The entire team activated the scanning function of their Tech suits and scouted the enrtire area for an hour with no eventful thing happening. Slowly, they began moving South following Jin Qi's lead.
All the while, He Yuan looked for the perfect opportunity to get out of his current position as 'right arm'. With no idea of what Jin Qi had planned, staying as far away from her as possible seemed like the ideal thing to do.
In another hour, they arrived at a different location. This area was like a mashup between the rocky mountains and a swamp.
The only difference was that it wasn't technically a swamp. What was supposed to be mud was actually a grey slimy substance secreted by a strange kind of black rock exclusive to Aer.
Jin Qi's eyes flashed when she noticed the high number of black rocks littered around the area and the awful looking secretions. "Begin scout." She commanded and the soldiers took action immediately.
He Yuan also took this opportunity to distance himself from Jin Qi. As for the disgusting looking 'mud,' there was nothing to fear as samples of this grey mud had been collected via drones and sent to Crest for examination sometime ago so he was aware that the substance wasn't harmful to his Tech suit.
After an hour of scouting, Jin Qi was beginning to get impatient. The T.I.D.E team had detected traces of magnetic energy similar to the magnetic energy of the Xors in this area. The reason she had intercepted the info and fearlessly rushed here was because unlike the intense magnetic wave of the Xors, this wave was much lighter. Similar to the magnetic energy of the Xors during their larva stage or dying stage.
The Xor queens were dead and no strong magnetic wave was detected so it was impossible for there to be larvas. The only explanation for this was the presence of Xors at the last stages of their lives.
Judging from the magnetic energy feedback, there didn't seem to be a lot of them. Maybe four or five. It shouldn't be too hard to deal with them. Discovering and getting rid of these Xors would make her eligible for a promotion of two ranks higher and a massive allocation of resources.
This was why she had intercepted the news from the T.I.D.E team. If the Superiors knew she was aware beforehand, then she would be given some subpar resources and a promotion one rank higher at most. Climbing up ranks in the Twelve-army Coalition wasn't easy.
At that moment, the group intercom whirred to life and a soldier's voice came through; [[Lieutenant Colonel Jin!]]
Jin Qi's ears perked in anticipation and she took a quick glance around. "Any problem?"
[[My scanner is picking up a mild magnetic energy fluctuation.]]
The others soldiers swifty zeroed in on the location of the soldier and moved their Tech suits in that direction. The place turned out to be a cave entrance located beneath a tall cluster of boulders.
Jin Qi sent a quick meesage to the AO20 Spaceship in space before gesturing at nine soldiers. "All of you. Come with me to investigate. The rest of you, keep watch."
He Yuan poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. He was one of the nine soldiers. He didn't need a rocket scientist at this point to figure out that Jin Qi was trying to pull off a trick similar to the one she'd pulled at the second Xor queen's cave but still....
He moved his Tech suit forward.
Just as this was an opportunity for Jin Qi to get rid of him, it was also an opportunity for him to put her down. Risky? Yes but in the end, it was a matter of who acted faster.
Less than a minute later, Jin Qi and her selected soldiers carefully entered the cave, legs first. The dark and moist passageway was a little narrow for their Tech suits but it got broader the deeper they went.
He Yuan was at the very end of the line.
After moving for some time, the cave finally opened up to reveal a very wide circular space. It was empty except for,
DRIP!
DRIP!
DRIP!
The steady dripping sounds echoing in the dark chamber and the Magnetic Energy fluctuation was much stronger here, causing their Tech suits to give slight humming sounds.
One of the soldiers followed the direction of the signal and looked up. "What the..."
Everyone else followed suit. High up on the roof of the cave were rows upon rows of Xor larvae. They were at the begining stage of metamorphosis so they still resembled ants the size of two big human babies. The odd thing was... These ant-like things were wrapped up in a transparent cacoon which was covered in splurges of thick black slime.
The dripping sounds came from the slime dropping to the rocky cave floor.
[[A hive of Xor larva??!!!]] A soldier called out in confusion. The Xor queens were dead and the larva of a Xor did not have any black substance. There were usually wrapped in web like threads so what was this? Worse still was the fact that those things on the roof appeared to be alive!
The cacoons were all throbbing slowly. Like a beating heart.
A frown settled on Jin Qi's face. What was this situation? She operated her Tech suit to the roof and activated her recorder to capture the larvae. Next, she pointed at three soldiers, "Take three samples out carefully. It would be transported to the Spaceship. Our reserachers need to figure out why they are still alive. As for the rest, we'll destroy it."
The selected soldiers acted quickly and carefully detached three cacoons from the roof and moved in the direction of the exit.
The rest of the soldiers activated their laser guns and began blasting the remaining cacoons on the roof, He Yuan calmly moved to the side of the roof closest to the exit. He wasnted to deal with Jin Qi of course but those monstrous things hung on the roof did not give him a good feeling .
BANG!
The moment the first soldier hit one of the cacoons, it exploded to bits and rained down thick murky slime.
BANG!
BANG!
[[AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! LOOK!]]
Every single soldier paused and, for some reason, all turned to look at the exit passageway at the same time. And then their eyes widened in horror. They found one of the soldiers who had been tasked with taking out one of the cacoons samples standing still in his Tech suit with his neck spraying out blood into the air. His helmet, along with his head, was nowhere to be seen.
SCRRRRRREEEERE!
At that moment, a horrid looking creature finished pulling itself out from the cacoon that had split open at one point and screeched at them.
He Yuan felt goosebumps pop out all over his skin. He swiftly operated his Tech suit away from the exit area as he said to his system, "888, that's a... cockroach?"
The system frowned and watched the creatures movement in alert.
Jin Qi felt a bad feeling in her heart. She did not plan for this! She looked around. "What are you waiting for? KILL IT!"
Immediately,
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Three soldiers shot the humongous cockroach-like creature at the same time and it blasted to bits.
Jin left out a sigh of relief and contacted the other two soldiers who had left earlier, "Quickly, destroy that thing!" Before she could get an affirmative reply, what greeted her were loud banging sounds coming from the intercom. She nodded. "Good."
[No not good Lieutenant Colonel!]
She frowned. "Why? What's wrong?"
[AAAHHH, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!]
Jin Qi froze. "What do you mean?!!!"
Screams.
"Do you hear me soldiers? What is the situation??!!!"
Screams.
"Soldiers on Standby by so you copy? What is the situation?!"
Silence.
[HOLY SHIT!!!] A soldier screamed and Jin Qi brought her attention back to the cave and then her heart stopped. Every piece of the creature that had been blasted to bits had morphed into a smaller version of the horrid creature!
BANG!
BANG!
A soldier quickly blasted two of the creatures but then the pieces of these creatures gradually regenerated much faster than the first one.
He Yuan's eyes widened and he looked to the exit passageway the same time as the other soldiers. These things could regenerate so there was only one option left. Run!
Before anyone could make a move, loud rumbling sounds were heard and tons smaller versions of the creatures swarmed into the cave from the outside.
888's eyes widened. "No way."
[AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!] The creatures had rushed towards the nearest soldier and eaten through HIS TECH SUIT! In ten seconds, his entire arm was gone.
Jin Qi's legs trembled. Their Tech suits were made from adamantine glass and an impenetrable nano material and yet those things had chewed through them like cotton. She regretted. She regretted deeply. She shouldn't have steeped into this place. She could see her life flashing before her eyes.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The soldiers went into full panic mode and began blasting at the creatures with nothing else to do but this only made them regenerate and multiply increasingly faster.
He Yuan had his laser gun spray-blasting the creatures like the rest as he thought of a solution. What else could he do? If he did not kill the creatures, they would still come after him, suspending his Tech suit at the highest point of the chamber was not even an option because apparently.... These cockroach imitations could fucking fly!
Although blasting them would multiply them, it could at least delay them for a little over a minute. For now, of course.
[AAAAHHHH!]
[NOOOO!]
Soon enough, screams began to ring out at steady intervals, whoever was too slow got mauled to death. The original 7 soldiers that had remained after the sample guys were now remaining only four.
He Yuan began to panic. 888 was not in a much better state but he was able to maintain his composure and scan the chamber for a solution.
Less than thirty seconds later, both host and system looked up. "The roof!" [The roof.]
The cave was below a bunch of rocks and not an entire mountain so even if blasting the roof would cause the top of the mountain to cave in, the soldiers could actually power through the rubble with their Tech suits and exit upwards. As for the creatures. They just had to delay them for a few seconds and let the rubble trap them in.
He Yuan wasn't worried about the creatures using the main exit to leave because clearly, they wanted their cave. If not, they would've spread out after taking care of the soldiers on Standby instead of coming back into the cave. Even if his theory wasn't correct, him and the remaining soldiers could still outrun the horrid bastards in open space.
The plan was great but just He Yuan alone wouldn't be able to pull it off in time so he activated the intercom. [Focus one of your laser guns on the roof and use the other to blast the creatures!]
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
A stressed soldier automatically responded as they shot their lasers. [Are you crazy?! Just one laser gun would not hold these things back!]
He Yuan felt hot sweat run down the side of his head. The creatures were increasing and if they did not act in time, the entire place would be covered up. He broke character. [YOU FOOL!]
Another one of the remaining four soldiers quickly figured out He Yuan's plan. Who cared if the idea was from a mandron? At this point his will to live was stronger than his prejudice against mandrons! He directed at He Yuan, [WHERE DO I BLAST?!]
He Yuan didn't reply and instead turned the laser on the left hand of his Tech suit at one edge of the roof. Blasting the middle was basically suicide.
Jin Wi also out aside everything else and joined He Yuan and the soldier. Seeing this, the soldier who had complained had no choice but to join in too.
BANG!
SCCRREEEE!
BOOM!
RUMBLE!
SCCCRRREEEEE!
BANG!
Chaotic sounds filled the cave as the remaining four soldiers -inckuding He Yuan- trued to survive.
For the first time 888 felt his heart leapt to his throat as he watched his host try to divide his attention between the roof and the incoming creatures. "Shit." He whispered as he quickly concerntrated a large amount of his energy, ready to blast through.
The moment He Yuan felt the heat in the middle of his chest, his eyes widened. "888, don't you dare!" To take care of these creatures or blast through the roof, the system would have to use an incredibly high amount of energy.
This would definitely affect the task realm and he couldn't even imagine the kind of punishment his system would receive this time. No way! He shook his hair away from his face. "Just trust me alright? My plan would definitely work." To reassure the system he added, "You can do it last minute okay but let me try first!"
888 hummed but didn't retract his energy, waiting patiently for the moment to blast.
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