Chapter 2916 The Source

Nairn looked into the distance and quickly understood Fang Heng’s strategy, feeling greatly astonished in his heart.

There was actually such a method?

Looking more closely, surrounding the vast swarm of mutant worms, Lickers were constantly emerging from cracks in the ground on the periphery. They divided into small teams of hundreds, scattered in various directions, and entered long-range deployment mode, using biological artillery to bombard the worm swarm.

The mutant worms lacked long-range attack abilities, so when attacked by the Lickers’ ranged attacks, they could only keep chasing after the Lickers. But just as they got close, the Lickers would burrow back into the ground and disappear, leaving the worms without a target, making them freeze in place.

Then, they would be drawn by attacks from Lickers on the other side, pulling their aggro again, repeating the cycle.

Though the worm swarm seemed endless in number, they were being pulled in circles by clusters of Lickers gathered in small groups at the center, constantly being worn down.

Seeing this, Nairn couldn’t help but open his mouth in surprise.

D*mn, he finally understood.

This was a tactical plan devised by Fang Heng!

It was incredibly effective against low-intelligence swarms.

Actually, Nairn thought that even if it weren’t worms but someone like himself, he wouldn’t stand a chance against such tactics.

So…

Under Fang Heng’s summoned creature control tactics, it looked like they weren’t needed at all?

Tch…

Lame.

Really lame.

Arkley had originally been ready to follow the elder into a grand battle, but ended up finding he had no opportunity to show off at all, leaving him a bit disappointed.

The others also looked at Fang Heng, only to see him close his eyes as if he were sensing something.

After a moment, Fang Heng opened his eyes again, staring at a distant swarm of worms, a suspicious expression in his eyes.

Arkley walked up beside Fang Heng and asked in a low voice, “Boss Fang, the worm swarm is huge. Please let us go down and help out to speed up the cleanup.”

“Hmm… no rush yet.”

Fang Heng stopped Arkley and turned to Nairn, “The Federation military has been here for a while. Have you investigated the source of the worm swarm?”

The source?

Nairn also looked up at the vast swarm ahead and thought for a moment before saying, “Most of the worms have been spreading from the northern region. Honestly, ever since we found the crystal worms in the ruins, we’ve been under constant attack from large numbers of worms, mostly forced into defensive positions. As for the true source, we haven’t investigated it thoroughly.”

“Mr. Fang Heng, based on my personal guess, the worm swarm likely originates from the ruins area.”

Arkley nodded in agreement. “Boss Fang, I think so too. I was present when Captain Zoran explored the mining area. Right after we collected the crystal worms, a huge number of Bone-Eating Fungal Ants emerged from every corner of the ruins’ catacombs. I think that place is very likely the mutant worms’ nest.”

“Hmm…”

Fang Heng lowered his head in thought.

*Ka-ka, ka-ka-ka…*

Cracks reappeared on the ground behind the group.

Lickers emerged from the ruptured rifts and quickly expanded the ground into an entrance.

“I’ll handle the worm swarm. Zaka, take Wu Xiao and go back to sort the materials. We’ll split up,” Fang Heng said, motioning to Wu Xiao and the other players behind him. “Grind hard–we still need a lot of contribution points.”

Wu Xiao felt a chill run down his spine.

What?

They came out for a bit, and now they were back to sorting again?

Earlier, Fang Heng had left behind a large number of zombie clones in this world. These zombies had been continuously digging up psychic ore.

Since Zoran’s ship had been destroyed, there was nowhere to submit the raw ore, so the mined ore had been stockpiled underground.

Now that there was time, the ore still had to be sorted and refined into high-level gemstones, then submitted to the spawns to earn contribution points.

Fang Heng turned to Nairn and said, “We have a large batch of psychic ore that needs to be transported back to a safe zone near the Federation for further processing. The quantity is quite large, and we may need the Federation’s assistance along the way.”

Nairn hadn’t yet realized the hidden danger behind the words “quite large,” and nodded, “Sure, absolutely.”

“Thanks.”

Fang Heng looked again at the ship surrounded by Bone-Eating Fungal Ants.

As for this place…

The ants themselves weren’t very strong. The real trouble was their overwhelming numbers.

Even if he summoned all the Lickers to fight, at the current spawn rate, it would take several days to clear them all out.

He couldn’t wait that long.

Better to figure out a way to eliminate the source of these Bone-Eating Fungal Ants.

But just now, he had already used the power of the Seed of Ouroboros to sense and didn’t find any other traces of it.

Was it too far to sense?

Fang Heng looked back at Arkley and the others, and said, “You’ve been to the ruins and are familiar with them. Take me there.”

“Uh…”

Nairn immediately stepped forward when he heard Fang Heng wanted to explore the ruins. “Mr. Fang Heng, the ruins are extremely dangerous. Please allow us to accompany you.”

“You guys? No way. You need to help transport the ore…”

Fang Heng thought to himself, *Nope. I still need you guys for the ore transport.*

Wu Xiao’s group wasn’t very strong. If something unexpected happened, they could get in trouble.

What if the ore was lost?

Nairn, helpless, said, “Boss Fang, please don’t make it difficult for me. My mission is to protect your safety.”

Su Guantong, seeing the situation, smiled slightly and said, “Commander Nairn, there are lots of worm swarms along the road to the ruins. Clearing a path won’t be quick. How about you first help transport a batch of materials back, and come find us later? There’s not that much ore–it’s enough for you to make a round trip.”

Nairn thought for a moment and felt it made sense.

How long could a round trip take?

“Alright. I’ll have my assistant go with you.”

Nairn agreed and motioned for his squad’s assistant to go with Fang Heng while he stayed behind to help with the transportation.

“Thank you.”

Wu Xiao silently watched Fang Heng lead a group of players away. He turned to look at Nairn and couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

This Federation officer is still too young.

You think you can go back to find Boss Fang after delivering the materials?

By then, the entire ruins would probably be cleared out by Boss Fang already.

Nairn noticed Wu Xiao’s strange gaze and found it odd, but nodded at him, “Mr. Wu Xiao, shall we begin?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

Wu Xiao led his players into the underground catacombs with the escort of Nairn’s soldiers and the Lickers.

It was Nairn’s first time entering the catacomb area, and he was inwardly amazed.

Everyone knew Fang Heng could control zombie creatures to dig underground tunnels, but he never imagined the tunnel network would be this vast.

Impressed, Nairn quietly asked, “Mr. Wu Xiao, these tunnels can connect to sub-bases, right?”