Chapter 2862: Contaminated

[Hint: The player’s zombie clone (Licker) dealt 4,226 damage to the mutant worm leader (mutated Long-Legged Earth Dragon).]

[Hint: The player’s zombie clone (Licker) dealt 3,741 damage to the mutant worm leader (mutated Long-Legged Earth Dragon)…]

“Heh…”

Fang Heng saw the game hints displaying the commander-level mutant worm’s HP slowly decreasing and let out a disdainful chuckle.

Commander-level mutant worm.

So, it was nothing special after all…

As long as his clones attacked, they could take it down.

The Federation soldiers clenched their guns tightly as they watched the struggling mutant worm leader fall into a desperate situation.

Goodness.

Was a summoned creature really this terrifyingly powerful?

Even a commander-level mutant worm couldn’t break through the summoned creatures’ siege?

Zaka, watching from the side, felt his scalp tingle.

Everyone knew that a World Lord was strong, but they never had a clear concept of just how strong. Now, seeing it firsthand, a deep sense of helplessness arose within him.

Who could possibly fight against this?

Captain Zoran looked at Fang Heng and nodded slightly in gratitude.

If Fang Heng hadn’t stepped in, their temporary base would have had no chance of survival!

The players were still in shock at the strength of the summoned creatures.

“Boom! Boom boom boom!!!!”

Beyond the Licker defensive line, over three hundred meters from the camp, several elite-level mutated worms and another wave of commander-level insect swarms appeared, breaking through the Lickers’ blockade.

“Prepare to fire!” Zoran commanded steadily. “Hold them back!”

The Federation soldiers had already prepared. Their beam weapons locked onto and fired upon the elite and commander-level mutant worms that had broken through the defenses.

More Lickers continued to emerge from the rifts in the ground, pouncing once again on the insect swarm that the Federation had temporarily intercepted, firmly restraining them one by one.

There were still more?!

Just how many mutant creatures could he control at the same time?

Shilok glanced at Fang Heng, a trace of fear flashing in his eyes.

Come to think of it…

Where exactly had this guy, Fang Heng, come from?

Now that the situation had stabilized, Shilok’s wildly pounding heart finally began to calm down. He couldn’t help but glance at Captain Zoran beside him.

Zoran was quite the talent.

He had only spent a billion contribution points to recruit such a player?

That was a ridiculously good deal.

…

“The temporary stronghold actually withstood the mutant worm swarm’s attack? Interesting…”

Three hours later, Taylor stood in the main control room of the ship, listening to the report from his subordinates and muttering to himself.

“Have you found out the reason behind the sudden outbreak of the mutated insect swarm attacking the temporary base?”

“The military department will be conducting a joint investigation with the Inspection Department. No conclusions have been reached yet. However, after the camp resisted the first wave of attacks, they carefully examined a recent batch of transported materials and found that the teleportation materials were contaminated with a high concentration of pheromones. They suspect that the anomaly in the insect swarm was caused by these pheromones.”

“Oh? When did the contamination occur?”

“It is still under investigation, but I heard they are looking into Joachim.”

“Joachim? Why?”

“They say Joachim was near that batch of problematic teleportation materials earlier.”

Taylor narrowed his eyes upon hearing this.

Joachim?

He didn’t know much about Joachim. The only reason he had brought him along this time was because of Minister Zachary.

Did Joachim really have the guts to stir up such trouble?

As he was contemplating, two transition beams lit up inside the ship.

Captain Zoran and Western District Federation Chief Inspector Shilok stepped out from the transition passage.

“Gentlemen, you’ve worked hard. I heard that the battle at the temporary camp has come to an end.”

“The swarm has mostly dispersed. We managed to withstand the attack.”

During the defense against the swarm, Zoran had immediately ordered a portion of the suspected contaminated materials to be teleported away and destroyed as soon as he realized there might be an issue with the new batch of supplies.

After that, the swarm’s aggression instantly weakened.

It was clear that the pheromone contamination on the supplies was intentional.

As for who was responsible, Zoran already had a suspect in mind.

Joachim!

Zoran put the matter of revenge aside for the moment and felt somewhat relieved.

Fortunately, he had made the quick decision to pull Fang Heng back from his real-world mission. Otherwise, even the temporary base would not have survived.

“We discovered that some of the transported goods had high concentrations of mutant worm pheromones. We are suspicious of how the pheromones ended up there. Our inspectors will conduct further investigation,” he said.

Shilok nodded from the side, continuing, “We may need both of you, Captains, to cooperate with the investigation moving forward.”

Captain Taylor, upon hearing that an investigation was underway, remained silent.

Meanwhile, the ship’s operator looked up and reported, “Captain, the ship’s positioning has been completed. We can transition and evacuate at any time.”

“Captain Zoran, we just made contact with headquarters. The Xinghe ship will remain in this world for now to rest and await reinforcements. Once we’re done here, we’ll come as quickly as possible.”

“Alright, understood.”

“Well, if there’s nothing else, we’ll be heading out.”

Shilok nodded to Zoran as he bid farewell, “The inspection team will continue with the investigation alongside the Lanxing ship. Captain Zoran, farewell.”

“Safe travels.”

Meanwhile, below the ship, Wayne and his team of players transported the final batch of dismantled shipwreck parts to the surface and entered the underground cavern. They watched as the mutant worms began to block the cavern’s exits, each worm collapsing and gasping for air.

Finally, it was done.

Fang Heng stayed on the surface, watching as the ship was quickly overwhelmed by the mutant worm swarm. He shook his head slightly, silently thinking to himself how unfortunate it was.

With the ship’s destruction, the connection between the ship and its spawn mainframe was severed. For the time being, he wouldn’t be able to continue exchanging ores for contribution points using the mainframe.

Engineer Pang Li would rebuild the mainframe at a new location, finding a way to restore its function.

For the time being, aside from slowly accumulating ores, the only thing he could do was help Pang Li construct the ship.

Perfect.

Calculating the time, he thought that after a good rest, the Federation’s training team should arrive smoothly.

The next step would be to focus on completing the “unlock” tasks in the real world.

Fang Heng jumped into the underground cavern, commanding the Lickers to seal off the entrance completely. He glanced once more at Wayne and his team of players, who were resting.

“Alright, let’s wrap it up!”

…

Meanwhile, aboard the Lanxing ship, in the middle of a starship transition, Joachim was not happy.

“Tch… How did they manage to escape?”

He had heard that Captain Zoran had discovered the contaminated goods with pheromones and had acted decisively to eliminate them, allowing them to survive the mutant worm swarm’s assault.

“Joachim, what are you trying to say?”

“Captain, Fang Heng is dangerous. He needs to be eliminated as soon as possible.”

“I know you have some personal history with him, but you need to understand the current situation. This is not your time. Also, I’ve heard something quite interesting.”