Chapter 65: Many More Surprises Await
When Su Qingran treated her wounds, everyone in the team sincerely thanked her.
As Wu Han was about to leave because the tent was too crowded, Qi An called out, "Thank you!"
Wu Han took off his mask and whistled, which was dangerous in itself.
Qi An's gaze became extremely focused and sincere.
Wu Han was slightly taken aback, then seemed to smile, her beautiful eyes shimmering with a brilliance that even a protective shield couldn't conceal.
Qi An's heart skipped a beat.
This person's "biological affinity" may be effective not only for animals but also for humans.
Perhaps this superpower could be called "temptation"?
Was this intentional or involuntary? Has he ever had moments when he couldn't control his overwhelming charm?
In any case, this wave of late-night terror has passed.
Qi An is temporarily deaf in her left ear, but apart from her, the other people in both teams who are not wearing headphones are on night duty, either dozing off or fully awake.
Some people also spotted small gold bugs, but they simply flicked them away without causing any harm.
It was nearly 5 a.m., and a thin mist filled the forest. The heavy, damp cold made one feel as if their bones were sinking to the ground.
After Su Qingran treated Qi An's wounds, she was surprised to find that the vice-captain was sneezing.
She and the medic of the Southeast Squad were on high alert!
Almost everyone experienced some degree of fatigue, dry mouth, and muscle aches. Those with weaker constitutions had more severe weakened immune systems and were more susceptible to catching a cold during a sudden drop in temperature.
There was no order to retreat; the last message sent by the command center to the group chat was one of congratulations and encouragement.
Wu Han carefully read through the messages in the group chat. Yu Shuang called out to everyone, "Gather some firewood to start a fire, and everyone dry your wet clothes."
So what if the fire is conspicuous? It's almost dawn anyway, health is the most important thing.
The campsite became noisy. Zhao Lang led his men to gather firewood, chatting animatedly:
"The rain wasn't heavy. If you dig deep under the big trees with particularly dense canopies, especially under the fir trees, and under the fallen branches and dead leaves under the shrubs, you can find dry firewood."
In terms of survival experience in such broad-leaved dense forests, their team was far superior!
Inside the tent, Qi An's ear was wrapped up like a dumpling, but he was conscious, turning over and over as he examined her phone.
She wasn't on night duty tonight; she was determined to sleep until the captain woke her up, so she didn't set an alarm.
The phone is offline, all communication apps are silent, and there are no messages.
Was that vibration earlier a sign that her phone had come back to life?
Apart from a newly created memo that Qi An couldn't recall creating himself, there was no other clue.
She put her phone back in her pocket, frowned, and looked out of the tent.
Outside the tents, it was still bustling with activity. The forest was deep and the grass was dense, and there were large trees, tree stumps, and fallen logs around this clearing.
Zhao Lang easily lifted the fallen log, which was as thick as a water bucket, with one hand. He had intended to hear Zhao Lang's high-quality, timely, and non-greasy flattery of Xiao Zhao, but he immediately noticed that a large group of long and short, colorful worms in the tree hole had been startled and were scattering in all directions.
Zhao Lang felt goosebumps rise all over his body. He quickly broke off the downward-facing dead branch and threw the fallen tree down.
There was no smoke or dust, but dampness and insects were scattered everywhere, and Zhao Lang retreated to avoid them.
The intention was to maintain a good mindset and keep morale high even in a tense situation, but this guy was also feeling a bit down. His heel touched the tree stump, and he was about to sit on it and curse a few times to vent his fear and disgust.
But before he could even utter a word or touch his buttocks, Qi An's distant shout pierced through the fog:
"Don't sit on it!"
The shrill voice startled Zhao Lang, who froze in mid-air in a squatting position.
He subconsciously looked back at the tree stump under his buttocks.
Where did all these tree stumps come from in a forest that no one has entered for many years?
In such a damp place, how come this tree stump is completely bare, without a single mushroom growing on it?
The smooth cross-section of the tree stump split open before his eyes, like a giant animal trap cracking open, with strands of slime and elongated flesh visible. The deeper part of the hole was pitch black, as if it connected to an abyss.
Zhao Lang saw it, and Qi An saw it too.
The phone didn't survive, but the tree stump did!
The tree stump was a worm, and it opened its mouthparts towards Zhao Lang's buttocks!
The "tree stump" stretched upwards, and its root-like tentacles emerged from the soil, wrapping around Zhao Lang, trying to drag him into its mouth.
Zhao Lang jumped up from the spot!
The enormous, abyss-like maw snapped shut just 1 centimeter from his buttocks, like a crack in the earth closing in!
The slime sprayed all over Zhao Lang's body!
The slime seemed to have weight, causing him to jump not very high, but only 3 meters away when he landed and crashed into another "wooden stake"!
He rolled over in a disheveled manner, but his left arm and shoulder were still bitten squarely!
It wasn't flesh and blood separating, bones shattering, but rather being sucked, devoured, and melted.
One second Zhao Lang's arm was being bitten, and the next second even his head was being sucked in!
The immense fear almost swallowed him up a second before the "stump worm" could, but several hands grabbed his right arm and shoulder in turn, wrestling with the stump worm!
Bullets rained down on the stump worm, but the worm's health bar seemed to have no end, and it didn't let go even after eating several magazines!
Qi An was originally pulling Zhao Lang along, but seeing this situation, he simply drew his knife and inserted it into the gap where the insect touched Zhao Lang's shoulder. He slid it to the cavity, stabbed it in, and then pried it out hard!
Before the prying action could be completed, a hand gripped the knife handle slightly below Qi An.
Suddenly, a powerful force was applied! The knife plunged entirely into the tree stump worm's soft upper oral cavity and slid out from there.
The bark of the stump beetle is like a tough rubber sheet that can trap bullets.
But ever since Qi An discovered the potential of his close-combat holy body, the sword he has been equipped with is a fine steel short sword!
Under Wu Han's great force, the knife slid out of the mouth, then flipped and slashed down through the gap, all the way down to the bottom of the part that was exposed in the soil!
The insect was gutted!
The biting force immediately loosened, allowing Zhao Lang's upper body to break free!
In just two minutes, Zhao Lang's transformation had reached level 4, and he was losing his mind!
Fortunately, the stump worm didn't have teeth, and Zhao Lang was still a complete person. Their team's purifiers immediately rushed to purify him!
Qi An didn't stop at all, drawing his sword and slashing again. While Wu Han was still bearing most of the power output, he also destroyed two tentacles that were trying to entangle them.
The two of them worked together to cut the tree stump into three pieces.
The insect lay sprawled on the ground, utterly dead, while the two men's hands and arms were covered in slime.
Qi An flicked his hand a few times, then immediately turned around and crawled into the hole in the palm of his protective suit to purify Wu Han.
Perhaps he had become desensitized during his ear treatment, because he seemed to have gotten used to her touch. This time, he neither flinched nor trembled. He clasped her long, slender hand in his and stood quietly in place.
However, the purification process only lasts for half a minute.
Qi An wasn't even sure how many of those hard-to-detect "tree stumps" were nearby; they had no idea when they had been surrounded!
The surrounding fog thickened, and everything was shrouded in a hazy, indistinct mist.
The first few tree stump insects were also killed, and Yu Shuang quickly typed on the tablet with her head down.
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