Mutants - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Jellyfish?

Sui Xin cursed inwardly but still tossed her helmet aside, lunged for the equipment box, and grabbed a liquid-fuel high-temperature explosive, shoving it into Knox's hands.

"Throw it at the ceiling of the cave! Quick!"

Open the skylight?

Cold air will get in… but if we don't, we're dead!

Knox had also been forged in the crucible of war. Speed was of the essence in military matters, but the main decision wasn't his to make—this quiet woman was lethal. She had already pulled the pin, just like pulling the safety on a landmine. If he didn't throw it, it would blow up in his hands!

Is she insane?!

He had no choice. Scared to death, his mind went blank. He instinctively pushed open the skylight. The terrifying cold air rushed in, and a layer of frost immediately spread over everyone's protective suits…

The Bruce was only a meter away from the vehicle. It floated up, spreading its cloak-like body from above, about to cover them…

But an explosive was thrown out with immense force.

Bang! It passed through the Bruce's body and hit the ceiling of the cave, detonating on impact!

A sharp, piercing shriek emanated from the explosive as the energy substance inside reacted rapidly with the oxygen. It was a harsh chemical sound, like ice water hitting hot oil, crackling and high-pitched.

After handing the explosive to Knox, Sui Xin had retreated to her own spot, quickly tucking her small head back into her helmet. But her senses were sharp. Through the helmet's visual magnification, she didn't miss the way the Bruce's wide, open cloak-like body outside the window distorted, its form shrinking slightly.

Huh?

Weren't most energy and physical attacks ineffective against it?

So, direct heat energy does harm it, causing its body to distort and shrink?

If that was the case, there were ways to deal with it. However, its form could stretch limitlessly and even change density. It was, after all, a gaseous lifeform. Unless it was sealed in a high-temperature environment or hit with a large, wide-coverage explosive, it was unlikely to suffer any fatal damage.

Outside, intense sparks filled their vision, the light as brilliant as fireworks.

Within a diameter of about five meters, light and heat scattered like a goddess strewing flowers, instantly covering the three or four vehicles near the S501.

Sparks whizzed down, landing on the vehicle bodies.

The material of the vehicles was decent; this kind of attack wouldn't breach their defenses for now, only scorching the surface…

But the temperature rose.

The Frostcloak Bruce also retreated a little due to the sudden increase in temperature.

It did not like high temperatures. It really did not like them!

"It's backing off!"

"It's working!"

"But…"

The group was overjoyed, but their bodies were stiff with fear, because—the hatch above was still open!

What is Knox doing?!

Just as they were terrified and panicked, they saw that Knox, due to his large size, was more susceptible to the cold. His hand had been near the hatch opening, and the cold air that rushed in had covered his arm first. Before he could pull his arm back, it was frozen stiff. The frost, having found a surface to cling to, quickly froze one of his hands and half of his body along with it. He couldn't move, and naturally couldn't close the hatch in time.

With the hatch open, the outside cold poured in. While certainly not as terrifying as the Bruce itself, it was still quite lethal. The inside of the vehicle was soon covered in a layer of white frost. Sui Xin also felt the view from her helmet being obscured by a pattern of ice crystals, her body growing cold and stiff.

It's over.

The Bruce had temporarily retreated, but…

Fortunately, while only his skin was frozen, Chucks lunged forward. He wrapped his legs tightly around Knox's body and—slam!

The hatch was closed.

The cold air was sealed out, leaving a pocket of low temperature inside the vehicle. Everyone was still cold, but at least they were a safe distance from the terrifyingly low temperatures that could freeze them to death in an instant. With the vehicle sealed, the internal temperature would rise—provided the vehicle didn't malfunction, the heat circulation system worked, and the Bruce didn't come back!

"Look outside, it's coming!"

Damn it, speak of the devil!

Just as they had escaped being frozen to death, they saw the Bruce, which had retreated a short distance, seemingly unwilling to give up, spreading its cold cloak to cover them again.

It was right there on the edge.

The light expanded, a vast and cold white glow.

They were terrified, all prepared for death's arrival. Someone even tried to drive the vehicle to escape—in the face of death, human reason plummets, and the foolish instincts of a creature take over.

Perhaps the only one who remained calm was Sui Xin. Her expression under the helmet was unknown to others. In any case, her body was just feigning a terrified tremble.

Alright, actually, she was just cold.

No need to pretend.

But she wasn't panicking.

Because…

Ye Chen suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, the Bruce is…"

In their despair, the Bruce, which was about to cover the vehicle, suddenly retreated again.

As if in disgust, it moved to the side.

Everyone was confused, but they soon realized why.

Because the Bruce had also given up on the vehicle next to them.

—That vehicle still had tiny sparks burning on it.

Even though the effect of the explosive was brief, the fragments it scattered were flammable. A few sparks lingered on the vehicle's shell. While they damaged the surface material, the small, dense sparks carried a localized burning temperature. For a creature like a Bruce, which preferred to fully spread its cloak and completely cover low-temperature objects, this was an almost instinctive aversion.

A gamble on a creature's basic instincts!

It backed away and went for the two vehicles on the outer side that hadn't been hit by the explosive's fiery debris. But at that moment…

"The heat circulation is starting."

They saw a red light flow through the patterns on the vehicle's shell. The heat energy began to circulate, and the frost was quickly dispelled. The temperature inside the vehicle started to recover.

The remaining vehicles all successfully activated their heat circulation systems.

After all, some time had been wasted earlier. By continuously increasing the energy burn to improve efficiency, the heat circulation was finally activated.

The frost on the vehicle's surface quickly receded. To the Bruce, it was as if a group of blue entities on a thermal imaging screen had collectively turned red.

It liked blue, and hated red!

And so… it didn't try to cover any of the vehicles again.

"Thank goodness, we can hold on."

"I've only heard of a Bruce, never seen one. It's terrifying. When did something like this appear in the Deep Red Sector?"

To put it bluntly, a Bruce was not the kind of rare creature that ordinary corporate frontline combat personnel could handle or would even have the chance to encounter.

"They should be on the level of those Adepts, my god!"

"This mission is getting more and more bizarre."

"It hasn't given up yet."

The Bruce circled around, continuously releasing an even more terrifying cold to cover the entire cave.

Within a confined space, as long as the cold grew more intense, it would eventually overpower the vehicle's heat circulation capability—energy was finite. Under full consumption, it would eventually run out. That would be its chance.

Low temperature was invincible.

Everyone was frantic, knowing that if this continued, they would surely lose.

Drive the vehicles out?

Given the Bruce's floating speed, they might not be caught. At least it was better than waiting to die here.

But they couldn't. It was still the Lightburst Period outside, and the vehicle's body couldn't withstand the radiation.

A dilemma!

Just as even Sui Xin was feeling a headache coming on… huh?

"It seems to be moving outward."

Indeed, it seemed the Bruce was giving up?

No!

"The Light Radiation Zone is moving… It's chasing the Light Radiation Zone. Its birth is probably related to the Frostlight Phase."

Sui Xin was, after all, the intellectual of the group here. With her analysis, the others were convinced.

And after the Bruce left the cave, its winter cloak once again ascended to a great height, eventually becoming a terrifying greatcoat amidst the light radiation, moving along with the Light Radiation Zone.

But the area outside was still within the Light Radiation Zone's range. It was probably moving along its core area. In any case, it involved biological and ruin-zone climate secrets that people like them could hardly fathom. All they knew was that the immediate crisis was over.

Knox's body had recovered quite a bit. After all, he had the number one physique. Much of the frost had melted. He shivered and said, "That was a bit scary. How did it suddenly become Frostfall? Is this kind of weather normal?"

Lin Dan and the others looked at Sui Xin, who silently rubbed her nose and said, "Have you ever seen normal weather in any ruin zone? Without these strange climates, there would be no ruin zones."

That was true.

However, Sui Xin also pressed her face against the window, looking at the frost flowers outside, especially the crystalline patterns on the window. She said thoughtfully, "This should be because the quinquennial ocean current circulation period in the Deep Red Inner Sea is approaching. But it's at least half a year ahead of the normal schedule. And it didn't just appear today; it must have been around for a while, which means it started even earlier."

Climate change was bizarre every year. The group only felt it was dangerous and didn't bother to investigate its deeper causes.

Ye Chen: "How long will it last? Is it like this every day?"

Sui Xin: "If it weren't for the thermal effects in this area, it might have just passed like a flood. But hot and cold air currents in an ecosystem are cyclical. Given that the environmental volume inside the ruin zone is different from the outside, it's somewhat enclosed, which intensifies its cycle. So it will alternate repeatedly, similar to the large diurnal temperature range in desert areas. That's the basic principle, I guess. I don't know much more. The group's intelligence on the Deep Red Sector B05 Ruins Zone has been almost nonexistent recently."

Or perhaps there was intelligence, but it wouldn't be available for frontline combat personnel to review. Even a low-level analyst like her had no access. Perhaps only mid-level analysts had that privilege.

"However, although my position and department don't give me much knowledge about the Bruce species, when some of the group's Adepts go on missions to the Deep Blue Sector, they gossip in the break room. I once heard someone say that seemingly mysterious and supernatural beings like this are actually still biological organisms."

They knew this too. Ecological collapse, radiation's malevolence, and biological mutations arrived as promised. Species deviated from their original genetic tracks. Even a being like a Bruce, with its mysterious and elusive appearance that didn't seem biological, was in fact a living creature.

But the Sahr Hyena could still be traced back to a species origin, not having strayed too far from its ancestors. A Bruce, however, was far too extraordinary. With their limited experience and information channels, they really had no concept of it.

Jenny couldn't help but look at Sui Xin, who took off her helmet again, carefully wiping the frost off it. "I don't know if it's true, but I heard from someone that many incredible creatures can actually be traced back to the ecological origins of the ruin zones. For example, the ecological origins of the Deep Red Sector are divided into two parts: one is the volcanic system, and the other is the deep-sea abyssal zone. Together, they form an island climate. The deep sea is home to the most mysterious and ancient creatures, which were in an unexplored state even during the peaceful era hundreds of years ago. For example, a Bruce… don't you think it looks a bit like a jellyfish?"

What the hell?!

Ye Chen and Jenny looked at each other.

Jellyfish?

Once this idea was out, everyone carefully thought back.

A changing, soft form, transparency, a deep-sea cold nature, its method of movement…

Now that she mentioned it, it really did seem a bit like one.

"But can this kind of deep-sea aquatic creature directly transform into a high-altitude flying and floating state? That's too big of a change. Its entire genetic chain must have mutated."

Faced with such skepticism, Sui Xin wasn't too sure either. "I don't really believe it either, but I've looked into some natural history. It seems that in the stages of biological development, there have always been aquatic, terrestrial, and aerial forms. It's just a matter of a certain organ mutating. We think it's absurd, but to people from a few hundred years ago, the current world is also absurd. Radiation is the source, promoting genetic change, and climate change is the external petri dish, incubating the radiation-affected genes in a box, ultimately leading to biological mutation. Often, it's just a matter of a single trigger."

That seemed to make sense.

Everyone felt a bit down for a moment.

The world had changed so drastically, and living things were no longer what they used to be. Only humans were still struggling to survive.

It wasn't that humans hadn't changed, but their drastic changes often came from civilization and ideology.

The source of war came from thoughts and desires.

Of course, as they were being impacted by advanced, mysterious knowledge and couldn't help but ponder humanity and the natural world, Sui Xin, the intellectual, was seriously thinking to herself: Sorry, that so-called Adept chatting in the break room was me. I was just bullshitting, made it up on the spot. Scared you, didn't I! Good, you should be scared. Hurry up and run. Don't go to any outpost. If you desert, I'll have a reason not to go…

Although the concept of a deep-sea jellyfish was something she had considered, it was completely unverified. Anyone who believed it would be embarrassed.

---

The group's mood grew heavier. Ye Chen's eyes were gloomy. "With the energy we have on our vehicles now, plus the energy and gasoline we snatched from Red Eye today, we can probably support 12 hours of heat circulation. But we still need to maintain an energy reserve for possible dangers along the way. So, a maximum of 8 hours."

"If it doesn't end after 8 hours, we'll be in great danger."

If they hadn't seized the energy and gasoline, this time would be drastically reduced, making it even more dangerous.

Sui Xin noticed that Ye Chen was still looking at her as he said this.

"I'm not sure. My previous work was in history and environmental analysis. This falls under ruin climatology, which I'm not very familiar with. But from the tidbits I've heard from other analysts, it seems the greatest harm is in the initial phase. That's when the Frostfall's light radiation is at its strongest and has penetrative power. Even with heat circulation, direct exposure to it will cause severe damage to any substance, especially living organisms, affecting their cells. Once the Lightburst Period is over and the ground is covered in frost, it's just low temperature."

Jenny: "Can we drive then?"

Sui Xin: "We should be able to. We have to wait out the Lightburst Period."

Ye Chen's expression relaxed.

"Then we'll wait it out!"

Sui Xin thought for a moment and said, "Wake me up when it's over."

"Excuse me, can I have my earmuffs back now?"

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