Chapter 246: Ambush on the Return Journey
After the alloy gate slammed shut, the muffled thuds of the tentacle worms frantically battering the door panel echoed through the thick rock layers. The sounds were heavy and continuous, like the defiant pounding of a subterranean behemoth. The five of them did not dare linger at the entrance. After simply wiping away the sticky black insect fluid clinging to their skin and using clean water to moisten cloth strips to clean their stinging wounds, they turned around and hurried back along the tunnel they had come from.
On their way in, they had marched toward hope, carrying the anticipation of finding supplies and calling for reinforcements; now, the return journey tasted entirely different. Everyone was injured, their minds continuously drained by the spores, and their physical stamina completely depleted. The communication terminal still rhythmically flashing with a red light in their arms was both their only hope and a highly conspicuous target. The ancient beings had already intercepted the pulse signal and would undoubtedly mobilize the scaled beasts along the route to intercept them in layers, aiming to seize or destroy the device.
The miner tucked the terminal tightly against his chest beneath his inner clothing, guarding it securely. He had retracted the external antenna to prevent it from scraping against the walls and swaying in the narrow tunnel. The pulse continued to broadcast outward. The faint coordinate signal endlessly pierced through the granite, drifting toward the six barrier cities. Whether the detection arrays would catch it remained an unknown variable.
Lin Yan walked at the very back of the squad, acting as the rear guard. His condition was the worst of the entire team. His back had taken a heavy blow from the tentacle, and the wound on his waist had repeatedly torn open. Blood soaked through the bandages and dripped downward. Every step he took pulled at his damaged meridians, sending waves of dizziness surging upward. Relying on the continuous circulation of his incomplete ancient martial arts internal breath, he barely managed to stabilize his Sea of Consciousness. His perception network remained fully expanded, capturing the hidden psychic fluctuations lurking in the rock niches and rubble piles on both sides of the tunnel.
"They won't just set up an ambush in one place," Lin Yan reminded the four ahead of him in a hushed voice. "The return route is shorter, but we left behind our scent, blood trails, and psychic traces on the way in. The scaled beasts will set up segmented ambushes, prioritizing the miner—they recognize the aura of the person carrying the terminal."
Walking ahead, the military police officer looked back, his expression solemn. "The collapsed crevice section is a natural death trap. The passage is too narrow to dodge a coordinated assault. When we went through, the worms were blocking the gap. We don't know if the swarm is still in the same spot."
"Worms move slowly; there's a high probability they are still coiled in the middle of the crevice," Lin Yan nodded slowly. "But the greater threat now is the scaled beasts. They will guard both ends of the crevice, waiting for us to crawl halfway in before sealing the exits simultaneously from the front and back. With loose rocks hanging above, worms below, and scaled beasts at both ends, it will be a dead end."
Unconsciously, the squad slowed their pace even further. The glow stones were dimmed to their lowest setting, providing just enough light to illuminate the rubble path beneath their feet. The tunnel was terrifyingly silent, filled only with the sound of shoe soles grinding against gravel, the heavy breathing of the squad, and the occasional low, suppressed hissing of scaled beasts from afar. The sounds were intermittent, making it impossible to tell which side cave they were hiding in.
After walking for about ten minutes, the scout at the front abruptly raised his hand, signaling the entire squad to stop.
The beam of the glow stone was directed at a recessed rock niche on the left. In the shadows, two pairs of crimson pupils glowed quietly. Two first-tier scaled beasts did not pounce immediately; instead, they lowered their bodies with their bone spikes aimed at the passage, silently waiting for the squad to enter their attack range. They were the first sentry post. Their goal was not to annihilate the squad, but to stall for time and notify more scaled beasts behind them to take their positions.
"Two on the left," the scout breathed extremely softly, his short blade silently sliding from its sheath.
"End this quickly. Do not engage in prolonged combat," Lin Yan said, stepping slowly forward from the rear of the squad. Blood loss had made his movements sluggish. "Miner, stay back with the terminal. Do not get close. Military police officer and scout, engage them from the front. Female support soldier, ambush the soft armor beside the eyes."
As the command fell, the scout and the military police officer charged out simultaneously from the left and right. The two scaled beasts roared as they met the attack, their bone spikes crossing and sweeping horizontally. The sound of metal clashing exploded in the sealed tunnel. The scaled beasts' targets were clear; several times, they deliberately bypassed the two fighters at the front, attempting to cross the battle line and pounce straight for the miner. They had been informed by the ancient beings that the person holding the terminal was the primary target.
Seizing the gap when a scaled beast turned, the female support soldier darted out with her body pressed close to the ground, her short dagger plunging fiercely beneath the eye socket of one of the beasts. The scaled beast shrieked in agonizing pain, frantically shaking its head. The massive force sent the female support soldier flying backward. Her back slammed heavily against the rock wall. She let out a muffled groan, forcing herself to stand up immediately and deliver a follow-up strike.
Seizing the opportunity, the scout thrust his short blade through the scaled beast's throat. Seeing its companion fall, the other scaled beast's ferocity did not wane. Abandoning its struggle with the military police officer, it suddenly turned and charged straight at the miner.
Lin Yan had been waiting on the flank all along. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he stepped sideways to block the miner's path, raising his short blade to parry the incoming bone spike. With a crisp clang, the massive impact traveled along the blade to his arm, numbing half of his body. The wound on his waist flared with tearing agony once more, and his vision instantly blackened. Gritting his teeth to hold his ground, he twisted his wrist. The blade slid up along the gap in the scaled beast's bone spikes, slicing open the soft tissue under its jaw.
The military police officer followed closely behind, delivering a single strike to finish off the beast.
The brief skirmish ended in a flash. The two scaled beasts lay on the rubble, their dark green blood slowly seeping into the cracks in the rock. The female support soldier had sustained a new wound on her shoulder, and her forearm was swollen and red from a scratch by the scaled beast's claw. The spores quickly bored into her Sea of Consciousness through the fresh wound, causing her to involuntarily shake her head.
"Are you okay?" the miner asked, supporting her.
"I'm fine. I can still hold on," the female support soldier said, biting the tip of her tongue. The sharp pain helped stabilize her scattering mind.
Not daring to linger, the squad briefly confirmed there were no other ambushes nearby and continued forward.
The closer they got to the collapsed crevice, the thicker the foul, fishy stench in the air became. Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness perceived that at least four scaled beasts had gathered on the outer side of the crevice entrance—the end they had originally crawled out of. Among them was one second-tier scaled beast, remotely coordinated and commanded by a secondary priest. The priest had not come to the front lines; it was hiding in a side cave further back, using the spore link to synchronize the vision of all the scaled beasts.
"The exit of the crevice is blocked. Four scaled beasts, one second-tier, and a priest directing remotely," Lin Yan stopped and relayed the intelligence to everyone. "Charging straight through is equivalent to walking directly into an encirclement. Furthermore, the worms are still inside the crevice. Once we crawl in, the scaled beasts outside will seal the exit while the worms inside close in. We will have no way forward or back."
The miner frowned tightly as he looked at the sketch. "There are no other forks in this tunnel here. To get back to the shelter pod, we must pass through this crevice. There is no way around it."
Lin Yan fell silent in thought for a few seconds, his gaze sweeping over the loose shale above that he had observed earlier. "A massive amount of rubble is suspended above the rock layer, and the structure is inherently unstable. Can we create a vibration to trigger a small-scale collapse? We don't need to seal the entire passage; we just need to smash the formation of the scaled beasts outside the crevice to create a window of chaos, allowing us to rush in."
"The vibration will startle the worms and might directly seal the crevice, burying us inside," the military police officer immediately pointed out the risk. "If the collapse is excessive, we will be sealed on this side of the tunnel, and we still won't be able to get back."
"Control the force," Lin Yan said, looking at the miner. "You understand the rock structure. Can you find a load-bearing isolated stone? We can concentrate our strength to pry it loose, making it fall directionally toward the outside of the crevice rather than the crevice itself that we need to pass through. The vibration will transmit outward, disturbing the scaled beasts outside, while the rock layer above the internal crevice will bear less force and won't completely collapse."
The miner walked forward to the outer side of the collapsed area. Using the glow stone's light, he carefully examined the overlapping layers of shale above, observing the direction of the cracks. A moment later, he turned back. "The half-suspended thick rock slab on the upper right is the main load-bearing block for the outer rock pile. If we pry it loose, the rubble will cascade outward, landing exactly where the scaled beasts are ambushing. But we only have one chance. Once we make a move, regardless of success or failure, we will be exposed immediately."
"Then we only get one chance," Lin Yan nodded. "Military police officer and scout, provide cover and watch the movements of the scaled beasts outside. The miner and I will combine our strength to pry the rock slab. Female support soldier, protect the miner and watch our rear to prevent any scaled beasts from chasing us from behind. Everyone prepare. Once the rubble cascades, take advantage of the beasts' chaos and immediately crawl into the crevice. Do not stop."
With the arrangements complete, the miner gripped his rock hammer tightly, and Lin Yan wedged his short blade into the gap beneath the rock slab to serve as a fulcrum for the pry bar. Standing on either side, they exerted force upward simultaneously. The rock slab emitted a dull creak, and fine sand rained down from the crevices in the rock layer.
The scaled beasts ambushing in the distance had already sensed the movement here. They lowered their bodies one after another, emitting vigilant, low hisses as they prepared to charge.
"Push harder!" the miner shouted in a low voice.
The two of them pulled with all their might at the same time.
Rumble—!
The half-suspended rock slab broke free from its base, cascading outward with a massive avalanche of rubble. It landed precisely on the open ground where the scaled beasts outside the crevice were lying in wait. The rocks slammed into the ground, debris flying everywhere, and a cloud of dust instantly filled the air.
Caught completely off guard, the scaled beasts were pummeled by the falling rocks, their wails echoing everywhere. Their previously neat encirclement fell into instant chaos. The second-tier scaled beast failed to dodge in time; a massive boulder grazed its back, tearing its flesh and leaving it grievously wounded. Sensing the collapse of its formation, the remotely commanding secondary priest experienced a chaotic disruption in its psychic link, leaving it no time to reorganize the troops.
"Go!" Lin Yan shouted in a low voice.
The five of them hesitated no longer. Following their order, they rapidly rushed to the entrance of the crevice and lay down one by one, squeezing into the cramped passage. Rubble continued to cascade behind them, and the dust poured into the crevice, stinging their throats. Inside the crevice, the dense swarm of worms had been startled by the massive vibration. They writhed frantically, surging toward the body heat of the living.
Lin Yan still walked at the end of the squad. As he crawled forward, he used his short blade to silently flick away any worms approaching his ankles or arms. His waist wound pressed against the rough rock surface; every inch he moved felt like rubbing against a blade. He was losing more and more blood, and the edges of his vision continuously blackened. Several times, his consciousness nearly sank into the darkness, kept alive only by the recurring, agonizing pain of biting his tongue.
From time to time, the miner's low voice echoed from the front, warning where the rocks were loose and where the worms were clustered. In the narrow passage, no one could speed up; they could only crawl forward inch by inch. The hissing of the scaled beasts and the rolling of rocks outside were gradually muffled by the rock layers. However, the priest had already stabilized its mind, directing the surviving scaled beasts to quickly circle around to the other exit of the crevice, setting up defenses once again at the end of their return journey.
Deep within the cavern, the Spiderweb Ancient Being quietly received the news from the front lines. The directional collapse had disrupted the first wave of ambushes, but the priest had already reorganized the remnants to guard the side of the crevice leading to the maintenance hatch of the shelter pod.
They are currently passing through the crevice, the intent of the Spiderweb Ancient Being flowed slowly. Lin Yan's life signal continues to weaken. The compounding of blood loss and Sea of Consciousness damage means he is nearing his limit. This time, there is no need for complex psychic traps. A direct frontal interception at the exit will suffice. He will not survive another brutal battle.
The supreme ruler did not respond, silently perceiving the pulse signal that continued to diffuse outward. The signal was still there, stubbornly piercing through the thick rock layers, drifting toward the six barrier cities.
Inside the crevice, the five were still struggling to crawl. The rustling sound of worms sliding over the rock surface was incessant in their ears, enveloped by the stench of rot. Lin Yan's movements grew increasingly sluggish. Several times, he briefly lost consciousness, only to be yanked back by the searing pain of his wound scraping against the rock.
No one knew how much time had passed when the miner's low voice finally came from the front: "I can see the light at the exit. It's in the direction of the maintenance hatch."
The exit was right in front of them.
But outside the crevice, crimson eyes had been waiting for a long time. The three surviving scaled beasts, including the wounded second-tier one, were blocking the tunnel outside the exit, quietly waiting for the moment they crawled out of the crevice to launch their final slaughter.
End of Chapter.
On their way in, they had marched toward hope, carrying the anticipation of finding supplies and calling for reinforcements; now, the return journey tasted entirely different. Everyone was injured, their minds continuously drained by the spores, and their physical stamina completely depleted. The communication terminal still rhythmically flashing with a red light in their arms was both their only hope and a highly conspicuous target. The ancient beings had already intercepted the pulse signal and would undoubtedly mobilize the scaled beasts along the route to intercept them in layers, aiming to seize or destroy the device.
The miner tucked the terminal tightly against his chest beneath his inner clothing, guarding it securely. He had retracted the external antenna to prevent it from scraping against the walls and swaying in the narrow tunnel. The pulse continued to broadcast outward. The faint coordinate signal endlessly pierced through the granite, drifting toward the six barrier cities. Whether the detection arrays would catch it remained an unknown variable.
Lin Yan walked at the very back of the squad, acting as the rear guard. His condition was the worst of the entire team. His back had taken a heavy blow from the tentacle, and the wound on his waist had repeatedly torn open. Blood soaked through the bandages and dripped downward. Every step he took pulled at his damaged meridians, sending waves of dizziness surging upward. Relying on the continuous circulation of his incomplete ancient martial arts internal breath, he barely managed to stabilize his Sea of Consciousness. His perception network remained fully expanded, capturing the hidden psychic fluctuations lurking in the rock niches and rubble piles on both sides of the tunnel.
"They won't just set up an ambush in one place," Lin Yan reminded the four ahead of him in a hushed voice. "The return route is shorter, but we left behind our scent, blood trails, and psychic traces on the way in. The scaled beasts will set up segmented ambushes, prioritizing the miner—they recognize the aura of the person carrying the terminal."
Walking ahead, the military police officer looked back, his expression solemn. "The collapsed crevice section is a natural death trap. The passage is too narrow to dodge a coordinated assault. When we went through, the worms were blocking the gap. We don't know if the swarm is still in the same spot."
"Worms move slowly; there's a high probability they are still coiled in the middle of the crevice," Lin Yan nodded slowly. "But the greater threat now is the scaled beasts. They will guard both ends of the crevice, waiting for us to crawl halfway in before sealing the exits simultaneously from the front and back. With loose rocks hanging above, worms below, and scaled beasts at both ends, it will be a dead end."
Unconsciously, the squad slowed their pace even further. The glow stones were dimmed to their lowest setting, providing just enough light to illuminate the rubble path beneath their feet. The tunnel was terrifyingly silent, filled only with the sound of shoe soles grinding against gravel, the heavy breathing of the squad, and the occasional low, suppressed hissing of scaled beasts from afar. The sounds were intermittent, making it impossible to tell which side cave they were hiding in.
After walking for about ten minutes, the scout at the front abruptly raised his hand, signaling the entire squad to stop.
The beam of the glow stone was directed at a recessed rock niche on the left. In the shadows, two pairs of crimson pupils glowed quietly. Two first-tier scaled beasts did not pounce immediately; instead, they lowered their bodies with their bone spikes aimed at the passage, silently waiting for the squad to enter their attack range. They were the first sentry post. Their goal was not to annihilate the squad, but to stall for time and notify more scaled beasts behind them to take their positions.
"Two on the left," the scout breathed extremely softly, his short blade silently sliding from its sheath.
"End this quickly. Do not engage in prolonged combat," Lin Yan said, stepping slowly forward from the rear of the squad. Blood loss had made his movements sluggish. "Miner, stay back with the terminal. Do not get close. Military police officer and scout, engage them from the front. Female support soldier, ambush the soft armor beside the eyes."
As the command fell, the scout and the military police officer charged out simultaneously from the left and right. The two scaled beasts roared as they met the attack, their bone spikes crossing and sweeping horizontally. The sound of metal clashing exploded in the sealed tunnel. The scaled beasts' targets were clear; several times, they deliberately bypassed the two fighters at the front, attempting to cross the battle line and pounce straight for the miner. They had been informed by the ancient beings that the person holding the terminal was the primary target.
Seizing the gap when a scaled beast turned, the female support soldier darted out with her body pressed close to the ground, her short dagger plunging fiercely beneath the eye socket of one of the beasts. The scaled beast shrieked in agonizing pain, frantically shaking its head. The massive force sent the female support soldier flying backward. Her back slammed heavily against the rock wall. She let out a muffled groan, forcing herself to stand up immediately and deliver a follow-up strike.
Seizing the opportunity, the scout thrust his short blade through the scaled beast's throat. Seeing its companion fall, the other scaled beast's ferocity did not wane. Abandoning its struggle with the military police officer, it suddenly turned and charged straight at the miner.
Lin Yan had been waiting on the flank all along. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he stepped sideways to block the miner's path, raising his short blade to parry the incoming bone spike. With a crisp clang, the massive impact traveled along the blade to his arm, numbing half of his body. The wound on his waist flared with tearing agony once more, and his vision instantly blackened. Gritting his teeth to hold his ground, he twisted his wrist. The blade slid up along the gap in the scaled beast's bone spikes, slicing open the soft tissue under its jaw.
The military police officer followed closely behind, delivering a single strike to finish off the beast.
The brief skirmish ended in a flash. The two scaled beasts lay on the rubble, their dark green blood slowly seeping into the cracks in the rock. The female support soldier had sustained a new wound on her shoulder, and her forearm was swollen and red from a scratch by the scaled beast's claw. The spores quickly bored into her Sea of Consciousness through the fresh wound, causing her to involuntarily shake her head.
"Are you okay?" the miner asked, supporting her.
"I'm fine. I can still hold on," the female support soldier said, biting the tip of her tongue. The sharp pain helped stabilize her scattering mind.
Not daring to linger, the squad briefly confirmed there were no other ambushes nearby and continued forward.
The closer they got to the collapsed crevice, the thicker the foul, fishy stench in the air became. Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness perceived that at least four scaled beasts had gathered on the outer side of the crevice entrance—the end they had originally crawled out of. Among them was one second-tier scaled beast, remotely coordinated and commanded by a secondary priest. The priest had not come to the front lines; it was hiding in a side cave further back, using the spore link to synchronize the vision of all the scaled beasts.
"The exit of the crevice is blocked. Four scaled beasts, one second-tier, and a priest directing remotely," Lin Yan stopped and relayed the intelligence to everyone. "Charging straight through is equivalent to walking directly into an encirclement. Furthermore, the worms are still inside the crevice. Once we crawl in, the scaled beasts outside will seal the exit while the worms inside close in. We will have no way forward or back."
The miner frowned tightly as he looked at the sketch. "There are no other forks in this tunnel here. To get back to the shelter pod, we must pass through this crevice. There is no way around it."
Lin Yan fell silent in thought for a few seconds, his gaze sweeping over the loose shale above that he had observed earlier. "A massive amount of rubble is suspended above the rock layer, and the structure is inherently unstable. Can we create a vibration to trigger a small-scale collapse? We don't need to seal the entire passage; we just need to smash the formation of the scaled beasts outside the crevice to create a window of chaos, allowing us to rush in."
"The vibration will startle the worms and might directly seal the crevice, burying us inside," the military police officer immediately pointed out the risk. "If the collapse is excessive, we will be sealed on this side of the tunnel, and we still won't be able to get back."
"Control the force," Lin Yan said, looking at the miner. "You understand the rock structure. Can you find a load-bearing isolated stone? We can concentrate our strength to pry it loose, making it fall directionally toward the outside of the crevice rather than the crevice itself that we need to pass through. The vibration will transmit outward, disturbing the scaled beasts outside, while the rock layer above the internal crevice will bear less force and won't completely collapse."
The miner walked forward to the outer side of the collapsed area. Using the glow stone's light, he carefully examined the overlapping layers of shale above, observing the direction of the cracks. A moment later, he turned back. "The half-suspended thick rock slab on the upper right is the main load-bearing block for the outer rock pile. If we pry it loose, the rubble will cascade outward, landing exactly where the scaled beasts are ambushing. But we only have one chance. Once we make a move, regardless of success or failure, we will be exposed immediately."
"Then we only get one chance," Lin Yan nodded. "Military police officer and scout, provide cover and watch the movements of the scaled beasts outside. The miner and I will combine our strength to pry the rock slab. Female support soldier, protect the miner and watch our rear to prevent any scaled beasts from chasing us from behind. Everyone prepare. Once the rubble cascades, take advantage of the beasts' chaos and immediately crawl into the crevice. Do not stop."
With the arrangements complete, the miner gripped his rock hammer tightly, and Lin Yan wedged his short blade into the gap beneath the rock slab to serve as a fulcrum for the pry bar. Standing on either side, they exerted force upward simultaneously. The rock slab emitted a dull creak, and fine sand rained down from the crevices in the rock layer.
The scaled beasts ambushing in the distance had already sensed the movement here. They lowered their bodies one after another, emitting vigilant, low hisses as they prepared to charge.
"Push harder!" the miner shouted in a low voice.
The two of them pulled with all their might at the same time.
Rumble—!
The half-suspended rock slab broke free from its base, cascading outward with a massive avalanche of rubble. It landed precisely on the open ground where the scaled beasts outside the crevice were lying in wait. The rocks slammed into the ground, debris flying everywhere, and a cloud of dust instantly filled the air.
Caught completely off guard, the scaled beasts were pummeled by the falling rocks, their wails echoing everywhere. Their previously neat encirclement fell into instant chaos. The second-tier scaled beast failed to dodge in time; a massive boulder grazed its back, tearing its flesh and leaving it grievously wounded. Sensing the collapse of its formation, the remotely commanding secondary priest experienced a chaotic disruption in its psychic link, leaving it no time to reorganize the troops.
"Go!" Lin Yan shouted in a low voice.
The five of them hesitated no longer. Following their order, they rapidly rushed to the entrance of the crevice and lay down one by one, squeezing into the cramped passage. Rubble continued to cascade behind them, and the dust poured into the crevice, stinging their throats. Inside the crevice, the dense swarm of worms had been startled by the massive vibration. They writhed frantically, surging toward the body heat of the living.
Lin Yan still walked at the end of the squad. As he crawled forward, he used his short blade to silently flick away any worms approaching his ankles or arms. His waist wound pressed against the rough rock surface; every inch he moved felt like rubbing against a blade. He was losing more and more blood, and the edges of his vision continuously blackened. Several times, his consciousness nearly sank into the darkness, kept alive only by the recurring, agonizing pain of biting his tongue.
From time to time, the miner's low voice echoed from the front, warning where the rocks were loose and where the worms were clustered. In the narrow passage, no one could speed up; they could only crawl forward inch by inch. The hissing of the scaled beasts and the rolling of rocks outside were gradually muffled by the rock layers. However, the priest had already stabilized its mind, directing the surviving scaled beasts to quickly circle around to the other exit of the crevice, setting up defenses once again at the end of their return journey.
Deep within the cavern, the Spiderweb Ancient Being quietly received the news from the front lines. The directional collapse had disrupted the first wave of ambushes, but the priest had already reorganized the remnants to guard the side of the crevice leading to the maintenance hatch of the shelter pod.
They are currently passing through the crevice, the intent of the Spiderweb Ancient Being flowed slowly. Lin Yan's life signal continues to weaken. The compounding of blood loss and Sea of Consciousness damage means he is nearing his limit. This time, there is no need for complex psychic traps. A direct frontal interception at the exit will suffice. He will not survive another brutal battle.
The supreme ruler did not respond, silently perceiving the pulse signal that continued to diffuse outward. The signal was still there, stubbornly piercing through the thick rock layers, drifting toward the six barrier cities.
Inside the crevice, the five were still struggling to crawl. The rustling sound of worms sliding over the rock surface was incessant in their ears, enveloped by the stench of rot. Lin Yan's movements grew increasingly sluggish. Several times, he briefly lost consciousness, only to be yanked back by the searing pain of his wound scraping against the rock.
No one knew how much time had passed when the miner's low voice finally came from the front: "I can see the light at the exit. It's in the direction of the maintenance hatch."
The exit was right in front of them.
But outside the crevice, crimson eyes had been waiting for a long time. The three surviving scaled beasts, including the wounded second-tier one, were blocking the tunnel outside the exit, quietly waiting for the moment they crawled out of the crevice to launch their final slaughter.
End of Chapter.