As the last escaping ferocious beast was dragged and sprayed with blood like a tattered skin, it fell crashing into the flattened grass. This short but intense raid came to an end.
None of the ninety-seven ghosts and sixteen ferocious beasts were spared.
However, the expert team members only paid the price of one person being seriously injured and 11 people being slightly injured; and except for this unfortunately severely injured person who was unfortunately penetrated by bone spurs on the horns of the ferocious beast, the others all suffered from superficial injuries.
With specialized treatment and recovery, you can fight again.
Later, Jiang Tian also followed the traces of these aliens, and once again found a small water dock/settlement deep in the grassland; however, in addition to the human and animal bones scattered on the ground, as well as the smelly excrement,
Apart from that, there is nothing else left.
But just these traces and clues are enough to prove one of Jiang Tian's conjectures and worries. The beast disaster that once raged in the north, under the continuous attack of the imperial court, has moved to the remote areas of the south along with the masterminds behind the scenes.
Secret development has begun again.
In the previous waterway battles, the lizards and pig dragons/crocodiles that the fleet encountered were more like new products that were cultivated and bred in batches according to local conditions. Then, they were stocked on the spot within a specific range.
, serving as a certain degree of peripheral security and defense.
And the hidden skeleton column seems to have a special attraction, which can make these aliens gather together and instinctively attack all living creatures that come within range. As for the ghosts and their ferocious beasts that appeared later, they are the real ones.
sense of guard and watcher.
After solving these peripheral obstacles and threats, it also means that this strange force led by Jiang Tian is already very close to the heartland area currently controlled by the Yunmeng thieves according to the captured Shi Liangdong. Therefore, moving along the waterway
The fleet was attacked several times again.
But both in terms of scale and intensity, it was far less than the aliens we first encountered. It was more like an instinctive counterattack that was limited to a specific range. And after destroying the skeleton pillars nearby, not even the firearms on the ship were used.
It is easily repelled and dispersed.
The sailors and right guard soldiers on the ship also quickly completed the process; from shouting, being startled, to being indifferent, and becoming accustomed to it. After all, when it is confirmed that these hideous and ugly existences can be
Killing, naturally, there is no fear.
When the fleet finally passed through the continuous grass swamps and reached the open water at the other end, they found that there was no room to continue sailing. In other words, both the land ahead and the possible branches of the waterways were shrouded in
In the vast white mist.
The fog close to the ground in front of me is not very high, nor does it look very dense, but it stretches over a large area, making it impossible to see the edge that can be bypassed; and under the light and river breeze,
, there is actually no sign of dissipation or loss.
And this is what Shi Liangdong described as the second layer of defense used by the Yunmeng thieves to protect and cover themselves; it was also one of the main reasons why the previous round of four-pronged officers and soldiers met with a disastrous failure. It is said that as long as
Once inside, it's easy to lose your basic sense of direction.
Then, with very low visibility, they were stranded one after another on the river beach, among aquatic plants or dead tree stumps; or they accidentally capsized and fell into the water after colliding with each other. Then they were attacked by aliens and giant beasts from the mist.
They could only fight on their own and suffered heavy casualties.
Only the members of the Yunmeng Thieves who carry special aura tokens can avoid being attacked by the aliens dormant inside, and can go back and forth safely. There are even specially trained aquatic beasts responsible for pulling and towing the Yunmeng Thieves.
The boats entered and exited the river safely.
However, this method is completely unsuitable for the entire fleet and the more than a thousand soldiers on the same ship. Then more than a dozen lay sergeants stepped forward and put on full-body protective overalls and hoods with goggles.
;A traction chain made of fine steel is buckled around the waist.
Then they were divided into three groups carrying bundles of small flags, and they dragged the chains into the mist one by one. After counting the steps softly and walking ten steps, they erected a thin flagpole with a bell as a reference.
;At the same time, the bell is sounded according to a certain rhythm to notify.
The soldiers walking into the fog one after another were like squeezing into some invisible bubble, and everything they could see and hear was distorted. Therefore, under the clear blue sky in broad daylight, after just three ringings,
Jiang Tian couldn't see them at all.
Even the last sound, which was like a dull echo, could not be heard. Only the fine steel chains that were continuously pulled by the inner power, extending and releasing forward, could prove that they were still continuing to go deep inside the mist. Until suddenly a certain root
The chain suddenly tightened.
The flagpoles erected as road signs in the mist were also ejected one after another under the shaking of the fierce ringing bells. In an instant, without Jiang Tian's order, a dozen lay sergeants worked together to reverse the wheel on the ship, and
Pull the tight chain back inch by inch.
The other soldiers also raised the muskets in their hands; they lowered the muzzles of the turntable guns and wide-mouth muskets on the ship's deck and aimed them into the fog, ready to fire at any time. But fortunately, the worrying thing did not happen.
Happened; until the last person was dragged out, the chain was not broken.
Although the soldier who was forcibly dragged out was staggering and scratched all over the floor, at least his limbs seemed intact and he was strong enough to respond vocally. However, the protective coverall made of asbestos was already covered with it.
thick mud and filth;
Immediately, the leading sergeant stood up with the help of his companions, and couldn't wait to take off his hood. He breathed greedily and cursed: "Damn it, there's something evil here. I haven't gone very far.
I was sunk into the ground without realizing it, and something was getting in there."
"The further I walked, the more out of breath I became. I accidentally stepped into a puddle, and something got wrapped around my legs and feet, pulling hard..." Another soldier connected to him also said.
: "Then, my chain got caught on something and I couldn't move."
Later, when the mud and dirt on their bodies were washed away with water hoses, the sergeants nearby couldn't help but gasped; because the surface of this rubber asbestos blouse was already covered with criss-crossing layers of dirt.
Scratches, and many long squirming strips.
And these squirming strips are clearly earthworms with limbs as thick as fingers, or creatures like loaches covered in mucus. They are tightly attached to the blouse through protruding fine mouthparts and are exposed to the sun.
After a while, they fell off one after another.
Then, he tried his best to bounce or squirm and escape into the mist, dragging out a series of crystal tracks. Then he was chopped into pieces by the quick eyes and hands of his comrades nearby, trampled and crushed into pools of mud. And the other one
The soldier frowned and took off his damaged rubber boots.
Then he saw that at his ankle, the tip of a half-broken burr vine was tightly cut into the flesh. However, after using a dagger to pick it off, leaving a bloody mark, the soldier actually
No pain was felt; and the thorn half was still moving.
Immediately under the sun's rays, they quickly dehydrated and shriveled up into a circle. Then someone brought a brazier and threw it into it and burned it to ashes. At this time, the other two groups of soldiers were also pulled out of the fog one after another, but
My whole body became wet.
And the protective coveralls on his body are also equipped with some strange living creatures; for example, a toothfish with a mouth like a clamp, a lizard that can spray acid, and even grass blades that automatically twine... It seems that
All kinds of distortions were produced in this fog.
Therefore, when it is exposed to sunlight and relative air, it will gradually dehydrate and lose activity. Jiang Tian also understood from this that the survivors of the navy who had escaped before kept saying "Yunmengze is alive".
Yes. It is obviously caused by the special environment of fog.
Perhaps being in a long-term high-humidity environment distorts sound and deflects vision, causing difficulty in breathing and hypoxia, suffocation, and hallucinations. In fact, just after this moment, on the recovered chains,
There are obvious rust spots.
Therefore, Jiang Tian then ordered the lit brazier to be pushed into the mist; he saw that the mist was squeezed out of a gap, and then seemed to be reluctantly included in it; in the blink of an eye, the firewood burning in the brazier was
The carbon sizzles, shrinks and is destroyed.
Immediately afterwards, several torches soaked in oil were replaced, and they also gathered in the mist and were quickly extinguished; on the contrary, the relatively closed wind lantern continued to burn for a while after being sent in, and was slowly penetrated by the thick water droplets that continued to condense on the inner wall.
It is submerged, but the surrounding fog becomes transparent.
Another soldier took out a few explosive bombs filled with gunpowder. After lighting them, they threw them into the depths of the fog. They heard several extremely dull booming sounds. Several apparently thin holes seemed to appear in the fog visible to the naked eye; and then
It was re-closed by the flowing mist.
After switching to kerosene bombs, even the crackling and explosion did not happen. Seeing this, Jiang Tian already knew what was going on. He had seen similar fog at another time, in Lyon.
The one encountered outside the city was among the alien assassinations.
It's just that the area was not so large at that time, and the fog was not so dense. It was like it had been accumulating in Yunmeng Ze for a long time. Then Jiang Tian ordered: "Come here, use the fierce fire oil prepared on the rear team's ship.
, move them all down for me.”
Subsequently, a shallow ditch was dug at the edge of the mist. In a short time, it was filled with dead wood, dry firewood and other flammable materials collected from everywhere, and then covered with a thick layer of charcoal and
coal; finally, open several large barrels of strong fire oil and pour it all into it.
As the ditch was ignited, flames and black smoke billowed like a wall, and the strange fog suddenly shrank, revealing a wet and muddy gray-black ground. Then the river in front of the wall of fire
With a wave of his hand, a large cloud of fire rose up.
I saw rolling flames and hot air currents, as well as explosive sparks and firewood fragments; they suddenly gathered into the sky; and under the influence of invisible forces, a deep red fire whirlwind several feet high was formed; it continuously sucked out the thick water below.