Chapter 75: The Plan for the Capital North Base

The Northern Capital Base, once a field army district, possessed resources unknown to the common people—combat uniforms, bulletproof vests, riot shields, and a variety of weaponry. Even a military shovel could be turned into a deadly tool. The loss of firearms mattered little; they swiftly manufactured explosives. And were all the guns truly ruined? Not so. The storm had only been a temporary event, and every soldier in the field army could assemble and disassemble firearms at will. The weapons were reduced to piles of parts, then reassembled into functional guns, reconstituting their arsenal. Yet this was the military’s trump card, not easily revealed. Bullets were now precious; they could let the Evolvers eliminate monsters, while they conserved ammunition for use against the Evolvers if needed.

But circumstances often changed, and the mission [Survival 2] that the heroes received this time was such an instance.

“These hunting creatures have limited intelligence, so our task is simpler,” said their leader. “I will set explosive traps in areas A, B, and C. When you run, make sure you pass through the safe zones. Remember, you must escape ahead of the rest. We will hide Evolvers in each zone to help cover your retreat.”

With every detail arranged, fifty-one heroes gathered together. By eight in the morning, they had penetrated deep into the battle zone. Moreover, two hundred Evolvers, lured by generous rewards, had joined the mission. These were all first-level Evolvers, strong and eager for a challenge; after this mission, they would receive a second-level gene lock serum free of charge. Besides, the plan set by the Northern Capital Base was tempting—these men believed the monsters were doomed.

At eight, the countdown ended. Fifty spatial black holes opened around the group of 251. From the black holes, monsters crawled out in droves to attack.

“Stick to the plan!” Lu Shaohua shouted, leading the heroes toward one direction. Their path was blocked by writhing Liquid Walkers. Lu Shaohua, clutching a metal knuckle duster, swung a fist suffused with sharp astral energy, piercing a Liquid Walker’s head. The creature’s skull burst—yet Lu Shaohua felt something strange, as though he’d just punched through jelly. The gelatinous mass burst apart, but quickly reformed; the monster had not died.

Alarmed, Lu Shaohua struck again and again, shattering the creature’s body, but each time it reconstituted. Though Lu Shaohua, now a second-level Evolver thanks to the base’s support, far outclassed the Liquid Walkers, their disregard for death rendered them nearly invincible without knowledge of their weakness. Lu could pulverize them, but the other heroes lacked such strength.

The Liquid Walkers were formidable too, their bodies able to morph into any shape. When heroes attacked them with blades, the Liquid Walkers grew blades of their own. A hero slashed a monster, and in return, the creature slashed the hero. But as liquid beings, the monsters only lost a bit of energy with every cut, while the heroes were left injured. In such a scenario, who could truly withstand these creatures?

Meanwhile, the fight raged on and the black holes continued to disgorge monsters. For 251 people, the number of monsters would reach 2,008. Over two thousand alien beasts—it seemed the tragedy of Zi Hui’s concert was about to repeat itself. Alien hunting creatures multiplied relentlessly, and the heroes and Evolvers combined numbered only 251.

“Break out! Quickly, break out!”

“Forget the monsters, just run!” Lu Shaohua yelled in panic, ceasing his attacks on the Liquid Walkers, afraid their numbers would only grow, entangling him until he, too, could no longer escape.

His frantic shouts shattered the morale of the Evolver teams, turning them into a disorganized mob. No one could spare the effort to fend off the monsters, nor follow the original plan to protect the heroes. The situation descended into chaos.

Fortunately, fifty heroes clung closely to Lu Shaohua, following wherever he fled. As for the Evolvers, those who ran fast kept up; the slower ones were doomed. In the blink of an eye, over fifty Evolvers were dead, and by then, the number of alien monsters had already reached five hundred.

Looking back at the sea of monsters, terror chilled everyone to the bone.

“Hurry! Through the explosives zone!” Lu Shaohua led the survivors across the area where they had carefully planted bombs. The alien hunting beasts, massive compared to humans, were far more likely to stumble into traps. The Evolvers heard thunderous explosions and the anguished shrieks of extraterrestrial creatures.

“Yes! Blow them up! Kill them!” Lu Shaohua exulted.

He could already imagine how many astral diamonds and hero points he would have after completing the [Survival 2] mission, along with as much first-level Evolver flesh as he wanted. Wasn’t it because Qin Hao had survived one more [Survival] mission than he had that made him so arrogant? Now, the flesh of first-level Evolver monsters would be his for the taking.

To others, this mission was a disaster; for Lu Shaohua, it was an opportunity.

After the thunderous blasts, the Ironspike Worms and Crocobeasts were blown apart, left mangled and dying, bereft of the strength to fight. But the Liquid Walkers regenerated, and the Flame Demons were even more fearsome—utterly unfazed by explosions.

Thankfully, Northern Capital had prepared for this. Beyond the explosives in Zone A, another squad of soldiers lay in wait.

A gunshot rang out, startling both Evolvers and heroes.

“Where did the gun come from?”

“Weren’t all the guns destroyed? The military still has weapons? Truly worthy of being the nation’s armed forces.”

“Kill them! Kill them all!” Both Evolvers and heroes were filled with excitement.

But the next moment, they saw that bullets passed through the Liquid Walkers without effect. As for the Flame Demons, their tough hides shrugged off bullets; only shots to the eyes could kill them.

More than five hundred Flame Demons and as many Liquid Walkers charged forward.

Red beams flashed from the eyes of the Flame Demons, lancing into the ranks of humans, burning through flesh and bone.

Screams filled the air.

The defenders were devastated.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned villa complex in the Northern Capital development zone, Qin Hao slew the last Flame Demon. More than four hundred alien hunting monsters had been annihilated; even the creatures surrounding the other heroes were destroyed, one after another.

Seventeen heroes—none had died.

“Why hasn’t the mission ended yet?”

“We may have survived, but perhaps others have not. Maybe we must all endure, or perhaps we need to last the full twenty-four hours,” Zi Hui replied.