Chapter 536 - 42: Pit Ruins

BOOM!

A sudden, deafening boom echoed from several kilometers away, making the ground tremble gently.

The soldiers in the fortress camp looked up, turning their gaze toward the north of the canyon passage. Billowing clouds of dust surged into the sky, kicking up a sandstorm that blotted out the sun. The earth shuddered continuously like an earthquake, causing the camp’s wire fences and steel plates to rattle.

"What’s going on?"

"An earthquake?"

"It doesn’t look like it. It seems like the ground over there collapsed..."

Discussions rippled through the camp. Up in the watchtowers, the sentries raised their binoculars to investigate, their expressions grave.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Drones streaked quietly through the air, heading straight toward the source of the tremors.

Superpower Commanders like Yue Zhenhong appeared one after another. With solemn expressions, they gathered around Lu Chao.

"Inspector?"

"Let’s go take a look."

Several kilometers away.

BOOM!!

The deafening noise continued as thick dust clouds billowed into the sky. A closer look revealed that the vast, flat wasteland was caving in, forming a massive black void hundreds of meters in diameter.

It was as if something subterranean had swallowed the earth whole. The edges of the depression consisted of loose quicksand that continued to slowly slide and collapse inward, kicking up fine dust.

"Hurry up and run!"

RUMBLE!

Sounds echoed from the center of the sunken pit. The massive, pitch-black opening looked like a torn wound in the earth, or the gaping maw of a giant beast facing the sky.

"Fight your way out!"

"Raccoon Cat, let’s go!"

The voices were frantic, accompanied by the distinct sounds of close-quarters combat.

Amidst a series of sickening THUDs of tearing flesh, crimson blood and emerald-green fluids splattered everywhere. At the edge of the pit, two figures stumbled and barely managed to climb out.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Penelope was covered in injuries. Her brown leather jacket was torn in several places, and her left arm hung limply by her side, clearly dislocated. Streaks of un-wiped blood stained her face.

Raccoon Cat was in a similar state. He rolled across the ground a couple of times, thoroughly drenched in splattered blood, with numerous claw marks scoring his arms and torso.

"We finally... made it out." Raccoon Cat slumped on the ground, gasping heavily for air. His eyes were filled with the dazed relief of narrowly escaping death. Glancing back at the dark, massive sinkhole, dread and lingering fear surfaced on his face. "This caused such a massive commotion. We definitely have to find some backup.

"Especially since those monsters are far too bizarre."

Raccoon Cat panted as he spoke, and Penelope nodded in agreement beside him. This encounter had been far too bizarre. Even powerful Exploration Level experts like them had nearly lost their lives.

Exchanging a few words, the two prepared to retreat for now.

RUMBLE.

The ground suddenly trembled again, accompanied by a roaring rumble that was steadily drawing closer. Penelope and Raccoon Cat’s expressions changed slightly, mistakenly assuming it was another cave-in. But a second later, they realized something was wrong and quickly looked ahead.

VROOM!!

Engines roared as mechanical steel beasts kicked up clouds of dust, breaking through the wind and appearing on the horizon.

"Is this..."

VROOM!

Several camouflaged jeeps took the lead, bursting through the dust clouds and landing heavily on the ground. Armored vehicles followed closely behind, their heavy treads crushing the gravel as they barreled straight toward them.

WHIR WHIR WHIR!

From high above came the whistling roar of helicopter rotors, churning up fierce winds. Two helicopters flew past, soaring right over their heads and circling the sinkhole.

"Report: the sinkhole has an estimated diameter of four hundred meters and an inferred depth approaching one hundred meters!"

"Report! Black Hawk Two has spotted two suspicious survivors!"

The sounds of radio communications from the helicopters drifted down, mixed with the howling wind, and were clearly heard by Penelope and Raccoon Cat.

They exchanged bewildered glances. Wasn’t this the Northern Territory wasteland? Why would an army be here? Could these be Rebel forces?

VROOM!!

Before they could snap out of their daze, the convoy of jeeps and armored vehicles had already arrived right in front of them. The muzzles of the vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns gleamed coldly. Soldiers in camouflage stood atop the vehicles, aiming their fully automatic rifles at the two survivors in unison.

The lingering dust obscured some of the soldiers’ faces and uniforms, making them hard to see clearly, but the dense array of dark gun barrels caused Penelope and Raccoon Cat to freeze.

"Don’t move!" someone shouted, a flash of Superpower Level aura washing over the area.

Penelope raised her hands slowly, terrified of causing a misunderstanding. Raccoon Cat also froze, his expression shifting rapidly. They looked at each other, both seeing sheer helplessness in the other’s eyes. Having just escaped from the dangerous ruins of the base, only to get cornered by an army—their luck today was truly terrible.

However, exchanging a glance, their first instinct was to fight their way out, avoid the trouble, and go look for backup.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT!!

A sudden, continuous burst of gunfire rang out, instantly making their hairs stand on end. The armored convoy opened fire without warning, blinding muzzle flashes erupting in the air.

But to their utter shock, Raccoon Cat and Penelope realized that the dense hail of bullets brushed right past them, sweeping straight toward the sinkhole behind them.

SQUELCH SQUELCH SQUELCH!

The sickening sound of tearing flesh rang out as blood splattered across the ground. Raccoon Cat and Penelope instinctively turned around, spotting several massive biological monsters charging out of the pit.

Their bodies looked like grotesque mutations of humans. Their grayish-white skin was covered in stitch marks, and their arms flailed wildly. They were covered in festering sores, and thick, viscous liquid drooled from their mouths. Amidst the squelching sounds of bullets tearing into flesh, chunks of grayish-white gore exploded off the monsters’ bodies, sending them crashing to the ground one after another.

"ROAR!!"

Enraged roars echoed as more and more monsters climbed up to the edge of the pit, unleashing non-human shrieks. Billowing clouds of dust rose from the sinkhole, lingering behind them. Each monster bared its fangs and brandished its claws, looking exactly like zombies.

The entire scene looked like the apocalypse, as if the collapsed sinkhole had opened the gates to some kind of hellish prison.