Chapter 537: Pit Ruins

Penelope and Raccoon Cat both cursed inwardly, the trauma in their hearts triggered once more. However, before they could even regain their senses, a voice roared, “Monsters? Open fire!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

The oncoming army showed no fear, unleashing their firepower once again at the command. Howitzers fired in succession, striking like flaming meteors and blasting shallow craters and fissures into the ground. The endless gunfire surged like a warrior’s charge, wildly sweeping the area and leaving no blind spots. Both Penelope and Raccoon Cat were secretly alarmed, hastily dodging to the side to avoid the hail of bullets.

This scene lasted for nearly a minute.

When the gunfire finally ceased and they looked back, the edge of the sinkhole was thick with gunpowder smoke, mingling with the drifting dust. Those incredibly difficult non-human monsters had been mowed down like stalks of wheat. Blood soaked the rock formations red, while eerie green liquid splattered across the shallow craters in a shocking display.

“This…” Witnessing this, Penelope and Raccoon Cat stood frozen in place, somewhat dazed. Only now did they remember that Superpower Users were not invincible. Powerful heavy weaponry was the perfect natural enemy of these monsters.

Furthermore—

“You two.”

A calm voice came from behind them. Penelope’s body tensed as she slowly turned around. The faces of the Alliance Country soldiers were hidden in the smoke, each of them seemingly expressionless. The heavy machine guns on the armored vehicles were still emitting white smoke. They were clearly well-trained and strictly disciplined.

Even more strikingly…

As Raccoon Cat and Penelope swept their gazes around, they finally found the source of the voice. Lu Chao, dressed in a black trench coat, stood on the hood of an armored vehicle with a smile on his face. The ruby-eyed black cat perched on his shoulder stretched lazily, looking incredibly familiar.

“It seems we’re destined to cross paths.”

Half an hour later.

The edge of the sinkhole had been heavily cordoned off by Alliance Country soldiers. Armored vehicles and tanks drove in from the fortress area and stationed themselves there. Helicopters hovered high in the sky, while drones and small biological weapons infiltrated the sinkhole, transmitting real-time footage of the underground survey back to the camp.

“Inspector Chen, I owe you my life once again.” Inside the temporary encampment by the sinkhole, Raccoon Cat smiled bitterly and cupped his fists in gratitude toward Lu Chao.

Penelope, standing to the side, also expressed her deep gratitude. “Thank you very much, Inspector Chen.”

The two had already received basic treatment for their wounds, and color was gradually returning to their faces. The army’s accompanying medics had bandaged them up and injected them with Nutrient Liquid.

“It’s just a small matter,” Lu Chao said, shaking his head. He stood at the edge of the sinkhole and glanced down. It was pitch black, making it difficult to discern any details. Only his Life Sensing could occasionally pick up the Life Magnetic Fields of a few non-human monsters. Turning back to the two of them, he asked, “So, you followed Xiao Chen’s diary and found this place?”

During the past half hour, he had already learned quite a bit from them.

“Yes.” Penelope took a healing Nutrient Liquid from a soldier, thanked him, and explained, “The diary mentioned that Moray Country from the Old Era had an underground experimental base dedicated to researching biological weapons. We followed the clues for over a month before narrowing it down to this vicinity.”

“And then?”

“And then…” Raccoon Cat took over the conversation with a bitter smile. “We didn’t expect it to be this dangerous at first, and the entrance to that place isn’t here.

“But unexpectedly, the deeper we explored, the more dangerous it became. In the end, we discovered quite a few monsters. They have no intelligence, only a primal instinct to slaughter.

“This sinkhole appeared while we were fleeing. We’re not sure if we triggered some kind of mechanism.”

The two truthfully recounted their previous experiences. Hearing this, Lu Chao’s eyes flickered as he fell into deep thought. He recalled the map he had seen while traveling north. The Northern Territory wasteland was vast, and the territory of the Old Era’s Moray Country was located right here.

However…

“Non-human monsters, huh…” Lu Chao pondered, thinking of the biochemical monsters he had encountered at the Nanyun Mountain experimental base. They were very similar to the monsters he had seen before. At their core, they were all humans or Mutant Beasts that had mutated after being injected with biological serum.

“Inspector, should we lock this place down first and wait for Yao Capital to send reinforcements?” Yue Zhenhong, standing to the side, cautioned with a serious expression.

Special Envoy Zhu Chen nodded in agreement, not wanting to take the risk.

Lu Chao did not reply immediately. Based on Xiao Chen’s diary and the explanations from Raccoon Cat and Penelope, this base was exactly the biochemical experimental base that once belonged to Moray Country. Judging solely by its scale, it was larger than the Mira Country ruins left behind at Nanyun Mountain.

“We’re going down to take a look.”

Lu Chao’s decision caused Yue Zhenhong and the others’ expressions to change slightly. Raccoon Cat and Penelope were Exploration Level experts, yet they had struggled immensely and nearly lost their lives. If they risked going down there…

“I’ll lead the team,” Lu Chao said in a deep voice, cutting off all attempts to persuade him otherwise.

He had his own considerations. Setting aside the fact that this was the Northern Territory and they could alert the Rebels at any moment—causing unnecessary trouble—there was a more important point on his mind. He had previously obtained the biological serum formula at Nanyun Mountain, and the condition of the non-human monsters here was similar. Perhaps there were also some Superpower Potions developed in the Old Era hidden here.

If he could obtain them and master the corresponding formulas to accumulate experience in Superpower pharmaceuticals, his chances of successfully experimenting with the Super Energy Medicine Crystal would increase significantly.

With this in mind, Lu Chao gave a few instructions to Yue Zhenhong and the others. He also urged Zhu Chen to stay on the surface to provide support at any time.

As for Raccoon Cat and Penelope…

“You two,” Lu Chao said, looking at them with a smile. “Are you interested in giving it another try?”