Chapter 48: Hypoxia (Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter, Please Support with Monthly Tickets and Reads)
When the bounty was posted, there were 442 monthly tickets.
Now that it's May, the total number of monthly tickets for April reached 3,400. At the time, it was agreed that 100 tickets would add two chapters... which means a total of 60 bonus chapters are owed.
Currently, 5 bonus chapters have been added, leaving 55 chapters still owed.
During the subsequent free period, there will be 3 updates per day, with 1 bonus chapter added daily.
This book should be available on shelves by mid-May, and then we'll aim for 10,000 words a day. We still need to make up three chapters a day for half a month... We all have a bright future.
The bounty continues. During the double period, for every 100 monthly tickets received, 1 chapter will be added to the paid bonus chapter count. There is no upper limit. I hope all readers can keep the paid period at 【10,000 words per day】.
Thank you.
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Main Text Below ---
“Screech—”
A sharp shriek, combined with the sound of countless limbs scuttling, sent chills down their spines.
Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of spiders, surged forward like a tide!
“Da da da da da!”
Guanmai Great King spat out flames, and millions of bullets were fired by Fang Ge in a few seconds. Every bullet was destructive to living creatures; the giant spiders hit exploded, turning into a cloud of blood mist!
—Meaningless attack… No matter how many of these creatures there are, they pose no threat to us.
The Central Continent Team is very good at dealing with human wave tactics. Aside from Guanmai Great King, they each have a Gatling machine gun and multiple Gauss firearms.
Chu Xuan even used a flamethrower to turn the front into a blazing inferno!
When the spiders attacked, they were almost foot to foot. With such dense attacks, once ignited, they spread like a continuous fire across the camp, and the temperature inside the tunnel began to rise gradually!
—No!! Something’s wrong!
Fang Ge suddenly realized that he hadn't detected the flow of 【wind】 for a long time.
“Zhan Lan, check if the Hive’s ventilation system is intact!”
Hearing her captain's request, Zhan Lan immediately realized something was amiss. Her mental power quickly spread, covering the entire Hive.
The answer was clear: all ventilation facilities had been shut down!
“No, the air isn't circulating at all! Chu Xuan, stop burning! If this continues, we'll suffer from hypoxia and heatstroke!” Zhan Lan couldn't help but shout.
“We must use fire. These spiders are very similar to Aliens; their body fluids are toxic and corrosive. Over time, they will also volatilize into the air, forming corrosive toxic gas… If we get contaminated, it could damage our protective gear.”
Chu Xuan turned his head and gave her a dead-fish eye look, then took out a fish tank-shaped glass item from his spatial pouch and threw it to Zhan Lan.
“Where do you think the name ‘constant temperature suit’ comes from? Put on the helmet, then press the button on your arm to activate the internal oxygen. This is enough for us to operate for 24 hours.”
Zhan Lan, who took the helmet, felt a bit awkward. How dare she question Chu Xuan's wisdom?
“But in that case, Zheng Zha won't be able to fully utilize his Symbiote in combat.” Fang Ge frowned.
He tilted his head, signaling Jin Xi to help him put on his helmet, but his hands didn't stop moving. Bonus prompts kept broadcasting in his mind.
—100 spiders only give 1 reward point. Even if we kill all of them here, it'll probably be less than two thousand. Yet, Umbrella Corporation used the characteristics of these creatures to set up an 【environmental trap】.
—Raccoon City is surrounded by mountains on three sides. The Hive entrance is near the cliff. Judging by the geographical location, directly above here is the mountain. It's not realistic to try to dig a hole with Guanmai Great King…
—Either we'll be corroded by venom and toxic gas, or the flames will consume all the oxygen in the room. Whichever it is, subsequent combat will inevitably be restricted.
The constant temperature suits manufactured by Chu Xuan and the Central Continent government at least gave them a choice; otherwise, the team would have to endure toxic gas for subsequent operations!
This feeling of knowing there's a trap but having no choice but to fall into it was extremely frustrating.
Everyone, fueled by anger, slaughtered all the spiders, then let the flames 【decontaminate】 their corpses.
Although oxygen was limited and they couldn't burn all the remains, the intense flames turned the tunnel into a giant dryer, causing the venom to dry and become inactive.
“James, are you alright?” Alice also took the opportunity to put on a constant temperature suit. Her voice, muffled by the helmet, was not entirely clear.
Without a constant temperature suit, in such high temperatures… she even suspected James would be cooked.
“To be honest, I just found out I don't need to breathe.”
James no longer felt pain, but his muscles had shriveled slightly, indicating that he had indeed lost a lot of water in the high temperature.
Perhaps due to the high temperature causing the T-Virus concentration to decrease, his mind seemed to become clearer.
“Keep moving forward, speed up…”
Fang Ge handed Guanmai Great King to the battle-damaged Zheng Zha, then quickly walked ahead with his high-frequency long knife.
Even with a layer of protection, when Fang Ge stepped on the spider remains, he felt an indescribable sensation, like stepping in excrement.
Fortunately, the helmet provided insulation; otherwise, the smell of burnt chitin alone would have been nauseating and maddening!
From that moment on, Zhan Lan no longer detected new enemies. Everything was eerily strange.
The zombies inside the Hive seemed to have vanished. Fang Ge didn't believe they all mastered Telekinesis… because the Main God would not issue impossible missions.
After all, the Main God only wants to force you to evolve, not truly to die.
Even the most difficult mission, as long as one achieves a breakthrough in a critical moment and unlocks the next stage of the Gene Lock, can certainly be overcome.
Is unlocking the Gene Lock difficult? Yes, it is.
Is it difficult for Fang Ge? No, it's not, because he already possesses B-rank enhancements and can unlock it at any time given the conditions.
But facing hundreds of Telekinesis zombies, even if he activated his Second-Order Genetic Lock, he would still be subjected to humiliation.
“Chu Xuan, do you still have T-Virus antidote? Give me a tube; I might need it later.”
Fang Ge remembered that when he returned to the Main God Space, the antidote on him had vanished—from later conversations, it seemed it was used to deal with that giant creeper.
However, given Chu Xuan's personality, he should have some hidden away.
Even if he didn't, with his research on the T-Virus during this time, Chu Xuan might be able to develop an antidote.
“…I have three tubes here.”
Chu Xuan said, handing Fang Ge a tube of green antidote, then asked:
“Do you have any leads?”
“A little.”
Hearing Fang Ge's reply, Chu Xuan nodded knowingly, without asking further questions.
“Why is your communication always so strange?”
Zheng Zha couldn't help but complain:
“And why is your mutual trust and rapport so high? Didn't we just meet?”
“You're overthinking it.”
Chu Xuan replied blandly. He didn't want to make public his guess about Fang Ge being 【stuck in a loop】.
Because Fang Ge himself showed no inclination or trend to explain it to others, Chu Xuan worried this would affect future developments and chose to keep it secret.
—I don't trust the authority dog, who do I trust? Do I trust you, big gorilla? Be careful not to be warned by the Logic Heavenly Dao!
Fang Ge muttered to himself, not replying.
No one knew that the two riddle-speakers had formed a strange 【trust loop】; they both believed the other's decisions were correct and would implement them.
Jogging all the way, about twenty minutes passed before the group reached the end of the tunnel.
Fang Ge was the first to leap onto the platform… the place where this dream began.
“Everything started here, and it will end here.”
Zhan Lan let out a sigh of emotion, even though she had already fainted back then and was dragged into the carriage.
“Something’s wrong… very wrong!”
Zheng Zha, who had remained conscious and witnessed the entire process back then, suddenly shouted.
He pointed to the collapsed door in the distance—that was the entrance to the Death Stairs, which had already been blown up by the mercenary team.
But, a crucial element was missing!
“The giant creeper's corpse is gone!”