Chapter 333: Light Pillar

Yang Xiao and Su Zhiwei also sat down on the side, seemingly not having recovered from the intimidation just now.

"Those monsters..." Yang Xiao frowned and asked while panting heavily, "What exactly are those monsters? They look like wild beasts in this mountain forest, but... but they are too big, and they don't fear bullets at all?"

"They look like some kind of mutant. Could it be that the radiation from that fragment caused the nearby wild beasts to mutate?" Su Zhiwei said in a deep voice.

"It's possible, but how strong must the radiation be to mutate into that appearance?"

"...I don't know, I don't know anything about this."

"Didn't I tell you? This place is wicked as hell, we should have just let..." Wu Tongyuan subconsciously started complaining again, but halfway through, seeing the pale faces of Yang Xiao and Su Zhiwei, he silently turned his head away and muttered, "Forget it... I'll just stop talking."

The air fell into silence, the surroundings quiet save for the groans of Wu Tongyuan.

"The most critical problem now is that everyone has scattered," Yang Xiao spoke up again.

"Although we are safe for the moment, it's hard to say for the others. Without the protection of firearms, if they encounter monsters while fleeing, I'm afraid..."

Chen Ling leaned against a tree, saying nothing, but his expression was graver than ever before.

Yang Xiao was right; these researchers were still just ordinary people. Even encountering a Tier 1 Calamity would mean certain death... And if any one of them died, they wouldn't be able to follow the historical trajectory, absorb the Red Star fragments, and become the future Nine Sovereigns. He would then be unable to observe what exactly happened back then.

But Chen Ling couldn't understand, how did things turn out like this?

In the true historical trajectory, when the Nine Sovereigns were discovered, they were all present in the crater, not a single one missing. But given the current situation, let alone all of them, it would be incredibly lucky if even half of them arrived at the crater alive.

Could it be that his intervention caused a butterfly effect, leading history away from its original path?

But Chen Ling hadn't done anything other than lead the way. He had been extra careful in this regard; otherwise, he would have long since changed his face and led everyone straight to the fragments... The reason he never revealed his identity was precisely because he hoped to let history repeat itself as much as possible, rather than be subverted.

Chen Ling stood under the tree, reviewing everything that had just happened in his mind over and over again. He always felt that something wasn't quite right.

"With the firearms they carry, it's impossible to kill that many monsters... Once those monsters clear out all threats, they will definitely start searching for us in the forest," Yang Xiao took a deep breath. "What should we do?"

"We're dead, we're really dead," Wu Tongyuan lay flat on the ground, wishing he could slap himself.

"If Old Lu hadn't told me that participating in this exploration would count as an outstanding scientific contribution and qualify me for an academician title... I would never have come even if you killed me! Now look at this, I'll only be able to get that title in my next life..."

Su Zhiwei didn't speak, just silently watching Chen Ling, seemingly waiting for his answer.

Su Zhiwei had seen that shot from Chen Ling. Although she didn't know the principle behind it, thinking about it carefully, this Director Chen had been mysterious and unfathomable since entering the mountains. He was the one who solved the screeching problem at the beginning, and later, when they lost their way, he was the one who located the fragments... Su Zhiwei knew there must be some secrets about him.

Chen Ling felt Su Zhiwei's gaze and, after a moment of silence, said:

"Follow the original plan and gather at the fragments... Although I don't know how many people will be able to arrive, it's no longer realistic to think about turning back."

The other three naturally had no objections. Chen Ling, the only one with the ability to identify paths in the forest, was their backbone.

As Su Zhiwei and Yang Xiao stood up, Wu Tongyuan, who was still rubbing his foot, hurriedly spoke up when he saw them about to leave:

"Can we wait a little longer? My foot doesn't seem to be doing well..."

Chen Ling looked back at him, "Dr. Wu, although this place is not close to the battlefield from earlier, with the speed of those monsters, they will catch up very quickly..."

"Let's go! I feel like my leg is suddenly better!"

Wu Tongyuan stood up from the ground with a start and limped after Chen Ling.

Just then, a brilliant pillar of light suddenly erupted from the forest in the distance!

BOOM—!!!

The earth suddenly shook violently. Su Zhiwei and the others were knocked to the ground on the spot. Feeling the terrifying amplitude of this earthquake-like tremor, they all looked in the direction of the light pillar!

It was a thick beam of fire with a radius of a hundred meters, like a sword of punishment cast down from the sky by God, crashing into the forest. The scorching aftermath spread outward from the pillar like a ring, illuminating the entire pitch-black mountain range as if it were broad daylight!

"What... what is that??" Wu Tongyuan stared blankly at the pillar of light that seemed to pierce heaven and earth, incoherent.

"A nuclear weapon? No, how could a nuclear weapon be precisely focused within such a small range..."

"There are no weapon launch systems in the sky or on the ground... and no traces of a trajectory. How did it appear??"

Yang Xiao and Su Zhiwei were also stunned at this moment. They had never felt such terrifying fluctuations at such close range and tried to find a reasonable explanation for what was before them, but they couldn't.

In Chen Ling's pupils, the pillar of light that connected heaven and earth was clearly reflected, his expression unable to hide his shock.

Like the others, he couldn't judge where this attack came from, but he could be certain that even in the era three hundred years later, the terrifying aura emitted by this pillar of light was in no way inferior to the Aurora Sovereign's Particle Holy Spear... This was definitely not a strike that could be caused by modern weapons!

But in this era, how could anyone release such a terrifying attack? The Nine Sovereigns clearly weren't the Nine Sovereigns yet!

The next moment, the scorching pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth was shattered inch by inch, as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand!

As the brilliant light spots vanished into the air, the forest in the distance fell back into dead silence.

"Wait, isn't that the direction Dr. Lou and the others fled in?" Su Zhiwei seemed to think of something, "Could something have happened to them?"

At this instant, Chen Ling suddenly thought of something!

He had been reviewing the process of this operation, feeling that something was off, and now that Su Zhiwei said this, he immediately recalled a detail.

When everyone was surrounded by Calamities and the scene was chaotic, Dr. Lou was the first to scatter... And at that time, it seemed no Calamity attacked him, nor did he appear overly fearful; he just dove into the forest like that.

And then, Dr. Ji chased after him?

Chen Ling clearly remembered that Lu Xun was desperately shouting not to scatter, but Dr. Ji's actions were without the slightest hesitation, as if he wasn't trying to avoid the Calamities at all, but rather to chase after Dr. Lou!

Chen Ling suddenly turned to look at Su Zhiwei:

"Which field does Dr. Lou research?"