Chapter 71: Reunion on the Wasteland
At the rocky exit of the side cave, over a dozen scaled beasts had already formed a battle array and were waiting. Foul-smelling saliva dripped from their sharp fangs, and their steps on the soft, damp soil made a sticky sound. Their compound eyes were firmly locked onto the dark entrance of the passage, waiting for Lin Yan to appear.
The Ancient Progenitor's will shrouded this area, continuously issuing commands to the scaled beasts while releasing fragmented psychic stingers that battered Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness in waves.
"This is where it ends." The Ancient Progenitor's icy thoughts bored into Lin Yan's mind. "Even if you break out of the underground cave, there are still roaming scaled beasts on the wasteland. Severely wounded as you are, you won't survive the journey back to Panshi City."
Leaning against the rough rock wall, Lin Yan slowly adjusted his breathing. The blood and qi in his body were restless, his wounds continuously losing blood, and his third-tier Sea of Consciousness power was down to less than thirty percent. He pressed his left hand against the wound to stop the bleeding and gripped the short blade tightly in his right hand. The inner qi of his ancient martial arts slowly circulated through his meridians, stabilizing his teetering stamina.
There were no other choices; he had to break through.
Lin Yan took a step, and his figure suddenly shot out of the side cave.
The scaled beasts roared in unison and swarmed forward. The two beasts in the front row pounced simultaneously, their sharp claws aiming for his chest and lower body. Lin Yan activated his agile ancient martial arts footwork, his body suddenly sliding sideways to dodge the claws. His short blade followed with a horizontal slash, cutting open the neck of a scaled beast. Dark green blood gushed out, splattering onto the scorched earth of the wasteland.
The sharp fangs of another scaled beast grazed his upper arm and missed. Lin Yan slammed his elbow heavily into the beast's jaw and backhanded his blade into its eye socket.
The remaining scaled beasts pounced one after another; sharp claws and fangs came from all directions. Lin Yan maneuvered through the gaps in the beast swarm. Every strike of his blade aimed for a crippling blow, absolutely refusing to waste any extra stamina. At the same time, his Sea of Consciousness continuously released interference, disrupting the psychic commands received by the nearby scaled beasts, causing brief gaps in their coordination.
The Ancient Progenitor continuously transmitted psychic signals remotely, constantly correcting the beasts' commands. Being too far underground, its power had greatly diminished; it could no longer superimpose high-intensity psychic impacts and could only remotely dispatch the monsters.
The fierce battle lasted for a quarter of an hour.
Lin Yan sustained several new wounds of varying depths on his body, covered entirely in the foul blood of the scaled beasts, and the edge of his short blade had chipped. As the last blocking scaled beast crashed to the ground, he stumbled out of the cave and stepped heavily onto the scorched earth of the wasteland, which was covered in gravel.
The night wind carried the unique burnt, fishy stench of the wasteland and rushed toward his face.
He had finally left the underground rock cave and returned to the surface.
Looking up into the distance, flashes of red artillery fire constantly lit up the horizon; it was the outer defense line of Panshi City fighting a bloody battle against the beast swarm. Faint roars of scaled beasts echoed sporadically across the wasteland; this land was fraught with hidden dangers everywhere.
"Lin Yan!"
Not far away, a fierce clash of metal rang out. Lu Heng's squad had just routed the scaled beasts intercepting them. Everyone was injured, and they were moving rapidly in this direction. Old Chen caught sight of the blood-soaked figure on the wasteland and excitedly shouted at the top of his lungs.
Su Qing tightly protected the recorder in her arms and quickly followed. Lu Heng held his long knife, vigilantly scanning the surrounding wasteland to prevent any scaled beasts from lurking and ambushing them.
The group quickly reunited.
Old Chen rushed to Lin Yan's side in a few strides, reaching out to support his swaying body. His eyes swept over Lin Yan's numerous wounds, and his brow furrowed tightly. "You're alive! We thought..."
"I barely escaped," Lin Yan panted, his voice slightly hoarse. His gaze swept over everyone. "Is the recorder safe?"
Su Qing nodded immediately, lifting the device slightly in her arms. "It's completely intact. The footage and psychic waveforms of the Ancient Progenitor and the secondary priests were recorded perfectly. The mission... was a success."
Lu Heng let out a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly, but he still didn't dare to drop his guard. "This place is not safe to stay. There are many scaled beasts roaming the wasteland, and the Ancient Progenitor will definitely continue to dispatch monsters to chase us. We must return to the hidden vehicles as soon as possible and drive back to Panshi City."
Everyone immediately bandaged their wounds and inventoried their remaining ammunition and emergency supplies. Many of their Seas of Consciousness were still exhausted, and their psychic power had not yet recovered. They could only take turns keeping watch in pairs.
The group formed a vigilant formation and marched toward the depression where they had hidden their vehicles.
Inside the underground resonance rock cave, the Ancient Progenitor sensed that the human squad had fully reunited and was retreating toward their vehicles. Its massive body lay in the turbid puddles, its dark gold vertical pupils churning with rage.
It had originally intended to annihilate all the intruders within the rock cave. It never expected that after breaking through to the third tier of the Sea of Consciousness, Lin Yan would stubbornly tear through the blockade and lead the evidence-gathering squad to safety. Once this evidence was delivered to the high command of Panshi City, humanity's understanding of the underground alien race would be completely rewritten, and the subsequent mode of warfare would change entirely.
"Give the order: mobilize all remaining hunting scaled beasts on the wasteland. Intercept them at all costs," the Ancient Progenitor issued a command to the entire psychic network.
Psychic signals spread to various parts of the wasteland along the underground veins. Some of the scaled beasts that had originally been attacking the outer outposts of Panshi City received the new orders, broke away from the battlefield, changed direction, and flanked toward the depression where the squad was retreating.
On the wasteland, Lin Yan and his group were hurrying along.
Lin Yan's third-tier Sea of Consciousness continuously deployed, with a sensing radius far broader than when he was at the second tier. Soon, he captured the signals of large clusters of scaled beasts closing in from all directions.
"This is bad. A massive number of scaled beasts are encircling us, and there are a lot of them," Lin Yan said, his face changing as he quickly informed the group. "The Ancient Progenitor has mobilized the outer beast swarm, intending to intercept and kill us on the wasteland to destroy the evidence."
Lu Heng immediately stopped, surveying the surrounding terrain. The depression where the vehicles were hidden was two kilometers ahead, but the speed of the encircling scaled beasts was extremely fast. At their current pace, they would likely be caught before reaching the depression.
"There is an abandoned wasteland outpost fortress ahead; most of its walls are still intact," Lu Heng quickly observed the terrain. "We will retreat to the outpost fortress first, rely on the fortifications to withstand the beast swarm, and hold out until the vehicle drivers can provide support, or wait for reinforcements from Panshi City."
No one objected. They immediately changed direction and sprinted toward the dilapidated concrete outpost nearby.
In the distant wasteland, countless dark shadows moved rapidly across the scorched earth, and the low roars grew closer and closer. A wasteland blocking battle was about to begin. And the footage stored in the recorder was the turning point of this war.
End of Chapter.
The Ancient Progenitor's will shrouded this area, continuously issuing commands to the scaled beasts while releasing fragmented psychic stingers that battered Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness in waves.
"This is where it ends." The Ancient Progenitor's icy thoughts bored into Lin Yan's mind. "Even if you break out of the underground cave, there are still roaming scaled beasts on the wasteland. Severely wounded as you are, you won't survive the journey back to Panshi City."
Leaning against the rough rock wall, Lin Yan slowly adjusted his breathing. The blood and qi in his body were restless, his wounds continuously losing blood, and his third-tier Sea of Consciousness power was down to less than thirty percent. He pressed his left hand against the wound to stop the bleeding and gripped the short blade tightly in his right hand. The inner qi of his ancient martial arts slowly circulated through his meridians, stabilizing his teetering stamina.
There were no other choices; he had to break through.
Lin Yan took a step, and his figure suddenly shot out of the side cave.
The scaled beasts roared in unison and swarmed forward. The two beasts in the front row pounced simultaneously, their sharp claws aiming for his chest and lower body. Lin Yan activated his agile ancient martial arts footwork, his body suddenly sliding sideways to dodge the claws. His short blade followed with a horizontal slash, cutting open the neck of a scaled beast. Dark green blood gushed out, splattering onto the scorched earth of the wasteland.
The sharp fangs of another scaled beast grazed his upper arm and missed. Lin Yan slammed his elbow heavily into the beast's jaw and backhanded his blade into its eye socket.
The remaining scaled beasts pounced one after another; sharp claws and fangs came from all directions. Lin Yan maneuvered through the gaps in the beast swarm. Every strike of his blade aimed for a crippling blow, absolutely refusing to waste any extra stamina. At the same time, his Sea of Consciousness continuously released interference, disrupting the psychic commands received by the nearby scaled beasts, causing brief gaps in their coordination.
The Ancient Progenitor continuously transmitted psychic signals remotely, constantly correcting the beasts' commands. Being too far underground, its power had greatly diminished; it could no longer superimpose high-intensity psychic impacts and could only remotely dispatch the monsters.
The fierce battle lasted for a quarter of an hour.
Lin Yan sustained several new wounds of varying depths on his body, covered entirely in the foul blood of the scaled beasts, and the edge of his short blade had chipped. As the last blocking scaled beast crashed to the ground, he stumbled out of the cave and stepped heavily onto the scorched earth of the wasteland, which was covered in gravel.
The night wind carried the unique burnt, fishy stench of the wasteland and rushed toward his face.
He had finally left the underground rock cave and returned to the surface.
Looking up into the distance, flashes of red artillery fire constantly lit up the horizon; it was the outer defense line of Panshi City fighting a bloody battle against the beast swarm. Faint roars of scaled beasts echoed sporadically across the wasteland; this land was fraught with hidden dangers everywhere.
"Lin Yan!"
Not far away, a fierce clash of metal rang out. Lu Heng's squad had just routed the scaled beasts intercepting them. Everyone was injured, and they were moving rapidly in this direction. Old Chen caught sight of the blood-soaked figure on the wasteland and excitedly shouted at the top of his lungs.
Su Qing tightly protected the recorder in her arms and quickly followed. Lu Heng held his long knife, vigilantly scanning the surrounding wasteland to prevent any scaled beasts from lurking and ambushing them.
The group quickly reunited.
Old Chen rushed to Lin Yan's side in a few strides, reaching out to support his swaying body. His eyes swept over Lin Yan's numerous wounds, and his brow furrowed tightly. "You're alive! We thought..."
"I barely escaped," Lin Yan panted, his voice slightly hoarse. His gaze swept over everyone. "Is the recorder safe?"
Su Qing nodded immediately, lifting the device slightly in her arms. "It's completely intact. The footage and psychic waveforms of the Ancient Progenitor and the secondary priests were recorded perfectly. The mission... was a success."
Lu Heng let out a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly, but he still didn't dare to drop his guard. "This place is not safe to stay. There are many scaled beasts roaming the wasteland, and the Ancient Progenitor will definitely continue to dispatch monsters to chase us. We must return to the hidden vehicles as soon as possible and drive back to Panshi City."
Everyone immediately bandaged their wounds and inventoried their remaining ammunition and emergency supplies. Many of their Seas of Consciousness were still exhausted, and their psychic power had not yet recovered. They could only take turns keeping watch in pairs.
The group formed a vigilant formation and marched toward the depression where they had hidden their vehicles.
Inside the underground resonance rock cave, the Ancient Progenitor sensed that the human squad had fully reunited and was retreating toward their vehicles. Its massive body lay in the turbid puddles, its dark gold vertical pupils churning with rage.
It had originally intended to annihilate all the intruders within the rock cave. It never expected that after breaking through to the third tier of the Sea of Consciousness, Lin Yan would stubbornly tear through the blockade and lead the evidence-gathering squad to safety. Once this evidence was delivered to the high command of Panshi City, humanity's understanding of the underground alien race would be completely rewritten, and the subsequent mode of warfare would change entirely.
"Give the order: mobilize all remaining hunting scaled beasts on the wasteland. Intercept them at all costs," the Ancient Progenitor issued a command to the entire psychic network.
Psychic signals spread to various parts of the wasteland along the underground veins. Some of the scaled beasts that had originally been attacking the outer outposts of Panshi City received the new orders, broke away from the battlefield, changed direction, and flanked toward the depression where the squad was retreating.
On the wasteland, Lin Yan and his group were hurrying along.
Lin Yan's third-tier Sea of Consciousness continuously deployed, with a sensing radius far broader than when he was at the second tier. Soon, he captured the signals of large clusters of scaled beasts closing in from all directions.
"This is bad. A massive number of scaled beasts are encircling us, and there are a lot of them," Lin Yan said, his face changing as he quickly informed the group. "The Ancient Progenitor has mobilized the outer beast swarm, intending to intercept and kill us on the wasteland to destroy the evidence."
Lu Heng immediately stopped, surveying the surrounding terrain. The depression where the vehicles were hidden was two kilometers ahead, but the speed of the encircling scaled beasts was extremely fast. At their current pace, they would likely be caught before reaching the depression.
"There is an abandoned wasteland outpost fortress ahead; most of its walls are still intact," Lu Heng quickly observed the terrain. "We will retreat to the outpost fortress first, rely on the fortifications to withstand the beast swarm, and hold out until the vehicle drivers can provide support, or wait for reinforcements from Panshi City."
No one objected. They immediately changed direction and sprinted toward the dilapidated concrete outpost nearby.
In the distant wasteland, countless dark shadows moved rapidly across the scorched earth, and the low roars grew closer and closer. A wasteland blocking battle was about to begin. And the footage stored in the recorder was the turning point of this war.
End of Chapter.