Chapter 731: 731

Chapter 731: Vanishing Without a Trace

When the strong wind passed through the long and narrow valley and hit the sinkhole like a tide, the spherical jungle hanging in the air would shake with the wind, like the head of a real demon, wailing and laughing hideously.

It was hard to imagine that an isolated human town could survive in such a terrible place for more than half a century.

Besides, Lu Siya and her team had truly not found any signs of a human town.

There was nothing at all, be it high-rise buildings, traffic arteries, vehicles, or the roar of factories.

Not even the dilapidated ruins were there.

Of course, the clouds and mist were gathering as well as dispersing, while the depths of the sinkhole were covered in lush vegetation. It was impossible for the investigators to scan the entire sinkhole.

That was only the place where the man-eating pomfret team had left their last coordinates.

It was possible that the strange conversation they heard in the communication channel had been left elsewhere, or that human town was still in the deeper depths of the sinkhole.

If they were merely charting the map to provide guidance for the cannons and armored airships, it might be barely enough to advance there.

However, if there really was a human town in the depths of the sinkhole, the twenty-four-hour carpet bombing would undoubtedly destroy the town and all of its residents that had been struggling for more than half a century.

It was a moral responsibility that the highest authority of Dragon City could hardly accept.

Besides, the sinkhole was too large. Lu Siya and the others had not found any place that could be called the monster civilization’s ultimate lair yet.

To let the railway guns and armored airships carry out saturation bombing in such a large area, the crystal bombs consumed would be astronomical.

The cost of war was too high, and the effects of bombing might not be too good.

If these crystal resources could be saved and used for human cultivation, it might be possible to train more Heaven Realm and Deity Realm experts for Dragon City.

If not, they could invest in the four major research institutes and develop more black technology, which would help Dragon City’s civilization take the next step and colonize the Other World in a brand-new war.

Therefore, after repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, Lu Siya and the other nine groups of investigators decided to continue moving forward.

Whether it was a human town or the monster civilization’s lair, they had to at least lock on to the precise coordinates of one place.

“I’ll take one team down first. Shao Jun, take two teams and gather at the edge of the sinkhole. Zhou Meng, you and three teams retreat two kilometers away. Go to the high point we just found and observe our actions from a distance.”

Lu Siya calmly gave the order, “Remember, if anything unusual happens to us, and I mean ‘anything’, your mission and the third team’s mission is not to rescue us, much less continue exploring. Instead, you will turn around and run away without any hesitation. Strive to send out all the data that you have collected earlier. Do you understand?”

“But…”

The two deputy team leaders named Shao Jun and Zhou Meng were tough, fierce, and menacing-looking people.

Facing the mysterious sinkhole, they were not afraid at all. On the contrary, they were eager to volunteer themselves.

However, Lu Siya rejected them without hesitation. “There is no ‘but’. I am the team leader, and I will go down first. If you can’t even deal with me, it will be a waste of your time. Try to escape and call for artillery cover support!”

After half a year of training, the Queen Bee had gotten more experienced. Her every movement was full of an undisputable temperament.

The two deputy team leaders stopped arguing and carried out her orders immediately after she stared at them with her lightning-sharp eyes.

Lu Siya commanded the investigators to build a small camp at the edge of the crater with the equipment carried by the rune machines.

Then, she built a small elevator with a winch and steel cable driven by crystals.

During this process, she released some drones in an attempt to go deep into the sinkhole and take more pictures at close range.

However, strong winds swept through the sinkhole, and the spirit magnetic interference was very strong. The drone had just gone dozens of meters deep when it seemed to be wrapped by an invisible tentacle and pulled into the depths of the mist. The images transmitted by the camera in real-time also turned white.

The intelligent tank in the shape of a spider, which was then dropped down, was the same.

After slowly climbing down the sinkhole for more than a hundred meters, it lost control and disappeared without a trace.

It seemed that it was necessary for humans to personally experience danger in order to be able to detect everything with the naked eye.

“We’re going down!”

For safety reasons, Lu Siya did not activate the magnetic levitation force. Instead, she took a lift with a few investigators and slowly descended.

In one shot, she even gave a thumbs up and waved her fists at the people at the edge of the crater.

A gentle breeze blew, and the mist gathered again, drowning Lu Siya and the investigators. Then…

“That’s it.”

Long Feijun turned off the three-dimensional image and said, “This is the last message we received from the elite investigators of Team Nine.”

There was a moment of silence.

“How is that possible?”

Meng Chao suddenly stood up and pressed his fists against the conference table, as if he were trying to push the table into two large, clear pits, “Leader Lu and the others were not in any danger at all. Besides, Leader Lu has made careful arrangements. Wasn’t there a team of people stationed at a high point a few kilometers away to observe from a distance? Did they not capture anything?”

“That was the problem. They had all gone missing, including Team Leader Lu and the first team who had gone deep into the crater; the second team that had been stationed at the edge of the crater and had deployed a large number of automatic fire points around the temporary camp; and the third team that had been far away from the crater. All of them had mysteriously disappeared at the same time.

“Team one and team two aside, team three’s high point position was carefully selected by Team leader Lu. A lot of mines were planted nearby to ensure that it was absolutely clean and safe.

“Logically speaking, even if the Apocalyptic Beasts suddenly appeared, it would take a certain amount of time and trouble to kill all the troops of the three teams.

“Even if the third team was powerless to resist, they should at least be able to transmit the last message so that we can see the real face of the enemy before they are completely annihilated, right?

“However, they did not. Before they disappeared, they left nothing behind.

“Not only the nine teams led by Leader Lu, but the other elite reconnaissance unit of the Red Dragon Army and the third exploration team made up of the senior hunters from the Hunter Association. They approached the sinkhole from different directions at the same time. However, when Leader Lu and the others went missing, the two teams from the Red Dragon Army and the Hunter Association also went missing. Before they went missing, there were no abnormalities and no battles.”

Long Feijun’s words made everyone break out in cold sweat after careful consideration.

“If the disappearance of the man-eating pomfret team can be explained by ‘encountering monsters, retreating while fighting, running out of ammunition and food, and sacrificing themselves,’ the disappearances of Leader Lu and the other three exploration teams are indeed extremely weird.”

Long Feijun spoke the truth for everyone. “If we don’t figure out the mystery of their disappearance, the people of Dragon City will never be able to sleep and eat in peace!”

Of course.

Although the monsters encountered by the man-eating pomfret team could not be explained by common sense, they could at least be solved by covering them with artillery fire.

However, Lu Siya and the others had a total of three elite exploration teams deployed at seven or eight coordinates that were quite far away. They had dozens of Heaven Realm and above experts who had been through hundreds of battles. They were experienced superhumans who were familiar with the characteristics of monsters and the temper of the wilderness, there were also ten times more runic machines. Each runic machine carried a large number of cameras, detectors, and data transmission devices.

In the end, before they could even see the enemy’s true face, their eyes were blinded, their ears were sealed, and their tongues were cut off. They could not send out any effective information at all?

This kind of unpredictable unknown was truly the deepest level of terror.

Everyone looked at each other in dismay. They could see the confusion and coldness in each other’s eyes.

There was another bout of inexplicable silence.

“Battle God Lei Zongchao suddenly coughed lightly and said, “Ah Jun, play the video again.”

In order to stabilize his vitality magnetic field, Lei Zongchao curled up in a specially made lead suit.

In order to stimulate everyone’s thoughts, he deliberately suppressed his presence very thinly. He sat in the corner without saying a word, as if he was a mascot, quietly listening to the discussions of the crowd.

However, when he coughed lightly, even if it was only half a sound, he instantly attracted the attention of all the young military officers and ace investigators, becoming the main character.

Long Feijun respectfully asked Lei Zongchao which part he wanted to watch.

Lei Zongchao asked him to find the UHV transmission tower that was covered in vines and branches and turned into a green giant, which Lu Siya and the others had filmed.

Then, he found the UHV transmission tower captured by the man-eating pomfret team and compared them.

“One at the front and one at the back. Are the two teams capturing the same place?”

Lei Zongchao narrowed his eyes and asked slowly after looking at it for a long time.

Long Feijun nodded in agreement.

“So, these green giants also transformed from the same batch of UHV transmission towers?” Lei Zongchao continued to ask.

“Yes.”

Long Feijun said, “The Dragon City power company stored the data of all the transmission towers and substations around Dragon City before the transmigration. This batch of UHV transmission towers is 233 meters tall, and the bifurcation structure at the top is also quite special. It is the latest product at that time, and there is only this batch around Dragon City.

“After comparing it with the surrounding terrain, we can confirm that the man-eating pomfret team and Team Nine were taken at the same location.”

“That’s not right.”

Lei Zongchao pointed at the two holographic photos and said, “In the two photos, the relative positions of the UHV transmission towers have changed. These two towers are closer to each other, and these few towers seem to be much more sparse, as if they deliberately left a gap. The cables of the last few towers hang down and disappear into the grass.

“If I’m not wrong, they are like pythons lurking there, ready to attack at any time.”

Under Lei Zongchao’s guidance, everyone moved their heads closer to take a closer look. As expected, they saw a strange change.

When the man-eating pomfret team and group nine arrived, the positions of several UHV transmission towers had changed.

It was like a trap that could kill people. After the adjustment and movement of the traps, it was more convenient for predation!

“How is this possible?”

Everyone had a look of disbelief on their faces.

These UHV transmission towers should be deeply rooted in the ground, firmly embedded in the base made of reinforced concrete. Only then could they support the two-hundred-meter-high iron towers and withstand the assault of the fierce wind and heavy rain.

If they crossed over together with the ground, there were only two outcomes for them.

Either they remained standing and did not move at all, or they collapsed because of the earthquake.

No matter what, they should be towering trees with steel and iron bones. They should never grow legs like monsters and run around everywhere, right?

Wait a minute —

Someone suddenly thought that if these UHV transmission towers really rose from the ground under the influence of some mysterious force, and were wrapped up by the moss, branches, and vines with extremely strong cell activity, they would not be able to escape.

Their attack patterns were not necessarily like predatory plants that could only be limited to a certain range.

Instead, they were like monsters that could choose the most suitable hunting ground at will.

This realization caused the temperature in the meeting room to instantly drop by ten degrees.

And it was filled with the sound of swallowing with difficulty.