99 Going home! (1/2)

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu could only count himself fortunate to have escaped quickly enough and was even glad to have encountered those Experimentals along the way. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to avoid the volcanic eruption zone.

The built-up pressure in the volcano finally erupted. Qing Zhen watched the sights from the ruined city and said with a sigh, ”What a pity.”

No one knew what he was feeling pity for this time.

Someone beside Qing Zhen asked, ”Boss, what do we do now?”

But just as the question was asked, an earthshaking roar of a creature came from the crater of the volcano. The sound of that roar seemed to travel dozens of kilometers in an instant!

Ren Xiaosu looked back in surprise. At the peak of the volcano, he suddenly saw a huge claw grabbing onto the edge of the volcano's crater. It looked like it was something trying to climb out!

There was actually a creature hidden inside that volcano? What kind of creature could possibly live in magma? Something that terrifying had even appeared now? Then what kind of terrifying existence could that creature he had encountered at the river but not seen with his own eyes be?

Qing Zhen sighed and said, ”Such a thing actually exists? Let's temporarily pull out of the Jing Mountains from the west. The mission is a failure.”

Qing Zhen's trusted aide who was standing next to him said in shock, ”Just what the hell is that….”

”Yan Tao, call that useless brother of mine,” Qing Zhen said as he kept his gaze on the volcano. ”If that thing crawls out, or a large number of Experimentals get forced south because of the eruption, Stronghold 113 will be in danger.”

The trusted aide whose name was Yan Tao wondered if Qing Zhen really thought the stronghold would fall. He instinctively went to retrieve the satellite phone but discovered that the usually working satellite phone couldn't make any calls.

The heatwave caused by the volcanic eruption began to sweep through the entire mountain range. Keep in mind that there wasn't only one volcano in the Jing Mountains. Seeing this, Qing Zhen said, ”Let's leave this place first!”

This sea of fire looked like it was about to bury the secret of the Jing Mountains.

Xu Man and the others who received their orders to retreat continued firing in an orderly manner as they did so. They did not start panicking because of the volcanic eruption. Caught in this dangerous situation, they became even calmer.

When they finally came out of the forest and arrived at the edge of the city, someone who was with Qing Zhen triggered a remote in their hand. In an instant, a line of fire was lit as the dividing line between the city, and the forest started burning.

The explosives the Qing Consortium had buried here beforehand were detonated all at once and completely contained the Experimentals to the north of the forest. Even for creatures as strong and tough as the Experimentals, half of them were still killed or wounded by the explosives detonating. As for the remaining wave of Experimentals that had not been affected by the explosion, they could only watch from behind the wall of fire as the Qing Consortium's personnel made their retreat.

The Experimentals did not linger here for long. Instead, they went back into the forest, seemingly to look for another route to bypass this area.

Panting, Xu Xianchu returned and came up to Qing Zhen. He lowered his head and said, ”Sorry, I didn't manage to bring Xu Xianchu back.”

”It's OK.” Qing Zhen shook his head. ”Get in the car, we'll head west. There should be another route there that can bring us back to Stronghold 112.” Qing Zhen then turned around and left. The sound of his leather shoes tapping on the ground gave an aura of calm to his footsteps.

A large convoy of military transport trucks and off-road vehicles, as well as many other heavy machines, were parked at the edge of the city.

Xu Man did not move. Qing Zhen turned around and looked at him. ”You want to ask me why I got our people to save you? Don't feel too touched by that. It's just business between us. I only got our people to save you because I still have use for you.”

Xu Man stammered as though he was going to say something.

In the end, Qing Zhen laughed and said, ”Save your words of loyalty. I've never believed in that.”

But at this time, a soldier up ahead shouted, ”This is bad! Our vehicles can't be driven anymore. Come over and take a look at what's happened to the tires...”

Xu Man was startled. ”What happened? Are the tires punctured? We brought along tire jacks and machinery to patch up tires and fill them with air.”

The soldier said with a bitter expression, ”It's not a puncture. Our vehicles' tires have been slashed….”

Xu Man and Qing Zhen were confused.

The smile on the previously calm Qing Zhen stiffened. ”…Xu Xianchu, this is the first time I've been so keen on killing someone. Xu Man, bring me my uniform….”

Qing Zhen and Xu Man knew that ”Xu Xianchu” had escaped south, but they really hadn't expected something like this to happen.

In Xu Man's opinion, it should have been enough to just puncture the tires. But rather than that, their opponent had chosen to slash the tires?!

By slashing the tires, it would mean that everyone from the Qing Consortium would have to leave the Jing Mountains on foot. It wasn't really that dangerous, but it would definitely make them look pathetic, especially if they were wearing a white suit.

Xu Man whispered in a soft voice behind Qing Zhen, ”This mission failure might make the consortium punish you.”