by Chen Ran
However, the name Death Ridge was not just for show. The terror of this mountain lay in the unseen death. So far, they had not encountered any powerful metamorph, but they were like shrubs with leaves that could grow sawteeth at any time, or man-eating tree whose roots could leave the ground and burrow into their prey's body to suck in their blood and devour their flesh, or the little emerald green grass that looked weak on the outside but could easily cut a human's body apart … The various plants here were all filled with desire for blood and flesh, like hungry beasts.
Half an hour after he had entered the Death Ridge, he was attacked by this mutated plant. During the turbulent times, aside from living beings, plants also mutated in order to survive. However, the changes in these plants in the Death Ridge seemed to be even more severe than those of their relatives in the wilderness. From Su Ling's perspective, they even carried some intelligence, causing people to feel that the entire Death Ridge was filled with a demonic atmosphere.
It was night, and the grass within ten meters of a certain hill had been swept clean. Even some roots were dug out of the soil. After being roasted dry under the remaining sunlight, Zero used them as a bonfire.
And it turned out that Zero's caution was correct. After these seemingly harmless roots were thrown into the fire, they began to twist around like living creatures, causing the flames to crackle. Moni left the strange fire in fear, but Lala was still interested. She reached out her short forelimbs to touch the roots.
When something foreign comes into contact with it, the ends of the roots grow a few wooden tendrils, then like tentacles they try to wrap themselves around the fire and pull themselves away from it. Of course, those who tried to do so had their wooden beards chopped off with a nil blade. Then, helplessly, they were slowly burnt to ashes and remained motionless in the flames.
However, even though these items looked dry on the outside, there was still a large amount of water within them. Even in the heat of the fire, it took half an hour for most of them to stop. Perhaps, this was the origin of the strong life force of the plants. The desire for survival in this jungle is embodied in the different life forms of each plant.
"Zero, how much longer do we have to stay here?" Moni hid to the side and shrank her body.
Looking at this stubborn child, although Moni did not say it out loud, her trembling body showed that she was very afraid. Zero patted her back and said, "At most ten days."
Moni nodded her head, she did not ask anymore questions, but she took out the dagger she gave her and started practising. She knew that Moni didn't want to become her burden, so she trained hard to teach her everything she knew. However, he also knew that to become strong, Moni would need a very long time to be able to survive in the wilderness. No matter how strong the desire to become strong was right now, it could not change this fact.
But Moni had such thoughts, Zero appreciated it very much. Faced with the cruel reality, some chose to give in while others chose to fight. Undoubtedly, Moni was the latter.
A map that was formed by the Phoenix City was laid out in front of Zero. This map only showed the general topography of the Death Ridge, and the so-called pathway was merely a mountain road created by a caravan and a few troops over a long period of time. Such a mountain road was just convenient for travelers to pass, but it was not safe at all. Forget about the metamorph that had yet to be found, just the ubiquitous mutated plants were enough to threaten anyone who passed by.
In reality, there wasn't much difference in terms of safety if they walked on the Shangshan Road or directly went through the mountain ridges like Zero did. The difference was that the caravan couldn't take the zero route due to the cargo relationship. Zero could take a straight line and greatly shorten the time, but because there was no team to take care of it, the safety factor also decreased accordingly.
The two methods had their advantages and disadvantages, and as for the choice, it all depended on the person who chose it.
Here it comes again.
Zero quickly took out the Colt and then turned around and aimed at the darkness of the forest.
Just now, he had the feeling that someone was spying on him. As his abilities improved, his senses became sharper. He did not think that it was an illusion. Weak, but with a faint prickling sensation. It was a kind of hostile detection. But after taking out the Colt, the feeling quickly disappeared, indicating that the person or creature that spied on him had already left.
This kind of feeling would always appear from time to time after entering the Death Ridge. Judging from the frequency and location of his appearance, he could tell that the other party was getting closer to him.
Without accurate information, Zero could not tell whether the other party was a native of the Death Ridge or a hitman who came from the Parkland. However, no matter which side, as long as he or it showed hostility towards Zero, Zero would always give them a surprise.
The sudden movement of raising her spear also frightened Moni, but the young lady did not panic, instead she grabbed hold of the spear and lowered her body, at the same time tightly grasping the dagger in her hand, ready to attack at any time. Only after she had taken back her Colt did Moni lift her guard.
However, before Zero could sit down, there was a movement in the bushes not far to the west. The wind was blowing now, and it was no surprise that the bushes swayed. Strangely, the shrub swayed in the opposite direction, as if fleeing from something. If it were not for his sharp senses and the fact that he could freely adjust his vision, it would have been impossible for other people to notice such a minute situation.
Su Yun immediately pulled Moni and retreated to a place where the bonfire did not light up. After a while, two men appeared in the camp that Su Yun had cleaned up. The man wasn't wearing modern clothes, she was only wearing a hemp dress. The hem of her skirt was painted with various kinds of patterns similar to that of a duck, and she also had a variety of colourful tattoos on her body.
The man held a sharp wooden spear in his hand. The tip of the spear was painted in green. If it wasn't for some color of worship, it was to use poison, an ancient but effective method of attack. As they were exposed to the air which was filled with strong radiation all year round, the mutated tissues on each of the two men's bodies had an undetectable degree to them. These mutated tissues that appeared on their chest or shoulders were like a layer of biological armor.
When such mutated tissues deteriorate further, they will compete with human organs for nourishment, resulting in human death. No one could change this outcome unless they performed surgical removal just like Masters.
And before they became deadly, these abnormally fat fibrous layers of mutated tissue did indeed have a defensive effect on them.
The two of them were in the eyes of Zero who was hiding in the dark, but they were no different from the natives in the forest of the old era. And they, with zero knowledge, were the Mountain mob that George had mentioned.
Chapter 126 - The indigenous peoples of the jungle
In troubled times, mob was the name for everyone who did not accept the jurisdiction of a company or organization. Although the mob wandering in the wilderness did not have any special abilities, they often had stronger physiques than ordinary people in order to resist the harsh environment.
Without organization, there would be no legacy of civilization. After three generations of transformation, the mob that was now living in the wilderness had a physique that was not inferior to metamorph s, as well as a wide range of recipes that could eat almost anything. However, as their abilities improved, they became no different from wild beasts after losing their civilization. There were even some radical scholars who divided them into the same category as the living corpse, ascribing them to the products of evolution that originated from humans but eventually began to diverge. The only difference between them and living corpse was that mob still maintained his human reproduction instinct.
As for the living corpse, no matter what, it was unab
le to produce descendants through integration. In this aspect, the mob was actually a lot more advanced than the living corpse.
It was just that for most people, the mob meant hard labor. To those who were engulfed in the flames of civilization, they were only worth this much. Other than that, they were no different from metamorph.
This was the view of the majority of the people in this world, even Moni who had been through misfortune since she was young, but who at least lived in a city base was no exception. So when she saw the two naked men, Zero could see the deep disgust in the girl's eyes.
Zero could understand Moni, and it was even more so because of the disgust the majority of people had towards the mob. Just like how you can't like a ferocious stray dog unless one day it becomes your domestic dog. But in his eyes, rather than saying that they were two mob s, it would be better to say that they were more like the Central African natives of the old era.
The natives, people living in the jungle, lived an isolated life. They still hunt for a living in the jungle with homemade crude weapons while we enjoy the benefits of modern industry. They might not be able to see the fires of the civilization, but they had inherited the ancient customs to this day.
Of course, in these turbulent times, the natives in front of him were still different from the old days. At least, they were more dangerous.
Due to the urgency of the evacuation, Zero's rucksack was left by the fire. It contained the food and water that and him needed for ten days. It could be said that he could throw anything away, but he could not leave this backpack behind.
There was water in the Death Ridge, but even Zero did not dare to try the water that was floating there, not to mention Moni. As for the food, unless you wanted to try the taste of the metamorph, bread that was not tasty and might be out of date was more suitable for eating.
As a result, when he saw the two natives curiously walking towards his stronghold, Zero untied the Colt from his back and began to collect data on the nearby terrain, the size of the obstacles, and the wind direction.
A single shot from a Colt could easily kill an aboriginal without any defense. As for the other one, Zero could also quickly kill it with the M500 at his waist. These were not the problem. The problem was that once a shot was fired, the user would be exposed. Let's not talk about the Parkland's killer that was hiding somewhere, even if it was a tribe on the Death Ridge, it would be sufficient for Zero to immediately move them.
But it was night, and only those with the slightest bit of wilderness survival experience knew of it. At night, especially in such a complicated environment as ruins or jungle, moving freely would be much more dangerous than during the day.
However, other than shooting, only a pair of cold weapons fighting each other was left at zero. With the situation of not being able to produce a single stage cold weapon proficient in Fighting Domain, killing two aboriginals who had been active in the forest for a long time and had the Poisonous Wood Spear Spears as their weapon wouldn't be an easy task.
This troubled Zero, but reality did not give him much time to hesitate. The natives had approached the pack and were looking through it curiously. Zero would rather be hunted by the indigenous forces than have no water or food.
The sniper rifle was pressed into the barrel, and Zero calmly picked up the Colt. Countless numbers flashed through his mind. Under a series of complex yet rapid calculations, Zero continuously revised the trajectory until it was certain that it would be able to dodge and kill one of them. Then, Zero would press down on the trigger.
It was at this time that the accident happened.
Suddenly, a series of rustling and rubbing sounds came from the nearby bushes. The two natives, who were rummaging through their backpacks, immediately looked towards the source of the sound. They held their spears against each other, and the change in position immediately caused the previous calculation to be in vain.
Just as Zero adjusted its trajectory, a black shadow jumped out from the bushes. It quickly swam to the side of the bonfire, but the bright flames made it feel a little afraid. As a result, the black shadow slightly retreated, exposing its body under the light of the fire.
Without a doubt, this was a python. However, the snake body that was as thick as a bucket was covered with spiral-shaped thick armor. These leaf of nail s were like pocket-sized shields that protected the entire body of the python. These thick, shield-like scales extended all the way to the python's head before gradually evolving into various colored, densely-packed scales.
On the head of the triangular snake, there were three eyes. The three eyes were arranged in a straight line, which was quite peculiar. However, a bone spike drilled out from the back of the snake. The bone spike extended from the head of the snake all the way to the end of the snake's tail; it was extremely malevolent.
The Armored Snakes were mutated snakes that lived in the forest. They had a huge appetite proportional to their bodies, making these giant snakes always hungry. This meant that the prey in their eyes would usually find it difficult to escape from being devoured. No matter how one looked at it, the wooden spear in the hands of the natives was not a good weapon to kill it.
Without any hesitation, the two aboriginals shouted and fled in separate directions. They were very smart. They knew that the Firelizard would only be able to chase after one of them. But they had underestimated the intelligence of the Firelizard Snake. As soon as the aboriginals began to move, the giant serpent flew towards the one on the left. As it fled, the huge tail of the Firelizard snake swept towards the man to its right at the same time.
The snake tail swept across the fire, bringing with it countless fiery lights as it struck the man's back in the blink of an eye. With the sound of flesh splitting, the aboriginal's back was lacerated. At the same time that he spat out a large mouthful of blood, his body also fell heavily onto the ground. However, from the way he was still able to struggle to stand up, he could tell that the aboriginal's spine had not been broken by the giant snake. This made him admire the toughness of their bodies.
As for the other aboriginal, he was not so lucky. The snake opened its mouth wide and bit into his head, using the snake's powerful muscles to make a smashing motion. However, after killing this aboriginal with a few rolls and killing its prey, the shield snake finally swallowed the entire aborigine into its stomach.
Chapter 127 - Snake Fighting
After swallowing an aboriginal, the Firelizard was still not full. Therefore, the eyes on the head of the giant snake turned towards another aboriginal who was still struggling on the ground. The tip of the snake stretched and shrunk, and it immediately swam towards this survivor. As the giant snake passed by the bonfire, it ruthlessly pushed its way past the zero soldier's bag.
This was no different from being pressed down by a truck. Even if he didn't check, he knew that he would have to pay for all the food and water inside. At this time, the expression on his face couldn't help but change. That was the thing they relied on to survive after crossing over to the Death Ridge.
The Colt immediately moved horizontally, moving from the aboriginal body to the shield serpent. Flames danced in its zero eyes.
The huge snake swam to the side of the aboriginals, and the front half of its body immediately rose up. It opened its bloody mouth and started biting at the aboriginals.
The aboriginal looked ashen and could only scream.
Suddenly, the snake jerked its head as if it had been hit by something. Its mouth deviated from its original trajectory and ferociously pounced on the ground beside the aboriginals. The huge snake dug out a large piece of soil. The huge snake's head was not more than a meter away from the aboriginals. The aboriginals could not help but tremble. They did not even hear the sound of gunfire nearby.
A thumb-sized bullet hole had appeared on the back of the snake's skull, and a light green pool of snake blood had appeared from the hole. However, just when Zero thought it was going to die, the giant serpent's closed eyes suddenly
opened. It let out an angry hiss and rose up once again. However, this time, the snake's hunger was suppressed by the rage. It turned to look at the source of the gunshot.
The three snake eyes flickered with a faint green light. Although they were far away from Zero, it still caused his entire body to turn cold. He immediately knew that he had been targeted by the giant snake.
Sure enough, in the next moment, the shield snake flew towards the zero point. The furious giant snake's body scraped the ground. Countless rocks were crushed and white smoke rose into the air, creating a smoke dragon behind the shield snake.
The huge snake came in full fury. After untying the Colt, it directly stuffed it into Moni's embrace, then directly rushed out from her hiding place and went to meet the huge snake without dodging at all.
When the distance between the two was ten meters, he jumped and looked like he was sending himself into the mouth of the giant snake. Seeing the shield snake open its mouth wide and bite onto nothing, Moni could not help but scream out.
As he hovered in midair, Zero's figure faintly flickered. The shadow was clearly still floating in the air, but another shadow was falling towards the ground. Two figures, two zeros … The three eyes of the shield snake constantly swiveled, but it was impossible to tell if they were real or fake. The giant serpent's intelligence was limited, and it was currently burning with rage. How could it care so much? The tail of the snake snapped out of the ground, and the giant snake pounced at Zero.
However, when the giant snake's mouth closed, the snake's senses told it that it had only bitten air when it bit zero!
Following that, a series of tremors and a series of rough gunshots rang out from beneath his stomach.
Naturally, the Shield Armor Snake did not know that it had used a skill that used Agility at the fifth step — Phantom Transformation!
It was an afterimage created when one reached a certain speed. The afterimage has zero body temperature, energy and other characteristics, which can disturb the opponent's line of sight. For example, this shield serpent had attacked the afterimage of zero without being able to distinguish between the real and the fake. As a result, the afterimage had been shot towards the ground. As he borrowed the momentum from the impact to glide across the ground, he fired the two M500 in his hands towards the relatively weaker abdomen of the Armored Shield Snake.