Chapter 77: Chapter 73: Tier 2 Tiger Spine Zergs, Confronting the Mother Empress

The Cyan-winged Zergs circling in the sky were locked onto by the Eye of the Death God and taken down with headshots, turning into a series of falling fireballs. Before they even hit the ground, their burning husks turned to ash.

With the threat from the sky neutralized, the army of Black Spine Zergs behind them was being held back over a kilometer away, thanks to the combined efforts of Chen Yanyan and Jiang Yun’er.

Lin Feng wanted to raise his muzzle and test the new power of his modified Firepower Coverage, but he figured killing more Tier One Zergs was useless right now. ’Better to leave them for the RV and Chen Yanyan,’ he thought.

Jiang Yun’er, however, wasn’t using a Replica, so she couldn’t share in any of the profits from the kills. Essentially, Lin Feng was letting her fight for free.

A few more minutes passed. After they had put some distance between themselves and the Black Spine Zerg Swarm, the crisis was temporarily averted. Lin Feng looked at the starlet beside him, still frantically mashing the fire button, and grabbed her right hand.

"Alright, that’s enough!"

The ammo-belt box was already more than half empty. ’She’s burning through it like it’s nothing.’

Lin Feng said coldly,

"Calm down! Take a rest. It’s all over."

Shaking off her hand, Lin Feng sat cross-legged on the observation deck. Wisps of smoke still curled from the muzzle of his gun, but there were no targets left to hit.

So he took the opportunity to initiate his own Upgrade. A warm current flowed from the gun into his body, alleviating his fatigue.

Jiang Yun’er froze. A few seconds passed before she finally reacted. Propping herself up with her hands as she lay on the floor, she had an expression of utter disbelief.

"It’s... It’s over..."

"We won?!"

"We survived?!"

Lin Feng didn’t respond to the woman’s muttered, idiotic questions. Instead, he stared grimly into the distance, watching the massive army of Black Spine Zergs disperse after losing its target.

More than ten minutes had passed since they first encountered the Black Spine Zerg patrol and repelled their main army.

’If things went smoothly, Cheng Zhan and the others should be nearing the Hai City Suburban Area by now.’

Meanwhile, twenty kilometers behind the main Black Spine Zerg army, two modified Jeeps carrying Cheng Zhan and his team sped down the highway.

With large numbers of Black Spine Zergs gathered at the edge of the territory, their path was completely clear. They were lucky enough not to encounter a single one.

The only resistance they met were a few scattered Red-Armored Beetles, which were picked off one by one with silenced rifles by the teammates on watch.

Before the Alien Zerg Race invasion, this group had been an elite special forces unit within the Thirteenth Division. In addition to regular training, they had participated in numerous special operations drills.

These drills included infiltrating deep into enemy territory for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, sabotaging key facilities, and carrying out decapitation strikes against high-value targets.

The current situation was their specialty.

Though they only had two vehicles and twelve men, both squads were comprised of the elite of the elite.

They had now safely infiltrated the Zerg Race’s heartland. As far as the eye could see, apart from the straight highway beneath them, there was nothing but a stretch of yellow-and-black scorched earth.

The yellow was mud, the black was zerg droppings.

There was nothing else. Like a plague of locusts had passed through, not a single blade of grass remained. It was a complete wasteland.

A teammate couldn’t help but say,

"Once we drive out this damned Alien Zerg Race, maybe the soil in Jiangnan will become even more fertile."

The teammate in the back seat, holding a Machine Cannon, shook his head.

"It would be irrigated with the blood and flesh of humanity."

Soon, the highway toll station finally appeared before them.

The familiar structure brought a glimmer of hope to their eyes, but in the next instant, a massive, hideous figure appeared behind it.

The jeep was now only four or five hundred meters from the toll station, and the figure’s bright yellow markings were already clearly visible.

It was a quarter the size of the toll station, standing over six meters tall and more than ten meters wide, like one of the dilapidated three-story farmhouses nearby.

This was their true target.

The elusive Tier Two Zerg Race—a Tiger Spine Zerg!

A large zerg several times stronger than a Black Spine Zerg!

Realizing the danger, the special ops team immediately prepared for battle.

Two jeeps, four Machine Cannons, and two large-caliber Mortars were aimed and ready.

Cheng Zhan raised his gun and gave the order:

"Stop the vehicles! We can’t get any closer!"

Any closer, and it would be difficult to effectively use their heavy firepower—the 100mm Mortars.

The jeeps screeched to a halt, and the men inside immediately steadied themselves. Without waiting for their captain’s command, they adjusted their aim and opened fire.

The roar of the Machine Cannons and the WHOOSH of the Mortars were followed by a series of explosions around the distant Tiger Spine Zerg.

As the ROAR of the explosions echoed back...

When the dust and smoke cleared, the bright yellow figure was gone. But Cheng Zhan and the others did not relax their guard.

They knew this much firepower couldn’t kill a Tier Two Zerg outright; at best, it would only inflict heavy injuries. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

This had been their initial goal.

The plan was to use their heavy weapons to neutralize the Tier Two Zerg’s threat from afar, then move in for the close-range kill. This would allow them to complete their Tier-Jumping Secondary Awakening.

Yet, when the smoke and dust settled, there was no trace of the Tiger Spine Zerg.

Seeing the confused looks from his men, Cheng Zhan hesitated for a moment before giving the order to advance.

Besides the two Mortars, the only other weapons they had that could threaten a Tier Two Zerg were the four man-portable missiles in their trunk.

The four Machine Cannons were effective against Black Spine Zergs, but against a Tiger Spine Zerg—with its doubled Attributes—it was questionable if they could even land a hit at close range. Even if they did, the Damage would be extremely limited.

This was the first time any of them had faced a Tier Two Zerg. Everything about their opponent was an unknown.

Even though the creature had just been bombarded by Mortars, Cheng Zhan didn’t let his guard down. As they drove forward to investigate, he had the men in the back get four rocket launchers ready, just in case.

These were maximum-caliber 120mm rocket launchers equipped with infrared tracking—the special ops team’s final trump card.

The twelve men drove the jeeps up to the toll station, their nerves on edge. Aside from the damaged buildings and the craters in the ground...

...there was no sign that the Tiger Spine Zerg they’d targeted had been injured at all. Not even a single drop of blood could be seen.

In an instant, a cold chill ran up from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads!

Then, the jeeps they were in began to shake slightly.

But the jeeps were already stopped!!

Pulling their gazes back from their fruitless search, the men saw the fractured ground around the jeeps suddenly begin to writhe. It bulged and buckled, causing the tires to sink into the dirt.

The shaking grew more and more violent!

No matter how hard the drivers slammed on the accelerator, the jeeps only sank deeper!

"Dammit!!!"

"This is a zerg pit!"

Cheng Zhan scrambled out of the window onto the roof and voiced the worst-case scenario everyone had already feared.

"We’re trapped in one of the Zerg Race Mother Empress’s tunnels!"

"Run! That Tiger Spine Zerg from before hid in the pit! This is a trap!!"

As Cheng Zhan shouted, countless yellow Giant Mandibles burst from the viscous, liquefied soil, tearing at the jeeps.

They were trying to destroy the special ops team’s only foothold.

A few team members deployed ropes, firing grappling hooks that latched onto the steel-frame canopy of the nearby toll station. They began to climb rapidly.

There was still hope of escape!

But just as they were about to pull themselves to safety, a cyan flash shot past.

The Cyan-winged Zergs had appeared!

Their attack instantly snapped the high-tensile ropes, sending the men from one vehicle plummeting back into the ever-collapsing pit.

Cheng Zhan was the last one up; he was still on the roof of the jeep when the ropes snapped.

Seeing his last hope of escape shattered and looking at the pit—now dozens of meters wide—his expression turned grim. He quickly emptied his backpack of bullets and supplies, then stuffed it full of Mortar shells.

He slung the pack onto his back and leaped directly into the pit.

He didn’t know how long he sank through the viscous mud, but when Cheng Zhan finally awoke...

...a strange, fluorescent green light was flickering nearby, illuminating the dim space.

Not far in front of him, a colossal beast lay prone in the cavern. A countless Red-Armored Beetle Swarm surrounded it, endlessly bringing it food.

As it slowly raised its head, hundreds of its basketball-sized eyes turned to look at the newly captured humans...

In an instant, Cheng Zhan felt an immense, invisible pressure crush him. His Spirit descended into chaos, and he collapsed to the ground. Using his last shred of sanity, he desperately gripped the shoulder straps, clutching his backpack tightly.

He began to crawl forward...

wanting to get closer...

just a little closer to this Mother Empress.