Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 187 - 68 Second-level Monster_2

Chapter 187: Chapter 68 Second-level Monster_2

"I’m not saying that you were lucky to have come here; I mean that having seen that incredibly prosperous era is a kind of luck."

"So, what was the world and the people like back then?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xie Liu and the others also looked over.

Although they had watched the promotional videos played by Lei Jie, it was ultimately too abstract for them.

They were only "seeing" it, but couldn’t understand it.

Noticing their gaze, Chen Jian put down the utensils in his hand.

He then spoke earnestly:

"For the people living in that era, it wasn’t the best of times."

"But without a doubt, it was an era worthy of history..."

Chen Jian began to narrate.

He didn’t talk about the high-speed trains racing by, nor the giant passenger planes flying in the sky, nor the stories of moving mountains and reclaiming seas, nor the terrifying, even somewhat insane war machines.

He simply described to the several Holy Blood individuals a perfectly ordinary day he had personally experienced.

That kind of ordinary day, to the Holy Blood individuals, seemed like a fairy tale from an old person’s mouth.

The deeper the buried technologies were, the more unimaginable they became for the people here.

And after he finished speaking, the longing in the eyes of Ji Xing and the others was completely uncontrollable.

"...Can we—humans ever return to that era?"

"Why not?"

Chen Jian didn’t hesitate to say:

"This is undoubtedly humanity’s darkest moment, but rest assured, we will get through it."

"Alright."

"Break time is over; it’s time to get to work."

"We will organize the first close reconnaissance at 6 a.m. tomorrow; everyone, be prepared."

"This reconnaissance is crucial!"

....

At six o’clock in the morning, as the first rays of sunlight pierced the morning fog, Chen Jian’s eight-member team set off on time.

At this time, they were still about 50 kilometers away from the core area of the Jinling Ruins, which is not the optimal distance for a close reconnaissance operation.

But they had no other choice.

According to Ji Xing, the area from the center of the Jinling Ruins outward for 30 kilometers was dangerous, even if they didn’t encounter that Second-level Monster head-on, they might still fall into danger due to various "bizarre incidents."

So, they had to reserve enough safe space to retreat promptly if something went wrong.

As for "tracking the monster’s movements," it would require step-by-step advancement and delineating enough safe zones before further consideration.

Heading north along the G205 highway, Chen Jian and the others maintained a relatively slow pace.

The drone had already been launched, and within the first 10 kilometers, they could still find traces of human activities, but after entering the 40-kilometer radius of the central area, the entire region was utterly devoid of human presence.

"...The form of human settlements around here is very strange—why are all the houses built in trees?"

"Even if they’re not built in trees, the houses are elevated on stilts."

"Stilt houses? Is this some sort of custom?"

Lei Jie was a bit puzzled, while Chen Jian shook his head and said:

"It’s not a custom."

"Have you forgotten? This is caused by a monster that spews toxic gas."

"According to previous intelligence, it’s judged that the toxic gas it releases can spread to a radius of up to 10 kilometers, and within this range, the gas concentration is still lethal."

"That means that within 30 to 50 kilometers, the gas is still harmful."

"The surrounding settlements should have discovered some characteristic of the gas, trying to raise their living spaces to avoid the gas."

"This suggests that this toxic gas is lighter than air, possibly settling to the ground."

"Understood."

Lei Jie nodded, continuing to observe the road conditions while speaking:

"That also explains the anomalies on the surrounding road—these thick moss-like vegetation on the ground should be the product of the gas settling."

"Should we carry air respirators? If poisoned, subsequent actions would be scrapped."

"Not for now."

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

"The environmental monitoring system hasn’t sent out an alarm, theoretically indicating it’s not a problem."

"Our respirators can only last for 15 minutes; they should be saved for the most critical moment."

"Understood."

Lei Jie said no more, and the team continued to advance.

As their route went deeper, the surrounding environment also became increasingly eerie.

Biological activity signals in the forest became more and more sparse, with even bird calls disappearing.

The accumulations on the ground grew thicker, forcing the team to lower their cat vehicles’ speed again, lest the splattered filth land on them.

"We’ve entered the monster’s activity range."

Continuing to speak:

"The fungal carpet is getting thicker; moving forward, it should reach a thickness of over 10 centimeters."

"We must slow down; if this stuff gets on..."

"Damn!"

His words were interrupted as Shen Yue suddenly cursed ahead.

He flicked away the splattered deposits on his fingers, then raised his hand, frowning, and said:

"This stuff is corrosive!"

Chen Jian looked in the direction of the voice and saw Shen Yue’s hand showing a patch of redness and swelling from corrosive liquid.

"Feels like some kind of acidic substance, and it burns!"

"How’s that possible?"

Chen Jian ordered a halt, then said:

"If it were acidic, the ground here and the steel structures of the overpasses would have long been corroded."

"The environmental monitoring system hasn’t sent out alarms, and the pH value in the air is normal."

"But my hand is really painful!"

Furrowing his brow, Shen Yue raised his hand for a closer look, then bent down and drew a knife to scrape a thin layer off the "fungal carpet" on the ground.

After a careful examination, his expression became more solemn.

"This stuff... might not even be acidic."

He spoke while opening the supply bag on the vehicle, taking out a small piece of jerky, crushing it to powder, and sprinkling it onto the fungal carpet on the knife’s edge.

As slight foam slowly rose, he exhaled a long breath and said:

"This isn’t acid."

"This damn thing is some kind of protease!"

"Protease??"

Chen Jian asked in astonishment:

"Like the protease in pineapples?"

"...To be precise, it’s the protease found in carnivorous plants."

Shen Yue shook off the "fungal carpet" from the knife’s edge, then turned to Ji Xing and said:

"Now you see how unreliable the Mechanical God Sect’s intel is? They actually said this fungal carpet was harmless!"

"Damn, of course they thought it was harmless—they were wearing shoes!"

"By the time they realize this thing is harmful, everyone would probably be dead!"

"...Indeed."

Ji Xing had to admit that they had overestimated the reliability of the Mechanical God Sect’s information, and this alone was enough to cast doubt on all their intel.

The good news is, they had gained new clues.

"The active layer formed by a large number of fungi, the so-called fungal carpet, has a swollen mass every ten meters or so. This should be a biological electric pulse node, coordinating the transport of nutrients."

"This thing itself is probably a monster. No wonder the traces of biological activity around here are getting fewer; they might have already been consumed by this giant carnivorous plant."

Chen Jian’s expression became somewhat grave, and Ji Xing said:

"The monster in Jinling City is definitely not this thing; the Mechanical God Sect wouldn’t have gotten it wrong."

"It is indeed a giant monster, and we haven’t even reached its core territory yet."

"Then let’s continue."

Chen Jian decisively ordered:

"Stay alert, and slow down."

"If there’s any sign of trouble, be ready to retreat at any moment."

"Otherwise, if we get stuck in the fungal carpet, we won’t be able to leave even if we want to."

"Understood!"

"Roger."

The team responded unanimously, and just as the two cat vehicles turned past the intersection of G205 and G4211 highways, a peculiar sight suddenly appeared before them.

There was a forest.

A forest made of fungi!