Yama Reborn

When Chen Nuo announced his conclusion about the "living dead," the atmosphere inside the tent instantly fell silent.

Two hundred living dead, who hadn't eaten for a long time, still managed to launch a nocturnal assault on the camp...

Aside from being controlled, there seemed to be no other explanation.

This conclusion was somewhat unbelievable for the other Ability Users, with the exception of Chen Nuo.

After all, only Chen Nuo had witnessed an alien Mother with spiritual power so vast it defied comprehension!

For others, it was incomprehensible how some entity could control two hundred puppets simultaneously and make them perform precise actions.

As everyone in the tent fell into silence, it seemed that no further questions came to mind.

It was at this moment that Chen Nuo's eyelids suddenly twitched! With a thought, he leaped up from the camp bed he was sitting on! In a flash, Chen Nuo dashed out of the tent!

The burial site for the bodies was not very far from the camp, yet there was a considerable distance.

Chen Nuo ran fast, his figure darting through the camp like a gust of wind. When he arrived at the area where the bodies were buried, no more than two minutes had passed.

Standing next to the filled burial pit, Chen Nuo rapidly extended his Spiritual Force Tentacles, frantically searching in all directions!

Following behind him, a group of Ability Users had also arrived one after another.

Watching Chen Nuo standing next to the burial pit as if he were daydreaming, everyone stopped in their tracks.

Chen Nuo exhaled, his face wearing a peculiar expression as he turned to look at the others. His gaze swept over each person's face, one by one!

"Harvey! What happened?" Vanel approached Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo pointed at the burial pit and said coldly, "See for yourself."

The burial pit had been dug open! The plot of ground, which had been properly filled, now had its protruding mound of dirt broken open, exposing the piled-up corpses inside.

Chen Nuo's gaze was stern as he pointed and sneered, "See that? Those two are the ones I dissected."

It wasn't feasible to burn so many bodies in the jungle. Otherwise, if a forest fire broke out, the situation would be dire. Burying them on the spot was the only option.

Vanel immediately had Selena call over the mercenaries who were in charge of digging the pit and burying the bodies that morning.

The mercenaries insisted that they left only after completing the task of filling the burial pit and did not slack off.

The mercenaries vouched for each other, lending credibility to their testimony. Chen Nuo believed their statements as well.

"I left a spiritual power coordinate here," Chen Nuo told the crowd coldly. "I sensed that my spiritual power coordinate was disrupted, and that's how I knew the burial pit had been unearthed... So, who would be afraid that I discovered something? Who would feel guilty?"

Since none of these Ability Users were fools, they quickly dispersed to carefully examine the area.

Soon, clues were brought together.

"There are no footprints around."

"We questioned the mercenaries in the camp, and no one saw anyone leave the camp to come here—except for us."

"Due to last night's attack, the camp is now under strict operational security. No one is allowed to act alone or leave the camp. If anyone must leave for some reason, they must do so in a group. So... nothing was found!"

As the group pieced together the clues, Chen Nuo stood calmly beside the burial pit, pondering.

Meanwhile, Bonfrey walked up to Chen Nuo. He seemed utterly unfazed by the gruesome sight in the opened burial pit, looking down calmly, even going as far as to sift through the dirt with his hand.

A moment later, Bonfrey stood up, glanced at Chen Nuo, then looked at the others. "This pit wasn't dug up by an ordinary person; it was the work of an Ability User."

Sea Monster turned to Bonfrey. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"It's simple," Bonfrey said coldly. "Ordinary people dig from the top down! An Ability User wouldn't dig shovel by shovel; they could simply use their power to blast the dirt away! A burial pit has relatively dry soil on top and moist soil underneath. Careful observation of the excavated site allows one to make such a judgment based on the dry and wet soil."

Chen Nuo nodded. "Correct... Moreover, I rushed here immediately upon sensing my spiritual power coordinate was tampered with... It took no more than two minutes! An ordinary person couldn't dig such a large pit in two minutes! And... disappear without a trace!"

"And not even a footprint was left behind!" Golden Bird added ominously.

The Ability Users looked at each other, unpleasant expressions in their eyes.

"But just now, all of us were in Mr. Harvey's tent!" Vanel's face contorted as he made this statement.

Gray Cat Black suddenly said, "Could it be that, aside from us, there's another Ability User lurking among the mercenary group?"

Gray Cat Black's remark made many Ability Users' faces reveal their killer intent!

Selena took the initiative to gather all the mercenaries for questioning. However, nothing was found!

During that brief period, all the mercenaries in the camp had remained in their assigned groups; no one had acted alone. Even going to the latrine required an escort; no one was allowed to go by themselves! Selena stated this with utmost certainty.

"We've been attacked once, and we're still in danger. So, everyone will strictly adhere to my commands now. I can assure you, no one acted alone just now. No one ever left everyone else's sight!

"Everyone can be guaranteed to have at least two witnesses and companions by their side!

"No matter what anyone was doing, it was always so!"

After saying this, Selena once again expressed her opinion to Vanel, "I reiterate, under such circumstances, evacuating is our best option!"

Vanel gave Selena a cold glance. "Miss Selena, let me remind you for the last time: the order has been issued, and your job is to execute it without fail."

Selena, her face ashen with rage, huffed and turned to leave with her people.

Chen Nuo glanced at Vanel but suddenly asked, "When will the Son of the Sun arrive?"

"...We made contact. Twenty-four hours. So, by this time tomorrow at the latest, the Son of the Sun will arrive."

As he spoke, Vanel suddenly turned solemn, summoning all the Ability Users to his side.

"Everyone, under the present circumstances, I can't afford to exchange pleasantries!

"According to the rules of the mission commission, I am the leader of this assignment and the representative of the client. So now, until the Son of the Sun arrives, I will temporarily take command of the team!

"I assume there are no objections?"

Of course, there were no objections. The Octopus Monster Organization was a recognized behemoth in the Underground World, and Vanel was its representative. Besides... they were the ones paying the bills.

Seeing no objections, Vanel spoke in a grave tone, "Well, I'm going to start exercising my command now! I hope everyone will follow my directives! I will assign some tasks to all of you!"

"I have no problem with this." Sea Monster was the first to speak up.

Among the six present, he was the strongest. With Sea Monster willing to heed Vanel's commands, the others naturally had nothing more to say.

"Then, there are still enemies in the jungle that have attacked us. Just because they've struck once doesn't mean they won't strike a second time!

"Thus, tonight we are going to be exceptionally cautious and vigilant! Apart from the defenses that Selena instructs the mercenaries to set up, I hope you all cooperate with my commands."

Bonfrey nodded. "Vanel, just speak plainly. What do you need us to do? We're all old acquaintances, I've had dealings with you in the past, and I'm willing to accept your command."

"For tonight's watch, I'll divide you into several groups, with each person responsible for a different direction... I need the Ability Users' help.

"Sea Monster, you and Miss Sato Ryoko will be responsible for the east.

"Order Keepers, Miss Golden Bird, you will be in charge of the south.

"Mr. Harvey, you and Gray Cat Black will cover the west.

"As for the north, I will handle it personally!

"Does anyone have a problem with that?"

This arrangement... Of course, there were problems! Chen Nuo instinctively gave Vanel a deep look. This guy... He had broken up the small cliques the Ability Users had formed over the past few days! Sea Monster had been closest to Golden Bird, but Vanel had deliberately paired Sea Monster with Sato Ryoko! Bonfrey had always been suspicious of Golden Bird... yet Vanel had placed Bonfrey and Golden Bird together! As for pairing me with Gray Cat Black... perhaps he still somewhat trusted me and this gray cat?

Clearly, although he didn't say it, Vanel was also skeptical of the Ability User team!

This, in fact, was obvious to everyone, but nobody called it out.

At this time, nobody would oppose Vanel's deliberate disruption of the original combinations! Because, if you did oppose, wouldn't that be inviting trouble for yourself?

Chen Nuo, smiling, relayed Vanel's decision to Sato Ryoko beside him.

Sato Ryoko immediately spoke up, "I... but I don't speak the language. If I'm with Sea Monster..."

Unexpectedly, Sea Monster looked at Sato Ryoko, his tone indifferent as he said, "No worries, Miss Sato Ryoko. I can also speak a little Japanese; it won't affect our normal communication." He spoke in perfect Japanese!

Sato Ryoko silently nodded.

Once everyone was assigned, they reformed into their new teams and left. The addition of Ability Users naturally greatly enhanced the defenses. At the very least, Ability Users could sense a broader and farther range.

Gray Cat Black was a loner by nature. Chen Nuo stayed with him; the fellow merely sat in silence, petting his cat, then rested against a makeshift barrier of supply crates and mounds of earth.

Chen Nuo sat beside him smoking, glanced at the man, and suddenly asked, "It's been two days since we came out. What does your cat eat? You didn't bring cat food, did you?"

"It ate crocodile meat last night," Black replied indifferently.

Half a day passed quickly. The atmosphere in the camp was oppressive and silent but, at least, incident-free.

In the evening, Vanel used the communication equipment to contact the main base once more. The news was that the main base was urgently coordinating supplies, a new vessel, and organizing support personnel.

The mercenaries delivered dinner. That night, no one was in the mood to prepare anything complicated. No one was up for barbecuing or making crocodile soup.

Chen Nuo tore open a dry, hard military ration. He soaked some compressed biscuits in water, took a few bites, and set it aside. Sigh, when I was with Sato Ryoko, at least I had potato chips to eat.

Just then, Chen Nuo suddenly stood up, staring in shock at the distant jungle!

Beside him, Black also got up, his eyes wide as he looked into the distance. Quickly, a few nearby mercenaries also jumped up tensely, clutching their firearms, wide-eyed and speechless as they looked toward...

In the jungle, amidst the dense forest, wisps of mist began to emerge. This mist started as a trickle seeping from between the trees, then intertwined, rapidly forming patches that blended together.

The spread seemed slow, but it was steadily, little by little, engulfing the visible rainforest within their field of vision!

As the mist spread and devoured, the trees that were once visible to the naked eye became fewer and fewer, soon enveloped by the thick mist.

If it were just mist, it wouldn't have surprised everyone so much! After all, misty weather is not too rare in the rainforest.

But the mist before their eyes, growing thicker and wider, rolling towards the campsite... was a deep scarlet!!!

And soon after, cries of alarm were heard from other directions within the camp.

"It's getting foggy!"

"Damn it! What is this stuff?!"

"My God..."

Not just from the direction Chen Nuo was guarding! From all directions—east, south, west, north—thick red mist rose from the rainforest, converging towards the camp like a tide!

"Have you noticed?" Chen Nuo's expression was grave. "Black?"

Black's face was also grim. "I've noticed! My... my spiritual power can't discern any movement inside the mist! This mist blocks my spiritual sense!"

The scene looked extremely eerie and incited great fear. Several mercenaries stood at the edge of the camp, watching the Red Mist begin to spread towards them.

Instinctively, one of the mercenaries raised his gun and then turned to his comrades. "Damn, have you ever seen such a—"

Before he could finish, suddenly, a shadow burst out of the mist behind him! A huge, black-spotted creature came hurtling through!

Amidst the cries of alarm from the surrounding mercenaries, it pounced on the man, immediately biting his neck!

Amidst his screams, blood sprayed. His short, frantic screams were abruptly cut off as his body twisted in struggle!

The pouncer was none other than an Amazon rainforest's jungle killer! A jaguar!

The other mercenaries cried out as they raised their guns. But with one of them having his neck bitten, no one fired immediately; they just backed away, shouting in fear.

A grown jaguar is indeed a massive creature to humans. An adult jaguar can weigh over one hundred kilograms and is also much larger than a typical leopard!

It's called a jaguar, but in fact, this creature's size is closer to that of a tiger! It is also the third-largest feline in the world, after lions and tigers.

And this jaguar, which had bitten the mercenary's neck, appeared to be the size of a tiger! Before the other mercenaries could react, it had already broken the pitiful man's neck, then instantly sprang away, lunging at another mercenary!

BANG, BANG, BANG!! A mercenary finally fired his gun!

A volley of bullets hit the supply boxes but failed to strike the jaguar.

The creature, agilely evading the shots, immediately toppled another mercenary! This mercenary reacted quite quickly, throwing his arm across his neck—animals often target the throat first when hunting!

With a scream, the jaguar bit down on his arm... One could see the arm was deformed! The bones were probably broken!

The bite force of a jaguar can reach up to six hundred kilograms!

Gunshots rang out again, and the jaguar once more evaded sharply, but soon... Chen Nuo's spiritual power had entangled the creature. Under the influence of Telekinesis, the large feline made a leaping motion but then slammed heavily onto the ground, growling and struggling with all its might.

BANG!!! A bullet accurately entered its head!

Watching the jaguar finally fall, Chen Nuo looked back. A few steps behind him, Selena stood with a gun in her hands.

The female mercenary's face was pale; she walked over and kicked the jaguar's corpse.

Suddenly, Chen Nuo roared, "Watch out!"

Without waiting for Selena to react, Chen Nuo had already pounced, grabbing the woman and lunging to the side with all his might!

They fell to the ground, Chen Nuo holding the woman and swiftly rolling away!

Before Selena could comprehend what was happening, she heard a barrage of gunfire and low growls!

"Another one has come!!"

"Kill it!!"

"Fire, fire!!!"

By the time Chen Nuo finally let go and pulled her up from the ground, Selena's face was pale as she saw another jaguar on the ground, riddled with bullet holes.

"Thank you, Mr. Harvey." Selena took a deep breath. "If you hadn't pushed me away just now…"

"You should thank Black. If it weren't for his powers helping, your men wouldn't have been able to kill the second one."

With that said, Chen Nuo kept a wary eye on the intensifying Red Mist. "Selena, we should retreat! This damn mist is blocking our sight and all our senses!"

Selena was quick to respond, giving immediate orders: "Everyone fall back! Contract the defensive line!! Contract!!"

The temporary outer fortifications the mercenaries had dug that morning were abandoned. Everyone headed back into the campsite, virtually retreating to the sides of the tents and living quarters.

Similar scenes were unfolding in every direction. Wild animals emerged from the jungle to attack, with incidents occurring on several other sides of the camp.

On Vanel's side, facing the riverbank, crocodiles surged out of the Red Mist! With their tough hide and flesh, several gunshots were often required to kill one! This also caused casualties among the mercenaries.

However, Vanel clearly also played a significant role. While his mercenary subordinates were shooting at the other two crocodiles, Vanel, a man from Bear Country, let out a roar of "Uraah!!" and charged directly at the largest crocodile that emerged from the fog!

Then, under everyone's gaze, this bear-like man wrestled the crocodile by its back with a body slam, then tumbled on the ground with the beast, which was over two meters long.

This man actually snapped the crocodile's neck from behind with his bare hands!!

Gunshots resounded from all directions! As if driven by this Red Mist, more and more animals leaped out of the dense fog, attacking the camp. Not only jaguars and crocodiles but even a troop of monkeys jumped out.

Though these monkeys did not attack people directly, they brought huge chaos to the mercenaries' defensive line.

As people retreated, one mercenary fell behind and was accidentally touched by the spreading Red Mist. He suddenly let out a scream as the mist engulfed his body.

Soon, his deranged and twisted howls came from within the mist. As the other mercenaries watched in alarm, some even attempting to run back to rescue their comrade... the man's figure suddenly charged out of the dense fog!

He burst out and grabbed the closest comrade! His expression was completely distorted with madness as he wildly pulled out his dagger and thrust it fiercely into his comrade's abdomen!!

His eyes were as red as blood!

After the others recovered from their shock, they immediately rushed to pull him off, but as soon as the man got up, he crazily grabbed another person.

Chen Nuo kicked the man away, then pulled out his pistol. BANG! The bullet pierced the man's head, even lifting off his skullcap, before he finally fell into a pool of blood!

"What are you looking at?! Fall back!!!" Chen Nuo roared fiercely.

This Red Mist is too weird! Can it really drive people insane if they touch it?

Chen Nuo took a deep breath and stood at the forefront, arms outstretched. As his spiritual power spread wildly, the air in front of him began to flow rapidly, soon forming a whirlwind.

The torrential whirlwind quickly rolled back the approaching mist! Chen Nuo continued to unleash spiritual power, and the air currents grew increasingly turbulent!

The howling wind soon dispersed the Red Mist in front, and it seemed as if a large chunk of the mist was sheared away! The violent wind temporarily blew back the mist, but it was only a brief reprieve. The dispersed dense mist quickly began to creep back from the jungle.

The small-scale gale Chen Nuo created with Telekinesis could only temporarily alleviate the situation; it didn't address the root of the problem. The other Ability Users also began imitating Chen Nuo, creating turbulent winds.

From all four directions, the camp continually shrank as they retreated, its area diminishing. They were barely holding back the invasion of the Red Mist, relying on the storm barriers created by the Ability Users.

"This won't do!!" Chen Nuo yelled. "I can't keep creating storms like this!"

"I can't keep it up either!!" Sea Monster roared in response from afar. He had also whipped up a gale.

Vanel, gasping for breath, ran over and roared, "Everyone, gather! Gather together!! Retreat and consolidate!!"

The safe area of the camp shrank more and more until finally, everyone gathered in the center.

"We can't just hold our ground here! Our powers aren't unlimited! It's impossible to keep blocking this fog forever!" Chen Nuo grabbed Vanel. "We must leave!"

"Fog surrounds us on all sides! Which way do we go?!"

"I don't know! But I do know that staying here isn't an option! If we stay, once our powers are exhausted and we can't maintain the gale, we'll be swallowed by the fog! You saw it—this fog can drive people mad!" Chen Nuo said hastily. "Leave! We must leave this place!"

Sea Monster also shouted, "We can use the gale to blow a path through the fog! Then leave this place!"

Vanel's face twisted. "Good idea! But damn it! Which direction should we go?!"

"Anywhere!! Better than just waiting to die here!" Chen Nuo shouted. "I don't believe this fog can cover the entire Amazon rainforest!!! This was created by someone to attack us! If we leave here and get out of its range, we'll be safe!"

From a distance came Bonfrey's voice, the nobleman who usually spoke slowly, his tone now anxious and flustered, "I say! Have you damn well made up your minds yet?! Hurry up! My Telekinesis barrier is depleting too fast!!"

Vanel took a deep breath. "North is not an option! The river lies to the north! We have no boats, and it would be too troublesome to get so many people across!"

"The fog first appeared to the west, where I was in charge! West is not an option!" Chen Nuo said quickly.

"Then head east or south! Quickly choose one!" Sea Monster bellowed.

"East!" Vanel made the decision.

Chen Nuo immediately nodded, abandoning his storm to run towards Sea Monster. "The two of us will take turns at the front, clearing a path through the fog with a storm!"

"Okay!" Sea Monster's answer was crisp.

"I'll go first!" Chen Nuo volunteered. Sea Monster didn't object, immediately saying, "Okay! You lead the way, and I'll be right behind you, ready to take over!"

The other Ability Users also ran over.

"Hold on for five more minutes! Everyone grab what supplies you can carry! Leave behind anything too heavy! And don't forget to take the wounded with us!" Vanel said quickly. "Golden Bird!! Bonfrey! You two maintain the camp's safety for now! Stop the fog from spreading! Other Ability Users, come over and gather!!"

The camp became chaotic as people assembled. The mercenaries quickly gathered, leaving most of their supplies and equipment behind.

At this moment, under the combined efforts of Bonfrey and Golden Bird, the area in the camp not yet overrun by fog had shrunk to a very small patch. Simultaneously, crazed wild animals continued to charge out of the fog but were promptly shot dead by the alert mercenaries. This caused some commotion but no further casualties.

Gathering the team and collecting carryable supplies took only a few minutes. Soon, Chen Nuo once again released his spiritual power. Towards the east, a storm visibly formed in the air, sweeping forward and dispersing the Red Mist on the path ahead! Though the fog crept back slowly after being dispersed, a temporary path had been cleared.

"Go!! Everyone keep up! Don't fall behind!!!"