Three days later, in the early morning.
The massive East Gate of Shengjing Underground City slowly opened with a dull roar, revealing the desolate and vast wilderness outside.
The withered yellow land stretched to the horizon, with rolling, strangely shaped hills and rocky mountains, eroded by wind and sand, in the distance.
The air was filled with the dry smell of dust and a faint, almost imperceptible, wild spiritual energy fluctuation.
A convoy, consisting of five rune-reinforced heavy military off-road vehicles and two heavily armored supply transport vehicles engraved with defensive formations, was quietly parked outside the gate.
The vehicles were not purely technological creations, but rather products that fused ancient artifact forging techniques with modern engineering, powered by high-purity spirit energy cores.
The vehicle bodies were inlaid with strengthening and lightening runes, while the tires were crafted from the hide of mutated fierce beasts mixed with special metals, making them wear-resistant and capable of resisting energy erosion to a certain extent.
This was the exploration team convoy heading to the Western Rift Zone.
The Central Academy of Sciences' three off-road vehicles were in the middle of the convoy, their windows specially treated so that the interior could not be clearly seen from the outside.
Ling Chen could vaguely sense several strong mental fluctuations emanating from inside the vehicles, clearly indicating the core personnel of this exploration.
The Ash Squad and the Berserker Bear Squad were responsible for leading and bringing up the rear, respectively.
The Ash Squad's vehicle was at the very front of the convoy, responsible for scouting and early warning.
Ling Chen sat in the co-driver's seat, Su Qing was driving, and Chen Mo, Wang Yuan, and Shi Lei were in the back row.
Zhang Hou and Li Xun, along with some members of the Berserker Bear Squad, were in another vehicle, responsible for flanking maneuvers.
Leimeng's Berserker Bear Squad vehicle was at the tail of the convoy, responsible for holding the line and dealing with potential threats from the rear.
A middle-aged military officer in a Central Special Operations Bureau uniform, whose aura was as deep as an abyss—the same colonel from the earlier review, named Gao Zhan—drove a nimble but clearly high-grade rune motorcycle alone, patrolling around the convoy like a calm alpha wolf, monitoring the entire team.
His presence gave everyone an invisible sense of pressure and security.
"All units, check communication formations, report status."
Gao Zhan's steady voice echoed through the small in-vehicle sound transmission formation (a communication artifact that uses the principle of resonance) in each vehicle.
"Ashes lead vehicle, formation clear, spirit energy vision good, no abnormal energy turbulence detected."
Ling Chen calmly responded, his gaze sharply scanning the wilderness ahead.
He deliberately circulated a faint wisp of spirit energy to his eyes, simulating the effect of a low-level "Spirit Vision" ability.
"Berserker Bear rear vehicle, no problem, it's very clean behind us!"
Leimeng's loud voice came through.
"Academy of Sciences vehicle group, all normal."
A slightly cold scholar's voice responded.
"Depart."
Gao Zhan was concise.
The convoy slowly started, leaving the last sanctuary of Shengjing and truly entering the perilous outer wilderness.
Wheels rolled over the dry earth, kicking up clouds of dust.
The wind howled outside the vehicles, and occasionally, the long howls of unknown mutated fierce beasts could be heard in the distance.
The atmosphere inside the vehicles was slightly tense; apart from the low roar of the engines and the wind, few people spoke.
Ling Chen appeared to be fully focused on guarding the front, but the cold will of his Soul Jade Physique acted like the most precise radar.
He scanned for energy flows, life signatures, and... hidden malice within a radius of several kilometers, with an accuracy far exceeding any detection artifact on the vehicles.
The first two days of the journey were relatively calm.
They encountered a few waves of attacks from low-level mutated beasts, mostly frenzied corpse hounds, giant poisonous scorpions, or corrupted vultures that could spray acid.
But these were easily dealt with by the convoy, without even needing Gao Zhan or the two captains to intervene. The team members gradually adapted to the rhythm of the wilderness.
However, Ling Chen's vigilance never wavered. He knew that true danger often came from intelligent beings.
On the afternoon of the third day, the convoy drove into an even more desolate area.
The terrain here became unusually strange, with massive rock formations, as if torn apart by immense force, exposed. The spiritual energy in the air became extremely chaotic, and occasionally, distorted light phenomena could even be seen.
This was already close to the outskirts of the Western Rift Zone.
"Increase vigilance. The space and energy here are unstable, making it easy for anomalies to breed and for ambushes to occur."
Gao Zhan's voice sounded again, tinged with gravity.
Just then, Ling Chen's pupils contracted slightly. At the edge of his perception, several extremely subtle but clearly organized life signatures, characteristic of intelligent beings, appeared silently like phantoms and began to rapidly approach the convoy from the flank!
Their movement trajectories were not the straight-line charge of wild beasts, but rather showed clear tactical flanking intentions.
And... they were deliberately using the terrain and the chaotic energy field to conceal their movements!
Not mutated beasts! They were Mutants! And organized, intelligent Mutants!
"Right flank! Three kilometers out! Something is approaching rapidly! Number... five! No, seven! Their movement trajectory has a pattern! They are using the rift valley to hide their tracks!"
Ling Chen immediately reported via the sound transmission formation, his tone urgent and precise, perfectly playing the role of a scout who suddenly discovered danger.
Almost at the same moment Ling Chen's voice fell, Gao Zhan, who was patrolling outside, sharply twisted his handlebars.
The rune motorcycle let out a low whistle and instantly rushed towards the right flank of the convoy, clearly having also detected the anomaly.
"All units, slow down! Battle stations! Ash Squad, left flank vigilance! Berserker Bear Squad, right flank engage! Academy of Sciences vehicle group, activate defensive formations!"
Gao Zhan issued a series of commands rapidly.
The convoy immediately entered battle mode. The vehicles quickly dispersed into a defensive formation.
A soft energy shield lit up around the Academy of Sciences' vehicles.
Leimeng roared, leaping out of his vehicle with members of the Berserker Bear Squad, spiritual light flickering on their bodies, weapons drawn, and charged towards the right side.
Ling Chen also ordered Su Qing to drive the vehicle to a higher mound on the left, gaining a vantage point, while having Chen Mo and Wang Yuan fully perceive the situation on both flanks.
From the rift valley on the right, several figures shot out like lightning!
Their forms were completely different from low-level mutated beasts!
Although their bodies had also undergone varying degrees of mutation, covered in keratin or bone armor, with limbs possibly mutated into sharp claws or bladed limbs, their eyes were not crazed and chaotic.
Instead, they gleamed with coldness, cunning, and even a hint of cruel mockery!
The leading Mutant, nearly two and a half meters tall, was covered in dark golden scales, and his arms had mutated into massive, mantis-like bladed limbs, with a faint green spiritual energy shimmering on the blades.
The blood lines at his eye corners were distinctly inky black.
He let out a sharp hiss, not a meaningless roar, but one containing a command!
The other six Mutants immediately dispersed; two charged directly at the Berserker Bear Squad.
The other four, like phantoms, bypassed the front with astonishing speed, heading straight for the Academy of Sciences' vehicles in the middle of the convoy!
Their target was extremely clear!
"Damn it! Smart little brats!"
Leimeng roared, his body instantly expanding, hair growing wildly, transforming into a half-bear form, and he punched at a charging Mutant.
The Mutant, however, did not meet the blow head-on, agilely sidestepping. His bladed arm drew a strange arc, aiming directly for Leimeng's ribs, a vicious and tricky move!
On the other side, Gao Zhan had already intercepted the dark golden-scaled Mutant leader.
The two clashed instantly, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow!
Gao Zhan now held a pair of short-handled war hammers, their heads glowing with runes, each strike powerful and heavy, stirring up sounds of wind and thunder.
Meanwhile, the Mutant leader's bladed arms were eerily unpredictable, sometimes clashing head-on, sometimes maneuvering, managing to barely fend off Gao Zhan's offensive, and even attempting to use words to distract him:
"A Central Special Operations Bureau dog? Looks like we've caught some big fish this time!"
His voice was hoarse and grating, yet carried clear meaning!
Gao Zhan's face was grim, his attacks becoming even more relentless.
At this moment, the four Mutants who had bypassed the frontal battlefield were already close to the Academy of Sciences' convoy!
The Academy of Sciences vehicles' self-defense formations lit up, firing several energy beams, but these were easily dodged by the Mutants with their strange footwork!
"Liu Feng! Interfere with them! Hui Xiu! Lock onto their energy cores!" Ling Chen calmly ordered.
They were his kind, but what did it matter?
