After one night.
At 6 a.m., Chen Jian, who had just completed the last patrol of the night, stretched his somewhat sore limbs and removed his smart goggles.
The display showed the battery was down to 60%. Calculating for all-day use, it would last at most three days.
The situation was quite dire; not only were the supplies depleted and ammunition insufficient, but now even the battery was running low.
Once the battery runs out, all electronic devices would be unusable, greatly diminishing the combat capability of his small squad.
----Of course, Chen Jian did not rely on electronic devices.
Even without all electronic gadgets, purely in terms of tactical skills and personal abilities, the four members of the squad were definitely top-tier on Earth.
But the question is, who would refuse to be stronger?
Without drone surveillance, without the aid of night vision or smart goggles, even some less dangerous battles would become fraught with peril.
Chen Jian frowned, but upon seeing his face clearly, the locals appeared pleasantly surprised instead.
"I thought... you were hunters too."
The woman who first spoke to Chen Jian walked over, looked Chen Jian over carefully, and said:
"You are purebloods, just like us!"
There was a hint of delight in the woman's tone, but Chen Jian keenly noticed a flicker of disappointment in the eyes of the "mutant" named Du Hu beside her.
He was a hunter, not a pureblood.
So what's the difference between the two?
Chen Jian looked at the woman and asked:
"How did he become like that?"
"Don't you know?"
"I don't know."
Chen Jian replied frankly.
There was no need to hide, as through his observations overnight, he had thoroughly gauged the strength of this refugee squad.
Their weaponry was at the level of cold weapons, with no electronic equipment and no ability to communicate externally.
Such a squad, regarding them as a potential threat would be overestimating them; back in his own era, these people would purely be the ones being protected.
Therefore, in the face of severe intelligence scarcity, instead of approaching with heavy caution, it was better to communicate directly and openly.
Only this way could enough information be obtained in the shortest time, possibly allowing for reasonable planning for subsequent actions.
After hearing Chen Jian's answer, the woman first glanced at Du Hu before lowering her voice slightly and replying:
"He drank the monster's blood, but it's not Holy Blood."
"All hunters must drink the blood to become stronger."
"However... not everyone can survive."
"He was lucky, but it was still not enough..."
"Understood."
Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully and gestured to He Shuo beside him, and moments later, several new pieces of intelligence quickly updated in the briefing system.
"Mutation related to blood, high possibility of a virus."
"Enhanced human capabilities after mutation, 'Holy Blood' has greater effects or smaller side effects."
"Humans using mutation to combat monsters."
"High probability that monster origin is related to mutation."
Even a few words of exchange summed up the fundamental framework of this post-apocalyptic world.
The task was now to fill in the details within this framework.
After a moment's pause, Chen Jian continued to ask:
"Is there any part of this world where there are no monsters?"
"I don't know."
The woman sighed and answered:
"If there is, it would be in the North."
"The North is the territory of the Holy Bloods and the Mechanical God Sect; maybe there, monsters are fewer."
"But they have long abandoned this place; they won't come to save us."
"We were doomed."
"It's fortunate you cleared the mantises here. Before the next patrol, at least we can go out and gather food."
"If we manage to hunt, we can last at least another month..."
As those words fell, Chen Jian instantly frowned.
Last another month?
They're still going to stay here?
"Why don't you leave the city? When we came from outside, we didn't find any trace of monsters. Wouldn't it be much safer out there than inside the city?"
Upon Chen Jian's words, all the refugees' eyes gathered on him.
The woman showed a slight, bitter smile before answering:
"As long as the Mother entity remains, we can't leave----neither can you."
"The territory of the Mother is far larger than we can see. Within its territory, it sees everything."
"It is all-seeing, all-knowing."
"Anyone who tried to leave died; only those who remain here can barely survive..."
The woman's words were shrouded in mystery, filled with a religious undertone.
It seemed that in her eyes, this so-called "Mother entity" had already donned the guise of a mythical being.
Chen Jian was not buying any of it, as after carefully studying the infrared feature map the drone captured, he found everything about the monster so familiar.
Whether it was the heat image formed by blood circulation or the muscles wrapped around bones.
Be it the whip-like joints evident on its tail or the hair vaguely visible on its tentacles.
All the details unmistakably revealed a fact:
Though bizarre, this creature is a very standard carbon-based life form.
And as a carbon-based life form, it absolutely couldn't possess "abilities" beyond physical laws.
So you're saying it's strong, fine, in front of unarmed people, it indeed seems overwhelmingly powerful.
But saying it's all-knowing, all-powerful?
Didn't it fail to find us four culprits who killed over a dozen of its minions last night?
Chen Jian looked suspiciously at the woman, who seemed unsure how to respond, only managing to say:
"You should see for yourself."
"There's a place; after you see it, you'll know why."
"What place?"
Chen Jian pressed on.
"A graveyard."
The woman took a deep breath and answered:
"A graveyard created by the Mother entity."
"There you'll find the answers you seek. Once you see it, you'll understand why we can't leave..."
Still shrouded in mystery, Chen Jian, full of questions, couldn't fathom what the woman meant by her reasons.
It seemed he had no other choice.
Not going would mean facing completely unknown dangers, possibly even being trapped in this city indefinitely.
But going... the danger in venturing into unexplored territory wasn't necessarily lower.
Chen Jian hesitated for a moment, and the woman, timely, spoke up:
"We're about to go there to gather food."
"If you're going, you can come along."
At those words, Chen Jian slowly nodded.
Then, he spoke to the other team members:
"Prepare the equipment, get ready to move out!"