As Ye Jiu described, the rain outside felt as if it were pouring from a gigantic basin suspended in the sky... The helicopter they were in seed not to be flying at an altitude of two hundred ters but instead hovering at the bottom of a massive waterfall. If Candle Dragon hadn’t used its powers to shield them from the rain, the cabin would undoubtedly have already been flooded with this radiation-polluted water.
"This rain is not a natural phenonon." Ye Xuan, who was sitting on the innermost side of the cabin with a military laptop on her lap, adjusted the gas mask on her face and continued, "According to the drone observations, there exists a massive ’water absorption field’ directly above Chira 17. This field gathers the surrounding moisture, creating a vast storm cloud..."
"There’s sothing I can’t comprehend." Another Hunter, unfamiliar to Sun Hang, asked, "Isn’t the average temperature in the Shuzhou Region below zero? Why is it raining instead of snowing or hailing?"
"The temperature of this rainwater is not low," Ye Xuan said gravely, "The water vapor directly above Chira 17 exceeds one hundred degrees Celsius. It’s a little cooler here, but as the rain falls to the ground, it still holds a temperature of over thirty degrees... If you stood in the rain without any protective gear, the raindrops on your body would feel warm."
"Now that you ntion it, I suddenly feel like this process of gathering moisture and then raining is like a giant heat dissipation system," Sun Hang remarked.
"It’s not like a system, it is one," Ye Xuan pointedly replied, "Ever since the first round of nuclear strikes on Chira 17, its ’incubation mode’ has drastically changed... From the data collected so far, Chira 17 is now akin to a super high-power nuclear fission reactor."
"Is this... learning?" Sun Hang muttered.
"What do you an by learning?" Ye Jiu asked, shooting him a puzzled glance.
"Because it got bombed by nuclear weapons, it learned to obtain energy through nuclear fission... If we nuked it with a hydrogen bomb and didn’t kill it, it might directly beco a fusion reactor," Sun Hang smacked his lips, "There’s a saying, ’What doesn’t kill makes stronger’... It’s pretty apt when applied to Chira 17."
"What if the ’pesticide’ doesn’t work?" the unfamiliar Hunter asked, "If this abomination mastered the ability of reverse mitic editing, wouldn’t it wreak havoc?"
"No need to worry about that; even if Chira learned to manufacture ’pesticides,’ it could only use this ability against other abominations," Ye Xuan shook her head, "As for hunters, the infected... frankly, if it wanted to kill you, it wouldn’t need to go to such trouble."
"Young lady, I don’t like what you just said," the Hunter replied, "I don’t understand how reverse mitic editing works, but I know it can temporarily disable our abilities, making us hunters no different from ordinary people."
"Exactly, all of my life-saving trump cards rely on my innate abilities. Without them, I’m weaker in combat than a regular soldier," another Hunter interjected — his body was emaciated, wrapped completely in a special bandage, leaving only a face paler than a corpse exposed.
A custom-fit, fra-style exoskeleton was strapped to him, with a heavy battery pack mounted on his back. Every joint of his body, even his fingertips, required the assistance of the exoskeleton to move; without it, he was indistinguishable from a talking mummy.
"If the ’pesticide plan’ fails, all hunters will imdiately receive orders to withdraw from the battlefield," Ye Xuan stated somberly, "There’s no need for you to worry about that."
Sun Hang glanced at Ye Xuan from the corner of his eye. In reality, she hadn’t finished her sentence.
"Should the ’pesticide plan’ fail, all combat personnel are to evacuate the battlefield at once, and a saturation nuclear strike will be launched on Chira 17 ninety minutes later."
This was verbatim from the battle plan proposed by Yang Qi.
Other strategies against Chira 17 were also being expedited, but with the remaining ti compressed to just a quarter, Yang Qi’s "pesticide plan" was the only viable option left.
"The helicopter can only take you this far; below is the seventh observation post, currently the closest to Chira 17. Once you’ve prepared at post seven, proceed in your pre-assigned groups toward Chira 17 from different directions, maintaining communication. If you detect other abominations, report imdiately to command," Ye Xuan hurriedly instructed.
"Do we have reinforcents?" asked the Hunter wrapped like a mummy.
Ye Xuan checked her laptop and said, "There is a two-hundred-person rapid response unit on standby at observation post eight, but they can’t approach Chira 17—as past investigations suggest, any group of over twenty people getting within 35 kiloters of Chira 17 will trigger an ergency response."
"Long-range fire support is feasible," Ye Xuan continued, "But given the severe weather conditions, I advise against counting on the accuracy of remote fire support."
"Understood," the Hunter replied gruffly before moving to the cabin door with the help of his power exoskeleton and leaping into the rain.
The instant he jumped, the torrential rain pouring from the sky twisted, creating a "vacuum zone" that enveloped him. The visual effect was akin to the legendary "Water-Repelling Pearl" artifact.
This Hunter did not remain in free fall but abruptly slowed down when he was still dozens of ters above the ground. He then gracefully descended as if strolling over steps made of air until he reached the ground.
Hunters unafraid of the radiation-laden rain began jumping out of the cabin, using their abilities or equipnt to get to the ground. Ye Jiu also tried to mimic them but was pulled back by Sun Hang.
"If you want to show off, you’ll have plenty of chances later," Sun Hang remarked indifferently.
The helicopter had descended to an altitude of less than ten ters, and the remaining hunters slid down to the ground using fast ropes, leaving just Sun Hang, Wang Xiyi, Ye Jiu, Zhong Ling, Candle Dragon, and Ye Xuan in the sizable cabin. Also, the coffins containing odd cadavers were secured with anchor hooks to the cabin floor.
"What’s up?" Ye Jiu shot Sun Hang a look, "Now it’s just us here; if you have sothing to say, go ahead. The rain outside is so loud, those who jumped out can’t hear us anyway."
"If during your mission you see three monkeys, whether alive or dead, in a picture or a sculpture, run the other way as fast as you can without looking back," Sun Hang solemnly advised.
"Are you referring to... the Three Monkeys?" Ye Jiu paused briefly, "I rember you asked about this before... Could it have sothing to do with Chira 17?"
[P.S. I must say, this autumn truly seems to be an eventful one. Returning after a National Day business trip, I fell ill. Just as I was getting better, my father suddenly fell ill last night and was rushed to the hospital. Thankfully, the examination today showed it wasn’t too serious—mainly so underlying conditions, plus a lung infection and pleural effusion. The doctor expects him to be hospitalized for over a week. During this ti, I need to split my schedule between ho and the hospital, and occasionally help at the shop. The update timings might be quite unstable. However, I’ll do my best to maintain a daily update of 4,000 words; I kindly ask for everyone’s understanding.]
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