Chapter 198 – Support
He was about to reach his limit. At that moment, he had no energy to worry about others; he only wanted to kill a few more genetic monsters while he still had the strength.
“Alert! The eastern zone needs support! The eastern zone needs support!”
Zero’s voice suddenly rang in the earpiece, causing Tu Ran to pause as she pulled the trigger. She looked in the direction of the eastern zone and saw a small mushroom cloud rapidly rising, breaking through the factory’s roof.
The massive heat wave quickly spread to the surrounding flammable and explosive materials, causing five or six more explosions in quick succession.
The heat wave spread from the eastern zone to the western zone, causing the moss on the ground to rapidly evaporate, shrivel, and turn black.
“Alert! The western zone needs support! The western zone needs support!”
The western zone was the area Xie Xu was responsible for.
That area mainly produced various models of guns and barrels, with no flammable or explosive materials. By right, the difficulty level there should have been about the same as in her area.
Judging by the gunfire, the shots from the western side were sparse, suggesting that they were also in the final stages of searching for the genetic monsters.
“Alert! The northern zone needs support! The northern zone needs support!”
Tu Ran: “…”
You could have just said that all three other zones needed support in one sentence. Was it really necessary to waste time splitting it into three?
Tu Ran turned around and looked at her dwindling team.
“Everyone, listen to my instructions: All pioneers head to the northern zone to support Deputy Pioneer Commander Li Wenchuan. All security officers from the Executive Department head to the western zone to support Senior Researcher Xie Xu.”
Although she didn’t know what difficulties Xie Xu and Li Wenchuan were facing, Tu Ran only had one thing to say: ‘you’re on your own. I’ve sent people your way, so if they can save you, great; if not, you can all stay in this factory together.’
As for her, she wasn’t going.
She intended to personally go to the eastern zone to support Xie Hong.
She wanted to find out where his inner core came from.
Hopefully, it wasn’t taken from Xi Chunzhi.
Following the orders, the pioneers and security officers who were still able to stand immediately evacuated the southern zone, leaving through the southern gate and heading to the northern and western zones, respectively.
Tu Ran, however, took a shortcut through the factory’s interior, running toward the explosion site.
The explosions had ceased, but thick smoke was still spreading. Tu Ran activated the air purification system in her helmet.
She moved through the dense black smoke, searching for Xie Hong.
Their white uniforms were indeed striking.
Even in the pitch-black smoke where one couldn’t see their hand in front of their face, Tu Ran noticed them immediately.
Even though it was just a vague outline.
Tu Ran didn’t rush forward. Instead, she concealed herself behind a nearby machine, quietly observing the scene.
The major beside Xie Hong seemed to be injured, his head hanging low, while Xie Hong was dragging him towards a corner.
After getting him to the corner, Xie Hong pulled out a black cloth from the assembly station, and activated his [Ice Freeze] superpower. A thin layer of ice instantly formed on the black cloth. Xie Hong, seemingly unsatisfied, activated [Ice Freeze] again, adding another layer of ice on top of the original one.
After confirming that the ice layer was thick enough, he covered the unconscious major with the black cloth, completely wrapping him up.
He was trying to protect him from the genetic monsters’ moss attacks.
That moss could corrode most materials. Would a block of ice really be enough to stop it? Tu Ran was skeptical, but Xie Hong was a general, so he wouldn’t do something meaningless. Perhaps the ice layer produced by his ability had some special properties.
After finishing this, Xie Hong stealthily moved into the smoke, holding a laser gun and vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
“General Xie Hong is twenty meters in front of you. You can approach him directly. Major Xie Wei was affected by the energy wave from the bomb explosion and is injured and unconscious. He needs immediate medical attention.”
‘Such good equipment, wasted on them,’ Tu Ran thought sarcastically.
“What caused the explosion?” Tu Ran asked, standing still as she examined the area.
The thick smoke made it impossible to determine the exact location of the explosion.
“Major Xie Wei accidentally hit the furnace while shooting at the genetic monsters,” Zero explained. “There was a small amount of flammable and explosive material inside the furnace, which triggered an explosion. The sparks from that explosion reached six small-yield bombs that hadn’t yet been moved to a safe zone, causing secondary and tertiary explosions.”
Tu Ran didn’t know what to say.
She couldn’t quite understand the mindset of these wealthy young masters.
Staying home would have kept them safe, so why did they insist on coming to places like this to take risks?
They didn’t accomplish anything and only added more trouble for working-class people like her.
“What about the other pioneers and security officers assigned to this area? Why can’t I see anyone?” Tu Ran glanced around but saw no one.
“Some died in the initial explosion, while others suffered severe nerve damage from the genetic monsters’ sonic attacks and fell unconscious,” Zero replied.
“Not a single one left?” Tu Ran found it hard to believe.
“That’s correct, not a single one remains,” Zero paused before continuing, “So we need your support. Please proceed twenty meters ahead to find Major Xie Wei and General Xie Hong, and assist General Xie Hong in evacuating Major Xie Wei from the area.”
“The fog is too thick; I can’t see a thing,” Tu Ran said, her right hand quietly touching the helmet.
“I will provide you with the most accurate route guidance. All you need to do is follow my directions, and you’ll reach them,” Zero assured.
“No, you’re just using our locators to pinpoint positions. You can’t detect if there are any genetic monsters hiding along the way. Some genetic monsters don’t emit sound waves, so you wouldn’t be able to track them. If they ambush us… I can’t take that risk,” Tu Ran declined, using this as an opportunity to test Zero.
She was probing to see if Zero could detect living beings in an environment filled with dense smoke.
If Zero could detect the presence of living beings, it would insist that she proceed and guarantee that it could identify their locations. If it couldn’t, Zero would come up with alternative strategies to alleviate her concerns.
“I’ve activated the air purification system of the Sankar Arsenal. In five minutes—”
“Ah! A genetic monster!”
“Bang!” A gunshot rang out.
A “zzzzzz” sound emanated from the shattered face mask on the ground.
Tu Ran had used her [Mountain Collapse and Earth Crack] superpower.
Zero’s response revealed that, aside from using the combat helmet’s locator, it had no other means to detect living beings.
In this space, freshly rocked by explosions, even thermal imaging wouldn’t work well.
So, Tu Ran decisively destroyed her helmet, freeing herself from Zero’s surveillance.
The final scream and gunshot were simply the result of her commitment to the act.
If she was going to perform, she might as well do it convincingly.
She hadn’t forgotten the part of Zero’s last sentence that went unfinished, “In five minutes—”
In five minutes, the smoke would clear.
She only had five minutes.
Biting her finger, Tu Ran smeared her blood across the palm of her left hand.
As expected, a vibrant purple mushroom quickly sprouted.
It was incredibly resilient, capable of growing anywhere as long as it had Tu Ran’s blood.
Waiting for the next chapter