Pollution throughout the territory

But that person...

Xia Ren thought for a while and decided to forget it.

Now, all he can trust is his own strength.

However, due to the influence of the fungus, Xia Ren's strength has been greatly weakened. He must find a way to improve his strength to cope with the upcoming crisis. But currently, the fastest way to improve his strength is to enter the ancient dream or supplement After completing the first chapter of Xuanjun's Seven Chapters of the Secret Book, however, whether it was ancient dream fragments or grimoires, they were things that he could not obtain in a short period of time.

However, it is not hopeless at all.

Xia Ren remembered that there was an item that he had almost forgotten in his hometown in Jupiter City. He asked Qin Yun to go back just to get that item.

"Hope it goes well."

Xia Ren prayed silently in his heart.

This time he came out, except for the rootless water that had become one with himself, and the coward's ear pick, he only brought one containment item with him.

Xia Ren looked out the window and subconsciously played with a cube metal block in his hand, feeling the cold temperature brought by it.

The announcement on the plane began to remind passengers that it was about to reach its destination. Not long after, the plane slowly stopped on the runway with a slight turbulence.

Xia Ren closed his eyes and relied on the fungus on the back of his left hand. He could vaguely sense the location of the pagan in this city.

Taking a deep breath, he sat up from his seat.

When he was about to get out of the plane, on the exit side, a slender male flight attendant with dark skin showed a hearty smile to Xia Ren and said:

"I wish you a pleasant journey."

Xia Ren nodded politely to him without paying attention.

…

…

This is the city of Dallas on the edge of the Maryland metropolitan area. The moist and warm wind from the ocean passes here, blocking the cold wind from the Infinite Icefield. Therefore, although it is already the end of December, the temperature in this city has risen to over 20 degrees.

One hundred kilometers east of Dallas is another metropolis—Los Santos.

Los Santos is close to the ocean and is one of the areas closest to the northern continent. Nearly a quarter of the cargo transportation between the two continents depends on the port here.

As early as seven hundred years ago, the predecessor of Los Santos was the notorious "Pirate Country" in history.

Relying on the geographical advantage, people living here often rob cargo ships, or forcibly collect goods at extremely low prices, and then resell them to the mainland at high prices, causing merchants from other continents and locals in Xizhou to suffer misery.

Under the long-term monopoly, Los Santos has developed several major families, who are united with each other and deeply rooted. Although Los Santos has changed hands several times and armies from the interior of Western Continent have set foot in this place countless times, strong dragons cannot overwhelm local snakes. The flag of "National" never fell until the Supreme Alliance Government emerged on the Blue Star.

Under the power of the Dispute Arbitration Court, the pirate nation persisted for three hundred years before it was finally eliminated and renamed Los Santos.

But even so, the several major aristocratic families entrenched here did not disappear completely, but moved into the darkness. The habits left over from history have also led to the strong local folk customs. The crime rate is still high even in the 800 major cities of Blue Star. Ranked in the top ten.

Affected by Los Santos, Dallas is in a similar situation, or even more serious. However, Los Santos is close to the coast and rich in resources. Crime is mainly concentrated in civilian areas, and it is relatively prosperous near the city center.

But Dallas is already an inland city with a lack of resources and a high crime rate that has destroyed the economy here. More people lose job opportunities and crime will increase, so they can only fall into an endless cycle.

To exaggerate, there is almost nothing left in this city except chaos.

Xia Ren walked from the airport all the way through the city center to the suburbs on the other side, almost spanning the entire city.

Prosperity has nothing to do with this place. What he saw most on the streets were shops closed during the day, homeless people lying on the roadside, and a large number of prostitutes.

I heard that the Dallas council was determined to revitalize the economy and crack down on thugs, so it used various welfare incentives to attract some capital to invest here, built high-rise buildings in the city, and opened many shops. Change a bad status quo.

However, locals in Dallas often spontaneously organize "zero-dollar shopping" activities. The capitalists who were coaxed by the council did not expect that the people of this city would go to an unimagined path and in turn prostitute themselves for nothing, so they lost their pants. The capitalists who couldn't afford the clothes picked up the trains and ran away overnight, leaving forever this city that made them sad.

Almost all the empty shops Xia Ren saw along the way were traces of that period.

However, his purpose for coming to this city was clear. He didn't care about the surrounding scene, and he didn't want to interact with ordinary people, provided that they didn't offend him.

"Wrong direction."

Xia Ren was sitting in a taxi without air conditioning and filled with abnormal noises in the interior, reminding the driver.

The latter laughed twice carelessly, and Xia Ren felt that his laughter contained some undisguised threats and disdain for outsiders.

"Don't worry, I've been driving for so many years, I'm familiar with this place, there won't be any problems."

The driver kept the accelerator on, speeding down a suburban road full of potholes.

His confidence is not unreasonable. The number of foreign tourists who have been slaughtered by him over the years has been no less than three figures, and indeed there has never been any problem.

But the driver didn't know who he was pulling this time.

Xia Ren was sitting in the passenger seat and was bumped several times and his head hit the roof of the car.

He had lost his patience and had no intention of arguing with the driver anymore.

Half a minute later, the vehicle continued to drive on the road, and Xia Ren drove alone, heading in the direction of the infidel he sensed.

…

…

On the outskirts of Dallas, there is a small town.

Compared to the chaotic urban area, this place is obviously more peaceful - at least on the surface.

In the center of the town, there is a church. Usually few people come, but recently more and more people are sick in the town, so more and more people come to pray.

At noon, there were fewer people on the streets. Maybe most of the residents in the town had gone home to eat.

A figure wrapped in a black robe walked into the church from the side door and went straight to the priest's bedroom.

As soon as he entered the house, he immediately faced the bedroom, fell to his knees, and shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Father!"

The bedroom door was open, but there was a layer of curtains on the door, making it difficult to see what was inside.

"Qiao, do you know why I want to save you?"

A loud voice came from the bedroom, and the cultist named Joe lowered his head.

"Fortunately, the priest took pity on me."

There was silence in the bedroom for a while, and then he suddenly said: "Tom came back yesterday and brought the holy objects back with him. Joe, what about you? What did you do? Where are the other two people?"

Qiao had a premonition of something from the priest's tone. He suddenly raised his head and said anxiously:

"Father, please listen to my explanation."

…

…

As soon as Xia Ren drove into the town, he suddenly found that the connection between himself and the pagan disappeared.

At the same time, a black shadow suddenly jumped out from the roadside. Xia Ren quickly stepped on the brakes and turned the steering wheel, but he still couldn't avoid it.

After the car hit the black shadow, it lost control and hit the telephone pole next to it, and then it came to a halt.

This battered taxi did not have an air bag, but with Xia Ren's physical condition, he would not be injured.

The door was not deformed and he opened it easily. However, after getting out of the car, he discovered that the middle of the front of the car was completely dented, the water tank was smashed, and the Lingqi liquid inside flowed all over the floor, and there was also dark brown oil stains. Look. The engine bottom case was also shattered, and the car was completely scrapped.

The black figure that was knocked away by him was a Labrador. Judging from the collar on its neck, it should be a pet of a certain family. However, as a pet, it was really too thin. Know whether it is suffering from some kind of disease or lost from its owner.

Seeing that it suddenly rushed out from the roadside and there was no one around, Xia Ren felt that it was more likely to get lost.

All the bones in the black dog's body were shattered. It lay on the ground, whined and struggled twice, then stopped moving.

Xia Ren looked at the scrapped taxi behind him, then at the dead dog at his feet, and frowned.

It was really unlucky to encounter something like this when he first arrived at this place, and it was more like some kind of ominous sign, reminding him that there was danger ahead and he should stop here.

Xia Ren looked around. The place he was on now was an asphalt road with weeds and trees on both sides of the road. There was a sign with a metal frame erected on the roadside in front. It was supposed to have some fonts printed on it, but because of After being exposed for a long time, the handwriting was blurred, and the red paint flowed down the rusty iron plate, like dried blood.

Xia Ren pushed aside the bottom of the metal sign that was covered by weeds, and could only barely see the outline of the last two words, guessing that it should be "small town".

After crossing the road sign, he looked further along the asphalt road. He could see dense human buildings on the sunken terrain. These buildings were generally only two or three stories high, and judging from the architectural style, they were also several decades old. In front of it, streets criss-crossed among the densely packed houses, like a maze. It would be easy for outsiders to get lost if they entered.

Xia Ren stood on the uphill side and could see clearly that in the center of the town, there was a white church. The church was in disrepair and the walls were aging and looked seriously yellowed.

It was already noon, when the sun was at its brightest, but there seemed to be an invisible haze hanging over the town. Looking from a distance, one could clearly see the difference between that area and other places around it, as if Cast a layer of gray color.

The breeze blew up from below, and Xia Ren sniffed it gently.

"This smells of corruption and coldness..."

Xia Ren's expression was solemn.

There is pollution ahead, and it may affect the entire town.

The last time he sensed the approximate location of the pagans was also in the direction of the town.

Xia Ren looked back at the car and the dog's body, then stepped forward and walked forward along the road.

Even if he knew there was danger, he still had to go.

He has no choice.

Not long after Xia Ren left, a tall man with dark skin wearing a black suit appeared on the road.

He walked leisurely to the side of the road, bent down, and in the thick grass, he lifted up a wooden street sign that had fallen down and inserted it back in front of the rusty metal street sign, blocking the latter.

On the wooden road sign, there are several eye-catching characters written in red paint pen:

This road is blocked!

…

…

When Xia Ren stood by the road sign and looked down, he felt that the town was not too far away, but it actually took him nearly thirty minutes to walk there.

The closer he got, the stronger the corrupt and cold pollution smell became. Such a level of pollution made Xia Ren feel a little uneasy.

Moreover, he has walked on this road for so long without encountering anyone. Judging from the scale of the town's buildings, the population inside should be quite dense. Where have all the residents of the town gone?

The back of my left hand and tentacles began to itch a little, and the activity of the fungi increased significantly.

This shows that Xia Ren is approaching their source.

At noon, the sun was shining from above, but it still couldn't dispel the haze. The low buildings were right in front of him. Xia Ren stood outside the town, looking at the empty streets inside, and his inner uneasiness seemed to be confirmed.

The pollution here was so intense that he felt that every breath he took made his body's discomfort worse.

Even if he is like this, ordinary people cannot survive here.

The residents of the town may have encountered something unexpected, or maybe...

No matter what, one thing is certain, this town must be the nest of the alien sect, and Xia Ren must be careful in every next step.

Although those ordinary members of the alien sect in black robes could not cause harm to his own safety, they could still cause some trouble. Moreover, he did not know the hidden strength of this alien sect. If there were apostles among them, it would be difficult.

The complete apostle is not even sure that he can defeat Xia Ren at his peak, not to mention that his current strength is far less than half of his peak.

Xia Ren stood at the entrance of the town, thinking about what to do next, when he suddenly heard a voice.

The door of the house nearest to him opened.

Immediately afterwards, as if a chain reaction started, starting from Xia Ren's position, the doors and windows of the entire street quickly opened one after another. The residents of the town hid in the shadows where the sun could not reach, and quietly watched this scene. outsider.

"Oops!"

Xia Ren secretly thought something was wrong.

It turns out that the residents of the town have always been there, but why didn't I notice their movements at all?

Being stared at by so many people, invisible pressure enveloped Xia Ren. He felt strong malice from the eyes of some small town residents, and subconsciously took half a step back.

But just as he stepped back, the sound of howling wind suddenly came to his ears.

Xia Ren reacted in time, quickly twisted his body, dodged the attack, and kicked the opponent backwards at the same time.

He turned around and was surprised to see that at some point, a group of people had already stood behind him.

No, they are no longer human.

Xia Ren saw that their bodies had undergone incredible changes under the influence of pollution. Under the sun, their skin looked like corpses soaked in water, pale and swollen, with various raised bumps on the surface. folds.

Their eyes were cloudy, and the boundary between the whites and pupils was blurred, like a lump of muddy paint. The hair on their heads couldn't even see its original appearance, like a lump of mold growing on spoiled bread. When the wind blew, Just disperse.

Xia Ren had seen this form not long ago. The two dead pagans looked like this!

Judging from their clothes, these people should have been residents of the small town, but at this time, they had turned into monsters that exuded a corrupt atmosphere and had ferocious faces.

What's even more troublesome is that they are armed with machetes and sticks and are full of aggression.

"My perception ability has been weakened to this extent!"

Xia Ren knew very well that he had been wary of the things around him, but he was still almost attacked by a sneak attack. Moreover, the residents in the nearby houses didn't even notice that there were so many people standing behind him.

Is the impact of fungi already so serious?

The residents armed with weapons had begun to gather around, and behind them, the residents of the original houses also walked out of their homes and walked towards this side.

Xia Ren looked back and forth. There were at least hundreds of them, and further away, more people were gathering here.

If you get into a fight, you will face a steady stream of enemies.

The exit of the town was blocked, making it difficult to break through. Xia Ren made a prompt decision. Before the residents who had just walked out from behind formed a siege, he pulled out the crowbar and started running.

But unexpectedly, this move was like lighting a powder keg. Seeing him running, the small town residents suddenly accelerated their speed and started running.

"Gan!"

Xia Ren cursed angrily, pushed aside the enemy blocking him, and accelerated again.

But there were too many people on the street. They were like a colony of ants that had smelled their prey. They had begun to gather here. Soon Xia Ren found that the road in front of him was blocked by the crowd.

Fortunately, before entering the town, he had stood on a high place and looked at the layout of the entire town, and at the same time roughly memorized the streets here.

He turned around and turned into a narrow alley next to him to interfere with the local pursuit.

Xia Ren knew very well that if he continued like this, he wouldn't be able to hold on for long, and he would still be surrounded by the crowd. Each of them was almost as strong as the heretic he killed, although each individual could not pose any threat to him. But with so many people coming together, it would definitely be too much for me, especially when fighting, as I would be wary of the fungus on their bodies and would not be able to use their full strength.

While Xia Ren was running and thinking about countermeasures, he suddenly saw a manhole cover at the intersection ahead.

"Yes!"

He sped up and ran over. As soon as he opened the manhole cover, he saw a man looking up at him from under the hole.

Their eyes met and there was a pause for half a second.

"This place is full!" the other party said.

"..." Xia Ren.

Outside are countless small town residents who have gone crazy and mutated. Even if there are enemies inside the manhole covers, they may not be as numerous as on the street.

After thinking for a while, he didn't care so much and jumped down directly, closing the manhole cover at the same time.

"clang!"

The manhole cover was closed, and the town residents coming from all directions bumped into each other.

They lost their purpose and wandered around the streets for a while, then gradually dispersed.

The mouth of the well was relatively deep, so Xia Ren jumped down and smashed into each other, causing both of them to fall to the bottom of the well.

The light here was dim. He got up and was about to grab the other person and beat him up. Suddenly, with the help of the weak light, he saw the checkered shirt on the other person's arm.

This kind of sexy shirt is usually worn at the beach, and among the people he knew, there happened to be some people who liked this style of dressing.

…

…

The air in the sewer was mixed, and the surrounding well walls were covered with slippery, wet and smelly suspicious substances. Fortunately, the residents of the town had not used the sewer for a while, and there was no sewage flowing inside. Otherwise, now The environment is even worse.

If it weren't for escaping for his life, Xia Ren might never have come to this kind of place in his life.

The light of the flashlight is a bit dazzling in the dark bottom of the well. The real estate agent is wearing a colorful plaid shirt on the upper body, a pair of loose shorts that reach the knees, and a pair of slippers on the feet. This outfit, if he were in another place, would definitely be different from others. You'd think he was here for vacation.

However, the real estate agent at this time was in a very embarrassed state, his whole body was dirty, and his black hair was messier than a bird's nest. Xia Ren could see that both of his arms were wrapped with bandages, and the disgusting stench emanated from the bandages. The next message came out, making Xia Ren couldn't help but take a small step back.

He definitely has old sigil paper taped to his arm.

Although Xia Ren also has two stickers on his arms, and even has a few stuffed in the pocket behind his butt, but the smell on his body, can it be called smelly? The stench on other people's bodies is what really stinks.

"Disgusting."

Xia Ren said without any scruples.

The real estate agent smiled helplessly, guessing the reason, and said: "Brother Xia really... can easily say such hurtful words as soon as we meet."

He said, not knowing whether he was pretending or not, and covered his chest.

With two simple sentences, Xia Ren found out that he had no ill intentions towards him, so he turned to the topic and asked seriously:

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"And what happened to that aberration? Why did it appear in front of me so coincidentally?"

"Sure enough, nothing can be hidden from little brother Xia."

The real estate agent looked up at the manhole cover above and guessed that the small town residents had left. He put one hand on the wall and said, "This is not the place for conversation. I will tell you your doubts later."

Xia Ren nodded.

The real estate agent then squatted down and stuck his head into the filthy pipe nearby.

"Aren't you going up?"

Xia Ren didn't react.

The real estate agent turned around and said, "You will die if you go up there, so hurry up and climb up."

After he finished speaking, he got in first.

Xia Ren hesitated and followed him.

The sewage pipes here have been around for a long time. They are made of reinforced concrete and are only 0.8 meters in diameter. Coupled with the silt at the bottom of the pipes, the space inside is even smaller. Fortunately, this well is a rainwater well, and there is no silt in it. There was nothing else, which Xia Ren could accept.

Not long after, the two found another wellhead, lifted the manhole cover, and climbed up.

This is a small hospital, only three stories high. It seems that it has been around for a long time. All the facilities seem a bit old. If it is not properly maintained, many things may not be usable.

In broad daylight, the door to the hospital was closed, and there was a lock on it.

There may not be anyone alive in the entire town, and the hospital has lost its function.

The real estate agent climbed in through the window next to him. He looked very tired. After entering, he sat directly against the corner and was unwilling to move.

"Can you tell me what's going on now?"

Xia Ren simply tidied the clothes, but the dirt on them could no longer be easily removed.

"Then... let's start with Sori City."

The real estate agent took a breath, took out a test tube the size of a ballpoint pen from his arms, opened the seal, and took a sip of the liquid inside, and then regained some energy.

Xia Ren noticed that what he drank was Nether Water, but as a B-level investigator, the presence of Nether Water was not a particularly unusual thing.

The real estate agent did not tell the matter directly, but asked a question first: "Xia Ren, how serious do you think this matter is?"

This was the first time that he called himself by his full name in a chat. Xia Ren heard unprecedented seriousness in his tone: "How serious..."

This question is somewhat difficult to answer.

If they were facing a heretic who was simply contaminated and affected their sanity, and thus heard the whispers from the abyss, and developed fanatical beliefs, it would actually be easy to solve.

The Foundation has to eliminate dozens or even hundreds of such large and small alien sects every year, and even some relatively weak alien sects were wiped out by the investigators during the investigation.

But this time the situation is obviously different. The most troublesome thing is no longer the pagans, but those terrifying fungi that can even infect Shogoths.

Before Xia Ren could finish speaking, the housing agent gave the answer himself: "According to my experience, once the fungi mastered by pagans break out, they will quickly evolve into a type of atypical insect phobia or even star color." The plague spread throughout Blue Star."

Hearing this sentence, Xia Ren's pupils shrank, and an idea quickly came to his mind.

"How can it be!"

Xia Ren's first reaction was to deny it.

He witnessed the outbreak of atypical entomophobia, so he has a deep understanding of its seriousness. Even with the combined efforts of the Foundation and the Superman Association, to this day, atypical entomophobia has not been solved, and even its spread has not been slowed down. The speed is very difficult.

The Color of Stars is even more despairing. Even how it was solved is still unclear. It is more like human luck.

If a new type of third-level plague appears at this juncture, it will bring a catastrophic blow to the entire human society!

The real estate agent watched Xia Ren's reaction quietly and said, "I had the same idea as you at first."

He sighed: "When I first accepted this mission, I thought it was just a new heretic that appeared. But when I really started investigating, I found that the whereabouts of these heretics were extremely strange. I almost lost the clue several times, until I followed them to Soli City. When I was checking the police station information and investigating the young couple who were sacrificed, I accidentally discovered that many people have been missing in Soli City in recent times. These people have one characteristic, that is, their lives are... They are at the bottom of society, and they all have bad habits like gambling or drug abuse.”

"I smelled something unusual and based on the clues, I identified a city councilor."

"When you first arrived in Sori City and kept calling me, I was at that city councilor's house, fighting the infidels."

"Before I entered that basement, I never expected that things would develop to this point."