Wasteland Border Inspector

Chapter 321: Wandering Infected Body, Seamless Shadow Puppet!

Another illusion that only one person could see?Cheng Ye withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror, signaling Niu Fu, Yin Ruofeng, and the other two to look back.

Yet, even though that group of figures was clearly still standing at the edge of the horizon with sinister smiles on their faces, Niu Fu and the others were just like Liu Bi—they couldn't see anything unusual at all. They only saw an empty wilderness.

Could it be an Immortal Object?

Drawing on his past experience, Cheng Ye instinctively thought they had fallen into a Cognitive Impairment caused by Mental Pollution.

He immediately tried unequipping the Heart-Protecting Fire. However, after the skill deactivated, the figures in his vision remained perfectly still.

Equipping the Heart-Protecting Fire again brought no change to the scene before him either.

"It's not Mental Pollution?!"

Cheng Ye's heart skipped a beat. When equipped, the Heart-Protecting Fire automatically granted immunity to area-of-effect mental interference.

Although this was limited to threats below Level 6, meaning it could not block the influence of a Transcendent Mother Source.

But if a Transcendent Mother Source had truly set its sights on their armored vehicle, it absolutely wouldn't give them a chance to escape.

Even the weakest normal Mother Source possessed the strength to easily destroy a Shelter City. It made no sense for one to wander the wilderness in such a bizarre form.

'If it isn't an illusion caused by mental interference, then...'

Daring not to delay, Cheng Ye quickly pulled out his Defense Terminal and typed a series of keywords into the search bar: "wilderness ghost vehicle," "independent perspective," "mirrored," and "only one person can see."

The page lagged for over ten seconds before redirecting, listing various results based on their match percentage.

Shockingly, one of the entries had a match rate of 95 percent!

Cheng Ye skimmed it, his furrowed brows relaxing slightly. He immediately locked the screen and handed the Defense Terminal toward the back.

Seeing this, Liu Bi hurriedly leaned over for a closer look. He then quickly grabbed his own Defense Terminal to run a search. Soon, both of their screens displayed the relevant entry.

[Codename: Seamless Shadow Puppet (Special Infected Body)]

[Classification: Wilderness Genus, Monster Type, Wandering Type]

[Threat Level: D+ to A-]

[Latest Sighting Record: New Era Year 35, appeared in Green Dock Continent]

[Derivative Transcendent Creature: Shadow Tapir]

[Derivative Infection Source: Seamless Membrane]

[Core Abilities: The core strength of the Seamless Shadow Puppet is positively correlated with the number of shadow puppets under its control. When the number of controlled shadow puppets is ≤ 10: The Infected Body's speed and strength are merely 1.5 times that of an adult male, and its control range is limited to 50 meters around itself. When the number of controlled shadow puppets is between 11 and 99: The Infected Body's surface will be covered by a layer of shadow armor, granting immunity to ordinary firearms and melee weapon slashes, with its control range expanding to 200 meters. When the number of controlled shadow puppets is ≥ 100: The Infected Body can devour and fuse the consciousness fragments of all its shadow puppets, causing its own form to mutate. Its height will suddenly increase to over 3 meters, its hands will transform into giant shadow claws with extremely high attack power, and it will gain short-duration flight capabilities. Please note: The stronger the individual strength of the shadow puppets controlled by the Seamless Shadow Puppet, the stronger its own abilities will become.]

[Core Mechanism 1: Humans turned into shadow puppets cannot be completely killed; they will only enter a cooldown period of weakness upon death. To completely eradicate them, two special dissolution methods have currently been determined: 1. Ask the shadow puppet directly. The shadow puppet will be forced to inform the inquirer of its own dissolution conditions. 2. Kill the main body of the Seamless Shadow Puppet, and all controlled shadow puppets will automatically dissolve. Please note: Directly killing a shadow puppet will trigger the Seamless Shadow Puppet's rule-based ability, forcibly extracting a portion of the killer's life force. Do not attempt this.]

[Core Mechanism 2: This Infected Body does not possess the ability to infect humans directly. That is to say, humans cannot be converted into the Seamless Shadow Puppet; they will only be reduced to one of the shadow puppets it controls. Its method of control is not yet clear, but there are two main speculated possibilities: 1. Targeting brain-dead individuals. The Seamless Shadow Puppet may use various methods to gradually destroy a human's mind and resistance, turning them into mindless animated corpses under its control. 2. Control via shadow puppet possession. Do not engage in any physical contact with the shadow puppets, otherwise, there is a probability of being possessed.]

[Core Mechanism 3: Once the Seamless Shadow Puppet enters the Fusion Stage, it can create special shadow puppets to cooperate with its performance. Common manifestations include: abruptly appearing human gathering places, abruptly appearing human vehicles, special natural landscapes, etc. These scenes can be categorically displayed through special marking methods, meaning that the situation seen by each person may be completely different.]

[Please note: Since this Infected Body belongs to the wandering type, it typically will not approach the vicinity of Shelter Cities or Gathering Places, and is mostly active right before winter. If encountered by chance in the wilderness, you will be marked by the Seamless Shadow Puppet. Please proceed to a Gathering Place with a population greater than 1,000 as quickly as possible. After self-isolating there for seven days, the mark will automatically dissipate.]

"Seamless Shadow Puppet..."

Liu Bi muttered the codename under his breath. As he quickly skimmed the various pieces of information below, his pupils shrank abruptly.

The good news was that this was a known Infected Body, not an unknown Infection Source. At the very least, there was clear response information available to look up.

The bad news was that the abilities of this Infected Body were no less complicated than those of high-risk Infection Sources.

The trickiest part was that, as an Infected Body, the Seamless Shadow Puppet's threat level had a massive span, directly covering the four tiers from D to A. If it was the lowest-tier D+ Seamless Shadow Puppet, its strength would barely reach the Plague-level threshold, making it not too difficult to handle.

But if they encountered the strongest A-tier, that would be genuine Ruin-level strength. The sheer danger of it was truly chilling.

Continuing to scroll down through the related images and records, the most eye-catching one was the very first archived file:

In New Era Year 18, an A-tier Seamless Shadow Puppet appeared. It was the strongest known Infernal Tapir Infected Body humanity had ever recorded.

Over on the Green Dock Continent, on the other side of the planet, it had forcefully fabricated a fake gathering place with a population of four thousand.

Had a merchant caravan from a neighboring Shelter City not noticed the anomaly early on and contacted a Hegemon-Tier Shelter City to intervene in time, allowing it to grow unchecked, this Seamless Shadow Puppet might have actually created a Shelter City so convincing it could pass for the real thing.

By then, its capabilities absolutely wouldn't have just stopped at the A-tier representing Ruin-level. It highly likely would have climbed to A+, and might have even stepped into the S-tier ranks representing an Extinction-level natural disaster.

Scrolling further down, the Seamless Shadow Puppets in the various records demonstrated a dizzying array of fabrication abilities.

The semi-truck the group had just encountered was merely the most ordinary trick among these case files.

Some Seamless Shadow Puppets could create tanks, while others could produce airplanes. The most outrageous record showed a ghost ship weaving through the sea; it could not only float on the surface but also travel underwater. It was truly surreal.

"What the hell? Why would this thing come to Shi Province?!"

Liu Bi cursed aloud, his tone full of disbelief.

At this very moment, he had no mind to ponder how Cheng Ye had managed to pinpoint the Infection Source's identity so quickly.

Clicking into the entry for the Seamless Membrane, the information that greeted their eyes showed that this was also a special type of Infection Source.

However, its area of activity was extremely fixed; it only appeared in the Green Dock Continent, which maintained high temperatures above thirty-eight degrees Celsius year-round.

But the activity range of its Infected Body, the Seamless Shadow Puppet, was extremely broad. It would migrate everywhere alongside Infection Tides.

But because it originated on the other side of the planet, let alone wandering all the way to Shi Province, there were very few records of it in the entire Eastern Continent. The last time was in New Era Year 32, when a ghost ship appeared in the southernmost Hai Province and was marked as a Seamless Shadow Puppet.

"I don't know why it has appeared here, but one thing is certain: this thing definitely isn't just a simple illusion ability."

Cheng Ye shook his head slightly. He was ninety percent sure that what they had just encountered was a Seamless Shadow Puppet.

"If it could truly trap me in an illusion, then its real strength is definitely far beyond our imagination. Destroying a Shelter City would be as easy as flipping its hand!"

After Tan Ming had masked the essence of the Little Flame and the Earth-Shrinking Giant Louse, Cheng Ye wouldn't attract powerful Infection Sources or Transcendent Mother Sources like ordinary Transcendents would.

However, a long time ago, the Collector had warned him that the elevation of his life tier would also draw the attention of certain entities.

Thinking about it now, what he ended up attracting was likely this sort of hellish creature, the Seamless Shadow Puppet.

It was just that back when he was warned, his life tier was only at level 1, whereas now it was at level 4.

It had quadrupled, and he had also completed the evolution of two body parts. In the eyes of the Seamless Shadow Puppet, he was absolutely a premium material far surpassing ordinary shadow puppets. Naturally, he would be targeted.

The two then continued to look through the related introductions of the derivative Transcendent creatures and derivative Infection Sources.

The so-called shadow membrane had evolved after being infected by a virus in South America. This creature could bestow humans with the special ability to create constructs using shadows.

And upon evolving to the Seamless Membrane stage, the danger level of this special Infection Source increased exponentially.

Not only could it spread pollution through shadows, but even more troublesome was the fact that to kill it, one had to ensure there wasn't a single shadow within a radius of over a hundred kilometers. The condition was so harsh it was practically impossible to achieve.

And these two traits sealed the fact that the Seamless Membrane was a genuine Extinction-level Infection Source.

Fortunately, it had a "good" habit: no matter what, it would never leave the Green Dock Continent.

Humanity had long since sealed off the Green Dock Continent archipelago—an area spanning over 300,000 square kilometers—as a Forbidden Land. They had even completely erased this region from maps, cutting off the transmission route of the Infernal Tapir and making the appearance of Seamless Shadow Puppets increasingly rare.

However, a small probability didn't mean there was no probability at all.

Even today, there were still many people who, fully aware of the danger, stubbornly insisted on intruding into the Green Dock Continent archipelago, ultimately reducing themselves to new Seamless Shadow Puppets.

This was cut from the same cloth as the nature of that group of people who believed in Wish-Guarding Transcendents.

In the eyes of these people, becoming a Seamless Shadow Puppet fusion entity with independent intelligence was also a path to gaining immense strength and achieving immortality, even if the cost was completely losing their humanity.

"So... that Westerner who greeted us at the very beginning, was he a Seamless Shadow Puppet?"

"Or is it that its main body is still hiding?"

Cheng Ye found it difficult to grasp the enemy's true situation for a moment, but after learning the detailed information about the Seamless Shadow Puppet, the anxiety in his heart instantly dissipated for the most part.

He had never feared those physically repulsive and combat-strong Infected Bodies. The truly thorny foes were instead entities like this, possessing bizarre abilities and special rules.

It was just that right now, even having figured out the other party's rules, there seemed to be no way to take the initiative and attack.

This Wandering Type Infected Body was genuinely troublesome. Just the "undying shadow puppets" ability alone was enough to leave a Transcendent with a wealth of combat power but nowhere to apply it.

"We will counter soldiers with generals, and counter water with earth."

Liu Bi closed his Defense Terminal, his brows knitted tightly together. "As long as we can survive tonight, we will immediately leave this hellhole tomorrow! If it really comes down to it, we'll turn back, or just detour straight to Radiant Rainbow Shelter City. I refuse to believe it would dare to chase us into Shelter City territory!"

"It's hard to say," Cheng Ye pondered, shaking his head. "However, I'm afraid we're in trouble tonight."

The vehicle cabin plunged into a dead silence for a moment. Only the crunching of the tires rolling over the gravel road remained, sounding exceptionally clear in the vast wilderness.

The sky grew increasingly gloomy, and the last sliver of twilight at the end of the horizon completely vanished.

The armored vehicle's headlights had long been switched on. Two pale beams of light pierced the darkness, but like a solitary skiff in a storm, they not only failed to bring the slightest sense of security, but instead made the surrounding night seem even more oppressive.

Fortunately, they were only about twenty kilometers away from the Red River Gathering Place earlier. The sound of the tires crunching over the gravel road was infinitely magnified in the silence. It wasn't long before the vehicle drove into a narrow canyon.

This was the only main thoroughfare leading to the Red River Gathering Place.

The rock walls on both sides of the canyon were as steep as if carved by a knife and chopped by an axe, with the highest point towering over a hundred meters tall.

The pitch-black rock walls were covered in gullies of varying depths, looking like marks scratched by the sharp claws of a giant beast, sinister and terrifying.

The headlights of the armored vehicle shone against the rock wall, only able to illuminate scattered small patches. Even more shadows piled up in layers where the light couldn't reach, as if countless unknown dangers were lying dormant.

The road surface at the bottom of the canyon was rugged and uneven, littered with varying sizes of rocks and broken stone pillars.

As the tires rolled over them, they frequently emitted ear-piercing friction sounds. The occasional violent bump would also cause the people inside the cabin to jolt sharply.

The wind poured in through the gaps at the top of the canyon, making a whimpering sound. Mixed with the crisp echoes of tumbling gravel, it made one's scalp tingle in this deathly silent darkness.

After driving for about fifteen minutes, the rock walls on both sides of the canyon finally began to widen outward, and their field of vision suddenly opened up.

The silhouette of the Red River Gathering Place finally appeared before everyone's eyes.

But the sight before them was a completely different world compared to the New Pond Gathering Place they had stayed at the previous night.

Wherever the headlights swept past, there was nothing left but dilapidated ruins.

It had been nearly ten years since the Infection Tide that destroyed everything.

The power of time was enough to allow vegetation to breed and spread madly. Vines climbed and coiled along the ruined walls, wrapping the original buildings into withered, yellow "cocoons."

Many of the walls had completely collapsed long ago, and the exposed steel rebar twisted at bizarre angles, resembling the outstretched arms of a dying person making a futile struggle.

Scattered across the road were tattered clothes, rusted parts, and assorted debris that could no longer be recognized.

Despite a decade passing, the ground still bore a dull blood-red hue. It wasn't hard to imagine what kind of tragic slaughter had occurred here back then.

"Head to the Core Zone of the gathering place. The rear half wasn't directly hit by the Infection Tide."

Liu Bi had already memorized the internal topography and directed Niu Fu to weave through the ruins.

It wasn't long before the armored vehicle drove out of the perimeter and entered the Core Zone near the rear half of the gathering place.

Upon arriving here, the scenery finally shared some similarities with the New Pond Gathering Place from before.

Before the Infection Tide back then could sweep into this section, the humans resisting on the perimeter had all perished. Because of this, the majority of the buildings in this area remained intact, though they had grown increasingly decayed and dilapidated due to years of neglect.

Numerous courtyards could be seen along the way. Most of their outer walls had already collapsed, leaving behind only waist-high ruined barriers with bricks and tiles scattered about.

Even the few small courtyards that looked like they could still shelter one from the wind and rain had walls crawling with dark green mold spots. Their windows were obscured by thick layers of dust, making it completely impossible to see inside.

Only the scattered pots, pans, and worn-out farm tools by the courtyard gates served as evidence that people had once lived here.

After advancing a short distance, a courtyard composed of two three-story buildings appeared ahead.

Simple defensive facilities actually remained around the perimeter of the courtyard, patched together from thick logs and discarded iron plates. However, many of the logs were already rotting and splintered, and the iron plates were riddled with rust holes. Some of the connection points had long since loosened and fallen off, leaving the structure standing askew, like a veteran clinging to his last breath.

The main gate of the courtyard had already collapsed into a pile of rotting wood, leaving only two broken door pillars standing alone.

Several deep gouges remained on the pillars, where three large characters carved into the wood could still vaguely be made out:

Security Office.

"We'll stay here for the night." Liu Bi pointed toward the rear of the courtyard, where an open doorway with simple defensive fortifications also stood. "If things look bad, we'll charge straight out the back door and evacuate from the other side of the gathering place."

Niu Fu parked the armored vehicle steadily in front of the Security Office, and Liu Bi was the first to step out to scout the area.

Cheng Ye didn't wait for him to finish scouting but immediately jumped out right behind him, donning his Fire Lotus Battle Armor as fast as possible.

Liu Bi still clung to a degree of optimism, thinking that as long as they survived until dawn, they could immediately head to a populated area for refuge.

But the moment he recalled the expressions of those shadow puppets before they left, Cheng Ye knew better.

Tonight, a vicious battle was inevitable!

Fortunately, he had anticipated this moment before they set out, allowing him to calm down exceptionally well now.

In the time it took him to put on the armor, Liu Bi had completed a sweep of the Security Office's interior and returned. He also took off his backpack and began equipping his gear.

However, he didn't opt for rigid battle armor. Instead, he pulled out a neatly folded set of Flexible Soft Armor.

He sprayed some special liquid onto the soft armor, causing it to instantly become pliable and snug. It clung tightly to his skin like thermal underwear, effectively preventing any direct contact with the Infected Body.

"Our combat styles are different. If I wore battle armor, I wouldn't be able to open the Heaven-Man Martial Domain."

Noticing Cheng Ye's questioning look, Liu Bi lowered his voice to explain, "Battle armor isolates my perception of the outside world. If we really have to fight, this is better."

Seeing the two Inspectors gear up simultaneously, Yin Ruofeng and the other three didn't dare to be careless. They hurriedly grabbed their weapons and clutched them tightly, peering out through the small side windows to scan their surroundings with vigilant expressions.

There was clearly no way to pitch tents and sleep tonight; all four of them had to stay inside the armored vehicle.

They weren't worried that Cheng Ye and Liu Bi would abandon them on foot if they truly had to flee. After all, if it really came down to that, they wouldn't survive even if they tagged along.

Right now, the layered protection of the Isolation Alloy offered far more peace of mind than this deserted courtyard and its ruined defensive facilities.

Niu Fu started the engine and slowly drove the armored vehicle into the Security Office's courtyard, parking it in the open space between the two three-story buildings.

Even though the remaining high walls of the gathering place possessed no real defensive capability, the sense of security one felt by staying within them was very real.

Noticing that Niu Fu had also grabbed his backpack and stepped out of the vehicle, intending to put on his soft armor as well, Cheng Ye rushed forward and shook his head to stop him. "Brother Niu, don't get out. Just stay in the vehicle."

Niu Fu hadn't achieved Heaven and Man in One; he was merely a top-tier martial artist at the Embryo-Holding Stage.

While his combat power might be much stronger than Miao Yang's, it would still be too much of a stretch for him to deal with an Infected Body that could reach the Disaster-level.

Even if there was a chance of winning, Cheng Ye didn't want him to take that risk.

Niu Fu paused, instinctively looking over at Liu Bi.

Liu Bi nodded slightly in agreement. "Listen to him. You still need to drive tomorrow. Even if the sky falls tonight, just focus on getting some sleep."

"Understood!" Niu Fu caught his meaning and stopped trying to act tough. Still, he draped the soft armor over his body before pulling the car door open and sitting back inside.

The moment the car door closed, a Camping Lamp lit up inside, its warm yellow glow driving away a bit of the chill.

Gripping a flashlight, Cheng Ye walked up to the door of the Security Office building. Pushing open the ajar wooden door, he prepared to go inside and investigate.

But the moment he stepped into the first-floor entrance, his footsteps ground to an abrupt halt. The narrow corridor was actually piled high with weathered bones.

The skeletons were stacked in a tangled heap, with some even maintaining postures of embracing one another. They were packed so densely that a visual estimate put the number at no less than a few hundred bodies.

A slight shudder ran through his heart. Instinctively, he took two steps back, retreating out of the building.

"Many people thought that hiding in here would let them escape disaster."

Seeing Cheng Ye staring blankly at the door, Liu Bi sighed, a hint of lament in his voice. "But in reality, the most terrifying part of an Infection Tide is never the frontal assault when it passes through. It's the fact that, prior to that, Infected Bodies have already snuck in to catch everyone completely off guard."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the open wooden door, his tone darkening. "By the time the main force of the Infection Tide truly arrived, the entire gathering place was already completely devoid of combat power. These people hiding in here were actually just waiting to die!"