Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 639 - 169: Engine Scrap_2

It's still accelerating!

"Could it be... too fast?" the driver couldn't help but ask.

"It's not in a good mood, so it can only vent by accelerating."

"It?" 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Think about it: you wake up from chaos, ready to experience this brand new world, only to find that half of your body is already dilapidated. Wouldn't that ruin your mood?" Sun Hang said.

"It refers to... this... this car?" The driver's mind went blank at this point.

He felt like his understanding of the world was collapsing.

"You mean... you turned this car into a mysterious creature?" Shinkata Misaki finally reacted, grabbing the back of Sun Hang's seat excitedly.

"There was no choice. The engine affected by the temporal anomaly was completely ruined. Even if we dragged it to a repair shop, it would only be sold as scrap iron by the pound. Without turning it into a mysterious creature, there's no way this car could run," Sun Hang said.

"That's so cool! Why didn't you show this ability earlier?" Shinkata Misaki asked.

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to turn this thing into a mysterious creature... You know how much cleanup work this causes?" Yang Qi's stern face appeared in Sun Hang's mind. Compared to other Hunters, all of Sun Hang's mission reports, logistics, and aftercare issues were handled by Yang Qi, the "nanny." As for Sun Hang himself, to use a crude metaphor, he was like the kind of scumbag who, after the act, wouldn't even bother to bring a tissue to clean up.

The only downside is that every time Yang Qi helps, you can't avoid listening to her nag.

"Communication's cut off," Zhong Ling suddenly said.

"It's normal for communication to be cut off. The antenna for the signal transceiver is mounted on the car's hood and probably got wrecked with the engine just now," explained the field agent seated in the back seat, who, as a fan of Sun Hang, seemed quite accepting of Sun Hang's various supernatural abilities. "It's just that dealing with this car post-event could be complicated... After all, it's considered a mysterious creature, and a 'man-made' one at that."

"I have a solution," Zhong Ling said, "Just register it as Deceitful Equipment."

"That's a great idea!" Shinkata Misaki said, "So who's the synchronizer? Sun Hang? By the way, how do you measure the synchronization rate of this Deceitful Equipment? It seems fully autonomous; Sun Hang didn't even operate it."

"Not all Deceitful Equipment requires a synchronizer," Zhong Ling shook her head. "There are some pieces that can be used without a specific synchronizer."

The car's speed had shot up to nearly two hundred miles per hour, but since they were now on a paved road, it didn't feel bumpy. After driving down a side road for a short time, they caught sight of the main road they had traveled on earlier.

The sound of helicopter rotors drew closer, and Sun Hang looked up to see a helicopter approaching rapidly, its bottom lights flashing rhythmically.

"They're asking if anyone in the car needs emergency medical assistance," the idling driver quickly interpreted the signals from the lights.

"At this distance, even without a relay station, portable communication devices should work, right?" Sun Hang thought for a moment and said directly on the public channel, "No injuries, no medical assistance needed."

"That's good!" A few seconds later, a middle-aged man's voice boomed over the public channel, "This is aircraft number 0562 from the Sichuan Air Force, currently on a rescue mission to 'Special Observation Camp 1025.' Besides you, are there any other vehicles or personnel evacuated from the camp?"

"No, we are the only survivors," Sun Hang replied. "The temporal anomaly swallowed the other vehicles and personnel. I suggest setting up a quarantine zone around the valley immediately and closely monitoring the temporal anomaly within it."

Once the vehicle exited the valley, the detection instruments cradled by the field agents in the back seat stopped emitting signals—indicating the temporal anomaly had drifted beyond their detection range.

Calculating based on the instrument's maximum detection range, the entrance and exit of the valley seemed to be the boundary of the anomaly's spread.

"The temporal anomaly seems unable to leave the valley, but I can't guarantee it won't come out," Sun Hang said, "By the way, could we use your helicopter as a communication relay station? I need to contact Yang Qi at the Celestial City Mysterious Creature Research Institute directly."

"No problem," the crew responded immediately.

Soon, the broken communication was reconnected.

"I'm glad you're all right!" Yang Qi said from the other end of the headset, "The moment communication dropped, I truly thought something happened to you..."

"With Sun Hang around, nothing major should happen, right?" Song Yarong's leisurely voice floated over from nearby, "He managed to take down the temporal anomaly once; he can surely do it again."

"I haven't been able to take down the temporal anomaly; it just seems particularly wary of me," Sun Hang said, "Other people in the convoy were devoured, but it didn't dare touch us in this car."

"Could it be because of the Taotie Meme?" Song Yarong's tone suddenly turned serious, "The Taotie devours all mysterious creatures it encounters, even phenomenological and spiritual body types aren't spared. Some scholars even speculate that weaker rule-type mysterious creatures might fall prey to it as well... The temporal anomaly should have sensed the Taotie Meme on you and avoided you, right?"

"I remember now… During the first encounter with the temporal anomaly, the shadow it cast on the ground also avoided you... This is mentioned in Ye Jiu's mission report," Yang Qi recalled.

"But this temporal anomaly seems somewhat different," Song Yarong added, "The last time temporal anomaly appeared in Celestial City, a massive spherical 'body' was observable in the air... We only managed to eliminate it using the Shadowless Lamp Array by first destroying the aerial 'body' of the anomaly..."

"But this time, neither drones nor long-range telescopes have found anything similar in the air around the valley," Yang Qi continued, "I suspect the mysterious creature appearing this time might be a variant of the previously encountered temporal anomaly."

"Mysterious creatures do evolve," Yang Qi added, "Last time, its body was its weakness. Because we exploited that weakness, we could eliminate it. This time, having returned, it might have found a way to hide its weakness."

"Speaking of weaknesses, Shinkata Misaki, can't you see the weaknesses of mysterious creatures? Did you use your ability on the temporal anomaly?" Song Yarong asked.

"Of course, I did... but I couldn't see anything," Shinkata Misaki sighed. "All I saw was complete darkness."

"Then it means the weakness isn't on the ground... Perhaps it's in the sky, just hidden using something like optical camouflage… Have you looked up?" Song Yarong asked again.

"I have looked up, but there's nothing but the projection of some kind of magic eye, nothing else."

"Hmm... that's a problem... The spherical body of the previous anomaly, aside from being observable with visible light, was effectively zero in mass and energy response... If we add optical camouflage on top of that, this thing might as well not exist."

"Not non-existent, but 'undetectable,'" Yang Qi corrected, "But in any case, a safe retreat is always good news... The Disaster Response Committee is already aware of the anomaly's reappearance and is planning new countermeasures. As for the spectral distress issue, we'll discuss it when you return."