IRCDM Chapter 82

Chapter 82: Understanding (Revised) At Least Know Who You’re Dying At the Hands Of…

The exploration team’s camp relocation was very swift. By the latter half of the night, the tents had been re-erected everywhere, and everyone quickly rested to recover their strength.

Inside the primary tent, Mi Hui sat pale-faced in a corner, clutching his arms nervously. His damaged protective suit hung loosely on his body, and the exposed suspender dress was stained with fresh blood.

“Don’t be nervous. You just need to tell us what you saw, exactly as you saw it,” Liang Huan said, pouring him a glass of warm water and handing it to him.

Mi Hui took it with both hands, trembling violently. Liang Huan didn’t pressure him but sat opposite him, calmly flipping through the book in his hand.

After a few minutes, Mi Hui finally snapped out of his terror. He took two sips of water before saying, “At first, I was a bit far from the team. I heard movement in the bushes. I didn’t dare to get close, but I shined my flashlight over there, and… I saw a very large dark shape. After it noticed the light, it suddenly shrank. I, I really saw a figure run out. I’m not lying, really.”

Liang Huan asked, “Why were you so far away on your own?”

“I…” Mi Hui lowered his head, somewhat embarrassed. “I have bad luck. I was assigned to the mercenary team. I’m from East Fourth District. They already look down on me. They even beat me up before because I like taking pictures. I didn’t dare to get too close.”

Liang Huan nodded, “Then how do you explain being the only one still alive?”

Mi Hui looked at him, at a loss, “I, it really wasn’t me. After they came over, Ning Qiu’s head suddenly disappeared. I was splashed with blood and passed out. When I woke up, everyone was there.”

Liang Huan lowered his eyes, thoughtfully stroking the pages of the book in his hand. Mi Hui suddenly broke down and cried, rushing forward to kneel at his feet and grabbing his pant leg, “Brother Liang, please, you have to believe me. I don’t want to die. I, I’m willing to do anything for you!”

As he cried, he tugged open his clothes, revealing a large expanse of white shoulder and trying to snuggle into Liang Huan’s arms.

Liang Huan quickly used the book to push him away, stopping his shoulder.

“Cough—” A cough sounded from the front row.

Mi Hui froze, turning back in a panic, and saw Li Yao sprawled in the passenger seat, his long legs resting on the car door, arms crossed, watching him mockingly, “Honey, isn’t it a bit much to be committing adultery in front of someone else’s husband?”

Mi Hui recoiled in terror, frantically pulling up his clothes, so scared that he didn’t dare to shed any more tears, “S-Sorry, Instructor Li, you misunderstood. I, I, I just want to survive, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Li Yao sighed, stepped over from the front seat, dragged the kneeling man up from the ground, and slapped Mi Hui’s hunched back hard, “Stand up straight! What did Instructor Li teach you!”

Mi Hui straightened his back in fear.

Li Yao patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, sat down next to Liang Huan in one swift motion, and discreetly declared his ownership, “You guys continue, don’t mind me.”

Liang Huan placed the book on Li Yao’s lap and looked at Mi Hui, “Is this how you survived in Eastern Third District too?”

Mi Hui hurriedly shook his head, “No, no, it’s not like that. I had a real job and friends in Eastern Third District, but after coming to the outer districts… those mercenaries always look down on people. I was almost left behind on several missions before, so I…”

He wiped away his tears embarrassedly, “I’m sorry.”

Liang Huan didn’t express any opinion on this but simply said, “We understand the situation, but until the investigation is complete, you are still a suspect. I hope you can understand.”

Mi Hui nodded blankly.

“Stay here and don’t run around.” Liang Huan handed him a new protective suit.

“T-Thank you.” Mi Hui reached out and took it, consciously shrinking into the corner.

Liang Huan was about to continue studying the map when Li Yao nudged his arm imperceptibly. Liang Huan turned to look at him, slightly puzzled.

Li Yao met his gaze with a knowing smile.

Liang Huan: “…”

Although he didn’t quite understand, he still followed Li Yao out of the car.

“We modern people value personal privacy more,” Li Yao said with a whoosh, closing the car door.

Liang Huan raised an eyebrow, “You can also casually call other people ‘honey’.”

Li Yao was taken aback, “Who? Did I just say that? Am I such a casual person?”

Liang Huan remained noncommittal, leaning against the car to look at the map. Li Yao, not knowing what nerve had been touched, approached him with great interest, “I call Jinbao that too, not just Jinbao, I’ll call zombies and heteromorphs that. I even call Kunwu ‘honey’, don’t you think only you can be my ‘honey’?”

“…” Liang Huan pushed his face away expressionlessly, “If you’re mentally disordered, go take medicine.”

Li Yao was delighted, grabbing his wrist and laughing, “Your Majesty, how can you be jealous of everyone? If you ascend the throne and become emperor in the future, if I look at someone else in court, will you drag them out and behead them?”

Liang Huan tried to pull his arm out of his embrace, but Li Yao wouldn’t let him. The two exchanged moves back and forth, taking advantage of the lack of light and visual blind spots, causing a commotion for a long time without stopping.

A noisy argument came from the distance.

“Let’s go, go take a look.” Liang Huan pulled the claws that had reached into his shirt out.

Li Yao pretended to straighten his collar for him, and the two walked over in the dark.

As soon as they got closer, they heard a dissatisfied voice, “Alright, everyone be quiet! We’ll do whatever the higher-ups tell us to do!”

“But this is too much of a bully. Isn’t this obviously letting the Black Market take advantage of the mercenary base?” Through the gap, they could vaguely see a burly mercenary wiping his gun, “The people from the Black Market don’t have long-term training, bringing them along is just a burden.”

“We can’t say that, our commission is several times higher than the Black Market people, and two of the three mechs were given to us. The deputy district chief is still very good to us.”

“Good at what? Didn’t you see him openly protecting that Mi Hui? And didn’t Instructor Li quarrel with him before because he wanted to push us mercenaries out as targets!”

“Ning Qiang, keep your voice down, it’s not good for people to hear.”

“What’s not good!” Ning Qiang gritted his teeth, “If it weren’t for them, would my brother have died so miserably?! Sooner or later, I’ll kill that Liang!”

Outside the tent, Li Yao slowly narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to move, he was stopped by Liang Huan next to him, who gently shook his head.

Such complaints were not limited to Ning Qiang alone. Other mercenaries were also complaining, and even some people from the Black Market were starting to complain about what kind of exploration team they were doing. After all, a lot of people had died or been injured along the way to the edge of the jungle. Even if they had gained a lot, the instinct for survival ultimately took over.

The night was deep and dark. On a high mountain above the original camp of the Eastern Third District exploration team, two people were standing on the edge of a cliff, observing.

“They’ve all run away. The chip locations of the Eastern Third District exploration team have all been turned off. They have relocated quickly, and our communication equipment cannot contact our people at present.”

The person standing in front patted the blood on their gloves and said, “Then let them play it by ear. Once the exploration team is scattered, Liang Huan will have no way out.”

“But what if they disobey the highest-level orders…”

“That won’t happen.” The person’s voice was cold. “Heteromorphs can never understand humans, just as humans can never understand heteromorphs.”

He turned and walked towards the distant convoy. At the front of the convoy, ten military mechs were neatly arranged, particularly conspicuous in the dark night.

A clear communication sound came from the public channel:

“Special Operations Team, this mission: capture the advanced Pseudohuman Heteromorph Liang Huan, retrieve the signal receiver, and welcome the Dawn Star. Acknowledge.”

The current sound in the channel crackled. The convoy roared to life, winding like a black dragon into the depths of the Western Heteromorph Jungle.

Dawn was breaking, and the camp’s alarm suddenly sounded.

“It’s a heteromorph swarm!!! A heteromorph swarm is attacking!!!”

“Quick—quick!!!”

Screams and gunshots tore through the silence of the forest. The humans who were sleeping soundly in the tents were awakened, hastily picked up the weapons on the ground, and rushed out, only to be shocked by the scene before them.

Liang Huan opened the car door and saw countless black shadows outside the camp’s force field advancing rapidly towards the camp. The flying heteromorphs above were huge, with scale-like substances growing on their irregular flying wings. Those “scales” accurately shot at the camp’s large mental shields, and cracks began to appear in the light blue force field.

Below those flying heteromorphs were high-level heteromorphs of various sizes. Their movement speed was extremely fast, and they arrived in front of the camp in the blink of an eye, starting to frantically attack the crumbling force field.

Li Yao, holding binoculars, stood on the roof of the car and couldn’t help but curse, “Damn, did they call all the heteromorphs in the entire forest here?”

A scale carrying fire flew through a crack directly towards Li Yao. Li Yao dodged quickly and jumped out of the car. Liang Huan caught him smoothly, “Follow the plan.”

The two separated in front of the first tent.

“It’s not good, there’s a problem with the mechs, they can’t be activated at all!” Jing Si’s panicked voice rang out in the only public channel that the exploration team could use.

“What’s the problem?” Liang Huan’s voice rang out.

“The mechs’ fuel systems are all blocked! They can’t be activated!” Jing Si’s voice was increasingly panicked.

The members of the exploration team instantly fell into chaos upon hearing this.

“What do we do? We can’t escape without the mechs. We’re dead this time!”

“I told you not to come to the Heteromorph Jungle!”

“Run!”

“Everyone, find cover and look for opportunities to break through. As many as can escape, escape!” You Zhao Chen’s voice rang out in the public channel. “Mercenaries, assemble by number!”

His voice was hurried, but there was no sign of anxiety on his face. Jiang Chuxia walked in front of him, aiming the gun in her hand at the fixed net of the force field. After a few shots, the force field in front of them, filled with cracks, shattered with a bang. The heteromorph swarm, smelling the scent, poured in frantically like a tide.

Jiang Chuxia stood in the black tide with a gun in her hand, her eyes filled with inorganic indifference. Her long black hair fluttered in the frenzied mental fluctuations. She tugged at the corners of her mouth, revealing a strange smile.

You Zhao Chen turned his head and looked at the heteromorph swarm rushing towards the mercenaries who had come at his command. Just a few minutes ago, they had been teammates fighting side by side, and some were even roaring, “Team Leader You, be careful! Come back!”

He frowned, a trace of struggle flashed in his eyes, but it was extinguished under the powerful mental command. He calmly looked at his “comrades.” The weapon of his true companion had pierced the other’s heart.

Clang—

A harsh collision sound blocked the mercenary’s heart. A long sword shone coldly in the dark night. A huge mech, all black, held a long sword and stood in front of everyone. A mental force field was forcibly linked, blocking the heteromorph’s powerful mental attack for them. The heteromorph at the front was accurately strangled at its mental source. The long sword cut off its spine, and spinal fluid spurted out instantly, silencing the surrounding heteromorph swarm for a moment.

You Zhao Chen raised his head in astonishment, “How is that possible?”

The Black Emperor mech moved its neck clumsily and looked down at him coldly. Inside the cockpit, Liang Huan suppressed his mental power, which was obviously a little too excited, and manipulated the mech to grip the long sword in his hand.

He didn’t like operating mechs, but when you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head. The same is true in the apocalypse.

The Black Emperor was like a high-ranking emperor, wielding a sharp sword and mercilessly beheading the attacking enemies. The heteromorph swarm was forced to retreat from the damaged force field, leaving behind corpses all over the ground.

Li Yao couldn’t help but whistle, controlling the mech to use mental power to fill in the gaps in the damaged force field.

“It’s the Red Empress mech!” Someone shouted excitedly, “The mech wasn’t damaged!”

“Of course, the mech wasn’t damaged. Someone deliberately spread panic, causing everyone to lose their composure!” Lu Biao controlled the Shenfeng mech to block another gap.

Jing Si, mixed in the crowd, looked at the detonator in his hand in disbelief, pressing it frantically, but there was no movement.

“Don’t press it, the Rhein engine boxes of the three mechs were removed by Brother Li beforehand. The fuel tanks you blocked and the explosives you placed have all been transferred,” Jiang Chuxia, with Ai Li and others, surrounded him.

Jing Si said with a dry smile, “What are you talking about?”

Jiang Chuxia clicked on the light screen. The video on it clearly recorded how he entered the inside of the mech to place explosives and how he tried to block all the fuel tanks.

The muscles on Jing Si’s face twitched unnaturally.

“And how you killed Chen Jia in the chaos, Team Leader Yue and the others have already found the internal video of the military department,” Lu Biao said in a deep voice in the Shenfeng, “Jing Si, you traitor!”

More and more people surrounded Jing Si, and the hand holding the detonator couldn’t help but tremble.

“The equipment in our camp that was originally used to shield the mental power of the heteromorphs was also tampered with and turned into a heteromorph locator,” Li Yao raised his head to look at You Zhao Chen, who was standing on the edge of the force field, and Jiang Chuxia, who was standing outside the force field and with the heteromorphs.

The manic heteromorph swarm was unexpectedly quiet under her hands.

Jiang Chuxia raised her hand and tucked her hair, lit a cigarette, and smiled, “So these are all illusions created by you and Liang Huan?”

Deliberately provoking the conflict between the Black Market and the mercenaries, taking the opportunity to turn off the chip positioning and transfer the camp, reducing their vigilance but also blocking their way back.

Li Yao looked at You Zhao Chen in the mech, “At least you have to know who you will die at the hands of.”

Liang Huan’s steady voice rang out in the public channel, “Thank you for actively collecting prey for us. Exploration team, pay attention, only collect the brains and cerebral spinal fluid of advanced heteromorphs.”

As the words fell, amid the almost crazy and excited roars of everyone in the exploration team, two giant mechs rushed out of the force field at the same time, one black and one red, like two swift lightning bolts, tearing apart the dark heteromorph swarm.