There were many ways to get from the secret entrance to the training ground, so the team had no problems splitting up and approaching from two different directions. Although it was pitch black inside the ship, their armor’s low vision equipment functioned well enough to show them their surroundings clearly. Moreover, they were operating within their own starship. Shusag could probably navigate through the place with his eyes closed, and Cillin definitely could.
Cillin and Shusag were currently using a side passage that was rarely used even by the crew themselves. Judging from the smell and certain traces in the surroundings, Cillin and Wheeze were sure that neither the Navigators nor the A Squad had used this passage.
That didn’t mean that no outsiders had used the passage, however. On Cillin’s shoulder, Wheeze suddenly sneezed before complaining in disgust, “God, it smells awful in here!”
Shusag said nothing because he couldn’t smell anything at all.
As they continued forward, Wheeze started extending and retracting its claws unconsciously. Since Cillin’s own sense of smell was pretty sharp, he knew it was because they were getting closer to something.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, Wheeze leaped off Cillin’s shoulder and dashed up to a little thing that was attempting to run away from the group. The gray cat easily crushed it into a pool of sticky liquid with its paw.
In fact, Shusag had seen the creature even before Wheeze had made its move. It wasn’t even the only creature in the vicinity. Its appearance resembled that of a rodent, but it was covered in a sheen of metallic armor instead of fur. It didn’t reflect any light in the darkness, but he reckoned that it was pretty tough. Its limbs were thick and strong, and its claws were sharp enough to leave claw marks on the passage walls. When Wheeze was crushing it with its paw, he also caught a glimpse of razor sharp teeth before it died. It looked like it wanted to screech out in alarm but wasn’t able to do so in time.
What was even stranger was the fact that the rodent-like thing slowly transformed into a pool of sticky liquid after it died, assuming it was ever alive in the first place. Its tough armor and sharp claws also melted over time. Shusag didn’t know what the hell it was, but the stench Cillin had told him earlier had probably come from the creature.
The universe truly is a vast place.
Shusag had just finished expressing his amazement when he noticed that the rodent wasn’t alone. More were closing in on them seemingly with ill intentions. Shusag was going to kill them when Cillin stopped him and said, “Leave them to Wheeze and keep an eye on our surroundings. I think we’re going to have company very soon.”
To this day, Cillin hadn’t forgotten the man he had walked past while pretending to be a prison guard at the maximum security prison. Although the man had hidden himself quite well, the same could not be said for his eyes. It was very similar to the eyes of the rodents Wheeze were crushing right now: Crazed, cruel, and bloodthirsty.
Speaking of Wheeze, the gray cat was dashing about and crushing the incoming rodents with a level of speed that did not match its appearance at all. Shusag could not help but click his tongue in amazement as he watched the spectacle. Anyone who judged the gray cat by its appearance was guaranteed to have a bad time.
Suddenly, Cillin made a hand signal that caused Shusag to be on alert immediately. The commander told him again that someone was closing in on their location, but it wasn’t until a couple seconds later did he finally sense something.
As expected of a killer. If it wasn’t for Cillin’s warning, he would be at a greater disadvantage than he already was.
The enemy was clearly aware that Cillin was aware of his approach because he stopped trying to stay hidden after getting within a certain range. At the same time, massive hordes of rodents began pouring out from the front and rear of the passage and rushing their position. Some of the rodents were bigger than normal and probably harder to deal with as well.
Cillin moved a hand behind his back and made another hand signal. The long story short was that Shusag would handle the rodents, and he would deal with the silent man walking toward them.
Shing!
Shusag’s claws extended to full length as he put some distance between himself and Cillin. This way, they were close enough to help each other if needed, yet far enough apart to avoid accidentally hurting or impeding each other.
Cillin paid no attention to the rodents pouring in from the front and the back of the passage. Wheeze could handle everything from the front, and Shusag the back. He only needed to focus on the man slowly walking toward them right now.
The man walked closer and closer until he was about fifty meters away from Cillin, seemingly considering his next move.
For a time, neither the man nor Cillin moved a muscle. They both seemed to be waiting for the other person to arrive at a decision first
The rodent horde only increased over time even though Wheeze and Shusag were killing them as quickly as they could. Nearly half of the narrow passage in front of them was fully clogged by the rodents. To improve its killing efficiency, Wheeze extended its claws and tore every rodent that dared to come its way into itty-bitty pieces. It wasn’t long before the whole floor was covered in the disgusting liquid.
From time to time, Wheeze would kick its legs in an attempt to remove the filth clinging to its paws. To be honest, swallowing the rodents would be the cleaner and more efficient way to clear them out, but they just tasted too disgusting. That was why it would rather stomp on the rodents one at a time.
Cillin did not seem to care about the rodents. It was almost as if he couldn’t see them.
Suddenly, the young man dashed forward so fast it was as if he had teleported. Not a moment too soon, a hand suddenly burst out of the sticky liquid on the floor and swiped at the air where Cillin’s legs used to be. The hand had long talons that were shaped almost the same as the rodents.
The enemy had made a move first, but not only did he ambush Cillin, the commander was able to sever the strange arm with his blade.
The severed arm melted back into liquid after the failed surprise attack, but unlike the rodents Shusag and Wheeze were killing at a rapid pace, it actually carried a tinge of red. It was blood. It was also proof that Cillin had managed to wound the enemy.
The silent man standing fifty meters away from Cillin started melting from the head. From the start, the humanoid figure was just a ruse. His true body had been hiding in the rodent swarm this whole time.
Laton was feeling quite furious right now. He never thought he would lose an arm at the very first exchange. The young man wasn’t just fast, he had waited until the last possible moment before leaping out of harm’s way and severing his arm at the same time.
By now, Laton figured out that the young man was intentionally baiting him into overextending. If he wanted to, he could have jumped away even before his arm had emerged from the liquid. Two questions occupied his mind after the failed attack: How did the young man discover the location of his true body, and who on earth was he?
Laton knew every higher-up with exceptional combat capabilities in the A Squad of Vanguard, but the young man before him was definitely not among those people.
Laton had long since forgotten the prison guard that passed him by in that prison a few years ago, but Cillin had not forgotten him. The reason he was able to identify the location of Laton’s true body was because he remembered the guy’s scent, and it was quite different from the rodents around them.
If Shusag knew the truth, he might have mourned his poor sense of smell a second time.
Cillin stood still again after cutting off Laton’s arm. It looked like he was waiting for Laton to make another attempt.
However, Laton was feeling a lot more cautious after the sudden exchange. Cillin had proven to be faster than he was, so it would be folly to rush into another surprise attack. Instead, he chose to wait for a better opportunity.
More and more sticky liquid were gathering within the passage. The air was starting to feel vaporous as well.
Laton continued to wait at his hiding spot. So what if the young man could sense his rough location? He was unkillable for as long as he did not manifest his true body.
Suddenly, Cillin said something that Laton couldn’t understand, but both Shusag and Wheeze could. It was a code phrase that was commonly used in the Mist Bodhisattva military. Shusag understood it because he was a former soldier of the Empire. Wheeze did not actually understand the code, but Cillin had also conveyed his meaning in machine language.
While Laton was trying to figure out CIllin’s intention, the young man abruptly lifted a gun and aimed it straight at his location. At the same time, both Shusag and Wheeze leaped back to Cillin’s side.
Bang!
The gunshot sounded surprisingly soft. As soon as the bullet entered the pool of sticky liquid where Laton was hiding in, a layer of crystal immediately spread across its surface. The crystal swiftly thickened and encased everything within.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
A bloodcurdling scream resounded across the passage. At the same time, the attacking rodents suddenly started running into walls and objects as if they had lost their sense of direction.
Shusag felt as if the upper half of his body was encased in ice. The pool of sticky liquid Cillin had shot at was covered in a thick layer of “ice”, but he could tell it wasn’t actually ice because it didn’t feel cold at all. What chilled Shusag wasn’t the ice itself, but the two-thirds of a man flailing above the strange “ice”. It looked like he was trying to jump out of a pool of water, but the “ice” had frozen everything below the chest before he could do so. It looked disturbing to put it mildly.
Everything encased within the strange “ice” was completely immovable. Laton didn’t even manage to transform completely back into a human before two-thirds of his body were completely frozen. His upper arms were free, but everything below the elbow was also frozen. He extended a long, barbed tongue and tried to scrape away the ice with it, but a gun was pressed against his forehead before he could even begin his desperate action.
Bang!
His screams were still reverberating throughout the passage, but the rodents running all over the place had already melted into sticky stains.