During its escape, Uka noticed a narrow passage deep within the cave. The passage was pitch black, and it had no idea where it led.
But at that moment, it couldn't care less; it lowered its head and plunged right in.
The passage was incredibly narrow; most of the giant rats were stuck outside, with only a few smaller ones still hot on its heels.
The sharp squeals echoed in the narrow passage, making Uka's scalp tingle.
Relying on its nimble body and newly acquired strength, Uka darted left and right in the passage, sometimes abruptly turning to lash out with its tail.
Other times, it would spray molten stream to block them, and after a great deal of effort, it finally managed to shake off these rats.
After running for an unknown amount of time, Uka was utterly exhausted and finally stopped, leaning against the cave wall, panting heavily.
All the strength in its body seemed to have been drained, its legs were weak, and it could only barely support itself against the cave wall.
After catching its breath, Uka began to examine its injuries. Although none of the wounds were fatal, each one was excruciatingly painful, making it gasp in cold air, and a sense of weakness washed over it in waves.
A wave of desolation rose in its heart, recalling how it had been a renowned existence in the previous era, yet now it was being chased by a group of rats, scurrying for its life.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only Uka's heavy breathing echoing in the passage.
Suddenly, a faint "rustling" sound broke the silence. Uka's heart skipped a beat, and it cautiously raised its head, its eyes fixed on the front.
A dark shadow was slowly wriggling in front of the passage, and as the shadow drew closer.
Uka finally made out its appearance: it was a huge Centipede, over a meter long, with countless legs densely packed on both sides of its body, moving at Fast Movement and emitting a spine-chilling sound.
The Centipede's head was held high, and green venom dripped from its two fangs, shimmering with an eerie light under the illumination of the glowing crystals, like two evil emeralds, exuding a deadly aura of danger.
Uka felt a headache just looking at it, and immediately recognized it as one of the strange insects from the strange man's Underground Base. Before Uka prepared to escape the Underground Base, it had basically observed the situation inside thoroughly.
What stood before it was a Rank 10 Annam Centipede that had been enhanced by Zhou Qi. A few days ago, following Zhou Qi's orders, almost all the dependents from the Underground Base, except for the Fifth-Order River Earl Insect, had been dispatched, searching all the way from White Snake Mountain until now.
Both the surface and the underground were being explored by Zhou Qi's dependents.
Uka looked at the menacing Rank 10 Annam Centipede before it, feeling a bitter taste in its mouth, and muttered to itself, "It's like bad luck opening the door for bad luck's mother; I'm utterly doomed!"
But it also knew that in this cursed place, even a hint of retreat would mean being captured and having mysterious energy poured into it by the strange man.
Before it could recover, the Rank 10 Annam Centipede launched its attack first. Its dense, long legs scraped frantically on the ground, producing a sharp and piercing sound that made goosebumps rise on Uka's scales.
In a blink of an eye, the Rank 10 Annam Centipede shot towards Uka like an arrow released from a bowstring, its raised head striking down with immense force, its two fangs like two poisoned daggers, aiming directly for Uka's neck.
Uka was rich in combat experience and narrowly dodged the fatal blow, feeling a cold breeze brush past its neck, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Taking advantage of the Rank 10 Annam Centipede's missed attack and unsteady center of gravity, Uka gritted its teeth, enduring the pain from its injuries, and kicked off with its hind legs, charging towards the Centipede's abdomen like an enraged bull.
Its head, as hard as a battering ram, slammed heavily into the Centipede's soft abdomen, emitting a dull "thud" that made the surrounding air tremble.
The Rank 10 Annam Centipede cried out in pain, its body coiling like a pretzel, countless long legs flailing wildly in the air, carving deep marks on the cave wall, and shattered rocks clattered to the ground.
Before Uka could catch its breath, the Rank 10 Annam Centipede, as if maddened, lunged again.
This time, its body, like a spring compressed to its limit, twisted rapidly, launching attacks from various tricky angles, making it impossible to defend against, and it spewed large amounts of poisonous smoke from its mouth.
Uka's face was covered in poisonous smoke, its eyes burning with pain. While dodging and weaving, it stumbled, and its body was still struck several times by the Centipede's long legs.
The wounds that had just begun to heal instantly burst open, and blood once again seeped out, quickly staining the ground around it. The air was filled with a strong scent of blood.
Uka panted heavily. This strange insect was just a low-level life form in its complete state, how could it be so fierce? It couldn't help but feel despair.
Just as Uka was gradually losing strength and its steps became unsteady, it suddenly noticed that while the Centipede was attacking, it was also releasing a strange fluctuation from its body, as if sending some mysterious signal.
Uka's heart sank, realizing that this strange insect was calling for its helpers.
Sure enough, not long after, a noisy sound, like a surging tide, came from deep within the passage.
Immediately following, a group of grotesque insects of various shapes and terrifying appearances surged forward. Some had huge thorny horns and were comparable in size to medium-sized dogs.
Others had bulging muscles, yet exuded the aura of a killing machine; each one emanated a dangerous aura.
Uka was now completely despairing. It couldn't even defeat one, and now a whole group had arrived. It collapsed onto the ground, thinking, "This is truly the end."
But just then, the giant rats that it had shaken off earlier also broke through the passage and rushed out from the other end.
It turned out that these mutated rats had been relentlessly pursuing Uka, following the scent of its blood and the traces it left behind.
Seeing the swarm of strange insects opposite them, the mutated rats seemed to ignite with rage, their fur standing on end, and they charged forward recklessly, clashing with the Fifth-Order Four Fiend Insect Soldier and other dependents.
For a moment, the passage was in chaos, shouts of battle, roars, and the sound of flesh tearing intertwined, making one's eardrums ache.
Although the rats were generally a bit larger than Zhou Qi's dependents, and their numbers from behind were endless, having bred for countless years in this Underground Base.
They gnashed their teeth and began to tear at any limb of the Fifth-Order Four Fiend Insect Soldier.
The Fifth-Order Four Fiend Insect Soldier was also not to be outdone. The powerful strength brought by the Four Fiends Insect Soldiers made it like Li Yuanba, feeling as if the sky had no handle and the earth no ring.
Its Solid Armor and limbs transformed into indestructible weapons, charging through the mutated rat swarm as if it were an uninhabited land.
It drew arcs of cold light in the air, disemboweling the approaching mutated rats, splashing blood everywhere, making the ground muddy and covered in shattered flesh and organs.