The group of adventurers moved at a swift pace, soon reaching the edge of the Great Rift.
From a distance, it hadn't seemed so impressive, but now, at the rift's precipice, Ye Feng couldn't help but be surprised.
The Great Rift was incredibly wide, easily exceeding three hundred meters at a rough estimate. A turbulent river flowed through its depths, its roar against the banks like thunder.
Connecting the two sides of the rift was a rudimentary suspension bridge made of several thick iron chains. The massive chains swayed incessantly in the strong winds whipping through the gorge.
While Ye Feng was observing the rift, several people from the Tyrannosaurus Rex Base had already stepped forward. With flashes of light, thick wooden planks with iron hooks appeared and were rapidly laid across the suspension bridge.
A large number of adventurers eagerly followed behind those from the Tyrannosaurus Rex Base. As soon as a plank was laid, they would advance, fearful of falling behind even a little!
"Whoosh!~"
Suddenly, the sound of several enormous wings beating echoed from above. Huge dark shadows passed overhead, heading straight for the opposite bank of the rift.
Ye Feng looked up and saw several Pterodactyls. As they banked, he could faintly make out several figures on their backs.
"Is that Han Qiuli and them!"
Ye Feng frowned slightly, a sense of relief washing over him.
After all, he was about to revert to his original appearance, and he needed to avoid being seen. If "Zeng Aniu" and "Zeng Douya" suddenly disappeared under the watchful eyes of Han Qiuli and her group, and then two different people with changed faces appeared, it would look incredibly suspicious.
"Charge!"
"Hurry up, you in front, stop dawdling!"
"Exactly! If you're going to be slow, we'll be left in the dust!"
....
At this moment, a commotion arose from within the crowd.
It turned out that the hundreds of meters of the suspension bridge had been laid with walkable planks by the Tyrannosaurus Rex Base, and a group of adventurers were rushing towards the Red Bank Ruins.
Ye Feng and Xiaoxiao didn't rush nor lag behind. They mingled with the excited crowd of adventurers charging towards the Red Bank Ruins and plunged into the forest.
Later, once the surrounding sounds had considerably diminished, Ye Feng and Xiaoxiao found a secluded spot, shed their disguises, and resumed their original appearances.
"Xiaoxiao, let's go!"
Ye Feng, wielding a fire axe, quickly led Xiaoxiao deeper into the forest.
"Mhm!"
Xiaoxiao nodded. Ye Feng had now replaced her miniature Beretta BU9 Nano with a Glock 1.
Xiaoxiao felt a surge of excitement. Having been by Ye Feng's side for a while, she had, in truth, come to love the thrill of adventure.
....
"Ugh~ Cough cough!~"
Not long after Ye Feng and Xiaoxiao had started walking, they encountered a bald zombie. Ye Feng stepped forward and brought his axe down with a swift strike, and the bald zombie instantly fell to the ground.
"Ding~! Host has eliminated 1 zombie, gaining 1 usable point~"
The system's mechanical voice followed closely.
Hearing this familiar sound, Ye Feng was quite pleased and quickly moved forward with Xiaoxiao.
"Cough cough~ Slish~"
"Ugh~ Ke ke~"
"Bang~!"
"Slish~!"
....
As they continued, Ye Feng and Xiaoxiao encountered quite a few zombies along the way. However, most of them had already been dealt with, clearly by the adventurers who had forged ahead of them.
Ye Feng wasn't in a hurry. Based on the intelligence he had gathered, this forest was still quite a distance from the Red Bank Ruins. The zombies here were likely stragglers who had wandered in by mistake. The Red Bank Ruins were the main stronghold of the zombies....
"Bang bang bang~ !~"
"Ah!~"
"Careful, whoosh!~"
"Bang!~"
....
Just as Ye Feng finished off a zombie that was only half a body left, a barrage of gunshots suddenly erupted from ahead, accompanied by human screams, startled cries, and the crashing of numerous trees.
Clearly, something was charging towards them.
"Bang bang bang!!~ Da da da~"
"Keng keng keng!~……..."
At this point, another dense volley of gunfire broke out. The adventurers ahead seemed to be exchanging fire with the monsters they encountered. Strangely, before the gunfire died down, a series of metallic clangs followed.
"Everyone scatter to the sides! We can't go head-to-head with this Steel-Scaled Bear!"
"Ordinary bullets can't penetrate its hide!"
Immediately after, several anxious shouts rang out.
"Whoosh~ Crack~"
"Bang~ Bang!~"
Several adventurers, their faces etched with fear, fled in Ye Feng's direction. And after a pile of trees had been broken or knocked down, Ye Feng could see what was pursuing those adventurers.
It was a massive black bear, four to five meters long and over two meters tall, with blood-red eyes the size of bull's eyes and lustrous black scales covering its entire body.
"Damn it, we just set foot in this forest, and we're still far from the core area of the Red Bank Ruins, how could there be a Steel-Scaled Bear here?"
A sturdy middle-aged man, wielding a Thompson submachine gun and carrying a large ring-hilted saber on his back, had a grim expression.
His subordinates, surrounding him, were filled with dread. Several bore bloody wounds, and were painfully groaning as they quickly applied bandages.
"Beep~ System prompt, Steel-Scaled Bear detected, ten meters to the front right!"
"Steel-Scaled Bear: A black bear mutation, solitary, violent temperament, with a strong sense of territory, will attack any creature entering its domain. Its skin is covered in fish-like scales, composed of a special material, soft yet possessing considerable defensive capabilities!"
As soon as the system's prompt sounded, the Steel-Scaled Bear roared a few times, "Roar~ Awoohoo!~" and then charged towards the adventurers.
"Damn it, I didn't expect to have to use the precious Arcane Energy Rifle so soon!"
Seeing this, the middle-aged man with the ring-hilted saber cursed. With a flash of light, his Thompson submachine gun transformed into an Arcane Energy Rifle, which bore a striking resemblance to a Type 95 assault rifle.
"Hmm?"
The middle-aged man, who was about to aim, suddenly stopped. He saw a figure rapidly charging towards the Steel-Scaled Bear, which was none other than Ye Feng.
"Come back quickly! You can't engage the Steel-Scaled Bear in close combat. That thing can crush a Hummer into scrap metal!" the middle-aged man with the ring-hilted saber shouted urgently.
However, Ye Feng paid him no mind. Having just heard the system's prompt, he became very interested, as the Steel-Scaled Bear would make an excellent sparring partner.
Since awakening his innate Arcane Energy, especially after engaging in close-quarters combat with the cyborg Bing Gu in the City of Frost and the fierce battle with the Sand Rat in the ancient sand battlefield, Ye Feng had grown to enjoy such direct confrontations even more.
He had discovered that after intense combat, his body's efficiency in absorbing Arcane Energy increased, and his physical condition had also significantly improved.
His Arcane Energy seemed to possess the function of tempering his own body!
"Boom!"
An exceptionally dull thud echoed. Ye Feng had charged directly forward and slammed into the side of the Steel-Scaled Bear.
"Bang~ ! Grrr~"
"Crack~ Bang bang~ Whoosh~"
With Ye Feng's impact, the Steel-Scaled Bear was instantly thrown off balance, rolling to the side and smashing through several trees.
"Wh-what?"