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Chapter 156 Disaster Zone No. 12 "Buzhen City"

"Answer the call," Wang Xi said.

Zhou Xiaolin nodded and immediately answered the phone.

Click.

"Is this the company's rescue team?" A woman's anxious voice immediately came from the other end. "We're trapped in the heart of the disaster area, requesting assistance!"

"Yes, I am Deacon Zhou Xiaolin, and I have now arrived at the periphery of the disaster area with the rescue team."

The woman with the bun hairstyle responded quickly.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Lu Qiaoling?"

“It’s me.” A distinct breathing sound came from the communicator, and Lu Qiaoling’s voice suddenly dropped: “...Who is your team leader? Hand the phone to him. We need medical support and a breakout plan.”

"Okay." Zhou Xiaolin quickly unhooked the lanyard and handed the communicator to Wang Xi.

"I am the team leader, Senior Deacon Wang Xi."

Wang Xi took the communicator, his voice steady.

"Ms. Lu, please explain your current location and specific situation."

On the other end of the phone, Lu Qiaoling's voice sounded slightly hurried:

"We are trapped in a house in the city. Yue Ming and two other deacons are seriously injured and unconscious. Outside, there are mud monsters everywhere. They can not only attack in melee, but also use guns made of mud to shoot at long range."

"The most troublesome thing is that there is a female mud-brick elite among these monsters. She is very strong and difficult for us to deal with."

“Okay, I understand,” Wang Xi said.

He pressed for a few more questions, quickly confirming the other party's exact location and surrounding environmental features. At the same time, he gestured to Zhou Xiaolin, indicating she should take notes, and then said:
"Miss Lu, please refrain from making any rash moves and stay where you are. We will be there soon."

"Wait a minute, Mr. Wang! May I ask how many people are in the rescue team, and how many are Gao Xingzhi and Yong?"

Lu Qiaoling immediately asked again.

Wang Xi answered truthfully: "The rescue team has a total of 29 people, 9 of whom are officers, and I am the only one in the Gaoxingzhiyong team."

"..."

The communication channel fell into a brief silence, broken only by a faint static. Wang Xi could sense the other party's worry; faced with an unknown disaster zone and surrounded by monsters, this level of rescue force was truly meager.

"Okay... thank you for your help."

Finally, Lu Qiaoling's voice came through, her tone filled with suppressed unease.

"Don't worry, we'll meet up soon." Wang Xi reassured her briefly, then ended the call and turned to Zhou Xiaolin: "Notify the engineering department to prepare for the demolition."

"Okay, Brother Wang."

Not long after.

The group walked to the gate of the mud city. The engineering team members, all wearing thick yellow protective suits, worked together to install several large explosive devices on the city gate, and also placed some linear shaped charge charges along the gaps in the gate.

Wang Xi held Zhou Xiaolin's tactical tablet and pulled up the plan prepared in advance by the engineering department—this was a non-standard operation that could ensure the door was breached without causing a collapse.

A few minutes later.

Engineering personnel completed preparations for the blasting.

"Loading complete!" the foreman shouted to Wang Xi, his voice muffled through his glass mask. "Team Leader Wang, we can proceed with the detonation!"

"Everyone, move to a safe distance."

Wang Xi nodded and raised his hand in acknowledgment.

Fifty meters away from the city gate, after the thirty-second countdown ended, a muffled thud was heard.

Under the precisely calculated blasting, the mud city gate was torn open as if by an invisible giant hand, creating a neat square gap, and the dust raised was effectively suppressed by the pre-installed device.

"Well done."

Wang Xi praised.

He put on the headset and gave a hand signal:

"The engineering department will remain outside, while the rest of you will follow me into the disaster area in pairs, maintaining communication silence, according to the plan."

"Yes, Captain Wang." All the deacons put on their headsets and picked up their laser guns.

...

...

The group of ten people cautiously stepped into the city gate.

Wang Xi glanced around, his brows furrowing slightly.

He discovered that it was a typical rectangular barbican structure with an unusually narrow space, less than fifty meters wide, resembling a passageway squeezed by high walls.

A hundred meters directly ahead, a second, slightly smaller mud gate appeared. Defensive passages remained on the high walls on both sides, and through the cracks in the mottled mud, one could vaguely see the pre-reserved firing holes, like countless eyes spying from the shadows.

"Be on guard above the high wall."

Wang Xi's lowered voice was transmitted to each team member's ears through the headset:

"If any abnormality is detected, do not hesitate to activate the 'one-way protective shield' immediately."

"clear."

"receive."

"..."

Amidst the rising and falling responses, everyone instinctively gripped their weapons. Zhou Xiaolin unconsciously moved half a step closer to Wang Xi; she was in a group with the team leader as his assistant.

Just as the group was about to reach the second city gate, a burst of gunfire suddenly erupted.

Bang bang bang!
Crackling!

It was like fireworks exploding overhead, with piercing noise coming from all directions.

hum-

A pale blue, semi-transparent spherical barrier rose from the ground, protecting everyone inside. Countless mud pellets landed on it, splashing up ripples and making muffled thuds.

"It's a monster from the disaster zone."

Wang Xi looked around.

"They really want to play the 'catch the turtle in the jar' game."

Inside and on top of the high walls on both sides, there were yellowish-brown figures moving about—they were humanoid monsters made of mud, with distorted faces and indistinct features, holding old-fashioned rifles and firing at the people in the barbican.

"Buzhen Castle Garrison - Mudman (Milky Enemy/One Star)"

These monsters, numbering no less than fifty, were spread out on both sides of the high walls. From their elevated position, they unleashed a dense barrage of fire, creating an extremely powerful suppressive threat.

"Fire back!" Wang Xi ordered.

Beep beep beep!
Beep beep beep! !
In an instant, all nine deacons of the squad opened fire simultaneously, and crimson lasers rained down on the high walls on both sides. The bullets pierced through the mud figures' heads and torsos, penetrated the walls, and even accurately pierced through the mud figures hiding behind them.

But soon, a team member shouted:

"Captain Wang! Visibility obstructed!"

Because the bullets fired by the clay figure were made of clay pellets, they splashed onto the barrier, creating obstruction and making it even harder for everyone to see what was happening outside.

"Cease fire, leave the rest to me."

Wang Xi gave the order.

Almost the instant the squad members ceased fire, he had already stepped out of the barrier.

Bang bang bang!
Gunfire erupted from both sides of the high wall.

Wang Xi flicked his wrist, and icy energy gathered in his palm, instantly condensing into a crystal-clear ice sword. He swung his arm, and the blade drew a brilliant blue arc—

Jingle bell!
The ice sword parried precisely, deflecting the mud bullets. Sparks and shattered mud particles flew everywhere, but none of them touched him.

Wang Xi's eyes flashed like lightning, and he locked onto his target in a flash, then raised his hand and threw out a barrage of ice arrows.

shhhhhh!
The ice arrow pierced the mud wall like a sniper bullet, and a muffled thud echoed from the passageway behind, as the mud figure crumbled.

Shortly afterward, the gunfire stopped abruptly.

The barbican returned to silence.

"Threat elimination."

Wang Xi said calmly.

With a buzz, the "one-way shield" that had run out of power disappeared. A team member bent down to pick up the device from the ground and quickly replaced the battery.

"Continue the operation."

Wang Xi gave a hand signal and led the team forward.

When the group arrived at the second city gate, they found a carved plaque made of yellow clay in the center of the lintel, with the three characters "Buzhen City" engraved on it.

"Is that the name of this mud city?"

Zhou Xiaolin asked with a puzzled look, while taking photos and recording with her equipment, "Brother Wang, should we notify the engineering department to come and blast it?"

Wang Xi pressed the monitoring wristband, which scanned the surroundings and beeped.

Seeing the "Reality Distortion: 55.6%" displayed on the watch face, he shook his head and said:

"No need."

At this level of realism distortion, even with protective suits, engineering staff cannot completely block the corrosive effects of pollution, making accidents more likely.

Moreover, time was of the essence, so he planned to take action personally.

Fortunately, the inner gate of the barbican was much smaller and less sturdy than the outer gate, so he was confident he could force it open.

"Everyone, step aside."

Wang Xi gave a shout, and everyone quickly retreated several meters.

He stood ramrod straight, raising his hand to brace against the city gate.

—The King of Winter!
Wang Xi's eyes instantly turned azure blue, and his magical power surged violently.

In an instant, everyone saw his hair and clothes move without wind, and his whole body exuded an amazing aura, with a terrifying chill spreading out.

Click...

Ice crystals grew from his palm, spreading rapidly until they covered the entire city gate.

The team members gasped and took several steps back.

Wang Xi stopped, stood still, and took a deep breath to concentrate.

Swish!
He suddenly twisted his waist and swung his arm, like a brushstroke, and unleashed a palm strike—this palm strike seemed simple and unadorned, but in fact it contained hidden secrets, like a brush tip making a diagonal dot.

In cursive script, it is also called "looking back and forth point", which means that when two points echo each other, the first point pauses to the lower right and then flicks out to the lower left.

The most typical example is the word "兮" at the beginning of Zhao Mengfu's "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River", which subtly echoes the sentiment of the line "Thinking of the beautiful woman, gazing from her boudoir, how many times has she mistaken a returning boat on the horizon."

—"A Brushstroke Through Mountains and Rivers" and "The Touch of Eternal Freeze"

Combo attacks stacked!

boom! ! !
A palm struck down, creating a deafening roar.

The violent frost energy roared like an angry dragon, and the city gate instantly shattered into countless fragments.

"?!"

Those behind felt a tremor beneath their feet as a strong wind and shockwave carrying ice chips and mud whistled past, forcing them to raise their hands to shield themselves.

Once the commotion subsided, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

The power of this palm strike is comparable to a heavy explosion!

"Keep formation and keep moving forward."

Wang Xi's voice remained calm and steady in the earpiece. Everyone secretly admired him, quickly came to their senses, agreed, and stepped through the open inner doorway.

Soon, the view opened up.

The scene inside, however, surprised everyone.

The entire city resembled a child's clay sculpture: streets, houses, and trees were all made of dried yellow mud, with cracks everywhere.

Everything was devoid of color and vitality, only a suffocatingly monotonous brownish-yellow, like an ancient painting that had been soaked by rain and then dried in the sun.

"Disaster area number 12 is temporarily named 'Buzhen City.' Xiaolin, continue taking photos and recording."

Wang Xi gave an instruction and then used his monitoring wristband to survey the surrounding environment.

Drip!

He looked at the watch face screen, where the reality distortion was even higher, reaching a concentration of "67.5%"!

at this time.

A sudden roar came from directly in front.

Everyone looked up and saw an old-fashioned military jeep made entirely of yellow mud driving straight toward them, followed by a dense mass of mud-covered soldiers.

In the jeep sat two clay figures, a man and a woman.

Like a leader.

(End of this chapter)