It Dares Not Come

The icy cold current, like a tsunami, should have frozen the mist. However, the mist here was completely unaffected. After passing through the center of the anomaly, the cold current abnormally diminished.

The cold current was still a cold current. As it surged out, the air temperature rapidly dropped. This drop made those who approached the low temperature shiver. The area the icy breath passed over froze into a layer of ice... but that was all.

Hiding behind cover, Zheng Yichen looked at the ice on the edge of the cover. He tapped the ice blocks with the fishing rod in his hand. They were very solid, more solid than the ice blocks in the cold storage of the chicken farm. It took a little effort to shatter them.

The ambient temperature plummeted, it was very cold, but as long as one avoided the direct impact of the cold current, they could basically avoid severe frostbite or being frozen to death.

"I'm starting to understand what you said earlier," Zheng Yichen said to Roy.

The breath spewed by the dragon seen in the anomaly was vastly different from its actual effect. When it first erupted, it felt like it could freeze the entire street at will. If it had erupted here, all the creatures on the street would have been finished.

But when it actually came, it was somewhat anticlimactic... That's it?

It was supposed to be an ice nuke, but it turned out to be just a liquid nitrogen bomb.

As a qualified transmigator, it wasn't difficult to understand the current situation.

"That's why it doesn't dare to come over!" Roy exhaled. In the middle of summer, a cold current rushing over felt like a harsh winter, and you could see your breath. "We just need to clear out the things that ran out. Prepare to counterattack!!"

Hearing the cracking sounds in the distance, Roy roared, raised the rocket launcher he had reloaded, and rushed out of cover to fire a shot at the undead creatures marching out on the ice in the distance.

The explosion's flames added a little warmth to this very cold area. At the same time, people in other areas also began their counterattack. Although the undead creatures also threw some attacks, even some murky green fireballs and 'energy' arrows.

But those attacks, like firearms, were powerful but meaningless if they missed. Unlike firearms, it was best not to directly touch those attacks, which were likely magic.

A bullet graze would result in a large gash. No one wanted to test what a graze from those murky green fireballs would do.

Two hours later, the undead creatures that had been continuously surging out gradually retreated. Roy's face looked very pale. He had been injured by a bone arrow earlier and had been relying on medication. After fighting for so long, even the best medicine couldn't hold up.

Zheng Yichen seemed a bit bored. A melee unit was not very useful here. He had to buy a gun. He had a clear understanding of the firepower possessed by Roy's team, which was formidable.

A little over an hour ago, they were still in a bit of a predicament facing the surging undead creatures, but it was different after reinforcements arrived. When they had the advantage, it was a carpet of firepower. The advantage of technology over magic was not insignificant.

Zheng Yichen speculated that the reason for the extra advantage was related to the environment. The breath spewed by the bone dragon was greatly weakened after leaving the center of the anomaly, let alone the attacks and special powers of some undead creatures.

Apart from the initial attack, that bone dragon had never emerged from the center of the anomaly.

With no more undead creatures pouring out, a doctor arrived for Roy. The doctor examined Roy's injury and immediately began treating the arrow wound, skillfully removing the arrow.

After taking some anti-inflammatory medication, he let out a sigh and looked at Zheng Yichen. "Are you really not considering joining the Countermeasures Bureau?"

"I'll consider it if I can keep my Hunter status."

"That won't do." Roy shook his head and didn't say any more about it. The Countermeasures Bureau needed to replenish its personnel frequently, but the difficulty of replenishment wasn't high. Many Hunters sought stable jobs and joined the Countermeasures Bureau.

Zheng Yichen was very young and still a Novice Hunter, at a stage where he greatly yearned to experience the abnormal world. Persuading him wouldn't be easy.

The Countermeasures Bureau personnel were still on alert at their respective positions. After more than two hours of fighting, the scene was already heavily fortified. With high-intensity cover deployed, the attacks from the undead creatures were difficult to be effective.

This battle made Zheng Yichen think of the purpose of those research institutes... They research weapons and equipment, even biological weapons, not necessarily to start a war in this world, at least not entirely.

On-site staff were operating drones to collect the skeletal remains of the Undead Creatures.

Occasionally, bone arrows and 'magic' would shoot out from the mist. After the attacks destroyed the drones, the staff would quickly replace them, and the recovery work proceeded in an orderly manner.

Zheng Yichen held a skull whose jaw was still clacking against its upper jaw. Its body had been destroyed in a fierce explosion, and its head had been blown over, landing in his hand.

Undead Creatures, they could still live even with just a head remaining. Looking at the 'flame' burning inside the skull, Zheng Yichen tossed it up and poked the fishing rod he held into the skull's eye socket.

He raised an eyebrow slightly, noticing Roy watching him: "This needs to be collected too?"

"Have you read the Hunter's Code?"

"Not finished."

"Apart from prohibiting what you're holding from falling into the hands of Ordinary Persons, you can handle the rest yourself." Roy said and then withdrew his gaze.

There was no need to pay too much attention to the skull in Zheng Yichen's hand; too many of these things were being collected. Drones were hauling them away in piles. The body parts of the recovered Undead Creatures would be received by some research institutes.

Those research institutes wouldn't get anything for free from the Countermeasures Bureau. They were the ones doing the work. Did they think they could profit from this afterwards? They were dreaming too big. If they wanted these things, they had to provide additional funds to the Countermeasures Bureau for acquisition.

The Countermeasures Bureau also had priority in purchasing some newly developed weapons and equipment.

Zheng Yichen looked at the skull threaded onto the fishing rod. He had thought he couldn't get anything from an 'Aberrant Creature' like himself that had turned into bones. However, when the fishing rod touched the 'flame' inside the skull, his own abnormality began to stir slightly.

The fishing rod concealed the 'mouthparts' derived from his abnormality. Now that it was reacting, then...

Under Zheng Yichen's gaze, the flame inside the skull dimmed slightly. He immediately stopped what he was doing. There were too many eyes around, and he himself was an Aberrant Creature. He should be cautious about this.

Humans having Aberrant Creatures, this term, on Earth, actually had many representative words, such as Espers, Mutants, etc.

In this world, any existence that was 'different from the norm' was collectively called an Aberrant Creature. For intelligent aberrant existences like humans, at most, when writing notes, they wouldn't write Aberrant Creature, but Aberrant.

If his abnormality allowed him to set fires, generate electricity, or even turn into a Hulk-like being (not the green kind), he wouldn't act. The key was that his own abnormality was quite evil, at least it would make people associate it with bad things.

A devouring type of abnormal ability.

After coming into contact with the skull, he gained a new understanding of his abnormal ability. Besides being effective on normal creatures, it was also effective on abnormal creatures, provided he found the right spot.

"Can I leave now?"

"Wait a moment." Roy looked at Zheng Yichen, who was preparing to leave, and had him wait for a moment. He took out an agreement and handed it to Zheng Yichen: "Sign it and you can go."

The agreement was not very harsh. The events that happened here did not require Zheng Yichen to maintain absolute secrecy, and it was difficult to keep secret. He just needed not to talk nonsense casually. At the same time, anything obtained here was prohibited from entering the Ordinary Person circle.

There was also some reward for his participation in this incident. He received a full... three thousand yuan.

"If I had a gun, would this reward double?"

"That can be arranged. They'll reimburse the ammunition, but that's it." Roy said. This reward was only for Zheng Yichen's level of killing those Giant Rats. A melee unit didn't have much of a role to play when dealing with Undead Creatures.

If Zheng Yichen had been able to go on a rampage among the Undead Creatures, cutting them down like grass, or even directly charged into the Anomaly and ripped off the Bone Dragon's head, then Zheng Yichen would have been received by the mayor of Longcheng that very evening and appeared at a banquet hosted by the mayor. Everyone of note in Longcheng would have given him their business cards.

"I'm leaving." Zheng Yichen looked regretfully at the Anomaly that had not yet disappeared.

The Anomaly that appeared in Longcheng's fog lasted for several hours, or at least half an hour, which was considered a relatively long duration.

As for the cleanup after the battle here, Zheng Yichen remembered seeing many reports in Longcheng's news about a certain Research Institute developing high-performance building materials. People caught in the Anomaly would be affected, but the number wouldn't be that large. This was mainly because the Anomaly mostly appeared in open areas, and it wouldn't get stuck inside any buildings.

Of course, if someone was unlucky enough for the Anomaly to appear directly on their roof, then they'd just have to accept it. The initial appearance of the Anomaly had signs, a brief process. If they accepted it and weren't too slow, and their legs were nimble enough to run quickly, there wouldn't be any major problems.

If they were too slow to run, they'd be dead and waiting for post-event rescue. Encountering a situation like this, they likely wouldn't even have the chance to wait for post-event rescue. They'd directly join those Undead Creatures.

He knew that Longcheng's television often broadcasted educational programs on these topics, similar to disaster preparedness for earthquakes, fires, and other emergencies. Of course, those programs didn't mention what might be inside an Anomaly.

Those directly affected by the Anomaly had fainted, so they naturally couldn't see any substantial information.