron sent out the tracking expert Kabu. Sauron's original intention was to let Kabu find out the distribution of the living corpses on the way, so as to avoid fighting with the living corpses inexplicably like last time.
Unexpectedly, when Kabu went there, he discovered a very strange phenomenon.
The tracking expert followed the traces of the living corpses to the ruins where they lived, and found that a certain area of the ruins was guarded by layers of high-level monsters such as the Butcher and the Ripper. Cabu, who found it strange, used a nearby high-rise building to conduct long-distance reconnaissance, and the scene seen with the multi-power electronic telescope was directly projected on Sauron's tactical board through the network of the Dark Council.
So Sauron saw a scene he would never forget.
Countless living corpses were biting and devouring each other in a building. Limbs, viscera, intestines and brains were sprayed all over the place. The bloody scene is enough to make even the most nervous person unable to eat for three days. Sauron's nerves were not slender, but they were not so thick that he turned a blind eye to these pictures.
The strange phenomenon of the living corpse was reported to the headquarters by Sauron, but this was not his main task, so Sauron did not investigate the abnormal activities of the living corpse in depth. After this small episode, Sauron led the team to continue on the road, while the returning tracking experts rested for two days before showing up again.
Regarding the abnormal movement of the living corpse, Sauron received the instruction "never mention it" soon after. Sauron knew that if such a large number of living corpses were to cause trouble, all the bases or companies within 3,000 kilometers of the fringe would be ruined. The masters of the Dark Council didn't intend to warn the nearby companies, so Sauron naturally wouldn't worry about it. In his opinion, it's none of his business even if all the people in this remote place are dead, even if his family owns a small mining base in this area.
So in front of Remut's second-in-command, Theon, Sauron never mentioned that a biochemical storm was brewing more than a thousand kilometers behind Remut.
Now Sauron is more concerned about the movements of Zero and Leah.
Looking at the photo on the tactical board, Theon showed a friendly smile: "It turns out that you are looking for the two of them, so you can be regarded as asking the right person."
This was the best news Sauron had heard in the past week, and a rare smile appeared on the young man's face.
The city where Ron Company is located is called Nu Reef City, a city that stands by the sea. Because of the geology, Nu Reef City cannot build an underground base like Remut. Ron Company could only install various radiation purification devices in this city to reduce the impact of surface radiation on city residents.
Today, fifty years after the cataclysm, even ordinary people are many times more resistant to radiation. Therefore, although they live on the surface, they can barely survive by relying on purification devices. It's just that the average life expectancy of the surface residents will be shortened by about one-third compared with the base residents, and they will also be infected with various strange diseases.
But in this turbulent era, being able to cover one's head with a tile is considered heaven, so the residents of Nu Reef City didn't complain too much about it.
Zero and Liya arrived at the city where Ron Company is located at noon yesterday. Unlike Remut, there is no strict entry and exit system here. The Ron Company adopts a loose system. Apart from the company's headquarters being guarded by soldiers, only the sheriff plays the role of maintaining order in the city.
Of course, you don't have to expect a few sheriffs to do anything. Generally speaking, these Hanan officials are just going through the motions. Therefore, Nu Reef City can be said to be a free city, and it can also be said to be a chaotic city.
Zero left Lia in a hotel officially opened by Ron Corporation. The charge here is about 30% higher than that of ordinary hotels, but no one dares to make trouble in the hotel. It is safer for Liya to stay here than to stay in a private hotel where dragons and snakes are mixed together. On the other hand, Zero went to the trade union hall in Nu Reef City to register. Only by temporarily registering in each city's trade union hall, could mercenaries or hunters obtain information and tasks from the trade union.
After completing the registration procedures, Zero applied to meet with the union chairman, hoping to take this opportunity to get close to the top management of Ron's company, so as to obtain information about companies or organizations that might heal Leah. But there is still no news about this appointment until today. Zero had to put it aside for the time being, and besides official sources, there was another channel for information.
The place where the channel is located is undoubtedly the tavern. So at nine o'clock in the evening, Zero appeared in front of the only tavern in Nu Reef City.