Chapter 480: Liu Rui Alone
“Each vehicle is stocked with weapons: two crystal-core rifles and one rocket launcher with ten crystal cores per person. If we run into danger, these will be your backup. Go check your gear—if anything’s broken, replace it now.”
“The estimated journey is one day. The cafeteria will prepare rations tomorrow morning. You’ll eat in shifts—no stops.”
As he spoke, Zhuang Mingxu led them out to the courtyard to show where the weapons were stored. But as soon as he laid eyes on the vehicles, he froze in shock and couldn’t say a word for a long time.
The two vehicles they arrived in had somehow turned into six. Three of them were five-meter-long trucks—clearly left behind on purpose by Lu Weiyi after noticing they had overstocked on supplies.
Even so, the nearly four-meter-high pile of cargo on each truck left Zhuang Mingxu speechless.
“Brothers, don’t you think loading all this stuff on one trip might cause a blowout?”
A few of the men scratched their heads, looking a bit sheepish. They each had their own teams, and all the purchases were made out of necessity for those teams.
“Unload some of it. We’ve just opened the underground tunnel. This trip is mostly a test run. If we have a blowout along the way, it’ll cause trouble for everyone.”
“…”
“…”
The men exchanged subtle glances. No one spoke, and no one took the initiative to unload their own team’s supplies.
Although they were cooperating now while out on mission, they were also rivals once back with their own teams. No one wanted to fall behind in terms of equipment.
“Unload half. Divide the weight evenly by headcount. Lin Mo, supervise. Get it done within thirty minutes,” Zhuang Mingxu ordered.
“Yes, sir!”
Seeing there was no room for negotiation, Ye Jia cheerfully stepped forward and asked, “Commander, since we’ve already bought this stuff, we can’t just throw it away, right? These crystal cores weren’t cheap.”
He pulled a pained expression. With his babyface, he looked both adorable and funny.
“Store them over here. Later, when Commander Lu returns to pick up the children, he’ll bring them back for you if possible,” Zhuang Mingxu had already anticipated they’d bought large items. Lu Weiyi had agreed to help transport them, and Zhuang wasn’t about to go back on that just because he’d left on a mission.
“Long live the commander!” Ye Jia exaggerated playfully and exchanged a glance with Yu Mengchu before both stepped up to start unloading.
The other team members also voiced their thanks to Commander Lu and stopped insisting.
Zhuang Mingxu pointed out where the weapons were stored and set the departure time for the next day. Then he took the two kids to enjoy a warm father-child evening before their parting.
At 4 a.m. the next morning, Lu Weiyi’s alarm went off right on time.
Inside the space, there was no distinction between day and night, and the temperature was constant. When the alarm startled him awake, Lu Weiyi was momentarily dazed before quickly washing up.
The clothes he rinsed last night were still damp, so he changed into a new field combat outfit. His calf-high boots were tightly secured over the cuffs of his pants.
He grabbed his combat backpack and, while chewing on bread, stuffed in gear better suited for the current environment.
After strapping his weapons to easily accessible spots, Lu Weiyi left the space with decisive movements.
He cast his mental energy to surround his body. The moment he landed, he swiftly scanned his surroundings. The grotesque mutant snake from yesterday was gone. Some fist-sized bugs startled by his presence watched him warily. A few retreated, but others leapt forward to attack.
Black shells, arm-length antennae, and bristle-like leg hairs were clearly visible; a bright green worm the thickness of an arm wriggled nimbly. The crab-like jointed legs under its body skittered across branches. Its nearly half-meter-long pincers slashed through the air and reached him in seconds.
Hair standing on end, Lu Weiyi’s psychic energy instinctively formed a whirlwind around him, sucking away everything nearby and creating a temporary vacuum.
The dim, misty air severely limited visibility. If it weren’t for his internal clock, he’d have thought it was still the middle of the night. The haze gave the entire area a dreamlike feel and offered natural cover for the insects’ approach.
When his psychic energy swept the area again, a few green, black, and white worms dropped from overhead. Though blocked from direct contact by his shield, the soft, squishy sensation of their touch triggered a visceral response. His skin crawled.
He regretted taking this mission.
He wanted to go back to the base…
Lu Weiyi pursed his lips and looked up at the blocked-out sky.
He thought about asking Zhuang Mingxu for help and turned the notebook he retrieved from his space in his hand, only to put it back—Zhuang couldn’t help him now.
Even if Zhuang led a rescue team, the unknown SS-class mutant plant nearby was a time bomb that could easily put them in the same danger. Besides, the mutated birds in the area weren’t easy to avoid; they’d likely be attacked before even arriving.
After reviewing the transportation tools in his space, Lu Weiyi formed a plan—but only after he had found everyone and left the forest.
A small green vine was coiled around a tree. Lu Weiyi tightened it, leapt into the air, and used the swing to help him climb to a higher vantage point to get his bearings.
Unexpectedly, the vine slipped down a section, and the tree trunk he stepped on was slick. He slammed into the tree, smashing some unknown organism that sprayed thick green slime.
Hissing slightly, Lu Weiyi checked the vine and found the tree covered in yellow-green moss. The spot he hit had a deep dent, with the flattened corpse of an unknown worm in the center. The exploded goo around it was absolutely disgusting.
His recently full stomach churned. His body gagged reflexively, but his mind reminded him to hold it in.
The conflicting commands brought a mist of tears to his eyes. He quickly retreated to his space, paced a few steps, changed into another set of clothes, donned a heavy-duty mask, and stepped back out.
The thick moss made climbing the towering trees—tens of meters tall—slow going.
When he finally reached the top and looked around, all he could see was an endless sea of green forest.
He didn’t know when the rain had stopped, but the air smelled fresh and clean. Based on his location, he was southwest of their intended landing point. Looking northeast, he could see a bald mountaintop, oddly bare and surrounded by dense foliage like an island of nothingness—unnaturally strange.
If Lu Xiao had seen this with his own eyes, Lu Weiyi believed he never would’ve agreed to make that their drop point.
He pulled out the compass from his space, but the needle spun erratically and refused to stop.
Thinking back to how Xu Sa had found direction at sea, Lu Weiyi looked around—but not even a creek was in sight, let alone an ocean. He sighed and gave up.
There were no signs of anyone else nearby, so Lu Weiyi could only start heading in the agreed-upon direction.
With help from the little green plant, he managed to kill slightly larger mutated creatures using a machete. His mental energy shield protected him from the crawling insects, so aside from the uneven terrain and oddly shaped trees, the journey wasn’t particularly dangerous.
Of course, that was mostly because he lacked real experience in jungle combat and didn’t know how to pick better paths. His straight-line stumbling consumed a lot of energy but also helped him avoid larger predators.
Liu Rui, who had also been traveling all night, wasn’t nearly as lucky. Determined to reach Xu Sa before the thunderstorm ended, he had been fighting from the moment he landed.
Fire-type abilities weren’t well-suited for rain, and since he was in a forest, he couldn’t use his powers on a large scale. Most of the time, he relied on cold weapons. After hacking his way through for so long, even the reinforced machete — enhanced by a metal-type ability user — had become dulled. His arms were trembling from overuse.
But he couldn’t stop. The thunderstorm had ended long ago. He didn’t know if Xu Sa was still at the original location. Afraid of missing him, he kept forcing himself to push on.
Tree branches had left bloodied welts across his body, and his face was scratched. His clothes, soaked in rain and sweat, chafed against the wounds until he was numb to the pain. His legs felt like they were filled with lead. The only thing keeping him moving was the belief that he had to find Xu Sa.
Suddenly, the screech of animals echoed nearby, followed by the trembling of the ground and trees violently shaking. A massive tree crashed toward him, forcing Liu Rui to dodge in a panic — just in time to see a horde of man-sized mutated beasts charging toward him.
Gorgeous peacocks flapped their wings, occasionally catching on branches and losing a few feathers. Their sharp beaks were as long as an arm and hooked like scythes — one peck could take off half an arm.
Liu Rui gripped his machete tightly, ready to defend, but the peacock only glanced at him sharply and rushed past. The wind from its wings knocked him off balance, and before he could steady himself, he saw another mutated bird — a crane — emerge from under its wings. It had legs as tall as a man and shockingly long strides. Even its wing feathers were half a person’s height.
Then, sounds of movement came from the treetops — other mutated animals darting between the branches. Liu Rui ducked under a crane’s legs and looked up just in time to see a creature the size of a small car flash by. Its squeaking cries sounded panicked.
Even with little experience, Liu Rui could tell — these creatures were fleeing.
He hid behind the thick trunk of a tree and peered toward the source of the noise. There, a bear the size of a truck was locked in battle with a monkey nearly as large as King Kong. Blood flew in all directions, and the roaring was deafening. Vines occasionally tried to entangle the monkey, only to be blocked by a sudden waterfall-like burst of water.
These were two mutant creatures with abilities.
Liu Rui reached into his backpack. All he had were signal jammers used to counteract base interference — no specific devices for disabling abilities.
And even if he had one, just based on their size alone, he had no chance of winning.
