bookbashuk Chapter 51 Entering the Border Area
Chapter 51 Entering the Border Area
Six large pickup trucks sped across the open field, each carrying a member of the Blue Shield team who acted as an interpreter, explaining basic survival skills and precautions to the team members.
As it turns out, hobbies and interests are far less important than one's major.
Qi Te listened very attentively and wrote down almost every word.
Before setting off, he spent a lot of time searching for travel guides online, but G4's emphasis went far beyond the experiences summarized by bloggers. It was all practical information, packed with valuable insights.
Not only that, G4 was also very responsive to everyone's questions, answering every single one.
For example, the vegetation submerged in the towns was mainly vines, followed by thorns. In addition, there were prokaryotes such as algae and fungi.
Algae don't only grow in water; they can survive in damp soil, rocks, and tree trunks. They can even be found in glaciers and snowfields.
Fungi, which are ubiquitous, are far more vigorous than most organisms in terms of reproductive capacity, expansion rate, and survival rate.
"Fungi aren't scary, G-bro. Let's see the monster encyclopedia, shall we?" Freckled suggested expectantly.
G4 quickly corrected, "The official name is: Borderland Anomalous Creatures Atlas."
Of the eleven team members, he was the youngest and least experienced. He was quite flattered by these naive students. However, company policy generally prohibits the display of borderland creature guides.
Unless, of course, a wealthy client pays to unlock it.
"Yeah, let us take a look, boss. This is our first time venturing out of town to gather resources. We'd be prepared if we encountered some kind of creature."
Chen Jin, of medium build and with an honest-looking face, chimed in.
Lu Yan, a female classmate from Class 4 of the second year, tugged at G4's sleeve with a big smile: "Brother G, just take a look."
Even through the holographic mask, you could see G4's face turn bright red; he was practically drooling with envy.
"Alright, alright, but my access level is limited; I can only view the most common creatures."
After he finished speaking, a holographic projection appeared on the isolation panel.
"Gnawing Hyena Rat, Mutant Creature, Hazard Level E..."
Upon seeing the creature projected on the screen, the girls all turned their faces away in unison; the word "ugly" was simply insufficient to describe even a fraction of it.
Adult hyenas can reach up to two meters in length, with their cheeks covered in red, fleshy growths, making them look quite disgusting. When biting prey, their mouths can open to a maximum of 220 degrees.
In other words, if it weren't for the skin and flesh still connecting the back of his head, this thing could have torn half of his face off.
It has a moderate bite force, but its 68 teeth are extremely sharp. Furthermore, it can secrete neurotoxins from its dental sacs on both sides, which can paralyze its prey in just 3 seconds.
However, if you encounter a gnawed hyena in the wild, don't panic; one shot will take care of it.
This creature, resembling both a hyena and a snake-eating rat, possesses terrifying endurance, capable of running at 60 kilometers per hour for a full 6 hours. It can climb trees, wade through rivers, and is unafraid of fire.
However, he is extremely unbalanced in his specializations, with maxed-out agility but no defense whatsoever.
No gun? No problem.
Lie on the ground, pretend you're a corpse, and when the hyena comes to eat you, suddenly scream to scare it.
Then, feed its whole family.
As students of the School of Biology at Haicheng University, their understanding of anomalous organisms far surpasses that of those outside the field. However, this understanding is limited to textbooks and the safest slides in the laboratory. Furthermore, the students' studies and research focus on genes, cells, and data, with absolutely no knowledge of combat capabilities.
It's not that schools are unwilling to teach it, nor is it that the federal government is intentionally hiding it. The reason is simple: the time was too short, the materials were insufficient, and the systematic teaching was naturally not mature enough.
During the Cataclysmic Era, an unusual biological tide once occurred.
After the Federation was established, humanity rebuilt its shattered civilization from the ruins.
Both official and individual opinions held that those indescribable creatures, under the century-long, all-encompassing bombardment, were wiped out along with the old era, becoming history.
However, more than 30 years ago, satellites covering the entire globe captured images of unusual creatures living in the border region.
When you find a cockroach in your home, it means there's already a nest of cockroaches in some corner, multiplying rapidly.
Soon, strange creatures began to appear all over the world.
Each city already had protective walls, and sensing the impending arrival of another wave of anomalous creatures, the Federation deployed heavy troops and added heavy weaponry to each of these walls. Furthermore, all-alloy towers were built in the buffer zones between the border areas and the cities.
The government dispatched troops to explore the border area, and three major biotechnology companies, including Oasis, have also been engaged in a massive research effort on unusual organisms over the past two decades, sparing no expense.
Therefore, the collection team led by Liu Baichuan is working hard for human research on anomalous organisms.
The biological samples they collected, and the data they obtained after returning them to the experiments, have extremely valuable scientific research results for this era.
....................
About an hour after leaving the city, the convoy stopped at an old-fashioned gas station to let everyone get off.
Although it was a buffer zone, the Blue Shield team followed the collection team members around after they got off the vehicle.
After everyone finished relieving themselves, they got back into the car and set off again.
G4 continued his explanation, and everyone in the carriage listened more attentively than if they were in class, each immersed in a mix of novelty and a little fear.
Before we knew it, we had been driving for over an hour.
"Attention everyone, we are about to enter the border area in one kilometer."
A notification sound suddenly rang out inside the carriage.
The atmosphere inside the carriage instantly became heavy.
At 12:30 noon, the sky was a gloomy dark gray, with piled-up clouds and thick haze, and the ground was shrouded in fog, making visibility extremely low.
The headlights, side lights, and rear lights of the six large pickup trucks were turned on simultaneously, illuminating the surrounding area brightly.
The students all stared wide-eyed out the window in disbelief.
The car plunged headlong into the dense, seemingly endless sea of wild grass, the grass at the junction with the buffer zone nearly waist-high. Just half a minute later, the grass was taller than the pickup truck.
Unidentified flying insects were constantly attracted by the lights and crashed into the car body and windows.
"Oh my god!"
Lu Yan, who was filming a video by pressing her face against the car window, suddenly screamed, startling her so much that she dropped her phone on the car floor.
G4 quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
"A ghost! There's a ghost!"
Lu Yan hugged G4 tightly, trembling with fear.
Everyone looked out the right window and saw a twisted, deformed object resembling a skull stuck to the glass.
"Skull Moth"
Cao Yingchong said, "They can reach a maximum length of 1 meter, have no vision, but have an extremely strong sense of temperature. They survive by parasitizing the corpses of decaying organisms, and under normal circumstances, they will not attack unprovoked."
This is one of the most common and numerous unusual creatures in the border region; anyone who has watched videos by wildlife adventure bloggers has definitely heard of it. Some bloggers have even shown the corpses of skeleton moths during their live streams.
Lu Yan had certainly done her research, but she was so engrossed in taking pictures against the glass that she was startled when suddenly someone suddenly appeared in her face.
Holy crap!
Chen Jin exclaimed in surprise, and everyone quickly turned to look at the left side of the car window.
By this time, the convoy had emerged from the thicket of weeds. Not far outside the vehicles, countless thick branches intertwined and formed an archway, creating a massive archway several meters wide.
With ample light, it is very clear that the leaves growing on those branches are not green, but deep crimson heart-shaped leaves.
The blades refracted the intense light from the car headlights, sometimes emitting a bewitching red glow, sometimes dim. At first glance, they looked like they were covered with countless beating hearts.
"That's the Queen Vine, which can easily strangle D-level anomalous creatures, so it's also called the Strangler Vine."
As if afraid that Cao Yingchong would steal her job, G4 hurriedly explained, "However, it's currently in winter rest, and the Queen Ivy is in a semi-dormant state. You can observe it up close, but if it has any wounds that are bleeding, please don't touch its branches or leaves."
The freckled boy asked curiously, "What would happen if I touched it?"
"The Queen Vine is an abnormally carnivorous plant, but it doesn't actually eat meat; it only sucks blood. After an animal is strangled, it will be drained of its blood within half an hour to an hour."
"The Queen Vine has a very extensive root system. The vine arch you see is only part of it. To be precise, it's a trap that it uses to lure prey to approach. Birds perched on the branches, as well as some injured animals, that accidentally wander into the Queen Vine's territory almost always end up being strangled."
G4 thought for a moment and added, "However, it's currently in winter hibernation, so it won't wake up to hunt unless it's 'activated' by blood."
The freckled boy's eyes lit up, but Chen Jin couldn't help but gasp.
When he gazed at that vine-covered archway just now, he thought it was incredibly beautiful and that he wanted to have the chance to see it up close sometime.
Indeed, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it is!