12: Chapter 12 Underground Factory

"Clang!"

Flash swung his slightly dulled two-handed greatsword, slamming it hard into the skull of a giant worker ant. The impact made his hands go numb, and the greatsword only left a white mark on the dark brown carapace.

"Holy crap, this monster's physical resistance is way too high! Is this really a monster from a new dungeon?"

Flash complained while nimbly dodging the ant's mandibles, which resembled hydraulic shears.

"Don't tank it head-on, abuse the positioning!"

Liver Emperor held up his heavy iron round shield, taking the vanguard position.

A worker ant slammed into the shield with a dull thud. Liver Emperor gritted his teeth and held firm. "Ming Shen, stab it in the eye!"

"Thrust!" Ming Shen seized the opportunity, lightning-fast, thrusting his spear through the gap in the shield and precisely piercing the worker ant's compound eye, drawing out a smear of sickly green fluid.

Miracle Walker in the back wasn't idle either; the bowstring twanged repeatedly, blinding the worker ants attempting to flank them.

On this narrow high ground, the four players utilized the terrain advantage and crude melee weapons to execute an incredibly seamless coordinated attack.

"Awesome! The impact feedback is incredible!"

Flash kicked over the last worker ant and roared in excitement.

However, before they could even catch their breath, a deeper, teeth-grating clattering sound suddenly came from beneath the rock crevice.

Two soldier ants, a full size larger than the ordinary worker ants and covered in thick, pitch-black carapaces, crawled up the rock wall.

"Oh no, an elite monster spawned!"

Flash had sharp eyes and swung his greatsword violently at one of the soldier ants.

"Clang!!!"

This time, the greatsword was deflected high by the soldier ant's hard head armor. Flash was knocked back three steps by the massive recoil, nearly falling off the rock.

The soldier ant seized the chance to lunge, its sharp forelimbs slashing across Flash's arm, causing blood to spray out instantly.

"Hiss—that hurts!"

Flash sucked in a cold breath of pain.

The other soldier ant rammed into Liver Emperor like a small tank, the immense impact sending him flying backward, shield and all.

"Can't block it! This soldier ant's stats are overwhelming!"

Liver Emperor clutched his chest, coughing violently. "Ming Shen, use the trump card!"

"Understood!"

Ming Shen was prepared; he spun around and ripped the rag off the hand-cranked heavy crossbow.

"Walker, one for each of us, focus fire!"

The two of them rushed toward the heavy crossbows.

They hadn't been willing to use this thing earlier to deal with the agile worker ants, since reloading was too slow.

"Die, you bastard!"

Ming Shen and Walker pulled the triggers simultaneously.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two extremely dull, explosive bowstring sounds rang out.

Two thick crossbow bolts whistled out with terrifying kinetic energy!

At such close range, the soldier ant's prized armor was like paper; it was pierced straight through the skull by the heavy crossbow bolt and pinned firmly to the rocky ground, twitching a few times before going still.

"Phew... that was close."

The four of them slumped on the ground, gasping for air.

Ming Shen and Liver Emperor didn't even bother resting; they jumped up immediately, using their hands and feet to step on the heavy crossbow's stirrups and frantically turning the winch to reload.

"Quick, see how those two big bosses are doing down there!"

Flash bandaged his wound while peering toward the center of the depression.

The battle at the bottom of the depression had reached a fever pitch.

The Red-Eyed Ankylosaur Giant Lizard clearly held the absolute upper hand.

Its terrifying brute strength and thick, rocky scales made it feel like it was walking through empty territory amidst the ant swarm.

The hundreds of worker ants that were originally there were now basically all dead, the ground covered in a thick layer of green insect goo and severed limbs.

The buffalo-sized Queen Ant was now backed into a corner by the giant lizard, its carapace cracked in many places, leaking white bodily fluid.

"This giant lizard is too savage; it's a complete dimensional strike."

Walker swallowed hard.

Just then, a sudden change occurred on the battlefield!

The Queen Ant, seemingly about to have its head crushed by the giant lizard, suddenly and eerily raised its massive abdomen, which was covered in pitch-black plates.

"Pfft—!!!"

A stream of deep green acid, as thick as asphalt, sprayed wildly from the Queen Ant's tail like a high-pressure water gun!

The extremely pungent smell of chemical corrosion instantly filled the entire depression, and even the players up on the high ground smelled a wave of nausea.

"Awoo—!!!"

The giant lizard, drenched head-to-toe by the acid, erupted in a shrill, tragic roar.

Its thick scales, which even the soldier ants couldn't bite through, hissed like melting ice cream the moment they touched the concentrated acid, emitting large amounts of pungent white smoke.

Most fatally, a large glob of acid hit the giant lizard's eyes precisely.

The blinded giant lizard went completely berserk.

It rolled on the ground in agony, its thick tail whipping around randomly, smashing a large patch of rocks.

Then, with its tail tucked, it fled frantically like an out-of-control heavy truck toward the ruins to the west of the depression, quickly disappearing into the rolling dust.

"Holy crap! What a plot twist! The boss actually got beaten and ran away?!"

Flash widened his eyes and exclaimed.

The Queen Ant did not chase the fleeing giant lizard.

Its tattered antennae twitched violently in the air, catching the pheromones scattered in the breeze.

Soon, its compound eyes locked firmly onto the four players on the high rocks.

"Not good! We pulled aggro! It smells us!"

Ming Shen reacted instantly, his scalp tingling. "Dodge! Get behind the rocks, quick!"

The Queen Ant didn't give them a chance to breathe; it raised its massive abdomen high again.

"Pfft—!"

A rain of acid filled the sky, covering the rocky position on the high ground!

"Liver Emperor, hold the line!"

"Leave it to me!" Liver Emperor roared, holding up the iron round shield with both hands, tightly protecting himself and Ming Shen behind him.

"Sizzle, sizzle—"

The strong acid landed on the shield, instantly triggering a violent chemical reaction.

Liver Emperor felt his hands lighten; the originally thick iron round shield was thinning at a visible rate, its surface pitted and pockmarked, with the edges even beginning to melt and drip.

"My durability! This is true damage!"

Liver Emperor wanted to cry but had no tears; he didn't dare retreat a single step.

Seizing the gap between acid sprays, the Queen Ant dragged its tattered body and charged up the steep rocky slope at a terrifying speed that didn't match its size!

"It's charging up! Fire!" Ming Shen roared.

"Boom! Boom!"

The two newly reloaded heavy crossbows roared again.

"Squish!"

One crossbow bolt hit one of the Queen Ant's front legs precisely, pinning it through.

But the other bolt flew past, grazing its carapace due to the distance.

The Queen Ant, despite having a leg pinned, didn't slow down at all. It let out a frenzied hiss, its massive mandibles clacking, and it was less than thirty meters from the players' defensive line!

"Damn it, no time to reload!" Walker said, sweating profusely.

"Let's go for it! The worst that can happen is a 24-hour ban!"

Flash showed no fear, his eyes even glowing; he gripped his greatsword tightly with both hands.

"I've lived this long and never tanked a monster this big head-on! Brothers, prepare to trigger the execution animation!"

At this life-or-death moment, the four members of The Fourth Calamity felt not a shred of fear; instead, they were all in a state of extreme, excited gaming adrenaline.

Just as the Queen Ant opened its blood-red maw, preparing to swallow these four reckless humans in one bite!

From the shadows of a larger rock behind them.

"Hum—"

The micro high-pressure nitrogen engine inside the halberd instantly overloaded, emitting a heart-palpitating, low-frequency hum.

Lin Li engaged his waist, his spine like a fully drawn bow, the muscles in his right arm bulging as he hurled this Golden Age weapon with all his might at the charging Queen Ant below!

"BOOM—!!!"

A visible white sonic boom cloud instantly exploded in the air!

The players hadn't even reacted to what happened, only hearing a terrifying boom overhead that seemed capable of tearing their eardrums.

Immediately after, a dark gray afterimage, like a bolt of divine retribution, pierced straight through the Queen Ant's pitch-black carapace!

"BANG!!!"

Accompanied by a dull, fleshy explosion.

The body of the buffalo-sized, terrifying Queen Ant actually exploded from the inside out!

Green fluid, white viscous matter, and shattered black carapace fragments rained down in front of the players like a downpour.

The massive impact kicked up a gale, knocking the four of them off balance.

The four members of The Fourth Calamity, who had just been clamoring to brawl with the boss, now stood frozen, weapons raised, staring dumbfounded at the crater ahead, where the Queen Ant's corpse had been reduced to a pile of minced meat and debris.

The dark gray halberd was planted silently in the center of the deep pit, the shaft still vibrating slightly.

"Gulp."

Someone, it wasn't clear who, swallowed hard.

"What... what kind of damage multiplier is that?"

Flash's eyes were about to pop out. "Scripted kill? Or did a god descend to earth?!"

Just as the four were shocked beyond measure.

A steady, powerful sound of footsteps slowly emanated from the shadows behind them.

Lin Li, wearing a tattered black trench coat, walked out from behind the rocks with an expressionless face.

The wasteland wind blew against his coat tails, accentuating his cold, inscrutable, and imposing Dawn Commander aura to the extreme.

Under the gaze of four pairs of eyes filled with fanaticism and worship, he walked calmly to the edge of the pit, gripped the halberd shaft with one hand, pulled it out gently, and retrieved the halberd.

"Holy crap! Boss Dawn!"

"Commander is mighty! Is this the legendary Wasteland Sword Immortal?!"

"Boss, are you selling this skill? I'll pay real money! I'll sell everything I own just to learn it!"

The four players instantly swarmed him like an exploding pot, chattering and bickering frantically. Their worshipful gazes made it seem like they wanted to kneel down and sing praises to Lin Li right then and there.

Lin Li's wide coat collar covered half his face; he gritted his back teeth, forcing himself to hold back from laughing out loud.

[part:gemini-3.0-Flash]

It was more intoxicating than eating ten lollipops at once.

He slightly raised his halberd and slammed it heavily onto the ground, interrupting the players' chatter with an icy tone that showed utter indifference to all living things.

"Kindlings, put away your pointless wonder. This is but the most insignificant obstacle in this universe."

Lin Li cast a cold glance at the bottom of the hollow.

"The threat has been cleared. Move forward and enter the drainage pipes."

...

As several torches were relit, the dim underground drainage pipes were once again illuminated by a faint yellow glow.

This time, Lin Li was the one walking at the very front of the group.

He carried the halberd, still stained with the Queen Ant's fluids, in one hand. His steps were steady, and his black trench coat swayed slightly in the chilly draft.

The four players followed closely behind like well-behaved children, not even daring to breathe too loudly for fear of ruining the commander's cool aura.

Climbing back up the slippery iron ladder into the basketball-court-sized underground maintenance room, the sight before them made everyone break into a cold sweat.

This was clearly the ant colony's nursery and storage room.

A pungent, sour, and rotten smell filled the air. In the corners, dense clusters of translucent ant eggs, the size of ostrich eggs, were piled up.

The space was scattered with various industrial equipment, intricate metal pipes, and...

Mountains of white cubes!

Lin Li's gaze instantly bypassed the scrap metal and fixed firmly onto those white cubes.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, these should be food.

"Food! Finally, there's some damn food!"

On the surface, Lin Li remained as calm as still water and profoundly mysterious, but beneath his trench coat, his heart was pounding wildly with excitement.

The dead-end situation of the Shelter running out of food, and the lives of those dozen or so people in the settlement, were finally saved!

"Commander, this place is practically a treasure trove!"

Liver Emperor's eyes lit up as he lunged toward a metal instrument that was missing half its body, attempting to pick it up.

"Look at this alloy material, this wiring! If we could move this back to the workshop, we could definitely salvage a lot of high-grade parts!"

Thud!

Old Liver's face turned red as he strained with every ounce of his strength, but the instrument remained as if rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.

"Save it, Old Liver. This is a game with a 100% realistic physics engine."

Flash walked over and patted the heavy base of the instrument.

"This thing weighs at least two or three tons. With our current strength attributes, we won't move it a single millimeter even if we work ourselves into a hernia."

"Damn, this is so frustrating!"

Old Liver was grief-stricken, but he had come prepared, pulling four dusty, tattered burlap sacks from his waist.

"If we can't move the big stuff, we'll scavenge the small stuff! Brothers, pack it up!"

The four members of The Fourth Calamity instantly transformed into wasteland locusts.

They unceremoniously stuffed things that looked like precision electronic boards and small components into their sacks.

Naturally, they didn't pass up those white protein cubes that gave off a sweet, fishy scent. Although they didn't know what they were, in a survival game, you never leave behind anything you can pick up.

Of course, they only picked up the ones with intact packaging.

"Isn't this game a bit too realistic?"

Miracle Walker complained breathlessly as he stuffed a heavy circuit board into his sack.

"In other virtual MMOs, everything goes into a spatial inventory. This crappy game actually makes players carry everything by hand? Does the damn developer dare to release a spatial ring or something? Even a larger tactical backpack would be fine!"

"Alright, Walker, stop complaining. This is what you call 'hardcore'!"

Flash chuckled, holding a slimy ant egg in his hand. "Do you think if we take this back and roast it, it'll burst with juice?"

While the others were frantically looting, Ming Shen, who was searching deep within the ruins, suddenly shouted:

"Brothers, Boss! Come look at this!"

Lin Li walked over at the sound.

Deep within the room was a massive alloy blast door covered in thick, mutated lichen.

The door was at least five meters high. On its surface, one could faintly see complex gear-driven mechanical locks and a Golden Age emblem that had been blurred by time.

Ming Shen was scraping the grime from the door's seams with a dagger, his face full of excitement. "Looking at these specs, we're at best in the outer drainage area of a food factory. Behind this door is the true underground core facility of that Gaobo Nutritional Paste Processing Plant!"

Old Liver swung his short axe, hacking viciously at the door's seam.

Clang!

Sparks flew as a piece of the axe's blade chipped off, but the massive alloy door didn't even have a white mark left on it.

"No good, it's locked tight. Physical demolition is out of the question."

Old Liver shook his numbed wrist and shook his head helplessly.

"Looks like this door is a map boundary for a future version. We'll probably have to wait until we get high explosives or unlock advanced cutting tools to open it."

Lin Li nodded slightly nearby, silently noting down these coordinates.

Biting off more than one can chew is unwise. Getting these protein cubes and electronic parts today was already exceeding the mission goals.

If there was something even more perverse than the Queen Ant hidden behind this door, with their current state, they would definitely just be delivering themselves as takeout.

"Kindlings, greed is a major taboo for survival."

Lin Li turned around at the right moment, his voice low. "Take your spoils. We are retreating."

"Roger! Commander!"

The four players hoisted their bulging burlap sacks and followed Lin Li with satisfaction, climbing back down the iron ladder into the dark and damp drainage pipes.

"This run was a total win! When I get back, I'm definitely upgrading those two heavy crossbows to semi-automatic!"

Ming Shen carried his sack, his mind racing with new mechanical blueprints as he walked.

However, just as they were about to reach the massive drainage outlet and prepare to leave this underground area.

Lin Li, who was at the front of the group, suddenly came to a dead stop!

Drip... drip...

The sound of dripping water in the pipes continued, but Lin Li felt the ambient temperature drop by more than ten degrees in an instant without warning!

His awakened Pureblood Gene gave him an extraordinary perception of 9 points.

Just a second ago, his spine felt as if it had been pierced by a cold current, and every hair on his body stood on end!

This was an instinctive tremor deeply etched into the very foundation of biological genes—the feeling of being stared down by some absolutely terrifying apex predator!

Lin Li spun around, his dark eyes fixed on the deepest part of the sewer, an absolute darkness that even torchlight could not penetrate.

"Alert!"

Lin Li's voice was more stern than ever before, even carrying a faint, imperceptible tremor.

The halberd in his hand was instantly held across his chest in a posture of absolute defense.

Seeing Commander Dawn, who had just been invincible, suddenly acting as if facing a great enemy, the smiles on the four players' faces instantly froze.

"Holy crap... what's wrong? Did another mob spawn?!"

Flash reflexively dropped his sack and gripped his chipped greatsword with both hands, his palms instantly drenched in cold sweat.

There was no roar of a monster, no sound of a massive body rubbing against the pipe walls.

Only a deathly silence.

But it was precisely this silence that gave everyone a spine-chilling sense of suffocation.

"Walker, light!" Ming Shen roared in a low voice, making a split-second decision.

Miracle Walker didn't hesitate to pull a spare torch from his waist. After lighting it, he swung his arm wide and hurled it fiercely into the endless darkness where Lin Li's gaze was locked!

The burning torch traced a parabola in the air, its dim yellow light instantly tearing through the darkness.

The moment the firelight illuminated the depths of the pipe—

Everyone's breathing completely stopped at that very instant!

In the deep water section of the pipe, about fifty meters away, a figure stood quietly.

It was a humanoid creature.

But its height reached an incredibly exaggerated two and a half meters or more!

That suffocatingly tall silhouette cast a distorted and elongated shadow under the torchlight.

It wore only extremely simple, one might even say tattered, coarse cloth clothing. Its exposed skin showed a paleness from having not seen the sun for a long time.

It didn't roar like a mutated beast, nor did it brandish claws like an insect.

It just stood there quietly in the waist-deep water, its emotionless eyes silently watching Lin Li and the four players not far away.

The moment those eyes locked onto him, Lin Li felt his brain buzz. An indescribable sense of dread tightened around his heart like a venomous snake.

It wasn't a mutated beast! It wasn't an Ork! And it certainly wasn't an insect!

What on earth was that thing?!

The torch fell rapidly through the air and hit the water with a splash, instantly extinguished.

Darkness swallowed everything once again.

After only a fleeting glimpse, that tall figure standing two and a half meters high vanished completely into the deepest part of the pipe along with the extinguished light, as if it were a hallucination.

“Whew... whew...”

In the deathly silent sewer, only the sound of five people breathing heavily remained.

"What... what the hell was that?"

Flash's voice was trembling, and his greatsword quivered slightly in mid-air.

"A hidden NPC? Or... a new dungeon Boss?"

"Maybe..." Ming Shen squinted. "He's the true protagonist of the original Warhammer world. After all, this game is called Warhammer 40K, not Wasteland."

Liver Emperor was also quite familiar with the Warhammer game lore and thought of something instantly. "He couldn't be a Space Marine, could he? He certainly fits the size, but why would a Space Marine appear here? And he's not wearing power armor, that doesn't make sense."

"Let's head back first."

Lin Li interrupted their conversation and waved them forward as he walked out.