Tang Zheng had been guarding his rear, yet he was still ambushed, which indicated that the enemy possessed strong stealth capabilities and their firepower was by no means weak.
In the dark passage, an orange-red rhombus muzzle flame suddenly appeared, and a storm of bullets engulfed Tang Zheng, striking the metal door behind him. The clinking sounds were so piercing that they almost tore through the eardrums.
Tang Zheng’s caution had paid off. Had he not activated the Light Defense Shield, his body might have remained intact, but his head would have been pulverized into a rotten watermelon by the dense barrage.
With a series of zapping sounds, the Heavy Magnetostorm Rifle fired continuously, sending blue Lightning Balls into the passage. They then exploded, creating a forest of lightning that electrocuted the ambushers on contact, blasting their bodies into charred fragments. Those hit directly exploded into chunks of flesh.
Using the flash of the explosions, Tang Zheng caught a glimpse of the attackers’ true faces. They were not lizard Beastmen, but an upright-walking species of Insect-Humans, reminiscent of Locusts of Orthoptera, with green skin and thin membranous wings etched with patterns. Their two antennae and large compound eyes allowed them to retain exceptional vision in the dark, enabling them to swiftly lock on to their targets.
These Insect-Humans were roughly one and a half meters tall with powerful and muscular legs covered in barbs. Their arms were not fully evolved, but that did not hinder them from firing guns.
Their firearms were clearly captured from humans, and they handled them with expertise. The quick and efficient magazine changes impressed Tang Zheng, who couldn’t fathom how they managed it with their three-clawed fingers.
Thunderballs swept out, unleashing a wide barrage. In a matter of seconds, Tang Zheng had cleared out most of the Insect-Humans in the passage, with various limbs and greenish body fluids scattered everywhere, beginning to emit a foul stench.
"It’s not poisonous, is it?" Tang Zheng really wanted to put on a Gas Mask, but there was no time. He kept up the gunfire with one hand while his other hand pulled out a Hand Grenade, biting off the Insurance pin with his teeth and tossing it into the passage.
Boom, flames burst forth, and the shockwave threw the insectoid corpses far away.
Since the passage walls were made of metal, the sound didn’t disperse well. The explosion of the grenade was so loud that Tang Zheng felt his teeth ache from the vibration.
"No need to worry about the passage collapsing, but my eardrums are suffering." Tang Zheng dared not throw another hand grenade and had to waste Ammo Clips to clean up the remnants.
This was a hundred-person pioneer squad of Insect-Humans. In less than a minute, all were buried within the passage. Tang Zheng quickly put on a Gas Mask and proceeded to check the corpses while adjusting his helmet to see if there were any survivors.
These Insect-Humans probably didn’t understand human language. Their heads were insect-like, with fierce jaws, and when they communicated, it was a high-frequency chirping sound.
Tang Zheng was not intimidated by these few Insect-Humans, and he continued to push forward to scout.
After donning the Gas Mask, his field of view was significantly limited, and his breathing was so loudly reminiscent of a windmill spinning beside his ear. The already oppressive environment became suffocating. Fortunately, Tang Zheng’s mental fortitude was relatively strong, or else he would have retreated long ago.
As he neared what he presumed to be the old nest of the Insect-Humans, Tang Zheng began to encounter resistance frequently, with Insect-Humans jumping out to attack him continuously.
"Like a mantis trying to stop a chariot." Watching the Insect-Humans being blown to pieces with blood and flesh scattered everywhere, Tang Zheng frowned, particularly when stepping on the sticky remnants, which he found extremely uncomfortable.
It wasn’t just Insect-Humans, but also swarms of Bugs scurrying about. Especially a group of Locusts, as thick as an adult’s thigh, squeezed together and surged into the passage like a flood. Ordinary people would have no other option but to flee, as there were too many for gunpowder bullets to cause effective damage, and even Thunderballs seemed ineffective.
Wherever these Locusts went, they devoured the Insect-Humans’ corpses, leaving only a disgusting trail of slime.
Tang Zheng raised his right arm and activated the Mechanical Lion Roar Cannon, firing a beam of concentrated Positive Electrons that instantly pierced through the passage.
The Metal Wall showed signs of melting, let alone these mutant Locusts, which were completely vaporized without a trace left behind.
Ten minutes later, Tang Zheng entered the Laboratory Lobby, a sight of utter ruin that seemed to have been struck by catastrophic damage. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs noveⅼfire.net
Rows of huge Glass specimens were arrayed, almost all shattered, with dried corpses of Insect-Humans lying inside, shrunk into a mummy state. Occasionally, among the containers that remained intact, one could see Liquid-filled receptacles soaking the specimens of Insect-Humans, though they were dead.
"Seems like a Biochemical Laboratory." Seeing this, anyone could easily deduce the history; this was a laboratory researching Insect-Humans, which had been destroyed by an unknown cause. The Insect-Humans were the offspring of escaped specimens.
Tang Zheng was right. This was a world undergoing the aftermath of glacial melting, with vast expanses of water everywhere, leaving only scarce land remaining. Moreover, as the Greenhouse Effect intensified, these land masses continued to shrink, and the world was becoming hotter and overrun by rainforests. But this wasn’t the most troublesome part; with the accidental release of the laboratory Insect-Humans, a new species emerged, preying on humans and fighting for living space.
Tang Zheng made a complete round with no gains, but he faced several more attacks. However, with his Powerful firepower, the assailants turned into fragmented corpses.
Tang Zheng glanced at his handheld device, which still showed no changes. Blue Trojan seemed not to be in a hurry to issue a mission. Just as he was about to withdraw, meatworms with humanoid heads appeared. These Monsters were likely evolved from Soft-bodied Crawlers, and suddenly encountering them in the dark Laboratory Lobby was truly disgusting.