Chapter 16: Charging Toward High Ground Z3

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

About a minute later, the blue liquid glob stopped squirming, and the strange sound subsided.

Those giant beetles started to communicate again, but Qin Hao could not understand any of them.

After a while, a giant beetle went up to the blue liquid glob and punctured it with its front leg.

Blue liquid that carried no electricity flowed out of the five-meter-tall blue glob.

Following that, a naked human dropped out of the glob. Using his extraordinary vision, Qin Hao could see that it was the poor guy from earlier who had been dumped inside the blue glob.

“He wasn’t devoured?” Qin Hao was puzzled. Judging from the sound earlier, that unknown creature should have eaten the human.

The snapping sound of a branch pulled Qin Hao’s attention back. His jaw dropped when he saw the man stagger to his feet.

More shockingly, that human was communicating with the insectoids using their language.

“What kind of black magic is this?” Qin Hao had no idea what was going on, but he knew that it was extraordinary. When he tried to turn on his body cam to record what was unfolding before his eyes, he found that it was out of commission. Apparently, the acidic bug blood had burned a hole through the camera during the earlier battle.

“What should I do?” He was sure that what he saw was important intel for the humans. But those people in the Federation Army were not going to believe a private like him.

Nicole and Lucia were a few hundred meters behind him. They had a battlefield camera on their bodies as well, but it was too risky to move back to them now because of his close distance to those insectoids. If those insectoids discovered him, none of them could get out of there alive.

Just as Qin Hao was hesitating, the naked human’s body suddenly convulsed and glowed with a strange blue light, which turned into electric arcs. He dropped to the ground as the electricity charred his body.

Those insectoids communicated among themselves again. Qin Hao had no idea what they were talking about, but he could sense their disappointment.

A while later, those insectoids began to disperse and disappeared into the dense jungle. Meanwhile, that human was eaten by those insectoids, leaving no trace of him behind.

“What was going on?” Qin Hao was perplexed. Those insectoids had sacrificed two plasma worms just to interrogate a human? They must not have extracted any useful intel from that human judging by their disappointed look.

He quietly pulled himself back out of the bushes and returned to the two young women.

“What was going on out there?” Nicole’s keen eye had noticed Qin Hao’s unusual expression.

“There are a bunch of insectoids out there. We have to make a detour!” Qin Hao did not tell them what he saw. It was just too unbelievable. With no proof, they were not going to believe him.

“Okay!” Nicole and Lucia suspected nothing; they completely trusted him after he displayed his extraordinary abilities earlier.

Using Nicole’s coordinate device, Qin Hao quickly decided on an alternative route and moved toward the High Ground Z3. This time, they did not encounter any threat other than an ordinary giant beetle. It was not a challenge for Qin Hao, who cut it in half with the alloy sword in his hand.

“Z3 is just one click away.” Qin Hao stopped behind a mound.

“We finally made it!” Lucia breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at the setting sun. The last thing she wanted was to spend the night in the wilderness.

“The insectoids are surrounding Z3 right now. We will have to kill our way through!” said Qin Hao.

“Can’t we call for aerial rescue?” asked Lucia.

“Aerial rescue? Those aerial boys are not going to waste their fuel and time just for three freaking privates.” Qin Hao rolled his eyes. Although he knew Nicole was a special forces soldier and Lucia was a medic, the highest-ranked among them was only a lieutenant. The possibility of getting air support was low.

Lucia pouted in disappointment. Meanwhile, it seemed as though Nicole had something to say, but in the end, she remained silent.

“What are we going to do?” Nicole asked after a while.

“Just follow me closely. Don’t get separated!” Qin Hao said.

“Aren’t we waiting for nightfall? I thought moving in the dark is safer?” Lucia asked.

“Far from it. We’ll be at a disadvantage after nightfall. The insectoids have better vision at night than we do!” Qin Hao rolled his eyes. After he was infused with the insectoid’s gene, he gained a night vision ability. He believed that an actual insectoid’s night vision was far superior to his. If they were to wait until nightfall, they would face even greater trouble.

“We’ll do as you say!” Nicole nodded in agreement.

“Keep Lucia close to you. Once we are out of here, there will be no turning back!” Qin Hao could not emphasize it enough. Compared with Lucia, who was more naïve, he trusted the special forces soldier, Nicole more. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to let anything happen to her!” Nicole nodded.

“Good! Let’s get some rest, then we’ll get moving!” Qin Hao said.

Half an hour later, the three of them came out from behind the mound. After a while of rest, Qin Hao was in his peak condition. To further replenish his energy, he wolfed down another bug’s leg. He could not tell why; he just felt like he was getting hungry much easier now. Just as Lucia said, he could outeat pigs.

“Stay close to me!” Qin Hao instructed again. The last thing he wanted was to be forced to turn back to save the two young women while he was fighting in front. That would reduce their chances of survival.

“You got it!” Nicole held up her electromagnetic rifle to show it.

“Great! Let’s move!” Qin Hao nodded and smacked the alloy sword on his back. Then he led the way.

Qin Hao was moving quickly, almost as quickly as a long-distance runner. However, the two young women were no slouches either; they had powered exoskeletons, and keeping up with Qin Hao was a piece of cake.

As the three of them lunged out of the forest, High Ground Z3 was only 1,000 meters ahead. The insectoids were between them and High Ground Z3, so the presence of three humans was just unmistakably obvious.

“Kill!” Qin Hao yanked out the alloy sword from behind him, swinging it left and right. Those ordinary giant beetles were no match for him. They tumbled to the ground as their legs were chopped off.

Qin Hao was setting his eyes on his targets. All he needed to do was immobilize those insectoids as killing them would be too exhaustive and time-consuming. He needed to move forward as quickly as possible; he had no time to kill them.