Chapter 43: Incubation Room

At this moment, a middle-aged woman stood up and asked with a trembling voice, "I can stay and fight, but my child is still young; can he be excused from participating in the battle?" Her gaze was filled with worry and reluctance.

Yingzhou looked at the boy beside her, who was perhaps even younger than Marie. The boy's face was full of fear, yet he still gripped his mother's hand tightly.

Yingzhou nodded slowly, signaling that he understood this mother's feelings, and said loudly to the crowd, "Yes, if your children are here, I will arrange for people to take them to a safe place. However, this condition is limited to children only."

Hearing this, the middle-aged woman had tears streaming down her eyes as she looked at Yingzhou with gratitude. She gently stroked the child's head, then let him go to Yingzhou's side.

Seven or eight more children walked out from the crowd; they were all young, and some were even still crying. Yingzhou turned back and signaled for Ajie to take these children to the trench where they had just been.

Ajie immediately left with the children, leaving the adults waiting on the spot. After a while, Ajie returned and told Yingzhou that the children had been settled.

"Now your children are behind you; as long as this defensive line is not breached, your children will not be harmed. I will be here with you to slaughter all these Zerg!" Yingzhou said loudly to the crowd again, his tone firm and powerful.

This time, a portion of the people in the crowd were no longer as hesitant as before; they began to look for handy weapons, preparing to meet the coming battle.

Zerg Incubation Nest.

After the Xu Fenqiu squad entered the Hatchery, their sight was drawn by the deep red flesh surrounding them; those pieces of flesh seemed to be constantly writhing, as if they had a life of their own. The interior of the massive Hatchery presented a hair-raising scene, like countless blood vessels intertwined to form a complex and mysterious network.

"Damn, the inside of this Hatchery really makes me feel uneasy," Guo Weihua, the less experienced member of the squad, couldn't help but click his tongue inside his helmet visor. His voice carried a trace of nervousness, clearly shocked by the scene before him.

"That is because you haven't seen a place more unsettling than this," Chenjie said, gripping the weapon in his hand tightly, looking around with a firm tone.

As the squad gradually went deeper into the Hatchery, they arrived at the incubation room. When they saw the scene before them, everyone couldn't help but gasp. They saw huge Incubation Eggs arranged neatly, and inside, the outlines of some creatures could be vaguely seen gestating. However, the most shocking thing was that one of the Incubation Eggs actually contained a child lying inside.

"My god! These Zerg actually put children into Incubation Eggs; they are simply a bunch of beasts!" Chenjie cursed in anger after seeing the situation inside this Incubation Egg. His face turned gloomy, and anger flickered in his eyes.

"Captain, can these children still be saved? If we detonate this place, will these children also be harmed?" Guo Weihua asked slowly, his voice revealing deep worry. He looked at those Incubation Eggs, his heart filled with conflict and helplessness.

"I don't know. Our primary goal is to destroy this Hatchery. There are quite a few children here; after we set the bombs, we will come back to check on the situation of these children," Xu Fenqiu said.

The squad members exited the incubation room and began to set bombs inside the Hatchery.

"We had better be quick; I can only hold on for 6 hours at most," one squad member said. He had already summoned his Back Spirit, which was a mass of Gray Mist that enveloped the squad members.

"Old Huo, you can't drop the ball, otherwise, if we are inside the Hatchery, wouldn't we just be serving ourselves up as food for the Zerg?" Guo Weihua joked.

"Understood, I'm just giving a reminder, don't waste time," the squad member called Lao Huo said.

The squad members cautiously continued to walk deeper into the Hatchery; they had already entered the interior of the Hatchery. Along the way, they encountered a few Zerg, but they successfully avoided their attention without exposing their tracks.

Yingfang looked ahead through his visor, his expression appearing somewhat grave. He said softly, "Have you noticed that the Zerg in this Hatchery seem to be much fewer than imagined? It feels like there are a lot fewer Zerg."

Xu Fenqiu nodded, indicating his agreement with Yingfang's observation. He said, "That's right. According to the intelligence obtained earlier, these few days should be the Zerg's hunting days. They usually leave the Nest and head to the Hunting Ground to hunt the Humans there as prey. However, the number of Zerg inside the Hatchery has clearly decreased this time. Could it be that some unexpected situation has occurred at the Hunting Ground?"

Chenjie frowned, thinking about the possible reasons, and speculated, "Perhaps for some reason, the core of the Hatchery sent out more Zerg. However, regardless, we cannot confirm the specific situation. The most important thing now is to complete the Task at hand as quickly as possible and then leave this dangerous place."

Yingfang nodded, agreeing with Chenjie's view. He said, "Indeed, we cannot risk going to the Hunting Ground to investigate the situation; that is too dangerous. Moreover, Lao Huo's Back Spirit still has a time limit; if we delay too long, we might lose its help. Therefore, we must speed up and complete the Task as soon as possible."

Chenjie carefully placed a bundle of bombs inside the Hatchery near the core, ensuring that the Zerg's breeding facilities could be destroyed to the greatest extent.

Xu Fenqiu watched Chenjie finish placing the last bundle of bombs, nodded with satisfaction, and then said to the squad members, "Alright, the bombs have been placed. Let's set the explosion time and then head to that incubation room. Remember, you must remain vigilant and be ready to deal with any situation that may arise at any time."

The squad members nodded one after another to show they understood; they knew the next action was crucial and required cautious behavior. With a soft sound, Chenjie set the explosion time for the bombs and hid them to avoid being discovered by the Zerg. Subsequently, they quietly left and headed in the direction of the incubation room.

The group began an orderly retreat, heading toward the incubation room where they had just discovered the children.

"Captain, how should we save these children?" Guo Weihua looked at Xu Fenqiu at the front of the team and asked.

"There is no other way, we have to try it this way." Xu Fenqiu pulled a tactical knife from his waist and slowly sliced open the thin membrane of the Incubation Egg. The liquid inside the Incubation Egg flowed out along the opening. Because the squad was wearing Individual Combat Armor while out on a Task, Xu Fenqiu carefully held the boy with both hands, fearing he would hurt him.

"Boom..."