Steel steam and flame

The landscape outside changed again, and all traces disappeared in the snowstorm, leaving only a smooth patch of snow and a brighter light after the snow clouds dissipated. The cold wind is still there, but not too strong. The last lingering wind will probably stop completely before dark.

Looking at the long traces left in the snow behind her, Cassia focused on Ye Jielin again and stood there.

"What's wrong?" Ye Jielin came over, took off her mask and breathed.

"Nothing, just thinking about the assessment." Cassia retracted her gaze and answered while continuing to move forward.

A few hours after the blizzard stopped, the two took their chosen weapons and equipment and left the cave. There was silence all around, and the crunching sound of the snow could be heard far and wide. In the last two days in the cave, Ye Jielin finally made up her mind not to participate in the competition for quota.

The female intuition she relied on became stronger and stronger, and later became a signal that Ye Jielin could not erase, greatly affecting her judgment. The panic that had not appeared for a long time also came to her at this moment. She always felt that something bad was going to happen, but intuition was usually just a kind of guidance signal. Ye Jielin did not draw it from the thoughts in her head. Wanted answers.

What will leave you? Or does this feeling mean that life-threatening danger is approaching? Walking behind Cassia, Ye Jielin seemed a little distracted and often couldn't keep up. She was still recalling her previous decision. At that time, she focused on the nearest things, and there was no one else around her except Cassia.

She understood that if she wanted to compete for a spot, she would not rely on herself, but on Cassia beside her. Does it mean that Cassia will be in danger? No matter how she thought about it, Ye Jielin couldn't get around this link, so she gave up the plan before the assessment at that time. Now that this intuition appears, she will not let Cassia take risks again. Compared with the quota, living Cassia is much more important.

After advancing for several hours, in the afternoon, the two of them had left the original peak. The straight route took them to an outer peak farther away from the central area. Here I began to meet many evacuated assessors, most of whom were silent. I don’t know if the snowstorm shattered their ideas, or something else made them see their position clearly.

It was rare to find peace and quiet, and staying away from the central area seemed to mean a tacit understanding that there would be no more fights. When they met on the way, they just looked at each other and then started moving forward again.

The second type of creature also disappeared at this time, which is strange. Has it completely converged towards the central area? From time to time, Cassia would look back behind her. The bright light and breezy weather made her field of vision wider than ever before, and she could see very far away. A dozen peaks overlapped behind her, standing like an icy throne, waiting for the final winner. appear. All signs indicate that the thirty-six ferocious creatures are about to come out, and one of the signs is that the second-type creatures have begun to gather in a purposeful manner.

Soon after, the terrain began to rise, and when we reached the foot of the mountain, the snow became thinner, and the ground under our feet was also hard rock. The assessors gathered one by one at the foot of the mountain. They had lost something and became inactive. The snowstorm froze something, making them like weeds fallen by frost, and their colors also dimmed.

Together with Ye Jielin, they passed through the crowds and continued walking along the foot of the mountain. It's not absolutely safe here. Cassia wants to take Ye Jielin to the outermost peak, where the risk factor is the least.

"It's okay to think about how to get out then." Cassia thought to herself.

It took more than half an hour to complete the arc-shaped distance at the foot of the mountain, and an open, slightly raised, exposed rock platform appeared in front of their eyes. It has naturally become a gathering place for people. Whether they are people exiting from the central location or teams heading towards the center from the peripheral areas, they all regard this place as a temporary resting place and a place to collect corresponding information.

About two thousand people stayed here, and a buzzing sound spread from the center. Ye Jielin pulled Cassia, who wanted to leave immediately, to the rock and quickly entered the crowd. There was obviously a large group of people gathered under a steep rock, observing something there.

In the field of vision, there are about a dozen alloy frames used to imprison the second type of creatures. I don't know who moved them and piled them under the steep rocks. It's those things that people seem to observe.

"I don't think there will be any useful information here." Cassia said that in his opinion, in the current time period, there is no threat to him in the outer areas.

"It's good to just take a break." Ye Jielin replied. At this time, like most people around her, she didn't take off her mask, which made her voice accented. "Go over and take a look. There seems to be something hanging on the stacked alloy frames." .”

Walking in front, only a few dozen meters away, in front of the steep rock, Ye Jielin could clearly see the entire alloy frame. Used as a support, a dozen large frames were stacked on both sides and fixed on the rock. Set up the bracket, hold an alloy rope, and the things are hung on the alloy rope.

At first glance, there were more than a dozen hard ice cubes. If you squinted your eyes and eliminated the influence of light reflected from the edges of the ice cubes, you could clearly see the frozen corpse inside the ice cubes. Like amber, the sword wounds and the holes made by the gun on the corpse were clearly visible, and the expression at the time of death was also completely captured and preserved.

At this time, Ye Jielin noticed that there was a row of vague characters on the rock behind the dozen corpses, which were written by firing a blunderbuss. After a snowstorm, some of the rocks were erased, making it even harder to see. Just the few visible characters between the numbers and the last gear logo that looks like a sun can easily remind Ye Jielin of something. That's the Leonard family logo.

Ye Jielin turned around and found Cassia standing there more than ten meters behind her. When she came to the side, Cassia retracted her gaze from the corpses and turned to Ye Jielin.

"Is this how all big families do things?" Cassia asked emotionlessly, "I mean some people inside, a few people. I don't know them at all, they just met on the way and we traveled together for less than half a day. The only message Those are the names of two of them, one is Na'e Mi and the other is Lucius."

Cassia looked up again at the two corpses hanging in the middle: "They are all small families. They also said that after the assessment, you can visit them if you have the opportunity."

Ye Jielin followed Cassia's gaze and saw that both Na'e Mi and Lucius were shot through the head. A small-caliber pistol with little power was deliberately used so that the hole in the forehead could be clearly seen without being blown open by a bullet when it shined into the face.

"As you think, there are just some people, a few people. Many people don't do this, and there is still a basic bottom line. But there are too many people in the big family. In order to ensure continuity, the younger generation is even more so. .Because the people at the top know that many younger generations will lose money during their growth, so their base is large enough.”

"Do you need my help? You have always been by my side before, but now it can be seen as me by your side. Now it is the assessment, and it is very likely that all members of the Leonard family will die during the assessment. As for after the assessment, I will help you deal with it as much as possible."

"After the assessment?" Cassia murmured, and then a voice that seemed to be a joking laugh suddenly came from under the mask, "Whether it is during the assessment or after the assessment, I think they can only rely on This is a way to express my pity."