Chapter 77: Illusionary Snake

Three days later, Chen Feng arrived at the Desolate Rocky Grounds as agreed upon. This was the southern region, far away from Gold City. However, as the transportation system of the current era was extremely well developed, it did not take Chen Feng long to arrive.

As he reached the vicinity of the Genetic Union campsite, he found that Wang Chun and his group had been waiting for quite a while.

"Come, let me introduce you."

Wang Chun introduced the group to Chen Feng.

This was a small squad called An Te, named after its leader. There were five members in total. All of them were genetic warriors that were relatively strong among E-class warriors. Being quite powerful, this squad was hired all year round. They had worked with Wang Chun several times in the past and had an amiable relationship with him. As such, Wang Chun selected them to go on the illusionary snake hunting mission.

Chen Feng nodded. "How are you?" As his gaze landed on the girl beside Wang Chun, he asked, "This is..."

This girl was obviously not someone from the squad. She appeared to be around 15 or 16 years old, was astonishingly beautiful, and was currently wearing a simple yet pretty set of clothes. This was quite obviously of a different style than those warriors in the genetic squad.

"Hello." The girl beamed. "My name is Shen Yi."

Shen Yi?

A question mark appeared in Chen Feng's mind.

This name... sounded somewhat weird.

"My girlfriend." Wang Chun smiled as he said, "She is a very quiet person. Only here to follow along for fun, she won't be causing any trouble."

Chen Feng: "..."

So this little couple was here for a walk?

However, as he thought about it, he found it agreeable. The power of this squad called An Te was quite good and was sufficient to conquer a place like the Desolate Rocky Grounds, which was not particularly dangerous. There wouldn't be any problems with Wang Chun bringing his girlfriend along.

"It doesn't matter."

An Te smiled shortly before regaining a solemn expression. "However, this time, it's somewhat different from the past. illusionary snake is a somewhat special mutated beast that needs to be killed as quickly as possible. Since we even have Miss Shen Yi and this producer here, I hope that, during the duration of our current exploration, you all will obey our arrangements."

"That is only natural."

Chen Feng and the rest agreed.

Soon, the group left the camp, heading toward the Desolate Rocky Grounds.

That was the world belonging to the illusionary snakes!

That was also a world where everything could happen!

They traveled straight.

The distance between the camp and the Desolate Rocky Grounds was roughly 10 km. Around them, vegetation became sparse before finally disappearing.

Before them was a world with rugged and uneven rocky ground.

"Hum—"

A bizarre noise resounded.

The ears of Qin Jie, one of the squad members, trembled lightly as he listened to their surroundings.

In actuality, almost every complete squad would have someone similar to Monkey, possessing extraordinary detection abilities.

"500 meters ahead, a group of mutated violet buffalo is passing by," Qin Jie narrated.

"Let them pass first then," An Te decisively decided.

They circle around an unremarkable rock and waited behind it.

After one minute, a group of huge mutated violet buffalos passed loudly, knocking against everything in their path and kicking off a countless amount of dust in their wake. Occasionally other mutated beasts would appear before them. At that, the buffalos would start chasing after those beasts, not stopping until the beasts died.

This was the mutated violet buffalo.

Barbaric!

Vicious!

And... brainless!

Wang Chun smiled as he asked, "How do you find this squad?"

"Professionals!" Chen Feng praised.

This squad had an extremely calm disposition when handling things, neither looking for any trouble nor wasting any time. From the camp to the Desolate Rocky Grounds, they had not been hindered. The several dangers they met were easily avoided as well. Evidently, they had investigated this area in advance. This was much more reliable compared to Xu Fei's squad.

Naturally, their price was much higher as well.

"We will be arriving soon. It's right in front of us," An Te said suddenly.

Chen Feng raised his head.

They were reaching the end of the path.

In front of them was the end of the path between two mountains they had been travelling on. It was a rugged, uneven, and rocky area that was engulfed with sand storms, with a visibility radius not more than 10 meters.

This... was the Desolate Rocky Grounds. The world of illusionary snakes!

"Everyone be extra careful here," Wang Chun said. "Let's kill some normal illusionary snakes to let Chen Feng familiarize himself with the illusionary snake's scale formula. After that, we can proceed to look for an illusionary snake leader to kill."

An Te nodded. "Understood." As long as Wang Chun's gene reagent was successfully produced, their mission would be accomplished. As long as they were careful, this mission wouldn't be too difficult.

"Hu—"

"Hu—"

The sandstorm whistled.

Two members of the An Te squad walked in front as they stepped into the Desolate Rocky Grounds.

However, right this moment, Shen Yi abruptly said, "Wait."

Everyone immediately stopped.

An Te frowned. "What's the matter?"

Since this missus was only here for fun, she should just obediently keep silent. Why was she stirring trouble?

"Under your foot."

Shen Yi pointed at Qin Jie's foot.

"Mhm?"

Qin Jie's heart jolted. His ear trembled and released a silent ripple that was subsequently reflected back to him. At that, his expression became somewhat solemn as he softly pushed aside the sand below his foot.

Buried within was another human.

"A corpse?"

Everyone was shocked.

The gazes of An Te and his squad members were filled with astonishment as they looked at Shen Yi. Even Qin Jie did not find this corpse, but this girl had actually found it. Perhaps she was not some simple pretty girl after all.

"He has only been dead for several days."

Qin Jie inspected the spot and found a high-definition virtual recording device beside the corpse. He immediately frowned and said, "Why would such a thing appear here?"

Virtual recording device! It was something used for recording virtual videos!

The videos recorded by this device could be played using virtual broadcasting equipment or in the virtual community. The played video would be in a three-dimensional format, giving one an impression that one had appeared in the world within the recording.

However, why would such an item be here?

"Let me take a look."

Wang Chun switched it on.

"Hum—"

Light swirled around and a semi-illusionary scene appeared.

A sturdy guy appeared before them. He faced the recorder and started talking as he introduced this area: "Fellow members, this is the legendary desolate grounds. Haha. It was said that the illusionary snakes here are extremely terrifying. Even E-class warriors wouldn't dare to provoke them. Let us take a good look today."

As he talked, he aimed the recorder at the sandstorm in the distance and stepped into it.

"Everyone can clearly see that there are a lot of sandstorms here, affecting one's visibility. Basically, everything beyond five meters can't be seen anymore. Something like an illusionary snake might very well be hidden somewhere near..."

Suddenly, a dark green liquid dashed over.

"What?"

The recorder started swaying.

The sturdy man seemed to have seen something. As he turned around to take a look, before he managed to say anything, he fell on the ground and his body turned stiff after a few seconds.

Dead.

Bang!

The recorder was flung onto the ground.

Chen Feng and the group looked at each other.

A virtual streamer?

Nowadays, as the virtual community gained popularity, virtual streaming became a legitimate profession as well. This was especially true for some unexplainable fields that had managed to grow vigorously through virtual streaming. There were some who relied on the virtual courses and some who relied on exploring the wilderness, making a name for themselves through blood and sweat in their respective fields with their own ability.

These were all people who demanded respect, yet also the more dangerous people of the lot.

Before them... was one such person, who had died just like that.

"Be extra careful," An Te said in a low voice. "He was killed right at the entrance of the Desolate Rocky Grounds, roughly two meters in front of you."

"Understood."

The two people in front were perspiring all over. If it wasn't for Shen Yi's reminder, they might already be dead.

"Let me."

Qin Jie took the initiative and walked to the front.

"Hum—"

His ears swayed as he unleashed his genetic ability.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Pa!

Qin Jie stepped into the Desolate Rocky Grounds.

"Whoosh!"

A light noise resounded.

A bizarre silvery light dashed past Qin Jie as he slashed down with the dagger that he had prepared in advance. With an agility reaching 800 points, how would he be ambushed when he had noticed this fellow's existence in advance?

"Pu!"

The dagger stabbed into the rocky ground.

A tiny silver-colored snake was impaled into the ground. Its long tongue was outstretched while its mouth was still opened wide. At both sides of its mouth were sharp teeth that were gleaming a cold, green-colored light under the dazzling sun.

Incredibly terrifying!