A few seconds later, the 'Internet Addiction' communicator at Renault's waist vibrated.
He took it out and found that the screen had lit up. It was no longer a frozen black screen, but displayed a simple interface:
In the upper left were his name and vital signs. In the center was a radar-style map: a blue dot represented himself, twenty-three green dots represented his teammates, and a conspicuous red arrow pointed behind them, toward the rift entrance.
In the lower right was a line of small text: Signal Strength 73%, Connected to Base Station #001, Coverage Radius 0.9 km.
"It worked!" a technician shouted excitedly.
But the excitement lasted only three seconds.
Because heavy footsteps suddenly came from the thick fog ahead.
Countless footsteps, closing in from all directions.
Then shadows emerged one after another—Biters, those humanoid monsters with twisted joints. There were at least thirty of them.
"Defend the base station!" Renault drew his pistol. It was a specially made borax-round pistol with a fifteen-round magazine. "Everyone else, follow the original plan. Split into three groups and move in different directions. Remember, deploy a base station every seven kilometers, leave two people behind to guard it, and have the rest continue forward!"
The team quickly scattered.
One group headed east, another west, while Renault led the third group south.
They fired at the approaching monsters while struggling across the writhing ground.
Deploying the base stations was like planting flags in a minefield.
Whenever they reached a relatively open area, they set down the cases and began assembling them.
The instant the crystal sphere lit up, the communicators regained their connection—but it also attracted every Purgatory creature nearby.
Fight, deploy, leave two people behind, continue forward.
Two hours later, Renault's group deployed the fourth base station.
On the communicator screen,