Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 288 Debris Flow

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure myself." Sun Hang shook his head.

"You mean... intuition?" Zhu Long responded, "Your intuition tells you that the 'Three Monkeys' may appear in this operation, and they are very dangerous... right?"

"Almost." Sun Hang sighed and pretended to hesitate, "It's hard for me to describe that feeling..."

"I understand. I will pay more attention." Zhulong nodded.

They looked at each other and then jumped out of the cabin together.

Unlike the forward observation posts which only had a few tents, Observation Post No. 7 was rebuilt on the basis of a semi-permanent military fortification. It not only had a waterproof concrete base, but was also equipped with a fully functional air-raid tunnel and a liftable air-raid turret.

There were originally more than thirty special agents stationed at Observation Post No. 7. After all Observation Posts No. 0 to No. 6 lost contact, the number of personnel here was increased to nearly a hundred.

"To be honest, this terrain is not good." Zhu Long looked up at the hillside not far away. "If the rainfall continues to increase, the mudslide will bury Observation Post No. 7 at any time. If I were the commander, I would directly let my subordinates abandon this place and retreat to Observation Post No. 8 in the open area."

Just as Zhulong said, the most important task for the special agents stationed at Observation Post No. 7 is to reinforce the hillside on one side, set up a barrier strip right in front of the post, and then dig ditches on both sides of the barrier strip to guide the mud and earth sliding down from the top of the hillside... Many figures in orange protective clothing trudged through the mud that covered their calves, hammering the steel spikes used to fix the barrier strip deeply into the ground.

Two multifunctional tracked engineering vehicles were placed across the front, using two huge buckets to push back the mud that kept rolling down from great heights - before the barrier was fully built, they were the only safety barrier for Observation Post No. 7.

The hunters who jumped out of the helicopter landed on the iconic concrete platform of Observation Post No. 7 - this platform is almost three meters above the ground, and under the reflection of the mud and rain flowing around it, it looks more like an isolated island in the ocean.

"Finally, check the equipment that each of you carries. You still have five minutes... After five minutes, each team will advance to the target area according to the pre-planned route. Remember to keep communications open at all times!" The voice of Ye Xuan, the commander on the front line, came from the communication channel.

Compared to these special agents who were armed to the teeth, the hunters' outfits were more varied. Wang Xiyi and Sun Hang had a black dragon meme, and the other had a black dragon meme plus a Tai Sui meme, which almost ignored the radiation of dirty rain. Ye Jiu's trick weapon "Killing" could also provide him with all-round protection. As for Zhulong, the pouring rain could not touch him at all.

Among Sun Hang and his group, Zhong Ling was the only one who needed to wear a full set of protective gear. The heavy barrel-shaped protective suit wrapped the slender girl like a dumpling... It was difficult to walk on dry and flat ground with this gear, not to mention the bad weather with strong winds and heavy rain, plus the constantly flowing, greasy and slippery mud...

People who often go hiking and stream tracing outdoors know that those fast-flowing streams appear to be crystal clear and the water seems to be just deep enough to cover the instep of the feet. However, only after actually stepping into them will you realize how much impact the shallow water has on the ankles. When the water level is up to the knees, even master-level outdoor athletes will stay away from such streams.

The density and weight of the mud far exceed those of stream water, and its slipperiness is even greater than those moss-covered pebbles. These special agents working in the mud rely entirely on the high-strength powered exoskeletons in their lower body to withstand the impact of the mud. Their boots are equipped with threaded anchors controlled by hydraulic devices. With every step, the four anchors on both sides of the boots will be driven into the hard ground. These anchors are directly connected to the frame of the exoskeleton, allowing these field agents to barely keep their bodies steady in the flowing mud.

"Zhong Ling...why don't you go?" Wang Xiyi glanced at Zhong Ling. "This road is too difficult to travel. There may be a fight along the way. We may not be able to take care of you."

"I can take care of myself." Zhong Ling said.

A burly skeleton that looked like a gorilla came over and put Zhong Ling on its back. The skeleton was wearing a special equipment similar to a combat vest, and there was an alloy backpack on the back of the equipment. Zhong Ling sat directly in the backpack and connected the safety buckles on the backpack to his protective suit one by one.

Obviously, this strange corpse is the "means of transportation" that Zhong Ling specially prepared for himself.

"...I don't think I've seen you use this thing before." Sun Hang said.

"Because I didn't need it before." Zhong Ling said, "It had been stored in the ice storage of the No. 1 Research Institute until you disappeared in the occupied area. Then I asked the people from the institute to send it here."

"This is also one of the most significant advantages of the Puppet Master." Ye Jiu came over. "Although the number of Wraiths she can control at one time is limited, the number of Wraiths that can establish a mind link with her is unlimited. She can completely change different types of Wraiths according to the needs of different tasks, just like soldiers choose suitable equipment according to different battlefields... However, from another perspective, the 'Wraith Equipment' is equivalent to the equipment of the qualified, there is no difference."

"But don't you think this look is familiar?" Sun Hang looked as if he remembered something, with a strange expression on his face.

"look familiar?"

"Gagantel." Sun Hang said.

“Gagantel…Poof!” Ye Jiu thought it was the name of some weird creature at first, but half a second later he suddenly realized that this Gargantuar was the name of the giant zombie in Plants vs. Zombies. He immediately laughed out loud, holding his belly, “Hahahaha…you know what…hahaha…it really looks like it!”

"What are you laughing at?" Several hunters who were checking their equipment nearby looked over and sized up Ye Jiu as if he were a fool. "How can you still laugh at this time? I hope you can still laugh so happily when you encounter strange creatures later."

"What's the matter? Does my love of laughing bother you?" Ye Jiu pushed the wolf-tooth spear in his hand hard on the ground, and the iron rod at the end of the wolf-tooth spear immediately knocked a dent on the concrete base.

"It's okay, keep laughing." One of the hunters said sarcastically, then turned to complain to his companions, "Didn't they say that those who participated in this operation were all carefully selected elites... How could such a fool sneak in?"

"Who cares about him? He's not in the same group with us anyway." Another hunter said, "As long as he doesn't lure the monsters to our side, it will be fine."

"Tsk." Ye Jiu was too lazy to continue arguing with the hunters. He turned to look at Sun Hang, "There are only 20 seconds left. Are you nervous?"

"Why are you so nervous?" Sun Hang tilted his head and asked.

"Moderate tension helps improve the speed of nerve reaction." Ye Jiu moved the joints of his limbs, and suddenly a series of tinkling and friction sounds were heard between the nail plates.

But compared with the sound of rain all around, this sound is almost negligible.

"Action begins!" Ye Xuan's voice rang out, and the hunters on standby on the concrete platform jumped out one after another. The giant skeleton, nicknamed Gargantuar by Sun Hang, carried Zhong Ling on its back and moved forward in the mud as if walking on flat ground. Wang Xiyi directly entered the dragon transformation and used her wings to tear apart the rain curtain in the air - as for Sun Hang, he tightly grasped Wang Xiyi's dragon tail and hung behind the humanoid black dragon.

There were many hunters who had the ability to float or fly, but these hunters were relatively cautious and almost all chose to fly close to the ground. Only Wang Xiyi recklessly rushed into the air hundreds of meters high, looking down at the ground below.

"Oh... It feels so good!" Wang Xiyi raised the corner of her mouth covered with scales, "Sun Hang, how do you feel?"

"I'm fine, but I feel a little dizzy." Sun Hang said expressionlessly, "Can you stop swinging your tail?"

"The tail is used to maintain balance and adjust direction. How can it not move?" Wang Xiyi turned her head and rolled her eyes at him. "If you really feel dizzy, you can climb on my back."

"Then I won't be a dragon rider?"

"It's not like you haven't ridden one before?" Wang Xiyi said lightly.

"...Forget it, I'd better hang down there, where I can have a wider view." Sun Hang said, "Fly slower, don't leave Zhong Ling behind."

Looking from high in the sky, one could see the hunters divided into groups scattering - according to the predetermined battle plan, these hunters would surround Chimera 17 along the edge of a circle with a radius of 40 kilometers, with Chimera 17 as the center, and then move towards Chimera 17 from different directions.

Each group must be separated by more than five kilometers, otherwise it will easily cause a "stress response" in Chimera No. 17 due to "excessive number of people".

As for this data, it was tested completely with lives - when Chimera 17 was first discovered, an elite reconnaissance team of 35 people penetrated to a position only 20 kilometers away from Chimera 17. However, just when they were about to get closer, a laser-like energy stream suddenly shot out from the body of Chimera 17, instantly evaporating the reconnaissance team.

In addition, the Disaster Countermeasures Committee also found that Chimera 17 would not only have stress reactions to humans, but also to strange creatures and infected people carrying memes. However, when the committee tried to use a drone to transport fifty mice close to Chimera 17, Chimera 17 never fired energy streams at the drone until it lost control and crashed due to ionizing radiation.

But when it comes to fifty mice infected with the weird meme, the situation is completely different.

The drone was hit by the energy flow that penetrated the rain curtain when it was 27 kilometers away. Not even a trace of the drone and the box containing the little white mouse was left.

The intensity of this energy flow is even greater than the energy flow that destroyed the reconnaissance team.

The conditions for triggering Chimera 17's stress response are very special. It requires the proximity of a human (or intelligent life?) or an object carrying a meme - either one of the two conditions will suffice, but if both are met at the same time, the triggering distance or intensity of the stress response will not be increased. The only thing that can affect these two values ​​is quantity.

In theory, the fewer people there are, the safer it is.

The route assigned to Sun Hang's group is a straight line from Observation Post No. 7 to Chimera No. 17, which is also the closest route among all the hunter teams participating in the operation. Along this route are also the lost Observation Post No. 5 and Observation Post No. 0.

The meme collection equipment that Zhong Ling mentioned earlier required four people to operate simultaneously, but only about one-third of the hunter team was capable of carrying it. As for the remaining two-thirds of the team, their task was to assist and clear out as many of the "other weird things" wandering around Chimera No. 17 as possible.

Due to the limit on the number of people, Zhong Ling only brought three skeletons this time. In addition to "Gargantuel" and "Skeleton No. 1", she only brought "Overlord" that had fought with Sun Hang before. After being transformed into a skeleton, the ability of "Overlord" was much stronger than when it was a hunter. Now it can not only use solidified air to block the rain curtain, but also generate steps made of "air bricks" under its feet. From Sun Hang's perspective, it seems like it is walking in the air... Compared with "Gargantuel" who splashes a lot of mud with every step, "Overlord" can simply be called elegant.

However, Sun Hang did not see the elusive "Number One"... Due to the special nature of the Number One, even if Zhong Ling did not bring it, it would follow by itself. Since Sun Hang could not see it in the sky, it meant that it either had a camouflage ability similar to the Number Five, or was swimming in the mud.

Sun Hang still prefers the former possibility.

"Pay attention to the direction, don't go astray." Sun Hang said to Zhong Ling in the communication channel, "Two kilometers ahead is the lost observation post No. 5. There may be traces of strange activities around, so be careful to identify them."

Wang Xiyi also gradually lowered the flying altitude. Sun Hang seized the opportunity, released the dragon tail in his hand, and landed accurately on the shoulder of "Gagantel".

"Slow down." Sun Hang patted Zhong Ling's shoulder through the thick protective suit, "We're almost there."

"Can you sense the breath of strange creatures?" Wang Xiyi asked, "Isn't your nose always very sensitive?"

"I can feel it... but it's meaningless." Sun Hang squatted on Gui Hai's shoulder and looked around with squinted eyes.

"why?"

"Because it's everywhere...it feels like a monster was beaten into a paste with a blender and then evenly spread on every inch of land." Sun Hang said.

"What kind of weird metaphor is this?" Wang Xiyi folded her wings and landed.

According to the information provided by the drone, their current location is the Observation Post No. 5 that lost contact not long ago.

"Found it." Wang Xiyi reached into the mud and pulled out a half-deformed steel pipe. "This thing should be the frame of the tent... Did they encounter a mudslide?"

"It doesn't look like it." Sun Hang shook his head. "Given the strength and toughness of this skeleton, do you think a mudslide could have left it in this state?"

(End of this chapter)