I Have a Job

Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

2025, Southern China.

"Fuck, where the hell did this come from?"

Chen Jian held up the VECTOR 23 telescope and looked at the unfamiliar city in front of him. He was completely immersed in bottomless doubt.

Not only him, but his teammates around him also had serious expressions.

Correspondent Shen Yue turned on the radio again, and after constantly trying various channel monitoring, he finally came to a conclusion.

"All communications with the rear have been cut off. Even the LF long wave communications have no response."

"All satellites have lost contact, including Beidou and GPS."

"Using the sextant to locate, according to the longitude and latitude, our current location should be about one kilometer outside the city of Chuansha."

"But it is clear that this city is definitely not the Chuansha we are familiar with."

After he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly.

In fact, it is quite simple to make this judgment.

Because the city in front of them not only couldn't be Chuansha, it couldn't even be any large city in their memory.

The large cities he knew, especially those within the country, would never be as overgrown with weeds and dilapidated as the city before him.

But the strange thing is that whether from the surrounding topography or from the Xiangjiang River flowing through it, this place is Chuansha.

So what went wrong?

Chen Jian turned around and looked at the other three team members. Each of them had the same puzzled look on their face.

Obviously, they couldn't understand why it was just a simple training mission, but everything was fine when they went there, but became a mess when they came back.

The unfamiliar environment brought tremendous pressure to Chen Jian, and the only thing that made him feel a little safe was the 191 rifle filled with live ammunition in his hand.

He put down the telescope, flipped down the Type 20 four-eye thermal fusion night vision goggles on his helmet, and after carefully observing the direction of the city for a moment, he said:

"I can't see anything."

"He Shuo, can you see it over there?"

Hearing the question, sniper He Shuo raised his face from the thermal imaging sight, shook his head slowly and replied:

"No active heat sources are currently visible."

"Without lights or heat, this city... is simply a dead city."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the four-member team felt their hearts skip a beat.

Everyone was aware of the seriousness of the problem, but under such extreme pressure, Shen Yue was still able to laugh.

"I now believe that this is not a conspiracy of the Manchus."

"No matter how powerful he is, he can't evacuate the entire city."

After Shen Yue finished speaking, the others couldn't help but laugh.

That's right, just a few hours ago, when they first discovered that the signal was lost and the communication was interrupted, they thought it was another sudden confrontation exercise.

But now it seems that is not the case at all.

"So now there are only two possibilities."

The blaster Lei Jie on the far side said thoughtfully:

"Or the enemy could come while we're training and take down a city in 24 hours without us noticing."

"Or, we have traveled through time, and this is no longer Earth, or at least not our time - so which possibility do you think is higher?"

"Is this even worth thinking about?"

Chen Jian answered without hesitation, and after hearing the answer from his mouth, the others actually breathed a sigh of relief.

They are all special forces who have undergone high-intensity professional training, and their acceptance of emergencies is far beyond that of ordinary people.

What's more, what they feared most was not the unfamiliar environment, but the dead end with no solution.

Obviously, this is not a dead end.

After a brief observation, Chen Jian continued:

"We are preparing to approach the city and look for valuable cultural information. We need to understand the current situation first."

"I will be the vanguard, Lei Jie will provide 30-meter flank cover, Shen Yue will follow Lei Jie to establish electromagnetic shielding, and He Shuo will stay 100 meters behind to observe and follow up."

"Objective: Capture the tallest building in front, and quickly disperse and establish defense after entering."

"Let's go now!"

At the command, everyone took action immediately.

Chen Jian held a 191 assault rifle equipped with an HM3X sight in his hand, and on his back was a heavy LG-6 semi-automatic grenade launcher.

These equipment were originally intended to be used for live-fire shooting after the training, but now it is obvious that the target cannot be hit.

Perhaps, these weapons may have to face new enemies?

This thought flashed through Chen Jian's mind and was dispelled in an instant.

He continued to move forward, not too fast, and while moving forward, he constantly determined the positions of others through the real-time information displayed on the Type 18 AR smart tactical eyepiece.

Although all satellite positioning systems have failed, the long-wave triangulation positioning module of the IFF friend-or-foe identification system they carry can still display their approximate location on the glasses in real time, which allows Chen Jian to devote more energy to paying attention to the unknown area directly in front of him.

Starting from their previous position, it took the team of four 7 minutes to slowly advance to within 500 meters of the target building.

Chen Jian's breathing quickened a little, and his right hand holding the gun began to feel slightly sore.

Still unable to see any useful information in the night vision goggles, he raised his hand and made a gesture in front of his eyes. In a flash, the individual PAD interpreted the command with the help of the image recognition function and then transmitted it to the eyepieces of other team members.

The positions of the four members of the team quietly changed. Chen Jian continued to move forward. Shen Yue and Lei Jie dispersed to both sides. He Shuo followed Chen Jian closely, forming an arrow-shaped attack formation.

Everyone quickened their pace, and after confirming for the last time that there were no abnormalities, they began to move quickly towards the target building.

200 meters.

Chen Jian took off the safety of 191 and moved forward quickly with the gun in hand.

100 meters.

Chen Jian had already seen the gate of the building, and the desolate and dilapidated streets were also in full view.

Lei Jie and Shen Yue on both sides controlled the two sides of the street respectively. According to the predetermined tactics, he would break in next.

----But at this moment, a sudden loud noise was heard.

"Bang!"

Everyone immediately stopped and was on guard. At the same time, the anti-sniper radar automatically identified the noise as not belonging to the four-man team, and marked the direction of the noise on the eyepiece with a reaction speed of milliseconds.

Chen Jian turned the muzzle of his gun towards the direction where the noise came from. Under the field of view of the thermal fusion night vision goggles, night was no different from day.

"Something fell down on a mid-rise residential building 150 meters away."

He Shuo behind him said:

"A big sofa that fell from the roof."

"There might be someone there!"

"Alert!"

Chen Jian immediately gave the order and gripped the handguard tightly with his left hand.

Almost at the same time as he gave the order, another almost imperceptible slight sound was heard.

This time, everyone was staring at the exact direction where the sound came from.

But then, everyone froze in place.

"What the hell is that??"

He Shuo's shocked question came from the headset, but Chen Jian ignored it and quickly squatted down, half-pressing the trigger with his finger, ready to shoot.

At the same time, Shen Yue had fallen to the ground and unfolded the tripod of the 201 general machine gun.

Everyone realized that the person on the other side must be the enemy.

----Because it was a monster that was more than 3 meters tall, covered with keratinous spikes, and constantly jumping on the ground with its reverse-jointed legs like a praying mantis, rushing towards them silently and very quickly!

Chen Jian pulled the trigger and shouted:

"Fire!"

At a distance of 120 meters, the 201 machine gun opened fire at full force.

7.62mm bullets poured out, hitting the monster's hard skin mercilessly.

Bullets penetrated its body one by one and then exited from its back.

Amid the roar of the machine gun, the bullets had great stopping power and almost pinned the monster to the spot, which also gave He Shuo the opportunity to aim and fire.

"Bang!"

Without any hesitation, he lightly pulled the trigger, and a 12.7mm bullet flew out from the muzzle of the Type 10 sniper rifle and hit the monster's head accurately.

In an instant, the blood mist exploded like fireworks.

The monster's huge body suddenly fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"Target killed!"

He Shao reported.

Following closely behind, Lei Jie, who was responsible for observing the battlefield as a supporter, spoke:

"More than one!"

"Abnormal heat sources were found at 6 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 9 o'clock. The distance is 200 to 300 meters, and there are more than 5 of them!"

"Captain! Your 2 o'clock position!"

As soon as Lei Jie finished speaking, Chen Jian immediately moved the muzzle of his gun horizontally.

Just as Lei Jie said, a monster that looked exactly like the one he had just killed had quietly approached him within a hundred meters at some point!

Without any hesitation, Chen Jian pulled the trigger.

The stable recoil of the 191 allowed the bullet to hit the monster's lower body with extremely precise speed. After firing less than half a magazine, the monster's mantis thigh suddenly broke and it fell to the ground.

Chen Jian adjusted the muzzle of the gun steadily and hit the monster's brain with one shot.

The lethality of the 5.8mm bullet is far less than that of the 12.7mm large-caliber bullet, but even so, the monster still fell to the ground after struggling for a few times.

Chen Jian breathed a sigh of relief.

What he feared most was that this thing was invulnerable to swords and guns.

But it is obvious that although your stratum corneum looks thick, you are still a carbon-based organism!

A .22 bullet can kill an elephant, so if I use a .22 bullet to shoot you, isn't it like a grandfather shooting his grandson?

He adjusted the muzzle of the gun again, and at this time, Lei Jie had also engaged the enemy.

The bad news is that he only had a 9mm QCQ171 in his hand. Not to mention hitting this monster, it would be a bit difficult to hit an ordinary person at a distance of 150 meters.

----The good news is that he is the blaster in the team.

And what he carried on his back was a QLU-131 sniper grenade!

While observing the battlefield, he had quickly set up the tripod. At this moment, the muzzle of his "individual heavy weapon" was aimed at the direction where the monster was rushing!

"boom!"

With a loud bang, no body was left.

Blood and flesh flew all over the ruined streets, and then fell from the sky.

After completing a shooting, Lei Jie did not pause at all, but turned in another direction again and fired suppressing shots at the monster that had just revealed its head.

At the same time, Chen Jian also issued new orders.

"More than five!"

"There are too many of them, and our area is too open to defend!"

"Retreat to the front of the building and use the building as a cover to organize defense!"

"clear!"

Everyone took action immediately.

Lei Jie and Shen Yue used heavy firepower to suppress the enemy, while Chen Jian and He Shuo quickly retreated.

After arriving at the location, Chen Jian first replaced the magazine of 191, then took off his LG6 from his back, opened fire and took over Lei Jie's position.

The flames of the explosion continued to flicker on the street, and the figures of monsters kept shuttling back and forth in the flames.

Although he was in a fierce battle, Chen Jian felt a chill on his back.

What kind of monster is this??

Despite their huge size, they move incredibly fast.

The dark skin all over their bodies, plus the thick pads on the soles of their feet that Chen Jian saw at a quick glance...

These monsters were born to hunt.

To be precise, they are born to launch sneak attacks in the dark!

Just one is difficult enough to deal with, but what's even more terrifying is that they seem to be predators in groups!

Could it be that all the people in this city have been killed by this monster? ?

It shouldn't be like this!

Where are the troops? Where are the tanks? Where is my huge Land Shield 3000?

Before he had time to think, no less than 10 abnormal heat sources appeared in Chen Jian's field of vision.

He didn't even have time to consider priorities, but just fired directly at the nearest target without hesitation.

"boom!"

"boom!"

Explosions were heard everywhere, and the two monsters fell to the ground immediately.

The situation seemed to be becoming optimistic, but Chen Jian keenly discovered something unusual.

"You can't fight like this!"

"The enemy is approaching too fast. If they let just one of them get through, we'll all be dead!"

"Shen Yue, block the shot and reduce the enemy's assault speed!"

"Lei Jie, knock down the scaffolding on the right side and let it fall down to block the front street!"

"He Shuo, if you don't need 10, use your 26!"

"I'll help you contain them, find someone to fight with!"

"clear!"

"clear!"

Everyone changed their tactics again. Chen Jian picked up the 191 beside him and fired rapidly at the monster that was within 100 meters. The opponent's speed immediately decreased. At the moment the opportunity appeared, He Shuo, who had been prepared, immediately aimed the CS/LR4 sniper rifle in his hand at the monster's head and shot.

"Bang!"

A 7.62mm caliber armor-piercing bullet tore the monster's skull, and after struggling to run a few steps, it finally fell to the ground.

On the other side, accompanied by two consecutive violent explosions, the scaffolding on the right side of the street began to fall towards the street.

The sharp and piercing sound of metal friction permeated the entire battlefield, followed by a loud bang of a heavy object falling to the ground.

Smoke and dust rose up, and the whole street seemed to be covered by a smoke bomb.

But in the field of view of the Type 20 thermal fusion night vision goggles, all enemies are visible.

However, what Chen Jian did not expect was that the monsters' movements actually slowed down.

Are they planning to run away?

This thought flashed through Chen Jian's mind, but the next second, he suddenly realized it.

They are not planning to run away, they are planning to attack from ambush!

Their vision can also see through the smoke!

Depend on!

Chen Jian couldn't help but curse angrily, and then a more terrifying thought arose in his mind.

These monsters are intelligent.

They can even try to take advantage of their physical functions according to changes in the situation on the battlefield!

We can't delay any longer, we can't let them find out, even I can see it!

Chen Jian no longer hesitated to use his limited ammunition. After adjusting the rifle to single-shot mode, he aimed at the monster's head in the smoke and fired without hesitation.

"Broken, broken, broken----"

The gunshots suddenly became more frequent, and in just a moment, several monsters fell to the ground.

They seemed to realize that the smoke and dust were not their cover, and their movements quickened again.

The distance between the two sides has been shortened to 50 meters.

For those monsters, even with the scaffolding blocking them, it only takes 5 seconds to cross this distance.

It's too late.

The reason they were able to be blocked before was because the distances between them were not consistent, giving the team the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

But now, there are four monsters, attacking simultaneously!

It's time to gamble your life.

Chen Jian picked up the 191 and switched the speed selector to full automatic.

"Fire at full strength!"

Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

The smoke and dust dissipated.

The street was silent, and the blood flowing from the monster's corpse emitted a strong stench.

Chen Jian's hands were still shaking slightly because the last few shots were so thrilling.

He Shuo emptied the bullets in his CS/LR4. He picked up the Type 10 and fired a shot in his own direction without even taking aim.

The bullet passed by him less than a meter away and knocked the monster that had pounced on him away.

Only then did he have time to use continuous point shooting to kill the monster that was waving its claws at Lei Jie, and Lei Jie was also able to successfully replace the magazine and kill the monster that had already pounced on Shen Yue, whose machine gun and rifle had all run out of bullets.

If He Shuo's shot had been slower and more off target.

Then this team will face a completely different ending.

Chen Jian reloaded the bullets and inserted the magazine that had fallen at his feet back into the gear on his chest.

"What the hell is this..."

Shen Yue, who was still frightened, replaced the last ammunition box while resetting the sensitivity of his anti-sniper radar to zero, while He Shuo at the side quickly released the drone and began high-altitude reconnaissance.

"There's nothing unusual around here. That's all. 12-13 of them."

"The aerial view has been transferred. You can check it out."

"But the drone's battery is running low. Damn it. If I had known it wasn't Mangz who did it, I wouldn't have used a drone in the woods!"

"It's hard to say. What if we haven't put it on by then?"

Shen Yue said with a spit:

"Thinking about it this way, mgz is more approachable..."

"Come on, you won't be happy if he does it."

Chen Jian quickly checked the high-altitude images flowing into the eyepiece. Only then did he realize how shocking the battle just now was.

It happened suddenly when our side was completely unprepared, and we had to engage in close combat as soon as we came into contact with the enemy.

The opponent on the other side is a completely unfamiliar one, and the only people they can rely on are just four people.

Fortunately, this time we were going to practice live-fire shooting.

Fortunately, I am fully equipped.

Fortunately, it is my own team!

If any other team were to face the same situation, they probably wouldn't survive.

Chen Jian let out a long sigh, walked to the monster's corpse just a few feet away, and squatted down.

The monster's muscles were still twitching, and like all the beasts he knew, it had almost the same "post-death reaction".

He avoided the sharp horny claws and squatted beside the wound caused by the 12.7mm caliber bullet on the monster to examine it carefully.

After a moment, he said with some doubt:

"The structure of the internal muscles and blood vessels is not contrary to common sense. There are large arteries, veins, and capillaries. The structure of muscle fibers and skin is also common. It feels like some kind of special beast."

"The only thing that's unusual is the counter-kinematic joint structure of the knee - is there any other beast with this structure?"

Hearing his words, Lei Jie, who had been sitting quietly beside him organizing his equipment, answered:

"No—there are a great many among the birds."

"But you're not going to tell me that this thing is a bird, are you?"

"That's definitely not the case."

Chen Jian shook his head, stood up again, and walked around to the head of the corpse. He wanted to figure out what species it was from the head that was not shattered by the bullet, but unfortunately, his hope was dashed.

The tangled cuticle completely covered the entire skull of the monster. It could even be seen from certain details that the cuticle had squeezed out the original bone structure, causing the monster's skull to become a chaotic, crazy and weird sculpture like the skeleton of a Cthulhu monster.

The only thing that is certain is that this thing has an astonishingly large brain capacity.

Judging from its broad face, its brain capacity is at least as large as that of an orangutan.

----So what if this thing is a person?

Chen Jian shuddered, but when he thought about it carefully, this possibility was not absent.

After all, the intelligence shown by the opponent in the previous battle was really amazing, sneaking, ambush, coordination, transformation...

Orangutans are incapable of performing these coordinations, or even if they could, they would not be able to do so in such a smooth manner.

Chen Jian's face darkened. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"Pack up your equipment and retreat into the building."

"No monsters came out of the building even after the fight just now. It should be safe inside."

"After setting up the alert, Shen Yue and I will search the building to see if there is any written or video material left behind."

"No matter what, we must at least figure out where we are and what we are fighting!"

"clear!"

"receive!"

Everyone answered immediately, and He Shuo also began to recover the drone.

His mood was quite confused at the moment, but even so, he flew around and made a final image update before retrieving the drone.

----And it was this circle that made everyone stop their movements immediately.

"Find the heat source, find the heat source, find the heat source."

A cold female voice came from the smart terminal through the headset, and the location of the heat source was instantly located on the eyepiece.

The four-member team looked up at the same time, their eyes focused on the window of the high-rise building where the heat source was located. When they saw the human-shaped heat source flashing by, the same thought flashed through everyone's mind.

Someone!

Still friendly forces!

Although it is impossible for the smart terminal to determine whether the heat source is friendly or enemy, combined with the previous clues...

That's right, a monster whose entire body structure has evolved towards ambush hunting would not make such a big noise before the battle. The only explanation is that someone threw heavy objects to warn their team before they discovered those lurking monsters!

Chen Jian's heart suddenly started beating violently, and then he ordered:

"The drone is approaching the window for reconnaissance!"

"Pack your equipment and head to the building where the heat source is."

"Set off immediately!"

"clear!"

The team immediately turned around, and after going around half the street, the four of them quickly arrived downstairs of the building.

This is a residential building.

Chen Jian was standing close to the door, and the four of them formed a double-column CQB breakthrough formation. Lei Jie on the opposite side had already begun preparing directional explosives to break down the door. As long as Chen Jian gave the order, he would immediately blow open this heavy iron door that looked extremely solid.

But at this moment, an idea suddenly flashed through Chen Jian's mind.

If there are enemies inside, why should we go in and waste bullets?

If they were not enemies, why would there be a need to blow up the door?

He suddenly realized, and then shouted:

"Fellow countryman! Open the door! We are the PLA!"

"It's safe outside!"

"Open the door quickly, we are here to protect you!"

Chen Jian's voice echoed in the empty streets. He Shuo raised the drone to prevent any monsters from following the sound and launching a sneak attack.

No one thought there was anything wrong with what Chen Jian shouted, as if that was what he should say at this moment.

----Of course, they don't know whether such calls will be effective.

What if the people in the building don't buy it?

What if they have no idea what this passage means?

Doubts arose in everyone's mind, but at this moment, Chen Jian keenly heard hurried footsteps coming from inside the door.

Then the heavy bolt was opened from the inside.

The iron door slowly opened.

The person who appeared in front of Chen Jian was...

people??

The moment he saw the face of the person who opened the door, Chen Jian's hand almost subconsciously placed on the trigger.

Compared to the murderous monsters before, the "creature" in front of him that looked like a human being brought him greater fear.

The skin on the face drooped like melted ice cream, the protruding eyeballs and exposed eyelids, the lips that seemed to have been torn by external forces and had not yet fully healed, and the nose that did not exist at all, with only two black holes left...

Looking down, one can see a body of naked, knotted muscles, thighs as thick as a bodybuilder's, and huge feet with seriously disproportionate proportions...

Is this still a human being?

Perhaps, it is more like the creature called ghoul in Fallout 4.

----But the corpse ghost still has some human form, and at first glance you can tell that it is a normal person who has been hurt.

And what about this one?

He is simply like a "humanoid" creature randomly compiled from genetic gibberish.

Chen Jian took a step back and an unclear sound came out of the other party's mouth.

"You...you...you actually killed those mantises!"

"Who are you? What is P...L...?"

For a moment, Chen Jian was both happy and surprised.

The good news is that although this person's pronunciation is unclear, he is clearly speaking Chinese.

What's surprising is that they don't even know about the PLA. So how many hundreds of years will this time and space last?

At this point, although the obvious danger has been eliminated, the potential threat still exists.

Without too much time to think about it, Chen Jian replied:

"We are the regular army."

"Yeah, we just took out 13...Mantises."

"We need to rest, is it safe here?"

"It's not safe! You need to come in quickly!"

The newcomers impatiently made way. Chen Jian held the gun in his right hand and made a warning gesture behind his back with his left hand.

After receiving his order, the other team members began to change their tactics quietly.

Lei Jie moved the stun grenade to the hidden hanging point on the side of his thigh, Shen Yue put away the machine gun tripod, and He Shuo operated the PAD to perform infrared feature recognition on the person leading the way. If a subsequent battle occurs, his drone will also be transformed into a weapon and automatically carry out harassment.

Although everyone in the team looked relaxed, they were actually all on high alert.

Even when crossing the corner of the wall, Chen Jian would speed up his pace, and he and Shen Yue would surround the leader from the front and back to prevent possible sneak attacks.

They have to do this because they don't know what they are about to face.

The man's footsteps were light, and so were the other four.

Climbing all the way up, Chen Jian used the eye-tracking function of the eyepiece to open the team communication channel and typed a line of words silently on the screen.

"It's very strong, so keep an eye out."

"Hostile detected, permission to open fire."

"1."

"1."

"1."

The messages received came one after another, and at this time, everyone finally arrived at the top floor of the residential building.

Dim light shone through the hall not far away, and Chen Jian clenched the 191 rifle in his hand.

If the other party wants to launch a surprise attack, now is the last chance!

----Fortunately, no.

A group of five people entered the hall, and the scene before them made Chen Jian breathe a sigh of relief.

Finally I met a real human being!

There was a bonfire burning in the hall, and standing next to the bonfire were four ordinary people whose faces and bodies looked no different from normal humans.

They were holding sticks and machetes, which could barely be called weapons, and they stared straight at the team of four who stepped into the hall.

"Don't be afraid, they are regular soldiers! They are not hostile!"

"They just killed 13, 13 mantises!"

The guide stammered, and after he finished speaking, the woman standing in the front couldn't help but exclaim.

"13?!"

"Then we have to hurry!"

"The Matrix will definitely cruise! Close the window!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone started moving.

Chen Jian didn't know what they were panicking about, but it was obvious that after hearing that his team had killed 13 mantises, the people here were not only surprised, but also more of a kind of...

Visible fear.

The threat has been eliminated, but they are still afraid.

That means there must be something even more frightening hiding behind this!

Chen Jian acted decisively and gestured to Lei Jie and He Shuo to release the drones. Two CH-847 micro drones took off quickly and flew out before the window was closed.

"The image transmission is stable. Aircraft 1 has ascended 800 meters and a 3D map is being established."

"Aircraft No. 2 will conduct a low-altitude maneuvering patrol with a radius of 500 meters with the current point as the center."

"Organize your equipment and get ready for battle!"

"clear!"

At the command, the four-member team immediately began to act.

At the same time, other "locals" were also busy making their preparations.

The flames were extinguished, the door was locked, and all the windows were sealed with foam wrapped in tin foil, which were then wetted with an unknown liquid in a bottle.

From the perspective of the thermal fusion night vision goggles, Chen Jian saw that the temperature of the window was dropping rapidly.

"Counter-infrared measures."

Chen Jian spoke in a low voice, and the guide immediately raised his finger and made a "silence" gesture, signaling him not to make any more noise.

Chen Jian nodded silently and raised his hand to signal other team members to maintain their positions and wait quietly.

He didn't know what he would face next.

"Matrix"?

He had heard this word many times in various biochemical movies, but when this possibility was put in front of him, he found that he had no way of imagining what the so-called "matrix" was.

At this time, the 3D map from the high-altitude UAV No. 1 is being generated, and at the same time, the No. 2 drone is flying over a circle with a radius of 500 meters at a speed of more than 140 kilometers per hour, conducting reconnaissance of the inner circle and outer ring with a total radius of 1,000 meters with a 360-degree surround view.

Images were continuously transmitted to the eyepiece, but neither the system nor Chen Jian himself found anything abnormal.

Until the moment UAV No. 2 turned to the northwest.

"Heat source detected, target locked, target locked..."

A mechanical female voice came from the headphones, and the next second, real-time images arrived.

Chen Jian was extremely shocked, and so were the others.

-----What appeared before them was a giant beast as big as a tall building.

It stood at least 20 meters tall, with countless tentacles extending from its stratum corneum-covered skin.

On its sharp triangular head is a huge mouthpart, and inside its mouth are dozens of rows of sharp teeth like those of a lamprey.

With every movement it made, the ground shook slightly.

Every high-rise building that was swept by its tail shook as if it was swept by a hurricane.

This is the "matrix".

Chen Jian took a breath of cold air, and a thought suddenly occurred to him:

Only a 125mm cannon can penetrate such a monster, right?

Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Half an hour later.

The "mother" who did not find its target took away the corpses of the monsters on the ground.

Only when they could no longer hear the footsteps, feel the vibrations, and confirmed that it had gone away did the few "locals" hiding in the hall finally relax.

The bonfire was rekindled and the closed windows were opened. The air mixed with the lingering stench of the mother animal rushed in, awakening Chen Jian a little from his trance.

The scene captured by the drone just now has exceeded the limit of his cognition. Even though he knew that he had traveled through time, it was difficult for him to accept the fact that such a monster that completely violated the basic laws existed in a short period of time.

A monster three or four meters tall is not uncommon. The largest brown bear can be nearly three meters tall when standing up.

But 20 meters? ?

This size of monster appeared on Earth, so it must be traced back to the Cretaceous period, right? ?

Chen Jian frowned and turned to look at the guide beside him, who was walking towards him.

"My name is Du Hu, and I'm a hunter!"

"It's safe now. The mother parade has ended..."

Hearing his words, Chen Jian nodded slightly and asked:

"How often do parades like this happen?"

Du Hu was stunned for a moment, seemingly surprised by Chen Jian's question.

Is there anyone in this world who doesn't know the time of the mother's parade?

If they didn't even know this, how did they survive?

His mind was full of questions, but when he thought of the powerful fighting ability the other party had displayed on the street, he felt that he had nothing to hide and nothing to fear.

So he answered honestly:

"It will come out to look for food about once every five days, but if there are too many praying mantises dying, it will come out to collect the bodies."

"Where do you come from? Don't you know the Matrix?"

Chen Jian's expression changed slightly.

Not only do I not know the Matrix, I don't even know where this place is!

Technically, I've only been here for two hours, okay?

What can you expect me to know?

Looking at Du Hu who was waiting for his answer with expectation, Chen Jian let out a breath and said frankly:

"We just got here, we don't know anything."

Hearing his words, all the locals in the hall froze in place.

Their expressions were quite complicated. In addition to surprise, there was more of a hint of disappointment.

Du Hu wanted to ask more questions, but a short-haired woman who came up to him patted his shoulder and interrupted him.

Then, the woman asked Chen Jian:

"You are not the Holy Blood, but you come from the north, so you... are the Mechanicus?"

What the hell?!

The woman's two sentences left Chen Jian completely stunned.

Holy Blood, Mechanicus.

The impact brought to him by these two religious words was almost as great as that of the giant beast, and even made him doubt whether he was still on Earth.

But the moon and stars don't lie, and neither does the sextant.

So he asked a crucial question:

"What year is it now?"

The woman looked at Chen Jian in confusion and asked:

"What do you mean by several years?"

Finished.

Even the most basic calendar system has collapsed. One can imagine how difficult the survival conditions of human beings in this world are.

Chen Jian took a deep breath and continued to ask:

"How long ago did this world become like this?"

The woman shook her head again and replied:

"No one knew that I was like this when I was born."

"But at that time, there were still many of us."

"Later, there were more and more monsters, and fewer and fewer people... We originally had more than a hundred people, but now... there are only five left."

There is no need to continue asking.

Judging from the ages of the four normal people in this small base, they must be the second, third or fourth generation born in the apocalyptic wasteland period.

Due to the sharp decline in the population of the settlement, most of the information disappeared before it could be passed on. It is almost impossible to obtain more useful intelligence about the origin of the disaster from them.

So Chen Jian decisively skipped this topic.

He wanted to continue asking some more specific questions, but at this time, the corpses of unknown animals on the campfire had been roasted and it was time for the locals to eat.

The man in charge of the barbecue respectfully invited the four members of Chen Jian's team to come over for dinner, but out of caution, Chen Jian waved his hand to refuse. He just sat in a corner relatively far away from the fire and took out the remaining emergency rations to fill his stomach.

The two teams looked at each other from a distance.

On one side, there is the special operations team armed to the teeth; on the other side, there are refugees struggling to survive.

Each side holds something that the other side desperately needs, so even though suspicion and distrust are out in the open, everyone tacitly maintains relatively friendly contact.

But Chen Jian didn't know how long this friendship could last.

At this time, the smart terminal had summarized all the information, and the four of them were discussing the next plan while biting on compressed biscuits.

"It is now basically certain that we are living in a post-apocalyptic world."

"The main threat to humanity is those monsters, but monsters are definitely not the reason why humanity has come to this point."

"There must be a stronger force majeure, maybe a virus, maybe something else."

"This force majeure should have disappeared, because the woman just said that the reason for the sharp decline in the number of people in her settlement was the monsters, not some other incomprehensible factors."

"This is a serious problem... What do you think?"

After hearing Chen Jian's words, Shen Yue replied:

"First of all, we must solve the problem of survival."

"We have run out of food and water, and only have 1 base amount of ammunition left."

"Fortunately, I brought a lot this time, otherwise we would have run out of ammunition and food by now."

"I still have one and a half bases left."

He Shuo interrupted.

"Give some 7.62 to Shen Yue. In this situation, the machine gun is much more useful than the sniper rifle."

"clear."

He Shuo nodded and continued:

"There is another key point, which is the 'mother'. The mother is obviously more powerful than the so-called 'praying mantis', but we can't be sure what the relationship between the two is."

"There is still too much missing intelligence. We must maintain contact with this refugee group."

"That's what I think."

Chen Jian nodded and added:

"As a follow-up long-term goal, we should focus on finding larger settlements."

"The larger the settlement, the greater the amount of information."

"As for weapons and ammunition...if they cannot be replenished in a short period of time, we will try our best to avoid unnecessary fighting."

"If they can survive with cold weapons, we should be able to survive if we use weapons with limited force."

"clear."

"receive."

The team members answered one by one and swallowed the emergency rations in a few mouthfuls.

At this time, the refugees on the opposite side had finished eating their barbecue.

Chen Jian observed their movements with some curiosity, trying to figure out as much as possible how they survived in this doomsday world.

This is also an excellent teaching material for the future actions of his team.

----However, something happened that completely confused him.

Except for the "mutant" named Du Hu, the four normal people all took off their clothes.

Then, three women and one man, as if no one was around, did those unspeakable things in the empty hall.

No one made a sound, no expression of joy, not even any unnecessary movement.

The scene was extremely weird. Not only was there no sense of romance, it even made Chen Jian feel physically nauseous.

The reason is simple.

While doing this, those people didn't look like humans, or even like beasts.

They are… like insects.

They have no emotions, no physiological feedback, they are just insects that parasitize on this land and are controlled by the extreme and simple reproduction instinct.

Chen Jian turned his head and said with difficulty:

"Fuck, this world is crazy."

One night later.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, Chen Jian, who had just finished his last shift, moved his sore limbs and took off his smart goggles.

The battery power shown above still has 60% remaining. If calculated based on full-day usage, it can only last for 3 days at most.

The situation is quite serious. Not only are supplies running out and ammunition is insufficient, but now even the electricity is starting to run out.

Once the battery runs out and all electronic equipment cannot be used, the combat effectiveness of his team is likely to face a cliff-like decline.

----Of course, Chen Jian does not rely on electronic devices.

Even if we put aside all electronic equipment, the four members of the team are definitely the ceiling on earth in terms of tactical qualities and personal abilities.

But the question is, who would refuse to be stronger?

Without the vision of the drone and the assistance of night vision goggles and smart eyepieces, perhaps some not-so-dangerous battles will become fraught with danger.

Chen Jian frowned, but after seeing his face clearly, the locals looked surprised.

"I thought...you were hunters too."

The woman who first spoke to Chen Jian came over, looked at Chen Jian carefully for a few times and said:

"You are purebloods, just like us!"

The woman's tone revealed a hint of excitement, but Chen Jian keenly noticed that a hint of loss flashed in the eyes of the "mutant" named Du Hu next to her.

He is a hunter, not a pureblood.

So what is the difference between the two?

Chen Jian looked at the woman and asked:

"How did he become like that?"

"you do not know?"

"I have no idea."

Chen Jian answered frankly.

There was no need for him to hide, because after a night of observation, he had already thoroughly understood the strength of this group of refugees.

The military force remains at the stage of cold weapons, there is no electronic equipment, and there is no ability to communicate with the outside world.

For such a small team, it was already overestimating them to regard them as potential threats. If it were in his previous era, these people would simply be objects of protection.

Therefore, in the case of severe lack of intelligence, it is better to communicate directly and openly rather than to test with great caution.

Only in this way can we obtain sufficient information in the shortest time and make reasonable plans for subsequent actions.

After hearing Chen Jian's answer, the woman first looked back at Du Hu, then lowered her voice slightly and replied:

"He drank the monster's blood, but it wasn't holy blood."

"All hunters must drink blood. Only in this way can they become stronger."

"But... not everyone can survive."

"He was lucky, but it wasn't enough..."

"Understood."

Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully and made a gesture to He Shuo beside him. A moment later, several new pieces of information were quickly updated in the briefing system.

"The mutation is related to blood, and the virus is likely to be involved."

"After the mutation, the human body is strengthened, and the 'holy blood' has a greater effect, or has fewer side effects."

"Humanity fights monsters through mutation."

"The origin of the monster is most likely related to mutation."

With just a few words of communication, the basic framework of this post-apocalyptic world has been established.

What we need to do next is just to fill in the details into this framework.

After a pause, Chen Jian continued to ask:

"Is there any place in this world where there are no monsters?"

"I have no idea."

The woman sighed and replied:

"If there is, it is in the north."

"The north is the territory of the Holy Blood and the Mechanicus. Perhaps there will be fewer monsters there."

"But they have already given up on this place. They won't come to rescue us."

"We were doomed."

"It's a good thing you guys cleared out the mantises here. At least we can go out and collect food before the next patrol."

"As long as we can catch prey, we can hold out for at least another month..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jian frowned instantly.

Last a month?

Are they going to stay here?

"Why don't you leave the city? We didn't find any traces of monsters when we came in from outside. It might be much safer there than in the city, isn't it?"

As soon as Chen Jian finished speaking, all the refugees' eyes turned to him.

The woman showed a bitter smile on her face, and then she answered:

"As long as the Matrix is here, we can't leave - and neither can you."

"The mother's territory is much larger than what we can see. In its territory, it can see everything."

"It knows everything and can do everything."

"Everyone who wanted to leave died. Only those who stayed here could barely survive..."

The woman's words were confusing, and there was also a hint of religious meaning in them.

It seemed that in her eyes, this so-called "matrix" had also taken on the skin of a mythical creature.

Chen Jian didn't buy it at all, because after carefully studying the infrared characteristic image taken by the drone, he found that everything about the monster looked so familiar.

Whether it is the heat image formed by blood circulation or the muscle groups wrapped around the bones.

Whether it is the distinctive whip-shaped joints on the tail or the faintly visible hairs on the tentacles.

All the details clearly tell one fact:

Although this thing is weird, it is a very standard carbon-based organism.

As long as it is a carbon-based organism, it is absolutely impossible for it to possess "superpowers" that go beyond the laws of physics.

So you can say it is strong, but in front of unarmed people, it is indeed extremely strong.

But are you saying that it is omnipotent and omniscient?

Didn't it find the four of us who were the culprits who killed more than a dozen of its minions last night?

Chen Jian looked at the woman suspiciously. The woman seemed to have no idea how to answer. In the end, she only said:

"You should go and see for yourself."

"There is a place where you will know why after you go there."

"Where?"

Chen Jian asked.

"A cemetery."

The woman took a deep breath and replied:

"A graveyard made by the Matrix."

"The answers you want are there. After reading it, you will know why we can't leave..."

The answer was still vague. Chen Jian's mind was full of question marks. He had no idea what the woman meant by the reason.

It seemed that he had no other choice.

If you don't go, you will face completely unknown dangers, and you may even be trapped in this city forever.

But if you want to go... the danger of rashly exploring unknown areas is not necessarily low.

Chen Jian hesitated, and at this moment, the woman spoke at the right moment:

"We're going to go over there and collect food right now."

"If you guys want to go...you can go together."

After he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly.

Then he spoke to the other team members:

"Pack your equipment and get ready to go!"