Chapter 26: Chapter 24: Juvenile Form
The acrid smell of gunpowder mingled with a rank stench, making the overly sensitive Zhou Diao exceptionally irritable.
He kicked over the corpse of a bug monster and cursed, "This is fucking disgusting. Flesh worms growing inside corpses was freaky enough, but now these black, hard-shelled bugs are showing up too. Just how many of these things are in this damn cave!"
Feng Ling crouched in front of one of the monsters, examining it carefully.
The front half of this Big Worm’s torso resembled a Centipede, with a pair of powerful, sharp mandibles and segmented, Centipede-like armor plates on its back. It didn’t have as many legs as a Centipede, with two rows totaling twelve.
The rear half of its torso tapered into a long, flat abdomen. The abdomen was a slightly darker color and covered by a thin, relatively soft layer of armor. At the very end were two small hooks, which likely helped the creature maintain its grip while climbing rock faces.
She had seen this same hook-like structure on the white, fleshy worms.
Feng Ling mused aloud, ’The white ones were likely the larval stage. These dark, bluish-black ones with the carapaces must be the adults, post-metamorphosis. Who knows how many more are in here. We need to move. It’s best to wipe out monsters like this while they’re larvae; they’re much trickier to deal with once they’re fully grown.’
Catching Huangfu Miaomiao’s strange expression out of the corner of her eye, Feng Ling raised an eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"
Huangfu Miaomiao jumped, shaking her head quickly. "It’s nothing, nothing!"
Huangfu Miaomiao was always on edge, so Feng Ling didn’t think much of it. She turned to Zhou Diao. "Deputy Captain, what’s the plan?"
"We definitely need to exterminate the larvae early, but there are too many tunnels here. We’ll get lost for sure if we just pick one at random." Zhou Diao reached into Qin Liang’s backpack, rummaged around, and pulled out a black, square case. "Didn’t know it was going to be this complicated down here," he grumbled. "Good thing Old Su prepared this for us."
"What’s that?" Feng Ling asked, curious.
"The latest model of our subterranean cavern detector."
Zhou Diao kicked a few bug corpses aside to clear a space, then carefully placed the black case on the ground and opened the lid.
Inside was a slide-out LCD screen, about the size of a standard sheet of paper, with a complex array of multicolored buttons below it.
"When scientists design this stuff, why can’t they make it user-friendly?" Zhou Diao muttered, jabbing at a few buttons in frustration. The device remained unresponsive.
Qin Liang quietly reminded him from the side, "You have to activate the drone module underneath first."
It dawned on Zhou Diao. He slapped his forehead, then went to town on the controls.
A metallic object, less than ten centimeters in diameter and shaped like a ladybug, popped out from a compartment in the case.
The metal ladybug had propellers on its underside. It activated, slowly rose into the air, and, not flying very high, hovered buzzing near Feng Ling’s knees.
A green laser then shot out from a miniature scanner on its top, beginning a sweeping scan of the cavern.
"There we go." Zhou Diao let out a sigh of relief. "Qin Liang, you watch the monitor. Everyone else, stay on high alert."
Feng Ling leaned in for a closer look. The display was split in two: the top half showed a 3D map of the cavern’s interior, while the bottom half was a stream of data she couldn’t decipher.
Qin Liang made a point to explain it to her. "While scanning, the detector records environmental data like temperature and humidity in real-time. It can also detect life forms, giving the user a more complete picture of the cavern’s conditions."
"Fancy," Feng Ling remarked, straightening up. She asked Zhou Diao, "How much does a gadget like this cost?"
Zhou Diao scoffed, shooting her a proud look. "It’s an internal, not-for-sale item from the Inspection Bureau. It doesn’t have a price tag."
Feng Ling was a little disappointed to hear that.
Before, she never would have even dreamed of owning such advanced technology. But now that her savings had just passed the million mark, it was hard not to feel a little tempted.
The ladybug drone flew further and further away, then disappeared into a random tunnel entrance. Only the image data on the display continued to stream back.
"Deputy Captain, we’re more than halfway through our ammo. Should we return for a resupply?" Xiao Li asked.
Zhou Diao thought for a moment. "Wait for the detector to finish mapping, then you can go back to the vehicle for supplies."
The Special Attack Team had traveled light for this operation, and they’d already used up most of their ammunition. Another bug assault would likely leave them in a bind with insufficient firepower.
After considering this, Zhou Diao’s gaze shifted to the two men cowering in the corner. He said to Xiao Li, "When you go, take these two with you."
"Understood," Xiao Li replied.
In the corner, Chao’s expression was grim and unreadable, as if he wanted to say something.
Beside him, Fang Ye’s face was full of joy and gratitude; he was clearly desperate to leave.
Chao suddenly spoke in a chilling voice, "You won’t be able to go back."
Everyone looked over at him.
Zhou Diao ignored Chao completely and asked Fang Ye, "What’s with your friend? Is he not all there in the head?"
Fang Ye looked embarrassed, his eyes darting away as he lowered his head, not daring to meet anyone’s gaze.
Just then, Chao let out a malevolent grin. "You’re no match for it."
Chao’s words made Zhou Diao laugh with derision. He walked over to him. "Is that right? Then who is this ’it’ you’re talking about? Why don’t you call it out and we can see for ourselves?"
Chao said nothing, merely tilting his head back to look up at the cavern ceiling.
Seeing this, Zhou Diao looked up as well, his expression suspicious.
Despite the light from their flares and other equipment, the cavern ceiling remained dim and indistinct. Several dark tunnel openings dotted the space above their heads, exuding a deep and bizarre aura.
Zhou Diao had killed plenty of Alien Species, Pollution Bodies included, and he felt a surge of defiance at this moment.
He heard a familiar scuttling sound. He tried to pinpoint which opening it was coming from, but all the tunnels here were interconnected, making it impossible to tell.
He tried to rely on his sense of smell next, but the cavern was so saturated with the thick, putrid stench that he couldn’t detect anything else.
The sound grew closer.
SKRRRT...
SKRRRT...
Everyone’s heart was in their throat. They tightened their grips on their weapons, staring warily at the tunnels above.
Finally, they saw it. A human face appeared in the largest of the openings—
A rotten, greenish human face.
It was so decomposed it had lost its shape, like a melting wax figure. As it opened its mouth, its very teeth dislodged and fell to the ground below.
Seeing this, however, Chao grew excited. He ran forward to pledge his loyalty. "I brought the people you wanted! See, they all have Cards! Just spare me, and I can bring you more!"
PLOP.
The human face dropped, and the head, full of putrid matter, rolled away with a wet thud.
It landed right on Chao. He froze, his head tilted back in shock.
In his field of vision, giant mandibles gaped open. Like the claw from a crane game plummeting from on high, they suddenly closed in! His world went black.
Zhou Diao cried out in alarm, "Open fire!"
The members of the Special Attack Team opened fire immediately!
But the monster was unbelievably fast. It bit down on Chao’s head and retracted back into the tunnel in an instant. All the bullets hit Chao’s body instead.
His body was left dangling from the opening above, blood gushing from the bullet wounds. Two seconds later, it fell.
His neck completely severed, the headless corpse collapsed to the ground, spraying blood.
Chao’s voice echoed through the cavern—
"Damn you... you killed... my children... GURGLE... All of you... must die..."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter