As the last escaping ferocious beast dragged and sprayed blood all over the ground like a tattered skin, it fell crashing into the flattened grass. This short but fierce raid also came to an end. None of the ninety-seven ghosts and sixteen ferocious beasts were spared.
However, the expert team members only paid the price of one person being seriously injured and 11 people being slightly injured; and except for this unfortunately injured person who was unfortunately penetrated by bone spurs on the horns of the ferocious beast, the others all suffered from superficial injuries. With specialized treatment and recovery, you can fight again.
Later, Jiang Tian also followed the traces of these aliens, and once again found a small water dock/settlement deep in the grassland; however, in addition to the human and animal bones scattered on the ground, and the smelly excrement, Apart from that, there is nothing else left.
But just these traces and clues are enough to prove one of Jiang Tian's conjectures and worries. The beasts that once raged in the north, under the continuous attack of the imperial court, have moved to the remote areas of the south along with the masterminds behind the scenes, and have begun to develop secretly again.
In the previous waterway battles, the lizards and crocodiles encountered by the fleet were more like new products that were cultivated and bred in batches according to local conditions. Then, they are kept in a specific range and serve as a certain degree of peripheral security and defense.
And that hidden pillar of bones seems to have a special attraction, which can make these aliens gather together and instinctively attack any living creature that intrudes into the range. As for the ghosts and their ferocious beasts that appeared later, they were guards and monitors in the true sense.
After solving these peripheral obstacles and threats, it also means that this strange force led by Jiang Tian is already very close to the heartland area controlled by the Yunmeng thieves as captured by Shi Liangdong. Therefore, the fleet traveling along the waterway encountered several attacks again.
But both in terms of scale and intensity, it is far less than the aliens encountered at the beginning. It's more like an instinctive counterattack that is limited to a specific range. After destroying the skeleton pillars arranged nearby, they were easily repelled and dispersed without even using the firearms on the ship.
The sailors and soldiers on the ship also quickly completed the process; from shouting and being startled to being indifferent and accustomed to it. After all, when it is confirmed that these hideous and ugly existences can be killed, there is naturally no fear.
When the fleet finally passed through the continuous grass swamps and reached the open water at the other end, they found that there was no room to continue sailing. In other words, both the land ahead and the possible waterway branches are shrouded in a large white mist.
The fog close to the ground in front of us is not very high, nor does it look very dense, but it stretches over a large area, making it impossible to see the edge that can be bypassed; and under the light and river breeze, , there is actually no sign of dissipation or loss.
And this is what Shi Liangdong described, the second layer of defense used by the Yunmeng thieves to protect and cover themselves; it was also one of the main reasons why the previous round of the four-pronged army's suppression failed miserably. It is said that once you enter it, it is easy to lose your basic sense of direction.
Then, with very low visibility, they were stranded one after another on the river beach, among aquatic plants or dead tree stumps; or they accidentally capsized and fell into the water after colliding with each other. Then they were attacked by aliens and giant beasts from the mist, and they could only fight on their own and suffered heavy casualties.
Only the members of the Yunmeng Thieves who carry special aura tokens can avoid being attacked by the aliens dormant inside, and can go back and forth safely without incident. There are even specially trained aquatic beasts that are responsible for pulling and towing Yunmeng Thief-related ships to and from the rivers safely.
However, this method is completely unsuitable for an entire fleet and more than a thousand soldiers on the same ship. Then more than a dozen lay sergeants stepped forward and put on full-body protective smocks and hoods with goggles; they fastened traction chains made of fine steel around their waists.
Then they were divided into three groups carrying bundles of small flags, and they dragged the chains into the mist one by one. After counting the steps softly and walking ten steps, they erected a thin flagpole with a bell as a reference. ; At the same time, the bell is sounded according to a certain rhythm to notify.
The soldiers who walked into the fog one after another were like squeezing into some invisible bubble, and everything they could see and hear was somewhat distorted. Therefore, under the clear blue sky in broad daylight, Jiang Tian could not see them at all after just three ringings.
Even the last sound, like a dull echo, could not be heard. Only the fine steel chains that are continuously pulled forward by the inner power and stretched forward can prove that they are still continuing to penetrate deeper into the mist. Until suddenly a certain chain tightened.
The flagpoles that were erected in the fog and served as road signs were also ejected and flew up one after another under the shaking of the fierce ringing bells. In an instant, without Jiang Tian's orders, more than a dozen lay sergeants worked together to reverse the wheel on the ship, and Pull the tight chain back inch by inch.
The other soldiers also raised the muskets in their hands; they lowered the muzzles of the turntable cannons and the wide-mouth muskets on the ship's deck and aimed them into the mist, ready to fire at any time. But fortunately, the worrying thing did not happen; the chain was not broken until the last person was dragged out.
Although the soldier who was forcibly dragged out was staggering and scratched all over the floor, at least his limbs seemed intact and he was strong enough to respond vocally. However, the protective coverall made of asbestos was already covered with it. thick mud and filth;
Immediately, the leading sergeant stood up with the help of his companions, and couldn't wait to take off his hood. He gasped greedily and cursed: "What the hell, there is a lot of evil here. Before you go far, you will be here." I was sunk into the ground without realizing it, and something was getting in there.”
"The further I walked, the more out of breath I became. I accidentally stepped into a puddle, and something got wrapped around my legs and feet, pulling hard..." Another soldier connected to him also said. : "Then, my chain got caught on something and I couldn't move."
Later, when the mud and dirt on their bodies were washed away with water hoses, the sergeants nearby couldn't help but gasped; because the surface of this rubber asbestos blouse was already covered with criss-crossing layers of Scratches, and lots of long, squirming strips.
And these long, squirming strips are clearly earthworms with links all over their bodies, as thick as fingers, or creatures like loaches covered in mucus; they are tightly attached to the blouse through their protruding fine mouthparts. After being exposed to the sun for a moment, they fell off one after another.
Then, try your best to bounce or squirm and escape into the mist, dragging out crystal-clear tracks. Immediately, he was chopped into pieces by his colleagues with quick eyes and hands, and was trampled and crushed into puddles of mud. The other soldier frowned and took off his damaged rubber boots.
Then he saw that at his ankles, the tips of half-broken burr vines were tightly cut into the flesh. However, after picking it off with a dagger, leaving a bloody mark, the soldier felt no pain; and the half of the thorn was still moving.
Immediately under the sun's rays, he quickly dehydrated and shriveled up into a circle. Then someone brought a brazier and threw it into it and burned it to ashes. At this time, the other two groups of soldiers were also pulled out of the mist one after another, but their whole bodies became wet.
And the protective coveralls on the body are also equipped with some strange living creatures; for example, a toothfish with a mouth like a clamp, a lizard that can spray acid, and even grass blades that automatically twine... It seems that All kinds of distortions were produced in this fog.
Therefore, when exposed to sunlight and relative air, it gradually dehydrates and loses activity. Jiang Tian also understood from this that the survivors of the Navy who had escaped before kept saying "Yun Mengze is alive". It is obviously caused by the special environment of fog.
Perhaps being in a high-humidity environment for a long time also has the effect of distorting sound and deflecting vision, causing difficulty in breathing, hypoxic suffocation, and hallucinations. In fact, just after this moment, there were obvious rust spots on the recovered chains.
Therefore, Jiang Tian then ordered the lit brazier to be pushed into the mist; he saw that the mist was squeezed out of a gap, and then seemed to be reluctant to contain it; in the blink of an eye, the firewood burning in the brazier was Carbon sizzles, shrinks and is destroyed.
Immediately afterwards, several torches soaked in oil were replaced and quickly extinguished in the mist; on the contrary, the relatively closed wind lantern continued to burn for a while after being sent in, and was slowly penetrated by the thick water droplets that continued to condense on the inner wall. It is extinguished, but the surrounding fog becomes transparent.
Another soldier took out a few explosive bombs filled with gunpowder; after lighting them and throwing them into the depths of the fog, they heard several extremely dull booming sounds. Several apparently thin holes seemed to appear in the fog visible to the naked eye; and then It was re-closed by the flowing mist.
Then after switching to kerosene bombs, even the cracking and explosion didn't happen. Seeing this, Jiang Tian already had a basic idea. He had seen similar fog at another time, during the alien assassination incident outside Lyon.
It's just that the area was not so large and the fog was not so dense at that time. It was like it had been accumulating for a long time in Yunmeng Ze. Then Jiang Tian ordered: "Come here, bring me all the fire oil prepared on the rear team's boat."
Subsequently, a shallow ditch was dug at the edge of the fog; it was filled with dead wood, dry firewood and other flammable materials collected in a short time, and then covered with a thick layer of charcoal and coal; finally, I opened several large barrels of fire oil and poured them all into them.
As the ditch was ignited, the flames and black smoke billowed like a wall, and the strange mist shrank suddenly, revealing a wet and muddy gray-black ground. Then Jiang Tian waved his hand in front of the fire wall, and a large fire cloud rose into the air.
I saw rolling flames and hot air currents, as well as explosive sparks and firewood fragments; they suddenly gathered into the sky; and under the influence of invisible forces, a deep red fire whirlwind several feet high was formed; it continuously sucked out the thick water below. The fog is getting stronger and stronger.
