Chapter 520
Recon
Dean looked back at the giant wall. According to his calculations they were at the western side of the giant wall. If he walked straight to the left side then he was going to reach outer wall area. At the intersection of the western and northern side of the giant wall he would be able to find Sergei.
"I have to think about a way to get in touch with Sergei when I get back." Dean's eyes lit up. He wanted to continue to work on his new invention. He wouldn't be able to work in 9th region of the Dark Church so he had to establish a base outside the giant wall. Although he wouldn't be able to have the technology that he had inside the wall but he had experience and he could solve this problem out.
Moreover, he was ready to build a secret experimental factory in the slums. Because he needed a secret place to manufacture the invention if it was to be produced. However, at this point giant wall was more suitable than slums. He didn't have to be concerned about environmental pollution or attracting the eyes of the others.
"Dean, keep up with us. Your ability is thermal vision so don't forget to remind us if you find a monster." Ian and Martin were leading the team with dignified expression on their faces. They knew that after they left the giant wall they were facing danger at every moment. They could encounter a very powerful monster even in the vicinity of the giant wall.
Dean nodded and walked in the middle of the team. He narrowed his eyes as he used thermal vision to observe the surroundings.
The members of the team shared the knowledge about their abilities with each other during the 15 days of the preparation. They knew that they had to cooperate with each other while they tried to implement the mission outside the giant wall. Dean reported his thermal vision ability and Ian positioned Dean in an auxiliary role. Eugene was able to harden his skin so his role was to fight and defend. Others were given tasks according to their abilities too.
"About four miles away at 3 o'clock direction... Four monsters, seems to be variant skeletons." Dean reported as they walked.
Ian asked in a low tone: "How strong they are?"
"Level 25 to 30." Dean replied.
"Eugene, go and kill them." Ian ordered.
Eugene was stunned: "Why?"
Ian looked back at him: "What why?"
Eugene scratched his head when he saw the crowd look at him: "Why should I go alone? We are relying on Dean's thermal vision but he could be wrong about the judgement of the monster's level."
"Less talking! Go!" Martin spoke in a cold tone: "We will support you if there is something wrong."
"But ..." Eugene was reluctant.
Ian frowned: "Eugene before we get into area 3 of the orange wasteland we have to do our best to save our strength and stamina. You can practice now with those low level monsters. If you are worried then you can go with Dean!"
Eugene hesitated for a moment but then took out his sword and rushed out.
Dean quietly watched but didn't follow Eugene. As Ian had said he had to save stamina too. At the end of the day he could only rely on his own strength outside the giant wall.
Dean and others maintained a normal speed. It didn't take long for them to meet Eugene. His sword was back in its sheath. However there were blood stains all over the place. The corpses of the variant skeletons were on the ground. One of them had its forehead cut off while the other had its arms slices before being killed.
They continued on.
Eugene returned back to his position in the team in silence.
After a while.
"Blondie, I know what you are thinking about... " Luna leaned towards Eugene and laughed: "You don't have to worry about wasting your stamina by cleaning the 'obstacles'. We will protect you. That's why we are called a team."
Eugene smiled as he looked back at her: "I know."
Luna continued: "We won't abandon anyone. We aren't willing to do even so because of the personal interests. The upper echelon will deduct 10% of the rewards points for every member that dies in the field. So don't worry about anything."
"Is there such a provision?" Eugene was surprised: "It seems the ones in the top consider quite a lot of things."
"Of course, Although there were no such rules in the beginning but after a few accidents they came up with the new rules." Luna chuckled.
Dean reported several location where the monsters were hidden while Eugene and Luna conversed.
Ian didn't call Eugene to kill the monsters as they were away from their path and their levels were below 30.
Dean memorized the path and made a map in his mind while he observed the surrounding places. He knew that in case Ian or the others died they had to return so he was preparing a route back to the giant wall if such a circumstance rose up in the future.
Dean was able to see incomplete or collapsed urban constructions as they went into the depth of the wilderness. The vines and moss had covered supermarkets and tall buildings. The asphalt roads were broken while the cars covered in vegetation were in the middle of the road. The street lights were eroded by dust and moss.
There were footprints on the black snow in front of them.
The black snow melted faster but thick snow remained in many places.
"We have to go another 80 or so kilometers to reach the orange wasteland." Ian looked at Luna: "Do you smell any large or dangerous monsters?"
Luna shook her head: "There is no damage so none at this point."
Ian nodded and turned towards Dean: "Report to me once you are aware of any movement. Alright?"
Dean nodded and looked at Luna. Luna was a tracking expert but her role was a bit different. Her ability laid in luring the enemy by secrete a special smell or urine. This smell was able to lure advanced monsters as they would mistake this smell with the taste of their favorite food.
Luna would know that a high level monster is around once that smell is destroyed or damaged.
Of course, it was one of Luna's abilities. Her physical strength was far better than anyone on the same level. In addition she was extremely sensitive to sense of smell.
"Let's take a break now to rest a bit. We will enter the wasteland afterwards." Ian spoke up.
Everyone stopped as soon as Ian talked.
Ruby put the large luggage down and unlocked it. He took out food, water and gave them to the team. The priority was to eat food from Ruby so that the food and water in their backpacks would be used as final supply.
Although they had eaten the meal before leaving the giant wall but they had consumed a lot of energy because of intense combat readiness and were a bit hungry.
It didn't take long for them to finish eating and drinking. They had 5 minutes to rest before and after the meal.
Dean and Luna used their abilities to help the team to avoid monsters and waste unnecessary energy on the way. After all, the monsters they began to encounter were more than level 30 and occasionally they would meet monsters ranging from level 40 to 45. Except Martin and Ian the others wouldn't be able to face such high level monsters. So they were doing their best to stay away from them. The risk of injury was something that they couldn't take into account as they had yet to enter the orange wasteland.
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