The elevator descended slowly, and in the stifling, enclosed space, the only sound was the ragged breathing of a group of mercenaries.
All of them were on high alert, guns pointed at the elevator doors.
As the elevator reached the bottom floor, the moment the doors opened, a fishy and foul stench was the first to invade their nostrils.
"Advance in a search formation."
Marco made a gesture, and the team filed out in an expedited CQB tactical formation, searching as they moved forward.
As the group delved deeper, the fishy smell became even stronger, accompanied by the bizarre hisses and groans that accompanied a terrifying scene unfolding before them.
The ground was piled with all kinds of rocks, and the walls were covered with moss growing from a mass of rot-flesh fungi, the moss taking the place of soil, upon which many nauseating and frightening plants and trees grew.
Among the rocks and trees were all sorts of oddly shaped creatures: a black-patterned poisonous snake with nine heads and measuring seven to eight meters in length, a giant spider with the size of a table and a ghostly face, and a corpse-eating poisonous frog with its body covered in festering pus, along with many other terrifying beings dwelling in the subterranean space.
From the ceiling hung numerous meat tumor-like pillars, resembling stalactites, with their surfaces pocked with holes that housed fist-sized wasps, moths, fierce mosquitoes, and locusts swarming in and out.
Various passageways in the subterranean space’s ceiling opened, and massive quantities of Blue Star Poison Insects and snakes were dumped down.
The previously dormant poisonous insects began to stir, employing various means; some consumed voraciously with their gaping maws, others dissolved their prey into pus to absorb nutrients, and yet others laid eggs inside the bodies, turning them into a nurturing bed for their larvae’s development...
As a large number of Blue Star Poison Insects were devoured and killed, the remaining insect blood and flesh fell to the ground, nourishing vast swathes of fungal moss.
Some ants, cockroaches, and rats that had begun to adapt to this environment and had survived through constant crossbreeding and mutation scurried out from the crevices and fungi, foraging the remnants of flesh. Your next journey awaits at NovelHub.Côm
The mutated plants and trees occasionally lashed out violently with their vines and sharp, tooth-like leaves, attacking these smaller creatures.
Here, killing was a constant occurrence, but with a never-ending supply of poisonous insects thrown into the fray, the cycle of life and death continued, composing a grotesque and bloody ecological circle of horror.
Seeing all this, Lu Yixin’s entire body trembled violently, his teeth clattered against each other, and his legs were so weak he could barely stand.
Even the mercenaries, usually fearless and accustomed to bloodshed, had their pupils shrink and foreheads glisten with beads of cold sweat, their arms breaking out in goosebumps.
"What the hell is this place, fuck me, and what the hell are these things?"
"God bless us! Have we come to Hell?"
"We can’t do this mission, boss, let’s retreat quickly."
The group of mercenaries was on the verge of wetting themselves, the scene before them challenging their worldviews too violently.
Marco was also frightened inside, but he still managed to maintain a semblance of calm and began speaking to ease the tension among his team.
"This must be Jieke Company’s hidden secret laboratory. No wonder they were breeding so many poisonous insects; they were conducting such bloody and terrifying research, studying these inhuman, monstrous creatures. But don’t worry, everyone. As long as it’s a carbon-based lifeform, it can’t withstand the bullets in our hands. Also, let’s search; maybe the hair growth original fluid is here, as long as we..."
Before Marco could finish his sentence, a golden-lined viper above in the ceiling spotted the group. Its thick golden tail suddenly stretched out rapidly, and its sharp hook pierced through the chest of a mercenary, hoisting him into the air like a fish on a line.
Screams and wails filled the air as the mercenary was flung into the gaping mouth of the golden-lined viper, which crunched down with a snap, gushing blood splattering and staining the ground red.
After a few bites, the golden-lined viper, having tasted the deliciousness of its prey, leaped down from the ceiling and barged into the crowd with the ferocity of a tiger among wolves.
The mercenaries triggered their triggers in terror, bullets chipping away tiny holes on the viper’s body, but such wounds were not fatal to the golden-lined viper. Instead, they completely enraged the poisonous insect.
As one mercenary kept firing, the viper’s tail swept across, hooking his head open directly.
Two pairs of pincers clamped down on another mercenary from both sides, snapping his body in two.
Someone threw a grenade, but it also failed to truly kill the golden-lined viper, and in the blink of an eye, two more mercenaries were dead.
Only three mercenaries remained, along with Marco and Lu Yixin. They now fully realized they stood no chance against the monstrous insects, the path back to the elevator blocked, and could only flee desperately ahead.
The golden-lined vipers were chasing behind them, and monstrous insects were on both sides.
These monsters seemed to be restrained by a strange force, only revealing their ferocious forms to them from the sides. When they attempted to attack, they were blocked by a layer of blue light, letting out earth-shaking roars in their anger. The stench from their mouths made their faces sting, hearts leaping to their throats, as they felt as though they had entered the world of prehistoric animals, so insignificant and fragile.
A minute later, a group of people who had luckily survived ran blindly until their path was blocked by a rockery.
And the golden-lined viper that was pursuing them seemed to sense something, mysteriously retreating and no longer daring to chase them.
At the same time, a mercenary leaning against the rockery suddenly shivered, raised his head, and cried out in terror.
"Boss, boss, look over there."
His voice trembled, carrying the utmost fear.
All eyes turned, only to see what they had thought was a rockery unfolding into a gigantic centipede several tens of meters long, with hundreds of pale arms coiled around its body.
"Hell, how did this thing get so big?"
"Crap, what kind of shitty mission is this? I quit."
"Are we in a movie? How can we fight such a monster? We’re not superheroes!"
"Maybe we’re just cannon fodder before the main character shows up."
A group of mercenaries cursed continuously in shock at the sight of the gigantic centipede, its thick shell seemingly impenetrable by bullets.
Above the centipede’s head stood a figure.
Marco took a closer look, wasn’t that Su Jie, the one they had been thinking about capturing?
"I’ve been waiting a long time for you, gentlemen."
Su Jie looked at the mercenaries with a smile on his face.
"The mastermind behind Jieke Company."
Marco felt apprehensive. Su Jie’s demeanor was altogether too villainous, giving him an ominous premonition. Knowing he would not be spared, he quickly tried to inform the outside world through his earpiece, intending to contact the sniper team they had arranged.
"Don’t waste your effort. We are nearly a hundred meters underground, with signal-blocking equipment in operation. No message can get out. And your sniper team outside, they have already gone down to wait for you."
The thousand-hand centipede beneath Su Jie propped up its body, towering like a seven- or eight-story building, causing the eyelids of the mercenaries to twitch uncontrollably.
One mercenary, excessively nervous, accidentally pulled the trigger, and the bullets from his gun struck the thousand-handed centipede, not even leaving a white mark.
At that moment, everyone felt a sense of despair enveloping them. This was an enemy they simply could not fight.