Chapter 247: The Second Blood Calamity Plant

August 24, 2069, daytime.

Somewhere in the West Pacific.

Phoenix Society Sky City—Phoenix City.

【August 24, 2069】【Saturday】【15:29:15 (CCST)】

System Log

Propulsion System: No. 1 Starry Sky Engine operating normally, all parameters stable, no fault alarms. Temperature of the "Night Star 9" Sky City nuclear-powered turbine processor is normal. Entering today's 2-1 round maintenance project.

Navigation System: Level 1 cruising phase, flying according to plan. 【625】 kilometers flown, speed at 【210】 km/h, altitude maintained at 【9600】 kilometers.

Airspace Radar: Tracking Biological Entity No. 04 in the region of coordinates xx-yy-zz+10 (offset from current position), sudden abnormal weather.

Abnormal Weather Description:

In the target sea area, Sky City weather satellites and over 20 million Pacific buoys captured a high-pressure wave zone with a diameter exceeding 2400 kilometers, appearing almost like a black hole and moving slowly over the Pacific. After 3 hours and 05 minutes, the high-pressure wave zone disappeared.

【August 24, 2069】【Saturday】

【15:40:55 (CCST)】: Following a resolution by the Sky City Safety Management Committee, ZL-02 and ZL-03 unmanned sky-patrol scouts and the 7th Flight Group of the Nightwalker Guard were dispatched to the target area for reconnaissance.

【16:03:12 (CCST)】: Unmanned sky-patrol scouts report that Biological Entity No. 04 has changed its trajectory.

The Sky City Safety Management Committee confirms that the current heading of Biological Entity No. 04 is:

Asia-Pacific Continent.

……

Yunjiang Plain, wilderness outside Hengshan Guancheng.

Under the cover of night, multiple camp floodlights were set up. Within the convoy, the scene was a mess following the great battle.

Dead companions, broken insect corpses, and vehicles covered in gore surrounded the entire Infinite train; piles of insect corpses like mountains came into view.

Several convoys each dispatched patrol and cleanup teams responsible for scouting potential hidden threats and monsters that had not yet died.

Rescuing the wounded, counting ammunition, repairing vehicles... inside the camp, figures were anxious and exceptionally busy.

Key personnel from the four convoys gathered at this time under a makeshift canopy in the middle of the camp, conversing around a campfire.

"Team Leader Lin, words cannot express our gratitude. If it weren't for you all this time, we surely would have been wiped out." Liao Ming's face was full of the exhaustion of having survived a catastrophe. Looking toward Lin Xian's team, he thanked them sincerely. "Uncle Wu, should we..."

Wu Zhenhai raised a hand to interrupt him, indicating he understood, and immediately began calling his subordinates.

"Liang Zi, bring our No. 5 supply vehicle over."

"No need."

Lin Xian saw the other party's intention and said directly: "Since this is a joint operation and everyone is putting in effort on the same boat, there's no need for this. The road is difficult; your hundreds of people are in greater need of these supplies than I am."

"This..."

Hearing Lin Xian's words, Luo Yang, Liang Lei, and Li Yi—the leaders of the other two convoys—also looked anxious.

"Lin Ge, you put in the greatest effort and saved so many of our lives; we should show some appreciation."

"That's right. If it weren't for you, my wife and I wouldn't have lived to see tonight." Liang Lei, whose face was still covered in blood he hadn't wiped off, said hurriedly.

Lin Xian waved his hand. In the battle just now, several convoys had suffered casualties, while only his Infinite had not even a minor injury. Although these three convoys all wanted to seek his protection, the reality was that these convoys had surrounded the Infinite, and they had already used whatever strength and means they had. If he had wanted any benefits, he would have spoken up before nightfall. Now that people were dead or wounded, he had even less of an inclination to do so.

"Alright, I accept everyone's good intentions." Lin Xian looked at the sky and said directly: "The cold air is approaching, and a blizzard is coming. Supplies are the capital for survival. Everyone fighting this battle together today counts as mutual assistance and cooperation; there's no need for formalities."

After finishing, Lin Xian briefly shared their observations regarding the dark marks with the several convoys.

"If nothing goes wrong, we can take this monster down within its territory. Afterward, we will also hide in the darkness. As long as we are lucky, we might be able to remain safe and sound for several nights."

Li Yi touched her protruding abdomen, her brow furrowed with doubt and worry as she looked at Lin Xian: "Dark marks? Team Leader Lin, is this... really credible?"

"Logically, I think Lin Ge is right. It sounds more accurate than the group-hunting effect." Luo Yang, however, agreed deeply: "The only problem is, according to this theory, we have no way of knowing whether we have marks on us or what level the marks are. We can only judge by encountering attacks from strange entities, which is somewhat passive."

"Passive? It's the same thing." Wu Zhenhai slapped his thigh, his expression cold and stern: "If you're going to encounter them, you will. The only difference is knowing when to run and when you can't run. It's not like we'll be lucky every time."

Liao Ming nodded, somewhat enlightened: "No wonder some convoys we've seen before that luckily escaped from large strange entities often disappeared not long after. So it was that they could run from the first day but not the fifteenth."

"That's the meaning."

Lin Xian scanned his surroundings. He was only sharing his experience with others; he didn't bring up the Hell Black Chrysanthemum.

Actually, it made no difference whether he said it or not. If others believed him, he wouldn't need to bring up something others understood even less to corroborate it, which would seem superfluous.

If they didn't believe him, saying anything would be useless.

In the midst of a life-and-death escape, every convoy actually trusts its own experience the most. At critical moments, one still has to rely on one's own judgment.

Lin Xian could see from the gazes of these few people that they hadn't fully accepted this point. After all, they couldn't see the marks on themselves, and the matter of encountering strange entity attacks was very difficult to explain using any kind of pattern.

Thus, Lin Xian didn't say too much and said directly:

"If you take the highway route from Yuankou to the west side of the Yunzhou Mountains, the cold air should arrive a bit later, but it probably won't be much better. So I suggest you depart as early as possible and do not linger."

Under a blizzard, even the Infinite, with its ice-breaking shield, couldn't guarantee a smooth drive, let alone these convoys. In such a situation, there wasn't much rest time left for everyone.

A cold wind blew; the entire Hengshan Guancheng was cooling down rapidly. The temperature was already approaching 0 degrees.

"Yes."

Luo Yang nodded: "We plan to depart 2 hours before dawn. Calculating based on our heading and speed, dawn will be around 11:25 tomorrow, but nightfall might arrive as early as 18:20."

Wu Zhenhai frowned: "Less than 7 hours left."

"The further north we go, the shorter this time will become. The Phoenix Society's Xilan City outpost has already issued a notice in advance that they will fully evacuate Xilan City in 4 days. Based on our travel speed, we must reach Xilin City within 3 days to have enough time to go to Xilan City and rendezvous with the Phoenix Society." Li Yi calculated very clearly: "Considering the large-scale snowstorm conditions, we really don't have much time left."

"Alright." Lin Xian stood up at this time: "Everyone is tired tonight. The monster's power of fear might have caused some mental impact on the people in the team, plus the black smoke poison brought by the insect tide. I suggest your convoys take turns standing guard and sleeping, and tonight, ensure water and food are fully distributed to stabilize the team's atmosphere."

What Lin Xian worried about wasn't just the aftereffects of the power of fear, but also that with such a large-scale slaughter of monsters and strange entities, the hundreds of people present had all been encroached upon by the black smoke to some extent. The Infinite had the Hell Black Chrysanthemum to convert energy and the Isomorphic Cube to shield against the encroachment of fear, but these convoys did not. Therefore, if they didn't recuperate and rest well, there might be cases of mutation.

But if handled well, for these convoy members who had experienced a fierce battle, they might secretly gain quite a bit of evolution and improvement.

Click~

At this moment, Lin Xian pressed his communicator to arrange something. Soon, Dalou and several partners from the Infinite carried a few crates of ammunition over.

They placed them with a clatter outside the canopy.

"Team Leader Lin, what is this?" Liao Ming was a bit stunned to see this scene.

"Ammunition." Lin Xian took a deep breath: "Your ammunition base for tonight is basically exhausted. It might be difficult to find places to resupply along this road, and since we have quite a surplus on our vehicle, we'll share some with you. Otherwise, if you encounter trouble tomorrow, you won't be able to fight back."

Actually, what surprised Lin Xian and the members of the Infinite convoy was that he had originally thought that when facing the most desperate moment of the insect tide, these convoys would directly drive away to break through. He hadn't expected them to exhaust almost all their ammunition and finally shrink their formation to close in on the Infinite.

This was truly burning their bridges. Facing such a situation, Lin Xian couldn't help but feel moved. He had only known these convoys for a few hours, but everyone really was like people on the same boat, fighting to the death, which touched him deeply.

Therefore, considering this, he shared some of the ammunition originally on his vehicle with them for resupply. Anyway, for him, he could manufacture it in a few hours.

But for a large convoy of hundreds of people, they might not be able to scrape together even a few ammunition bases even after traveling through several towns.

Currently, many ammunition supplies mainly come from the output of Federation and Phoenix Society outposts in various places, plus the inventory of some original industrial towns and military bases. Searching alone won't find anything. Therefore, convoys like Hu Lushou's, which can aggregate and circulate resources in the apocalypse, are very rare. After all, it's not just about relying on the brains of a crafty merchant; without a solid team strength, it would be impossible to survive until now and move between some large strongholds.

"No, no, no, Team Leader Lin, this won't do." Li Yi stood up abruptly, her lips dry: "You saved so many of us, and we haven't shown you any appreciation. How could we have the face to accept your supplies?"

"That's right, we aren't that kind of people!" Liang Lei was stunned when he saw the supply crates.

Those new-style weapons and large amounts of ammunition were brand new and shiny; they could be traded for quite a lot of food outside. How could he just give them away like that?

"Team Leader Lin, this, this, this won't do..." Liao Ming said hurriedly.

"Lin Ge." Luo Yang also stood up, looking flustered and confused: "We..."

"No need to say more." Lin Xian said sonorously: "You all know the current situation of your teams. If you could still fight the insect tide for 5 minutes right now, I would take them back."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Lin Xian's words hit the nail on the head. Forget about fighting for five minutes; it would be difficult for the whole team to scrape together even one ammunition base.

"Everyone is like me, carrying the burden of many lives on their shoulders. There's no need to be polite at a time like this. Saving lives is the priority. If you want to thank me, we can talk about it if we meet in Xilan later. Once we join the main force, everyone can feel more at ease, right?" Lin Xian said directly.

Wu Zhenhai looked at Lin Xian with a complex expression, took a deep breath, and stood up.

"Alright, Lin Ge, we accept your help. I've been in the military for so many years and don't like being coy, but I'm also not a person who likes to take things empty-handed." After saying this, he looked at Liao Ming: "Old Liao, bring that thing over. Lin Ge's side has so many ability users; they might find it useful."

Liao Ming's eyes lit up upon hearing this. He understood immediately, nodded, and said to Lin Xian:

"Team Leader Lin, wait, wait, wait. We have a good thing there; you will definitely be interested!"

Lin Xian wanted to interrupt upon hearing this, but Liao Ming had already rushed out.

Not long after, Liao Ming quickly ran back with two subordinates. Those subordinates were carrying a silver box that looked very high-end.

"What is this?"

Hiss!

At this moment, Wu Zhenhai walked over and opened the box. In the middle of the large box, there was only a cylindrical container, the thickness of an arm, very standard. Inside was a clump of black, twig-like stuff.

Wu Zhenhai carefully took the container out of the box and gently triggered a setting on it. The inside of the container began to emit a purple-blue light, and everyone then clearly saw the object that looked like a "twig."

It was actually a plant!

About the thickness of a little finger, with very short roots, and a few dark purple buds growing on it. Lin Xian looked closely and discovered that within its roots and stems, tiny purple lights were flowing, as if it were breathing.

Blood Calamity Plant!

Lin Xian reacted, his gaze immediately sharpening.

Wu Zhenhai introduced: "We found this thing in a destroyed scientific research convoy. We don't know what organization it belonged to. Later, a Federation squad found us and wanted to buy it from us at a high price, but we didn't agree."

"High price?"

"Haha." Liao Ming felt it was incredible when recalling it: "Yes, at least enough supplies to equip our two Eagle convoys. But Uncle Wu refused." Never mind Lin Xian; at this moment, even Luo Yang, Liang Lei, and Li Yi looked at Wu Zhenhai with confusion.

Who knew Wu Zhenhai would sneer coldly: "Who the hell would cooperate with the dog Federation?"

"Since this thing is so useful, I would definitely cooperate with the Phoenix Society. However..." He patted the container and sighed as he looked at Lin Xian: "We might not be able to deliver this thing to Xilan. Since that's the case, it's better to give it to Lin Ge. If it's useful, consider it a token of our appreciation. If it's really not, you can take it to the Phoenix Society to trade for some supplies; it'll be worth the cost."

Although Wu Zhenhai wasn't sure if this thing was as valuable as the Federation people said, he knew it was definitely extraordinary. But he also knew clearly that whether his convoy could successfully drive into Xilan and find the Phoenix Society to rendezvous was still an unknown.

From a pragmatic perspective, this thing was currently of no use, so it was better to give it to Lin Xian as a favor, which would make him feel better about accepting Lin Xian's supplies.

Most importantly, ammunition and supplies were what he was urgently lacking right now. Without these, even if they survived tonight, what would they do tomorrow?

Lin Xian's expression was very complex at this moment. He was 70-80% sure that what Wu Zhenhai held was some kind of Blood Calamity Plant. He had witnessed the magical nature of the Hell Black Chrysanthemum; the dozens of people on the Infinite were able to run from Jiazhou City until now, and that Black Chrysanthemum deserved the greatest credit. Therefore, Lin Xian certainly understood the value of a Blood Calamity Plant.

Thinking of this, he didn't stand on ceremony at all.

"Alright, I accept."

After finishing, he pondered for a moment and continued: "As far as I know, this thing is indeed very precious. How about this, I'll give you some more weapons."

"No, no, no, these are enough." Wu Zhenhai waved his hand: "I didn't come to you to haggle or engage in a transaction of interests."

!

"I know."

Lin Xian turned around and walked toward the Infinite, saying loudly: "That's why I don't want you to die before dawn."

As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned.

Not long after, four Roaring K23 electric Gatling guns, three Thunder Rain A1 grenade launchers, twelve M556 light machine guns, nearly 3 bases of ammunition, and a crate of alloy explosives were carried down from the vehicle by Lin Xian's people and placed neatly in front of everyone.

Among these, the Roaring guns and light machine guns were taken directly from the team's existing stock; he didn't have enough time to manufacture them right now. The ammunition was a mix of existing stock and temporary manufacturing.

At this moment, seeing this formation, many convoy members were shocked and gathered around.

Liao Ming and the others were even more horrified.

"Good fellow." Wu Zhenhai exclaimed: "I've only seen such lavish arms transport in the military. Lin Ge, you've emptied your family fortune for us, haven't you?"

Lin Xian shook his head: "Don't worry, we still have more."

He looked at Liao Ming as he said this: "Brother Liao should know that we have quite a lot of arms on our vehicle."

Everyone looked at Liao Ming in unison. Liao Ming's expression was complex; he had indeed witnessed it before—the guns on Lin Xian's Infinite were carried out crate by crate.

But being asked by Lin Xian like this, he was also at a loss for words, not knowing how to describe it.

"Everyone, divide these up. Your firepower can be upgraded by another level. The road ahead is full of wind and snow, and the path is unknown. For the sake of the brothers and sisters on your vehicles, don't be polite with me."

"Alright!" Seeing Liang Lei and Luo Yang hesitating, Wu Zhenhai stood out and said: "Then we thank Lin Ge for his kindness and won't be coy with you."

"Everyone, plan it out, quickly distribute the weapons, and prepare the ammunition!"

"Yes!"

After a quick calculation, the ammunition and supplies were rapidly distributed. Dozens of people swarmed up, constantly carrying supplies into the convoy.

Seeing such a large amount of ammunition, the members of these convoys were all shocked and invigorated. With the replenishment of ammunition and supplies, everyone could sleep soundly tonight.

This undoubtedly gave a shot in the arm to the camp's atmosphere, which had been full of worry!

"Alright, everyone still has many things to arrange within their convoys, so we won't chat anymore. Communicate via the communicator if there's anything. We will also depart before dawn. If there's a chance, let's meet again in Xilan!" Lin Xian said.

"Alright, many thanks, Lin Ge." Wu Zhenhai nodded. Their convoy had suffered the most casualties, and the internal situation was indeed a bit overwhelming.

"Lin Ge, thank you." Luo Yang said gratefully: "You must take care. Let's rendezvous at the center of dawn together!"

"Hmm." Lin Xian nodded.

"Team Leader Lin." Li Yi was very moved at this moment and stood up: "Thank you. We..."

Lin Xian looked at this couple and interrupted directly: "Your convoy has many children who need your care. No need for extra words. I hope you succeed."

Liang Lei held his wife's shoulder and said to Lin Xian: "Team Leader Lin, I, Liang Lei, have never admired anyone in my life, but you are one of them!"

"Everyone, take care!"

A cold wind blew wantonly across the wilderness. There was no autumn desolation; under the cover of night, it rapidly shifted into winter mode.

The members of the Eagle convoy, the Sun-Chasing convoy, and the Running Far camp busily packed up their camps and returned to their formations. Several leaders began to reorganize internally and count the wounded. After the ammunition replenishment, everyone's confidence increased a bit.

On the bus, Li Yi led her subordinates to start distributing food to the children.

"Mama Li Yi, the train is so amazing!" a little girl said in a childish voice.

"Will we drive together with the train?" a little boy asked.

"That's right, that's right."

Li Yi smiled and said: "Yes, we will. When we reach Xilan, there will be more and more people in the main force. There will be trains, cars, and even airplanes~"

"Wow, really? Then can we sleep on big beds?"

"Yes."

"Then will we have very clean water to drink?"

"Yes, oh."

"Report, Mama Li Yi, I wish I could eat french fries for my birthday~"

"Haha, so greedy, wanting to eat french fries~"

……

On the Sun-Chasing convoy side, the youth team led by Luo Yang was holding a meeting in a camper.

"Amin, Luoluo, you cooperated very well today. Dayuan, remember to collect their movement data and optimize it~"

The two girls nodded with excitement: "Tonight was very dangerous, but we feel our cooperation is getting better and better."

"Li Guangwen, do you feel your Dust Wave ability has improved? You killed so many monsters tonight."

The boy named Li Guangwen scratched his head: "It's okay."

"That Infinite convoy is so awesome."

"Exactly, fire ability, telekinesis ability. Damn, Lin Ge was actually able to use a black hole!!"

Luo Yang's eyes flickered, and he nodded: "Yeah, Lin Ge is very powerful."

"Then are we still going to enter Xilan City according to the original plan?"

"Yes, the plan remains unchanged." Luo Yang calmly took out his mobile terminal, lit up the map on it, and began planning for everyone: "Now our ammunition has been replenished. Because most of our convoy has low chassis, we must pass through the Yunzhou Mountains quickly. Otherwise, once the wind and snow get heavy, we won't be able to move."

The two girls nodded: "From Xilin to Xilan, and then follow the Phoenix Society's main force?"

Luo Yang nodded: "Yes."

"I hope we can rendezvous with Lin Ge and the others in Xilan!"

……

In the Eagle convoy, figures were busy. The death of many personnel made the atmosphere in the convoy somewhat oppressive.

On a living carriage, a middle-aged woman was busy cooking hot food and distributing it to the wounded.

A little boy next to her was also working hard to help.

Two team members walked over carrying some supplies.

"Sister Li."

"I know." The middle-aged woman's eyes were red, but her work didn't stop for a moment: "Quick, take this food to the wounded first. It's night now; we can't let their condition worsen."

She said this with a bit of sobbing in her voice: "Don't let those guys end up like Li Dong..."

The two team members fell silent upon hearing this, sighed, and began to help distribute the hot food.

Partings between life and death happen every day for convoys fleeing for their lives.

Within the convoy, Liao Ming was helping the wounded while sending a message to Uncle Wu Zhenhai: "Uncle Wu, 6 dead, 13 wounded. Currently, it's all under control."

"Give the list to Song Li and take care of their families in the living area."

"Chenchen and those little brats told me they want to join the combat sequence. These kids, they really have a lot of energy now."

On the truck, Wu Zhenhai sighed: "None of them are even 14 yet. Tell them to wait until after we cross the snowfield. If they have energy, help with logistics."

……

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 248 =====