From Abyssal Invasion to Bursting Stars with a Single Sword

Within the mist, a fungal blanket appeared, a very dangerous sign.

Because the fungal blanket is a special organism rarely seen in the Abyss invasion, it resembles bacteria but isn't entirely bacterial.

According to Blue Star's biological classification, it's quite difficult to categorize this thing into one specific category.

However, the real danger is that fungal blankets are often accompanied by high-level Abyss Creatures.

The vehicle had broken down now, so we could only continue on foot.

The mist was still spreading, and there were ten days until it reached Liu River nuclear power station.

If we couldn't find the Crack within ten days, we would have no choice but to abandon the Liu River nuclear power station.

By then, power supply issues would arise in the surrounding areas.

If the electricity supply couldn't be restored, many factories would cease operations, impacting the industrial system.

The loss of one nuclear power station might not be enough to grind the industrial system to a halt, but mist was appearing all over the world.

If we couldn't save the Liu River power station, who could guarantee the safety of the other nuclear power stations?

Therefore, looking at the mist crisis from a broader perspective, it was imperative to resolve it.

Otherwise, the consequences would be severe.

Moreover, Da Xia was the largest industrial nation on Blue Star; should its industrial system be affected, it would mean that civilization's industrial technology would struggle to achieve further breakthroughs.

Don't assume that other nations outside of Da Xia have the ability to save civilization.

Nations immersed in finance only knew how to bleed others dry; in times of disaster, their first response was to flee to safe regions.

If Da Xia's industrial system couldn't be preserved, humanity would regress towards the Stone Age at an alarming rate.

Yes, if we couldn't withstand the Abyss invasion, being pushed back to the Stone Age was only a matter of time.

One only had to look at the Bansel Tribe to understand this.

Whether it was the Bansel Tribe or the Black Iron Dwarfs, their civilizations had once flourished but were ultimately suppressed by the Abyss, forced to migrate continually.

Although the Bansel Tribe still retained its forging arts, compared to their prosperous period, it was almost akin to the Bronze Age if not the Stone Age.

Humans no longer had any retreats.

Lu Heng was aware of this, and so were the leaders of Da Xia.

That's why the dispatched teams were two in number, operating in saturation; as long as one team succeeded, the Liu River nuclear power station could be saved.

Lu Heng and Jian Qing decided to split up at the start, each to explore half of the Mist Valley in order to find the Abyss Rift more quickly.

But this didn't mean that Lu Heng was only responsible for the eastern valley.

If he finished searching the eastern valley without finding a Crack point, and there were no signs of success on Jian Qing's side.

Then Lu Heng would head west and search the western valley as well.

Since communication channels were lost in the mist, Lu Heng was also unsure about Jian Qing's team's situation.

If the worst-case scenario occurred, and her team had been wiped out, then Lu Heng's would be the only one left carrying out the mission.

...

After equipping weapons and supplies, the team continued on their way.

Overnight, the fungal blanket had enveloped the entire hillside.

Furthermore, Lu Heng believed that the thicker the fungal blanket, the higher the likelihood of discovering an Abyss Rift.

Therefore, the team had to move in the direction from which the fungal blanket had spread, making their way atop it.

Treading on the fungal blanket felt somewhat like walking on a carpet or snow, carrying a certain muddiness as though stepping into glutinous flesh.

The sensation was unpleasant, but we had no choice but to grit our teeth and proceed.

Moreover, walking on the fungal blanket caused it to slowly creep up the shoes, and if it extended inside the trousers, it would be quite troublesome to clean.

Therefore, after walking a certain distance, we had to stop to clean off the fungal blanket stuck to our shoes.

Fortunately, the fungal blanket was vulnerable to fire; a quick singe would make it retract.

Thunder worked too.

There were many in the team with Flame Abilities, so we could deal with the fungal blanket while moving forward.

If all else failed, we simply lit a torch and torched the shoes in a circle after a stretch of walking.

...

Not only did the shoes collect fungal blanket, the Mechanical Tiger couldn't avoid it either; after a short trek, its paws would be covered in a furry fungal growth, as if it had sprouted fur.

Su Muyu used Flame Arrows to disperse the fungal blanket, ensuring the safety of the carried supplies.

Nearly half of the team's supplies were on the back of the Mechanical Tiger, along with one artillery piece.

Although called a cannon, the main difference between this artillery and a heavy machine gun was in the caliber.

The heavy machine guns produced in Xia Country had calibers of 14.5mm and 20mm cannon could be regarded as a large heavy machine gun.

However, according to weapons classification, calibers exceeding 20mm were uniformly referred to as cannons.

The difference in power of firearms was in the caliber despite it being a small difference.

The reason a 20mm caliber could be called a cannon was due to its truly formidable power.

With a firing rate of 450 rounds per minute, it could tear an Abyssal Alien to shreds in mere seconds.

This was the reason Lu Heng had the Mechanical Tiger carry this cannon.

...

In the following three days, the team continued to search the Mist Valley by day and camp to rest at night, taking turns to keep watch.

Initially, Lu Heng thought that in areas dense with the fungal blanket, there was hope of finding an Abyss Rift; yet, even after leaving the fungal-covered areas, no Crack points had been discovered.

Since the searching wasn't performed by Lu Heng himself, it was unavoidable to worry about the thoroughness of the search.

"But theoretically, it shouldn't be possible to miss a crack when three Perceivers were responsible for scouting it together."

Su Muyu also repeatedly assured that every hole had been scouted and no Abyss Rift was found.

There was no news from Jian Qing's side either.

Both teams carried signal flares; electromagnetic signals were indeed blocked, but signal flares could be launched to fly above the fog.

The scouting eagles would be able to see them.

So far, no signal flares had been spotted.

This was actually a good sign, suggesting that Jian Qing's team hadn't encountered any dangers beyond their ability to handle.

As for the possibility that they'd encountered Abyss Creatures so powerful that they hadn't even had a chance to launch a signal flare, that seemed less likely.

After all, Jian Qing was a renowned Power User of later generations and wouldn't be taken down in an instant without a chance to launch a signal flare.

...

On the fifth day into the Mist Valley,

Lu Heng's team of ten continued forward, exploring the last area of the eastern valley.

According to the original plan, if they still couldn't find the crack after finishing this area today, they would have to move into the western valley.

This area was a sandy zone with sparse vegetation.

Two kilometers into the area, the group saw a skeleton, an animal skeleton.

"This seems to be the skeleton of a wild boar." Chen Zihang wasn't completely certain, but judging by the size, it indeed looked similar.

The skeleton had no flesh, only white bones remaining.

Lu Heng walked behind the skeleton to check out the spine; the spine had been bitten through.

A bitten spine was consistent with an Abyssal Alien's way of attacking animals.

"Was this killed by an Abyssal Alien? Did the larvae eat the animal's body so clean?" Chen Zihang also saw the wound on the spine, which was very similar to previously seen animal bodies.

Lin Zeyu squatted down, scraped the bones with a dagger, and said, "Isn't this too clean? Not a speck of flesh left. Does that thing eat so cleanly?"

Lu Heng shook his head and corrected, "It wasn't cleaned by an Abyssal Alien, but by a Fungal Blanket."

"A Fungal Blanket?" Everyone showed a puzzled expression.

"Right, Fungal Blankets are carnivorous, covering animal carcasses and devouring all the flesh, leaving only bones behind. That's why it's so clean," Lu Heng explained.

"But we don't see any Fungal Blanket," Chen Zihang looked around but indeed saw no signs of a Fungal Blanket.

Lu Heng had already noticed this; there were no Fungal Blankets nearby, yet there was a skeleton that had been licked clean by one, leaving only one possibility.

"The Fungal Blanket is mobile; it definitely appeared here, consumed everything edible, and then left the area," Lu Heng deduced.

Hearing this, everyone suddenly felt their hair stand on end.

"This is too disgusting; thank goodness I wasn't crawled over by such a thing." Lin Zeyu said as he patted his clothes, fearing he might have come into contact with something so dreadful.

Strictly speaking, a Fungal Blanket isn't particularly dangerous.

It doesn't spread quickly, and its corrosiveness is not high.

If a human comes into contact with it, they can wipe it off immediately and then scorch it with fire to get rid of it clean.

But once these things appear, they cover an area of more than ten kilometers, an expanse too large to clean up.

Chen Zihang pondered and posed a question: "What if the Fungal Blanket continues to spread, taking over all of Blue Star's land? Then humans will have nowhere to settle."

According to his concerns, if the Fungal Blanket truly spread across all lands of Blue Star, then humans indeed would have a hard time surviving.

Lu Heng explained, "Fungal Blankets can only exist in the fog because the fog is acidic, and they can only survive in the acidic environment of the fog.

"If the day comes when all of Earth's land is enveloped by fog, then indeed we're done for, there's no saving it."

This was also why the fog had to be cleared.

Actually, even without the Fungal Blanket, any area shrouded in fog is uninhabitable for humans.

A world where visibility is less than ten meters and Abyss Demons may charge out of the fog at any time is undeniably difficult for survival.

Lu Heng looked ahead to the Gobi, frowning in thought.

Initially, Lu Heng believed that the denser the Fungal Blanket was, the greater the possibility that an Abyss Rift would be nearby.

This was because Fungal Blankets usually spread from cracks, so the center of the Fungal Blanket was often the point of the crack.

However, having thoroughly searched the Fungal Blanket area before and finding no crack,

Lu Heng previously suspected they had missed something, but now it seemed that wasn't the case; rather, the Fungal Blankets had moved.

Meaning, the original location of the Fungal Blankets wasn't within the area they now covered.

And this Gobi desert, once home to Fungal Blankets, now had none.

So, it was possible that the Fungal Blankets had spread from this Gobi.

Continuing forward, there was a good chance they would find the crack.

But why did the Fungal Blankets leave this Gobi?

With this question in mind, Lu Heng led the team on, delving deeper into the Gobi desert.

"Stay alert; we're likely to be near where the Fungal Blanket first appeared. The crack might be just ahead."

Everyone grew vigilant, proceeding forward.

After walking another two kilometers, everyone increasingly felt the heat.

"Is it getting hotter for you guys?" Lin Zeyu tugged at his collar, fanning himself with his clothes.

"The temperature is indeed rising. Have we entered a geothermal area? But there's no notation of that on the map," Wu Weibing said, looking at the map with a puzzled face.

Lu Heng vaguely sensed something; the rise in temperature could likely mean they'd entered the territory of a powerful Abyss Creature belonging to flame.

But without having seen this Abyss Creature yet, the temperature was already increasing—just what level was this thing?

No wonder the Fungal Blankets fled this area; it was to avoid the fiery creature here.