Chapter 39: The Fog Zone

Chen Feng coughed several times, wiped the rainwater from his face, and said, "The smell of blood is too strong here; this is no place to talk. Follow me."

He stumbled to his feet, swaying as he made his way toward a hotel building outside the fog zone.

"Let's go," Lu Yunping said, gesturing toward Han Ning with his chin.

The building was severely tilted, one side of its wall covered in cobweb-like cracks, though the main structure remained relatively intact. The three men and the lizard waded through murky, accumulated water, scaled the slippery protrusions on the hotel's exterior wall, climbed in through a shattered window on the second floor, and made their way to a guest room on the fourth.

"Snowcake, stand guard at the door," Han Ning whispered, patting the creature’s wet head.

"Roar!" Snowcake did not follow them inside, instead lying down obediently at the doorway, its eyes scanning the surroundings with vigilance.

Inside the room, Chen Feng sat on an upholstered chair, panting heavily. He fumbled through his backpack for bandages and a small bottle of disinfectant, gritting his teeth as he treated the wounds still oozing blood on his body. Han Ning stood by the door, sweeping his gaze across the room to ensure there was no danger before stepping inside.

Awakened individuals possessed physical capabilities far beyond those of ordinary people, and since Han Ning had not forced his wooden spikes to penetrate deeper into Chen Feng's body, the injuries—despite the blood-soaked appearance—were mostly superficial and not life-threatening.

After catching his breath, Chen Feng looked at Han Ning, who was leaning against the doorframe, his expression complex. "The things you encountered just now, we call them 'Mirage Worms.'"

"Mirage Worms?" Han Ning raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Chen Feng nodded, his voice low. "In this fog zone, the most troublesome things are these pests that target the human brain. They act like parasites, preferring to burrow into corpses—especially those that haven't been dead for long and whose brains haven't yet fully decayed. They feed on the rotting brain matter and use the deceased’s memories to release mental shocks strong enough to drive a person mad."

He tapped his temple. "We Awakened may have stronger physical constitutions, but in terms of our mental state... we’re not much different from ordinary people. Unless you're an Awakened who specifically fortifies their mind or possesses special protective abilities, going in there is just serving yourself up on a platter. This is the first time I've met an Awakened who can both shatter illusions and possess such formidable combat strength."

Han Ning recalled the lingering, agonizing screams that had echoed in his mind just moments ago and said with a shudder, "So, is Bailu Port inside?"

"It's not certain yet," Chen Feng replied. "We have tried to enter the fog zone from various directions, but we have never reached the actual Bailu Port. However, we hypothesize that it lies in the core of this fog zone. This area is like a massive labyrinth; the deeper you go, the more terrifying the monsters become. So far, the furthest we’ve managed to push is a little over 500 meters into the white fog. No one who has ventured further than that has ever returned alive. As for the berth area of Bailu Port, whether the ships are still there or what the situation is... we simply don't know."

"Only five hundred meters?" Han Ning frowned.

"What did you expect?" Lu Yunping interjected, noting Han Ning's skeptical tone. "Mirage Worms are merely the weakest monsters in the fog zone. Furthermore, the omnipresent white mist itself carries hallucinogenic effects. The deeper you go, the thicker the fog becomes, making it incredibly easy to get lost."

Han Ning was silent for a moment before asking, "If Bailu Port is so dangerous, why insist on it? Doesn't Bailu City have other ports or shipyards? Like East Port or Nansha Port?"

Chen Feng sneered, "Do you think those other places are any safer? Based on the intelligence we’ve gathered during this time, and the information pieced together from refugees fleeing other areas, the distribution of monsters in the city follows a pattern."

"Tell me more," Han Ning said, intrigued.

"The closer you get to the city’s perimeter—the wilderness area—the stronger and more varied the monsters are. Conversely, in the city center, near densely populated areas, the monsters are relatively weaker." Seeing Han Ning’s confused expression, he explained, "We suspect it might be related to the erosion caused by the so-called 'Black Tide.' The area where Bailu City descended might be situated on a landmass where rainfall from the Black Tide is easily absorbed by the soil, making the land itself a relatively low-danger zone. But as time passed, the accumulated water on the ground increased, and the surge in rivers, lakes, and seas flooded the land, gradually making even the terrain exceptionally dangerous. The monsters spreading from the wilderness naturally have to pass through the city's outskirts before entering the interior."

"Actually, these are secondary reasons. The most important one is... the fog zone isn't despairingly dangerous. It's like a double-edged sword; while it brings us great peril, it also helps us grow."

"Grow..." Han Ning’s heart stirred, immediately thinking of the slight increase in his own mental strength.

A sharp glint appeared in Chen Feng's eyes. "Hunting these monsters and absorbing the energy they release upon death can make us stronger; you already know that. You might not have noticed, but hunting monsters in different regions seems to have a focus on different 'reinforcement directions'!"

He pointed to his head. "Killing Mirage Worms in this fog zone and absorbing their energy is particularly effective at resisting mental shocks and improving sensory acuity, in addition to strengthening the body. At first, we couldn't even make it past a hundred meters. Now, elites like us can operate for a period in the 200, 300, or even 400-meter zones."

"What does this mean? It means this fog zone itself is like a massive testing ground! The energy characteristics of the monsters inside are perfectly suited to tempering our weakest point: our mental state. Only by growing stronger here do we have the qualifications to explore deeper, including Bailu Port."

"According to reports from refugees from other areas, East Port is infested with water snakes that can manipulate currents. Their speed is ridiculously fast, and their attack range is massive; many people were shredded before they could even react. Nansha Port is even more sinister—the water is full of acidic slimes. Ships dissolve upon contact, and if a person touches even a drop, their flesh rots away. By comparison, while the fog zone is eerie and dangerous, at least the mortality rate isn't quite that high."

These ports were all occupied by formidable monsters. Since monsters poured in from the outskirts, and facilities like ports and shipyards were generally located on the edges of the city, Chen Feng concluded, "Instead of running around like a headless chicken, taking massive, unknown risks to闯 into potentially more terrifying areas, why not concentrate our strength and cultivate this place we already have a basic understanding of?"

Lu Yunping coughed lightly and added, "Ahem... just to add, despite what Old Chen says, since we arrived here, more than 50% of the Awakened who have attempted to explore Bailu Port and other areas have been killed in action..."