Volume 5: Bottomless Sinkhole Chapter 274 Another Team
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Finally, when their oxygen was about to run out, a faint light emitted by fluorescent fungi penetrated the water and seeped down from above their heads.
"Finally floated up..." Ke Lan breathed a sigh of relief, while Layton slightly slowed down the power of the thrusters and extended a metal tube equipped with a surveillance camera as a periscope to the water surface.
But less than five seconds after the metal tube emerged from the water, Layton immediately turned off the propeller and even used the forced braking device to stop the propeller blades immediately.
Layton leaned down and made a gesture to everyone, which meant: there is someone up there.
Hearing him say this, Ke Lan loosened the rope in his hand, swam to Layton's side, and took over the terminal monitor of the surveillance camera.
The image on the monitor was very blurry, and it was even harder to see through the water. Ke Lan simply unplugged the camera cable and plugged it into his goggles, allowing the captured image to be projected directly onto the lenses in front of him.
From the information obtained from the surveillance footage, we can know that this water body is an underground saltwater lake covering an area of dozens of hectares. The top of the cave is about two hundred to three hundred meters above the water surface. A large number of stalactites hang above it. Some of the largest stalactites have even penetrated into the water surface, forming stone pillars standing on the lake.
On the east bank of the underground lake, about 400 meters away from where Ke Lan and the others were, there was a blazing bonfire. Several figures were sitting around the bonfire. Although their faces and attire could not be seen clearly, one could see that everyone had a gun hanging behind him. One of the burly men even had a portable recoilless gun next to him.
This group of people were obviously not relic hunters. Apart from anything else, the fact that they used a bonfire in the ruins alone was not something a formally trained hunter could do - in non-combat situations, open flames should never be used if possible. Whether for heating, lighting or heating food, hunters would choose other alternative methods. No one would light a bonfire in the ruins unless it was absolutely necessary.
This is not a wilderness where fire can be used to drive away approaching indigenous creatures - quite the contrary, many devices in the Alpha ruins are very sensitive to temperature and smoke, and rashly starting a fire can easily lead to an unexpected disaster.
And this group of people obviously did not reach the point where they had to make a fire.
They are so unprofessional. Even a rookie like Martin wouldn't be like them.
Ke Lan thought about it, quickly made a judgment, and said to others in sign language:
"To the east, on the shore, four hundred meters away, ten to fifteen armed men, most likely the exiles who attacked the tiankeng camp."
Ke Lan led everyone around in a circle underwater and found a stalactite column that was as thick as several people could hug. It emerged from the water in a blind spot in the people's vision.
"Exiles? Are you sure? How did they get in here?" asked the hound. He lowered his voice for fear that it would echo in the cave and be heard by the other party.
"Not sure, but they are definitely not hunters." Ke Lan shook his head.
"Could it be that he was swept down by the avalanche like us?" Layton guessed.
"That's the only explanation." Ke Lan said.
"Then what should we do? Kill them? This group of people are our mortal enemies. To be honest, I won't feel any psychological burden in killing them." The Hound touched the pistol in the holster, and a hint of murderous intent revealed in his words.
"These people are not easy to deal with." Layton shook his head slowly. "There are more than ten of them, and each of them has a gun, and they are all long guns. On our side, you all only have pistols. The only heavy firepower point is me, and my ammunition was almost used up in the stone chamber. Even if we take into account the energy shield, we are completely at a disadvantage in terms of firepower."
"There's one more thing you didn't mention, Layton," Ke Lan said in a deep voice, "These people are closely related to that heretical sect. We can't guarantee that there aren't any containers of the Seed of Corrosion or other biological weapons among them, but if there are..."
Ke Lan did not continue speaking, but everyone else knew what he did not say - the gap in combat power between the two sides was too big. If there were a few more monsters like the Seed of Erosion in the opponent's lineup, Ke Lan and his team would have almost no chance of winning.
If Asano Akira was awake, he might be able to engage in a head-on battle with his sword and special abilities, but now, even if it was a sneak attack, he had to be extremely careful.
"How about this, we split into two teams. The Mongolian and I will go around to their left side and launch the first attack to attract their attention. Then Ke Lan, Layton, and the little girl named Qin Zhao, you sneak to their right side. Don't show your heads yet. After these people are attracted by us, you can focus your firepower to hit them from behind." The Hound said, "Remember, no matter whether there are containers of the Seed of Corrosion among these people or not, focus your firepower on those with guns first. For us, guns are a greater threat than monsters."
At this time, Qin Zhao couldn't help but ask: "Excuse me...what is the 'Container of the Seed of Corrosion'?"
"People are infected by a 'virus'. After they die, the 'virus' in their bodies will erupt and turn them into monsters covered with tentacles. If you are attacked by this monster, you will also be infected... You just need to know about this kind of thing, and don't tell anyone. Otherwise, we won't be responsible if the Security Bureau comes to your door." Layton explained to her.
Qin Zhao was stunned for a moment and asked, "Is it a virus like the one in Resident Evil?"
Although Layton's description was very clear, for someone who had no idea of the existence of the Seed of Erosion, it was still difficult to imagine it out of thin air in his mind.
"Almost...but not quite the same. Anyway, you'll understand once you really see that thing. Don't worry too much. We already know the nemesis of this monster, so Old Dog said that guns are a greater threat." Layton added.
After all, if attacked by the Seed of Corrosion, if it is not a vital part, even if it is infected, it can be suppressed by implanting stalagmite fragments; and the spears in the hands of those armed men are basically full-power bullets with a caliber of more than ten millimeters. A shot in the torso is enough to be fatal, and for the limbs, being hit by a bullet is basically equivalent to amputation. Even if it is just a scratch, it can instantly tear off a large piece of flesh and blood.
"...Oh." Qin Zhao nodded somewhat unsurely. At this point, she was already tied to the same boat with Ke Lan and the others. If the boat was sunk, she would not be able to walk out of the ruins alive. The only thing she could do was to follow Ke Lan and the others and do as much as she could.
"If everyone has no objection, let's move." After saying this, the hound put a breathing tube in his mouth and sank his head under the water.
Layton dismantled the small shield generator inside the mechanical arm and handed it to Zhuo Ligetu - as the team making the feint attack, they needed it more than the team making the sneak attack.
Ke Lan also bit a breathing tube, dived into the water, and swam quietly towards the east bank of the underground lake according to the route set by the hound.
After arriving at the designated location, the three of them began to wait, waiting for the hounds to launch a feint attack.
At a distance, Ke Lan could already clearly see the details of these armed men.
Just as he expected, these people were indeed exiles, but not all of them - there were fourteen people in total, and only six of them were wearing the wasteland-style attire common among exiles. The remaining eight people's clothes were a little dirty but not shabby, and the equipment and some small accessories on their bodies were all professional-grade goods that could be sold for a good price on the black market.
The weapons of the two groups of people are also different. The guns of the exiles have been modified to be very rough, simply pursuing high power, while the weapons of the other group are more sophisticated, with all kinds of tactical accessories such as nylon grips and stocks, compound sights, laser launchers, etc. One guy even has a "V-27 recoilless submachine gun" on his waist, which was just released by the "Advanced Equipment Manufacturing Company" last month. Although it is a civilian version without the full-automatic mode, the power of the three-round burst should not be underestimated.
This group of people are mercenaries, and they are the most elite among the mercenaries.
Of course, in addition to the prefix "the most elite", they are also the type of mercenaries who are "the most courageous and have no bottom line".
Whether the exiles cooperated or were hired by the heretical sect, if any of these were discovered by the Ark, the consequences would be imaginable...but these people completely ignored the regulations on the Ark. It is not known whether the rewards given by the employers were too generous, or whether these people had already joined the heretical sect and become one of those crazy believers.
Ke Lan waited for about ten minutes before a sudden gunshot was heard from a distance. A mercenary who was sitting by the campfire and warming his hands fell down. The bullet from the large-caliber hunting pistol directly blew off half of his skull, and red and white filth sprayed for more than ten meters - it must be said that the hound's shooting skills were still very good, after all, it was fed with so many bullets on a real battlefield.
This shot immediately caused the armed men around the campfire to fall into a brief chaos. Obviously, they did not expect to be attacked by modern human weapons in this place, and they were inevitably panicked for a while - and their reactions also corresponded well to two of their identities: the people dressed as exiles, after finding the direction from which the bullets came, rushed towards that side fearlessly, and while charging, they directly shot their weapons into the water with their waists; and the mercenaries hid behind the rocks on the shore as soon as the chaos passed, using them as their cover.
The hound fired two more shots, but a moving target was much harder to hit than a fixed target. The two shots only injured the arm of an exile, who was then suppressed by the enemy's firepower and had to dive back into the water again.
The lake water is a natural barrier. The resistance in the water will greatly weaken the kinetic energy carried by the warhead. Even if the full-power 10mm caliber has an effective killing range of 1,200 meters in the air, it will have little killing power in the water at a distance of more than one meter.
The hound and Zhuoligetu dived directly into the water, and the guns in the hands of the exiles posed basically no threat.
However, when these exiles approached within fifty meters, Hound and Zhuoligetu had to rush out of the water and run to the shore with energy shields.
In addition to firearms, these armed men also carried a lot of explosives such as grenades. Although the fragmentation damage of grenades is limited in water like bullets, the damage of shock waves will increase instead of decrease. After a few grenades, even if they were not hit directly, Hound and the other man would be shocked to death by the shock waves transmitted from the water.
At this time, the distance between the exiles who rushed towards the hounds and the campfire had been opened to nearly a hundred meters, and the attention of those mercenaries who did not attack rashly was completely attracted by the two people - the task of feint attack had been completed, and the rest depended on Ke Lan and others.
"superior!"
Ke Lan waved his hand, and the three of them quickly and silently reached the shore, each finding a huge rock as their cover. Less than twenty meters in front of them were the defenseless mercenaries with their backs completely exposed to their sight.
"Leaton, you are responsible for covering the central position with micro rockets and hit as many people as possible. Qin Zhao, you keep an eye on the one on the far left, and I'll take care of the two on the far right." Ke Lan said in the short-range radio channel.
"clear."
"Got it." They both answered at the same time.
"Three, two, one, fire!" Ke Lan said, leaning out of the cover and pulling the trigger continuously at his two targets - he was aiming at the larger chest and abdomen instead of the head. He was not looking for a fatal blow, but the highest possible hit rate while ensuring that the opponent lost the ability to resist.
The two mercenaries were shot and fell down instantly, but Ke Lan could neither hear his own gunshots nor the screams of the other side - the whistling and explosions of more than a dozen micro rockets sounded almost at the same time, and at this distance, the sound was so loud that it seemed like it was exploding next to Ke Lan's ears.
"Damn it, I forgot about this..." Ke Lan covered his buzzing ears and thought to himself. Fortunately, their attack was very successful this time. The remaining seven mercenaries fell in a pool of blood in the blink of an eye. Two of them were still struggling in pain on the ground, and the other five were completely silent.
"Charge forward and support Lao Gou and the others!" Ke Lan shouted loudly, jumped out of the shelter, bent over and ran forward quickly.
The Hounds were already in a tough fight, six against two, and were completely outnumbered . Moreover... those exiles dressed like beggars actually took out two energy shields from somewhere!
