Chapter 243: External Signal

The off-road vehicle sped across the ice plains, the tires crushing the thick accumulated snow, leaving two deep tire tracks.

A-Nian held the signal receiver, his fingers operating rapidly on the screen,

his face full of focus. The snow on the screen gradually faded, and a faint light spot was flickering; the direction of the light spot was exactly the location of the Dawn Outpost.

"The signal is very weak, but very stable," A-Nian raised his head and said to Lin Chen, "It should be emitted by the outpost's emergency communication device. This kind of device has a very strong battery life; even if the base is destroyed, it can continue to emit a signal for three days."

Lin Chen nodded, his gaze looking out the window. The ice plains were vast and white,

with no signs of life to be seen, only occasionally passing mutant birds,

emitting a few harsh cries. The temperature grew lower and lower, and the frost on the car windows grew thicker. Xia Nuan took off her cotton coat and draped it over Lin Chen.

"Put it on.

The temperature on the ice plains is too low,

and your body hasn't fully recovered," Xia Nuan said, her voice carrying a trace of worry.

Lin Chen did not refuse, wrapping the cotton coat tightly around himself, and the chill in his body was dispelled quite a bit. He looked at Xia Nuan and nodded: "Thank you."

Chu Aiyao held the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the road ahead, saying: "The location of the Dawn Outpost is right ahead, about twenty kilometers away.

Let's be careful; mutant beasts often appear on the ice plains, and they are all species adapted to low-temperature environments, which are not easy to deal with."

Lin Chen gave a hum, gripping the ice blade in his hand tightly. He knew Chu Aiyao was right;

the mutant beasts on the ice plains were more ferocious and cunning than those on land; a moment of carelessness would lead to danger.

The off-road vehicle continued to drive forward, getting closer and closer to the Dawn Outpost. The light spot on the signal receiver in A-Nian's hand grew brighter, and the signal grew stronger. Suddenly, on the screen of the signal receiver,

besides the light spot of the Dawn Outpost, a new light spot appeared. This light spot was located further away, but its signal strength far exceeded that of the Dawn Outpost.

"Strange," A-Nian frowned, tapping his fingers on the screen a few times,

"This signal is not the frequency of any safe zone known to us humans,

and the signal strength is very large; it should be emitted by a large human base."

Lin Chen's eyes flickered: "Can you decode the content of the signal?"

"I'll try," A-Nian said, beginning to calibrate the frequency on the signal receiver.

A few minutes later, a line of clear text appeared on the screen:

"This is the Human Alliance Headquarters, coordinates X789, Y654, Z321. We are now sending a signal to all human safe zones globally. The network collapse was caused by human sabotage, and the Core Tower defense system has been..."

The text was suddenly interrupted here, and the screen was once again covered in snow.

A-Nian tapped the signal receiver hard, but the snow on the screen grew thicker, and that new light spot also disappeared completely.

"The signal was interfered with," A-Nian raised his head and said to Lin Chen, "The other party should have been attacked while sending the signal, so only half of the signal was sent out."

Lin Chen's brows furrowed. Human Alliance Headquarters—he had never heard this name before; it should be a large human base hidden in the shadows. The network collapse was caused by human sabotage—this news shocked him; it seemed that behind the Black Scorpion Organization, there was an even larger force.

"Let's not worry about this for now," Chu Aiyao said, "Let's go to the Dawn Outpost first and see the situation there."

Lin Chen nodded, and the off-road vehicle accelerated again, driving toward the Dawn Outpost. Soon, a dilapidated base appeared in their field of vision;

more than half of the base's walls had collapsed, and quite a few corpses of mutant beasts and human skeletons were scattered at the entrance. The air was filled with a thick, bloody, and foul stench.

The off-road vehicle stopped at the base entrance, and Lin Chen pushed open the car door and was the first to step out.

Xia Nuan, Chu Aiyao, and A-Nian followed closely behind, all four of them holding weapons,

looking around vigilantly. The base was deathly silent, with only the wind blowing through the dilapidated buildings, emitting a wailing sound.

"Be careful,"

Lin Chen said, "The secondary infection has broken out; the mutant beasts here may have already evolved."

The four of them walked into the base cautiously, passing through the collapsed walls,

and arrived at the central plaza of the base. The plaza was covered in corpses, some human,

and some mutant beasts. The accumulated snow on the ground had been dyed red by fresh blood, freezing into dark red ice.

In the center of the plaza, there was a huge signal tower. At the top of the signal tower, a faint light was still flickering; it was the emergency communication device of the Dawn Outpost.

A-Nian walked to the side of the signal tower, checked the emergency communication device, and then raised his head,

shaking his head at Lin Chen: "The device is already damaged and cannot be repaired. Moreover, the secondary infection situation here is very serious; all the corpses carry a strong virus."

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the corpses in the plaza, his heart feeling heavy. He walked to the side of a corpse wearing a military uniform; the corpse was still clutching a document tightly in its hand.

Lin Chen squatted down and picked up the document. The handwriting on the document was already blurred, and he could only barely make out a few words: "Secondary infection virus, transmission route..."

Just then, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from deep within the base. Lin Chen's eyes sharpened, and he gripped the ice blade in his hand tightly. Xia Nuan, Chu Aiyao, and A-Nian also immediately became vigilant, standing back-to-back and looking in the direction the footsteps were coming from.

A figure walked out from the darkness, wearing a white protective suit, holding a pistol in his hand, and wearing a gas mask on his face. Seeing the four of them, the person was clearly stunned for a moment, then immediately raised his pistol and aimed it at them: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Lin Chen looked at him and slowly lowered the ice blade in his hand: "We are from the Starfire Safe Zone. We received your distress signal and came here to provide support."

Hearing the name of the Starfire Safe Zone, the person hesitated for a moment, then slowly lowered the pistol and took off the gas mask, revealing a young face filled with weariness and fear: "I am a researcher at the Dawn Outpost. My name is Chen Mo. Everyone here is dead; I am the only one who survived."

Lin Chen looked at him: "What is going on with the secondary infection? Does the network collapse of the Core Tower have anything to do with you?"

Chen Mo shook his head: "The secondary infection was because the virus samples we were researching leaked.

It has nothing to do with the network collapse of the Core Tower. However, before the leak, we monitored that the Core Tower's defense system was attacked by an unknown force; the source of the attack was the Black Scorpion Organization."

Lin Chen's eyes turned cold; it really did have to do with the Black Scorpion Organization. Chen Mo continued: "The people from the Black Scorpion Organization wanted to snatch our virus samples. We refused, so they launched an attack. The virus samples leaked at that time, which then triggered the secondary infection. Everyone in the base, as well as the mutant beasts outside, were infected."

Just then, Lin Chen's communicator suddenly rang, and the voice of the technician from the Starfire Group headquarters came through,

carrying a trace of panic: "Team Leader Lin, it's bad! The indicator lights of the global anti-virus network Core Tower are going out one after another.

All safe zones have received an emergency alert of network collapse, and we have monitored that a large number of mutant beasts are gathering in the direction of every safe zone."

Lin Chen's expression changed, and he shouted into the communicator: "Activate the highest-level defense plan! Hold the safe zone and wait for me to return."

"Yes." The voice in the communicator acknowledged, then hung up.

Chen Mo looked at Lin Chen, a trace of despair appearing on his face: "Network collapse, secondary infection, the Black Scorpion Organization, and that mysterious Human Alliance Headquarters—all of this is aimed at us humans."

Chu Aiyao gripped the long sword in her hand tightly: "Regardless of who it is, as long as they dare to harm humanity, we will fight them to the end."

Lin Chen nodded, his eyes filled with determination. He looked at the document in his hand, looked at the corpses in the plaza, and looked at the vast white ice plains in the distance; the thought in his heart grew increasingly clear. Power is not for revenge; it is for protection—to protect humanity, to protect this land, and to protect the last hope.

Just then, the signal receiver in A-Nian's hand suddenly rang again,

and that mysterious light spot on the screen appeared once more, and the signal strength was even stronger than before. A-Nian immediately began to decode the signal, and a line of new text soon appeared on the screen: "Human Alliance Headquarters,

is organizing forces to counterattack. We are now issuing a call to all human safe zones globally: gather together and fight the enemy together. Coordinates X789, Y654, Z321. We are waiting for you." ===== CHAPTER 244 =====