Chapter 58: Unexpected Incident

Boom! A gunshot rang out in the distance, followed by Myron’s triumphant voice over the 988 communication channel: “I hit a larva. When you have a moment, you can deal with it, two hundred meters to your right.”

“Two hundred meters?” Jim looked curiously in the direction indicated, then glanced at Daly; their eyes met, both filled with uncertainty.

“Sergeant Boris, activate the vehicle’s scanner and sweep the area for life signs!” Jim ordered through the 988 channel.

“Yes, sir!” Sergeant Boris replied.

Then came the distinctive hum of the scanner over the channel.

“Hold your positions,” Jim gestured, his voice sharp.

David didn’t understand what was happening; he looked to Daly for explanation.

“This is within the city’s defensive perimeter, and the Ravens clear the area daily. Normally, you wouldn’t spot a single larva unless you actively searched, yet we’ve found two already. Something’s off.” Daly explained as he kept watch.

“Reporting: there are no life signs in the area except for you,” Sergeant Boris responded.

“Let’s stay alert. If anything seems wrong, return to the vehicle immediately.” Jim’s voice was stern, not relaxing at the report.

“David, Zerg larvae can move underground. They’re slow, but scanners can’t detect their life signals,” Daly explained again.

The group ignored the larva’s corpse; they weren’t Ravens, and the shell was of little value. Jim led the team forward, moving slowly toward the right.

David noticed Jim was an excellent leader—meticulous and never impulsive, always putting their safety first.

They covered the two hundred meters in three minutes. The larva’s body had a large hole in its chest that pierced straight through its back.

“Myron, what kind of marksmanship is that? You ruined the enhanced meat!” Jim called out in irritation to his identity bracelet.

“Isn’t there still some left?” David pointed to the larva’s back.

Indeed, the massive wound had penetrated part of the enhanced meat but left most of it intact.

“The flesh and organs of larvae are poisonous. If the enhanced meat is contaminated by any of it, it’s no longer edible,” Jim explained, pointing at the wound.

David also noticed that after two minutes, the Shadow Attendant showed no reaction at the larva’s corpse; its soul had dissipated. He felt disappointed—the enhanced meat was everyone’s prize, but the soul was his personal treasure.

“Myron, giving you that ‘Eye of Death’ replica was such a waste!” De Quincy mocked.

“De Quincy, at least I killed a larva. What about you?” Myron retorted.

“Stop. Keep the channel clear,” Jim cut off the escalating argument, rubbing his temples.

As they spoke, the larva’s corpse suddenly twitched. Instantly, Daly and Jim fired their D200 assault rifles.

The larva’s body was shredded by bullets and green flesh splattered everywhere. David saw another larva’s head emerging from beneath the corpse, already pulverized by multiple shots.

“Have these bugs gone mad?” Jim cursed. He disliked surprises.

But where there were spoils, collecting them was the priority—otherwise, how could he rally teams to hunt larvae?

Despite the deployment of a heavy armored hovercar and a professional soldier, all these resources had to be requested from the military—and such services came at a price.

Jim often operated under Lieutenant Eaton’s name, but always within the bounds of military discipline.

Without spoils, he couldn’t even pay Sergeant Boris’s wages, let alone rent the armored hovercar.

“Daly, De Quincy, you two dig with me. David, keep watch,” Jim instructed.

The three drew their knives and began digging out the larva’s body from the soil.

David watched the surroundings carefully. He no longer relied on the Shadow Attendant for safety; threats from underground weren’t detected in time.

“Once we’ve got the enhanced meat, we return to the vehicle immediately,” Jim said as he dug.

“I feel something’s off. Is someone trying to mess with us?” Daly’s eyes flashed coldly. Though he’d ventured beyond the city many times, this situation was unprecedented.

“If anyone’s trying to cross me, they’ll regret it. Shame about my coat, though,” De Quincy muttered as he dug.

His white trench coat was already soiled, but David noticed De Quincy didn’t truly care about his appearance when it mattered—he followed Jim’s orders without hesitation.

“You knew you were going outside the city and still wore white!” Myron quipped over the channel, but De Quincy didn’t reply, focusing on digging.

Together, the three quickly unearthed the larva’s body. Jim wiped his knife twice on his clothes, then swiftly dissected the corpse. This time, he didn’t slow down to demonstrate for David; in under a minute, he extracted two strips of enhanced meat.

He placed the meat into a prepared bag, sheathed his knife, and picked up his D200 assault rifle.

“Maintain formation. We’re heading back now,” he gestured and spoke in a low voice.

The other three fell into formation quickly and began moving out.

They’d only taken a few steps when David saw the earth shifting beneath De Quincy’s feet and pulled him away.

As De Quincy’s legs left the ground, two sharp, long spikes shot up from below, stabbing only empty air.

“Sergeant Boris, come pick us up!” Jim shouted into his identity bracelet, firing his D200 assault rifle at the underground target.

Daly and De Quincy joined in; green blood seeped from the soil.

No one spoke of digging up the corpse now; even David, unfamiliar with the wilderness, sensed something was very wrong.

“Understood!” Sergeant Boris’s voice came through.

Jim relaxed; at this distance, Boris could reach them in thirty seconds. Once aboard the armored hovercar, they’d be safe.

“Back to back, watch your feet!” Jim ordered again.

The Shadow Attendant had just absorbed a faint energy and, under David’s control, entered the ground.

But David was disappointed; the Shadow Attendant could move underground by passing through earth but couldn’t see anything—just soil everywhere.

He had to recall it to the surface, at least to warn if anything approached aboveground.

Still controlling the Shadow Attendant, David felt the earth trembling beneath his feet. Years of battle in countless illusions had honed his instincts; he tapped the ground and leapt into the air.

Before he could take another step, the others fired in unison, striking a larva whose legs had just emerged from the soil.

Green blood gushed forth again. David’s timely warning and the others’ concentrated fire blew apart the larva’s head, separated from the earth by only a thin layer.

“I’ve got ten rounds left. What about you?” Jim checked his D200 rifle’s display and spoke in a grave tone.

He hadn’t expected to run low on ammo. The D200’s full load was two hundred rounds, enough for ordinary situations.

With the armored hovercar nearby for resupply, he hadn’t brought extra magazines.

“I’ve got two rounds left!” Daly, who fired more aggressively, admitted helplessly.

“I’m out!” De Quincy said, embarrassed.

His D15 shotgun had only fifteen shells, and in his panic, he’d emptied it.

The distant armored hovercar had already started up, but its heavy mass meant a slow start. The twin heavy machine guns could offer fire support, but underground targets were beyond Sergeant Boris’s reach.