Surviving on the highway, I have a best friend who was reborn.

Chapter 88 Miniature Polluted Panda

Finally, the monster carcasses scattered all over the ground were completely wiped out by the runic light.

"It doesn't smell bad anymore, that's amazing!" Yuanqiao exclaimed.

Gao Leyu: "This big city is really different. Before, when I took on missions to protect villages and towns, I had to collect the monster corpses myself."

Yuanqiao: "Do you guys often go into dungeons? I see you're always online, and you always reply to my messages instantly."

"Sigh, I've gone to dungeons three times since I could enter them on my own. Senior An is really dedicated; she basically can't stay on the highway for more than two or three days before heading into a dungeon. Her mileage ranking has recently dropped several thousand places from second in the region. I'm just waiting for my Senior An to become a pro and carry me in the game!"

Anmuya: "..."

After resting, the group picked up their weapons, which had been replenished with energy, and followed Huo Zhixing's instructions. The nine of them split into two teams to explore the east and west sides of the hall, respectively.

The hall has six archways, with the largest passageways on the east and west sides, and the rest being smaller doors.

Presumably, this large passageway leads to other large areas on the first floor. The teams scouted the environment and agreed to meet back in this hall before 7 p.m.

Huo Zhixing led Jiang Yiyi, Chen Haoxiang, Xiao Cheng, and Hua Xinyan to the road to the west.

The other team was led by An Muya, and Yuan Qiao said he was very happy because he liked all the people in the team.

Huo Zhixing took out a pair of bell props and left one for An Muya, saying that if there were any special circumstances or if she needed help in danger, she should crush the bell, and the other holder would sense it.

After giving a few instructions on safety, we split up and went our separate ways.

Not long after he left, Hua Xinyan approached Huo Zhixing and said she had something to say.

"Captain Huo, I..."

She bit her lower lip, unsure whether to speak or not.

Huo Zhixing, seeing her awkward manner and her behavior after entering the dungeon, was somewhat displeased with her, but still asked reassuringly:
"Is something the matter? Don't worry, as long as everyone is united against external threats and not afraid of danger, you don't need to be too afraid of the contaminated monsters. I saw that you did a good job just now, killing quite a few monsters, you're very impressive."

Hua Xinyan: "No, Captain Huo, you all know that my special ability is to foresee the future. Just now, I foresaw the future and saw a very bad scene. I hesitated whether to tell you or not, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me."

Upon hearing this, Huo Zhixing became serious, as he did value this kind of innate skill.

He quickly asked, "What is that scene? Is it related to our mission?"

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "It wasn't a mission. The footage was too short. I only saw the girl named An Muya unleash a bolt of lightning to attack you."

Huo Zhixing stared silently into Hua Xinyan's eyes upon hearing this, which made her feel somewhat pressured.

Hearing this, Jiang Yiyi became angry and said, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"It's true, this is the scene I foresaw. I know she's your teammate, I'm not trying to sow discord between you, I have no grudge against her. I didn't know her before, and she didn't use any lightning-related skills or items after entering the dungeon, but in the scene, she released a powerful bolt of lightning that made Captain Huo smoke."

Anmuya's innate skill is lightning, which he, as the captain, knows.

Huo Zhixing watched her speak, flustered yet sincere. He neither said he believed her nor he didn't, but simply nodded to indicate that he understood.

Chen Haoxiang looked at Hua Xinyan and then at his captain. After thinking for a moment, he said in a low voice, "I don't believe it."

Hua Xinyan stared at him with wide eyes, looking somewhat aggrieved.

Seeing her on the verge of tears because she didn't believe him, he really wanted to change his mind, but then he thought of Sister An. How could she kill Captain Huo? Either Hua Xinyan was mistaken or her skills were faulty.

He looked up at the ceiling, scratched his head and chuckled, then turned to chat with Xiao Cheng, curious about his gravity skills.

Jiang Yiyi: "Hmph." She now understood why the other girls disliked Hua Xinyan. Her eyes were shifty, as if she was trying to sow discord. She hoped Captain Huo wouldn't take it seriously.

……

The sharp-eyed Gao Leyu spotted a palm-sized figure in the corner of the corridor's load-bearing pillar.

"Yuanqiao, look at that polluting beast in the corner, doesn't it look like a panda?"

The atmosphere in the small team was great, with Yuan Qiao and Gao Leyu bickering and teasing each other from time to time, making it a very easy and enjoyable journey as they cleared out any lone polluting monsters.

"It really does look like it! So cute and adorable. It doesn't seem to be heavily polluted, what a pity. Can we use a purifying agent to clean it up?"

Yuanqiao crouched down to look at the small, panda-like creature, which was about the size of a palm. It was furry and he really wanted to pick it up and pet it.

Shi Liu stepped forward to stop her hand.

"The pollution level of this little beast is probably not high, but it looks like a second-generation pollution beast that has been bred from the pollution beasts."

Yuanqiao: "Huh?"

Pomegranate: "I've previously researched and analyzed the differences between polluted monsters. Some highly polluted beasts lose their minds and only know how to attack and devour. Some less polluted beasts retain some instincts and clarity, and can reproduce normally."

Those that survive are mostly second-generation pollutant beasts, carrying pollution within their bodies. As they grow, the level of pollution increases, causing them to lose their rationality.

Especially the second generation born after being contaminated by intelligent races, usually have a high combat power index and are eliminated before they are even born.

Purifying agents can only clean up pollution that has been ingested for no more than 3 months. Organisms born with pollution during gestation are basically impossible to clean.

"There may be other ways to purify it, but I haven't seen any such items in the system shop yet, so they must be very rare."

Yuanqiao: "This looks quite like a cub. It's all furry, but its eyes aren't open yet. Could it have just been born?"

"Could the panda cub's parents be nearby?" Gao Leyu pulled out a stick at some point and poked the adorable little creature.

"嘤嘤~"

"Oh my, it can even make a sound. It's quite cute, especially since it looks so much like our national treasure."

Gao Leyu teased the little beast several times, and it kept whimpering.

There seemed to be a plaza ahead, and I could vaguely see a human-shaped statue in the middle.

An Muya suggested that they go and investigate first. Seeing that they both liked the panda-like cub, she took out a bamboo basket and gave it to Gao Leyu so that he could put the little animal in it.

Shiliu didn't recommend keeping the little beast, but it didn't really matter. They could handle the corrupted monsters on the first floor, so its parents wouldn't be a problem even if they were here.

Just walk another hundred meters or so and you'll reach the archway.

However, after taking only a few steps, a strong sense of crisis suddenly struck.

Yuanqiao happened to see this from the side and shouted, "Watch out!"

Before he finished speaking, two small "pandas" appeared out of thin air and pounced on Gao Leyu.

It turned out to be the parents of the little beast. At this moment, their eyes were bloodshot, and one of them was emitting a putrid stench, clearly a corrupted monster.

Their originally adorable appearance now appeared ferocious and terrifying; they vanished in a flash.

(End of this chapter)