Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 685

Chapter 685: Chapter 232: Infection Proliferation, Mountains Descend from the Sky! (Part 2)

He pulled out his Defense Communication again to check the time. It was just nine o’clock; there was still a while before the time he and the others had agreed to meet.

“What should I pick for the last target?”

Luokuke’s gaze swept over the surrounding lakes, but it didn’t linger on those already-known Plague Level infection sources. Instead, it went straight to the lake deeper in the zone, ranked as Lake No. 3.

A Ghost Water Cave Crab, four meters in full size and still over sixty centimeters after being scaled down, was entrenched at the edge of the lake, still in a dormant state.

As for what was hidden in Lakes No. 1 and No. 2, he hadn’t figured that out yet. But the Ghost Water Cave Crab in Lake No. 3 was a known infection source, so he could at least try to contain it.

“It’s just a Disaster Level infection source. It’s not like I’ve never contained one before—what’s there to be scared of!”

Luokuke gave himself a mental pep talk, then first took the box holding the three Plague Level infection source cores and stashed it safely in a concealed spot at the edge of the area, before opening the last empty Containment Box.

Inside were the vials and bottles he’d prepared in advance—all reagents meant for dealing with High Level infection sources.

Against low-level infection sources, you could sometimes get away with tricking them using special rules, but once it was Disaster Level, those little tricks were completely useless.

To contain an infection source at this level, you had to treat it like an Immortal Object:

First find a way to drain its energy; once its energy level dropped, then provoke its ability into an out-of-control eruption.

After the eruption, the infection source would enter a brief period of weakness—that’s when you could begin containment.

“Since you like purifying water, I’ll just dump more pollution in for you!”

Luokuke stared at the vials in his hands. Even though none of them were labeled, he skillfully picked out several reagents and quickly mixed them into a tube of brown powder.

Then he hunched over and, keeping to the narrow gaps between lakes, crept toward Lake No. 3. With a light flick of his wrist, he scattered the powder evenly into the water.

After finishing all this, he didn’t dare linger. He briskly retreated and hid in the shadows of the dense forest off to the side, staring fixedly at the surface of the lake.

As soon as the brown powder hit the water, it started popping on the surface like popping candy, then went “boom, boom” and burst apart.

A pungent stench spread out instantly, and the originally clear blue lake water turned grayish yellow at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if someone had dumped a layer of mud into it.

The still-dormant Ghost Water Cave Crab finally opened its eyes slowly, but it only lazily glanced at the changes on the surface of the water, not even bothering to move its body.

Next, its mouth opened, and several large chunks of black-and-blue Poison Water Crystal were spat out. Those crystals seemed to come with an innate adsorption function: as soon as they floated to the surface, they wrapped up all the gray-yellow foul water around them.

A moment later, the crystals fractured into wisps of shards, and the lake regained its clarity.

The Ghost Water Cave Crab then closed its eyes again, as if the pollution just now had been nothing more than an insignificant little interlude.

“These big guys really are a pain…”

Watching this scene, Luokuke’s brows furrowed.

Clearly, the concentration of powder just now hadn’t been enough; it hadn’t managed to truly rouse this Disaster Level infection source.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then took a few more reagents out of the Containment Box and remixed them into a tube of darker red powder. This time he was even more careful, practically crawling along the ground as he approached the lake and gently tossed the powder in.

But before he could retreat back into the forest, the red powder in the lake had already detonated.

Great swathes of firework-like powder tumbled and exploded through the water, instantly spreading a sharp, acrid heat; even the air turned scorching, and the lake water was stained a bizarre dark red.

“You’ve got to wake up for this one, right?” Luokuke held his breath and stared hard at the surface of the lake.

It didn’t disappoint. After being provoked twice in a row, the Ghost Water Cave Crab snapped its eyes open. Those murky crab eyes blazed with fury, its mouth gaped wide, and it spat out three chunks of black-green Poison Water Crystal, sending them rushing toward the red zone.

But this time, the red powder wasn’t easily absorbed. The remaining portion instead behaved as if it had a Life of its own, continuing to split and spread in the water, the acrid heat growing stronger and stronger.

“That powder’s got Fissuring Worm mixed in. If you don’t clear it all in one go, how could I possibly let you have your way!” Luokuke sneered inwardly.

Feeling that the pollution refused to disperse, the Ghost Water Cave Crab was finally truly enraged.

A dark green light erupted from its entire body. The two massive claws that had been tucked in front of it slowly extended outward, the spikes on the claws gleaming with energy.

Thud.

Thud.

The claws knocked together, producing a dull sound like a drum being struck.

The instant the “drumbeat” sounded, a ghostly blue light burst from the claws and spread across the entire surface of the lake.

And then, something strange happened.

The lake water seemed to be stratified by an invisible force. The clean blue water sank to the lower layer, while the red-stained foul water floated on top, the boundary between the two crisp and distinct.

Then the Ghost Water Cave Crab spat out another dozen or so Poison Water Crystals. This time the crystals were smaller in size but far more numerous, densely covering the upper layer of red water. It took a full thirty seconds before they completely cleansed all the red powder and the lake water returned to tranquility.

But at the same time, its body size abruptly shrank as well, dropping from sixty centimeters to fifty. Its head drooped slightly; it had clearly fallen into an even deeper sleep.

“That strong?” Luokuke watched from the forest, secretly shaken.

What kind of monsters had the Demon Eye Sponge been raising?

This Ghost Water Cave Crab’s energy reserves were absurd!

It had spat out dozens of Poison Water Crystals in total and even used its purification talent once, yet it had spent less than a fifth of its energy.

At this rate, he’d have to mix up powder at least five more times to drain the thing dry.