“Boom!” A gunshot rang in the distance, followed by Maron’s smug voice in the 988 contact channel. Maron bragged, “I struck a larva. It’s 200 meters to your right. You can take care of it when you have time.”
“200 meters?” Jim looked a little strangely to his right two hundred meters away, and he looked at Daley again, making eye contact with some apprehension.
“Sergeant Boris, turn on the hovercar scanners and scan the nearby life fields!” Jim said to Sergeant Boris through the 988 contact channel.
“Yes!” Sergeant Boris responded.
They then heard the sounds that were unique to the scanners in the contact channel.
“Stay on your guard!” Jim said with a hand gesture.
David didn’t understand what was happening, and he looked at Daley with an inquisitive gaze.
“This is within the city defense limits and with the daily cleanup by the crows, it’s usually hard to see a larva without specially looking for them. However, there’s something wrong with this situation because we managed to find two larvae so quickly!” Daley explained as he was alerted.
“Reporting, no other lifeforms appeared other than you guys!” Sergeant Boris reported.
“Let’s be more careful down here, and if things seem amiss, get back in the car immediately!” Jim said in a solemn voice. He did not relax at all.
“David, the Bugs larvae might move underground. Although they might be slower, their vitality fluctuations cannot be detected by the scanners!” Daley explained again to David.
The few of them did not bother about the carcass of the Bug larva. They were not crows, and the shell of the larva was of low value. They felt that it was not worth their time.
However, Jim was still leading the team in front and slowly advancing to the side.
David found Jim to be an absolutely good leader. He was thoughtful, not impulsive, and would put their safety first before everything else.
They managed to cover a distance of 200 meters within three minutes. A large hole appeared in the chest of the larva’s body, which ran through its back.
“Maron, what kind of marksmanship is that? You’ve ruined the strengthened meat!” Jim barked at the identity bracelet in displeasure.
“Isn’t there still a portion of strengthened meat here?” David asked, pointing at the larva’s back.
It was true that there was a huge wound on the larva’s back and a small half of the strengthened meat had been penetrated through. However, most of the strengthened meat remained intact.
“The flesh and organs of the larvae are poisonous. Consequently, as long as the strengthened meat is tainted with the rest of its flesh and organs, it will no longer be edible!” Jim said as he pointed at the sore.
At this moment, David also discovered that after two minutes, there was no longer any response from the Shadow Servant which had been staying beside the carcass of the Bug larva.
That result made David a little disappointed as well. Putting aside the matter of the strengthened meat, that item was a common battle spoil that was shared between everyone. However, the larva’s soul was a good item that uniquely belonged to him.
“Maron, it’s such a waste for you to have the Eye of Death replica!” De Quincy sneered mockingly.
“De Quincy, at the very least, I killed one Bug larva. How about you?” Maron answered in a hostile manner.
“Stop, keep the contact channel clean!” Jim stopped the argument that the two of them were about to start. In turn, he felt the onset of a terrible headache.
While they were speaking, the Bug larva carcass on the ground suddenly moved and Daley and Jim immediately fired with their D200 Assault Rifles at the same time.
The Bug larva corpse was struck by a barrage of bullets that sent its green blood and flesh flying. However, David also saw the larva that was right below the Bug larva carcass that had revealed a section of its head. Its head had already been shattered by multiple bullets.
“Are these Bugs crazy?” Jim cursed. He did not like surprises.
Nevertheless, with the appearance of the battle spoils, harvesting them was a priority. If there were no battle spoils, why would he recruit people to team up and kill the larvae?
Although they were accompanied by the heavy-armored hovercar and a professional soldier, he had requested that from the military, and there was a fee for requesting such services.
Although Jim often used Lieutenant Eden’s status and authority to get his matters done, his actions would often be done without violating the military discipline.
Without the spoils, he would not even be able to pay Sergeant Boris’ salary this time, let alone the cost of renting a heavy-armored hovercar.
“Daley, De Quincy, you two start digging with me while David stays alert!” Jim commanded.
Afterward, the three of them whipped out their daggers and began digging the Bug larva carcass out of the soil.
David looked around carefully. Now, he was no longer entrusting his safety to the Shadow Servant as the danger below ground was not detected by the Shadow Servant in time.
“Pack up the strengthened meat of this larva. We will return to the armored hovercar immediately!” Jim said as he started digging.
“The situation doesn’t seem right either. Did someone launch a sneak attack on us!?!” Daley had a chilly gaze in his eyes. It was his first time encountering the situation before him, which seemed rather abnormal, even though he had gone out of the city numerous times in the past.
“Seriously, who’s trying to mess with us? I’ll show him what I’m made of. Unfortunately, my clothes will have to be sacrificed!” De Quincy said while digging.
His white trench coat was now stained with dirt, but David also noticed that De Quincy wasn’t really that concerned with his outfit. He did not care about his clothes at all when he was needed. He simply followed all of Jim’s instructions.
“Who told you to wear a white outfit when you knew that we’re going out of town!?!” Maron asked via the contact channel. However, this time, De Quincy did not retort, as he was digging with all his might.
Together, the three of them were soon digging out the Bug carcasses while Jim wiped the dagger on his body twice. He then quickly dissected the carcasses. This time, he did not slow down to give a demonstration to David. Within less than a minute, he had already removed two portions of strengthened meat.
He placed the two portions of strengthened meat into the bag that he had prepared, put the dagger away, and picked up the D200 Assault Rifle again.
“Let’s retreat immediately according to the team formation just now!” he said in a deep voice.
The remaining three did not speak. Instead, they quickly got in place and began moving backward.
As soon as they took two steps, David saw the soil beneath De Quincy’s feet moving. He hurriedly pulled him away.
The moment De Quincy’s legs left as David pulled him away, two long, sharp spikes came flying out of the ground—sticking right through the air.
“Sergeant Boris, come over and pick us up!” Jim yelled at the identity bracelet. The D200 Assault Rifle blared and shot at the underground target.
At the same time, De Quincy and Daley too began to attack. Green blood began flowing from underground.
This time, no one dared to mention digging the carcasses out of the ground. Even David, who was not familiar with the environment in the wild, discovered that something was amiss.
“Yes!” Sergeant Boris exclaimed.
That made Jim feel rather assured. Given the short distance, they would be able to reach Sergeant Boris within just 30 seconds. Once they got on the hovercar, there would be no danger in boarding the heavy-armored hovercar.
“Lean back and be careful of the spot below your feet!” Jim instructed once more.
The Shadow Servant had just absorbed a ball of weak energy. Under David’s manipulation, it entered the underground space.
However, David was disappointed. Although the Shadow Servant could use its own ability to move through the ground, he could not see the underground situation. All the Shadow Servant could see was soil.
That forced David to send the Shadow Servant back to the surface. At least, he would still be able to discover if there were any larvae approaching the ground.
Although he was still controlling the Shadow Servant, he could feel the soil moving below his feet. Having gone through various battles in the illusion, he leaped up instinctively.
Before he could make his next move, the guns in the hands of the other three rang at the same time, attacking the larva that had only just revealed a portion of its limb.
Green blood surged out of the ground again, and this time, David spotted it just in time. The rest of them focused on attacking, causing the larva’s skull to be covered by only a thin layer of soil. It was extremely close to directly blowing up.
“I still have ten rounds of bullets, what about you?” Jim asked, looking at the display on the D200 Assault Rifle.
He did not expect to run out of ammunition. The D200 Assault Rifle still had two hundred rounds and was at full power, which would be enough for coping with normal situations.
Besides, the heavy-armored hovercar was just nearby, and they could replenish their ammunition at any time. He did not bring any spare ammunition with him either.
“I still have two rounds!” Daley exclaimed helplessly. Daley was even better at shooting.
“I’ve run out of ammo!” De Quincy said embarrassedly.
There were only a total of 15 rounds of bullets in his D15 Shotgun, which he emptied out in a moment of nervousness.
The heavy-armored hovercar had already been started in the distance. It would take some time to start due to its massive weight. Of course, the two heavy machine guns there were available for firepower support. However, the problem was that Sergeant Boris couldn’t give them any support because the target was underground.