At that moment, the sound of infected crows echoed in the sky. Lucas looked up and saw dozens of infected crows carrying Mata Hari as they descended from the air.

At this time, Mata Hari did not release the pair of wings behind her.

Sometimes, Lucas really wanted to study how those wings grew.

"Lucas, thank you."

Mata Hari walked up to Lucas and stood there properly, with a smile on her face that she couldn't hide.

"What's the matter? Has your ability improved?"

Being closer, Lucas noticed that the wings folded behind Mata Hari seemed to be a size larger than before.

"Well, my body has undergone some changes. I can control more crows than before, and the range of control has almost doubled."

Mata Hari didn't hide anything and told Lucas about her situation.

"That's good. Once you adapt for a while, I'll give you a higher-level insect core."

Lucas nodded in satisfaction and casually handed Mata Hari a red insect core.

As long as the evolvers around him didn't cause trouble or have ulterior motives, Lucas didn't mind helping them quickly improve their strength.

"Thank you, sir!"

Mata Hari didn't refuse Lucas's kindness and accepted the red insect core.

"Have you been wandering around nearby? Look for some red-level insects to test your skills and see if you can defeat them."

After saying that, Lucas pointed to the roasted leg of pork on the bonfire, instructing Mata Hari and the old professor to share it.

Lucas wasn't too hungry and wanted to take a nap.

After wandering around Annan, Lucas felt physically fine but mentally exhausted. He wanted to rest for a while.

But when Lucas lay on the bed, he couldn't fall asleep. His mind was occupied with thoughts about the evolvers of Blue Sky Lake.

Should he get more insect cores to help them improve faster?

Certainly, their abilities needed to be enhanced, but they also needed a balance between work and rest.

Currently, Blue Sky Lake seemed to be in a good state, with shelter cities being established in various places. There were temporary signs of stability for humanity in the post-apocalyptic world.

However, at the same time, the bugs and infected bodies were evolving rapidly, and it was uncertain when they would gather in large numbers and launch a counterattack against humans.

"Lucas, sorry for bothering you. I just discussed with Kayla Mead, and we want to find a new method of extracting energy as soon as possible. It's not enough with just the two of us."

"Of course, finding people takes time, but we need to quickly obtain various equipment and labs."

"Last time in Annan, Kayla Mead mentioned that you could handle many devices and labs."

The old professor suddenly approached Lucas, seeming hesitant in his speech. He didn't dare to command Lucas to do anything.

"Alright, but you need to prepare the blueprints, and I'll take care of the rest."

Lucas didn't refuse.

Regarding the equipment and labs, Lucas had indeed promised Kayla Mead.

Obtaining them wasn't too difficult, just blank blueprints and materials.

Lucas had previously asked Kayla Mead for some specific data, and he figured he could create them using red-level blueprints.

However, Lucas had a slightly different idea. Since it was such an important matter, the equipment needed to be sturdy and not easily damaged.

Given the current situation in the apocalypse, using the shells of yellow-level bugs as the basic material would be the best choice. They were strong and durable, and not many things could destroy them.

Going out to actively search for bugs again?

Lucas hesitated. He had just decided not to wander around for now.

But the reality was that besides himself, no one in Blue Sky Lake could deal with yellow-level bugs, let alone the possibility of higher-level bugs and infected bodies appearing now that comprehensive evolution had begun.

As Lucas pondered, his thoughts became more chaotic. He casually turned on the car's radio, hoping to catch some news from nearby shelter cities.

A few minutes later, after searching around, he didn't hear any news from the shelter cities but received a faint distress signal.

The signal came from a small town, seemingly from a doomsday fortress.

What kind of danger could a doomsday fortress face?

Compared to shelter cities, which were relatively safe underground several hundred meters, these fortresses were even safer.

"Huge monsters... emerging from underground... infecting many people... and they eat humans..."

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This distress signal seemed to be set to repeat automatically. Lucas listened to it several times in a row.

There was no doubt that this doomsday fortress had encountered mutated infected bodies from underground, likely powerful ones.

Lucas hadn't expected a small town to have a doomsday fortress.

Despite coming back and forth so many times recently, he hadn't noticed it.

Although Lucas didn't want to engage in rescue efforts, he still went to the old mayor to inquire about the situation.

However, the old mayor had no knowledge of this doomsday fortress in the small town.

In theory, as the mayor of the town for so many years and a resident, the old mayor couldn't possibly be unaware of such a thing.

Was it a trap? Or some other kind of deception?

Because it was impossible to pinpoint the source of the message, Lucas couldn't be certain if it came from the small town.

If it was a scam, what could it be about?

[Task: Small Town (non-optional task). Task Reward: System Store Opens.]

"Here we go again..."

The system's recent task releases always made Lucas feel frustrated.

Every time, just when Lucas was hesitating, the system would "thoughtfully" make the decision for him.

If it were an optional task, it would be fine since he could choose to go or not.

But these mandatory tasks made Lucas feel helpless.

However, there were also many good aspects to mandatory tasks, mainly that the rewards for each task were usually good.

This time, it was opening the system store, which was actually a good thing for Lucas.

From the literal meaning, Lucas understood that after the store opened, he could independently choose what he wanted. At least he wouldn't have to rely on capsules, where the contents were completely unknown.

However, this task left Lucas a bit puzzled.

The entire task had only one clue: "Small Town." There were no other specific directions.

After thinking it over, since it was a task that had to be done, he had to go even if he didn't want to.

After briefing some matters, Lucas prepared to set off.

This time, he brought two people with him. One was Mata Hari because the shadow clone needed to monitor Mountbatten and the infected crows could serve as observation tools. After all, drones had some drawbacks and were easily exposed.

The other person was Reed, whose ability allowed for group attacks, and he was also from the small town.

The three of them, along with the mute girl, set off towards the small town in the darkness.

The small town was only fifty kilometers away from Blue Sky Lake, conveniently within the range of the modified walkie-talkies. They could maintain contact with Blue Sky Lake at any time after leaving.

Before setting off, Lucas told the old professor that if he had some free time, he could study the semi-infected situation. Blue Sky Lake had ready research subjects, such as the infected dog. As long as they didn't harm it, Jon Heyman wouldn't have any objections.

As Lucas drove the bus away from the resort and passed by Mountbatten's base, he specifically took a look. It seemed fine, especially those tanks that still made him envious.

Lucas also briefed the old mayor and the Cobra unit. If Mountbatten and his party made any unusual moves, they would immediately use their artillery.

The resort's artillery was aimed directly at Mountbatten's base. As long as Blue Sky Lake's men reacted in time, those tanks wouldn't have a chance to be used.

The road from the small town to Blue Sky Lake was relatively easy to travel. The obstacles on the road had been cleared before, and the chances of encountering insects or zombies were minimal.

This time, when Lucas went to the small town, he planned to clear out the zombies first.

Lucas estimated that during this time, there might be higher-level zombies in the town, and there might be some unexpected gains.

To avoid drawing too much attention, the drones were not deployed. Only Mata Hari controlled a dozen infected crows to observe the situation.

When they were about five kilometers away from the small town, Lucas raised the roof-mounted machine gun on the vehicle.

The surroundings of the small town were too quiet, unnervingly quiet.

During previous visits, Lucas didn't have this kind of feeling.

It wasn't just Lucas, even Reed felt the same way. Suddenly, he felt a bit unfamiliar with the small town.

However, the infected crows didn't show any unusual reactions.

"Reed, is there a higher place near the small town, like a hilltop where we can see the whole town?"

"And it would be best if the bus can directly drive up there."

Lucas brought up the navigation map and asked Reed, not planning to drive the bus directly into the small town.

"A few hundred meters ahead, there's a small forest that wasn't there when I was a child. Behind that, there's a gravel road. If you walk along that road for about three kilometers, you can reach the mountain near the small town. As long as you reach halfway up the mountain, you can see the whole town."

"But I'm not sure if the bus can go up because the mountain is quite steep, and I don't remember the mountain road being very wide."

Reed pointed to a location on the navigation map and told Lucas, as if he were trying hard to recall.

"Let's go and take a look first. I don't think it's a good idea to go directly into the town."

After setting the navigation, the bus drove a few hundred meters and rudely crashed into the forest.

The forest couldn't cause any harm to the bus.

Within the blink of an eye, a road was cleared through the dozens of meters wide forest, and the bus drove onto what seemed to be a dirt road.

After a few kilometers of rough driving, the mountain appeared in front of the bus.

As Reed had said, the road up the mountain was too narrow for the bus to climb.

Lucas parked the bus in a relatively hidden place at the foot of the mountain. He had the mute girl ride the motorcycle to lead the way, while he, Mata Hari, and Reed walked up the mountain.

All three of them had good physical fitness, and it took them about fifteen minutes to reach halfway up the mountain.

At this point, they had to release the drones. Utilizing their night vision capabilities, they could see the whole town without flying directly over it.

The entire town was pitch black, without a trace of light.

That wasn't the only issue. There wasn't a single zombie on the streets of the entire town, and that was a problem.

"Lucas, what exactly are we here to do in the small town?"

"I'm getting a bit anxious seeing the situation in the town."

Reed, still young, was becoming a bit uneasy in the face of this eerie situation.

"We're here to exterminate the insects and find some supplies to bring back for the construction of the energy research lab. If we don't discover a new energy source, Blue Sky Lake's power won't last long. Can you imagine how we'd survive without a power source in the long run?"

Lucas patiently explained to Reed on the surface, but in reality, he himself didn't know exactly what they were supposed to do in the small town.

It was all because of the damn tasks assigned by the system!

"Mata Hari, gather some infected crows and create some commotion in the town to see what happens."

Since the town is eerily quiet, let's have the infected crows stir things up a bit and see if anything happens.

After instructing Mata Hari, Lucas took out his portable radio and began searching for the same distress signal he received earlier.

After a few seconds, the radio transmitted the same plea for help, with no changes to the content.

Lucas looked up and saw infected crows flying towards the town, but he also noticed car headlights appearing in the direction of the town's granary.

Car after car, within a minute, a convoy of over a hundred vehicles appeared on the road between the granary and the town.

From the drone's perspective, it was a military convoy.

Surprisingly, the convoy included reinforced grenade launchers, missile launchers, and even three tanks.

"Reed, keep following the road towards the granary. Is there a military base or something similar in that direction?"

Lucas had seen maps before, and he knew that the road from the granary extended for about two hundred kilometers to the nearest city, passing through several small towns along the way. It was unlikely for such a large military force to be present in these towns.

The only possibilities for such a force would be either a city's protective garrison or a remaining military base not marked on non-military maps.

The likelihood of a protective garrison from a major city was low since it was unlikely for someone to travel hundreds of kilometers for an unidentified distress signal.

That's why Lucas asked Reed about the situation because military bases were not usually marked on non-military maps.

"It seems like there might be, but I'm not entirely sure."

"I'm only familiar with the town itself, and the further away it gets, the less I know. I studied in the city, and I only come back to the town during vacations to stay at home for a while."

Reed scratched his head, feeling a bit awkward.

"It's okay, if you don't know, you don't know. It's nothing. I was just asking casually. Let's first see what this military convoy is up to."

"Mata Hari, you don't need to go to the town with the infected crows. Leave a few here."

After saying that, Lucas handed the drone's control panel to Reed, found a large stone to lean against, took off his sniper rifle, and observed the convoy's movements through the scope.

Over ten minutes passed, and everything seemed normal. The convoy was progressing smoothly, and it was only a few hundred meters away from entering the town with no signs of abnormalities.

"Hmm?"

Just when Lucas thought everything was fine, the convoy's headlights suddenly went out simultaneously...

Was it an order for the convoy to turn off their lights, or did something happen?

When Lucas felt something was wrong, Mata Hari suddenly exclaimed beside him.

"What's wrong?"

Lucas quickly got up and ran towards Mata Hari.

"All the infected crows I left above the town suddenly died. In just a couple of seconds, they all fell from the sky, and I lost contact with them!"

"Are you okay?"

Lucas quickly asked.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy."

Mata Hari replied, rubbing her head continuously.

"Take a rest for now."

Lucas said and then ran back to Reed. He intended to check the drone's footage, but he found that the screen was blank, showing nothing.

"The drone fell..."

"Just now, it suddenly lost control and fell."

Reed kept pressing buttons on the control panel, but nothing happened.

The convoy's headlights, the drone, the infected crows, all encountering problems simultaneously. This was a big issue!

It couldn't be a coincidence; the root of the problem lay within the town.

If it was a technological interference, it would explain why the drone and cars were affected since they were electronic devices.

But how could the infected crows be explained?

The infected crows were not part of the natural ecosystem, and the bird-repelling devices used before the apocalypse couldn't affect them.

It could only be said that this matter was too mysterious, involving some kind of mysterious power.

For now, Lucas could only understand it in this way.

Once again, he turned to look in the direction of the convoy, and the more he looked, the more unsettled he felt. He quickly raised his sniper rifle and observed through the scope.

Terrifying!

The entire convoy was completely motionless!

Lucas observed several drivers in their respective vehicles.

Those drivers were either slumped over the steering wheel or lying crookedly in their seats, not moving at all. It was impossible to tell if they were dead or unconscious.