The night was thick, and the further Long Yuehong advanced on the left side of the team, the more apprehensive he felt.

Actually, when he first left Room 605, he wasn't so afraid, because he hadn't encountered any enemies or monsters that could be considered dangerous—the occasional "Heartless" didn't even have time to make a move before being easily dealt with by the group.

This made Long Yuehong think, "I can do that too," and the truth was that he, carrying two pistols, holding an assault rifle, and having undergone genetic modification, could cleanly deal with two or three "Heartless" if he overcame his nervousness, even if they were armed.

Of course, in a firefight, carelessness and negligence could allow an adult to be killed by a child. Long Yuehong asked himself if he encountered a "Heartless" attack, he wasn't so sure he could win one-on-one, but if the enemy was just like that, it wouldn't bring him too much psychological pressure.

After witnessing Wu Shoushi, whom he had chatted with amiably, die strangely in a dream, and his group couldn't even find a trace of the "killer," Long Yuehong began to feel nervous and anxious.

Jiang Baimian had told him before that psychological trauma in war mainly came not from personally killing the enemy, but from seeing familiar people, comrades who spent day and night together, being hit by bullets right in front of you and dying miserably.

This would not only bring strong sadness and pain but also make everyone involuntarily think, "Will I be next?" It would lead to uncontrollable tension, nightmares, irritability, anxiety, and difficulty concentrating.

At this moment, Long Yuehong felt like he had some of these symptoms.

Similarly, the unknown situation of the "killer" would significantly increase the sense of fear.

In the quiet city ruins, all Long Yuehong could hear was the sound of their five pairs of feet jogging forward. Besides that, there was no movement. The depths of the darkness around them, the buildings on both sides, seemed to be silently opening a hunting net.

Just then, Long Yuehong heard his team leader's urgent and high-pitched voice:

"Careful!"

Because he had experienced many dangerous situations during this field training exercise, Long Yuehong had a high degree of trust in Jiang Baimian. Without hesitation, he reflexively dived towards an abandoned "gray" red car on the side of the road.

Almost at the same time, Jiang Baimian also jumped up, turning in mid-air and raising her right arm, which was holding the "Joint-202" pistol.

Bang!

On the third floor of a building on the left side of the street, a glass window shattered, and the figure beside the window staggered backward.

Under the dim moonlight and starlight, the figure had elongated teeth and turbid eyes, clearly not a normal human.

Immediately afterward, a crashing sound rang out. On different floors of the building, window after window was broken, and figure after figure appeared.

The clouds moved, and the moonlight shone down, illuminating everything.

Those figures had messy hair like bird's nests, thin faces, thick and long body hair, and clothes that were not too tattered but casually thrown together, seemingly purely for warmth.

They were all hunching over. Some had bloodshot eyes, some held shimmering kitchen knives, some held what was commonly known as a "Python" revolver, and some were dressed in black, as if integrated into the darkness and difficult to detect.

They were all "Heartless"!

One of them was tall, only slightly hunched over, with a dense beard on his face, each hair stiff.

He was holding a shotgun, quickly pulling back the handguard to chamber a round, and pulled the trigger at Jiang Baimian.

Bang!

Countless pellets poured out, enveloping the area where the target was located, but Jiang Baimian had already landed, rolling to hide behind the front of an abandoned car.

On the other side, Qiao Chu, wearing an exoskeleton, jumped up directly.

Holding the silver rifle in one hand, he pulled the trigger with the help of the "Precision Targeting System," firing a round that seemed to be entwined with silver-white electric snakes.

He was carrying a Gauss rifle.

Bang!

A bloody hole immediately appeared in the forehead of the "Heartless" holding the shotgun.

His eyes suddenly glazed over, and he fell backward.

At the same time, Qiao Chu raised the metal arm holding the grenade launcher, aimed at the broken window with the most figures showing, and pulled the trigger.

On the left side of the street, Shang Jianyao, who had dived to the side of the road after hearing Jiang Baimian's reminder, hadn't had time to stand up when a figure broke the second-floor window and jumped down, landing behind him.

This figure was also slightly hunched over, wearing an ill-fitting, very old and greasy blue work suit, and holding a large silver-white wrench in his hand.

As soon as he landed, he was about to swing his right arm and smash the wrench on Shang Jianyao's head, but Shang Jianyao, with his back to him, didn't seem to notice.

Suddenly, the figure's right arm froze there, unable to swing out no matter what.

As a "Heartless" who relied mainly on instinct, he seemed to be missing this instinct.

Shang Jianyao didn't turn around, but simply reversed the muzzle of his assault rifle, and fired a burst backward through the space over his shoulder.

Bang!

The skull of the "Heartless" behind him was directly blown open, and blood and brain matter splattered out.

At this time, Long Yuehong, not far away, also noticed a "Heartless" jumping down above him.

His mind was a little blank, and following his instinct, he raised the "Berserker" assault rifle at the attacker.

Bang bang bang!

He fired wildly, almost emptying a magazine, fully demonstrating why the assault rifle was nicknamed "Berserker."

And the "Heartless," in mid-air, had no way to change direction. His entire body was riddled with holes, and blood spurted everywhere.

With the sound of the empty trigger, Long Yuehong came back to his senses and quickly changed the magazine.

Just then, he saw another "Heartless" jumping down on his left side at some point, a "Heartless" holding a "Python" revolver.

That "Heartless" was seven or eight meters away from Shang Jianyao on the same side, and less than two meters away from Long Yuehong.

Long Yuehong's pupils suddenly dilated, and he instinctively tried to dodge, but it seemed too late.

That "Heartless" had already aimed at him, with only the action of pulling the trigger left.

However, that "Heartless" couldn't press his finger down no matter what, as if he was missing this action in his genes.

Bang!

His head was hit, exploding like fireworks, scattering red and white everywhere. Some of it even splashed on Long Yuehong's face and body.

Long Yuehong subconsciously looked over and saw Shang Jianyao smiling and waving at him, and saw Bai Chen moving the muzzle of her rifle away from this side across the road.

Before he had time to catch his breath, he heard a loud boom.

The grenade launched by Qiao Chu landed in the corresponding room, rolling out a crimson fireball.

The surrounding glass windows shattered in response.

Those "Heartless" who hadn't launched an attack seemed to be shocked. They simultaneously moved away from the windows facing the street, retreated to the depths of the room, and disappeared into the dense darkness.

"Let's get out of here!" Jiang Baimian, seeing this, ran out of hiding and shouted loudly.

There were too many electrical signals here. She had no way of determining how many "Heartless" and monsters were hidden.

Moreover, compared to the wilderness, there were more obstacles here to interfere with her senses, so that after those "Heartless" left the rooms on the side of the road, she basically lost her sense of them.

Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and others fully trusted their team leader and immediately rushed out of the obstacles, running along the side of the street towards the end of the road.

And Qiao Chu used the action of running away, which he had started long ago, to explain his thoughts.

They didn't feel like they had escaped the encirclement until they had run out of the current street and reached the intersection ahead, and they slowed down one after another.

Long Yuehong seized this opportunity to change the magazine of the "Berserker" assault rifle, and used a loader to refill the empty one.

"There are too many 'Heartless' here, right?" Jiang Baimian looked back at the street they had just been on and frowned.

Shang Jianyao and others followed suit, only to feel that figures were floating in the darkness over there, seemingly dragging away the bodies on the side of the street.

"They are all 'Heartless' from several generations later. They don't seem to be relic hunters or wasteland wanderers who just entered here and were infected with 'Heartless Disease'," Bai Chen gave her judgment.

The "Heartless" from several generations later were more capable of using weapons. Their eyes were only turbid, without the mindless madness. At the same time, they would actively change equipment and add clothes, and would not wear tattered clothes. They would only mix and match various clothes and wear them together.

"We're almost at our destination." Qiao Chu looked ahead and urged Jiang Baimian and the others.

The "Old Task Force" ended their discussion and continued forward in the darkness, following Qiao Chu, who was wearing an exoskeleton.

After they jogged for a hundred meters, two people suddenly came out of the alley next to them.

One was a woman, in her twenties, with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a military green camouflage uniform. Her features were decent, but she gave a cold and indifferent feeling.

The other was a man, around thirty, also with black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a knitted hat with a hole in it and holding an automatic rifle in his hand.

Jiang Baimian and Qiao Chu, who was wearing an exoskeleton, reacted first. The latter was about to respond, but Jiang Baimian took the lead, blocking in front of him and shouting loudly:

"Ru Xiang?"

She had recognized that the woman was Wu Shoushi's teammate, named Ru Xiang.

An Ru Xiang, hearing this greeting, noticed a group of people not far away.

She was initially wary, wanting to find obstacles to hide behind, but her eyes quickly softened and she couldn't help but look at Qiao Chu.

The man next to her was the same, as if he had met someone he had admired for a long time.

The two quickly approached and came to Qiao Chu's side.

Qiao Chu's face, wearing a helmet, didn't show any expression, but he never paid them any attention.

An Ru Xiang then looked at Jiang Baimian:

"You?"

The only team with an exoskeleton they had encountered recently was this one. There were no others, so they had a very deep impression.

Jiang Baimian looked at Shang Jianyao and turned back to say:

"It's us. I didn't expect to meet you so quickly."

She paused, her expression becoming serious:

"We also encountered Wu Shoushi just now."

Hearing the name Wu Shoushi, An Ru Xiang was first stunned, and then her face twisted.

The name seemed to be an invisible little arrow, hitting a certain place in her heart, stimulating her to wake up from a beautiful dream.

She struggled for a while and asked urgently:

"He, where is he?"

ps: Asking for recommendations~