Chapter 588 "Return from the Deep Sea"
As the virus continued to spread, Colin's consciousness became difficult to form. The time it took to think about a thought became longer and longer. Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
Compared to the previous nightmares caused by various horrible negative effects, this time he fell into a deep sleep in the true sense.
I can't feel anything, it's like I'm dead...
I don't know how long it took, but the calm sea surface suddenly arched upwards, and then a figure wrapped in water was spit out, drawing an arc in the air, and finally, with a splash, it landed in an old city near the sea.
After rolling several times, the figure fell to a stop in the ruins, motionless...
Then, there was no more movement.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, a group of ragged people suddenly came here, a total of fourteen people.
"The detector detects that the abnormal index in this area is relatively stable, so there should be no danger..." Among the fourteen people, a middle-aged man of medium build and capable movements looked at a detector in his hand.
According to the above feedback, it can be determined that this area should currently be a safe zone...
"Boss, what a great place! This seems to be an empty area just after the tide receded. No one has explored it yet!" A post-disaster survivor looked around and noticed that there were no signs of human activity. His eyes suddenly lit up.
"It really seems like no one has been here. From now on, start searching for supplies nearby. Prioritize medicines, then some functional items, then canned food, and then various fertilizers, or anything that can be made into compost..." warned the middle-aged man of the waste exploration team.
For ordinary people like them, the most valuable thing right now is undoubtedly various medical resources...
Then there are all kinds of items from the past that are difficult to reproduce.
As for food…it usually comes last.
Because whether it is the top-level shelters or the lowest-end disaster relief points, there is no particular shortage of food. New crops are everywhere. As long as the environment is suitable and there is some fertilizer, enough primary agricultural products can be produced in a short time.
So, even though the world is falling apart, at least having enough to eat isn't a problem...
Of course, if they see food, they will not refuse it. After all, food from the old days can be exchanged for a lot of money.
After finishing speaking, the middle-aged man paused and added: "By the way, focus on searching the ruins of the shopping mall. You might have a chance to find gold, silver, or something else..."
"Great!" Everyone looked excited when they heard about gold and silver.
Even now, these things are still very valuable. Many forces and shelters are willing to pay a lot of valuable things to exchange for these real gold and silver...
As for the reason, I heard that certain precious metals seem to be able to carry extraordinary power or something...
"If you can find a few dozen kilograms of gold, remember to replace our medical equipment." A tall woman with an ordinary face said happily.
"Well, if there really is one, we will definitely replace it..." The middle-aged man nodded, "However, the priority should be to update the weapons, and then replace the crop seedlings. What we grow is rather monotonous..."
After a brief exchange, people mostly started exploring in groups of three.
It has to be said that these old ruins revealed by the receding tide are indeed very fertile. After a while, they had a rich harvest, almost filling up five pickup trucks, and even found a lot of real gold and silver.
The middle-aged man looked at the situation and prepared to have everyone evacuate.
Although there are still many places that have not been explored, they still understand the principle of biting off more than they can chew...
Don't bring too many things with you, otherwise if you get into trouble, you won't have time to run away.
However, just as he was about to order people to evacuate, the only female and doctor in the accompanying team suddenly reported a new discovery.
"Found a child?" The middle-aged man was stunned, then walked over.
Soon, he saw a child sitting quietly in the ruins.
The child seemed to be only a little over ten years old. He was wearing adult clothes, which were loose and a little dirty. However, his skin was fair and his eyes were innocent, although he looked a little dull.
Even when he saw the cameras in their hands, he was not frightened at all. He just blinked his big round eyes and looked at everyone.
Although it was strange for a child to suddenly appear in this environment, in a sense it wasn't strange at all...
"What a cute child." The accompanying female doctor couldn't help but squat aside, took out a piece of wrapped candy, and was about to "suck on it", but she felt something was wrong and asked curiously : "Little boy, do you know who you are?"
"Colin..." The child nodded and responded quickly.
“Is there anyone else here?
"I have no idea……"
"Then why are you in a place like this?"
"have no idea……"
Colin, wearing baggy clothes, sat on the ground and shook his head. He didn't remember a lot. He felt like he had experienced a lot of things, but he just couldn't remember them all at once...
During the conversation, a member of the exploration team saw the middle-aged captain coming and walked over and whispered:
"It looks like he's a 'returnee from the deep sea'..."
"Yeah, I think so too."
The middle-aged man nodded and relaxed his guard a little.
"Deep Sea Returners" is nothing special...
The reason for its appearance can be traced back to almost two years ago. At that time, during a period of natural and man-made disasters, the endless ocean suddenly erupted, submerging the world. Everyone thought it would be a horrific disaster that would destroy the world, but unexpectedly, the deep sea era that submerged almost all the land on the world did not last long, and slowly retreated to its original position...
Humanity emerged from their various shelters and discovered that the disasters and horrors that once plagued them had been washed away by the ocean, like air after rain...
Although abnormal creatures still exist, at least they are no longer as numerous as before, which is a headache.
Not long after that, people discovered that many people who had been drowned would occasionally be "spitted out" from the sea to land one day.
It's also known as the "Deep Sea Return Phenomenon," and it's been determined not to be a crisis. Those vomited out by the ocean are the same victims who were drowned in the sea back then, so generally speaking, there's nothing wrong with it...
It was quite common when the sea just receded.
In fact, there are several people in this team who are "returnees from the deep sea".
As to why this happens, why the ocean spits out people from time to time, no one knows. We only know that it may involve some unknown terrifying existence, or a big secret that people don’t know.
Of course, according to those who believed in the "ocean," it was because the sacred and great will of the ocean could not bear to see the world destroyed, so it used its own might to swallow up countless anomalies, saving all the victims and sending them back to land in due time...
Whether this is actually the case, no one seems to know.
"Captain, can we take him with us..." the accompanying female doctor asked with a pleading tone.
Leaving such a weak, helpless, and pitiful child here alone, one can imagine what would happen to him. He would definitely not be able to survive in this post-disaster world...
However, as soon as she finished speaking, others in the team shook their heads: "To be honest, I don't recommend doing this. It might be dangerous..."
Although "those returning from the deep sea" are generally safe, there are risks involved.
The risk doesn't depend on the fact of "returning from the deep sea", but on what kind of person this person was...
If they are heretics or some contaminated people, it would be very dangerous.
"How could a child who is not even as tall as your waist be in any danger?" someone else who was also a "returnee from the deep sea" spoke up.
"We'll have to go through a dangerous area on our way back. We might not even be able to take care of ourselves, let alone a child."
"Oh my! You really are! I shouldn't have given you anesthesia to suture your wound! I'm going to kill you with pain!"
The female doctor cursed, then looked at the slim middle-aged man beside her and said, "Captain!"
The middle-aged man was a little hesitant. Some people in the team agreed, while others disagreed. Since the number of people was almost the same, he had no choice but to make the decision...
It's no problem to bring one person back from the disaster relief center now . After all, it's just one more mouth to feed, and it won't cause them to run out of food...
But, those who disagree are also right, this child knows nothing about his past.
Bringing it back rashly might be risky...
However, before he could make a decision, a beeping alarm suddenly sounded at his waist.
At the same time, an inexplicable roar was heard from afar...
It seems that some powerful life form is attracted by the movement here!
Everyone's expressions suddenly changed. The middle-aged man finally made a decision and said through gritted teeth, "Give up some of the supplies and take him with you!"
After the decision was made, people stopped arguing. The agile female doctor immediately stepped forward, picked up the little boy who called himself Colin, and ran in the other direction.
Soon, the group found several electric modified pickup trucks parked on the side of the road, and then prepared to go straight over.
However, just as he got to the car, a huge change suddenly occurred!
The air pressure seemed to freeze in an instant, and everyone was unable to move. Something was falling from the sky above their heads!
Everyone looked up in horror and saw a flat and huge monster falling from the sky!
It enveloped almost everyone!
"It's over..." Just when everyone thought so.
No one noticed that Colin, who was being held by the female doctor, narrowed his eyes slightly and muttered softly:
"die."
In an instant, a vibration frequency band that no one else could even feel surged up from the bottom, and then the huge flat monster that almost covered everyone exploded instantly.
It turned into a crackling blood rain, falling all around...
"What happened?!" Everyone who had escaped death was stunned.
"Is it the captain?" Someone saw the middle-aged man holding up a strange black rifle emitting black air and pointing it towards the sky.
"I..." The middle-aged man was about to say that he had no time to shoot, and even if he did, it would not have had this effect, but when he noticed footsteps in the distance, he didn't care about that at the moment, and quickly asked everyone to get on the pickup truck and run away first.
The middle-aged man was filled with doubts along the way. He clearly remembered that although he had taken out his weapon, he had no time to use it before the abnormal contaminated life exploded...
Although it looks a bit like a rifle, there is still a big difference!
However, they didn't have time to think deeply. Not long after running, they heard the movement behind them becoming clearer and clearer...
“Bang, bang, bang—”
The heavy footsteps followed slowly but easily behind, and were getting closer and closer!
Someone turned around and vaguely saw a blood-red humanoid creature composed of a mass of wriggling muscles following them...
"A ten-meter-class 'Flesh Devourer'!"
The middle-aged man was shocked, and in addition to the giant "Flesh Devourer", there were many small but faster "Flesh Devourers" rushing towards them.
I heard this thing is a monster transformed from biomass ...
It is also one of the most common abnormal life forms in the world...
And it is the most dangerous type!
Because they generally have a strong desire to attack any creature and will try to merge with all the creatures around them. Once they meet, if they don't keep their distance or repel or kill them, they will chase them for thousands of kilometers without stopping!
"Fight it! We must repel it, otherwise we can't escape!" the middle-aged man roared.
Several people in the tricycle team immediately took out some homemade weapons and fired them.
Although the noise of fighting might attract other monsters, there was no time to worry about that at the moment.
With a few "whoosh" sounds, various bombs were launched...
However, the weapons they had were fine for dealing with some tiny individuals, but they were somewhat powerless against the ten-meter-long "Flesh Devourer".
As the Flesh Devourer approached, someone couldn't help but look at the captain again: "Captain, give me that thing, let me do it..."
"No need, let me do it..." The middle-aged man took off a small backpack hanging on his body.
He took out a rifle emitting a pitch-black aura...
This thing, from a Beyonder in a certain shelter, doesn't require a bullet each time it fires, instead it fires a bone bullet. It's incredibly powerful, but it seems to evenly remove a portion of the user's bones...
If it were just that, it would be fine, but the key is that the more you use your bones, the more "brittle" they become.
The previous user died from having his bones shattered due to the continuous firing...
However , he was about to die without any help, so he didn't have time to think about it and pointed the gun directly at the monster.
The ten-meter monster seemed to sense the threat and suddenly leaped towards them, closing the distance between them in a short period of time...
If I jump again, I might step right into their crowd!
After he made sure of his aim, he picked up the rifle and was about to pull the trigger, but suddenly he saw that the huge creature had just approached within a range of about 30 meters when it suddenly exploded again!
