After that, the road turned into a monster-killing battle in which Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan took the lead, while the others followed up.
During the two-hour journey, they would encounter a malfunction of the lighting system every ten minutes on average. Every time it malfunctioned, it was when space creatures attacked them
Each time the space creatures attacked, Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan could always quickly detect their presence and dealt with them without causing any casualties.
Seeing that they were getting closer to their destination, the unscathed team members no longer had the initial nervousness and vigilance.
Compared with the relaxation of the team members, Li Cangshan and Bai Lixin became more and more serious.
Space creatures were intelligent beings.
After several fatal attacks, they continued to come at them in waves.
The two soon understood why they did this.
These space creatures were depleting their limited supply of flamethrowers.
Each time a space creature came, they had to use a flamethrower. Now, the flamethrower they had was the last one left on spaceship, with dwindling fuel. It was a weapon that decreased in quantity with each use.
In the three hours of their journey, they had already used the flamethrower twenty times. By calculation, there were only five or six uses left.
Although they were close to their destination, they still had to turn back.
Returning would be more difficult than coming because they also had to carry the cumbersome equipment.
Li Cangshan and Bai Lixin exchanged a glance, both seeing contemplation in each other’s eyes.
The shaking underfoot returned, and the overhead lights went out again.
Faced with this situation, everyone no longer panicked as they did at the beginning. The team members quickly formed a circle, hiding the less combat-capable rear support teammates inside the circle, while the outer circle raised weapons and looked all around vigilantly.
As for Li Cangshan and Bai Lixin, they stood back-to-back, carefully observing the sounds coming from all around.
Bai Lixin ignited the lightsaber, using its limited light to see the blurry surroundings.
A space creature always emerged in the darkness, and this time was not exception.
Everyone held their breath, listening to the footsteps beneath the trembling ground.
Just then, the “swooshing” sound arrived as expected.
A black shadow quickly crawled along the ceiling. As soon as the shadow landed, Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan attacked skillfully, and the battle was over before it began.
Bai Lixin firmly pinned the space creature to the ground, its limbs futilely clawing at the air.
Just as Li Cangshan was about to use fire to finish off the space creature as before, another “shua, shua” sound suddenly rang out.
Not just one, but several.
The swishing sounds came from several places. Bai Lixin listened carefully, identifying four sources of the sound.
This meant that at least four space creatures were maliciously watching them in the darkness.
In previous attacks, the most simultaneous appearances of space creatures were twice. This time, there were suddenly five simultaneous appearances. It was unclear if this was a coincidence or if there was some special purpose.
Bai Lixin, Li Cangshan, and the team members didn’t have the energy to think about unnecessary questions now. From the moment the sounds of the space creatures rang out, everyone had only one thing on their minds.
—Either they die, or we die.
A fierce battle unfolded in the darkness.
While the team carefully dealt with the attacks from the space creatures, they also noticed something astonishing beside them.
The lightsaber in Bai Lixin’s hand had actually grown longer.
Not only had it grown longer, but it also freaking curved.
The lightsaber was like a skewer on a barbecue stall, impaling the space creatures one by one.
The space creatures were stacked one on top of another, their limbs twisted, like cicadas not quite dead yet.
The light from the lightsaber illuminated the young man’s face, and his expression was colder than that of the barbecue uncle in the market flipping skewers.
Everyone couldn’t help but shudder.
After capturing the fifth space creature successfully, Bai Lixin looked at Li Cangshan, indicating for him to use fire before they recovered.
This time, Bai Lixin didn’t even retract the lightsaber. The space creatures were impaled on it, and the flames quickly spread from the first space creature to the last. In an instant, those space creatures who had intended to take their lives just moments before were reduced to a handful of black ashes.
Everyone: “…”
Literally barbecued!
The handsome young man flicked the lightsaber and his expression was so indifferent, as if he had just flicked a bamboo skewer: “Let’s keep going.”
Everyone: “Yes, boss, no problem, boss.”
They continued on for a while, and now they were only a few hundred meters away from their destination.
Seeing victory within reach, a team member couldn’t contain his joy and ran ahead of everyone else.
There was a corner up ahead, and without any hesitation, he turned it. Just as he disappeared from everyone’s sight, a cry of astonishment suddenly came from around the corner.
Big Guy hurried to catch up, and even he couldn’t help but cry out after turning the corner.
He just stood at the corner without going ahead, and although the others didn’t know what he had seen, the horror on his face made it clear that it was something terrifying.
Everyone followed suit and soon arrived at the corner.
The scene before them left them dumbfounded.
Some couldn’t bear it and turned around to retch.
In front of them, just a few hundred meters away from their destination, was a mass of web-like green threads.
But these threads were not the white of spider silk, but rather a dark green.
Entwined within the dark green webs were many items of clothing.
More accurately, they were entwined with many corpses.
They were completely unrecognizable, twisted into strange positions by the stubborn threads.
Some corpses had turned into bones, while others still had flesh hanging off them.
Some corpses were over two meters tall, while others were smaller.
The disorderly corpses were strewn across every inch of the green thread, densely packed and totaling over a thousand.
Pink Hair’s face turned pale and she took two steps back. “How could this happen?”
“The captain said there were only a dozen or so crew members on this ship, right? How could there be so many corpses here? Could he have lied to us? Maybe he’s not even a captain?”
Pink Hair widened her eyes and pointes to the torn clothes on the corpses in the middle of the green threads. “Look at their clothes, they’re the same style as ours. Could that captain be some kind of twisted caretaker who deliberately deceived us to feed these space creatures?”
One person’s suspicion led to another’s.
“Perhaps we aren’t the only ones who woke up on this ship.”
“The captain always lurks and waits silently.”
“When the number of awakened people reaches what he wants, he pretends to wake up, disguises himself as the captain, gains our trust, and sends us into this den.”
“Maybe even the solar flare fragments and earthquakes were fake.”
“You make a good point.” Pink Hair continued, “The meteor shower? It’s probably all a lie, isn’t it?”
“He didn’t come in because he knew everyone who came in would die, and he knew what the consequences would be if we came in, so he didn’t dare to come in himself.”
“Even the flickering lights above are probably manipulated by him, otherwise, how else can you explain that every time the lights go out, the space creatures launch an attack? It’s all a coordinated effort, isn’t it?”
“We’ve been deceived!” Pink Hair screamed in horror, her eyes red and filled with tears. “We’re finished, completely finished.”
“Shut up!” Bai Lixin was about to speak, but Li Cangshan beat him to it with an angry shout.
“The most taboo thing on a battlefield full of crises is suspicion!”
“All of this is just your speculation, but because of these unfounded suspicions, you doubt the comrades who have been helping us behind the scenes. Your actions only chill the hearts of other team members. You are simply not worthy of being a warrior.”
He paused. “Of course, you’re not even a soldier.”
“If the captain was really an accomplice, why would he go to such lengths to keep providing us with light?”
“He could have just cut off the power right after we entered the warehouse. Wouldn’t that have been much easier?”
“If he really was an accomplice, why would he give us such advanced weapons? He could have just not taken us to that secret armory. Who would have known about that room? When we came in, we’d just be holding the most ordinary laser guns.”
“If he was with the space creatures, he wouldn’t even have told us about the terrifying nature of the creatures in advance.”
“He could have had hundreds of reasons to lure us all into the warehouse without protective gear, without any weapons, to become a feast for the space creatures.”
“When the lights went out, the space creature launch an attack. What we should be looking for is the attack habits of these space creatures, not questioning and speculating about the logistics personnel silently maintaining a stable environment for us in the background.”
“When we’re fighting in the warehouse, the captain might be outside fighting against those meteorite formations to prevent the spaceship from being destroyed.”
“Just because we can’t see his silent dedication and only see the current situation, does that give us the right to accuse the team members of baseless suspicions?”
Pink Hair retorted with a pale face: “You also said it was ‘unfounded’, so are you sure that he will not betray us? What if our suspicions are true? Even a one-in-a-million chance means a hundred percent death.”
“From the moment we entered this warehouse, weren’t we already coming in with the belief that we might die?” Li Cangshan’s eyes were dark, his jawline tense, and his expression solemn. “Every battle has no concept of guaranteed victory or retreat. Even in battles that seem to have an absolute advantage, a slight mistake can lead to death. I treat every battle as my last, with a determination to die.”
“What’s the point of talking about one in million chance and one hundred percent death now?”
“Furthermore, I’m different from you. I trust the captain.” Li Cangshan paused, and his gaze fell on Bai Lixin. “I trust the captain because I trust the person standing next to the captain.”
Bai Lixin raised his head, making a confident and proud expression in perfect cooperation.
S419M: [Such eloquence, Lord Host. Other people’s speeches sound so sincere. And then there’s you, always just blathering.]
Bai Lixin: […]
‘White cat or black cat, if they can catch mice, they are good cats! When did the art of talking become divided into grades?
Rejecting involution starts from the system!’
————————————-
After Li Cangshan’s speech, no one spoke.
They looked at each other, stealing glances at Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan.
Finally, Pink Hair, with tears in her eyes and guilt written all over her face, said, “I’m sorry, I was just too scared and started thinking nonsense. I shouldn’t have doubted my teammates. I was wrong.”
Other people who had raised doubts also echoed similar sentiments, and the atmosphere became harmonious once again.
This sense of guilt and compromise might have come from the heart, or it might have been due to being overwhelmed by strength.
They had already witnessed Bai Lixin and Li Cangshan’s combat prowess during previous encounters. Now that Li Cangshan and Bai Lixin had expressed their stance, even if they continued to doubt, they could only swallow those suspicions.
That was the benefit of strength.
When in a position of weakness, people often go with the flow, but to become the one who leads, one must at least have convincing strength.
Bai Lixin wasn’t someone who liked to oppress others with force, but the influence derived from strength sometimes saved a lot of mental energy.
He wanted clear waters.
But if the waters remained muddy and turbulent, he was willing to be the needle that stabilized them.
Thinking of this, Bai Lixin couldn’t help but glance at Li Cangshan.
This kid looked simple-minded, but his mind worked faster than anyone else’s.
In just a few sentences, he had come up with a way to use himself as a shield.
With Li Cangshan and Bai Lixin’s joint efforts, the team’s trust crisis was smoothly resolved, and everyone set foot on the road forward once again.
Ahead of them were dense green thread-like substances blocking their path, but they didn’t see a single space creature.
Bai Lixin tried to cut these threads with his lightsaber. It could be said that the lightsaber was invincible. As soon as the sticky green threads touched the lightsaber, they immediately melted into a puddle of sticky substance. The drops melted to reveal a place that can accommodate one person passing through.
Seeing this, Bai Lixin told the team members beside him to “step back”. Everyone was puzzled, but they obediently took several steps back.
Only when he felt it was a safe distance did Bai Lixin stop them.
Then, he tightened his grip on the lightsaber, and the originally meter-long lightsaber quickly extended. Wherever the extended lightsaber went, the green thread-like substances all melted into a puddle of goo.
Everyone: “…”
He didn’t even bother to walk over and cut the thread-like substances.
After cutting the thread-like substances from the suspended ship’s hull, the substances fell to the ground and piled up into a small hill.
A hill made up of corpses.
Everyone looked at these tortured corpses, some were unable to bear it and turned their heads away.
Bai Lixin opened a part, revealing the skeleton wrapped inside.
The skeleton seemed to be a male skeleton. All the flesh on its body was gone, leaving only bits of flesh stuck firmly on the bones.
While others were averting their eyes, Bai Lixin scrutinized them closely. He not only looked at them from the front but even turned the bones over to inspect them.
After a long while, Bai Lixin finally shifted his gaze away from the skeletons.
Just when everyone thought his strange habit was over and was preparing to move on, Bai Lixin set the bones aside and picked up another body to examine.
This body appeared much more “mutilated” compared to the previous one.
Its flesh had been gnawed into a messy state, barely recognizable.
The others just glanced at it and turned their faces away, a mixture of blue and purple appearing on their faces.
After rummaging through these bodies for a long time, Bai Lixin finally stood up and looked at Li Cangshan. “Let’s go. We should be close to our destination.”
They proceeded through the area easily and arrived at the location marked by Dijia.
The devices they were looking for were right in front of them, covered in dust and casually placed in a corner, looking inconspicuous.
If it weren’t for the captain showing them the photos beforehand, they would have probably mistaken the capture devices for ordinary metal boxes.
They found the devices, but they quickly encountered a new problem.
The captain said there were three sets of claws, with two in each set.
But now, among the claws placed in the corner, only four looked usable, while the other two were severely damaged and unusable.
They could only bring back two sets of claws and the collection box.
Two sets would have to do. It was better than just one set, right?
Everyone even thought optimistically like this.
But then another problem arose.
These claws and boxes, made of an unknown material, were very heavy, especially the boxes.
It took four people to lift one, and they only had sixteen people.
They could only carry a maximum of four items.
That meant one and a half sets of claws and one box.
Looking at the intact claws, although the people felt some regret, they could only reluctantly accept this reality.
Four people per group quickly completed the distribution.
Because Pink Hair had the least strength, she was grouped with Bai Lixin, Li Cangshan, and Big Guy, who had relatively more strength.
The box was heavier than the claws. And as the only box that could hold the fragments, the burden naturally fell on Bai Lixin’s group.
Next was the return journey.
There were a total of three flamethrowers in the team. Initially, Li Cangshan, Big Guy, and another team member each had one.
Later, after entering combat, the other two became carriers for the flamethrowers. When Li Cangshan’s flamethrower ran out, they handed over the other usable one.
Unknowingly, there was only one flamethrower left, and within it, there were only five uses left.
The first part of their journey went relatively smoothly. Over this long period of time, they had also figured out the attack patterns of the space creatures.
They only attacked in the dark, and each attack was like a turn-based game. After one attack, they would pause for a while before launching another.
Perhaps because the space creatures had a relatively long cool down on their attacks, they preferred to disguise themselves, then get close to the target and defeat them with one move.
As before, when the space creatures attacked them, they put down their objects and entered combat mode.
During this time, everyone cooperated seamlessly and killed several waves of space creatures.
Until there was only one shot left in the flamethrower, the team’s restlessness reached its peak once again.
At this point, there was still over ten kilometers to go to the exit, and because of the excessively heavy burden, it would take them four hours to reach the door.
The space creatures seemed to know that they were at their weakest. When darkness fell for the fifth time, the sound of “shua shua” seemed to gather from all directions.
It wasn’t rare and scattered the last time when the five space creatures attacked simultaneously. This time, the “swooshing” sounds were extremely dense, as if they were in a beehive.
The sounds kept coming, but they didn’t attack. They seemed to be waiting for something.
For the space creatures, who didn’t play by any rules, if they didn’t attack, Bai Lixin wouldn’t just wait to be their meal. He also mercilessly swung his lightsaber, which turned into a whip of light with a life of its own in the darkness, impaling a string of space creatures.
“Li Cangshan, don’t use the flamethrower for now,” Bai Lixin shouted from the darkness.
Li Cangshan was covering Bai Lixin with laser fire. When he heard the command, he answered in between shots, “Got it!”
They were fighting, and the others weren’t idle either.
Several lasers kept lighting up the darkness, and the number of space creatures impaled on Bai Lixin’s light whip kept increasing.
Finally, Bai Lixin shouted, “Now, Li Cangshan.”
No sooner said than done.
A flame shot out from behind Bai Lixin, landing accurately on the bodies of those space creatures.
The light whip in the young man’s hand turned into a fire whip, burning fiercely. Wherever it went, it not only brought light but also set all the restless space creatures ablaze.
The fire whip in his hand moved like the wind, one hand wielded it, and the other rested on the metal box. “Let’s keep going.”
Seeing this, the others dared not delay and quickly picked up their objects, continuing forward.
Only when the lights came on and the surging space creatures retreated did the people, now exhausted and panting, dare to relax. But no one dared to slack off, not even Pink Hair, the smallest and lightest among them. She didn’t utter a word of complaint, but instead encouraged them, “Come on, we can definitely make it out alive!”
Perhaps the fear of death just now had ignited their desire to survive, and everyone even began to run.
They didn’t say anything, but they all knew that the next attack would be even more dangerous.
Because the flamethrower had completely run out of uses.
This realization hung over everyone like a mountain, making everyone become silent and taciturn.
The air became extremely heavy.
