Chapter 73: .The Dark Swamp (Part 1)

No one knows exactly how this misty land was formed.
After the shocking explosion of divine power eight years ago, it appeared out of thin air, occupying the entire fortress ruins without warning, and it is still spreading around.
The soldiers who were lucky enough to survive the big bang didn't know exactly what happened at the time. What's even more bizarre is that they all passed away due to various strange diseases within a few years. The truth of the matter seems to have become more complicated and confusing, just like the black fog that never disperses, shrouded in the hearts of all curious people who try to uncover this mystery.
The morning time in the desert was fleeting, and the four-man squad, after a brief repair, continued to sit in the Tamiris chariot and slowly marched towards the swamp.
Since last night, the team's mood has not been very high, and the center of the low pressure is naturally the little doctor Yuno who has been silent until now with his head down. After humming the song inadvertently, he hid his face in his hood, and huddled himself in the corner without making a sound, as if he was immersed in a situation that embarrassed him by not wanting to be discovered. .
The atmosphere in the carriage was dull, and Gloria, who was sitting on the bridge, set a specific route forward and handed over the chariot to the puppet for automatic control. Only then was she able to stretch out relaxedly, and turned her chair back and glanced around.
Eamon still closed his eyes restlessly, while Rhea spread out a large map, frowned and pointed at it, thinking about the best mission plan, and seemed to have broken free from negative emotions a long time ago. .
This is the only one who is still unhappy... She slumped her eyes to look at the little doctor who was sitting at the farthest point with her legs folded, and sighed helplessly, then smiled and squinted towards the female archer, staring at that one. The map whispered: "Sister Rhea, haven't you decided which way to go? We'll be in the dark fog soon."
"...It's hard to say, I didn't expect the speed of the black fog area to expand far more astonishing than the information given by the guild. It was a little beyond my expectation." Rhea bit her lower lip and drew a virtual circle on the picture. The range covers almost half of the map.
"Isn't it okay to follow the originally planned route? Even if the range is expanded, won't it be the same as long as you get inside." Gloria blinked in confusion.
"That's not necessarily..." The female archer sighed and rubbed her eyebrows tiredly. "I heard some news from the wine house in Maruli. Recently, a group of mercenary teams found unknown names in our planned safe area. The footprints of the giant beast, according to the mapping data they provided, are as big as the Tamiris chariot... I am afraid it is no longer safe there."
"Isn't it? There really is a monster with such a big footprint? How big is that body!" The girl stretched out her hand in disbelief, unable to imagine what a terrible monster it should be.
"It does." Amon, who was meditating on the side, suddenly said this, but he didn't explain much, and continued to close his eyes and meditate without raising his head.
"Really! It's not easy to handle this time..." The girl frowned. Although the details of the behemoth are not yet clear, even if only considering its size, its combat power can be seen.
"So we can only try to avoid the known dangerous areas. As for the unknown areas, I'm afraid it really depends on luck." Rhea pursed her mouth and thought for a while, finally made a decision and lifted her pencil on the map. Draw a crooked black line on it, avoiding all the small circles with a red X.
Gloria stared at the line for a long time without blinking, and after taking it down completely, she immediately jumped to the bridge, her hands leaping back and forth between the large and small buttons quickly, resetting the new operating procedure.
Rhea closed the map and put it into the cloak. She turned her head and glanced at the little doctor who was still silent in the corner. She felt a little bit of a headache and was about to enter the swamp. It was not a way to be so depressed. She thought about it. Still got up and sat beside Yuno.
"Did you slept well last night?" She seemed to be unaware of the other party's low mood, and she said a natural greeting.
"Don't worry, Sister Rhea, I'll be fine..." The little doctor replied dullly from the cloak. He raised his head and looked at the female archer. He didn't see any loss in his golden eyes, only the solemn light flashed. move.
Rhea raised her eyebrows slightly, feeling a little surprised. She thought that the other party was struggling to extricate herself from some sad memories last night, but now it seems that this is not the case at all.
"It's okay." She hooked the corner of her mouth with relief, and said softly, "Going further in is the dark fog area. You have never been here before. You may have a strong sense of weakness and depression, but I I believe you will adapt soon."
"Actually...I, I..." Yuno hesitated and seemed to want to say something, but he hesitated again and again without saying anything, and buried his head again.
Seeing that he didn't want to say any more and didn't want to embarrass him, Rhea stopped questioning, patted him on the shoulder, and walked to the bridge to talk to the female craftswoman in a low voice.
The speed of the chariot is not fast or slow, so that the dual-core energy tank can always be kept full with the effect of the light energy converter. There is not much sunlight in the black fog area. They need to reserve enough energy as much as possible to prevent it from being used to accelerate the escape from the battle in times of crisis. Therefore, when the team reaches the edge of the black fog area, it is almost noon.
"Simulation form!" Gloria patted the armrest of the swivel chair and issued a loud command. From the bottom of the tank, six mechanically pointed legs were immediately extended to replace the crawler and crawl forward rapidly. The crawler strip was retracted and hidden in the baffle. , From a distance, it looks like a real giant scorpion monster is looking for food out of a cave. According to the conclusions obtained from the perennial observations of the mercenaries, such a bionic appearance can greatly reduce the attractiveness of monsters, because they seem to have little offensiveness to the same monsters.
As soon as the chariot entered the horrible black fog, Yuno felt as if he was being pressed by an inexplicable force. The normal operation of the divine power was subjected to reverse resistance, and his breathing stopped for a moment. But he did adapt to this power quickly, and everything returned to normal except for a little feeling of weakness. He wanted to get rid of this residual negative effect, quickly got up and moved his limbs, walked to the back of the bridge and looked out.
In order to avoid being spotted by certain phototaxis monsters, the chariot did not turn on the lights, and the vision was dark, as if the eyes were covered with a layer of roving, and everything he saw became blurred and looming.
"How do you feel?" Rhea turned his head and asked with concern when he heard his footsteps.
"Don't worry, there is no problem." The little doctor gave her a faint smile, "It's like running with weights in military training, except that you don't need a backpack."
"Hmph, don't get too early, it's not that simple!" Gloria was paying attention to the constantly illuminated buttons on the bridge, and at the same time she taught her companions unceremoniously, "You probably know it too, in the swamp. The difficulty of casting spells will increase, but according to the research experience of this lady for many years here, these black mists have a negative effect of weakening the ability of thinking. If you wait for a long time, your brain will be broken, hehe... …Ouch!"
"You've only been here a few times, so you dare to call yourself for many years?" The female archer gave her an outburst, "Don't listen to the messy street rumors, that will make your brain break."
"Just kidding, it's so fierce..." The girl rubbed her head aggrievedly and murmured, before she looked at the screen with the route map in front of her intently.
"This neighborhood has been swept many times by the guild. There should be no threatening monsters. There are still nearly 30 kilometers away from the nearest safe base. You can rest for a while. If it goes well, we will be before the evening. Arrived there." Rhea returned to her vigilant posture, holding her hands and staring at the gray world outside the window, and proposed to Yuno without looking back.
"Okay." The little doctor obediently turned and leaned into the corner, silently brewing for a long time, but he was not sleepy. He could only look up at the dark fog outside the side glass window. Before coming, he still had a lot of fear in this dark place, but after the actual contact, he had no fear of fear, and only a puzzle that no one could answer-what happened here?
In fact, he has always had a little secret in his heart. Since last night, he has been hesitating whether to confess to his companions-eight years ago, because of some unexpected reason, he had been here. At that time, there was a battlefield roaring with artillery fire, but now, apart from occasionally seeing a few pieces of puppet soldiers next to the gravel pile, there is almost no trace of battle.
Time is really a sharp weapon to kill everything. The nicks in the past have now been wiped out, but the wound on his heart will not be healed... He looked sad, closed his eyes again, and kept replaying the memory in his mind. The details, maybe they can come in handy in this mission.
However, his thinking did not last long. As Gloria hurriedly whispered "Smiley Leopard", the chariot stopped suddenly, he quickly got up and ran to the bridge in three or two steps. Three pairs of green eyes appeared in the front field of vision. They were hidden on the small hills of rocks in the distance, staring at them motionlessly, seeming to wonder what the big metal hunk was.
During his few adventures, Yuno has encountered a smiling leopard. This monster with black and yellow spotted fur is almost indistinguishable from an ordinary leopard, except that the blood red that occupies almost half of his face. The big mouth is always upturned, maintaining a strange smile. Ironically, although leopards dominate the biological chain, they are nothing more than watchdog-like cannon fodder characters in this dark swamp.
The three smiling leopards stared at the chariot for a long while without blinking, and suddenly one of them turned its head, and ran away quickly, seeming to want to report.
"Follow up." Rhea calmly issued an instruction to the pilot. This low-powered cannon fodder could hardly attract her much interest. It's just that smiling leopards have always been used to group actions and are good at hiding sneak attacks. If you leave it alone, this Along the way, there is no peace, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will not attract the attention of other monsters.
Gloria immediately mobilized the chariot to move forward at full speed and followed the monster returning to the nest for help. The other two smiling leopards kept their distance and followed the car, quite biting and not letting go. Gradually more green eyes appeared around the sandy ground, and after a few sharp and weird laughs, they ran around the chariot together, but none dared to step forward to launch a tentative attack.
A rock mound about five or six meters high soon appeared in front of the chariot. The was densely packed with smiling leopards, or standing or sitting for fear that there would be no fewer than a hundred. If you want to come here, it is a monster's lair. Seeing the chariot approaching from a distance, countless pairs of green eyes all turned around. The undifferentiated scarlet smile on the pointed thin hair made Yuno's scalp tingling. He couldn't help but step back, but he was immediately caught Ya grabbed his arm.
"Stop." The female archer patted the bridge lightly, turned her head and gave a serious instruction to the little doctor, "Stay in the car."
She glanced at the Great Swordsman who had already got up and stood by the car door. She pushed the top window of the car and just poked her head out. The monsters all around looked at and rushed over like flies smelling the smell, making noisy laughter. Unstoppable.
"Left and right!" She yelled. Regardless of whether Eamon responded or not, she turned over and jumped out of the skylight, took the folding bow from her waist, and turned it into a red-lined magical leader with a single flick. Bow: Soda.
She stretched out her hand to pull the bowstring, secretly lucky, and the ice arrows seemed to have eyes, and steadily pierced into the heads of the smiling tigers who were running fast, without missing anything. The big swordsman on the other side stood outside the car door with a huge sword like a cast statue, half-closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the group of fire-fighting moths to be delivered to the door automatically.
The battle outside the car is actually not dangerous, but the herd of beasts surging from all directions still made Yuno secretly sweat for his companions. He clenched his hands tightly, his eyes widened and looked in all directions. The black light that flashed in front of him from time to time reminded him that another monster was successfully eliminated.
In contrast, Gloria seemed almost lazy. She leaned on the swivel chair with her feet cocked, tapped the buttons with her hands one after another, and manipulated the small automatic machine guns protruding from both sides of the car lights, making intermittent crackling sounds. If she hits any one, she will immediately whistle and triumphantly turn her head to show her companion.
The process of this battle was tedious. Although there are a large number of smiling leopards, their fragile defenses are almost useless in front of the two A-level mercenary powerhouses. Their fangs and claws can not hit the target, and they can only be wiped out in the sorrowful laughter. , Returning to the endless black mist.
After all the visible monsters were wiped out, Rhea listened for a while again, and confirmed that there was no more piercing laughter, before storing the longbow in the armor belt. She was about to get back into the car again, and suddenly a figure jumped past her, and the Great Swordsman flew towards the rock mound ahead without even saying hello for some reason.
"Emon! Where are you going?" she yelled, nodding her foot and jumping off the roof of the car, trying to chase forward, and when she heard the door being pushed open, Gloria poked her head and shouted at her with a grin. "It's okay, it's okay, the big guy must be going to clean the nest! He runs the fastest every time there is such a job!"
I learned this from you... Rhea glanced at the girl with her little nose helplessly, scanned the surroundings vigilantly again, and ran towards the rock mound again.
"Oh, wait for me!" The girl hurriedly pulled the dazed little doctor out of the car and ran forward happily. Rhea had to slow down and wait for them to follow, in case there was anything nearby. The hidden monster suddenly attacked.
The three people quickly turned around the rock mound, and they saw a huge cave as high as three people facing them. A few pale bones were thrown at the entrance of the cave, which had been weathered and broken into a mess.
"Why is it so smelly? There won't be dead bodies in it..." The wind escaping from the deep cave was filled with a faint carrion-like stench. Gloria quickly covered her nose and complained dully, and then lifted it up. Tapping the engineering glasses with his hand, two bright white lights flashed from the inside of the shield, which penetrated the hole like double swords.
"Don't worry...follow me." Rhea grabbed the hand of the girl who was about to jump into the hole, turned her head and whispered to the little doctor, and took out a small portable glowstone lamp from the cloak. In front of him, cautiously walked slowly into the hole.
The dry cave was empty, and there were traces of claws waving everywhere on the gray-black rock walls around, but there seemed to be nothing else, and there was no corpse as expected. The curved cave kept the light from reaching the end, and several people involuntarily accelerated their pace. After turning a few corners in the direction of the stench, they saw the Great Swordsman standing still in front of a raised boulder pillar.
"Big man! Did you get any results? Show me!" Gloria immediately forgot the heavier stench around her body. She moved her eyes brightly and looked around him twice, and found There was nothing, he raised his head in confusion and blinked. Eamon kept staring at the top of the rock pillar as if unaware, and the girl also looked over. Under the light from the engineering glasses, she could faintly see a huge monster lying there with a bulging belly. Zhang Yishu seemed to be asleep.
"What is that..." Yuno walked carefully to Eamon's side, tiptoe to see more clearly, but from his angle, only the black fur-covered belly of the monster could be seen.
"Unknown monster, I'm still wondering why the smiling leopard stays outside the lair. It seems that it is because of it..." Rhea pulled out the Soda bow again, frowned and glanced behind her, but didn't look at it at all. The monster cast a half-gaze, "Don't disturb it, we don't have a lot of time, we must rush to the safe base as soon as possible."
As soon as her voice fell, the big monster on the rock pillar suddenly turned over because he heard her voice. Everyone immediately focused on waiting for him to move further, but he suddenly let out a thunderbolt. fart. As soon as the sharp blast sounded, everyone hadn't reacted yet, but when the billowing yellow smoke rushed down, it would be difficult for people to maintain a solemn expression. The stench in the air suddenly increased several times, and Gloria hurriedly pinched her nose and rushed out without looking back. The female archer held her breath and pulled the pale Yuno behind her. Only Eamon remained motionless, as if he had no sense of smell.
The girl dashed out of the cave like a sprint, and took a few breaths while holding on to the rock wall, only to feel that her choked nose was revived. She looked back at the other two ugly-faced companions, only to realize that the Great Swordsman hadn't followed. She hurriedly went to the entrance of the cave and peeked in, and then shouted "Big Man" several times, finally in a cloud of darkness. Saw the tall figure.
"Why so slow...Oh, your body smells so bad! Don't come over! Don't come over!" The girl greeted him a few steps forward, trying to complain, and suddenly smelled an unusually pungent smell from Eamon. The stinking smell, which was the same, immediately pinched his nose and ran away, staring at him vigilantly.
The Great Swordsman walked to the entrance of the cave lonely, Rhea and Yunuo suddenly smelled the peculiar smell on his body, and took two steps back in unison. He glanced at the stiff faces of his companions blankly, and still stretched out his right hand in silence. On his palm was a gray-white dome mushroom the size of a thumb, with many blue-purple star-shaped spots on it, faintly flashing. With the light.
"Smelly stinky mushroom!? Where did you find it? Haha, you can make a fortune now!" Seeing the little mushroom of strange color, the girl who had been avoiding it for fear instantly jumped over, pinching her nose and looking at her eyes. Shine. This mushroom, which looks a lot like a small ornament, is a kind of "exotic grass". It has been mutated due to the baptism of divine power for some reason. It is as rare as a variant animal, and of course it is equally valuable.
"On the rock pillar." Emmon said three words stubbornly and handed her hand forward. Gloria reflexively avoided a few steps, frowned and tangled for a moment, then suddenly turned her eyes and called to the little doctor. Said: "Yuno Yuno, do you still have an empty sealed potion bottle in your suitcase? Just put it there, it must be fine!"
The little doctor was covering his nose with his sleeves. He was so breathless that the smell suddenly became strong. He turned around and ran towards the chariot. Although he never brought extra empty bottles, he would not hesitate to waste a bottle of precious potion in order to prevent the nose from suffering any more.
When he fetched the medicine bottle to store the source of the stench, everyone felt relieved, and didn't care about the odor remaining in the wind. Seeing that she was done, the girl leaned forward and took the medicine bottle from him. She strode towards the chariot and looked upside down with her eyes, smiling like a lazy little fox.
When everyone came back to the car and was about to start again, Gloria grabbed Emon again, sniffed her nose and sniffed around him a few times, and said with her hands on her hips in disgust, "It's still so smelly, don't come in! I've been with you long ago. I said that I need to wear gloves to pick things. Why don’t I remember every time? Hmph, let’s go to the back of the car and blow your own hair!"
The other two companions looked embarrassed, and they didn't know whether to step forward to persuade them. The swordsman didn't care at all. He jumped on his toes on the back carriage, and closed his eyes to meditate against the long scorpion tail.
The chariot moved immediately, and the six sharp claws beat rhythmically with their long feet, like a distant ancient tone. Eamon opened his eyes slightly in the constant shaking, slowly stretched out his hand under his nose and smelled it. After thinking about it, he took out a small leather bag from his pocket, and it was in the desert camp with the masked boss. Spices bought.
He stretched out his hand and dipped it into it lightly, inhaled a little powder and rubbed his hands, and the remaining stench disappeared magically. He gently patted the dust on his hand, and carefully collected the bag of spices, still expressionless, then turned his head and looked around, and then closed his eyes again after confirming that it was safe, listening to the rapid pace of drumming. Step into the distance.