"Do you guys smell anything?" Luo Yuan suddenly asked when it was almost noon the next day.
"I don't think so!" The others shook their heads.
Luo Yuan sniffed again doubtfully. This time, it was clearer. It was a burnt smell with a hint of rotten eggs. It was vaguely familiar, as if he had smelled it somewhere before.
Soon, he recalled the smell of a volcano. It was similar to the smell of an erupting volcano. However, Luo Yuan was not too worried. The danger of an erupting volcano was completely different from one that was about to erupt. If one encountered the former, it was best to run as far as possible. The latter, on the other hand, was just emitting thick smoke. It might not even erupt in a hundred years.
As they got closer to the volcano, the others gradually smelled it.
When they stood on top of a huge rock on top of a mountain and looked into the distance, they were shocked to find out that there was not only one volcano nearby. It was a group of volcanoes. Along the lines of a few mountains, the volcanoes were like beacons on the Great Wall of China being ignited one by one. Thick smoke was billowing, shocking everyone.
"Why are there so many volcanoes here? I don't think there are any active volcanoes in China." Huo Dong said, his face slightly pale.
"Maybe, but that was in the past!" Luo Yuan looked at the group of volcanoes and took a deep breath. "Drastic changes in the sea level and external cosmic storms will affect the lava activity. Once the volcano erupts, it will be a super volcano. Not only will this place be flooded with lava, even the Reconstruction Area will be affected.
"Is it that serious?" Lin Xiaoji was shocked and said.
"This is just a conservative estimate!" Luo Yuan said. He had seen a documentary about super volcanoes.
When a volcano erupts, the lava is only secondary. The most harmful thing is the volcanic ash and poisonous gas. A super volcano like this can eject hundreds of millions of tons of materials into the air every time it erupts. When that happens, the day will turn into night and summer will turn into winter. Not only the Reconstruction Area, but almost half of China will also be affected. He did not know if a large number of mutated creatures would die, but it would definitely be worse for humans who were struggling to survive.
"We have to return to the Reconstruction Area as soon as possible and report this to our superiors," Commander Xia said immediately.
Luo Yuan nodded. Suddenly, he sensed something and looked towards one of the volcanoes.
Lava suddenly splashed from the top of the volcano, and a powerful flame spewed out from it, reaching hundreds of meters into the air. At first, he thought that he was unlucky and that the volcano was about to erupt, but as the flame spewed out, an insect-like monster suddenly popped its head out of the crater.
"Look, what's that?" At this time, the others also noticed it. Everyone stared unblinkingly at the mysterious creature that lived in the magma.
Although it was still nearly six or seven kilometers away, due to its huge size, everyone could still see it clearly. It looked like a red worm, with circular stripes on the surface of its body and two rows of small black feet at its feet. It had almost no eyes, only a circular mouth that spat out flames that took up most of its head.
At this time, its head kept shaking, and a high-pressure flame that was hundreds of meters long danced in the air as it shook.
A few trees nearby were swept by the red flame and suddenly started burning. In less than 10 seconds, they became a pile of black charcoal, which showed that the flame was extremely hot.
The flame continued to spit out, and it seemed to have received some kind of signal. Another maggot popped out of the crater, and then the third, the fourth … Luo Yuan was shocked to find that almost all of the volcanoes had been occupied by the mysterious creature.
Then, the area began to enter the carnival of the "maggot". A large number of flame pillars crisscrossed in the air, and the terrifyingly high temperature caused the air to distort. Even where Luo Yuan was, the temperature had increased by a few degrees Celsius, and there was a burning smell when he breathed.
The carnival lasted for a full half an hour before it finally stopped, and the maggot plunged into the crater one after another.
Everyone's face was slightly pale, and it took them about 10 seconds to recover from the shock. The group did not dare to stay there any longer. After the maggot disappeared, they went around the group of volcanoes and continued to move forward.
…..
Along the way, although the terrain was still undulating and the mountains were endless, they could feel that the altitude was decreasing. For example, the nearby snow-capped mountains were gradually disappearing, and the mountains were beginning to become shorter. This was undoubtedly good news.
On the fifth day, the group even found traces of humans.
It was the ruins of a village. A few lonely stone pillars were lying on the ground, and broken bricks and rotten furniture could be seen under the weeds. Huang Jiahui even found an intact porcelain bowl with the logo of the Mao Zedong era in the ruins.
This meant that the village was not isolated from the world, and perhaps they would be able to walk out of the mountains soon.
This made the group excited, but at the same time, they had mixed feelings. The difficulties and obstacles they had encountered along the way had put everyone under unimaginable pressure.
The path of the village had been covered by plants, but if they looked carefully, they could still see some clues, such as the relatively solid ground and some homogeneous gravel.
The giant lizard followed the direction of the path, and along the way, they could see the ruins of villages everywhere. When it was almost evening, a cement road suddenly appeared in front of them.
The cement road was badly damaged, full of potholes, moss, and weeds, mixed with the jungle on both sides.
As they stepped on the cement road, there were more and more traces of humans, and the surrounding forest gradually became sparser.
A large number of collapsed buildings, all kinds of colorful garbage, and the air was filled with a moldy smell. Perhaps it was because of their state of mind, but when they saw this scene, everyone looked a little excited.
"Where is this place?" Huang Jiahui asked, trying hard to suppress her emotions.
"I think this should be a small town. We will reach the city soon, and there must be a well-preserved map there, "Commander Xia said, sounding a little excited.
The sky was getting dark, and after a brief discussion, they decided not to stay any longer. They would rush to the nearest city overnight.
Because the road was relatively flat, the giant lizard could finally unleash its terrifying speed. It took heavy steps, and under Luo Yuan's urging, it began to run, easily reaching 80 to 90 kilometers per hour. The strong wind was blowing, and everyone held on tightly to the rattan blanket on the giant lizard's back to prevent themselves from being thrown off.
It was roughly located at the junction of Qinghai and Tibet, and the land was vast and sparsely populated. Other than the road, there were almost no villages. A few dry car tires were scattered on the road, and the car had long been corroded into a pile of red rust.
The journey was quiet, and only the heavy footsteps of the giant lizard and King Kong could be heard echoing in the night sky.
… …..
At nine o 'clock at night, everyone finally stepped into the city in the forest.
It looked like an ancient city from thousands of years ago, full of the smell of decay. It was no longer recognizable, and even the color of the reinforced concrete had been covered by endless green.
However, everyone was already used to it, so they turned a blind eye to it.
Although most of the buildings had rotted and collapsed, there were still quite a number of buildings that were still standing, supported by the vines, and merged into the nearby forest.
"Let's go take a look at the tallest building in front," Luo Yuan said.
The building was about five to six stories high, and its surface was wrapped in a thick layer of green vines. It was already the tallest building in the area that could be preserved. Luo Yuan jumped off the giant lizard and used his Zhanmadao to cut the plants on the surface of the building. Soon, the severely corroded concrete was revealed.
He stretched out his leg and kicked it. With a crashing sound, a big hole appeared in the wall.
Although his strength was not weak, and a normal wall would not have been so easy to break, the concrete had already lost its firmness under the corrosion of the plants. It had become like sand, and with a light kick, a large part of it collapsed.
Luo Yuan asked the giant lizard and King Kong to stay where they were, and then went into the hole. A few mutated beasts that had been making their nests were cleared out, and everyone followed him in.
It was dark and damp inside, and there was a strong rotten smell.
"Boss Luo, did you find anything?" Huo Dong came over and asked.
"No, it's too damp here. Even the desk has rotted, let alone the paper map. I'll go upstairs to take a look. You guys go back first," Luo Yuan said. The buildings there were very fragile, like tofu. A little force could cause them to collapse, and no one would be safe except for him.
"Be careful!" Huang Jiahui said.
Luo Yuan nodded and quickly walked towards the staircase. The entire staircase was broken, so he had no choice but to jump up to the second floor. The strong impact had caused a large part of the second floor to collapse, but he had already left the original spot. In a flash, he entered one of the rooms.
It seemed to be an office building, and Luo Yuan saw a lot of computer debris and some rotten paper documents.
Luo Yuan looked carefully, trying to find some useful information. Unfortunately, all the words were gone, and the documents had turned into something like mud.
"Hey!" Suddenly, he found a vertical safe at the corner of the wall.
It was a little rusty, but it was not damaged. His face lit up with joy. He pulled out his Zhanmadao and gently cut it open. There was a thick stack of documents and invoices inside.
They were well preserved, except for the damp. Unfortunately, there was no map. But then again, no one would put a map in a safe for no reason.
He picked up a document. It was a business contract, but Luo Yuan did not read it carefully. He just looked at the Party A and the Party B at the back.
"Party A: Jiuchuan Yongle Advertising Co., Ltd."
"Party B: Jiuchuan Shengde Tourism and Real Estate Co., Ltd."
He looked at the other documents and found that most of the addresses were in Jiuchuan. It seemed that this city was most likely Jiuchuan, but he had no impression of the name at all.
PS: You overestimated yourself. You can only make up for the missing update tomorrow.
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