"Second, compared to flesh mutants, I’m more afraid of spirit contaminants... Even just a servant-level one can ignore many thermal weapons and cause huge damage to the scavenger team..."
Zola finally sighed, "The bodies and spirits of humans are ultimately too weak to withstand true terror..."
"So, we have Demon Hunters in our convoy, right? Trained Demon Hunters from Sky City, ready for any potential dangers?"
Zhong Shenxiu asked casually.
"Yes, although spirit contaminants are thought to appear very seldomly in the Black Mushroom Wilderness, it’s not impossible... Compared to other places, it’s actually not too bad here."
Zola gave a bitter smile, "I’ve seen a dead city, completely filled with various spirit contaminants... Full of strange traps, you might die in your sleep, while walking, or just by glancing at something... At that point, we need the power of the Demon Hunters, whose resistance is a bit stronger than ordinary people... Yeah, our convoy’s Demon Hunter team is pretty low-key, so it’s normal if you haven’t seen them."
’It seems... Sky City has quite a few volumes of the "Original Texts", and the Demon Hunters they train should look pretty normal... Otherwise, given the size of an armored vehicle, I would have seen them a few times if they had distinct features,’ Zhong Shenxiu thought to himself.
"All right, worker, you should go back and rest now; we really start the hard work tomorrow..." Zola reminded him at last, "The leader of the Demon Hunters traded Mengde a map of Black Fog City, with a brand new, unexplored route... There might be the mineral source we need there, as well as fragments of the ’Original Texts’..."
The "Original Texts" were copied extensively and scattered in all directions.
Although many copies contained repetitive content, every power still tirelessly pursued completing them.
In the world of humanity after the apocalypse, a rumor persisted.
— ’When the "Original Texts" are gathered again, the apocalypse will also be brought to an end!’
This city stood at the edge of the Black Mushroom Wilderness and wasn’t originally named that.
However, after the apocalyptic disaster, scavengers discovered a thin layer of black fog constantly hovering over the city, and thus they named it so.
Originally, the city had housed millions of people. When the apocalypse hit, most of them mutated, nearly slaughtering all the survivors to extinction.
After that, many flesh mutants still wandered and settled in the city... causing it to become extremely dangerous.
But because it stored many resources, such as medicine, source stones, and possibly fragments of the "Original Texts", it attracted wave after wave of visitors after the disaster.
One day, an iron fortress, belching huge black smoke plumes, arrived near it and thunderously stopped.
"The boiler needs maintenance; it won’t be started again until at least tomorrow."
Zola, leading the team members, stood above the cannon port, looking at the silhouette of Black Fog City, "Too many buildings obstruct, so the armored vehicle can’t enter the city area... Additionally, there are too many monsters there, a large target easily attracts a siege, so we always enter in small team formations to explore."
She mainly explained this to Zhong Shenxiu and the other newcomers.
"We’ve explored Black Fog City several times before, generally dividing it into commercial, residential, industrial, and mixed areas... Among these, the commercial and mixed areas are easier to explore, with less powerful monsters and lower density. We previously took these routes, and maybe other scavengers did too, so the more we explored later, the less we found..."
"And this time, the Mengde Commander obtained a map from the leader of the Demon Hunters, which can bypass the ’Broken Bridge’ and reach the factory and residential areas, territories that have been scarcely explored,"
’The Broken Bridge’ is a very dangerous place, with mid-tier follower monsters on both sides, each owning a large number of subordinate servant-class monsters. The area is densely populated with monsters, making it difficult to infiltrate.
That’s why previous exploration teams couldn’t get through to explore beyond the residential and factory areas.
And the direction of the ’Broken Bridge’ was already the easiest to breach. Trying to infiltrate from other places would mean encountering massive hordes of monsters, even more dangerous than the Broken Bridge!
"Next, I’ll announce the candidates; this time, we’ll have a group of twenty people, led by me. Rachel, Richard, Ze Wei’er... Li Wei... follow me and pay attention to discipline."
Zola began calling out names.
"Don’t worry, Captain... if even the Demon Hunters can infiltrate this route, we should have no problem."
Ze Wei’er patted his third-generation 3D mobility sub-type at his waist, glanced at Zhong Shenxiu and the other nine laborers, and shook his head, "We really have to be careful of these laborers, they often break discipline and can easily cause a disturbance. Last time in Orange Tree City... and with monster guides who are the least reliable!"
"The main rule is, do not interrupt me while I’m speaking."
Zola glared at Ze Wei’er and continued, "As the vanguard, the Mengde Commander will guard the war chariots in the rear, ensuring our retreat... Double the breakfast today, and after eating, we’ll set off! Any questions? No questions, then dismiss..."
Zhong Shenxiu held two cans of luncheon meat and two cans of peas, looking helplessly towards the direction of Black Fog City.
Behind him, Rachel suddenly popped up, "Aren’t you going to eat your luncheon meat?"
"I knew you were waiting for this..."
Zhong Shenxiu casually tossed a can of meat her way, then suddenly asked, "Is that Demon Hunter female leader trustworthy?"
"They wouldn’t dare deceive us!"
Rachel announced proudly, then with her dagger, she flicked out a pale piece of meat, contentedly placing it in her mouth, mumbling as she chewed, "Moreover... such a wise person as the Commander has also taken precautions, right? Initially, only our twenty-member vanguard squad were the explorers, and they even detained that Demon Hunter female leader and several key members, having a Demon Hunter guide us. If anything happens to us, they’re finished."
"Indeed... Hopefully, that’s the case..."
Zhong Shenxiu looked over and saw the Demon Hunter female leader with cross-shaped pupils indeed present, discussing something with Mengde over a map.
An hour later, the well-prepared Scavenger Team left the camp and entered Black Fog City alone.
’It looks... this city must have been highly civilized before its destruction...’
Looking at various skyscraper-like tall buildings, Zhong Shenxiu mused silently in his heart.
Here, every member of the squad wore goggles and a beak-shaped mask, a precaution against inhaling toxins.
Even the arrogant and venom-tongued Ze Wei’er became unusually cautious here, knowing that one small misstep could cost him his life!