Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 191 - 71 Waiting for the North Wind

Chapter 191: Chapter 71 Waiting for the North Wind

[Fungal Carpet Active Layer

Thickness: 0.1-0.4 meters

Composition:

Purple slime mold matrix: secretes protease with pH 2.5-4.0 to digest organic matter, corrosive to skin, but low risk from short-term exposure.

Carbon fiber-like mycelial bundles: diameter 0.4 cm, high tensile strength, forming a nutrient transport network

Pulse nodes: 1 to 2 enlargements per 100 square meters, suspected to coordinate nutrient transport via bioelectric signals, can be prioritized for elimination]

[Vertical Fungal Forest

Umbrella-shaped fruiting body clusters, 5-10 meters high, with caps 2-5 meters in diameter

Cap ribs contain protein bundles, suspected to conduct surface moss nutrients or pheromones to the top

Stipes covered in pore arrays, releasing volatile toxic compounds (hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, padlock iosine, etc.) alternately day and night, forming a chemical pollution radius over 2 kilometers]

[Fungal People

Fungal symbiotic humanoid monsters

Height: 2.1-2.5 meters

Mass: 100-150 kg

Surface temperature: 30.3°C (core area 37°C)

Biological armor layer:

Composed of a recombinant chitin-silicate composite (suspected), Mohs hardness above 7, can withstand direct shots from small-caliber bullets

Hexagonal honeycomb structured armor plates

Neural fusion fungal clusters (suspected)

A fungal fruiting body (15 cm in diameter) embedded in the back of the head, mycelium penetrates the amygdala and hippocampus, serving as the control center for monster activity

Spore lung system:

Left lung lobe specialized as a multi-chamber spore reservoir (approximately 1.2L capacity), possibly resistant to toxic gases]

...

On the PDA, Chen Jian gradually updated all the currently possessed information regarding the second-level monster and the surrounding environment.

Zeng Yi and others watched from the side. Although there were some elements they couldn’t understand, there was no doubt they knew this was intelligence in the true sense.

As for what the Mechanical God Sect and Holy Blood Temple provided?

Toxic gases, high armor, massive size, a danger zone within 30 kilometers...

All entirely ambiguous guesses.

Compared to the level of detail in the intelligence gathered by Chen Jian and the others, the difference was clear.

And after going through the preliminary intelligence, the Holy Blood members had a rough assessment of the surrounding monsters.

".... So, the small monsters on the periphery aren’t actually that scary?"

"Although there are many of them, judging by the paperwork and our previous encounters with them, their combat power should not be stronger than unarmed Blood Skulls, right?"

"That’s right."

Chen Jian nodded and said:

"The most troublesome aspect of these monsters is their stealth."

"Covered with a fungal layer, their surface temperature is significantly lowered, making drone infrared reconnaissance systems unable to identify them, and since their color blends almost completely with the environment, they’re also hard to spot with the naked eye."

"If we can’t discover them before they spot us, it’s easy to get surrounded by a group of monsters."

"Even though they don’t pose a huge threat to us, if they entangle us during a battle with that second-level monster, our firepower is bound to be dispersed."

"Then, the situation becomes very troublesome..."

"So what should we do? Should we clear out all these monsters first?"

Zeng Yi asked with furrowed brows, his tone carrying some concern.

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

"Ji Xing was right, the best way is to drop a nuke in the central area."

"Otherwise, we’d have to move in and out quickly, using sufficiently powerful weapons to swiftly take down that second-level monster."

"However, the feasibility of these two plans is very low."

"Firstly, delivering the nuke near the second-level monster is a big issue; we lack the necessary delivery methods, and also..."

Chen Jian didn’t finish his words, but Zeng Yi and Xie Liu already understood his implication.

The "nukes" the commander found aren’t ready for immediate use.

Even if they wanted to throw them, they wouldn’t be able to...

For a moment, the situation reached an impasse.

Or rather, it fell into a paradoxical loop.

According to Chen Jian’s predictions, there might be a way to unlock the nukes in some place like the Jinling Ruins or Mountain City, but to find that method, they first had to detonate a nuke.

Isn’t that a deadlock?

Theoretically, with the collective wisdom of that era, it would be impossible for them to create such a foolish deadlock.

They simply didn’t anticipate the appearance of monsters, nor that the safety measures they set would be layered upon even stronger "safety measures"...

Chen Jian furrowed his brow but then relaxed slightly after some thought.

Looking at the few Holy Blood members frowning in front of him, he spoke:

"Sometimes an unsolvable difficulty is not truly unsolvable; there’s also the possibility that the intelligence is still insufficient."

"In any case, we have at least obtained a key piece of information."

"Namely, those ’fungal people’ monsters most likely rely on the pulse nodes and the fungal carpet for navigation."

"If we can continuously destroy the pulse nodes to disrupt pheromone transmission, it might be possible to move further without attracting their attention."

"As long as we can see the true form of that second-level monster and obtain enough information, we will surely find a way to break the deadlock."

"Understood."

"Understood."

Zeng Yi and the others replied in turn, while Lei Jie seized the opportunity to say:

"Therefore, next time we conduct reconnaissance in the Jinling Ruins, we’ll have to expand our search range."

"We need to divide into at least two squads for searching and advancing, continuously destroying information nodes to ensure the squads’ safety."

"This will slow down our progress, but the good news is that, according to Shen Yue’s prediction, these fungi must be fond of moisture and heat."