Forbidden Nightmare

Chapter 119 Moonlight Town Cathedral
The outstanding strength shown by the Tracker Group made Li Nanke start to think.

According to known intelligence information, Moonlight Town Cathedral is likely to have hidden nodes, and hidden nodes mean extremely high difficulty. The strength of the Tracker Group will undoubtedly be a great help in conquering the nodes.

Li Nanke immediately found Sophia and informed her of the matter.

In Sophia's opinion, exploring and clearing the cathedral was a waste of time and would not help in any way in achieving the ultimate goal of defeating the Puppet King.

There are even a large number of zombies in the cathedral area, and their powerful strength may cause unnecessary casualties, resulting in the reduction of members in the tracking group and weakening the overall strength.

She rejected the proposal to explore the cathedral without hesitation, allowing Li Nanke to focus all his limited energy and combat power on the Puppet King.

Li Nanke sneered, his attitude was very tough:

"Ms. Sophia, I am here to inform you, not to discuss this matter with you. I hope you can cooperate."

Faced with Li Nanke's tough attitude, Sophia frowned and wanted to throw the coffee on his face.

However, she could not break up with Li Nanke. The only control she had over the trackers was financial benefits, and she did not have enough power to subdue these mercenaries.

Li Nanke used his absolutely powerful strength as a ballast and became the leader of the trackers, which prevented the trackers from fighting among themselves and prevented the hotel ship from capsizing.

If Li Nanke quits, although the hyena is dead, there is no guarantee that a second hyena will not appear to threaten her. In fact, given Li Nanke's decisiveness and ruthlessness, this man might even be the second hyena.

"Mr. Black Rabbit, give me a reason to convince myself." Sophia's tone softened unconsciously.

Seeing that the woman was sensible, Li Nanke gave her a way out:
"Master Parade defeated the odds with a much larger force. It was not difficult at all."

"But when we go to the City Hall Expo, the trackers will have to face the Puppet King and a group of special puppets. They usually fight on their own. How much strength can they exert when they unite on the spot?"

"The enemies in the cathedral area are strong enough and numerous enough that we can use it as a simulated battle before facing the Puppet King. It is the best place to train our troops."

Sophia opened her mouth, but couldn't utter any rebuttal.

The excuse Li Nanke gave seemed plausible. If she hadn't seen that the other party had some unknown purpose, she might have really thought that this man just wanted to "train his troops."

She secretly thought that Li Nanke might want to consolidate her leadership position through a few more battles, so that the trackers can gradually break free from her control of interests and become the true leader of the trackers.

Sophia is well aware of this, but has no way to stop it. Instead, she has to encourage the other party to become the leader, because only by uniting the trackers can they have a chance to destroy the Puppet King and survive.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't guess that Li Nanke was doing this because of a hidden node. In fact, the other party had already made psychological preparations to classify the trackers as "consumables" and "cannon fodder" when necessary. This was not at all for the so-called leader.

Soon, Sophia gathered a group of trackers overnight and announced that they would explore and clear the cathedral area tomorrow.

Li Nanke did not wait for the followers to raise objections and took the lead in expressing his opposition:
"Ms. Sophia, I think exploring the cathedral will be of no help to us. Moreover, the cathedral area is full of zombies. The enemies are numerous and powerful. Exploring the area is likely to cause unnecessary casualties."

Sophia：???

Hearing the boss's words, the trackers including White Bear, Gray Donkey, and Rooster nodded secretly.

The fact is indeed as Li Nanke said, everyone's goal now is to defeat the Puppet King and make the puppet army lose its commander, so they should not waste energy going to the cathedral area.

Even though Black Rabbit has some cooperation with Sophia, when it comes to major issues, he still stands on the side of the trackers and speaks out their thoughts.

Sophia couldn't help but get angry and her teeth itched. You said all my words. I play the bad guy and you play the good guy, right?
She continued expressionlessly, "I have received intelligence that there is some kind of secret hidden inside the cathedral, which is likely related to the puppet riot and the puppet king."

"If we can clear the cathedral and learn the secret, it will also be helpful for our future strategic goals. It is definitely not a meaningless waste of energy."

"Moreover..." She paused, then said bitterly, "You trackers usually fight on your own. How much strength can you exert when you unite on the spot?"

"The cathedral area can be used as a simulated battle before facing the Puppet King. It is the best training place."

After hearing the first half of the sentence, the trackers seemed to be thinking about it, but after hearing the second half, some of them suddenly became unhappy.

Gray Donkey stepped forward and said in a bad tone: "Sophia, Black Rabbit Boss said that we are not strong enough. I agree, but what qualifications do you have to say that? How about you let Green Snake come out and practice with us?"

When the green snake saw someone challenging his master's authority, it was not afraid of the other party's large numbers. It held the dagger tightly and blocked in front of Sophia, ready to attack if there was any disagreement.

"Gray donkey, come back."

As soon as Li Nanke spoke, Gray Donkey retreated immediately without saying a word. He was not afraid of Sophia and Green Snake, but he was really defeated by Li Nanke.

If Li Nanke had not shown mercy in the previous battle, he would have been buried in the garden square like the hyena.

Sophia didn't waste any time and took out a large sum of money, indicating that this was the reward for clearing the cathedral and that the trackers would not work in vain.

The eyes of the pursuers were flickering, and many of them showed greed without hiding it at all.

Trackers believe in the concept of equal exchange. Faced with such generous rewards, it would be a lie to say they are not tempted.

Li Nanke knew that the time was almost right, so he coughed twice and announced:
"Ms. Sophia's point is not that we are not strong enough, but that we don't coordinate well with each other in battle."

"With our current unfamiliar teamwork, I'm afraid there will be even more casualties if we go to the City Hall Expo, so we need to hone our collective fighting methods."

"And since the cathedral is hiding secrets related to the Puppet King, I think there is nothing wrong with targeting the cathedral."

"I have decided that tomorrow we, the Trackers, will go to the Moonlight Town Cathedral together."

Li Nanke waved his hand and immediately decided to accept the commission on behalf of a group of trackers.

The leader agreed, and the reward was so generous that even if the trackers didn't want to go, they couldn't refuse.

After all, the last person who dared to oppose Li Nanke had been dragged to Garden Square and buried...

Li Nanke curled the corner of his mouth. Sophia and he, with a carrot in one hand and a stick in the other, left the pursuers with no choice at all.

The next day, Li Nanke led the tracker team to the cathedral area.

The location of the cathedral is Moonlight Town. In the early years when alchemists had not yet invented puppets, the original form of Krat City was the poor Moonlight Town.

The residents of the town make their living from the sea and fishing. Poverty is the synonym of Moonlight Town.

It was not until the genius alchemist Geppetto in the Alchemist Corps invented the puppet that the island developed rapidly in just twenty years and became the famous and extremely wealthy Krat City.

Although a flag with the image of a herring is still hung on the city hall of Krat, this poor and backward Moonlight Town has gradually been forgotten and abandoned by the rapidly developing city.

Most of the houses on both sides of the town's streets were in a dilapidated state, with moss growing on the walls, broken windows, and crooked doors. The muddy loess roads were filled with garbage and sewage, and green sticky liquids could be seen everywhere, and the air was filled with a rotten and foul smell.

Three vintage cars drove along the rugged road. The roar of their engines was particularly harsh in the quiet town, startling countless crows.

The White Bear in the car in front turned around and said, "Boss Black Rabbit, we must be careful of zombie attacks at any time."

"The cathedral is used as a quarantine area for patients with petrification, and the mutation has long since spread. Now, there is no living person left in the entire Moonlight Town except for the zombies."

Of the group of trackers that came, except for Crazy Rabbit who stayed in the hotel to take care of the patients and stayed with Green Snake by Sophia's side, the remaining twelve trackers including Cunning Rabbit all participated in the clearing operation.

Without White Bear's reminder, as they drove into the eerie town, the pursuers in the three vintage cars tightly grasped their weapons, ready to fight at any time.

As the convoy passed the corner of the road, they could see from afar many figures wandering around at the end of the street.

The midday sun was blazing, casting golden shadows downwards, but the crowd of wandering people was filled with a faint emerald green, which was chilling.

There are no mechanical dolls in the poor Moonlight Town. Even if there were, they would have been turned into broken parts under the siege of the zombies... There are only a group of crazy zombies here!

The wandering figures had distorted faces, their bodies covered with emerald green flaky crystals, their exposed skin in a grayish-white state of decay, their eyes were hollow and lifeless, and their mouths were stretched open with hideous smiles.

As the car approached, the roar of its engine disturbed the quiet town.

They all turned their heads and roared suddenly.

"Prepare for battle!" Li Nanke gave an order, and he designed a team combat formation based on the characteristics of each tracker.

As the order was given, the pursuers quickly dispersed and surrounded the convoy according to the tactical formation that had been rehearsed in advance.

The polar bear, buffalo and lion are like three moving fortresses, standing firmly at the forefront of the team. The three burly and broad figures undoubtedly bring a great sense of security to the teammates behind them.

The gray donkey, goat, honey badger and rooster followed closely behind. They were the second echelon and were good at close combat. The cunning rabbits and leopards on the flanks hid in the shadows like ghosts, waiting for their chance to strike.

On the roof of the rearmost vehicle, the reindeer pulled the longbow to its full extent, and the arrow shone with a deep blue light.

Porcupine set up his heavy machine gun. It was said that this rare heavy weapon was made by Porcupine at the expense of his entire fortune and commissioned by Philip the Yellow Dog to build it.

Even the bullets used are manufactured using special technology and have excellent self-element conductivity. They are expensive, and each bullet fired means a huge consumption, but their power is also unparalleled.

Pinocchio's metal left hand turned into a flamethrower. The thick barrel was scorching hot, and the air near the muzzle was distorted and evaporated before the flame erupted.

As the zombies rush over, the battle is about to break out!
The sound of heavy machine gun firing rang out, flames burst out from the muzzle, and bullets dragged along azure trails to form a rain of bullets.

There were clanging sounds on the zombie in the front, causing it to fall to the ground.

Just as they were about to get up after having not suffered fatal injuries, a raging and scorching column of fire swept over, burning their flesh and blood and turning them into charred corpses.

The rain of bullets and the curtain of fire are far from enough to stop the zombies. Their strength is even stronger than that of the metal mechanical puppets!

Many zombies have passed through the rain of bullets and fire and have come into contact with the front-line pursuers.

The white bear, buffalo, and lion brandished their weapons, knocking down the zombies one by one with their fierce strength. The second echelon followed closely behind, like furious beasts, and every swing of their sword could kill the zombies that fell to the ground.

At the same time, the Rabbit and Leopard on the flanks also took action.

The two used their speed advantage to quickly kill some of the fish that had escaped the net, and the reindeer's accurate arrows always helped support the two at critical moments and hit the target's vital parts.

This group of zombies is more difficult to deal with than the mechanical puppets. The emerald green crystals on their bodies have an extremely powerful protective effect.

Some ordinary attacks cannot cause fatal damage to it, and it often takes several attacks to completely kill the enemy.

But even so, the trackers can still display powerful combat effectiveness by relying on their respective strengths.

The fighting in this part of the town was so loud that it attracted a steady stream of zombies, including a large number of zombies from the back of the street.

The reindeer and the porcupine were terrified. The enemy attacked from behind and they were the first to suffer!

The two were about to change the direction of attack when they heard Li Nanke shout:
"You guys continue to deal with the enemies ahead, leave the rest to me!"

Faced with hordes of zombies, Li Nanke actually jumped up and jumped into the pile of zombies.

Amid the shocked and horrified gazes of the crowd, the 'Killing Jungle' suddenly erupted!
Countless thick and sharp thorns pierced through the ground, and the zombies were pierced and lifted up one by one like a string of candied haws.

Lush and luxuriant thorns blocked the rear of the street, completely preventing the zombies from attacking from behind.

Li Nanke loosened the handle of the hammer, allowing the thorny jungle to become an iron wall.

He turned around and glanced at everyone, then scolded, "Don't be distracted during the battle. Do I need to teach you this?"

It's no wonder that the pursuers were dumbfounded. When had they ever seen such a brutal large-scale attack? The Black Rabbit Boss killed dozens of zombies with just one blow and completely blocked the enemy's way to attack from the rear.

The trackers were experienced in combat and immediately came to their senses and continued to fight the enemy.

As time went by, the number of zombies gradually decreased, and the cooperation between the trackers gradually became more skilled and tacit, from being unfamiliar in the beginning, and they became more adept at dealing with the enemy.

Until the end, Li Nanke chopped down the only zombie still standing with his sword.

He held the recycled chainsword in his left hand and raised the bloody hammer in his right hand, and countless thorns turned into ashes in the wind.

The street ahead was littered with corpses, and the torsos and limbs of zombies were scattered all over the ground, and the green body fluids had almost gathered into streams.

In this huge and fierce battle, except for the polar bear, buffalo and lion in the front row who suffered some minor injuries, the rest of the pursuers only consumed some physical strength, so it can be said that they won a complete victory.

Li Nanke jumped onto the roof of a dilapidated house and looked into the distance.

From here you can already see the outline of the towering cathedral.

He looked at the church from afar, and an extremely strong sense of danger surged into his heart... There must be a very powerful and terrifying enemy hiding there!

"Let's go to the cathedral!"

(End of this chapter)