Chapter 1066: Hunger
Not only was there a difference in the amount of black rain between large areas, even within this cracked earth zone, the rainfall varied. It was obvious that the black rain was denser near the low hills.
The centers of those low hills all showed signs of eruption, with hollow cores. From a distance, they looked like several volcanoes, but upon closer inspection, one could see that these hills were different from ordinary volcanoes. The main composition of the hills wasn't volcanic rock, but something resembling soil.
Xu Huo used a tool to dig a bit. The low hill wasn't as solid as imagined; instead, it was loose inside, like turned-over fine soil. It didn't require much effort to pry up a piece. Like the black flocculent strands mixed in the rain, it crumbled when gently pinched in the hand.
These so-called "low hills" weren't real mountains, but huge cones formed by the accumulation of this black flocculent material.
However, the central eruption vent wasn't sealed, proving that this black flocculent material was still continuously spewing out from below. But this didn't look like ash left after a volcanic eruption, nor did it resemble residue from burned plants, yet it could fall from the sky with the rain...
"It seems there are quite a few of these hills." Xu Huo climbed to the top of a low hill and dropped a stone down, but no sound came back for a long time.
No sound reached the ground. Regardless of the situation, it wasn't optimistic, which made him abandon the idea of going down to take a look.
Surrounding them was an endless expanse of cracked earth, completely devoid of human traces, making one wonder if this place had no end.
"He seems hungry," Tan Qi suddenly said. "Even the pacifier has been bitten through."
"Not likely," Xu Huo put the two children down. The pacifier was bought from the replacement item shop in his item slot. Although it was only an E-grade item, it was still an item, not something a newborn baby could bite through.
Tan Qi reached into the baby's protective barrier, took out the pacifier, and held it up. There were several very obvious teeth marks on it.
"You get what you pay for." Xu Huo didn't have any ready-made baby food, so he only gave Tan Qi a bag of biscuits, telling him to crush them into crumbs and feed them to the baby.
After feeding the baby, Tan Qi ate the rest himself, even licking his fingers clean.
"How will we leave when the time comes?" he turned back to ask Xu Huo. "I can't board the player train."
Tan Qi wasn't an Evolver and couldn't get on the train.
"I'll buy you a Non-Player Ticket in advance." Xu Huo was sweating from the stuffy heat. He said this briefly before leading them to set off again, but not continuing deeper into the cracked earth zone. Instead, they returned to the forest area. He planned to go to the other side of the forest area to take a look.
Unexpectedly, when he approached the forest again, the bar that should have been in the middle of the woods was now being chased out by a group of Xenomorphs, rolling out—although it was somewhat untimely, the building that had been fine just moments ago had turned into a large rolling wheel, pushed by the herd of beasts towards a nearby cliff edge.
The bar's original shape was close to circular, and now its outer edge was already damaged. People could be heard shouting inside, but no one came out.
Xu Huo took out his communicator to contact Chi Minghong. She was probably dizzy from being spun around inside. She retched once before speaking after the call connected.
"Aren't you coming out?" Xu Huo frowned. "There's a cliff ahead."
"It's not that we don't want to... go out," accompanied by the sounds of crackling and banging, Chi Minghong said, "We're still waiting for the right moment..."
Just then, several super-large mutant beasts within the Xenomorph herd suddenly exploded. The powerful open flames killed all the mutant beasts within a ten-meter radius. For a moment, the area was filled with the wails of Xenomorphs.
And it wasn't over yet. Those bombs should have been hidden on the Xenomorphs in advance. Next, some mutant beasts near the bar also exploded. The flying debris carried poison, killing a mutant beast from the moment of impact to death by poison in just a few seconds.
This indeed had a good effect. Some mutant beasts, fearing the power of the explosives, hesitated and dared not approach. The rolling bar stopped, and with the combined efforts of the players, it was righted back to the ground, though it was upside down.
Chi Minghong got a moment to breathe and quickly replied to Xu Huo: "I estimate the bar won't hold out much longer. Do you see any relatively safe place out there?"
"Below the cliff is a high-temperature zone. The ground is dry and barren, with no grass growing," Xu Huo said. "I turned back precisely to find another way out."
"Then we're screwed." Chi Minghong howled, then took a moment to inform Uncle Guan and the others. She added, "How about we roll back?"
"It's too late!" Uncle Guan gave a deep shout, then, along with You Xuewen and Lin Qiao, jumped out of the bar's windows one after another, each killing a super-large Xenomorph charging from a different direction!
Due to different evolutionary traits, some super-large Xenomorphs had grown carapaces, while others had scales. However, those with hard skin often lacked speed, while those with weaker defenses were more agile—but this so-called "lack" was only relative. For ordinary players, even an "inflexible" super-large Xenomorph was terrifyingly fast.
Except for Uncle Guan, who killed a super-large Xenomorph with a single blow, neither You Xuewen nor Lin Qiao succeeded. Both had used sharp weapons aimed directly at the Xenomorphs' throats, but the former was dodged and, protected by a defense item, took a direct hit; the latter was struck by a Xenomorph's tail, sent flying sideways for over ten meters. If not for timely defense, they would have had their neck bitten off by the pouncing Xenomorph!
The surroundings were full of Xenomorphs. After their failed attacks, You Xuewen and the others quickly retreated to the bar. But at that moment, one of the super-large Xenomorphs, enraged, used its claws to slice three nearby small-bodied Xenomorphs in half, then let out a long roar.
The roar caused the other Xenomorphs to lower their bodies in submission, then quickly retreat, clearing the way for a herd of giant rhinoceroses charging from behind—in reality, these mutant beasts had long surpassed the category of rhinoceroses. They had horns on their heads, each one five to six meters long, with outward-turned, extremely sharp teeth. Their hooves had grown a layer of thick armor, leaving deep footprints on the exposed rocks with every step. Any small Xenomorphs that strayed into their formation would be trampled into pulp within seconds!
It was this herd of Xenomorphs, driven mad by the super-large Xenomorph, that charged fiercely at the bar, even using the strength of several beasts to lift the bar off the ground!
"Ah!!!" As the bar flipped, two people fell out of a window, landing right in front of the leading rhinoceroses.
"Grab hold!" A rope item flew out from the window, lassoing the two people. Unfortunately, as they were being pulled back, the rhinoceroses bit them—one rhinoceros reared its head and bit through a person's pelvis, devouring their entire buttocks and thighs, spilling the contents of their abdominal cavity... while the other person had both legs bitten, with half of their body torn off alive!
Neither person had died yet, but the rope couldn't hold them steady. The remaining parts of their bodies slid from mid-air, and before they hit the ground, they were directly devoured by the Xenomorphs swarming from behind, leaving not a single scrap.
It's almost the end of the month again~^_^
(Chapter End)