Chapter 340: Bizarre

Translator:EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor:EndlessFantasy Translation

Within half an hour, the aircraft stopped at a military camp.

Luo Yuan jumped down from the aircraft following the other members before him and looked to the direction of Hot Springs City. There were about five to six kilometers between them and the city but they could only see a dark shadow with limited light.

An officer rushed towards them and introduced himself while shaking their hands, "I'm the Chief Deputy of the Southeast Military Zone, Xu Shaoze. Welcome, Captain Lin and Captain Luo, as well as the rest of your colleagues from your department. The Chief Officer has been waiting in the office for your arrival."

"Could you take the lead?" Lin Feiyan said coldly.

Luo Yuan was well prepared to be instructed as he understood that he was still new. He only nodded and remained silent.

The Chief Deputy did not care and said, "Please follow me."

They were in a temporary campsite in the outskirts which had many tents set up everywhere. There were not many buildings in the vicinity except for look-out posts which were made from wood. Luo Yuan and his members passed through an artillery square and finally entered a 100-square-meter tent after a few minutes of walking.

There were more than 10 people in the tent. A middle-aged man with a Lieutenant General badge got up and welcomed them as he saw Luo Yuan and his members arrive, "I’m Chen Jianfeng. Welcome to our campsite my dearest colleagues. Thanks for coming."

"This is our duty. The information you provided is too basic and we need more details." Lin Feiyan went straight to the point.

"Let me start with introductions. This is Researcher Zhang and his assistant from the Second Biology Research Institute of Hope City. They had begun researching the fog since yesterday and have arrived at a few conclusions. Perhaps we can discuss it here." Chen Jianfeng remarked.

"I’m just a normal researcher… nothing much to introduce. I think it is incorrect for us to call it a fog as it is a type of gel that appears in a gaseous state. Therefore, it is very difficult to clear even with the help of the sun or wind. I’ve observed it over the last two days and realize it has been expanding… Here are the samples I’ve collected… You can have a look."

Researcher Zhang took out a petri dish and offered it around. Luo Yuan took possession of it first and observed it carefully. He realized it was a puddle of light green liquid. He stirred it with a glass rod and it appeared to behave like glue as it was very sticky. "The liquid is 60% water and the rest is some dense molecular substance which had not been discovered yet. Through some tests, I found that it can absorb electromagnetic waves. It would be perfectly invisible if it were synthesized artificially. In many industries…"

As Luo Yuan noticed that he was carried away in describing the substance, Luo Yuan frowned and interrupted him, "I’m sorry, Researcher Zhang. Could you please focus on the highlights? We are running out of time!"

Researcher Zhang was shocked and apologized with a smile, "I’m sorry, I got too excited. Let me continue. The fog can absorb electromagnetic waves. Therefore, you can’t communicate through the use of electronic devices. In addition, the fog is of a very high density so you won’t be able to see things further than 50 centimeters away. It gets worse. There is a substance in the fog which can trigger hallucinations even if you inhale a small amount of it. You will also start to feel lethargic if you inhale more than one gram of the substance. Unfortunately, 10% of the fog is made up of this substance. In other words, you'll fall asleep if you take one single breath of it. The physical condition of the individual could also play a part in how quickly the substance acts, putting you to sleep. Those who are strong may be able to last longer."

Everyone looked scared including Luo Yuan. He had no idea whether his current physical condition would render him immune to the substance. As the Chief Officer saw their changed expressions, he quickly said, "Don't worry guys, we have saved many people outside the area where the fog is spreading. It's not poisonous and you'll just sleep longer if you happen to breathe in more. You'll be safe if you wear our protective mask. Your mission is very simple, you only need to find the source of the fog and install the pulse generator. We'll take care of the rest."

"Chief Officer Chen, please do not hide things from us. We need to know everything. You wouldn’t request for help from upper management if it is this simple, right?" Lin Feiyan glanced at him and said rudely.

Luo Yuan looked at Lin Feiyan who had the features of a Barbie doll! He thought, "Seriously, don’t judge a book by its cover. There must be a reason why she is the Captain."

Chief Officer Chen was pissed by her question. However, the reason she could be a Captain at a young age was that she was quite smart. He tried his best to overcome his anger and said with a smile, "Fine. We have sent three teams of people to conduct investigations but none of them returned or gave any response."

"Not even a single person returned? Luo Yuan pondered and asked.

"Oh, there is one from the special team, but he became crazy when he returned. No one could calm him down and he died after a while." The Chief Officer said.

The special team should be the team of evolved humans in the military. Luo Yuan pondered and said, "Could you help us get in touch with anyone he has contacted before? We need to know more about him."

…

Luo Yuan and the team checked with those soldiers as well as the medical staff and found something scary.

The guy was no longer conscious since his return. He was basically dancing, screaming and spouting nonsense. Unfortunately, what he said was not clear so they could not make any notes at all.

He was tied down and finally returned to a calm state after being injected with tranquilizers. His condition stabilized and he even woke up in the middle of the night. He watched the ceiling but it looked as though he had totally lost contact with his surroundings. He then smiled strangely. He saw someone walking over and said clearly for once, "I’m going to the heaven." He then passed away!

That was mysterious and strange! An invisible enemy was the scariest thing. Luo Yuan pondered and said as he saw that everyone was insecure, he said, "There is no point to send so many people there, you will just increase the number of deaths. I’ll go. You guys stay here."

It was totally useless to send too many people into the city if they could not find out the cause. He preferred to go alone because he did not want to have extra problems if something dangerous happened.

Everyone looked relieved when they heard what Luo Yuan said. Even Lin Feiyan looked at him gently and smiled. She said, "Indeed! But you should not go alone, I’ll go together with you. The rest can stay here."

Lin Feiyan decided on the plan and everyone had no objection.

…

"This is the pulse generator with a layer of superglue on its surface. Tear away the sticker after you set the time and then throw it at the target when you see it! The superglue is very sticky, so don’t touch it at a whim. There is a spot for you to hold it and you might need to remove your skin if you accidentally stuck it on yourself." Xu Shaoze explained to them.

By then, the Chief Officer had already left. However, Lin Feiyan and Luo Yuan did not give a sh*t as they were not afraid of offending him anyway. They felt disgusted by his attempt to hide the truth from them.

Xu Shaoze continued his explanations, "The pulse generator will emit a high-energy wave which can penetrate the layer of fog and give the location of the target. And remember, you must be at least 200 meters away from the target when the pulse generator emits the wave to avoid being hurt by the tracking missile."

Luo Yuan looked around and noticed a stack of metal objects which looked like a fortress and asked curiously, "Are those the tracking missiles you were talking about?"

"You have a sharp eye, Captain Luo! Those are the latest tracking missiles that are equipped with nuclear warheads. It’s the most special weapon of our country!" Xu Shaoze said proudly. "It's even more powerful than the model you have seen before. Five kilograms of this can travel at nine times the speed of sound! Even level eight mutated beasts would be severely injured if they got hit. However, at that level, you would expect them to have a good sense of danger, making it difficult to target them."

Luo Yuan looked at the shadow of the missile which was almost nine meters tall and more than 20 meters in length. He was full of respect for the technological advancements in their weapon technology. This was something that only existed in the realm of science fiction before the apocalypse but right now, it was right in front of his eyes. Humans seem to have the ability to unleash unlimited potential under the pressure extinction.