On the edge of the Giant Log Crossing area, Thorderling and his Iron Ranger warriors approached a small town.

The multi-purpose vehicles in which the advance party was traveling stopped outside the town, and these sturdy vehicles made of steel temporarily served as shield generators and energy stations, setting up a temporary stronghold on a stony plateau outside the town, and a Ranger soldier climbed onto the top of the vehicle, headed in the direction of the town, and pressed a mechanism on the side of the enclosed helmet with his hand.

The crystal eyepiece embedded in the helmet's visor was magically activated, first turning red, and the warrior glanced at the town with his magically detecting vision, and then switched to blue - the new Eagle Eye technique added to the second-generation eyepiece enhanced the user's vision, and many details of the town were immediately visible to the observers.

After a brief observation, a slightly muffled voice came from inside the Ranger's helmet: "Sir, there are wandering crystal clusters of infected people in the town, and there is a clear magical reaction everywhere. ”

"The whole town has been infected...... "Tölderling's face was gloomy, "it looks like we're already in the infected zone, and we can't move on." ”

"There is no trace of the Eastern Legion or the Kingdom Army along the way...... "Will they be all done?" said the Ranger warrior. ”

“…… There's no way to be sure, although the aristocratic army is inferior in combat, but at least a large number of transcendents are in charge, and it is not so easy to annihilate them all," Thorderling said in a deep voice, "Maybe they have abandoned all the wilderness areas and are relying on the big cities to hold on, or they may still be fighting with the Crystal Cluster Infected farther north......"

He spoke of his analysis, but he didn't have much confidence in his heart.

As a high-level ranger, and a high-level ranger who had experienced the great development of 700 years ago, he still felt extremely tricky when facing the situation in front of him.

The strange "Divine Contamination" and the sheer number of Crystal Cluster Infecteds hindered intelligence gathering, and even with the elite and powerful Steel Rangers, he couldn't determine what was going on further down the contaminated zone.

This is not the same as 700 years ago, 700 years ago, human beings were fighting in the wasteland, and in general, there was no need to consider whether there were reinforcements or safe areas in the wasteland ahead, because in the end, it would basically develop into a wave of recklessness - recklessness would live, recklessness would be wiped out, there was no other route ahead, and the demon tide that was approaching step by step in the rear would not give people room to think, but here...... The situation is much more complicated.

Thorderlin analyzed the information gathered in the last few days, while several other Ranger warriors were still observing the situation in the town: this was the first time they had witnessed a large number of Crystal Cluster Infected people congregating in a non-encounter, and it was a good opportunity to observe their movements.

Soon, the fighters discovered something of concern.

"Sir, these 'monsters'...... It seems to be organized. ”

Thorderlin was stunned for a moment, then immediately turned on the Falcon Vision (elven eagle eye) and looked in the direction of the town.

As the fighters saw, the Crystal Cluster Infected...... Organized.

They weren't wandering aimlessly, but in an organized way, with some exceptionally tall individuals directing them, and Thorderling saw the "monsters" working together to carry things in groups of three or five, and they patrolled and sentry around the town...... This is something that has not been observed in previous encounters in the wild.

Thorderlin frowned, slowly recalling more details: although the previous encounters in the field were all scuffles, the organization of the Crystal Cluster infected seemed to be traceable.

They do have coordination and a certain degree of command when attacking.

They...... Seems to have retained some ability to think?

If that's the case, it's even worse - they can think, but their way of knowing is completely alienated, which means they're not just monsters that have lost their minds after being infected.

These clusters infect people...... It's an army.

As he pondered, the situation in the distant town suddenly took a new turn.

Thorderling saw the Cluster Infected gathered on the west side of the town agitated, and then several extraordinarily tall Cluster Giants appeared in his field of vision, and those Crystal Cluster Giants quickly gathered a sizable team and left the town and rushed northwest.

Driven by curiosity, Thorderling looked in the direction of the Crystal Infected, and at the end of his vision, he saw a cloud of rising smoke and flashes of mana.

A battle broke out over there.

"There may be survivors - get in the car!"

……

When dusk fell, the majestic southern gateway finally came into view.

Belk paused in the wilderness, and in the warm spring winds, he looked out over the mountains to the south, and the majestic fortresses that stood proudly between them.

A motley-coated horse stopped uneasily beside him, constantly scraping the ground under his feet with its hooves and snorting.

The horse had been "picked up" by him on the road, and its owner had probably fled, leaving only the poor animal roaming the wilderness, and it certainly could not compare with Berk's former favorite horse, not even any of the horses in the army, but in any case it helped him greatly in the second half of this difficult trek, and greatly shortened the journey.

Perhaps at last seeing the end of his journey, Belk suddenly felt much more relaxed, and he smiled and patted the motley horse's neck, and said in a brisk tone: "You have a lot of credit - almost worthy of a knighthood." ”

The variegated horse snorted and shook its neck slightly.

Belk nodded in a good mood, then rolled over his horse and took control of the speechless temporary companion as he continued toward the fortress in the distance.

He knew he was passing through the edge of the Count of Pompeii's domain, but he didn't intend to meet the nobleman of the plains, or even stop in any of the nearby villages and towns—partly to save time and minimize the twists and turns, and partly because he really didn't feel tired.

Although he had been trekking in the wilderness for more than ten days, and although he had barely rested, he did not feel tired.

He only vaguely remembered that he had been tired—but that seemed like a long time ago.

The motley horses trotted in the flatter wilderness, and the pleasant wind blowing in his face lifted Belk's spirits, and a strange sense of anticipation and pleasure came over him, and he felt relieved. Looking at the majestic walls of the Rock Fortress getting closer and closer, the young marquis began to plan the next thing in his heart-

First of all, he had to pass through the Rock Fortress and enter Rock City, and he was going to tell the Lord Wald what had happened at the Giant Log Crossing, and ask him to help warn the rulers of the South, the Giant Wood Crossing, Thollinburg, Thollinburg......

A hint of confusion flashed in Belk's eyes.

What happened at the Giant Wood Crossing? What's going on in Solimburg?

He was in a trance for a moment, but this brief trance was quickly ignored, and he suddenly didn't care about what he was going to warn about, he only remembered that his mission was to go to the south, to warn, to deliver important news, and with his identity and the importance of the message he conveyed, he would undoubtedly be treated by Gawain? The Duke of Cecil personally received ......

The intense thought kept coming up, rushing through Belk's thoughts, but suddenly, a scene appeared in his consciousness, which was already becoming more and more trance-like.

A pair of eyes, a pair of bright eyes flashed in his mind.

Those eyes...... Somewhat familiar.

In this brief moment, Belk suddenly came to his senses.

He felt his heart pounding, his breathing was short, sweat was falling down his neck, a large number of messy and broken memories were rapidly reorganizing in his mind, but it was difficult to form an accurate impression, and even gave him a headache, and in this terrible state, he suddenly felt a burst of heat in his chest.

Belk subconsciously reached into his arms and touched something that was heating up - it was a small amulet, the amulet of the god of war.

This powerful talisman that has received the highest level of blessings, has all kinds of solidified divine arts, and can enlighten the wearer's spirituality is releasing stronger and stronger heat, and along with the heat, there are waves of tidal power, Belk holds the talisman a little dazedly, only to feel that his brain is constantly being washed and reshaped by it, and his messy and broken memories are finally reassembled one by one.

He remembered the fog of Solinburg, the mutation of the giant wooden crossing, and the owner of those eyes.

At the end of all the memories, he heard the last words of the prince whom he had sworn allegiance to himself:

"Run."

There was a loud bang in his head, and Belk came to his senses completely, and realized how strange he had been for so many days-

He was driven by some kind of obsession – but it wasn't of his own accord.

He actively or passively moved away from all the people along the way - as if trying to avoid being disturbed or blocked by anyone.

He escaped from the most polluted areas – with little pursuit.

He is being controlled.

Belk jerked on the reins, stopping the variegated horse.

He glanced up at the Rock Fortress in the distance, and suddenly felt an illusory expectation and impulse in his mind, but this time, he forced down those thoughts that did not belong to him.

He rolled and dismounted, clutching the God of War amulet tightly in his hand, the sharp edge of which pierced his palm—and as the blood flowed out, he saw the sparkling light of the blood.

That's some kind of crystalline particle shining in the sun.

At this moment, Belk finally realized that he had become a source of infection, using the body of a high-level powerhouse as a container, completely disguised as a human, the most dangerous source of infection.

The heat of the Amulet of War began to subside, the power stored in the amulet began to dry up, and he felt his conscious consciousness shake again, and the forcibly suppressed, heterogeneous thoughts were trying to regain control of the body.

He looked up at the Rock Fortress in the distance, and in his difficult thoughts, only one thought was clear: it must be ...... Warning.

Wake time is running out.

Belk looked around, then drew his family heirloom sword.

He came to a nearby boulder and raised his sword, the tip of which slashed across the stone, and the debris flew —

"The Giant Tree Pass is shrouded in the plague, His Highness Edmund has been cursed, and the Eastern Legion may have been wiped out......

"The main polluted areas are concentrated in ......

"Beware of plague carriers disguised as humans – they are characterized by crystals in their blood."

The sword hung down, and Belk looked at the handwriting he had left behind, and a little pride rose in his heart.

Even though he had passed through the Giant Tree Pass in a state of confusion, he still remembered the area where the Crystal Cluster Giants were mainly entrenched, this information...... Maybe it's useful.

When he had done all this, he turned and glanced at the towering walls of the Rock Fortress, then withdrew his gaze and smiled at the motley-coloured horse that had accompanied him on the last leg of his journey—

"Run."

In the face of the sudden threat, the variegated horse let out a loud neigh, turned and ran into the distance.

Belk exhaled, slung his sword to the ground, supported himself, and stood straight, looking in the direction of the east.

"It's so far away......"

Two seconds later, a massive pillar of magical flames, visible from far away in the Rock Fortress, shot up into the sky, lighting up half of the sky.