4: Chapter 4 Hunting and Bait

The moment the blast door on level B3 opened, a cloying, bloody stench rushed toward them.

It wasn't the metallic tang of radioactive dust. It was pheromones.

A high concentration of tracking pheromones coated the hallway like grease, clinging to the peeling wall plaster. A pack of Sand Scorpions had been here; they were nearby.

"Sir."

Rat Eye's voice clung to him from behind, his deliberately lowered tremble brushing against his earlobe.

"There's a sound in the ventilation duct."

Lin Yuan did not turn back.

He knelt on one knee, his left hand pressing hard against the wound on his left arm, his right hand gripping a laser pistol. The dizziness from blood loss washed over him every few seconds, and hunger made his stomach feel as if a living creature were gnawing on his spine.

At the edge of his vision, the STC interface flickered faintly.

[Warning: Biological threat level increased]

[Suggestion: Sacrifice guide to activate emergency defense protocol]

[God-Emperor's Gaze: 0.5%]

Lin Yuan stood up.

"Follow close. Don't touch anything."

The exit was a half-collapsed concrete ramp leading to the surface ruins.

Moonlight leaked down through the cracks, illuminating the rubble like pale bones.

Lin Yuan took the first step. To his left, right, and rear, the sharp sound of arthropod limbs scraping against metal rang out simultaneously. Only directly ahead was it unnaturally quiet.

Surround on three sides, leave one open.

A flanking tactic from pre-war military manuals. These monsters were learning.

"Run."

Lin Yuan's voice cut through the air.

"Sprint toward the broken wall at the eleven o'clock position."

Rat Eye froze for half a second.

The shadows on the left exploded as three Worker Scorpions darted out in a fan formation. Lin Yuan didn't fire; instead, he grabbed a piece of debris and hurled it at a steel pipe on the right. The crisp sound caused the Sand Scorpions on the right flank to hesitate for a split second.

Lin Yuan grabbed Rat Eye by the collar and charged toward the broken wall. Behind him, the sound of arthropod limbs striking the ground was like a sudden downpour. It wasn't a pursuit; it was herding.

Behind the broken wall was a dead end, but there was a crack at the base of the wall.

"Get in."

Lin Yuan pushed Rat Eye into the crack.

"Don't make a sound."

The moment Rat Eye crawled in, Lin Yuan turned and raised his gun. As the first pursuing Sand Scorpion poked its compound eyes out, a blue light flashed. The sound of high-temperature tissue vaporization was like tearing cloth; the headless torso slammed against the wall, its limbs still twitching.

Lin Yuan stared at the rear.

In the darkness, dozens of points of light were moving. Worker Scorpions acted as meat shields in the front row, while soldier scorpions gathered strength in the back. On a steel framework in the distance, a giant Sand Scorpion rubbed its chelae, the high-frequency clicking echoing through the ruins. It was issuing commands.

His vision distorted.

Golden light exploded. Cold, yet scorching.

Lin Yuan saw a massive throne. Stars froze behind the throne. Countless eyes opened from the void.

Half a second.

The hallucination vanished.

Lin Yuan knelt on one knee, the muzzle of his gun pressing against the ground, cold sweat soaking through his combat suit.

"Sir?"

Rat Eye's voice came from inside the crack.

Lin Yuan looked at his left hand.

A drop of black liquid lay in his palm, Sand Scorpion blood mixed with human blood. The STC interface popped up:

[Unknown biological material detected]

[Analysis: 0.03% similarity to Tyranids genetic fragments]

[Warning: Mental corruption index rising]

Lin Yuan wiped the drop of blood onto his pant leg.

"Come out. We need to move."

Rat Eye crawled out, his hands fumbling at his waist for three flares.

"Sir, it's too dark. Shall I light the way for you?"

Lin Yuan glanced at him.

That look made the hair on the back of Rat Eye's neck stand up.

"No need."

They moved along the broken wall. The Sand Scorpion pack kept fifty meters behind, waiting for an opportunity.

Lin Yuan's temples were throbbing. The false sense of lightness brought on by blood loss, hunger, and radiation poisoning, combined with the mechanical chanting buzzing in his brain.

He was still calculating.

The laser pistol had one shot left.

One shot couldn't kill dozens of Sand Scorpions, but it could kill the commander.

That giant Sand Scorpion standing on the steel framework was eighty meters away, beyond effective range, with layers of cover and Worker Scorpion meat shields in between.

He needed bait.

Lin Yuan stopped walking.

"Rat Eye, give me a flare."

Rat Eye's eyes flickered.

He unhooked one and handed it over, his fingers inadvertently brushing the safety pin.

"Sir, this one is a bit loose; be careful not to trigger it."

The moment Lin Yuan took it, Rat Eye's elbow slammed into the rubble at the corner. The debris tumbled, making a harsh sound. At the same time, Rat Eye's thumb panicked and pressed the switch.

Hiss.

Blinding white light exploded in Lin Yuan's hand. It illuminated his position, his gun-holding posture, and the open ground within fifteen meters that lacked any cover.

The Sand Scorpion pack went wild.

Amidst high-frequency hissing, the soldier scorpions rushed out from behind cover, moving so fast they blurred into black shadows under the moonlight.

The moment the flare lit up, Lin Yuan moved.

He charged toward the only blind spot in the crossfire on the left, a tilted concrete pillar. The chela of the first soldier scorpion grazed his back, tearing his combat suit and drawing a trail of blood.

Using the concrete pillar for cover, Lin Yuan knelt on one knee and raised his gun.

In the scope, that giant commander was leaning out from the steel framework, its compound eyes reflecting the white light.

Eighty meters.

Wind speed three meters per second.

Angle slightly high.

Lin Yuan pulled the trigger.

A blue light flashed. The first shot hit the Worker Scorpion in front of the commander, piercing its carapace and continuing on to shatter the commander's left chela. The second shot was residual plasma forced out by the STC, striking the compound eye cluster dead on.

The giant Sand Scorpion tumbled from the steel framework like a collapsing mountain of flesh.

The moment it hit the ground, the entire Sand Scorpion pack froze.

Lin Yuan didn't waste that half-second.

He turned around, grabbed Rat Eye by the scruff of his neck as he tried to crawl back into the crack, lifted him like a chicken, and threw him toward the open ground ahead.

"Run! Run in a straight line!"

Rat Eye traced an arc in the air and landed on the edge of the open ground. He looked back in terror, thinking Lin Yuan would die in that open area, thinking the laser pistol was about to belong to him.

A hand reached out from the side and gripped his arm.

"Don't stop."

Lin Yuan's voice was terrifyingly calm.

"They're still chasing."

Rat Eye looked at Lin Yuan in terror.

This man was covered in blood; the wound on his left arm had burst open, and fresh blood dripped down his wrist. They crossed the open ground and charged toward the ruins on the opposite side. Lin Yuan observed the ground as he ran.

The Sand Scorpion pack was protecting something. They only attacked targets that tried to leave a specific path.

On the ground, the traces of pheromones presented a strange boundary pattern.

Lin Yuan led Rat Eye along the inside of the boundary. Sure enough, the Sand Scorpion pack behind them hesitated; their pursuit slowed, and the sound of their limbs rubbing together became hesitant.

Lin Yuan stopped in front of a concrete bunker.

An abandoned checkpoint, a pre-war military outpost; the thick concrete walls still maintained their basic structure. Several skeletons wearing rotting military uniforms were scattered at the entrance.

They rushed inside. Lin Yuan backhanded a piece of rebar to secure the iron door.

Outside the door, the footsteps of the Sand Scorpion pack stopped ten meters away, lingering but not attacking.

Temporary safety.

Lin Yuan slid down the wall to sit on the floor, raising his left hand to look at his palm.

The blood had dried. The black Sand Scorpion blood and red human blood had mixed together to form a strange crystal, like a tiny ruby.

Rat Eye huddled in the corner, shivering.

That flare accident, that motion of turning on the switch in a panic—it couldn't be hidden at all under Lin Yuan's gaze.

Lin Yuan took out the STC memory card and a carbon pen, recording on the wall:

[Military Log, Day 4]

[Location: Rust Canyon, District 7 Outpost]

[Ambushed by Sand Scorpion pack, confirmed tactical command capability (surround on three sides, feint, herding)]

[Encountered one betrayal, source: Guide Rat Eye. Disposition: Not executed, retained as consumable resource]

[God-Emperor's Gaze side effect: 0.5-second hallucination, mental corruption index rising]

[Laser pistol energy: 12%]

Rat Eye looked at those words. He didn't recognize them all, but he recognized "betrayal" and "Rat Eye".

His face turned deathly pale.

Lin Yuan turned his head to look at Rat Eye.

"Come here."

Rat Eye didn't dare move.

"I said come here."

The voice wasn't heavy, but Rat Eye felt his bladder almost lose control. He crawled over, his knees scraping bloody marks on the concrete floor.

Lin Yuan unholstered the laser pistol from his waist and placed it on the floor between them.

The gun was warm, its energy indicator blinking with a dangerous red light. Twelve percent.

"One more time."

Lin Yuan said, his voice as calm as if he were discussing the weather.

"You become a biological tribute."

Rat Eye nodded frantically, his face smeared with tears and snot.

Lin Yuan stood up and walked to the corner of the checkpoint.

There, a skeleton leaned against the wall, wearing a pre-war military uniform. The skeleton clutched a metal tag in its hand.

Lin Yuan crouched down and pried open the brittle finger bones.

The metal tag had words engraved on it:

[ARK-07 Project Security Director: Lin Weiguo]

[Clearance Level: Level 2]

[May humanity's glory last forever]

Lin Yuan stared at the name tag for a long time.

Lin Weiguo. His grandfather. The old man who had shoved him into the shelter when the apocalypse arrived had been at ARK-07 all along.

Lin Yuan tucked the name tag into his coat, against his chest.

There was also half an uneaten compressed ration bar and a yellowed family photo there.

Outside the door, the footsteps of the Sand Scorpion pack gradually faded, but the feeling of being watched remained.

Lin Yuan walked to the observation window and looked outside through the broken glass.

On the ruins in the distance, a thin wisp of blue smoke rose.

It wasn't a natural fire; it was a man-made signal smoke. In the rubble beneath the smoke column, there was a fresh footprint.

Standard military boot, size 44, standard equipment of the Anvil Gang.

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed.

He turned back to look at Rat Eye, who was shivering in the corner, and then at the laser pistol in his hand with only 12% energy left.

"Rest for ten minutes."

Lin Yuan said.

"Then we go to the marsh."

Rat Eye looked up.

"Sir, there are Anvil Gang people by the marsh. I've seen their boots."

Lin Yuan holstered the laser pistol back at his waist and adjusted his posture to keep the wound on his left arm from bleeding so fast.

"I know. Sleep. It will be harder from here on out."

Rat Eye curled up and closed his eyes.

But he didn't sleep. He was listening. Listening to Lin Yuan's breathing, listening to the movements of the Sand Scorpions outside the door, listening to the hissing of the blue smoke in the wind in the distance.

Lin Yuan sat by the door, his back against the cold concrete wall.

He took out the name tag and examined it in the moonlight.

Grandfather was here.

The Black Tower was ahead.

The Anvil Gang was in the shadows.

And he only had one and a half laser shots, a guide who had betrayed him, and a system that was eroding his sanity.

Lin Yuan gripped the name tag tightly and closed his eyes.

The second before he closed his eyes, he saw that golden throne again, and behind that throne, the endless, cold stars.