Gao Wu: A centenarian old man, many children and good fortune! Chapter 038

In the wilderness, excessive silence is often more dangerous than clamor!

This deathly silence has only two possibilities: either all life has been thoroughly scared away by some terrifying existence, or… they have all been eaten!

Inside the command vehicle, Lin Wei’s face instantly turned pale when she heard the last report! She could no longer remain calm, and suddenly looked at Xiao Yan, who was still resting with his eyes closed, her voice urgent and with a hint of plea:

“Captain! Something is wrong! This deathly silence is an extremely dangerous signal! I request to immediately recall the Eighth Squad! We might have intruded into the hunting ground of a terrifying existence far beyond our expectations!”

Xiao Yan slowly opened his eyes, his deep gaze showing no emotion. He pondered for a moment, as if weighing something, and finally nodded: “Approv…”

However, before he could finish his sentence!

“Zzzzt—!!!”

All communication screens inside the command vehicle, including the encrypted channel connected to the Eighth Squad, instantly burst into a dazzling snow of static! The sharp current interference sound pierced people’s eardrums painfully!

At the same time, the life signal indicator lights representing all members of the Eighth Squad, under everyone’s horrified gaze, instantly and uniformly changed from green, representing “normal,” directly to gray, representing “signal lost/vital signs disappeared”!

Lost contact in an instant!

As if an invisible giant hand, in the distant front, had wiped out that elite scout squad along with all their communication signals in one swoop!

“Eighth Squad!!” Lin Wei exclaimed in shock, suddenly standing up from her seat, her body trembling slightly from the immense shock.

Inside the command vehicle, the atmosphere instantly dropped to freezing point!

Deathly silence!

A silence even more suffocating than the wilderness just now!

Everyone’s hearts felt as if they were gripped by an icy hand, a chill rushing from their soles straight to the top of their heads!

The slight ease and confidence that had risen earlier due to Xiao Yan’s slaying of the Shadow Nightmare Demon vanished at this moment! Replaced by deep fear and heaviness!

To be able to instantly make an well-equipped, experienced scout squad lose all contact, unable even to send out a distress signal… the enemy encountered ahead, their strength is absolutely far beyond imagination! Perhaps… it might even be beyond what a general-level expert can handle!

Inside the command vehicle, besides Xiao Yan and Lin Wei, there were several rotating squad leaders responsible for coordination and command. At this moment, everyone’s gaze instinctively and uniformly turned to the man who was still sitting in the main seat, expressionless.

In the face of such a sudden, extremely dangerous predicament, their only hope, their only reliance, was this unfathomably powerful supreme commander!

Inside the command vehicle, a deathly silence pressed down, making it hard to breathe.

Everyone’s gaze was focused on Xiao Yan, awaiting his decision. Cold sweat trickled down the foreheads of some of the squad leaders. The unknown enemy, the terrifying power that instantly wiped out a scout squad, made everyone feel the shadow of death.

Xiao Yan’s face remained calm, but in his deep eyes, a cold, sharp glint suddenly flashed. He slowly stood up, his body, though not exceptionally tall, at this moment seemed to stand tall against the sky, exuding a powerful aura that was both reassuring and awe-inspiring.

“It seems,” his voice was low and clear, breaking the deathly silence in the vehicle, each word like a heavy hammer striking everyone’s hearts, “we’ve caught a big one.”

There was no panic, no fear, not even the slightest hint of solemnity. Only a cold calm, like a hunter who had finally found his prey!

This calmness itself was a powerful confidence, instantly stabilizing the wavering morale within the command vehicle.

“Captain…” Lin Wei was about to speak but was stopped by Xiao Yan’s raised hand.

“Deputy Lin,” Xiao Yan’s gaze swept over Lin Wei and the few squad leaders present, issuing concise and decisive orders, “Pass on my command: The entire team stops advancing! Centered on the command vehicle, immediately contract and form the strongest circular defensive formation! All heavy firepower units preheat, maintain air-to-ground vigilance, elevated to the highest level!”

“Maintain radio silence until I return or issue new instructions! No one is to act without authorization!”

“Yes! Captain!” Lin Wei and the other squad leaders sharply straightened their bodies and responded loudly! Although their hearts were still filled with fear of the unknown, the Captain’s clear and decisive orders gave them a backbone!

“I’ll be back soon.” Xiao Yan left this bland remark, his gaze once again cast towards the deathly silent, peril-laden wilderness ahead.

The next second, his figure once again vanished from the command vehicle as if merging into the air, silently and without a trace!

Fast! Extremely fast!

Even Lin Wei, who was right beside him, only felt a barely perceptible blur before her eyes, and the figure that had been like a stabilizing force was already gone!

“…” The command vehicle fell silent again, but this time, it was no longer a silence of fear, but a heavy wait mixed with shock, awe, and… a faint glimmer of hope.

Lin Wei took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and quickly turned around, relaying Xiao Yan’s orders at the fastest speed through internal short-range communication.

“Attention all units! Captain’s orders! Stop advancing! Centered on the command vehicle, contract and form a circular defense! All heavy firepower preheat, highest alert! Maintain radio silence! Repeat…”

The massive armored convoy immediately sprang into action. Heavy tracks and anti-gravity engines hummed lowly, and vehicles quickly adjusted their positions, forming a tight defensive circle in the wilderness like an iron hedgehog. Cannon barrels rotated, radars activated, and all soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, nervously watching their surroundings.

…

The wilderness was deathly silent, the wind whimpering, as if even the air was congealed with an invisible fear.

Xiao Yan’s figure, like an arrow shot from a bowstring, or a black lightning bolt skimming the ground, sped towards the unsettlingly silent area, following the faint energy traces and movement marks left by the Eighth Squad before they disappeared. His transcendent fourth-grade speed was pushed to its limit, and the scenery on both sides rapidly receded, turning into blurry streaks of light. Only the ground beneath his feet, after each seemingly effortless step, would leave a shallow, instantly smoothed-over imprint by the wind and sand.

His mental perception, like an invisible radar, covered an area of several kilometers ahead, capturing any faint abnormal energy fluctuations or life aura.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the low bushes ahead!

Seven or eight bloodthirsty demonic wolves, larger than ordinary wild wolves, with ominous dark red fur and saliva dripping from their fangs, suddenly sprang out from their hiding places! They seemed to have been startled by the wind stirred up by Xiao Yan’s high-speed movement, or perhaps driven by some deeper fear, appearing somewhat flustered and coincidentally blocking Xiao Yan’s path!

These demonic wolves had chaotic and messy auras, their strength roughly equivalent to the Alliance’s standard third or fourth-grade warriors. They might be a nuisance to an ordinary squad, but in Xiao Yan’s eyes, they were no different from chickens and dogs.

Seeing these low-level demons, Xiao Yan didn’t even slow down in the slightest!

His gaze was cold, his imperial-level true essence subtly moved, and he pointed his fingers like a blade, casually slashing through the air!

Whoosh!

An incredibly condensed, extremely fast invisible blade qi instantly swept past!

The seven or eight bloodthirsty demonic wolves that had just bared their fangs and were about to pounce stiffened suddenly, then, as if precisely cut by an incredibly sharp surgical knife, they uniformly split into two halves from head to tail!

Blood and internal organs burst open instantly, staining the withered yellow grass, but Xiao Yan’s figure had already passed through the bloody scene, not even a corner of his clothes stained with a trace of filth!

In a flick of a finger, easily dispatching this group of minor obstacles, Xiao Yan’s speed increased, and his eyes grew even colder.

Soon, a scene of disarray appeared ahead.

It was the last reported location of the Eighth Squad!

Scattered standard weapons, shattered helmets, torn combat uniform fragments… and on the ground, ten bizarre, horrifying… “corpses”!

Xiao Yan’s figure slowly stopped beside the “corpses,” his brows tightly furrowed. Even he, accustomed to life and death and various gruesome sights, felt a strong chill and anger surge in his heart at the sight before him!

The ten members of the Eighth Squad were still in the postures of struggle or terror from their last moments, but their bodies seemed to have been completely drained of all life essence and flesh by some entity! Their skin was shriveled and sallow, clinging tightly to their bones, their eye sockets sunken, their mouths wide open, their faces frozen in extreme fear and pain! As if they had instantly been turned into mummies dried for a thousand years!

This kind of death was bizarre! Horrifying! Full of evil aura!

Definitely not the work of ordinary demons! Even more chilling than the Shadow Nightmare Demon’s mental attacks and claw rending!

Xiao Yan knelt down, carefully examining one of the “dried bodies.” He could clearly perceive that the residual energy and vitality within the team members had been almost completely drained! In the air, there was still a faint, extremely cold and obscure, strongly corrosive energy residue.

“This energy… it’s not the Shadow Nightmare Demon…” Xiao Yan’s eyes were sharp, his powerful mental force meticulously sweeping over every inch of the scene, not missing any clues.

Soon, on the ground next to one of the team members’ corpses, he discovered an extremely faint, almost imperceptible clue—a few strands thinner than hair, like black crystal fragments, of residual matter!