Chapter 667: The Dangerous Rainforest

  Chapter 667: The Rainforest Full of Dangers

  At the same time as the South Islands Federation patrol team left, the exploration team led by Irena and the Elf King Fugui also happened to leave the camp and go deep into the jungle.

  This makeshift team has only ten people in total. In addition to the two team leaders, the other four are players who have just passed LV10, equipped with basic mining exoskeletons and light and heavy protective gear plug-ins.

  The flames set off by the incendiary bombs have been extinguished, and the rustling of insects has re-sounded around, as if nothing had happened.

  No one dared to take it lightly.

  The locals would rather live on the island than on land, not because they have a special liking for the island scenery.

  Although most players set foot on this strange land with enthusiasm for the new map, no one is willing to really run to be the excrement of the alien species.

  Especially on the first day when the air ticket money has not been earned back.

  ”This is the coastal port area of ​​Shilong City. One kilometer to the northwest is the coastal residential area, where there are groups of villas and a beautiful seaside park…”

  Comparing the tourist brochure in her hand, Irena glanced at the lush tropical vegetation around her, and her expression gradually became subtle.

  It can’t be said that it is exactly the same as the one in the tourist brochure, but it can only be said that it is completely unrelated.

  Although there are large areas of urban areas in Qingquan City covered by vegetation, the situation here is completely different.

  Although there are still a small amount of reinforced concrete remnants here, most of them are the remains of urban drainage systems and road facilities.

  Moreover, most of them have been torn apart and can’t even be seen in their original appearance.

  As for those high-rise buildings and coastal villas, they have naturally disappeared completely, and there is no trace of their existence.

  After staring at the map in the brochure for a while, the Elf King Fugui took out a pencil and drew a circle on the north side of the port, and tapped it with the tip of the pen.

  ”The underground parking lot in the residential area on the north side of the harbor may form a water pit… just like in Qingquan City.”

  Irena gave him a funny look.

  ”Like Qingquan City, has it become a nest of aliens?”

  Elf King Fugui thought, stroking his chin.

  ”It’s quite possible!”

  Irena said with a grin.

  ”Yes, we can do both tasks together.”

  ”To be on the safe side, let’s divide into groups first.”

  Elf King Fugui ordered the team to be divided into three groups and advance forward in a triangle. In this way, even if they encounter an emergency, they will not be wiped out in one wave.

  And if one of the groups is in danger, the other two groups can quickly provide support from both wings.

  This is the experience summed up by these old players on the battlefield, and they just took this opportunity to teach the newbies.

  However, although the plan has been made very carefully, the speed of the group’s advancement is not ideal.

  In less than three kilometers of off-road, they encountered at least ten alien attacks.

  In the two most dangerous times, they even encountered a mutant python with a waist as thick as a bucket, and a group of mutant dog-nosed bats that looked like pterodactyls.

  If it weren’t for the fact that Fugui reacted quickly and shot an explosive arrow at the mutant dog-billed bats that had not yet dispersed, this improvised convoy would have almost overturned!

  In addition to those strange-looking species, the dense vegetation in the rainforest itself is a huge obstacle.

  The vines buried in the bushes can trip people if you are not careful, and the vines that form a network are like natural low walls.

  ”Oh my God… the vegetation here is too damn dense.” After chopping off the vines blocking the road with a hatchet, the strength player wearing heavy armor couldn’t help but smack his lips.

  ”Why don’t we just set fire to it?”

  The agility player who followed closely behind with a rifle complained in a low voice, carefully guarding the surrounding jungle and the shadows that made rustling sounds.

  The physical player walking in the last row said with a chuckle.

  ”Incendiary bomb? Are you kidding me, brother? This is a tropical rain forest…”

  According to historical data, a napalm bomb can cover 2,500 square meters of land, but it can only burn about 50 square meters of tropical rain forest on average.

  Trees in a humid environment and dehydrated building wood are completely different things. The fuel consumed to completely remove the entire rain forest will be an astronomical figure.

  The cost is probably higher than clearing the Nago mycelium around Jinhe City.

  ”…Is this place really a city before?”

  Wiping the sweat from his forehead and looking at the axe with a crack, the strength-type animal walking in the front couldn’t help but complain.

  ”From the pre-war map, yes, we should be near the highway now.” The physical player at the back took out the booklet inserted in the exoskeleton, looked at it, and put it back.

  ”Highway? Here?”

  The agility player turned around and looked at him in surprise.

  The latter nodded and continued to speak concisely.

  ”After all, two centuries have passed. There are typhoons, tsunamis, earthquakes, and wild vegetation… No one maintains it. It’s not surprising that the traces of civilization have been wiped out.”

  The nicknames of the three people in the game are Squirtle, Blastoise, and Hanbagui, who is a physical friend.

  It is not difficult to see from the nicknames that the three are good buddies who know each other in real life, and they may even be in the same dormitory.

  This situation is not particularly rare in “Wasteland OL”. After all, the issuance of closed beta qualifications for this game has never been truly random, but has a certain tendency.

  According to the analysis of a certain A-test boss on the forum, “Wasteland OL” is ostensibly a game, but in fact it intends to create a virtual community where AI and people get along well. Therefore, in theory, if two players meet the operator’s screening criteria and happen to be familiar with each other, the probability of being issued closed beta qualifications together is not small.

  Of course, this is only one of the factors affecting the weight value of the screening.

  After chatting for a few words, the three stopped talking, observing the situation around them attentively, and carefully continued to explore forward.

  After pushing aside a dense bush, a collapsed concrete structure quickly caught the eye of [Squirtle] who was leading the charge.

  The emerald green vines were entwined around the cracked concrete wall. On one side of the wall was a field of lush weeds, and on the other side was a pit that was more than ten meters wide and bottomless.

  ”I’ll go over and take a look…you cover me.” Squirtle swallowed his saliva, hung the axe on his exoskeleton, replaced it with an assault rifle and approached carefully. No

  sound from the alien was heard. He

  carefully checked the wall wrapped in vines, and after confirming that there was no danger, he took out his flashlight and approached, shining it towards the bottomless pit.

  The bright beam of light reached the deepest part of the pit, and the floating ripples caught his eyes.

  Hearing the dripping sound of the water droplets falling into the water, a trace of joy suddenly appeared on [Squirtle]’s face, and he turned around and called out to his teammates behind him.

  ”There is a water source here–”

  Before he finished speaking, he suddenly saw the fear on the faces of two teammates.

  ”Behind you!”

  ”Come back!”

  Almost at the same time as the two teammates exclaimed, [Squirtle], who was standing next to the puddle, felt a huge force whipping his side.

  It was a vine as thick as an arm!

  That thing was like a tape measure. The moment it hit him, it quickly wrapped around his exoskeleton chest armor twice and pulled him back fiercely.

  ”Ugh!!”

  The air was completely squeezed out of his chest, and the almost suffocated [Squirtle] widened his eyes, and his eyeballs almost fell out of his eye sockets.

  He felt like a fly that fell into a pitcher plant.

  Driven by his survival instinct, he reached out and grabbed the edge of the pit.

  However, the force applied to his chest became stronger and stronger, and even the polymer lining inserted in the exoskeleton was bent inward.

  ”Brother Jie! Hold on!”

  [Blade Squirtle] quickly opened the safety of the grenade launcher hanging under the barrel and fired a high-explosive bomb at the half-collapsed concrete wall. The

  burst of fire exploded on the wall, but the flying fragments only scraped off a layer of wall dust and a few pieces of emerald green debris, and still could not stop the thick and powerful vines from tightening and pulling down.

  ”My… VM…”

  Using the last bit of strength in his body, Squirtle, who had rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth and took off the VM on his arm and threw it to his teammates.

  Almost at the same time, his eyes rolled up and he could no longer hold on. He was dragged into the bottomless abyss by the vines with a whoosh.

  ”Jenny!”

  ”Brother Jie!!”

  Watching their teammates being devoured by unknown plants, the two teammates roared in grief.

  However, the roar was soon swallowed up by the dark green rainforest, leaving only the rustling of leaves and the rustling of insects.

  Picking up the muddy VM from the ground, [Blade Turtle] put his hand on his helmet with a sad face and took a deep breath and said.

  ”This is Group B. We found a concrete structure with abundant fresh water resources underneath, but it seems that there is a monster living inside…”

  The answer came quickly from the communication channel.

  Elf King Fugui: “Monster?!”

  ”To be precise… it should be a plant,” Blastoise looked at the deep pit with lingering fear, swallowed his saliva and continued, “Brother Jie was killed in an instant, and we didn’t have time to call for support.”

  There was silence in the communication channel for a while.

  With the rustling sound of electricity, Elf King Fugui continued.

  ”… Got it, you guys wait for us there, we’ll be right over.”

  Blastoise nodded quickly.

  ”Okay!”

  After the call was disconnected, he put Squirtle’s VM into his backpack, and then looked at the concrete structure that had returned to silence with lingering fear.

  From the outside, it was completely impossible to tell that it was a trap.

  ”Poor brother Squirtle, he was gone in an instant.”

  Hanba Turtle sighed, his eyes drifted to the rain forest on the side, and happened to see a big tree as thick as a bucket, with a row of dense green berries growing at the root.

  That thing looked familiar no matter how he looked at it.

  He couldn’t help but exclaimed, leaned down, reached out and picked a berry from the root of the tree, and held it in his palm to look at it.

  Seeing his action, the Blastoise standing next to him asked curiously.

  ”What are you doing?”

  Getting up from the ground, Hanba Turtle threw the green berry in his hand to him.

  ”Do you think it looks familiar?”

  Blastoise reached out to catch it, just took a look, and his eyes instantly widened.

  ”A bit… Wait, shit! This is that!”

  ”Which one?”

  Attracted by his startled expression, Han Bagui cast a curious look at him.

  Without taking a breath, Water Blastoise looked at him in shock and said.

  ”Nago!! This thing is a Nago!”

  Hearing his answer, Han Bagui immediately came back to his senses.

  ”Fuck?!”

  …

  The sun fell from the sky to the west, and half a day had passed since the Alliance’s cargo airship arrived at the Baiyue Strait.

  In just half a day, ten deaths have occurred in the new map.

  Five of them occurred in the forest around the camp, and the other five occurred on the beach, with a fairly even distribution.

  In addition, twelve players suffered incurable serious injuries during the exploration mission.

  In order not to delay precious game time, these players decisively chose to give up treatment after saving the game in the hibernation capsule.

  The Niuma Group’s airship will bring the saved data, VM and recovered active substances back to the Alliance for those warriors.

  And this service is provided free of charge.

  For a camp of more than 300 people, the loss of more than 20 people is already a serious loss.

  At this moment, Fang Chang finally understood what the meaningful words left by the NPC when he left meant. It

  turned out that the other party didn’t think they could stay here forever.

  Think about it.

  If this land was really so easy to cultivate, they wouldn’t give up the land rich in resources and run to the island to live.

  However, although this high loss is unacceptable to NPCs, it is just a drop in the bucket for players.

  It’s a new map.

  A few deaths are completely acceptable.

  ”…The speed of removing the rainforest plot is still too slow. The jungle corps should be hired.” Fang Chang thought to himself as he looked at the camp shrouded in dusk.

  At this moment, the icon of the communication request suddenly appeared on the VM screen.

  Seeing Lao Na’s ID appear on the screen, Fang Chang took out his headphones and put them on, and stretched out his index finger to press the button to connect.

  ”Hello?”

  ”It’s Irena.”

  ”What’s wrong?”

  ”We found fresh water here, but the situation there is not optimistic. It is suspected that a large carnivorous plant has occupied the place. It may take some time to clear it out. In addition, we found some Naguo nearby, which seems to be wild.”

  Fang Chang was stunned when he heard this information.

  ”Wild Naguo?!”

  Irena: “Emm… How to say it? It is a little different from the artificially cultivated ones we saw in Jinchuan Province. The reproduction speed of that thing is not fast. It grows on specific trees like fungus, and it is only a shallow layer distributed along the roots of the tree. If you don’t look carefully, it is easy to confuse it with the berries in the bushes.”

  Fang Chang frowned slightly and asked immediately.

  ”What about the soil nearby? Is it polluted?”

  Irena: “I didn’t see any polluted soil… As for whether it can be seen under a microscope, I don’t know. I only have a magnifying glass here. I wonder if there is a possibility that these naturally grown Naguo are the original appearance of Naguo, and what we encountered in Jinchuan Province is a modified variety implanted with mutant slime mold DNA.”

  This seems to be described in the official website setting collection.

  The earliest Naguo was introduced from the southern seas to the Haiya Province. Before the Torch Church introduced the genes of the mutant slime mold into it and spread it as the cornerstone of building the kingdom of heaven, it was just a special tropical fungus. Just

  like fungus.

  Fang Chang thought for a moment and said immediately.

  ”Help me collect some samples.”

  Irena laughed.

  ”No problem! By the way, we sacrificed a teammate to recover the samples. That guy’s equipment is worth a lot of money. Look at this…”

  Fang Chang rolled his eyes.

  ”Is ten thousand silver coins enough?”

  Irena said happily with a satisfied smile on her face.

  ”Deal!”

  …

  On the other side, at the port of the roundabout island.

  A man in luxurious clothes, accompanied by the captain of the coast patrol, Muda, and two federal soldiers, boarded the deck of the Rourou cargo ship.

  Seeing the group of people stepping onto the deck from a distance, Zhimahu took Misa and a group of children who came out for a walk and quietly returned to the cabin.

  Pushing open the door of the captain’s room and walking down the gangway, Sisi glanced at the leader, then looked at Muda, the only person she knew, and asked with a pleasant face.

  ”Who is this?”

  Muda looked at the man next to him and introduced him respectfully.

  ”This is the governor of the roundabout island, Mr. Chanin. This port and the settlement behind it are all under the jurisdiction of this gentleman.”

  Governor?

  After listening to Muda’s introduction, Sisi’s face flashed with a subtle surprise, and then she looked at the governor with a smile and said politely.

  ”Hello, respected Mr. Governor, I wonder what you have to do on our ship?”

  Chanin said expressionlessly.

  ”You have been here for three days. If you plan to buy supplies, you should have replenished them long ago.”

  Sisi said apologetically.

  ”I’m very sorry, our ship has some minor problems and may need to stay in your port for a few days. Of course, we will pay the detention fee… I have consulted the port management staff, it is 1,000 dinars a day, right?”

  Chanin stared at her for a while and suddenly spoke.

  ”You are from the Alliance.”

  Sisi was slightly stunned and raised her eyebrows slightly.

  ”How did you know?”

  ”We did a little research in Silver Moon Bay. The White Bear Knights, right?” As he spoke, Channing glanced at the flag hanging above the cabin.

  Seeing that the other party had already confirmed their identities, Sisi knew that even if she denied it, it would be meaningless, and it would make her seem less sincere, so she simply admitted it generously.

  ”Yes, I am indeed a citizen of the Alliance, but this ship is not a warship of the Alliance, but a cargo ship we bought in Silver Moon Bay-”

  Channing waved his hand and interrupted her.

  ”I’m too lazy to waste time beating around the bush. Let’s get straight to the point. What are you planning? You, and those people, the airship parked in the west!”

  Sisi was about to say that she didn’t know those people, just as everyone had agreed in advance on the forum to avoid unnecessary trouble.

  But at this moment, she suddenly caught a glimpse of subtle fear in the governor’s eyes.

  She was sure that she was not mistaken. The fearful look appeared only after confirming their identities and origins.

  Then Sisi remembered the clues she had obtained from the investigation task issued by the administrator before – the South Islands Federation was established under the leadership of the Torch Church supporters, and before that, these settlements were under the jurisdiction of Shelter No. 70.

  If there are supporters of the Torch Church or even apostles of the Torch Church in the South Islands Federation, it is not difficult to understand why they are so sensitive to the actions of the alliance.

  However,

  after discovering that they were from the alliance, they did not immediately show hostile behavior, but chose to test them first.

  Obviously, these people are not hardcore allies of the Torch Church, but only agree on the position of Shelter No. 70.

  In other words, these people can actually be won over. With

  a slight move in her mind, Sisi immediately changed her mind flexibly and pretended to be very familiar with the situation of the airship.

  It was as if this Rourou cargo ship was also part of a plan.

  ”Please don’t be so nervous. As you can see, we just set up a few tents there. It’s more than a hundred miles away from you, so it won’t bother you.”

  ”Do you think I will believe it?” Channing stared at her and sneered, “You came all the way here from thousands of kilometers away, just to set up a few tents?”

  Sis shrugged his shoulders and made an expression of being seen through.

  ”Okay, tell the truth… We plan to build a settlement there to accommodate the survivors who escaped from the Xilan Empire, those Moon Clan people.”

  Channing still looked unconvinced.

  ”Why do you care about those people? Do their lives have anything to do with you?”

  Facing the obviously probing eyes, Sis smiled faintly and said.

  ”It doesn’t matter, but it can’t be said that it doesn’t matter at all. They are all survivors in the wasteland, and it is our responsibility to end the wasteland. We will reach out to take care of any hidden dangers that may pose a threat to the civilized world. If you have done nothing wrong, don’t worry about us. Unless we really can’t stand it, we rarely interfere in the affairs of other survivor settlements.”

  When she said the second half of the sentence, her tone was meaningful.

  Obviously, Governor Channing’s face froze, and he stared at her.

  ”What do you mean?”

  Looking at him with a smile, Sis said directly.

  ”We heard a rumor that someone is planning to cooperate with the madman in Haiya Province to introduce the hyphae of Naguo from the land to the ocean.”

  Channing narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous light was reflected in his eyes.

  ”…Does this have anything to do with you?”

  Not paying attention to the threat in her eyes, Sis simply nodded and said as a matter of course.

  ”Of course it does, and it is not a small matter. The plague on land is enough to give us a headache. If those madmen plan to bring them to the sea and mess up this planet, all our efforts will be in vain.”

  ”This planet?”

  Channing laughed and looked at her and continued.

  ”We can’t see as far as you can, but how do you know that putting that thing into the sea will mess up the planet? Instead of making it more normal?”

  Sisi raised his eyebrows slightly.

  ”Oh? Do you think that would be more normal?”

  ”Do you think it’s normal now?” Channing asked back with a sneer, “Before those lunatics you mentioned transferred the mind interference technology to us, our fishermen and merchants had to put their heads on their belts and go out to sea, and all this was because of the alien species in the sea!”

  ”And now, the experiments of those lunatics you mentioned in the Haiya Province have achieved enough results. Both the alien species and the slime mold have become as honest as the sunfish! If we can introduce that thing to the southern waters, we will not only get a large and safe fishing ground, but also completely eliminate the mother nest parasitic on the wreckage of the Tianting space station!”

  ”That thing is the source of all evil, the source of all alien species… Its DNA has been polluting the entire ocean for two hundred years! Do you think this is ‘normal’? Now we can solve this trouble once and for all. Tell me, what reason do we have not to do this!”

  Sisi looked at him and asked.

  ”Does Shelter No. 70 think so too?”

  Channing curled his lips in disdain.

  ”Those guys have become stupid in the shelter. They think the whole world should run according to their methods, and only by following their arrangements can it be good, fast and correct. It’s as if as long as we obey, the world can go back to two hundred years ago, and they can bring back the utopia drawn on toilet paper… Even now they can’t explain why the utopia disappeared.”

  Sisi fell into deep thought.

  At first, she thought that these people were just like the survivors of Singularity City, who were simply led by the church’s charlatans, but she didn’t expect that they made the choice after careful consideration.

  ”Have you ever thought that the thing that Torch gave you… that Nago is not as good as you imagined.”

  Channing said frankly.

  ”Yes, that thing is not perfect yet, just like the mind interference device. But at least those people have come up with some results, and we just need to use it properly and minimize its negative effects. The situation will always be much better than it is now. Or do you have a better way?”

  ”Yes,” Sisi looked at him seriously, “We have solved the mother nest in Qingquan City… You should know it, right? Researchers from Shelter No. 70 used to go there regularly to collect samples.”

  Hearing this, Channing showed a hint of surprise on his face. Obviously, he didn’t know what happened in Qingquan City recently.

  But soon, his eyes narrowed slightly again.

  This was the second time.

  A dangerous light flashed in the eyes of the governor.

  ”I was wondering just now, how do you know us so well… Have you had contact with people from Shelter No. 70 recently?”

  Not only did his expression gradually become unfriendly.

  The eyes of the two soldiers standing behind him also began to flash dangerously.

  ”To be precise, our managers have contacted their managers. However, we did not listen to their one-sided words just because we are all residents of the shelter. Just like now, we are asking for your opinions.”

  Without paying attention to the threat of this guy, Sisi stared into his eyes without changing his expression and continued to speak word by word.

  ”I ask your opinion again. If we have a better way to deal with the mother nest on the Celestial Space Station, are the survivors of the ring island willing to give us a chance to prove ourselves?”

  Channing laughed.

  ”Those people are much more generous than you. They promised not only to solve the mother nest of the Celestial Space Station, but also the alien species in the entire sea area…”

  When he said this, he suddenly stopped.

  Perhaps because he felt that the euphemism was not only asking for his opinion, but also the last chance for himself and the island under his feet, the governor finally took back the refusal that was on his lips.

  ”…If you want to try, then try. The survivors of the roundabout island have no reason to reject you, but it’s hard to say about the federal authorities. Some of them are apostles of the Torch.”

  Hearing this answer, Sis breathed a sigh of relief and a happy smile appeared on her face.

  Her judgment was correct.

  Just as she had initially guessed, the newly established federation had only reached a consensus on the issue of Shelter No. 70, and the Torch Church had not completely drawn them to its chariot. The

  local survivors can be won over!

  ”I will pay attention. In addition, I want to talk to Shelter No. 70. If you can cease fire first, our work will proceed much more smoothly.”

  Channing said with a chuckle.

  ”Then I can’t help you. The war is the affairs of the federation. You have to go to the North Island to discuss with the president of the federation. And I advise you not to waste time. The conflict between us and those guys is not just about whether to let the Torch people solve the mother nest of the Heavenly Court. They must pay the price for their arrogance all the time.”

  Sis continued to ask.

  ”Can you tell me the reason for your war? There must be a trigger.”

  Channing replied impatiently.

  ”Fresh water.”

  Sis was stunned.

  ”Fresh water?”

  Channing nodded.

  ”There are no fresh water lakes on the artificial islands in the southern sea area. There are nearly one million survivors living here. We can’t all rely on rainwater. The fresh water of each island is mainly supplied by seawater desalination devices.”

  Sis: “Did they occupy there?”

  Channing waved his hand.

  ”It’s much more than that. In order to make us obedient, they first shut down the facilities, and then blew them up after we occupied the facilities. And not only that… they also destroyed a total of twelve of our ocean current generators and offshore mining wells. Fortunately, we still have solar and wind power to make do, but life is still very tight.”

  Sisi thought for a moment and said.

  ”I see… By the way, about fresh water, before you restore power supply, we may be able to help.”

  Channing was stunned and looked at her strangely.

  ”You? This is a settlement of 100,000 people. How are you going to help? Transport it for us from Silver Moon Bay?”

  This is a bit too much.

  Especially just three days ago, these guys bought more than a dozen cubic meters of fresh water from their port at a high price. If there is really a way to solve the problem of fresh water, why spend that money?

  Not paying attention to the suspicious eyes, Sisi continued.

  ”Didn’t I just say that we plan to build a new settlement next to the Baiyue Strait to take in the fleeing Moon Tribe members while solving the problem of the mother nest in the southern sea area. There is land there with abundant fresh water resources. Not to mention 100,000 people, even 10 million people would be enough, and the cost is definitely much cheaper than desalinating seawater.”

  ”Don’t give it a try,” Channing waved his hand and said with a laugh, “Settlement? I was wrong if you could last two months there.”

  Sisi narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled.

  ”Then let’s give it a try.”

  (End of this chapter)