Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 161 Waiting for the North Wind
【Active layer of fungal mat
Thickness: 0.1-0.4 meters

composition:

Purple slime mold matrix: secretes proteases at pH 2.5-4.0 to digest organic matter, which is corrosive to the skin, but the risk of short-term exposure is low.

Carbon fiber-like mycelium bundle: 0.4 cm in diameter, high tensile strength, forming a nutrient transport network

Pulse nodes: 100 to 1 enlarged bodies per 2 square meters, coordinating nutrient transport through bioelectric signals (suspected), can be cleared and destroyed first]

Vertical Fungus Forest

5-10m high umbrella-shaped fruiting body cluster, umbrella cap diameter 2-5m

The ribs contain protein bundles that transmit nutrients or pheromones from the moss on the ground to the top (suspected)

The umbrella handle is covered with pore arrays, which emit volatile toxic compounds (hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, chloranthide, etc.) alternately day and night, forming a chemical pollution circle with a radius of more than 2 kilometers.

【Mushroom Man

Fungal Symbiotic Humanoid Monster
Height: 2.1-2.5m

Mass: 100-150kg
Surface temperature: 30.3℃ (core area 37℃)
Bio-Armor Layer:
It is composed of recombinant chitin-silicate complex (suspected), with a Mohs hardness of more than 7, and can withstand direct fire from small-caliber bullets.

Hexagonal honeycomb structure nail plate

Neurofusion cluster (suspected)
A fungal fruiting body (15cm in diameter) is embedded in the back of the brain, and the hyphae penetrate deep into the amygdala and hippocampus, which is the control center of the monster's activities.
Spore Lung System:
The left lung lobe is specialized into a multi-chamber spore reservoir (with a capacity of about 1.2L), which may be able to resist toxic gases.

On the PDA, Chen Jian gradually updated all the relevant information he currently had about this level 2 monster and its surrounding environment.

Zeng Yi and others watched from the side. Although there were some elements in it that they did not understand, there was no doubt in their minds that this was the real intelligence.

As for the things provided by the Mechanicus and the Basilica of the Holy Blood?

What is poisonous gas, high armor, huge size, and the area within 30 kilometers is a dangerous area?
It's just ambiguous speculation.

Compared with the level of detail of the intelligence collected by Chen Jian and others, the difference is obvious.

After reading the preliminary intelligence, several Holy Bloods had a rough idea of the monsters around them.

".So, the small monsters outside are not actually that scary?"

"Although there are a lot of them, judging from the paper and our previous encounters with them, their combat effectiveness should not be stronger than that of the unarmed Blood Skeletons, right?"

"Yes."

Chen Jian nodded and said:
"The most difficult thing about these monsters is their stealthiness."

"The surface is covered with a fungus layer, which greatly reduces the surface temperature and makes it impossible for the drone's infrared reconnaissance system to identify it. In addition, its color almost blends in with the environment, making it difficult to observe with the naked eye."

"As long as we fail to detect the enemy first, it will be easy for us to be surrounded by the monsters."

"Although they don't pose much of a threat to us, if we get entangled with them during the fight with that Level 2 monster, our firepower will inevitably be dispersed."

“Then the situation will be quite troublesome.”

"So what should we do? Should we clean up all these monsters first?"

Zeng Yi asked with a frown, a hint of worry in his tone.

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:
"Ji Xing is right. The best way is to drop a nuclear bomb on the central area."

"Otherwise, we have to move in and out quickly and use strong enough weapons to quickly kill that level 2 monster."

“But the enforceability of both plans is very low.”

"First of all, it's a big problem to drop a nuclear bomb near a level 2 monster. We lack the means of delivery available, and..."

Chen Jian didn't finish his words, but Zeng Yi, Xie Liu and others already understood what he meant.

The "nuclear bombs" found by the team leader are not immediately usable.

Even if they wanted to throw it, they couldn't.
For a while, the situation reached a deadlock.

In other words, we are caught in a certain contradictory paradox.

According to Chen Jian's speculation, the method to unlock the nuclear bomb may be preserved somewhere in the Jinling ruins or the mountain city, but to find this method, a nuclear bomb must be detonated first.

Isn't this an endless loop?

Theoretically, with the collective wisdom of that era, it would be impossible for them to create such a stupid vicious circle.

However, they did not anticipate the appearance of monsters, nor did they anticipate that the security measures they had set up would be superimposed on stronger "security measures".
Chen Jian frowned, but relaxed after a little thought.

Looking at the few Saint Bloods in front of him with worried brows, he said:
“Sometimes, unsolvable problems are not because they are unsolvable. Another possibility is that there is still insufficient intelligence.”

"Anyway, at least we have obtained a key piece of information."

"That is, those monster 'fungus' are most likely relying on the guidance of their expanded bodies and fungal blankets to move."

"If we can continually destroy the tumours and disrupt pheromone transmission, we might be able to get further without attracting their attention."

"As long as we can see the true form of that Level 2 monster and get enough information, we will definitely find a way to break the impasse."

"clear."

"clear."

Zeng Yi and the others answered in turn, and Lei Jie took the opportunity to speak:
"So, next time we go into the Jinling ruins for reconnaissance, we will have to expand our search area."

"We must split into at least two teams to search and move forward, constantly destroying information nodes to ensure the safety of the team."

"This will slow down our progress, but the good news is that according to Shen Yue's speculation, this type of fungus must like moisture and heat."

"And the entire Jinling Ruins area has not seen any rainfall for more than ten consecutive days."

"The fungal activity is declining sharply. If we can wait for a dry and cold air mass to pass through, the entire Jinling ruins will open up to us."

"Kong Ming borrowed the east wind, and we need to borrow the north wind. Now let's see if this north wind can blow tonight."

"tonight?"

Ji Xing looked up at the sky and asked subconsciously:
"Will there be a north wind in this weather?"

"Who knows?"

Chen Jian turned around and said to He Shuo:

"Help him, and check the sky quickly."

He Shuo turned around speechlessly, rolled his eyes and said:
"My hobby is astronomy, not the fucking astrology."

"Besides, what era is this? Is there anyone who still believes in predicting the weather by observing the celestial phenomena?"

"Let the drone expand its range and fly a little bit."

"If a significant drop in temperature is detected, the wind tonight should be arriving soon."

At the same time, inside Jinling City.

The 10 Templar Guard Brigades have assembled. The Holy Pope is sitting outside the cathedral, inspecting his powerful guard.

The gear dome of Trinity Cathedral began to roar as the copper incense burner belched out indigo smoke.

Giant steam-driven organs roared on both sides of the square, and the vibrating pipes poured the Trinity hymn into every grain of iron sand-paved ground.

The archbishop stretched out his skinny arms from under his black robe. He held a wheel inlaid with scriptures and prayed for the soldiers who were about to go to the battlefield.

The first to pass in front of the cathedral were the phalanx of armored warriors from the Cathedral Guards. Their breastplates were carved with a relief of the Holy Trinity swallowing lightning, and the gaps between their shoulder armor were soaked with lubricating grease.

The automatic weapons they hold, called "Conquerors", are actually simple multi-barreled rifles. Although they are not as powerful as some weapons excavated from the ruins, they are the standard weapons they are proud of.

The ground trembled under their orderly steps, and after they passed, even greater vibrations came with the steam locomotive formation rolling in. A total of 24 heavy steam locomotives rolled over the ground in front of the church, 48 exhaust pipes bursting out hot steam at the same time, and the sound of whistles also continued to roar along with the sound of organ music.

The steam locomotive was equipped with 24 giant smoothbore cannons. The artillery priests chanted hymns and waved out misty sparks from the incense burners in their hands.

When the steam locomotive formation arrived in front of Trinity Cathedral, 24 cannons suddenly exploded at the same time.

"boom!"

Violent explosions swept across the entire Jinling City, and amid the smoke and flames, the crusaders cheered in unison.

However, they are not the highlight of this military parade.

The last thing to pass through Trinity Cathedral was the only rifled artillery formation dubbed the “Big Cannon.”

The masked artillery priest silently drove 12 diesel locomotives pulling the artillery past, the black smoke slowly dissipated, and the jubilant crowd returned to solemnity.

After a moment of silence, the Holy Father raised his arms and led everyone in chanting the name of the Trinity.

The expedition is about to begin.

This team of nearly 3000 people can almost be said to have assembled the most elite forces of the Mechanicus.

The Pope even mobilized the forces originally used to defend other cities at all costs to participate in this great expedition that was doomed to be a one-way journey for many people.

Because he has no other choice.

Huadu's army has arrived at Zhuolu City. They easily defeated the small number of crusading troops there and continued to march south.

In 10 days at most, they will arrive at the ruins of Jinling and extend their evil claws to the secrets there.

They had to be stopped—or at least, gotten ahead of them.

This was originally a choice between two options. If he was more conservative, he should choose to reap the benefits while the other party and the level 2 monster were both injured in the fight.

However, things in this wasteland are often not that simple.

On the one hand, in front of a level 2 monster, any idea of "picking up a bargain" is a joke.

On the other hand, no one knows what is in the ruins guarded by the monster.

And everyone knows that what's inside is extraordinary.

After all, just by relying on the exploration of the outskirts of Jinling ruins, the Mechanicus easily built a huge city in the wasteland.

What if there are even scarier and more exaggerated things in the real "core area"?

Just like the so-called "Huaxia Army", like their rising sun.
The Adeptus Mechanicus cannot afford such a risk.

So the only thing he could do was to be faster than Huadu.

Yes, fighting with that monster would definitely result in heavy losses.

But once the treasure is unearthed, even if only half or even one-third of the manpower is left, it will be enough to fight against the two thousand people in Huadu.

This is a seemingly unreasonable decision, but it is absolutely in line with the overall situation.
At this time, the Templar Guards Brigade, which had completed the inspection mission, had returned to the camp.

They will set off in 10 hours and head straight for the Jinling ruins.

The Pope returned to his throne in a solemn manner, and the powerful archbishop dismissed everyone and stood alone before the Pope again.

"The north wind is coming."

He opened his mouth and said:
“This time, we gave it our all.”

"Starting from tonight and continuing for the next few days, the monster will be at its weakest."

"The soldiers of the Guards Brigade can easily go deep into the ruins and find the trace of the monster."

"If we can find it, the firepower of 12 huge cannons is enough to bury it completely."

"All we need is some luck."

"May the Holy Trinity bless us."

The Pope nodded slowly, and then continued to ask:
"What's the other news? You said before that gunshots were heard from the Jinling ruins?"

"What's going on? Have you figured it out?"

"Not yet."

The Archbishop shook his head and replied:

"The gunshots happened a few hours ago. We have already issued a command to the Basilica of the Holy Blood, asking them to scout the periphery of the ruins."

"Currently, a Holy Blood scout team has set out. They are expected to arrive at the vicinity of the ruins in a few hours and bring us back information about what is there."

"Are they willing to cooperate?"

The Pope's eyes changed slightly and he asked.

"They have no other choice."

"Either cooperate with us or cooperate with Huadu - the 'holy father' of the Holy Blood Basilica is not a fool, he certainly knows which choice to make."

“This is good news.”

The Pope sighed softly and then said:
"At least, we can focus on that monster instead of facing two enemies at the same time."

"maybe."

The archbishop shook his head, and after a moment of silence, he said in a low voice:

"That Chinese Army team is heading towards Jinling."

"Their target may also be Jinling."

"Although I don't know what they want, judging from their previous behavior, they must be curious about this monster."

"And they have the support of the Ring Chamber of Commerce behind them. You know, the Ring Chamber of Commerce has been wanting to enter the Jinling Ruins for a long time."

"I'm worried that they'll find a way to get ahead of us."

"If the treasures of the Jinling Ruins are stolen by them, then everything we have done will become a joke."

"impossible."

The Pope shook his head decisively and said:
"Level 2 monsters are not like the level 3 and 4 monsters they killed before. No one can take advantage of the monster in the Jinling Ruins."

"They have too few men. No matter how powerful their firepower is, it is not enough to make up for the disadvantage in manpower."

“Perhaps they can also enter the depths of the ruins. Perhaps they can also see the monster.”

"Maybe they can even escape from that monster."

"But if we want to kill the monster and escape unscathed, and even unlock the treasure, that's too far-fetched."

"There's no way they can do that."

"No one in this world can do this."

".Too."

The Archbishop nodded slowly, then said:

"Then let's focus on our own affairs."

"The Guards Brigade is about to set off. I think it's time for you to go to the camp in person and give them the final blessing."

(End of this chapter)