Chapter 17 It Doesn't Dare to Come Over_1

The cold wave, akin to a tsunami, should have frozen the mist solid, yet the mist here remained unaffected, and after passing through the center of the anomaly, the cold wave inexplicably shrank.

The cold wave was still a cold wave, as the air temperature rapidly dropped when it surged forth, causing those nearing low temperatures to shiver from the bone-chilling air that froze over the area with a layer of frost… but that was about it.

Hidden behind cover, Zheng Yichen looked at the frost on the edge of the shelter and tapped on the chunks of ice with his fishing rod, finding them quite solid, even stronger than the icy clumps in the chicken farm's cold storage; one would have to exert a bit more effort to shatter them.

The temperature in the environment plummeted, bringing severe coldness, but as long as one avoided the direct onslaught of the cold wave, they could essentially prevent serious frostbite or being frozen to death.

"I sort of understand what you just said," Zheng Yichen told Roy.

The breath exhaled by the dragon seen within the anomaly had a significantly different actual effect; at first burst, it felt as though it could easily freeze the entire street and that if it erupted here, all the creatures in the street would be doomed.

But when it actually struck, it was a bit of a letdown… Is that it?

It should have been an ice nuclear bomb, but turned out to just be a liquid nitrogen bomb.

As a qualified transmigrator, given the current situation, it was not too difficult to understand.

"So, it dares not come over here!" Roy exhaled, and in the midst of summer, the rush of cold air made it feel just like winter, visible breath could be seen: "As long as we clear out those things that have run out, get ready to counterattack!!"

After hearing the clicking sounds in the distance, Roy yelled, lifted his rocket launcher—already reloaded—and darted out from the cover to fire a shot at the undead creatures charging over the frozen ice.

The explosion's light brought a bit of warmth to the extremely cold area, and simultaneously, others in the area began their counterattack, hurling various attacks at the undead creatures, even flinging some murky green fireballs, and filthy-colored 'energy' arrows.

However, such attacks, just like gunfire, despite their considerable power, were meaningless if they missed their target. Unlike firearms, it was best to avoid direct contact with what was presumably magic-based attacks.

A bullet graze would simply leave a large gash, but brushing up against one of those murky green fireballs… No one wanted to try their luck with that.

Two hours later, the constant surge of undead creatures gradually receded. Roy's face was ashen; he had been hit by a bone arrow earlier and had been sustaining himself on medications. After such an intense battle, even the best drugs could not hold out.

Zheng Yichen appeared somewhat bored; as a melee unit, there really wasn't much for him to do here. He must buy a gun, he must. He had now got a clear understanding of the firepower possessed by Roy's people, which was incredibly fierce.

A little over an hour ago, they had faced some embarrassment against the surging undead creatures, but once reinforcements arrived, it was a different story. The overwhelming firepower brought the enemy to their knees, and the advantage of technology over magic was equally significant.

Zheng Yichen surmised that the additional advantage might have to do with the environment. The breath spewed by the bone dragon weakened considerably after it left the anomaly's central area, not to mention the undead creatures' attacks and special powers.

Besides its initial attack, the bone dragon didn't venture out from the center of the anomaly.

When the undead creatures stopped emerging, a doctor arrived to help Roy. This doctor examined Roy's wound and promptly began treating the arrow wound, deftly removing the bone arrow.

After taking some anti-inflammatory drugs, he breathed a sigh of relief and cast a glance at Zheng Yichen, "Have you really not considered joining the Response Bureau?"

"If I can retain my Hunter status, I'll consider it."

"That's not possible," Roy shook his head and didn't delve further into the subject. The Response Bureau often needed to replenish its ranks, but that wasn't too difficult since many Hunters sought more stable employment and would join the Bureau.

Zheng Yichen was young and still a novice hunter, exactly in the phase of possessing a great longing for contact with the anomalous world; convincing him would not be so easy.

The Response Bureau personnel continued their vigilance at the relevant locations. After more than two hours of battling, the scene had been meticulously organized. Once the high-intensity shelters were deployed, the undead creatures' attacks could hardly take effect.

This battle reminded Zheng Yichen of the roles that research institutions play... studying various weapons, equipment, and even bioengineering, not necessarily to provoke wars in this world, at least not entirely.

Some staff members operated drones to carry out an orderly recovery operation for the skeletons of the undead creatures.

From time to time, bone arrows and 'magic' would shoot out of the mist; if those attacks hit the drones and destroyed them, the personnel would quickly replace them, ensuring the recovery operation proceeded smoothly.

Zheng Yichen held a skull whose jaw was still clicking as it collided with the upper jaw; the creature's body had been destroyed in the intense explosion, and its head had flown over to him.

Undead creatures, eh, even a lone skull could still live. Observing the 'flame' within the skull, Zheng Yichen tossed it aside, and his fishing rod followed through the skull's eye socket with a jab.

He raised his eyebrows slightly, noticing that Roy was looking this way. "Do we need to retrieve that thing, too?"

"Have you read the Hunter's Code?"

"Didn't finish it."

"Apart from prohibiting it from falling into the hands of ordinary people, you can deal with the rest on your own," Roy said, then shifted his gaze away.

The skeleton head in Zheng Yichen's hand didn't require much attention; such things were recovered in great numbers. Drones were hauling them out in heaps. The body parts of these undead creatures that were recovered would be received by some research institutes.

Those institutes couldn't simply take advantage of the Response Team for free. They, who put in the work, wouldn't let the institutes benefit eagerly after the fact. If they wanted these items, they would have to provide additional funds to purchase them from the Response Team.

Some newly developed weapons and equipment, the Response Team also had the right of first purchase.

Zheng Yichen looked at the skeleton head skewered by the fishing rod; he thought he couldn't get much from the 'extraordinary creature' that had turned into a bone, but when the fishing rod touched the 'flame' inside the skull, his own extraordinary abilities began to stir slightly.

Inside the fishing rod lay the 'mouthpart' derived from his extraordinary abilities, and now that it had reacted, that meant...

Under Zheng Yichen's gaze, the flame inside the skeleton head dimmed a bit. He immediately ceased the action. With so many prying eyes around, it was better for him to be cautious, considering he himself was an extraordinary creature.

In the human race, there are extraordinary creatures. This term, when used back on Earth, actually had many synonyms: Superpower User, mutant, transmutant, and so on.

In this world, however, anything 'abnormal' was referred to as an extraordinary creature. For intelligent extraordinary beings like people, at most, notes would not include 'extraordinary creature' but rather 'Extraordinary Being'.

If his extraordinary ability was to produce fire or electricity, or even to transform into a version of the Hulk that wasn't green, he would not show it. The key was that his own extraordinary power was quite sinister, at least, it looked like the kind that would give people bad associations.

Devouring-type extraordinary abilities.

After touching this skeleton head, he gained a new understanding of his extraordinary ability—aside from being effective on normal beings, it also worked on abnormal ones, assuming he targeted the right spot.

"Can I go now?"

"Wait a moment." Roy, watching Zheng Yichen who was about to leave, asked him to wait for a bit and then handed him an agreement. "Sign this and you can go."

The agreement wasn't too demanding. What happened here did not require Zheng Yichen to be utterly secretive; secrecy was difficult anyway. As long as he didn't talk carelessly it was fine, and anything obtained here was not to be circulated among ordinary people.

There was also some compensation for his involvement in this incident. In this event, he had earned a total of... three thousand bucks.

"If I had a gun, could the compensation be doubled?"

"That could be arranged," Roy said. "Ammunition would be reimbursed, but that's as far as it would go." The compensation was still based on the extent to which Zheng Yichen had killed those giant rats. A melee unit hardly played a significant role when dealing with undead creatures.

If Zheng Yichen had been able to go berserk in that crowd of undead, even charging straight into the anomaly and twisting off the bone dragon's head, that evening he would have been received by the Mayor of Hazy City, appearing at a banquet hosted by the mayor. All the big names in Hazy City would have offered him their business cards.

"I'm leaving," Zheng Yichen said, somewhat regretfully glancing at the anomaly that had not yet dissipated.

The duration of the anomalies appearing in the fog of Hazy City lasted a few hours longer or ended more than half an hour sooner. This one counted as one of the longer-lasting ones.

As for the post-battle cleanup on this side, Zheng Yichen remembered how the news in Hazy City often broadcasted information about high-performance building materials developed by certain research institutes. There would be some people affected by the anomalies, but not many—mostly because the places where anomalies appeared were usually open areas, and those anomalies wouldn't get stuck in buildings.

Of course, some were unlucky, as the anomalies appeared directly above their homes. In that case, they'd just have to accept their fate. There were signs before anomalies began, accompanied by a brief process. One could only accept it, and as long as they weren't too slow or clumsy, a quick getaway could prevent bigger problems.

If they ran too slowly, they'd end up dead and waiting for a post-disaster rescue. If they encountered the same situation as this time, they probably wouldn't have had a chance for rescue and would have joined the ranks of undead immediately.

He knew these things because the TV in Hazy City often showed public education programs about such topics, similar to dealing with sudden situations like earthquakes and fires. Of course, those programs didn't mention what might be inside an anomaly.

People directly affected by the anomaly fainted and naturally didn't perceive any substantial information.