Chapter 55: Reconnaissance

It was a pitch-black night, so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face.

Under the vast night sky lay endless mountains and ridges, rising and falling like giant monsters.

Three helicopters skimmed rapidly over the ridges at low altitude, their “humming” sound echoing among the mountains. The huge airflow, whenever they passed, blew the trees below askew, creating a rustling sound mixed within the “humming.”

On the armed helicopters temporarily serving as reconnaissance aircraft, a heavy machine gun was welded to each side of the cabin, each operated by a soldier. On both sides of the cabin, soldiers held night-vision binoculars, observing every move ahead and occasionally instructing the pilots to head toward suspicious areas.

This location was less than fifty kilometers from Wan J City; all that could be seen along the way was pitch darkness, with no sign of human habitation.

In fact, the people who had managed to escape had all gathered here. Those who had not arrived were likely already in the jaws of beasts or waiting for rescue. Since yesterday, the people arriving in Wan J City had become sparse; sometimes, not a single survivor appeared for over an hour.

“Number One calling Number Two and Number Three, do you have any situation on your side? Please answer if you receive.”

“Number Two received, all normal, no suspicious places found.”

“Number Three received, all normal, no suspicious places found.”

After the brief communication, the three armed helicopters fell into silence again. As the captain of the entire reconnaissance team, Ding Jianchao concentrated his mental focus to the extreme in such a dangerous environment, holding his night-vision device and observing everywhere, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

High-altitude military satellites, as well as reconnaissance by unmanned drones, were not very effective in these layers of deep mountains and old forests. Under towering giant trees, even if there were Fierce Beasts, they were far from being discoverable by the high-flying, fast-moving unmanned drones. Military satellites were even less useful; it was very difficult for them to detect the movements of Fierce Beasts in the forests.

It was because the military satellites had discovered the abnormal movement of Fierce Beasts during the day that a reconnaissance team was sent out even in the deep of night to confirm the traces of the Fierce Beasts.

The refugees pouring into Wan J City, including the original residents, had exceeded ten million. They lived behind the Frontline; their fate was tied to the Frontline. If the Frontline held, they lived; once the Frontline was broken, out of those ten million people, only a very small minority would be able to escape.

No one could afford to bear this responsibility.

Since the helicopters were flying close to the mountain ridges, one could see very far from this angle. Looking out, all that met the eye was pitch darkness; it was almost impossible to spot any lights. In fact, the mountains below were full of villages, and towns appeared from time to time. But the people here had all fled; the empty villages and towns were devoid of life.

Only the streetlights in the county towns still operated according to their set programs, bringing a trace of light to the empty county towns.

However, the humans who used to walk on the streets had turned into Fierce Beasts, wandering alone or in groups. They occupied the county towns, slowly continuing to push inland. Any creature that appeared before them was doomed to die and become their meal. The places they passed through could truly be described as leaving nothing alive.

Reconnoitering in the vast mountains, the echo always amplified the sound of the helicopters several times over, always making people feel a lack of security.

“Captain, we still haven’t found their traces.”

Tian Wei’s voice rang out; he was one of the team’s scouts. He looked at the time. “It’s 3:30 AM now, and we’ve been out for four hours. Could the intelligence be wrong?” Although they were currently amidst the vast mountains, with the cover of the forest, it was almost impossible for Fierce Beasts to dodge reconnaissance and go undiscovered.

Ding Jianchao rubbed his brow and said, “Continue reconnaissance; let’s expand the search range a bit more.”

“But…” Tian Wei was a bit anxious. “If we expand the reconnaissance range further, we’ll be leaving Wan J City too far behind and going deep into the Fierce Beast Occupied Area. Wouldn’t that be too dangerous?”

It was indeed as Tian Wei said; beyond 120 kilometers from Wan J City, based on intelligence from reconnaissance satellites and planes, the area had completely become a paradise for Fierce Beasts. The further away from humans, the higher the level of the Fierce Beasts. After entering Zhe G City in Zhe Province, it had become a forbidden zone for humans, because the lowest level of Fierce Beasts in the Zhe Province area had reached the Third Stage.

It was difficult to confirm the final levels and abilities of these Fierce Beasts from intelligence obtained by reconnaissance satellites and high-altitude reconnaissance planes, but the low-altitude and ground forces sent out were torn to pieces by Fierce Beasts before they even entered Zhe Province. After several efforts, the situation in the Zhe Province area had become mysterious to humans.

The danger of going deep into the area completely occupied by Fierce Beasts was unimaginable.

Ding Jianchao shook his head and said, “The intelligence from the reconnaissance satellite cannot be wrong. It is definitely abnormal for Fierce Beasts to change from being scattered to gathering like this. Don’t forget, before we came to Wan J City, the army briefly distributed information about them. The nature of Fierce Beasts is like that of wild animals; they either act alone or in groups, and they attack each other for prey and territory; they do not unite together.”

“Tian Wei, think about Zhe G City, and Zhe A and Zhe D Cities; all of them were destroyed under massive Beast Tides. It is precisely because Fierce Beasts occasionally gather to launch attacks on humans that we have to be careful and strive to figure out their movement traces. Over ten million people live in Wan J City; we cannot afford not to be careful.”

The three armed helicopters moved forward in the night like three parallel lines.

When the prompt indicated that they had entered the Fierce Beast Occupied Area, everyone became nervous. The machine gunners gripped their guns tightly, their eyes wide open, staring at the forest below. In the quiet night, the sound of armed helicopters was indeed too loud, traveling who knows how far.

Occasionally, the roars of Fierce Beasts came to their ears, but then quickly disappeared.

Dozens of Electric Spirit Beasts appeared beside a valley road; their tails, which would normally show purple arcs of electricity, were buried deep in the soil. Through natural evolution, they had learned to hide the characteristics on their bodies that would easily be discovered by prey, so that they could achieve the effect of a one-hit kill without alerting the prey.

The armed helicopter numbered 02 flew over the ridge and appeared above the road.

“Look quickly, what is that on the road?”

A scout responsible for observation quickly noticed the abnormality on the road. As he shouted, the road below, which had been motionless, suddenly became brightly lit after the Electric Spirit Beasts pulled their tails out of the soil. Then, the movements of the Electric Spirit Beasts were uniform; they all pointed their tails at the armed helicopter flying at low altitude.

“No!”

Dozens of arcs of electricity appeared in the night, spraying from the tails of the Electric Spirit Beasts and directly hitting the armed helicopter in the low altitude.

Electricity of over a million volts traveled across the armed helicopter. The personnel inside were electrocuted in seconds, and then the armed helicopter emitted wisps of sparks. With a loud boom, it turned into a giant fireball in the sky and plummeted toward the mountains below.

Like a signal, dozens of blue balls of light sprayed out from among the trees in the mountains, aiming straight for the remaining two armed helicopters.

Ding Jianchao only felt that his vision was completely illuminated by these blue balls of light. The darkness was instantly dispelled. Everywhere he looked, he saw the figures of Fierce Beasts. They were of various types, ranging from small Multi-legged Insect Beasts to large Back Bone Beasts, all moving silently forward in the darkness. Blending in with the dark, they seemed almost endless.

“They, they really have gathered.”

This discovery made Ding Jianchao feel terrified, and it also confirmed that the intelligence obtained from the reconnaissance satellite was not false. The Fierce Beasts were not just making small movements; they had already set off toward Wan J City. At the speed of the Fierce Beasts, they could appear in front of the Frontline of Wan J City by daybreak.

“Calling headquarters, found a Fierce Beast group, found a Fierce Beast group… Ah…”

The two armed helicopters that exploded into fireballs in the sky quickly fell to the ground, smashing into piles of scrap metal. A massive Back Bone Beast walked over the wreckage of the armed helicopter, directly stomping the burning wreckage deep into the ground. After the flames were extinguished, the night returned to a state where one could not see their hand in front of their face.