Chapter 66: The Great Dungeon Upgrade
The two teams of the Stars were not the only ones attacked in the middle of the night.
"This dungeon is a bit more difficult now." The Southwest Squad 1 camp, located west of the city and near the coastline, was in a mess.
Peng Qiao looked around at the bizarre insect corpses scattered on the ground and murmured.
"The Fallen Insects are fighting back?" his vice-captain asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Half of the insect hive has been destroyed, so how can the Great Wisps just sit idly by?"
Peng Qiao hissed and reopened the ranking window.
"Targeted retaliation is definitely selective; both very weak teams and very strong teams are at risk."
The two teams, Qunxing and Southeast No. 1, kept jumping back and forth in the top two spots on the leaderboard all day today. It was a back-and-forth battle that left the other teams exhausted.
But his purifier said at the time, "You're fighting so fiercely. Although your battle record looks good, aren't you afraid of being targeted by the Fallen Insects?"
Perhaps they should indeed hold back a bit, like their team, which believes in moderation.
You'd be lucky to destroy one outpost, and getting two rare first kills on the Fallen Insects would be impressive. What more could you ask for?
Peng Qiao glanced at the increasingly outrageous mutated insects on the ground, then at the supplies in his team that had been burned to almost nothing, and hesitated in the sea breeze.
Or should we just apply for early withdrawal?
In the same forest, different teams may have completely different ideas and approaches.
The four teams from Base No. 1 in South China had already merged into one operation. They had also just gone through a fierce battle, and many of them were wounded.
But Feng Xu, as the commander-in-chief, looked down at the message on the tablet, his long eyebrows furrowing in worry. Without hesitation, he gave the order:
"Team 2, stay behind to protect all the seriously wounded members. We'll withdraw from the forest at dawn. The rest of you, pack up and follow me!"
The responses in the darkness were not very synchronized, and those who responded slower were from Team 2.
"Captain, we also..." Before the Second Captain could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Qiao Zheng, who had two straight eyebrows:
"Your team is the weakest. If you don't stay, who will? Go back and practice more."
Qiao Zheng jumped down from the tree, landing lightly, but the slap he gave to Captain 2 was quite heavy.
The second captain almost burst into a tirade, but unusually, he held back his temper and remained silent with his head down.
No one spoke further. The remaining combat-capable members of the South China Base No. 1 distributed combat supplies and gathered behind Feng Xu.
Feng Xu gently patted his old friend in his arms and whispered, "Let's go!"
The group's figures disappeared into the bottomless darkness of the deep jungle.
Darkness was the backdrop of the lakeside camp. Even though the two teams had retreated from the forest and arrived at the open lakeside grassland, there were no stars or moon in the sky, and everything was still a blurry mess.
There was also good news: in the ensuing battle, they quickly discovered that the stump worms were slow and didn't move much. Unless you actively approached them, they didn't seem to attack.
The bad news is that they are probably just scouts; Qi An has already clearly sensed a large number of Fallen Insects heading this way!
In this tense and solemn moment, Yu Shuang looked at Wu Han and Zhao Lang.
The two men looked back at her for no apparent reason.
Wu Han raised his handsome eyebrows high.
Could it be that Captain Yu suspects they are trying to escape?
The only way to escape now is to leave the other team behind as bait.
Is that even possible? And they've saved each other's lives so many times, the two teams are already like this, how could she still doubt such a thing?
Doesn't she know anything about their team?
As Wu Han thought this, Zhao Lang, with only one arm in a sling, felt even more hurt and humiliated!
Yu Shuang didn't actually mean to question, but her meaning was too complex to be conveyed with just a glance.
Her gaze lingered for two seconds, then Zhao Bohan nudged her aside, pulled Qi An over, and quickly asked:
How far away are the birds and insects from us now?
Birds and insects must be the vanguard and the second wave of scouts.
"The closest two kilometers," Qi An said.
They must have discovered the stump worms in advance, which is why the arrival of the fallen worms seemed a bit slow.
“We still need to run, to get the battlefield away from this area infested with stump worms,” Zhao Bohan said.
“We’ll get back into the forest. There’s plenty of cover, and the trees will limit the birds and insects’ activities,” Wu Han immediately replied.
"Drop unnecessary burdens and move forward at full speed; we need a time gap."
Zhao Bohan's words were a direct command.
His voice had a heavy nasal tone, but amidst the thick fog and the impending, enormous, and unknown danger, his clear and calm command still calmed both teams considerably.
Most of the water tanks were unloaded and discarded, and all the ammunition was carried on their bodies. The two teams packed up as quickly as possible and rushed out in the direction Qi An pointed out.
However, they started off very fast, but the beams of flashlight couldn't illuminate the deep forest. Everyone stumbled and staggered as they ran.
Qi An stumbled and fell.
She was exhausted from the effects of radiation, but she couldn't fall behind while also trying to clear her mind and ensure that every thought in her mind was clear and focused!
In the darkness, several hands grabbed her one after another, steadying her and helping her move faster.
The chill of the night wind was blocked by many barriers, making it seem less unbearable. Everyone gradually coordinated and pulled each other along, and the speed increased again.
Of course, they didn't run for very long. About 8 minutes later, Qi An shouted, "Stop!"
"Stop!" Yu Shuang and Wu Han shouted immediately.
The fog was stirred up for a moment, then gathered again, only to be stirred up again immediately, causing the two teams to separate.
The enemy in the sky was fast approaching.
Qi An crouched in a small ball on a high tree branch, holding his breath and speaking softly, so quiet and weak that he seemed not to exist at all.
But in the silence, she suddenly switched on her powerful flashlight, and the bright white beam of light precisely surrounded a bird-like insect!
Bullets immediately rained down on it like a reversed stream.
The bird shrieked and immediately swooped down on Qi An in the tree branch!
Then he was shot in a vital spot by Zhuang Xiao, who was on a higher branch, and fell down.
This method kills several insects in a row, with unstoppable momentum!
But what followed was a flock of small, peregrine-like birds.
The beams of light became slightly chaotic, and a cacophony of faint screams mingled together. Zhuang Xiao, Yu Shuang behind Qi An, and Wu Han and the others in the neighboring tree were caught up in a flurry of activity, trying to shoot the birds and protect themselves.
A sonic bird flew up along the trunk of the giant tree, and under the cover of two smaller birds, just as Qi An released his grip on the trunk and raised his pistol, it unleashed a sonic attack at point-blank range on Qi An!
I don't know if this bird did its research beforehand or if its intelligence has evolved, but its observational skills are amazing, allowing it to spot the core and weaknesses of the team at a glance.
Qi An's recently injured ear still caused her some slight dizziness and tinnitus. How could she possibly withstand such an attack?
She slipped and fell to the ground!
The enemy on the ground has also arrived.
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