nownovels Chapter 37 Five-Headed Mountain - Contaminated Zone! Abyss Rift Valley!
Chapter 37 Five-Headed Mountain - Contaminated Zone! Abyss Rift Valley!
To get from the examination room to Teaching Building No. 4, you have to walk through a corridor connecting the two buildings.
The connecting corridor is semi-enclosed, with glass windows on both sides offering views of the night scene outside.
The streetlights lined up along the main road of the campus, their warm yellow light forming a line in the night.
The lights on the playground in the distance were still on, and many figures could be seen moving about.
Su Chen deliberately walked at the back of the group, not competing or vying for position.
Zhou Chengjie slowed down and walked alongside him.
Su Chen glanced at him sideways.
Zhou Chengjie's expression was natural, as if he were chatting with an old friend: "I heard you made a bet with Guo Hao from our class yesterday?"
Su Chen hesitated for a moment. He had heard that Zhou Chengjie and Guo Hao had a conflict.
But he didn't know much about Zhou Chengjie.
After thinking for a moment, he said calmly, "The situation was rather special at the time. He felt humiliated and couldn't back down. But I didn't want to swallow my pride either, so on a whim, I came up with this idea to get back at him."
Zhou Chengjie laughed after hearing this.
"Guo Hao and I went to the same junior high school and were in the same class for two years. I know him well." Zhou Chengjie's tone was casual, but the meaning was clear: "He has a pretty bad temper and can be a bit arrogant at times."
She paused, then added, "In Class 5, I didn't get along with him. So when I heard he got humiliated by someone else, I actually felt pretty good!"
Su Chen's heart stirred slightly.
Zhou Chengjie's attitude was more direct than he had expected.
"Although we haven't had much contact," Zhou Chengjie continued, his tone sincere, "I've heard quite a bit about your situation. You dare to bet a million, how confident are you?"
Seeing Zhou Chengjie's stance, Su Chen stopped hiding anything.
He smiled, his tone confident: "Ninety-nine percent!"
Zhou Chengjie was stunned for a moment, then laughed even harder.
"Haha, good!" He patted Su Chen on the shoulder, the force not too light or too heavy. "Let me know in advance when the competition starts, and I'll definitely be there to support you and see Guo Hao get a beating."
"Absolutely!"
Zhou Chengjie took two more steps forward, then suddenly changed the subject.
"By the way, your tamed beast is the Wind and Thunder Hound, right?"
"Hmm." Su Chen nodded. "I heard that your tamed beast is that peak-level Shadow Leopard from the academy?"
"Haha, yes." Zhou Chengjie responded with a laugh, but then his tone changed, carrying a hint of helplessness, "I heard from the teachers at the aquarium that our pets don't get along very well."
Su Chen's lips twitched.
He had heard about this from the teachers at the Beast Taming Hall.
That little purple fellow has caused quite a bit of trouble these past few days at the museum!
It dares to provoke even elite-level beast tamers.
And those at the higher ranks of soldier level and above were basically all bullied by it!
Zhou Chengjie's Shadow Leopard is currently at the peak of the soldier level, just one step away from the elite level.
Both were belligerent, so they naturally clashed when they met.
Su Chen coughed lightly and said carefully, "This practical assessment requires them to fight side by side, so it's a good opportunity for them to get used to each other and ease their tension."
Zhou Chengjie nodded, his tone becoming serious: "I've studied the new regulations regarding the assessment standards for beast tamers, and the core should be the level of tacit understanding in coordinated combat. It's not about who has the most powerful beast tamer to get a high score, but rather about whether the master and the beast tamer can work together effectively."
"Points will be deducted if the beasts do not obey commands or if the master relies too much on the beasts."
He looked at Su Chen, his expression filled with anticipation: "When we're in the gym, we can let them interact more and get used to each other beforehand. In actual combat, they don't necessarily have to fight individually; they might even be able to develop a cooperative style!"
Su Chen wholeheartedly agreed: "Okay! That's what I meant too. It's always better to practice beforehand than to cram at the last minute."
After exchanging a few words, Zhou Chengjie took a step and walked towards Wang Yichuan and Li Yu.
The three boys walked together, talking to each other, with occasional soft laughter.
Su Chen lagged behind, looking rather lonely.
Fortunately...
Zhang Yan appeared out of nowhere, bouncing around with her ponytail swaying behind her head. She moved closer to Su Chen and asked in a low voice.
"What were you talking about?"
Su Chen glanced at her sideways and lowered his voice as well: "We talked about Guo Hao's matter. After all, he and Guo Hao didn't have a good relationship."
Zhang Yan blinked, then leaned closer: "Anything else?"
"We also talked about pets. His Shadow Leopard and my Little Purple don't get along very well, so I said I'd let the two little guys get used to each other tomorrow," Su Chen said truthfully.
"Isn't his pet beast at the peak of the soldier level?" Zhang Yan's eyes widened, her tone filled with disbelief. "Is your little Zi so capable of causing trouble?"
Su Chen shrugged helplessly: "Sigh, none of the beasts of the same level can beat Little Purple. They get bullied in no time. So what can I do but play with a few stronger ones? Anyway, these beasts are highly tamed and know more about magic than most people, so it won't cause any big trouble!"
Zhang Yan chuckled, then her eyes sparkled as she looked ahead with anticipation.
"Little Purple is so fast! That alone gives it a huge advantage! Its talent is clearly exceptional!" She grew more and more excited, her voice rising a half-octave. "Tomorrow, let me ride Little Purple, then I'll choose a long spear and charge in and out seven times, cleaving through Five Heads Mountain!"
Su Chen rolled her eyes: "Do you think you're Zhao Yun?"
"That's me!" Zhang Yan said, hands on her hips.
Su Chen couldn't help but laugh, but still earnestly warned, "Alright! But Five-Headed Mountain is very dangerous. After all, the contaminated area left by the Thousand-Faced Demon Lord hasn't been completely purified yet."
Zhang Yan's expression became more serious, and she nodded: "Don't worry! I understand!"
.......
Teaching Building No. 4
Conference Room 301.
The moment I pushed open the door, a faint smell of disinfectant hit me.
The meeting room was small, about forty square meters.
In the center was a long, rectangular conference table with a dark brown wooden tabletop that was polished to a high shine.
Several bottles of mineral water and a stack of blank sticky notes were placed on the table, and a projector was placed in the center.
Several inspirational slogans were posted on the surrounding walls:
"Strengthening the nation through martial arts is our responsibility, and we must take the lead."
"Today's sweat, tomorrow's glory."
Red background with yellow lettering, it looks vintage!
Against the wall was a row of gray soft chairs, with several school uniforms left behind by someone draped over the backs of the chairs.
When Su Chen entered, the first thing he saw was not the tables and chairs, but two figures facing each other in the corner.
Little Purple and Shadow Panther.
The two pets squatted on either side of each other in the innermost corner of the conference room, about five or six meters apart, with almost identical postures: front paws on the ground, backs slightly arched, and eyes fixed on each other.
Little Purple's long, silvery-white fur shimmered with a pale blue sheen under the light, and it emitted a low, faint whimper from its throat.
The Shadow Panther was entirely black except for its dark gold eyes, which were now narrowed into slits, and its tail swayed slowly behind it.
The two little guys were about the same size, and their opposing auras were equally strong.
Neither of them would give in!
The moment their respective owners pushed open the door and entered, both pets simultaneously dropped their tense posture.
Little Purple's ears perked up, its tail began to wag from side to side, and it trotted from the corner toward Su Chen. Its silvery-white body circled around his legs twice, its head burying itself in his hand, making "woof woof" sounds in its throat, as if it were complaining.
The Shadow Leopard stood up, walked slowly to Zhou Chengjie's feet, rubbed its head against his trouser leg, and then squatted down, its posture as elegant as a large house cat.
But its dark golden eyes would occasionally glance in Xiao Zi's direction.
Su Chen lowered his head and rubbed Xiao Zi's ear, lowering his voice: "We're going to fight together tomorrow! Don't cause any trouble."
Little Purple looked up at him, its light golden eyes filled with grievance: It was clearly the one that glared at me first!
Su Chen ignored it and pulled out a chair to sit down.
The others also took their seats one after another.
Zhang Yan sat next to Lin Xiyue, and Yang Xin sat on the other side of Lin Xiyue; the three girls sat side by side.
Wang Yichuan sat to Su Chen's right, with Li Yu beside him.
Zhou Chengjie walked to the front of the conference table, took a USB flash drive out of his pocket, and plugged it into the projector's port.
With a soft "click," the projector lit up.
A white beam of light shone on the wall, and Zhou Chengjie adjusted the focus, making the image clear.
The first slide is a topographic map of the Wutoushan area.
The colors aren't very vibrant, but the labeling is very clear.
The outer area is green, the buffer zone is yellow, the inner area is red, and the core area in the very center is marked with a giant skull symbol.
Zhou Chengjie turned around to face the crowd, placing his hands on the edge of the table.
"Let me first talk about the overall situation of the assessment area."
"As you all know, Five Heads Mountain was attacked and captured by the Thousand-Faced Demon Lord twelve years ago. After that attack, this area became a contaminated zone."
He picked up the laser pointer on the table and drew a circle on the projection screen, circling the dark red area in the very center of the map.
"The core contaminated area is here! The mountain of corpses, made up of the arms of millions of people, was located right here."
Zhou Chengjie's voice was a few decibels lower, but his speech remained steady. He did not deliberately create a terrifying atmosphere; he was simply stating the facts.
"Combined with the abyss magic array set up by the abyss cultists back then, this place is now a bottomless crater, with a diameter of 13 kilometers!"
He pointed to the location of the giant crater with a laser pointer.
"This giant pit connects to the abyss."
"Countless terrifying, corrupting evils will crawl out from inside!"
Zhou Chengjie continued, "Moreover, a large number of the strange beasts in this area have been infected, becoming even more ferocious and troublesome than ordinary magical beasts!"
He turned to the next slide of the PowerPoint presentation.
The screen switched to a more detailed map showing the division of the region.
"Outside the core contaminated area is the inner perimeter. The inner perimeter has thirteen ley lines, which are actually earth fissures, or great rift valleys. These rift valleys also connect to the Abyss Realm, from which abyssal monsters continuously crawl out."
The laser pointer slowly moved along the thirteen red lines on the map: "The core area plus the inner perimeter area covers a total area of up to five thousand square kilometers."
Su Chen silently calculated the number in his mind.
Five thousand square kilometers.
It's roughly equivalent to more than half the area of Shanghai's urban area before the apocalypse.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of the global crisis!