Chapter 21: Deep Penetration into the Hinterland of No. 69

Xina nodded slightly, her figure flashing as she led the way ahead.

The Cave Demon carried Zhou Chu on its back, its eight tentacles whipping about rapidly as it followed closely behind.

As they continued to penetrate deeper into the Calamity Land, the surrounding environment became increasingly eerie and terrifying.

The Calamity Aura grew ever more dense, making the oxygen in the air grow thin.

Terrifying roars echoed from all around from time to time, sending shivers down one's spine.

Before long, Xina suddenly stopped in her tracks, pointed ahead, and said, "Master, that is No. 69 Marking Point."

Zhou Chu fixed his gaze forward, only to see the faint sounds of battle drifting over from ahead.

He immediately issued an order to the Cave Demon: "Increase speed!"

The Cave Demon let out a low roar and quickened its pace.

As they approached the perimeter of No. 69 Marking Point, they saw several members of a Scout Team supporting two or three wounded comrades as they retreated toward them.

On their armbands, there was also a "12" printed.

"Damn it, monsters are charging over! Everyone, protect the wounded and prepare for battle!"

The members of the Scout Team saw Zhou Chu riding the Cave Demon and took him for an accomplice of the monsters.

"Friendly fire! I'm also from Scout Team 1 of the Exorcism Army," Zhou Chu shouted loudly.

He quickly leaped off the Cave Demon's back, summoned several more Cave Demons from the Contract Pool, and helped the wounded onto their backs.

At this moment, from the mist deep in the hinterland, the roars of monsters could be faintly heard.

"You all retreat first, I'll hold them off for you!" Zhou Chu had the remaining Scout Team members sit on the backs of the Cave Demons as well.

With that, at a whistle from Zhou Chu, these Cave Demons carried the wounded and the Scout Team members and sprinted toward the rear base!

Zhou Chu leaped onto the back of a Cave Demon again, had Xina clear the path ahead, and charged into the depths of No. 69 Marking Point.

"Holy crap, what's that kid's deal? I don't think our Scout Team 1 has anyone like that, right?"

"Didn't you see? He's still wearing a school uniform; he looks like a high school student who just bound a Soul Profession! He must have been emergency-drafted into the team!"

"He's still just a kid! Does he think he can hold off so many monsters just by relying on those few spiders he summoned? He's definitely going to lose his life! We have to go back and save him!"

"B-but, these big spiders don't listen to us!"

Accompanied by those hair-raising roars, a tall, cyan-colored body rapidly broke through the mist and appeared before Zhou Chu.

【Putrid Ghoul】 C-Grade Servant

【Level: 10】

【Blood Value: 5000】

【Attack Power: 550】

【Skills: Bite, Berserk Gnaw】

【Trait: Can heal and strengthen itself by consuming flesh and blood!】

【Description: A former Soul Professional whose corpse was polluted by Calamity Qi after dying in battle, becoming a bloodthirsty ghoul.】

Calamity monsters are quite a bit stronger than the fifth wave of monsters in a Hero Instance.

At the same time, they possess trait entries, which is equivalent to having one more unique ability than the monsters in a Copy.

Due to their craving for fresh flesh, these ghouls were like they had been injected with stimulants, moving at extreme speeds.

The members of that Scout Team earlier were at least Level 1 Soul Professionals, but facing these swarms of ghouls, they could only run for their lives!

However, Zhou Chu had Xina, a God-level servant, by his side, so killing this ghoul was quite easy.

"Xina, finish it off!" Zhou Chu immediately issued the command.

Xina immediately drew the longbow in her hand, and upon hearing a "swish-swish-swish" series of sounds, she played the bow like a machine gun.

Under the blessing of God-level Swiftness's 500% attack, Xina could fire 20 arrows in one go.

Originally, a single arrow could easily kill this ghoul instantly; after these 20 arrows, the ghoul's body was pierced through.

The arrows carrying dark power then changed direction, each following an irregular trajectory, and struck several ghouls following closely behind.

【Killed Putrid Ghoul *8, EXP +400!】

【Obtained Soul Fragment *8】

【Successfully collected Contract Material "Putrid Ghoul (C-Grade)".】

【Your Hero Servant Xina splits EXP with you, EXP +400】

Xina's Dark Arrow comes with a piercing effect; killing 8 ghouls with one volley felt truly satisfying.

However, a Hero Servant is equivalent to Zhou Chu's teammate, so the EXP gained is split evenly with Zhou Chu.

In other words, the EXP for one Putrid Ghoul is as high as 100 points.

Since Zhou Chu splits monster-killing EXP with his servant, he must kill more to level up quickly.

He heard someone from the medical team say that this No. 69 Marking Point was a newly appeared Demon Cave location marked within the last two days.

And these Demon Caves are all connected to the Abyss Rift, serving as the necessary path for the Calamity Legion to invade Tianlan Xing.

In the Calamity Land, Demon Caves of varying degrees and quantities appear every day.

The mission of the Exorcism Army Scout Team is to scout and find these newly born Demon Caves and destroy them while they are in their budding state.

And today, as luck would have it, that Scout Team was ordered to go deep to investigate the situation at the No. 69 Demon Cave and was attacked by a large number of monsters.

This means that the Demon Cave hidden in the depths of No. 69 Marking Point has already reached a level that is not easy to control.

Zhou Chu couldn't help but ponder for a moment whether it would be a bit dangerous for him to enter the Demon Cave alone.

However, he immediately dismissed this thought.

If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub!

If you want to improve your strength quickly, you have to take some risks.

Isn't the reason for coming to the front line to maximize profits?

Besides, with Xina, such a great weapon of mass destruction, by my side, what is there to be afraid of?

Under the influence of Xina's Dark Arrow, those killed ghouls stood up from the ground once again, becoming Xina's servants.

They stood in place at this moment, seemingly waiting for their master's orders.

And since Zhou Chu is Xina's master, all actions must still be listened to him.

"Charge in!"

Zhou Chu made a forward gesture and issued the order.

Several ghouls, as if re-energized, rushed madly into the fog.

The sounds of roaring and the Gnaw of flesh and blood followed immediately.

Meanwhile, Xina guarded Zhou Chu's side without taking a step away, continuously firing Dark Arrows at the swaying figures in the fog.

On the road as Zhou Chu continuously ventured deeper toward No. 69 Marking Point, he also picked up a military backpack.

Inside the backpack were a walkie-talkie and a sphere the size of a ball.

This sphere is used to destroy the Demon Cave and is called a Calamity Purification Stone.

This kind of item is unique to the military; Zhou Chu had only seen it in books but had never seen a real one.

As for the specific usage, it is actually very simple: find the Magic Source Core in the Demon Cave, then use the Calamity Purification Stone to purify it.

Presumably, this backpack was dropped by a member of that previous scout team in a panic.

Then the heavy responsibility of destroying this No. 69 Demon Cave fell upon Zhou Chu's shoulders.

Needless to say, sharing the country's burdens is an unshirkable duty!

At the same time, at the base of Scout Team 1 of the Exorcism Army.

That previous scout team arrived safely, riding on crypt demons.

Because all the scout teams had been sent out, Captain Jia Mengshan had no choice but to pick a few with decent strength from the new recruits to temporarily form a team to reinforce No. 69.

Unexpectedly, Team 12, which was responsible for the No. 69 reconnaissance mission, had actually retreated back so quickly.

Except for a few who were relatively seriously injured, the rest only had minor scratches.

However, when he saw those crypt demons, Jia Mengshan suddenly realized and remembered Zhou Chu, who had been sent to the medical team.

Using crypt demons to transport the wounded was just a sudden whim; he hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.

These things, which looked a bit disgusting, were not only excellent mobile stretchers but also good means of transportation.

Although this kid Zhou Chu is only an F-rank Soul Profession newcomer, he ultimately still has his uses.

Just then, a team member jumped down, ran a few steps to Jia Mengshan, and said nervously: "Captain, there is a high school student wearing a school uniform; is he a new recruit we just brought into the team?"

Jia Mengshan nodded: "Yes, his name is Zhou Chu. I sent him to the medical team to help transport the wounded."

Upon hearing this, the team member slapped his thigh hard: "That's bad, Captain! That kid is heading into the hinterland of No. 69 Marking Point all by himself!"

"What! Didn't I tell him to transport the wounded? How did he run into No. 69..."

Jia Mengshan frowned deeply upon hearing this and said to the team member: "Go call Lin Yue'er from the medical team."

Very quickly, the team member returned, stating that Lin Yue'er had already taken a few medical team members and headed toward No. 69 Marking Point as well.

Just then, a monitor rushed out from the monitoring station and reported to Jia Mengshan: "Captain, there is still one member of Team 12 who hasn't come out from deep within No. 69 Marking Point!"