Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Southern Cross 1

This gun is really heavy!

Even someone with mechanical prosthetics might not be able to carry it casually, considering it weighs thirty kilograms, and anyone with slightly less stamina would struggle after carrying it for a while. But for Su Ziyu, this is no problem at all. Don’t forget, he once carried Pasha out from Southern Cross.

That journey took at least one or two hours, with Pasha weighing around 60 kilograms, and Su Ziyu only needed to catch his breath slightly when he sat down.

His stamina and endurance are terrifying now; he’s never felt extremely tired.

“Get me more ammunition. Any type will do.” Su Ziyu slightly lowered his voice and said.

Pasha nodded gently and said, “No problem.”

“This gun can be disassembled. I’ll take you to practice with it. We’ll set off in an hour.”

This modified BTL82M anti-material sniper rifle can be dismantled into parts as long as 1.15 meters. The metal used seems to be titanium alloy, with some special components added, but it’s not overly complicated to use. The main problem is that it’s more difficult to maintain than other firearms, a common issue with most anti-material sniper rifles.

There are quite a few people involved in this operation.

Just the armored vehicles alone numbered ten, and they were well-armed, with rockets prepared in a row and anti-aircraft machine guns mounted on the vehicles. A man who had replaced both arms with mechanical prosthetics was carrying a six-barreled Gatling heavy machine gun. However, no exoskeleton power armor was brought this time, so the front-line shields were a bit weak. Everyone had an extra protective suit prepared. Southern Cross was a severe radiation pollution source, with even a serious nuclear leakage in the core area.

The convoy quickly set off.

Su Ziyu wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but before leaving, he noticed a slightly familiar-looking white man by the roadside, resembling Leon, although his face had completely changed.

The cement roads outside were almost entirely destroyed.

Cars were basically just decorations in this era. Occasionally, in the ruins of a town, you could still see a sports car burned down to an empty shell. On the road, Su Ziyu heard gunfire resound, but Pasha and the others paid it no mind, merely commenting, “Might be Scavengers or Plunderers.”

Not everyone liked to rely on organizations; some people lived as families near the ruins of past cities in the wilderness.

A day passed quickly.

Sitting in the car with nothing to do, Su Ziyu busied himself with endlessly disassembling and reassembling the BTL82M. When it came to pitching tents for camping at night, Pasha quietly approached, handing three special light red syringes to Su Ziyu, then whispered, “Czech-03. A potent stimulant. It can significantly enhance combat capacity in a short time, but will leave you very fatigued afterward.”

“Don’t use it unless absolutely necessary.”

“It’s addictive.”

Su Ziyu reached out to take the syringes and, after glancing at them, put them away. He had heard about this stuff in the camp, a notorious stimulant said to be quite dominant. Its biggest drawback is the potential for addiction, as it contains some rather unsavory ingredients.

By the next day, they arrived near Southern Cross.

The place seemed extremely quiet, with no traces of even small animals. The group quickly put on their protective suits and carefully ventured into the city ruins. The outer ruins of the city had clearly been cleared, with signs of explosive clearing near some collapsed buildings. Fifty meters to the right was an already scrapped excavator, with a large pool of solidified blood in its cab and craters outside from bomb explosions.

“Be careful,” Pasha said, standing to Su Ziyu’s left with a gun in hand.

With protective suits on, everyone looked similarly bulky, except for one sturdy guy who stood out because his protective suit was short-sleeved, revealing two mechanical arms with a metallic sheen, wielding the six-barreled Gatling heavy machine gun.

This city had been abandoned for a long time.

Outside were numerous burnt car shells, pockmarked with bullet holes, but the roads had been cleared. After crossing a street, a rusty scrapped tank appeared before them, and at the third-floor level of a building exposed half of a helicopter frame, with something indescribable hanging from it, resembling wind-dried meat.

“Keep an eye on your surroundings!”

“Those Corpse Ghosts are incredibly cunning!”

Corpse Ghosts typically appear in high-radiation pollution areas and require a severe radiation pollution source. Many Corpse Ghosts were born during the catastrophe, and it’s unclear why they haven’t died off yet. Anywhere a nuclear bomb has exploded could potentially produce Corpse Ghosts. They have completely lost human reason but retain some human instincts. The brains of Corpse Ghosts have become like dried tofu; yet, inexplicably, they still use some tactics. Their only weak point is their brain, and they usually prey on irradiated rats and cockroaches.

Ahead, a thirty-storey building had collapsed.

The street formed a slope, littered with metal debris, making one’s heart race during passage. By now, surrounded by residential ruins, the environment dimmed slightly, and encountering Corpse Ghosts would likely lead to street combat.

“Attention!”

“Radiation pollution source found 150 meters to the south!”

The group dispersed into independent teams. Su Ziyu naturally moved with Pasha, joined by three others—two men and one woman—all of whom appeared reticent. The pollution source found was a scrapped heavy truck, surrounded by three iron barrels distinctly marked with radiation symbols, though now rusted and barely visible.

Everyone avoided that area.

Without protective suits, ordinary people approaching these pollution sources would quickly suffer severe harm.

The journey remained peaceful.

Only occasional whistling winds interrupted the silence. Passing through an upscale residential area, Su Ziyu spotted some scrapped cylindrical machines, likely home robots used by the wealthy.

“5,000 meters to the target location.”

“Watch out!”

A burst of gunfire echoed.

Su Ziyu instinctively turned and raised his gun, only to realize it was a false alarm. Someone had merely encountered a few irradiated rats, each as large as a small dog.

Walking a bit farther,

they came across numerous corpses, all clad in tattered protective suits marked by bite marks. More than ten irradiated rats squeaked and scampered into the ruins upon seeing them. Spent shells scattered across the ground near Su Ziyu’s feet, with a grenade nearby, and atop a concrete block sat a heavy machine gun beside a headless corpse.

These must have been the people who perished here last time.

If Su Ziyu hadn’t saved Pasha, she too might have met her end here.

“Stay alert at all times!”

“We’ve entered Corpse Ghost territory!”

The radiation pollution in this area was far more severe. A hundred meters away lay a turbid man-made lake amidst floating trash, its water a dark cyan glinting with tar-like sheen, along with some broken statues stained with mysterious black-red substances, their look nauseating.

………

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