Chapter 178: Terrifying Erect Apes!
On the other side, Ma Lou, who had also switched to a plasma greatsword, also achieved a victory, severing one of the monster's wrists with a single slash.
However, the Whip Wielders possessed astonishing vitality; despite being severely wounded, it remained extremely bloodthirsty, using its other front claw to grab the slightly less agile Ma Lou mid-air.
Its sharp claws scraped against the ceramic-gold armor, emitting a grating, teeth-aching sound, and the monster opened its mouth, which was almost nothing but rotten flesh, bones, and fangs, intending to bite Ma Lou's head.
"Brothers, save me!"
"Coming! Stop yelling!"
Ye Xing and Cao Yuan dived vertically from the air, their ranged weapons already replaced with plasma battle axes; both unfolded the collapsible titanium alloy axe handles, switching to a heavy weapon mode held with both hands.
Clang! Clang!
After two powerful, heavy-hitting Sprint strikes, the Whip Wielders's entire upper jaw was severed, and foul blood gushed out wildly.
Ma Lou's head was saved, and afterward, Guo Li Cheng also performed an aerial spin, turning back to attack, and everyone surrounded the prey, frantically hacking and slashing, creating a rather brutal scene.
All of this happened in a flash of a few seconds; afterward, the nearly dead Whip Wielders, with the four melee fiends still attached to its body, crashed heavily onto the ground covered with fallen leaves and humus.
When the dust settled, Rita and her subordinates were utterly dumbfounded.
What the hell—
This is unreasonably strong…
Whip Wielders is extremely skilled at jumping and three-dimensional maneuvering; you actually dared to attempt an aerial interception?!
Are these people completely insane?! Don't they value their lives!?
She even felt some sympathy for the Whip Wielders that had been brutally slaughtered; the corpse on the ground was so dismembered that it no longer resembled a beast, making it hard to imagine the immense pain it endured before death!
In Ye Xing's live stream, viewers also followed his perspective, enjoying a close-up, first-person view.
"Oh my god, so bloody, so violent! Although the object of the abuse isn't human, and even though I really like it, will this really not get banned?"
"Don't worry, just watch, kid; this game is said to have a backend now."
"Holy crap, did I miss a lot of episodes?! Has our combat level evolved to this extent?"
"It's too flashy; are the elite players all monsters? This is completely different from the new player dungeon clearing on Li Star's side—"
"Indeed! One is raiding in World of Warcraft, and the other is a Devil May Cry SSS combo that makes your scalp tingle."
After the other fortunate Whip Wielders landed, it merely tilted its head to glance over here, then whimpered and bolted into the depths of the jungle without looking back.
This extremely cruel and bloodthirsty predator, a specially evolved warrior within its species, was actually scared witless by this Cangyuan Seven-man Team; realizing that victory was hopeless, its survival instinct instantly took over its brain, completely replacing its previously high morale.
At this point, the live stream chat erupted with even more joy.
"It actually ran away, how pitiful—"
"Hahaha! I think you guys are the monsters!"
"From the monsters' perspective, it's really quite terrifying—"
Ye Xing smugly put his hands on his hips and leaned back in a tactical pose.
What do you call a dominant species?
What do you call a terrifying erect ape?
What do you call the number one instigator of the Fourth Quaternary extinction event?
Our guys didn't disgrace Earth!
"Alright, everyone, don't let your guard down; quickly check your equipment status and remaining fuel for your flight packs."
After Lu Yuan landed, he immediately reorganized the team.
He was also happy about completing the breakthrough hunt, but as a leader, he still had to be strict when necessary.
The environment on this planet does not allow anyone to be overly relaxed.
"Yes, Boss!"
A few minutes later, Emerald Life Science's field team also descended from the giant tree.
After personally confirming the corpse of the Whip Wielders that died from excessive damage, those who had been more or less arrogant before now became exceptionally well-behaved, their eyes even clearer.
At this moment, they finally understood that what these outsiders had shown during their joint training was far from their true strength.
That was merely a hunting plan formulated according to the prey's combat power; the reason they hadn't competed fiercely was simply because their supplies were limited and they wanted to conserve ammunition!
Now, with the opponent upgraded, Cangyuan finally started to get serious.
"I'm truly sorry, Executive Officer—" Rita quickly approached Lu Yuan, "I shouldn't have—"
Lu Yuan smiled and raised a hand.
"You don't need to apologize for something like this; frankly, it has no practical meaning whatsoever. I can understand your previous difficulties, and as for whether we cooperate well going forward, the choice is still in your hands."
"I understand!"
Rita nodded excitedly, her eyes completely different from before.
"So, how do we proceed from here?"
Ah, this state is much better.
Morale is like that; no amount of pep talk is as effective as a real victory.
Lu Yuan could have chosen to bypass the two "gatekeepers" they just encountered and found a structural weakness on the building's exterior wall to breach the ruins using the old ONC blasting method.
But that would have lacked the triple effect of testing their own strength, training, and boosting morale.
"I think those two just now were like Level 1 BOSSes, gatekeepers! They were just for testing our equipment level and operational skills!"
Black Smoke displayed the demeanor of an old comrade, using language most understandable to gamers to encourage everyone.
"Since we can take down the gatekeepers, it means this dungeon is suitable for us. Everyone, cheer up, go all out, and just follow the Executive Officer's command!"
"Black Smoke is right! Let's smash through it in one go!" Ye Xing raised his arm.
Although the field team members didn't quite understand, they were also infected by the atmosphere, and their morale was greatly boosted.
"Um, did anyone get injured just now? We have emergency gel here!"
"We can help carry your secondary weapons; that way, it's more convenient when you need to switch them than having them on your back."
"Need water refills? Let us carry any other non-combat supplies too! You'll have less weight!"
In short, a thousand words converged into one sentence:
Boss! Please carry us!
This time, they truly latched onto a powerful backer.
Lu Yuan nodded slightly in thanks and pointed to the architectural entrance passage not far away.
"Then I suggest we enter the ruins normally. We'll still need you for guiding."
"Okay!"
The dungeon journey continued.
As soon as they entered the passage, everyone heard the roars of Whip Wielderss again, and not just one.
Ma Lou: "No way, there's more?"
Guo Li Cheng: "Oh good! More flesh and bones, the more the merrier! Hehehehehe—"
Jubian: "Oh my god, sis—can you please be normal? You're giving me the creeps—"
Ye Xing: "She's like she's returned home."
Cao Yuan: "No, listen carefully, these aren't angry roars, and the timbre is different too."
"It is different, indeed." Rita confirmed Cao Yuan's judgment.
"The ordinary Whip Wielderss inside the nest are much smaller and thinner than the warrior-type ones guarding outside; their combat power is only about one-third. They must have sensed the outcome of the battle outside through pheromones and are now feeling fear, demonstrating to us."
"So, should we take the main path?"
Lu Yuan looked at the main passage in front of them; its height and width both exceeded 20 meters, likely built originally to facilitate the movement of large equipment in and out of the research institute.
Rita shook her head gently.
"Although the Whip Wielderss inside the nest are weaker, they are social animals and understand how to fight in groups. It's still very dangerous if we get surrounded, mainly because our ammunition is limited."
That was true.
Lu Yuan would adopt any reasonable suggestion.
While the power armor now had infinite energy, various projectile weapons still consumed ammunition, and even "Dragon Breath" required rare gases, so their sustained combat capability was still limited.
Rita walked a few dozen steps forward and pointed to an open airtight door on the side of the passage.
"Let's take the small path, Executive Officer! More than 100 years ago, our ancestors explored here and found that it roughly led to the Grand Dome in the core area, but they didn't go all the way to the end at that time."
During previous exchanges with Emerald Life Science, Lu Yuan had already learned that over the past four centuries, generation after generation of field teams had entered the ruins from over a dozen different entrances, but had never reached the central Grand Dome.
The furthest they ever went was still over a kilometer in a straight line from the Grand Dome.
The entire ruin area was simply too vast.
In other words, the guiding service provided by Emerald Life Science was only useful in the initial stages of the "dungeon."
"Alright."
Lu Yuan walked to the entrance of the small path, saw something wriggling in the darkness, and immediately unleashed a fully charged "Dragon Breath."
A large number of terrestrial "barnacles" attached to the ceiling and walls were incinerated, their long, venomous tentacled coelenterates dangling from their scorching carapaces.
Life on this planet either eats others or gets eaten by others; wildness is their nature.
Subsequently, a "shasha" sound came from deep within the passage, and the radar alarm went wild, prompting everyone to quickly retreat to the side.
A few seconds later, a large number of cockroach-like insects, about a meter long, scuttled and flew out, ignoring everyone, turning a corner and disappearing into the depths of the main passage.
"Holy crap!"
Ye Xing couldn't help but curse; to him, this was far more horrifying than the robust and graceful Whip Wielderss, practically sanity-draining.
"Just carnivorous cockroaches, not a big problem," Rita raised an eyebrow, unfazed, "They usually don't attack humans, unless they're giant mutated species."
"What?! This isn't considered giant?!"
Southern cockroaches, right?
How much more mutated do they need to be? Is there no basic law anymore?
Ye Xing was greatly shaken.
Amidst continuous bizarre experiences, the team continued to advance.
During this time, there were constant battles, big and small, with new species appearing endlessly, and they also encountered several small-sized Whip Wielderss, but the intensity and difficulty of the battles were far less than the boss battle outside the gate; it was just normal exploration and clearing of minor enemies.
In the narrow indoor environment, Cangyuan's combat experience was once again magnified; the method of "Dragon Breath" to the face, followed by melee attacks to dismember limbs, gradually evolved into a panacea tactic, becoming smoother with each battle.
Just two hours later, the team had already broken Emerald Life Science's previous exploration distance record, penetrating deep into the ruins, sweeping through numerous laboratories along the way, and acquiring a large amount of scientific research data.
Most of this scientific research data came from around 2750, and although it was 100 years after the peak of the golden age, it was still advanced enough.
And, it was very "niche."