48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng parked the helicopter beside the Pripyat River. Next to it was the outlet of the nuclear power plant.

The cooling water would first flow through the steam turbine’s pre-heat exchanger, taking away a portion of the heat before being discharged into the Pripyat River.

Because the water there was relatively warm and rich in microorganisms, it attracted a lot of fish. Previously, when the players escaped from the nuclear power plant, they saw a few anglers fishing here.

Of course, due to their slow reaction, they failed to leave in time, resulting in them absorbing a lot of radiation. They were bedridden in the hospital now, and they weren’t in the best condition. If given another chance, they probably would not choose to stand here and continue watching the expensive show.

Zhang Heng used the portable radiation meter to measure the radiation value in the water. It was about 3.4 to 3.5 roentgen. This was a very high dose, almost approaching the limit of the portable radiation meter. Fortunately, the players did not have to worry about the consequences of the radiation.

After the main mission update especially, Zhang Heng had decided to kill Loki within 12 hours, so what he had to do was to keep his body in peak condition in that duration. After going through the parallel dungeon, he had a good grasp of the radiation level and knew that he could go into the water.

Thus, he did not hesitate to take off his clothes.

This was where the Loki Salmon Avatar was depicted in the murals. In Norse mythology, Loki’s avatar was Loki himself after he instigated Hodel, the blind God of Darkness, to kill Bader with Mistletoe. Not only did he not restrain himself, but he even went to the banquet to provoke the gods. In the end, he was chased by the Asgardian gods and had no choice but to turn into a salmon and jump into the river, trying to cheat his way out.

However, his trick was eventually seen through by the gods. The Asgardian gods’ method of dealing with him was simple. They placed a large net upstream and pulled it all the way down, clearing out all the rocks in the river. In the end, Loki had nowhere to run. He could only jump out and be caught by Thor.

However, myths were myths, after all. The Asgardian gods had the ability to make that huge fishing net, and at the same time, they could cover the entire lake. However, in reality, Zhang Heng had no place to look for such a large net. Even if he found it, he would not be able to use it. Furthermore, Loki’s incarnation wasn’t the only fish in the Pripyat River.

There was a reason why this place was regarded as a holy fishing ground by anglers. Fortunately, although the Pripyat River was filled with fish, there weren’t any salmon. It would have been too illegal otherwise.

However, it wasn’t easy to find a salmon in such a large body of water. What was even more difficult was finding a way to catch it. There was no need to think about fishing rods—no matter how one looked at it, the salmon Loki transformed into wouldn’t be stupid enough to bite the bait on the hook. Using a fishing net was simply unrealistic. Even using electric fish sounded a little more reliable. However, putting aside how Zhang Heng was going to find electric fish, the Pripyat River was very deep in this part. If the salmon Loki had transformed into was hiding at the bottom, there was an 80% chance that they would not be able to electrify it even if there were tools.

Most players would have given up by now, but since Zhang Heng had flown the helicopter over, he had already thought about how to find Loki’s avatar in the river.

After taking off his clothes, he jumped into the river without taking anything with him.

There was no cooling water discharged into the river, probably because reactor No. 4 had exploded. The river wasn’t as warm as he had imagined, but the fatty acids in it were still abundantly rich. The water was light brown, meaning these fatty acids were now highly effective coagulants, transporting radioactive particles and fission fragments further away.

Zhang Heng put on his [Filter Lens] and continually submerged himself until he finally stopped about five meters from the bottom of the river.

Returning to the water made him feel extremely relaxed, like he was lying on his own couch in his living room.

However, Zhang Heng did not allow himself to be immersed in the comfortable atmosphere. He did not forget his purpose in coming down, especially since the Pripyat River was still filled with radioactive particles and danger was everywhere. Having that in mind, Zhang Heng decided to finish up as quickly as possible.

The next moment, he closed his eyes and stretched out his hands, one on the left and the other on the right. Slowly but firmly, he clenched his fists. Following his movement, the speed of the surrounding water started to increase.

At the same time, about ten meters away from Zhang Heng, the swirling water formed two vortexes.

These were the things that Zhang Heng used to deal with the Loki salmon incarnation. A natural automatic fishing machine, the faster the vortex spun, the more it stirred up the originally calm Pripyat River. The suction force caused by the vortex began to pull on the surrounding aquatic creatures, and as the whirlpool grew larger, the nearby fish were sucked into it. It was like riding a roller coaster, to which this was an endless version. They were being tossed around until they were dizzy.

Zhang Heng did not stop until the two whirlpools were more than seven meters in diameter. This was almost his limit. He started to feel that the whirlpool was getting harder and harder to control, and the surrounding water was crazily pulling on his body. The whirlpools were now seven meters in diameter, and the area of attraction became even larger. Even Zhang Heng did not dare to remove one of the whirlpools, lest he be sucked into the other one.

Carefully maintaining his balance, Zhang Heng started to move in the river. This time, the aquatic animals in the nearby waters were all in trouble— whether foraging for food or staying put, even those hidden in the corners and crevices of the rocks were mercilessly sucked into the vortex, forcing the magic of love to circle around them.

As Zhang Heng moved, he observed the nearby movements, and not long after, he saw a large fish with a blue head but a red body. It had sensed the danger before the whirlpool had even approached and tried to leave in advance… and it had almost succeeded.

However, because the area covered by the two whirlpools was too large, it could not escape with all its might. Its movements slowed down under the pull of the current. That said, it was indeed one of the few underwater creatures that could contend with the whirlpool, actually managing to pull away from it slowly.

Unfortunately, it was immediately targeted by Zhang Heng. As Zhang Heng began to move toward it, it was eventually unable to escape from the powerful suction force of the vortex. It was mercilessly sucked into the vortex and spun around with the other fishes in it, it spun faster and faster, but the process did not last long.. Soon, the water around it disappeared.