Wasteland: My items are infinitely upgraded

Formally entering the Feicheng Shelter, everyone felt the vicissitudes of history.

As someone who personally experienced those years, seeing the familiar layout and the cold corridors, they had the illusion of dreaming back to thousands of years ago.

But what was before them was modern civilization, while the wasteland wilderness above ground had already become a lost land.

Time was frozen at this moment, and the contrast and separation between the two made everyone feel dazed for a while.

Before everyone could react, a rustling sound of talking rang in the ears of the group of six…

There were murmurs and whispers, as well as distant howls.

Lin Feng frowned. This sound did not come from external real-world sources, because the quiet underground ruins were like a pool of stagnant water, without any ripples.

Moreover, the ethereal whispers in the ears would disappear without a trace once one focused and listened carefully.

At this moment, before Lin Feng and the others could speak, Zheng Yan Ying in front said in a low voice:

"The murmuring whispers you hear are the spiritual pollution left over from the ancient battlefield. They are not real sounds."

"They originate from the depths of the ruins, emitting energy radiation, just like gene pollution. It only acts on the brain and spirit, affecting brain electrical impulses, causing people to have auditory hallucinations."

"As long as you concentrate, their impact on the human body is minimal. Only those with weak willpower will be infected by it, becoming erratic and suspicious, and even experiencing hallucinations, becoming mentally exhausted."

As she spoke, Zheng Yan Ying raised the large iron hammer, her expression gradually becoming solemn under the helmet:

"Be careful from now on."

"Originally, spiritual pollution would only appear below the third floor, spreading with the activities of the Aberrants. If even the first floor now has whispering hallucinations, either there have been Aberrant monsters here recently, or someone has opened the passage door at the bottom…"

"Causing the heavily polluted source that was originally sealed and isolated to completely erupt, surging up like a fountain."

"Did you prepare the church badges? Remember to stick them on your chest, they can effectively alleviate the spiritual pollution of the whispers."

The four people behind nodded. Only then did they realize that the church badge hanging on their chest was slightly hot. As long as they focused on it, they could effectively shield the murmuring noise entering their brains.

As for Zheng Yan Ying and Shen Yue, as monks of the church, they originally relied on the genetic grace of the Lord of the Holy Spring to achieve evolution.

Naturally, they were not afraid of the spiritual pollution left behind by these Tier 3 Kings.

Lin Feng took a deep breath. Fortunately, this time they had the help of the church team. Otherwise, facing such a strange shelter ruin, the ubiquitous negative spiritual influence alone would be enough to screen out a large number of adventurers with weak willpower.

Even an Evolver, being in such a noisy environment where hundreds or thousands of voices constantly appeared in their mind, would gradually become schizophrenic and driven mad.

No wonder the Mount Tai ruins are listed as one of the forbidden areas.

The strangeness and horror within are unbearable influences for ordinary life.

Just entering the first underground floor of the shelter ruins, the forbidden area gave them a warning. Everyone swallowed nervously and followed Zheng Yan Ying to continue moving forward.

Lin Feng was the highest-level Evolver here, and also had the strongest spiritual attributes. His perception of spiritual pollution was clearer, and he could even vaguely hear the low roars mixed in with thousands of words.

Moreover, those roars were getting closer and closer, like the ghosts gradually approaching in a horror movie.

Realizing this, Lin Feng narrowed his eyes, and a reminder gradually appeared in the corner of his eye:

「Detected that the host's environment has ordinary spiritual pollution. One point of HP can be consumed to clear and shield it. The effect lasts for one hour」

"If spiritual pollution spreads, does that mean that the Aberrants originally below the third floor may now also appear above the third floor?"

Hearing this, everyone instantly became nervous, especially Zheng Yan Ying walking in the front row, who had already raised the iron hammer in her hand and nodded in agreement:

"That's right, so be careful!"

"The Feicheng Shelter has a total of ten floors, with two automatic elevators, but both are damaged. However, even if they are repaired, there is not enough power supply, so to go to the lower floors, you can only take the stairs in the safety passage."

"The safety stairs on each floor are from left to right, and you need to traverse the main road of each floor, walking ten kilometers, to reach the lower entrance."

"The entrance to the first basement floor is in the middle, so you only need to walk five kilometers forward to reach the second floor entrance."

Because the underground shelter was isolated from the world and buried more than ten meters underground, it was dark and never saw the sun, so the temperature was very low. Just the first basement floor was seven or eight degrees lower than the cave.

In an environment of thirty degrees, even if everyone was wearing airtight armor, they could last for a long time.

However, the humid and dim environment around them made it difficult for everyone, who was accustomed to the three-day exposure of the wasteland, to adapt in a short period of time.

Especially after hearing Lin Feng's reminder, they all widened their eyes, their pupils congested and dilated sharply, in order to perceive more light from the darkness illuminated by the searchlights.

"Ah!?"

At this moment, Chen Shanshan, who was walking on the side and rear, suddenly let out a scream!

Just now, when the searchlight on her chest was observing a broken house on the left, a black figure suddenly flashed across the screen in front of her.

This scene frightened her a lot.

Lin Feng and the others immediately shone towards Chen Shanshan's direction, but unfortunately the black figure had disappeared without a trace.

Recovering, Chen Shanshan leaned close to Lin Feng and whispered to explain the strange scene she had just seen.

The unknown Aberrant was by their side!

"Be careful. Lin Feng is right. The Aberrants that were originally only below the third floor may have come to the upper three floors by spreading the spiritual pollution."

"But the number of Aberrants that have migrated here is limited. With the six of us and the blessing of the Lord of the Holy Spring, these monsters dare not approach directly, they are just attracted by the light source."

After Zheng Yan Ying comforted her, she turned to remind:

"The main task of going underground this time is also to familiarize yourself with the environment. Don't be alarmed. First adapt to this high-pressure environment and discern from the actions of the Aberrants whether they are probing or want to launch an attack."

"The more panicked you appear, the more you are a piece of cake in their eyes."

As she spoke, Zheng Yan Ying stopped and looked back at Chen Shanshan next to Lin Feng:

"Just now, when you shouted, did the low whispers in your mind suddenly amplify?"

At this time, the face under Chen Shanshan's mask was already slightly pale. In the moment of panic just now, the whispers in her mind were suddenly amplified more than ten times, as if an amplifier had been added, to the point that she had a brief trance.

With lingering fear, Chen Shanshan's left hand unconsciously grabbed the sleeve of Lin Feng's armor.

"Remember, steady your mind and stay calm!"

After reminding everyone, Zheng Yan Ying turned around and continued to lead the way.

Lin Feng looked at the team. The others were in good condition, but Chen Shanshan, because she was too young, although she had more wasteland experience than the others, she had lived under the wings of her master for the past few years…

She was also adapting to the wasteland environment, and it was understandable that she felt instinctively afraid of the unknown horror in front of her.

Some people can face dangerous mutated beasts without batting an eye, but ask them to experience a real haunted house or watch a terrifying horror movie, and they might not be as calm and collected as they are in broad daylight combat.

Visible danger isn't really danger, because you have some mental preparation.

True fear stems from the unknown.

Especially when that unknown brings the threat of death.

Ah Lian and Ah Ming in the team were both in their thirties, and before the wasteland, they were already in their twenties. Even if they hadn't experienced similar eerie environments, they had at least seen some horror movies.

They had some mental defenses.

But before the wasteland, Chen Shanshan was just a child in her early teens, still watching cartoons.

Her six years in the wasteland were spent under the scorching sun, and the most difficult times were just hunger and thirst.

She hadn't even experienced walking alone at night…

The dark environment coupled with the unknown terror was indeed a great challenge for her.

Lin Feng immediately grabbed Chen Shanshan's hand, then nodded to her, signaling her to relax:

"You walk in the middle, I'll bring up the rear."

With the system's reminder and his own powerful perception as a late-stage first-order evolver, Lin Feng could accurately detect the aberrant creatures probing nearby.

Chen Shanshan was the strongest fighter in the team besides himself. If she couldn't adapt to the ruins' environment, it would undoubtedly cause a serious decline in the team's overall strength.

Encouraged, the girl took a deep breath, nodded, and began to focus her attention, adjusting her state and mindset.

Having Lin Feng behind her was indeed much more reassuring.

As they continued to move forward, the phantoms flashing around them became more and more frequent, and they could occasionally see a pool of unknown gray-black viscous liquid on the ground.

If they didn't have breathing masks to filter it, they would definitely be able to smell the rotten stench it emitted.

But even with the isolation of the sealed armor, when the searchlight illuminated it, the viscous liquid seemed to come to life, wriggling and twitching, which still made everyone feel psychologically uncomfortable.

Smell and hearing could be isolated, but the visual impact could not be avoided, and could only be endured.

The cells of the viscous liquid were aberrant creatures that appeared after being radiated and assimilated, like slime molds.

The light stimulated its perception system.

Being infected by this thing would be worse than death.

"Let's go, we're almost there."

Zheng Yanying reminded them, looking at the dark and dilapidated ruins in the distance.

At the end was a bottomless doorway.

After taking a few glances, everyone followed Zheng Yanying's pace and came to the end of the first basement level.

Here was a staircase leading to the second basement level.

Like before when entering the first basement level, a ten-meter-high staircase with thirty steps led directly to the next level.

As everyone stood at the entrance of the passage and the searchlights shone on the steps in front of them, more than a dozen scorched and blackened figures appeared in everyone's sight.

At the same time, there was blood splattered on the walls, as well as various oddly shaped limb tissues…

Like a gruesome murder scene, a hellish painting slowly unfolded before everyone's eyes, displayed in this ten-meter-wide staircase passage.

Shen Yue, who had just eaten her fill, suddenly felt nauseous, her stomach churning, and she forcefully swallowed back the regurgitating food.

Chen Shanshan had never seen such a terrifying scene before. Even when she saw the refugee groups in the wasteland, she only felt slightly uncomfortable psychologically…

But the scene before her could already cause severe physiological discomfort to everyone.

That kind of creeping sensation all over the body, as if a stone was pressing on both the chest and the heart, making it hard to breathe.

At the same time, the whispering in their ears instantly amplified at the moment everyone was distracted.

As if playing a mournful and tragic background music for the hellish painting in front of them, pushing the emotional rendering to the extreme.

"Calm down!"

Zheng Yanying said in a deep voice, stepping forward.

She focused the searchlight on the charred and twisted human-shaped objects, confirming that they were completely dead.

"Looks like it's still fresh, it's something that happened in the last few days."

Lin Feng stepped forward and came to the sides of the stairs, learning from the other party to observe the traces of the battle on the stairs:

"Looks like burning is more effective than guns and cannons. If I had known, I would have bought a gas tank and a flamethrower, and just burned all the way through, it might have been safer."

But Zheng Yanying shook her head:

"Burning is useful, but it doesn't have a repelling effect."

"What these aberrant creatures fear is holy water, the devouring and purification of a higher existence. It's more accurate to think of them as aggregates of mutated cells. They have no self-awareness, only instinctive fear. Their consciousness, apart from infecting more fresh flesh, has no concept of death."

"A box of fuel can burn to death ten, a hundred, or even thousands of aberrant creatures, but it can't escape their relentless encirclement."

"Our mission is not to eliminate them, but the treasure within the ruins. We must conserve our strength, conserve ammunition, especially the limited supply of holy water."

Lin Feng nodded, Zheng Yanying was right.

Killing aberrant creatures does not bring any benefits.

Otherwise, the monsters hiding in the dark before, with just the two of them acting, could easily solve them.

But doing so was meaningless, especially when the team had not yet been resupplied. Taking a deep breath to the fourth level to find the wolf corpse and collect the source matter was the focus.

"Let's go. There are still traces of gnawing on these corpses. Unless they are burned to charcoal and their bones are scattered, even if the burned aberrant creatures are dead, the remaining cooked meat will become nutrients for other aberrant creatures to grow."

Zheng Yanying stood up and led the crowd away.

The women endured their nausea and discomfort, walking between Zheng Yanying and Lin Feng.

Only the two of them in the team were least affected.

Zheng Yanying had been here before, and as a combat priest of the church, she was a carefully selected warrior with a very firm will.

Lin Feng had the assistance of the system to clear negative influences. At the same time, during the Old Earth period, he had played many similar thriller and horror games…

Although the present was an immersive reality, after training, his adaptability and speed were definitely faster than the four women in front of him.

Therefore, after entering the second basement level, he and Zheng Yanying were at the front and back, Zheng Yanying was responsible for leading the way, and Lin Feng was at the very back of the team, preventing aberrant creatures from attacking.

The former needless to say, inherently emitted abundant holy spring power, coupled with the church's special armor, ordinary first-order cell-composed aberrant creatures did not dare to approach.

Lin Feng, who was at the rear, had the powerful aura of a late-stage first-order evolution, coupled with the pectoral badge containing second-order holy spring water provided by Su'an Shenfu, the dispelling effect could cover a radius of ten meters.

Under the protection of the two, everyone quickly crossed the ten kilometers of the second basement level.

Although they saw many traces of battle along the way, and more and more aberrant creature figures, the team was no longer like it was on the first basement level…

Jumping at shadows, stopping and starting.

Having adapted somewhat, everyone quickly came to the bottom of the second basement level, the entrance to the third basement level.

Standing at the staircase entrance, the lights of the front row shone, and they saw several ferocious monsters in the middle of the stairs, with pale skin and only a nose and mouth on their heads.

They were wet, hairless, constantly secreting viscous liquid, on all fours, their fingers and toes covered with black sharp claws.

And the huge mouth split to the back of their heads was also covered with fine, dense teeth.

These few monsters were sprawled at the end of the staircase, gnawing on the charred corpses of two deceased individuals.

They were so engrossed in their feasting that they didn't notice Zheng Yanying and her group arriving.

It wasn't until the bright light of the searchlight stimulated their sensory organs that they suddenly looked up, emitting a low, hissing sound.

Zheng Yanying coldly snorted, waving the iron hammer in her hand, releasing the aura of the Holy Spring's power.

The few monsters were startled and terrified, scurrying away on all fours.

At this moment, the people behind her had already held their breath,

their hearts pounding in their throats.

"These are Stage One Late-Phase Mutants, and they've been corrupted from surface-level wasteland scavengers and wanderers."

Zheng Yanying frowned slightly, saying in a deep voice:

"Be careful. If you come into contact with the bodily fluids of the mutated monsters, immediately rinse with Holy Spring water and drink a few mouthfuls of it. Otherwise, in less than half an hour, the contamination will spread to your entire arm or leg. By then, it won't just be a matter of rinsing..."

"To survive, you'll have to amputate."

"Or you'll become like the corrupted ones from before, reduced to high-level Mutants without a self, a group of mindless corrupted beings."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped.

At this moment, they were about to enter Sub-Level Three, thirty meters deep underground, where the temperature gradually dropped below twenty degrees Celsius.

The sweltering sealed battle armor that was unbearable on the surface had now become an insulating suit to maintain body temperature.

The group adjusted their condition and continued forward.

Soon, on the third level, they saw a patch of yellowish-white light in the distance.

"Someone?!"

Chen Shanshan exclaimed softly.

In the underground ruins where you couldn't see your own fingers, finding others of your kind was always a good thing.

Of course, only before treasures were discovered and conflicts of interest arose.

Traveling together was much safer than fighting alone.

"Stay alert, let's go take a look."

Zheng Yanying slowly spoke. In the underground ruins, there was no need to hide their presence, nor could they.

The searchlights on their chests could be seen from a long distance. If they didn't use the lights and proceeded in the dark, it would be like ringing the dinner bell for the Mutants.

As the group approached, the light gradually became clearer.

Within the collapsed walls, a bonfire was burning.

Five or six figures were sitting around the bonfire.

Among them was a familiar figure.

Lin Feng narrowed his eyes. The figure of one of them was extremely similar to Lysa.

Mainly because among the wasteland survivors, a tall foreign woman with blonde hair, besides Lysa, there was no one else who fit these characteristics.

The group of six slowly approached. The six people by the bonfire also noticed Lin Feng's group approaching from a few kilometers away.

As the distance closed, both sides entered a state of alert, gripping the weapons in their hands tightly.

Although the people by the bonfire were also wearing protective suits and masks, only two of them were wearing battle armor. The remaining four were only wearing simple protective gear, with steel helmets on their heads.

That's how Lin Feng saw the blonde hair of one of them.

Finally, when they were twenty meters apart, Lin Feng's group stopped.

At this distance, they could already distinguish most of the details of each other, such as the Church insignia on Zheng Yanying's body, and the triangular Savior Army markings on the others.

Because the two forces were in a state of animosity, the Savior Army members directly raised their guns.

Lin Feng then stepped out of the group, flashed his Special Hunter license from the Wasteland Hunter Guild, indicating his identity from the Guild.

Upon seeing this, the latter lowered their guns and waved at Lin Feng.

As Lin Feng approached, he found that these six people were all Stage One Initial to Mid-Phase Evolvers, with the two wearing battle armor possessing Stage One Mid-Phase strength.

"Did the Oasis Guild send you?"

One of those wearing the battle armor asked.

Lin Feng frowned slightly, suddenly realizing that the Savior Army might have some connection with the Wasteland Hunter Guild, and it was likely recent.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have specifically mentioned Oasis.

But this matter didn't have much to do with Lin Feng.

So he shook his head and replied:

"I just accepted a commission to come to the Mount Tai ruins for a mission. It has nothing to do with your actions. I didn't know a military factory was discovered here before I came."

The latter was slightly stunned, then stopped talking:

"Since that's the case, then we won't disturb you. Please proceed."

Lin Feng frowned slightly, not expecting the other party to decline so quickly, obviously not wanting to have too much contact with his group due to the existence of the Holy Spring Church.

At this moment, a slightly questioning female voice suddenly came from the side:

"Lin Feng?"

Lin Feng turned his head, looking at the woman with a blurred expression in the shadows of the firelight.

Because she was wearing a breathing mask, coupled with the influence of the shadows, it was difficult to distinguish her appearance, but from the tone of this voice, Lin Feng could also be sure that the other party was Lysa:

"That's right, it's me. Where are Old Duncan and the others?"

Lin Feng only recognized Lysa among the six people in front of him, and the rest of the original Duncan squad were not present, nor were they in the convoy above.

Hearing Lin Feng mention Old Duncan, the joy of seeing an old friend suddenly dissipated, Lysa's expression dimmed, and she shook her head slightly, saying:

"They went back. I joined the Savior Army."

Lin Feng nodded. From Old Duncan's choice to use the life essence of the Rockhorn Horse to achieve cross-stage evolution, he must have left the opportunity for Immaculate Evolution to Lysa.

Lysa, who had completed her evolution at this moment, had also evolved to the limit of Stage One Initial Phase, possessing level thirteen strength.

"Have the rest of you gone down? We're just operating on the fourth and fifth levels, collecting some life essence. We don't have any ideas about the underground armory and military factory."

"Even if we did, we wouldn't have waited until the end to come."

Since he had confirmed it was Lysa, he couldn't waste the familiar relationship between them, Lin Feng quickly inquired about information.

After listening to Lin Feng's question, Lysa was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Stage Two Mutants will appear on the fourth level below. They can lead those Stage One Mutants to attack living people, so we were arranged here to be responsible for receiving them."

"If you need life essence, there are some in the peripheral rooms on Sub-Level Four, but that's also where the Mutants usually hibernate."

Feeling the aura of Stage One Late-Phase on Lin Feng's body, Lysa continued:

"If you want to find Stage Two life essence, you have to go down to the fifth level, where there are the corpses left behind after the Stage Two Wasteland Wolf packs fought with the Evolvers back then."

Lysa, who had arrived a few days earlier, obviously knew the current situation of the ruins very well. After speaking, she didn't forget to remind him:

"But it's too dangerous below the third level. Although the strength of the Mutants is much weaker than that of Evolvers of the same stage, their numbers are as high as tens of thousands."

"Unless you burn them all to charcoal with a fire, otherwise after a period of time, they will be resurrected like weeds..."

"If you must go down, at least reserve two-thirds of your ammunition and physical strength for retreat, otherwise, the consequences of being trapped in a siege are unimaginable!"

Lin Feng nodded, replying seriously:

"Thank you."

At the same time, he reminded:

"We just saw a few Corrupted Ones below the entrance to the third level, their strength is in the Stage One Mid to Late Phase, be careful."

End of chapter, taking a break.