Chapter 718: Situation

As the thing in the sky flew closer, its appearance was revealed to Chen Chuan and his group.

This was a unique bird to the Convergence Zone, with a sharp, curved beak, its head encased in a sturdy exoskeleton, its eyes deep within.

Its entire body's feathers were of a grayish-white texture, with sharp thorns at the edges, looking very much like it was draped in a layer of light, slender bone feathers.

As soon as Chen Chuan saw this thing, the Boundary Token immediately displayed its origin.

This was a "Skeleton Bird," a common, highly aggressive, and extremely vindictive bird in the Convergence Zone. At least a hundred species have been discovered so far, and the Boundary Token also showed its weaknesses and how to deal with it.

Second Lieutenant Dai, who was driving, didn't turn his head, but glanced at it through the car's rearview mirror. He didn't seem nervous, and said in a very normal tone:

"Please hold on tight, gentlemen. I'm going to speed up. These Convergence Zone creatures often come here, but we can guarantee your safety."

After saying that, he stepped on the gas pedal, instantly increasing the car's Speed. It was only a three- or four-minute drive to the fortress, and as long as they were within the fortress's firing range, there would be no danger.

At this moment, the covers of several train carriages were suddenly lifted, and the fixed-position swivel machine guns were raised and aimed at the high sky.

At this time, it could be seen that its claws were actually holding a thick tree trunk. As it swept past the sentry post, its claws released, and with a bang, it crashed down, smashing the wooden structure of the watchtower's roof to smithereens.

After doing this, the Skeleton Bird let out a sharp screech, its Speed suddenly increased, and it rushed forward, seemingly wanting to cross through the gap in the firepower between the fortress and the train.

Judging from the direction, it would definitely pass over Chen Chuan's head.

Chen Chuan was a little worried about Zhao Ming, but seeing Zhao Ming quickly fly into the high sky from the beginning, and that the Skeleton Bird was not interested in Zhao Ming at all, it seemed that the purpose of this arrival was only to destroy that sentry post.

This thing arrived above them in a moment. At this moment, they could already see the hard, sharp claws hidden under its abdomen and the sense of oppression. Councilor Pei immediately pulled out his sidearm, released the safety, and held it with both hands, aiming at the sky.

The Skeleton Bird originally seemed to just want to pass through, but when it saw the military uniforms on Councilor Pei and Second Lieutenant Dai, the eyes deeply embedded in its skull instantly turned blood red. It suddenly lowered its Speed, and a shadow quickly approached them.

Chen Chuan watched as the huge wings suddenly blocked the light, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. A surge of Spiritual Power was instantly released.

This Soul-Shaking Hammer directly hit the Skeleton Bird's Spirit, and the red light in its eyes disappeared, as if it had lost consciousness in an instant.

At this moment, a black shadow fell rapidly from the sky. It was Zhao Ming diving from the sky, its sharp mutated toe claws diagonally slicing at its neck, creating a huge gash with a swoosh!

Almost at the same time, a gunshot came from the fortress, and a large hole exploded on the Skeleton Bird's wings and abdomen simultaneously, with flesh and blood splattering outwards.

Chen Chuan's gaze shifted, and he saw a major officer standing on an open-air platform of the fortress, carrying a large-caliber double-barreled shoulder gun on his shoulder, with wisps of green smoke coming from the muzzle.

The Skeleton Bird seemed to have regained some consciousness due to the stimulation of its injuries, but it was too late. Without even half a struggle, it fell helplessly from the sky, crashing heavily onto the ground, stirring up a cloud of splashing mud.

Soldiers who were prepared in the fortress immediately rushed out in vehicles, passing by Chen Chuan and his group. After arriving near the Skeleton Bird, they got out of the vehicles and used large-caliber guns to bombard the big bird, causing its body to tremble non-stop before stopping after a full half minute.

It wasn't their fault for being so cautious. The creatures of the Convergence Zone all have Mutated Tissue, and their vitality is extremely tenacious. If they weren't killed on the spot, they might be able to recover.

A chirp came from the sky, and Zhao Ming circled twice in the air before landing on the car door next to Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan stroked its smooth feathers. He felt Zhao Ming's excitement. After all, this was the latter's first battle against a creature much larger than itself, and it had successfully injured it.

But it was indeed worthy of praise. This surprise attack was decisive and swift, just after his Spirit attack. Their coordination was excellent.

In fact, if the Skeleton Bird's head wasn't protected by a hard exoskeleton, this attack could have directly lifted its skull.

With Mutated Tissue, Zhao Ming was flexible, fast in flight, and sharp in attack, which was the advantage of its small size.

But he estimated that Zhao Ming's size should continue to grow. In the past, the external environment limited its Mutated Tissue and size, but after entering the Convergence Zone, it might be further stimulated.

At this time, the convertible Off-road vehicle had already driven into the fortress. The major who fired the gun walked down from above and saluted them.

"I am Bao Heheng, the garrison major here, responsible for the safety of the passage. Welcome to your arrival. I apologize for the scare just now."

Councilor Pei said, "Major Bao's shot was very timely."

Bao Heheng said sternly, "Councilor Pei, please rest assured, I can definitely shoot down the Skeleton Bird before it attacks you."

Chen Chuan nodded slightly, believing this, because he had noticed earlier that after the big bird appeared, this major had been aiming, trying to find a suitable opportunity to shoot, and his Spirit was very focused and firm, which was something only people with extreme confidence in themselves would have.

Bao Heheng then turned to Chen Chuan and said, "This must be Supervisor Chen, hello. We have received the highest order from the Ministry of Defense, requiring us to cooperate with your mission, and some preliminary preparations have been made."

He looked at Councilor Pei again, "If you have any requirements, please feel free to ask. Our garrison will do our best to meet them."

Chen Chuan said, "Then we'll trouble you."

After the pleasantries, Major Bao led the two towards the fortress commander's location. On the way, Chen Chuan asked about the situation here and learned that the kind of attack outside was a common occurrence because the area in front of Fortress Three was a large, undeveloped area.

And the Convergence Zone has frequent migrations, and there are often some creatures migrating here that regard this place as their territory and attack them.

And often, if one creature of a group is killed, the subsequent attacks are continuous, but the garrison here is already used to it.

Councilor Pei went to hand over with the highest commander here, and then went to the intelligence department. When he returned, he said, "Supervisor Chen, the information from the front will take some time to compile, and it's getting late. Let's go eat first."

Chen Chuan agreed, and first went to the Base cafeteria with Councilor Pei to eat.

There wasn't much to say about the food in the Convergence Zone, but they were high-ranking officers, so they could at least be a little picky about the taste.

After eating, Councilor Pei came to the operations intelligence room. Irrelevant personnel had already left, and a map was hanging in front, with important locations and paths pre-marked.

Councilor Pei said, "The communications room has not received any intelligence from Captain Xu, but there is no other news either."

He sighed, "No news is good news, for now."

Chen Chuan said, "Captain Xu is a very experienced person and is very good at preserving his own Strength. We can trust him."

Councilor Pei nodded, "Yes, I have something to show you, Supervisor Chen."

He walked to the front of the map, picked up a pointer, and said, "According to some of the information we have obtained before, and the analysis of our analysis team," he pointed to a place on the map with the pointer.

"The Union, or the Linax Federation, should have set up a camp in this place.

For days, the communications station has observed airships going in that direction, averaging once a day. The airships are departing from various Company branches located in the Convergence Zone, so we can almost conclude that that camp is their large rear area for exploring the unknown area."

Chen Chuan looked at it. That place was located in the lower right corner of the unexplored area, marked with a crossed lightning symbol on the map.

From a large perspective, this place is located on a road that can directly connect to the rear, and going out from this location for more than ten kilometers will enter that unknown area.

It seems that the people from the Union and the Linax Federation are planning to advance steadily, rather than rushing in headlong.

This is normal. If they don't arrange a passage for retreat and Strength for support in advance, even if they get the relics, they may not be able to successfully take them away. And with a camp, they can continuously provide support and supplies to the front.

But conversely, he stared at that location, if they could destroy this camp, it would definitely be a heavy blow to them, at least it could cut off their support for the front.

As his thoughts turned, his gaze shifted to the other side, seeing a blue mark, he asked, "This should be the Base we established, right?"

Councilor Pei said, "It was originally, but..."

He shook his head, "Five days ago, it was attacked by an elite cavalry of the Old Imperial Family, and the camp was severely damaged. In recent days, it is still being attacked continuously.

But we have not given up there and have been trying to maintain it, but we are temporarily unable to send troops to support and respond to Captain Xu and his party who have entered it, let alone deter the Union and the Federation on the other side."

At this time, his expression became serious: "The higher-ups suspect that the Old Imperial Family may have reached a limited cooperation with the Union this time, wanting to drive us out of the game first."

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