Chapter 34: The Road of Fury

Once Zhou Chu assumed command of the squad, her operational style became significantly more aggressive. Seven modified mice were dispatched to scout and provide early warnings, leaving the young monk only the task of discerning the direction and leading the way.

The team’s pace increased dramatically, while the team leader trailed behind, looking relaxed, as if strolling through a scenic landscape.

The monotonous trek through the forest continued for over half an hour. Aside from the harsh natural environment, the team encountered almost no danger or obstacles. They did not even encounter any large beasts, only birds and various insects. Beneath the layer of fallen leaves, hidden creatures like mollusks, lizards, and reptiles skittered about.

Yuan Zhu, however, was quite accustomed to this forest environment. Even without the mice to warn him, he could always sense the ambushes of venomous insects, leeches, and vipers in advance, quietly steering the group around them.

"Why are there no signs of wildlife in this forest?" Meng Xi asked. "Little monk, you said you couldn't find large animals for food at first, and then were suddenly attacked by beasts not long ago, suffering heavy casualties, right?"

"That's correct," Kusao replied. "At first, we could still hunt wild boars and deer, but these animals vanished in a very short time. About ten days ago, the squad responsible for foraging was suddenly ambushed by a fierce beast and suffered heavy losses. It was dim at the time, and the beast moved too quickly for the survivors to see it clearly, though they confirmed it had sharp horns. After that, no one was willing to risk going out to hunt."

Zhou Chu remarked, "This suddenly appearing beast is also worth vigilance. Horned, swift, and aggressive—what species could it be?"

Yuan Zhu joined the discussion: "Could it be related to the resurrected 'Yellow Springs'?"

Kusao shook his head. "I don't know; I've never seen such a monster. But before I was separated from my companions a few days ago, the settlement was repeatedly attacked by mysterious beasts. They didn't seem like the dead things from the Buddha Kingdom. We were terrified and scattered in flight."

"The situation in this world is getting complicated—first Buddhism, then the Yellow Springs, and now a group of ferocious beasts rising up amidst the spreading decay of the Yellow Springs' death energy?"

The team drew closer to Kusao’s former settlement, which could be seen from afar as a valley with steep cliffs. It not only had running water but also many naturally formed rock caves suitable for living and hiding.

As the squad approached, the air grew deathly quiet and oppressive; not a single bird was in sight. Occasionally, there were remnants of human activity and primitive alarm traps that had already been triggered, but there was not a soul to be seen.

Zhou Chu suddenly became alert and warned, "Everyone, be careful. My mice have sent a warning—there is movement to the north."

Yuan Zhu raised his gun and aimed: "I sense it too. There are many of them, and they are approaching rapidly."

Because the *Immortal Sutra* acted as an interface, his remote control over the mice was superior to others, with a wider and clearer range of perception.

At this moment, the mice sent back blurred information through their mental link. A large number of moving entities, far exceeding the safety (pollution) threshold, were rapidly closing in on the squad. They moved with incredible speed, ignoring the mice sneaking through the grass, and instead swept over them, charging straight toward the team.

Before long, one could see with the naked eye a group of things charging toward them. The young woman shouted a warning: "Halt! Otherwise, we will open fire!"

But the creatures showed no intention of stopping. Instead, they tacitly spread out, forming a wide arc to surround the group, preparing for a hunt.

The spectator team leader reminded them, "These visitors aren't friendly, and they aren't human, so don't harbor any mercy."

Zhou Chu gave the order decisively: "Aim, wait for the right moment, and don't fire blindly. Let them get closer... now! Fire! Free fire!"

***

As the distance closed, Yuan Zhu saw pairs of eerie, green-glowing eyes. Then, he saw a group of deformed beasts—wild boars, spotted deer, goats, wolves, lynxes... herbivores and carnivores mixed together, as if they had been subjected to some sort of pollution and modification.

Their bodies were twisted and bloated, with muscles grotesquely enlarged and brimming with power. The skin on their heads was covered in gashes, inside of which blinked eyeballs. Sharp fangs protruded from their mouths, and bone spurs pierced through the skin at their joints. Clusters of sharp, sword-shaped bone plates grew from their heads and backs. They looked formidable.

*Bang, bang, bang, bang!*

*Boom, boom, boom!*

Zhou Chu pulled the trigger first. Her marksmanship was precise, and a three-round burst struck the lead beast. The high-speed bullets tore the monster's skull cap off, and a spray of thick, dark green blood exploded into the air, splashing onto the nearby vegetation.

Yuan Zhu clearly saw that the thing’s brain had been shattered, yet the headless monster did not fall. Instead, it continued to charge at the front, its direction unwavering, driven by a powerful obsession.

*Bang, bang, bang!*

He quickly raised his hand and aimed at the monster’s front leg. As if guided by a divine force, his body made several adjustments, effortlessly mastering the art of predictive shooting. He grasped the distance and angle, shattering its leg and causing it to lose its balance and crash to the ground.

"Roar!"

Behind them, the Black Butcher, who had been firing wildly, roared as he emptied his magazine at light speed. He threw his gun to the ground and snatched a grenade from his belt.

His spirit was manic, his blood surging. Every muscle in his right arm was taut as he gripped the grenade with the pin pulled and threw it with all his might. As he instinctively performed these actions, he did not notice the countless, invisible, transparent filaments emerging from the inside of his uniform. They pierced his pores, burrowed into his skin, and integrated with his superficial nerves.

As he instinctively threw with all his strength, the uniform further stimulated his bodily functions, assisting him in unleashing his power, magnifying the force of his actions, and adjusting his distance and angle. He threw the grenade with the precision of a professional pitcher.

*Bang!*

The metal grenade struck the mouth of a deer-like monster, shattering its teeth and embedding itself deep in its throat like a cannonball. The monster’s head snapped back, nearly tripping it. Before it could spit out the foreign object, the grenade detonated, blowing its bizarre, ferocious head to pieces.

*Boom! Boom!*

With the Butcher leading the way, Lu Rang, who had emptied his magazine and was scrambling because he didn't know how to reload, also yelled and pulled a pin, throwing it toward the cluster of monsters.

After missing twice, his uniform also drove his body to coordinate with his conscious intent. His throwing precision increased rapidly, and his strength grew significantly. In the span of just five grenades, he transitioned from a novice who couldn't judge distance to a veteran pitcher capable of hitting moving beasts with precision.

Watching one brutal beast after another explode into a mist of dark green blood and flesh at his hands, his adrenaline surged. An inexplicable thrill and satisfaction rushed to his brain. He felt no fatigue or fear, his eyes red as he roared, eager to slaughter more.

Compared to the Black Butcher and Lu Rang, the Bread Girl had shrunk back due to excessive fear. She hugged her rifle to her chest, curled into a ball on the ground, and dared not look up. The elderly woman, however, raised her gun decisively. Before long, with the assistance of the uniform, she had mastered the use of the weapon.

One could see the frail, withered old woman, who looked like she could drop dead at any moment, using standard movements that defied common sense. She physically braced against the recoil, gasping for air as if on the verge of suffocation, shooting with precision and speed. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her blood pressure and heart rate far exceeded the limits of her age.

The image was so surreal, she looked like a hardened, terminal gangster determined to rob a jewelry store one last time before her time was up.

"Baa! Baa!" The old woman's goat was also stimulated, breathing in the air filled with gunpowder and blood, bleating frantically and wanting to charge in for a feast. Fortunately, the young monk locked it in a headlock and used ground fighting techniques to restrain it.

There was no need to mention the two people beside Yuan Zhu; they adapted to the rhythm of the battle quickly. They habituated themselves to the use of the uniforms at light speed, keeping their muzzles steady and accurate, reloading quickly, and tossing grenades, turning the beasts that charged recklessly into piles of green, twitching flesh.

Yuan Zhu even added the uniform to the white list of the *Immortal Sutra*'s external devices, authorizing the little sprite to conduct safety monitoring, which yielded the conclusion: "Neural interference enhancement, overall physical fitness increased by 40-80%."

When a person’s spirit is highly focused, they subconsciously form a neural connection with the clothing.

This garment had no intelligence, but it could read the host's thoughts, changing and conforming to their subconscious, ultimately allowing one to achieve their desires. It helped the body quickly adapt to and become proficient in a task, saving a large amount of mechanical, repetitive training.

For instance, shooting and throwing grenades in a desperate situation—with just a simple adjustment, the clothing became an extension of oneself, helping to quickly master the tricks. At the same time, the clothing secretly stimulated the body to secrete hormones, suppressing fear and tension, boosting dopamine... and bringing excitement and pleasure.

Yuan Zhu's physical changes were all under the monitor's observation.

The sprite believed these changes were within a safe range; the pollution inherent in the clothing was not eroding or transforming Yuan Zhu himself. He was simply using an item with extraordinary properties, far from the point of fusion or transformation.

"Roar, roar, roar!" Meng Xi Yue, beside him, emptied all her magazines, threw away her last pistol, and turned to snatch Yuan Zhu's.

Yuan Zhu dodged at light speed: "Get lost, I'm not finished playing yet!" With that, he raised his hand and precisely blew the head off a six-legged boar. Then he shattered one of its legs, looking at the densely packed, blinking eyes on its chest, tempted to throw a grenade to destroy it completely.

What was supposed to be an assessment of an otherworldly investment environment had inexplicably switched to a *Dead Space* or *Resident Evil* style rampage. Everyone was mindlessly killing, dominated by the instinct to slaughter.

The sounds of gunfire, explosions, and monster screeches blended together. Watching the monsters shatter and explode one after another before their eyes, their brains were exceptionally stimulated. Far from feeling disgusted or terrified, they felt an intense, overwhelming rush.

Yuan Zhu's performance was above average among the group, but his killing efficiency was still inferior to the professionally trained Zhou Chu and Meng Xi, whose reaction speed was clearly extraordinary.

The latter, paired with the uniform, displayed reaction times, calculation, and precision even more exaggerated than Yuan Zhu, a normal human, making one suspect she had special abilities of her own.