Chapter 39: Encounter!

"New World Shopping Center"

That is an extremely massive building; even after enduring the wind, rain, and earthquakes of the apocalypse, its main structure still stands.

However, this once commercial empire has long been covered in thick grayish-white spiderwebs; from afar, it looks like a gigantic cocoon exuding an aura of death and ill omen.

"All personnel, attention! We are about to reach the target area!"

Gui Ying's voice pulled all the team members back from their daze to reality,

"Drone reconnaissance! Report the surrounding situation!"

"Yes!"

A palm-sized silent drone, the Hummingbird, rose soundlessly and swiftly flew toward the shopping center.

Soon, the real-time footage from the high-altitude reconnaissance was transmitted to the tactical tablet inside the vehicle.

"Hiss..."

The moment they saw the image clearly, everyone inside the vehicle sucked in a breath of cold air.

Within several blocks around the shopping center, dense swarms of corpse spiders about half human size filled every corner!

Visibly, there were nearly a thousand, and if we count those underground, the number likely exceeds two thousand!

"My heavens... how... how can there be so many?"

The rookie's voice was trembling.

"They seem... to be on patrol?"

The scholar keenly noticed the issue, pointing at the corpse spiders on the screen whose movements were extremely regular,

"Their patrol routes and patrol ranges are very orderly; this shows that the spider queen possesses extremely high intelligence and already has the ability to command the swarm!"

This discovery sank everyone's hearts to the bottom of the valley.

A spider queen about to evolve and possessing intelligence, plus a massive army of corpse spiders—the difficulty of this operation is several times higher than they anticipated!

"Mr. Lin!"

Gui Ying immediately contacted Lin Yue over the public channel, his tone grave to the extreme,

"The situation has changed! The spider swarm numbers far exceed expectations! We may have to remake the plan!"

"No need."

Lin Yue's calm voice came through the channel.

"The plan remains unchanged."

"But..."

Gui Ying still wanted to advise further, but Black Tortoise's movement had already startled the patrolling corpse spiders.

"Hiss—!!!"

Instantly, a piercing screech like metal scraping rang out from all directions!

It was as if they had kicked a hornet's nest; the next second, countless corpse spiders surged out from every corner like a tide!

"Shush—"

The sound of hundreds of spiders crawling on the ground merged into a noise that made scalps tingle.

Their speed was extreme; in the blink of an eye they formed a huge encirclement, surrounding Black Tortoise and the Humvee convoy.

"Fire! Fire!"

Gui Ying's eyes were about to burst as he roared madly.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!"

The electromagnetic machine gun on the Humvee's roof instantly activated, a blue energy barrage wildly sweeping toward the spider swarm.

The dozen or so front-line corpse spiders were instantly shattered, their green bodily fluids spraying everywhere.

However, this not only failed to scare off the swarm, but completely provoked its ferocity!

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

More corpse spiders opened their vicious mouthparts, shooting streams of dark green, pungently acidic corrosive fluid like a downpour at the Humvee convoy and Black Tortoise!

"Sizzle—"

The Humvee's armor plates were splashed with acid, instantly sending up whiffs of blue smoke and emitting a grating corrosive sound.

The Night Blade squad members, relying on the Humvee, engaged in a fierce battle with the spider swarm.

Their tactical skill was extremely high, their coordination seamless, each bullet precisely hitting the corpse spiders' vital points.

But the spiders' numbers were simply too great!

Killing them was endless; they kept coming!

As the defense line was about to be broken, a hint of despair appeared on everyone's face.

Just then.

A voice sounded in everyone's ears.

"Black Tortoise,"

"Roar—!!!!!"

Black Tortoise's roar turned into a visible shockwave that swept in all directions!

"Hum—"

Inside the Humvee, all electronic device screens flickered and briefly malfunctioned.

The team members felt a sharp pain in their eardrums, their heads buzzed, and they fell into a momentary blank.

Meanwhile, the frenziedly surging corpse spiders suffered a devastating blow!

The hundred or so corpse spiders nearby, under this roar, had their bodies stiffen as if struck by a high‑voltage current.

Immediately afterward, fine cracks appeared on their hard carapaces without any warning!

Crack…… crack……

Cracks spread rapidly, and finally, with a "bang," their bodies, under the resonance of sound waves, directly exploded in mid-air into clusters of green blood mist!

With just a single roar, it instantly killed over a hundred Rotten Corpse Spiders!

This… this damn…

The rookie stared blankly at the spider swarm exploding like fireworks outside the car window; his electromagnetic rifle clattered to the ground with a "clang," yet he was completely unaware.

Gui Ying also froze completely.

If saying that Black Tortoise's earlier use of earth walls to smack the hunting dogs to death was shocking, then now, this terrifying roar comparable to a subsonic weapon made him feel a…… fear from the depths of his soul!

However, this was only the beginning.

In everyone's astonished gaze, Black Tortoise's mountain-like head slowly rose, and its massive mouth, large enough to swallow a large passenger aircraft, suddenly opened!

In an instant, the whole world seemed to fall silent.

The wind stopped.

Sound also disappeared.

The next second, centered on Black Tortoise's massive maw, an indescribable terrifying suction force sprang into existence!

Whoosh——!!!!

A fierce wind suddenly rose!

The Rotten Corpse Spiders on the ground instantly lost balance, shrieking in terror as they dug their eight legs into the ground, trying to resist that terrifying suction.

But, it was all in vain.

Their bodies were jerked up from the ground by an invisible force, together with the rubble, trash, and wrecked cars on the ground, all being sucked into Black Tortoise's abyss-like maw!

The Humvee of the Night Blade Special Forces Unit also, under this terrifying suction, emitted a strained "creak" as its body was pulled to one side, its tires scraping the ground with a piercing screech.

"Hold steady! Everyone, hold the steering wheel!"

Gui Ying's eyes turned blood-red as he exerted all his strength to grip the steering wheel, and the hydraulic system of his exoskeleton frame emitted an overload alarm.

This was only because Black Tortoise's target was not them; otherwise, the Humvee they were riding would have been sucked into its maw just like those Rotten Corpse Spiders!

The entire process lasted a full five minutes.

When that terrifying suction gradually dissipated, the spider swarm that had previously been endless like a tide had now vanished without a trace.

On the ground, aside from the unusually clean cement and some giant spider webs torn apart by the suction, not a single living spider could be seen.

It was as if they had never appeared.

Burp……

A satisfied burp issued from Black Tortoise's mouth.

At the same time, Lin Yue's mind was flooded with the system's notification sounds.

【Absorbing scattered energy, gained 1 energy point.】

【Absorbing scattered energy, gained 1 energy point.】

【Detected a Level 1 Energy Crystal, gained 10 energy points.】

……

【Ding! Total energy points absorbed this time: 985!】

Lin Yue watched these notifications, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled upward slightly.

It had to be a large Mutant Beast nest!