Chapter 164 Red Sea
Cheng Zhenyong's cry of alarm immediately caught everyone's attention. Zhao Yaqian quickly walked over and stood atop the small hill, she too was petrified by the sight before her.
About one or two kilometers away, the land extended into a sea, a blood-red sea resembling plasma.
To call it sea water was just because it was boundless, spreading out indefinitely, connecting with the bizarre red canopy of the sky at the horizon.
The sea was churning heavily, viscous as if it was plasma, and amidst the tidal waves, numerous bubbles surfaced.
This was definitely not normal seawater!
An instinctual perception made her heart swell with endless dread, even though she hadn't felt danger yet, this feeling was just too unsettling.
"There's something wrong with this sea area..."
Zhao Yaqian warned everyone, even if they were to explore this place, they had to be extra careful with every step.
However, before she could finish her sentence, the red sea water began to surge, and a figure struggled to emerge from the thick sea.
It was as tall as a person, its shape twisted, the viscous sea water gradually converged, shaping its form.
A low growl sounded, the distorted figure began to move stiffly, and soon the excess blood sea water slid off its body, revealing its face.
It was clearly a Gray Inferior Demon.
Zhao Yaqian and the others turned pale with shock, their eyes wide with astonishment; the Gray Inferior Demon had already noticed them and was roaring as it charged towards them.
"Be careful."
Zhao Yaqian aimed her rifle directly at the Gray Inferior Demon and with a bang, the shot shattered its head.
The bullet pierced through, creating a massive blood hole in the head of the Gray Inferior Demon.
The corpse fell to the ground with a crash, and the growling stopped instantly.
But as they looked at that one corpse, Zhao Yaqian and the others couldn't calm down for a long time.
"Elder Bai, Elder Tian, we must retreat first, this exploration ends here for now. We'll re-enter after further observation is complete."
Zhao Yaqian made a decisive call. All around them was the boundless Red Sea, and no one knew if there were still monsters lurking within.
They had to be cautious and remain on high alert.
Yet Bai Qiuwen and Tian Jiaxuan were already stunned, the only thought in their minds enduring: those monsters weren't popping out of the sea, but were bred by the Red Sea...
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At the campsite in the encirclement zone, under Su Han's Metal Control and Zhang Dahai's reinforcement, more robust walls and gates formed.
Approximately 10 meters tall, the walls had a thickness of about half a meter, and the metal gates were slightly thinner but still more than ten centimeters, extremely robust.
To open the gate required several guards or the Vine Giant Rats to pull it open.
Of course, there was also a much quicker way, which was direct control through the vines of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree.
Since Zhao Yaqian and her group last visited, Su Han, although not venturing out himself, cycled the Scorpion Spider Demon and the Blood-winged Alligator Dragon following Zhu Xiong and Guo Gang to sweep up materials.
Herds of monsters were slaughtered by them, and a large amount of flesh was brought back and buried under the roots, slowly nourishing the Mother Nest Ancient Tree.
In terms of the Essence of Flesh Fusion, the Mother Nest Ancient Tree had already reached LV5, and it needed plenty of flesh materials for fusion.
After accumulating for several days, clearing the surrounding neighborhoods of Flesh Corpses and Crawlers, they gathered more than ten thousand monster bodies, along with higher-grade monster flesh, to finally upgrade to LV6 Essence of Flesh.
Following the fusion, its shape naturally grew larger, and its strength also leaped to Third Order Intermediate.
The effects of LV6 Essence of Flesh were not weak, bringing two skill upgrades to the Mother Nest Ancient Tree: LV2 Blood-winged Tiger and LV5 Tree-born Worm.
The number of Blood-winged Tigers increased to 50, and their range extended to 5000 meters, suddenly becoming the kin with the farthest activity range.
Among the Blood-winged Tiger kin, due to the skill upgrade, individuals of First Order Upper Grade emerged, their overall strength not to be underestimated.
The number of Tree-born Worms similarly skyrocketed: the kin could reach 800, with a range of 4000 meters, among which powerful individuals also possessed First Order Upper Grade strength.
Both kin, depending on their range and substantial numbers, became potent forces in accumulating monster bodies.
Besides, there were changes to the vines of the Mother Nest Ancient Tree; they reached approximately 1500 meters, already extending beyond some encirclement zone checkpoints and even capable of reaching Shanhu Villa near Summer Garden Avenue, though they still couldn't cover every area.
......
"These past few days, Old Zhu and his team have been continuously searching the surrounding area for resources. Survivors found, either actively or passively, have joined us in large numbers. The camp's population has already reached over 4000 people. Most have been placed in the encirclement zone, tasked with reconstruction."
Yan Meiyu was reporting the situation to Su Han; not just her, Bai Qilan, Zhu Xiong, and others were present as well.
"However, the patrol team is a bit stretched thin, especially since we also need manpower to protect Yunling Mountain."
Zhu Xiong interjected, "The scouting team as well, recently there have been fewer Flesh Corpses to kill, but for some reason, the monsters have become more agitated and stronger, with a new kind of monster appearing. Between killing and transporting them back, we're short on people."
He paused, then suggested, "Actually, I think we can establish a reserve force to handle transportation, escorting, and support duties, serving as backups for the patrol and scouting teams. We can assess loyalty, and recruit the best."
As everyone accumulates merits, the injections they exchange for are increasingly numerous.
Especially the First-level Intermediate injections, these can come from the Vine Giant Rat, Tree-born Worm, and other such large-base kin.
Among the combat personnel, the speed of accumulating contributions isn't slow, thus many have already reached First-level Intermediate strength.
With significant disparities in strength within the teams, it's not conducive to operations, therefore adding a transportation-based reserve force, mainly comprising First Order Inferior, and having team leaders and squad leaders who are First-level Intermediate and Upper Grade Contractors respectively, will make the system more rational.
Moreover, the Apostles contracted by the reserve forces, whose origins mostly come from the Mother Nest Ancient Tree, are undoubtedly more reliable.
Su Han pondered, as the camp expanded, the advantages, and disadvantages naturally became more apparent.
The more people there were, the more chaotic the management became. The initial practices could not perfectly adapt to the camp as its population gradually increased.
Of course, more people meant stronger overall strength and faster accumulation of resources, which could not be compared to fighting alone.
Therefore, Su Han did not resent the current changes, but further detailed arrangements were required. Holding a meeting with the core members and bringing up these issues were due to such considerations.
Currently, the camp was essentially divided into several major sections, governance, research, and military force.
Governance was the most complicated. However, stripping away those miscellaneous functions from before the apocalypse, the core responsibilities were actually animal husbandry, the distribution and exchange system of materials, manufacturing, and basic infrastructure. Everything else was incidental.
The research was separately managed by Bai Qilan.
As for the military force, it was comprised of the search team, patrol team, and the proposed reserve forces.
He contemplated for a moment and then nodded, saying, "It can be established."
His gaze swept over everyone and said, "Forming the reserves primarily from the transportation team, with Guo Gang as the commander, and Ye Kailing serving as the chief training officer."
"The camp's armed forces will thereafter be divided into four parts: patrol team, search team, Sky Cavalry Squad, and reserves. Gan Xinglei will command the patrol team, with Xia Ning as his deputy, responsible for the camp's order, defense, and some rotational combat missions."
Gan Xinglei promptly straightened up at the mention of his name, immediately responding, "Yes."
"Search team, Zhu Xiong will serve as the commander, with Zhao Yimin as his deputy, responsible for searching for materials, hunting monsters, and exploring the environment."
Zhu Xiong responded loudly, "Yes."Nôv(el)B\\jnn
"Another one, the Sky Cavalry Squad, will be led by Ye Kailing as the commander, a special team responsible for various support tasks. I'll discuss it with her when she returns."
Su Han turned to Yan Meiyu and said, "You continue to be in charge of governance, overseeing animal husbandry, material distribution, base reconstruction, production, and manufacturing, with Zhang Dahai as your deputy, commanding the construction team and taking charge of camp defense when necessary, while Bai Xiao'e is the second deputy."
Governance was complex, so Su Han appointed two deputies to Yan Meiyu. However, as the first deputy in charge of the construction team, Zhang Dahai's rank was not much lower than the rest, also being part of the first-tier sequence.
Zhang Dahai grinned and said, "Understood."
Yan Meiyu nodded, replying, "Yes."
Su Han instructed, "Rework the contribution and accumulation systems for each sequence as soon as possible."
"Understood."
Turning to Bai Qilan, Su Han said, "You will take charge of the research sequence with Elder Cao Yubao as your deputy. If a more suitable candidate arises later, we can reconsider."
Bai Qilan nodded, saying, "I have no problem with that."
With clear job divisions, all sequences would soon fill up with more staff; even if the camp's population continued to grow, order management could still be maintained.
"Is there anything else to discuss?"
As Su Han's voice arose, Bai Qilan slightly lifted her head, looked at him, and said, "I've found something unsettling in the materials provided by South City and on the Gray Inferior Demon corpses brought by Old Zhu."
No sooner had she finished, than everyone's gaze converged on Bai Qilan.
She went on slowly, "The creatures known as Gray Inferior Demons, their bodily structures have a connection with Spiritual Energy... it's somewhat different from the mutated flesh corpses."
"How so?"
"Their compatibility with Spiritual Energy is very high. Their Spiritual Energy structure is unlike that of any monster we've discovered so far, and... no original form has been found."
Since the apocalypse had begun, no matter how monsters mutated, even if it came to Su Han's Apostles and their descendants, they still had some similar Spiritual Energy structures and some genetic resemblances.
But the Gray Inferior Demons were different, as if they just suddenly sprang into existence.
Though not strong, they were indeed unusual.
Everyone frowned slightly. Bai Qilan added, "Also, the documents indicate something explicit—alternate dimensions."
The documents highlighted the source of fog and Spiritual Energy, speculated on the principle of tidal forces, along with the subsequent corrupted beings twisted by an abundance of Spiritual Energy, suggesting a subtle trail of clues behind it all.
Bai Qilan might not have known what these clues specifically implied, but she did have some suspicions.
"Qilan, are you saying these creatures come from some kind of alternate dimension?"
Zhu Xiong furrowed his brows, asking, "How did those creatures come here?" Discover hidden stories at empire
"I don't know."
Bai Qilan calmly replied, "Perhaps through wormholes, or maybe from the sky, or could they just suddenly emerge from the fog? There are too few clues; they have given us too little to go on, but South City must know something."
She glanced at Yan Meiyu and finally fixed her gaze on Su Han, saying, "I heard that a few days ago, when they came to deliver the generator and the Lamp Tree Crystals... they seemed in a hurry."
Of course they were in a hurry; both Su Han and Yan Meiyu had noticed this.
Otherwise, they would not have sent Ye Kailing to investigate the clues.
He tapped on the table lightly and said, "Considering the time, Kailing should be coming back... "
He stopped, his gaze shifting outdoors, adding, "Kailing is back."
The Mother Nest Ancient Tree had already sent him a signal. Ye Kailing was flying back on a Second Order Bat Wing Beast.