Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 988 - 40 Death Road

Chapter 988: Chapter 40 Death Road

The passageway was five meters wide, with storage compartments on both sides. Unbeknownst to anyone, they had become the nesting grounds for the Insect Alligators. An unexpected attack caught the entire makeshift team off guard.

More than three hundred Insect Alligators, their mouths gaping wide, ready to devour these intruders, emerged to the surface. Fortunately, due to their large size and the narrowness of the passageway, they couldn’t form a proper attack line. Otherwise, the newbies would have been wiped out in an instant. As it was, three people were bitten and dragged into the water, and in just a few blinks, they stopped moving.

"Don’t panic, everyone get to the sides!" Dantai shouted, instructing the newbies to clear the firing line. Regrettably, they couldn’t listen, intent on running toward the Conquerors, believing that was the only safe place.

Creatures splashed from the compartments in the stretch of passageway ahead, launching themselves at the Conquerors. Qin Yan and the others immediately turned around, and gunshots rang out. Bullets whistled through the air and into their bodies, knocking down the frontmost dozen.

Tang Zheng, decked out in Armed Hellfire and thrusters on full blast, leapt over the heads of the frantic, fleeing newbies to take position at the rear of the group.

An Insect Alligator lunged out, its mouth emitting an overwhelmingly foul stench that even filled Tang Zheng’s nostrils. With a forceful swing of his arm, he slammed it onto the creature’s head.

The Insect Alligator was sent tumbling, its fangs shattered, and it collided with several others behind it, rolling into a heap.

Tang Zheng raised both arms, and white Impact Beams shot from his palms, gouging bloody, flesh-ridden holes into the Insect Alligators. The Gatling Machine Guns on his shoulders began to roar, bullets striking the surface of the water, hissing as they went.

In just a few breaths, the Insect Alligators left behind over a hundred corpses. The waterlogged area became completely murky as it was stirred up, further stained by blood, turning a dark red under the dim light. It looked like a pool of blood, utterly terrifying, yet the creatures, heedless of their own lives, continued to charge in desperation.

Tang Zheng’s gunfire didn’t cease as he continued to shoot, holding off the frenzied swarm of Insect Alligators with his own strength, giving the newbies a temporary reprieve from danger.

Dantai and Qin Yan also opened fire fully, clearing out the Insect Alligators ahead. Bodies kept dropping into the water, and with more fragments and corpses accumulating, the standing water began to turn into a morass, growing thicker.

About a dozen newbies, pale-faced and weak-kneed, could no longer hold themselves and fell into the water, gulping down several mouthfuls. They struggled, flailing and grabbing at anything – including other newbies – causing considerable chaos. Luckily, the water was just over a meter deep, reaching up to the waist, so there was no risk of drowning.

"Our detection equipment is too backward; it couldn’t discover their presence at all," said Dantai, clad in Hellfire, after a glance at the radar, which failed to pick up the Insect Alligators even as they appeared.

Qin Yan nodded in agreement. Earth’s technology was far behind, and the Insect Race was particularly adept at concealing their tracks. With their sudden attacks, it was virtually impossible to be on guard, even for the elite native human soldiers, let alone for them, the outsiders.

"Looks like we need to get our hands on some native radars," Tang Zheng remarked as his chest-mounted Energy Cannon gathered energy and then shot down the passageway. The high temperature evaporated a great deal of water, creating a blinding white fog. Though it obscured the view slightly, it also cleared out all the Insect Alligators in the passageway.

"These guys are so strong; just the two of them have halted the bugs’ onslaught!" Lin Chen looked enviously at Tang Zheng and Dantai in their Power Armors. Had it been the Instant Noodle Squad doing the job, even with their abilities, it would have taken three minutes to set up a defense, and who knew how many newbies would have perished during that time.

"I really want a set of Power Armor." Zheng Xiaxia swallowed and couldn’t help asking, "Where did you get so many Hellfires from?"

"Capture!" Lu Fan answered succinctly, but the underlying message sent chills through the Instant Noodle Squad. Owning the expensive SS Grade Equipment meant the enemy’s strength was not low, yet they had been killed.

"Don’t stop, keep moving," Qin Yan urged as more Insect Alligators continued to pour out from the compartments on either side, worried that they would be worn down if they lingered.

The newbies immediately expressed their dissatisfaction, deeming Qin Yan cold-hearted.

"Shut up, or stay and wait for death," Dantai snarled, not caring for their feelings, and intensified his gunfire. "Brother Lin, lead the way with me. Tong Ping, your Instant Noodle Squad will take the second line of defense."

"Xin Lan, Lu Fan, you’re in charge of the left compartments; Qin Yan, Bi Yun, you handle the right. Don’t let the monsters break our formation," Dantai ordered. Then he and the Old Soldier flew ahead of the team, firing at the Insect Alligators they encountered, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake.

The Beetles were set to autopilot, with Li Xinlan standing on top, rifle in hand, suppressing the Insect Alligators at the rear from her elevated position. As she passed the doors of the compartments, she would swiftly change her aim, searching inside with the muzzle of her rifle to ensure no Insect Alligators could launch an attack.

The named Group Members buckled down, focusing intently on the crisis at hand. The Instant Noodle Squad had initially thought they’d get some respite, given the strong firepower of the two Armed Hellfires, but they were mistaken.

For Insect Alligators that were only injured, Dantai and the Old Soldier wouldn’t bother to finish them off – it was a waste of time. So cleaning them up fell to the Instant Noodle Squad, along with dealing with the occasional few that hid under water, escaping the slaughter to specifically target the main formation.

Of course, to extract more value from the Noodle Squad, Dantai would deliberately let some Insect Alligators slip through. Plus, given their forward position, the Insect Alligators bursting out from the large compartment would attack them first. Therefore, they had no time to rest, as gunshots were constant, and the battle never ceased.

"He isn’t intentionally messing with us, is he?" Xu Nian, holding a lighter, flicked his thumb, and a flame burst out instantly, surging into the compartment and turning a few leaping Insect Alligators into charred corpses.

"Shouldn’t be, right?" Tong Ping frowned, not offering an opinion, while Zeng Fanghai muttered, "Is the deputy group leader really spare enough to think about tricking people at a time like this?"

"Hard to say." Lin Chen shook his head, suddenly realizing that operating with these people was too disadvantageous.

"You all are just cowardly and suspicious!" Su Ameng scoffed disdainfully. Indeed, without the group leader leading the team, these folks’ capabilities took a hit, and their minds became less resolute.

The newbies had no time to worry about these issues, as they hurriedly followed the fleet forward. But to accelerate through waist-deep waterlogged areas was really too much for them.

The woman with cramping legs hadn’t walked twenty meters before she tumbled into the water again.

"Let her get in the car, Su Ameng, give her a hand," Tang Zheng called out. He had already assessed every member of the Noodle Squad. Su Ameng’s ability was spatial transference. The busty, youthful-looking girl vanished atop the car and then appeared above the woman’s head. Her palm struck the woman, and before falling into the water herself, she disappeared with the victim and reappeared on the Whale Hunting Vehicle.

After killing more than two thousand Insect Alligators, the piled corpses filled the passage and their onslaught finally started to slow down. Tang Zheng deactivated his power armor. Relying on it too much would decrease combat skills. Besides, it cost points to keep it activated, which was not worth it.

The SS-level Tyrannosaurus Protective Clothing was indeed effective. Standing in waist-deep water, Tang Zheng felt not a trace of cold, but the sensation of flowing water reached his thighs clearly. This way, even if monsters attacked from below, he would distinctly sense it.

Tang Zheng retreated while shooting, with his Magnetic Storm Balls hitting the Insect Alligators without a miss. Occasionally, when faced with a swarm attack, he’d draw his Devil Flame Pistol and unleash a Storm Barrage, obliterating those not yet close into pieces.

Thud, another female newbie couldn’t hold on and fell into the water. This time, without needing Tang Zheng’s reminder, Su Ameng teleported instantly, lifting her onto the war chariot to rest.

One woman saw this and mimicked her, deliberately falling into the water and loudly crying for help—unfortunately, Su Ameng watched coldly from the sidelines, doing nothing. Such acting couldn’t deceive her.

No one bothered with her; seeing herself falling behind, the woman stopped struggling and hurriedly climbed up.

"Hmph, do it one more time, and you’ll be thrown out of the team," Su Ameng warned them, her gaze icy. She might be slightly kind-hearted, but it didn’t mean she was willing to be fooled.

After enduring the most intense fifteen minutes of battle, the gunshots gradually subsided. Only a few Insect Alligators occasionally emerged, which allowed the newbies to breathe a sigh of relief. Moreover, the lengthy passage had finally ended, and the survivors walked into a square.

This was the supplies transfer center, built like a soccer field to facilitate truck passage. Around it were passages in all directions and many large compartments. However, under the dim street lights and the sound of water, the place felt panic-inducing, as if monsters could spring forth at any moment.

"Let’s rest for a bit; I’m too tired." A physically and mentally exhausted female newbie pleaded to Tang Zheng. They couldn’t walk anymore. Other newbies also echoed the sentiment, needing to eat some food and replenish water—being soaked continuously was extremely tiring.

"Hold on a little longer; we need to pass this waterlogged area," Tang Zheng didn’t agree. If there were many Insect Alligators here, it meant this was their nest, and a boss likely resided within. After all, an insect swarm would have a queen leading them, a part of their group structure. And since this location had wide, superior terrain, constructing a nest here couldn’t be more perfect.

Drinking Coke, Teng Yuangxiang looked through the car window at the newbies who seemed so tired they could fall asleep standing, feeling a profound sense of superiority. Indeed, clinging to the group leader’s coattails was the right decision, or she’d be suffering too. Some people resented her, but what could that do? Who would dare challenge Tang Zheng’s authority?

The newbies almost visibly displayed their dissatisfaction, yet no one dared to complain. But in the next moment, they understood Tang Zheng’s good intentions.

Suddenly, and without warning, two newbies fell into the water, then were swiftly dragged toward a large compartment.

"Don’t panic!"

"Attack!"

The Conquerors opened fire, the water splashing everywhere, and two tentacles as thick as thighs could be seen wrapping around the newbies’ ankles. Approaching the alloy wall, they suddenly thrust upward, violently smashing the prey against it. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)