CHAPTER 345: CHAPTER 342: [MUTATION]

Chapter 342: Mutation

「Several minutes earlier.」

The convoy was stationed outside the Red Circle base.

"Outpost, outpost, this is the action team. Respond, respond."

"Outpost received. The signal is very clear."

"Report the latest temperature monitoring."

"According to satellite remote sensing, the temperature fluctuation at the window is within the predicted model, and data fluctuation is within the normal range..."

The technician responsible for communications was maintaining contact with the outpost from inside the largest ice vehicle.

Vanel had the snow vehicles adjusted into position, forming a semicircle and creating a posture favorable for defense.

The four armed personnel who remained behind had already disembarked, wearing their snow gear, and were on alert around the convoy.

Vanel sat inside the vehicle, quietly listening to the communication between the technician and the outpost, his expression grave. He even took out a cigarette and lit it.

"Um, Mr. Vanel, inside the vehicle..." a technician beside him couldn’t help but begin, but then trailed off.

Vanel glanced at him and patted the technician’s shoulder. "You don’t smoke?" he asked indifferently.

"Er, no."

"First time on a field mission?"

"Er... No, it’s my second time," the technician replied, somewhat flustered.

Vanel cracked a smile. "If you get the chance to go on a few more missions, you’ll understand. This kind of thing means mortgaging your head to Satan; you could lose your life at any moment. So, enjoy life while you can, understand? Would you like one?"

The technician hesitated, but Vanel just shook his head with a smile. "Never mind. If you don’t smoke, how about a drink?"

He pulled out a flat, silver flask and handed it to the other man.

This time, the technician didn’t refuse. He joyfully took it and immediately smelled the strong, pure scent of vodka.

Vanel pushed open the vehicle door, jumped down, and stood on the icy plains to smoke.

The temperature was very cold, more than fifty degrees below zero. But for a burly Siberian-born man, this weather was just "a bit cold." This was especially true with his cold-weather gear, and even more so because he was an Ability User.

After finishing his cigarette, Vanel snuffed out the butt and tucked it into his pocket.

At that moment, the vehicle’s inner door opened, and the technician from before crawled out, laughing. "Everything’s normal at the outpost! The temperature fluctuation numbers are healthy, and the window of opportunity might even be longer than we predicted..."

Just then...

BANG!!!

The sound came from inside the base!

Upon hearing it, Vanel reacted instantly. He rushed forward, shoved the technician back into the vehicle, then dashed into the driver’s seat. Grabbing the communicator, he barked, "What’s going on?! Nolan!! Nolan, respond!!"

(At this time, Chen Nuo and the Captain’s team were being attacked in the warehouse area, the moment when two technicians went mad and started shooting.)

After making contact, Vanel jumped down from the vehicle again. He quickly gave commands for all drivers to turn the convoy around, preparing for a potential emergency retreat.

"Check your firearms! Check battle weapons! Be on alert!!" Vanel shouted, directing the four armed personnel to gather.

"If something happens, we’ll storm the base to reinforce them at any moment! Check your ammo, check your gear!"

As he spoke, Vanel charged over to a vehicle with an external cargo hold. He opened the door and quickly hefted out a large weapon.

It was a modified Gatling gun.

"Get this thing set up! Be ready!" Vanel urged the armed personnel, cursing, while he picked up a pair of binoculars to peer into the base.

"Nolan, Nolan, come in! How is it on your end?"

As Vanel was speaking into the communicator, he suddenly heard a strange sound by his ear. It was a growl like that of some wild beast, seemingly close yet faint...

Vanel instinctively turned his head.

Suddenly, less than two meters from where he stood, beside an ice vehicle, there was a loud thud against its window! A face from inside smashed violently against the glass, cracking the special explosion-proof material!

The driver inside looked ferocious, his body writhing wildly. His eyes were severely bloodshot, and he growled like a wild animal.

Vanel was stunned for a second.

WTF?!

But his years of combat experience made his body instinctively recoil.

Just then, BOOM! The vehicle’s door burst open, and the driver’s figure charged out with a howl!

He lunged at Vanel in a bear hug. His movements were so fast and fierce that even Vanel, an Ability User, couldn’t dodge in time and was knocked directly to the ground.

Vanel felt the opponent’s hands grip his chest like steel pliers, their strength immense, almost enough to dig into his ribs.

Such monstrous strength?!

Shocked, Vanel struggled fiercely. But the other man seemed to have gone berserk; he suddenly opened his mouth wide and bit down towards Vanel’s face.

Vanel fiercely pushed against his assailant’s neck with one hand to stop the bite, while his other hand frantically fumbled at his waist. He quickly found something.

It was a portable walkie-talkie. Vanel immediately grabbed it and shoved it hard into his assailant’s mouth.

"ROAR!"

The crazed driver screamed hoarsely around the walkie-talkie. It was bitten straight through; the biting force was horrific! But since human oral tissue is soft, the driver’s mouth soon became a bloody, mangled mess, blood streaming down.

Yet, to Vanel’s surprise, the other man seemed completely oblivious to the pain, continuing to growl at him frantically.

The armed personnel nearby had already rushed over. One of them shouted as he raised his gun, aiming at the driver on top of Vanel, "Let him go!!"

No sooner had the warning been shouted than, BANG! The door of another nearby vehicle was smashed open. Another crazed driver pounced out, directly toppling the armed man to the ground.

Although the armed man struggled madly, he was not an Ability User and couldn’t resist the crazed driver’s immense strength. Pinned to the ground, the crazed driver bit into his neck. The armed man let out a blood-curdling scream as blood gushed wildly, his body trembling and convulsing.

BANG!!

The other armed personnel opened fire.

BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG...

A volley of bullets hit the mutated driver, puncturing his cold-weather suit and body, splattering blood everywhere.

This mutated driver, however, struggled to his feet and lunged at the nearest armed man who had fired. Before the man could cry out or retreat, the driver, braving the bullets, grappled with him and quickly got his hands around the man’s neck.

SNAP!

The neck broke cleanly.

BANG BANG BANG...

The remaining two armed personnel cried out in alarm as they retreated, continuing to fire.

Finally, two bullets hit this driver’s head. One shot blew off part of his skull, spilling white and red matter everywhere. The mutated driver at last fell to the ground.

By then, Vanel had finally managed to flip the mutated driver off him. Executing a standard tactical move, he got behind his opponent, locked his arms in a powerful chokehold, and fiercely tightened it around the mutated driver’s neck.

CRACK!

The neck twisted and broke. The mutated driver finally collapsed limply. Though his body could no longer move, his mouth still emitted low growls, his eyes, filled with bloodshot fury, bared teeth at Vanel.

"What the hell is this?!" Vanel spat.

Of course, he didn’t expect the other two armed men to answer him; it was just an exasperated curse.

"Everyone stay in the car—"

He was loudly giving orders when he suddenly paused.

Inside the vehicle from which the mutated driver had just burst... the technician who had taken the vodka flask from him earlier was also in the cabin.

Vanel looked into the cabin.

The man was already dead, his neck twisted completely. His body slumped in the seat, his face still showing a hint of shock and bewilderment he hadn’t had time to process.

The flask lay beside him.

"..." Vanel quickly picked up the flask.

At that moment, from behind... BANG BANG BANG!

Gunfire erupted again!

What made Vanel’s scalp tingle was that the drivers of the remaining six vehicles had all gone mad. Two had already burst out of their doors and were pouncing towards the armed men.

The other four were viciously slamming their heads against the vehicle doors, trying to break out.

The two armed men held their guns and fired frantically, but these mutated drivers seemed to fear neither bullets nor pain.

One of them, facing a hail of bullets that nearly turned him into a sieve, still charged with alarming speed. He overpowered the third armed man and then quickly tore open the poor fellow’s chest. The cold-weather suit and muscle tissue were no match for his terrifying strength; even the ribs were torn apart.

The last armed man screamed in despair. After firing the last bullet in his weapon, he turned and ran. He rushed to a vehicle door, pulled it open, and tried to scramble inside, but he was quickly caught. Dragged out by his legs with a horrific scream, he was pulled to the ground and then rapidly torn to bloody shreds.

It wasn’t that Vanel didn’t want to save them; he was simply too overwhelmed to help himself. Behind him, two more mutated drivers had smashed through their vehicle doors and were leaping out, pouncing towards him.

The burly Siberian turned and ran!

After running a few steps, he quickly grabbed the Gatling gun from the cargo bay and hoisted it into his hands.

Turning around, he faced the two mutated drivers rushing towards him, one after the other. A fierce expression crossed the burly man’s face.

"Die!!!"

***

WHIRR...

The Gatling gun fired, its dense hail of bullets sounding like a magnified sewing machine.

The six barrels spun wildly, unleashing a torrent of ammunition.

The first mutated driver in the lead was quickly torn apart by this metallic storm, then the second...

The third...