Book 10: Chapter 44: Tracking

“Whirrr…” The huge roaring sound went from fast to slow, gradually weakening. This noise, very much like a large fan turning, was the unique sound of the “Cold Storm’s” mechanism rotating.

Although Gauss projectiles had no casings, the ground was still covered in a layer of sparks caused by high heat. The temperature inside the tunnel rose several degrees because of this, making the Gith Flight Officers sitting in their mechas feel a bit stuffy.

The big machine monster before them—which had a tadpole-like head combined with an octopus lower body—had already shut down. Its silvery surface was full of holes and sparkling fires everywhere.

Gauss weapons weren’t as effective as particle beams in space combat in the void, but on the ground, it was different. Having solved issues with accuracy and range, the power of the Gauss weapons wasn’t worse than particle beams. Plus, because the passage was narrow, the physical impact of the projectiles was fully taken by the tadpole robot.

Though it couldn’t break through the defensive field on its body’s surface, it managed to control it, stopping it from getting closer to them. This tadpole-shaped robot had been guarding the ruins for who knew how many years, needing regular cleaning of beasts that broke into the ruins. Its internal energy had long been almost depleted. After being suppressed by the “Cold Storm” for a while, it finally ran out of energy and was destroyed.

“This huge thing isn’t easy to move back!” Meri pursed her lips, looking at the tadpole robot with regret.

“Let’s go. This thing probably only works for ground combat; it won’t help us much. But the advanced APB field on its surface is very important. I hope there will be some data on it inside these ruins.” Alex comforted with a smile.

“Huh, sir, there seem to be vibrations on the ground?” Vera suddenly spoke up in warning.

“Hmm, felt it. The warning devices we set up outside are all destroyed. Looks like another team has arrived here too. We better speed things up.” Qin Lun spread his hands and smiled; other teams had indeed set their sights on these Mountain Ruins.

After destroying the tadpole robot, they didn’t encounter any more trouble in this tunnel. The last part of the tunnel became wider and wider, as if coming to the bell mouth of a musical trumpet. At the end of the bell mouth stood a giant, thick silver gate, blocking their path.

“So big!” Sawa stared at this enormous gate, easily hundreds of meters tall, and couldn’t help but exclaim in awe. The tall Bingren Mecha in front of the gate looked like a row of puppies that hadn’t grown up yet.

“Qin Lun, Qin Lun, are you hearing me?” Robin’s voice came over the Team Channel.

“Heard you. Seems you’re also near the center of the ruins.” Qin Lun closed his eyes and sensed for a moment, discovering that Robin and Balin, leading their separate small teams, weren’t far opposite them.

“We’re blocked by a big gate. What do we do now?” Balin asked cautiously. “Seems the inside of these ruins isn’t too complex. If that’s the case, that other team might find us very soon!”

“True.” Qin Lun frowned slightly. The ruins weren’t exactly small, but the closer they were to the center, the less room there seemed to be. The fact that three teams could reconnect on the Telepathy channel suggested this.

“Anyway, try opening this passage first. If we can find that ‘Final Gospel’ quickly, we’ll have time to play hide-and-seek with the enemy!” Qin Lun raised a hand to signal Alex behind him. Several Bingren Mecha piloted by Gith Flight Officers immediately opened their penetrating detectors, emitting a few bright light beams that shone upon the silver gate.

“Sir, our equipment can’t penetrate the inside of the gate.” Alex reported helplessly after a few minutes.

“I couldn’t find any mechanism for the gate either!”

The Multieye Bramble Horn on the head of the Seventeenth Fallen Angel trembled slightly, but Qin Lun ultimately found no opening device near the gate. This huge gate seemed fused completely to the stone wall; its seams were so tight that not even water could seep through, differing only in color.

“Sir, we could open a gap with magnetic resonance cutters,” Alex suggested quietly.

“Judging by this gate’s length, width, and height, it should be thick, very thick. That would take a lot of time—enough for the enemies to surround and pin us here!” Qin Lun shook his head.

“Then, let’s have some people engage the enemy team in guerrilla warfare on the periphery to stall them, while the others take the chance to open the gate,” Bowei suggested over the Team Channel.

“No. We’re the weaker side to begin with. Splitting our forces any further is unwise. Even if we grab the task item in the end, we’d just be playing into another team’s hands!” Qin Lun rejected the idea once more.

“What if we leave the center of the ruins first, hide in other branching tunnels, and then use our enemies to open the gate? Let them clear the way ahead?” Robin suddenly suggested a plan with a chuckle.

“That’s a great suggestion!” Qin Lun paused thoughtfully, then agreed.

Cutting the Telepathy link, Qin Lun’s eyes flickered for a moment before he turned and smiled. “Alex, have everyone deploy all our remaining probe spheres. We need to avoid the enemies trailing us.”

…

Meanwhile, at the tunnel entrance of the ruins, over fifty figures of various shapes stood. Among them, seven or eight were humanoid—some Elves, some Humans. However, compared to normal Elves and Humans, these individuals stood dozens of meters tall, nearly matching the Bingren Mecha in height. Their skin appeared like flowing liquid, translucent, resembling some kind of plankton.

The remaining giant creatures with bizarre forms mostly had exoskeletons and pincers; a few even had crystalline wings on their backs. Without a doubt, they were all Insectoids. Among them were enormous insects resembling stag and scarab beetles carrying heavy shells, wasp-like flying insects, and huge spiders covered in sharp spikes.

Besides these Insectoids, there were also ten humanoid Insectoids with complete facial features, closely resembling Humans but covered in armor-like insect shells. These were naturally the Descendant Apostles of the Insectoid race—the Chaos Team led by Gan Luo.

“My Lord, why not wait a few more days? In just two days, the blood pool will hatch enough forces to crush the other two teams.” A female Apostle, who appeared even more curvaceous and sleek despite becoming part of the Insectoids due to her smooth, streamlined carapace, leaned close to Gan Luo and asked.

“This independent dimension is too vast. If our target completes the main quest first, they’ll probably go into hiding. That won’t be helpful,” Black explained with a smile, before Gan Luo could answer.

“See that, Lena?” Gan Luo lazily scratched a seam in his carapace with a sharp hook-claw. “Learn a thing or two from Black. Don’t always rely on brute force!”

“Hmph! You just pick on me,” the female Apostle called Lena by Gan Luo muttered under her breath while rolling her eyes. She bared her teeth at the apologetically smiling Black beside her. “Lord’s no different himself!”

Gan Luo himself was a martial artist who loved fighting and preferred solving problems with force. The style of his team was influenced by this; they usually favored breaking through situations with sheer power.

Black held back a laugh by lowering his head, avoiding the female Apostle’s gaze. He had been immensely powerful as a First-Order Apostle, but in this team primarily of Second-Order Apostles, he was still a newcomer. He dared not provoke this famously violent woman.

“My Lord, Chezhou and the Weaver are too large to enter the tunnels. Only Napatha can accompany us inside,” another Apostle reported to Gan Luo.

“Have Chezhou and the Weaver guard the tunnel entrance. Napatha stays above the ruins. We’ll go in by ourselves.” Gan Luo’s eyes flashed as he decisively left all non-Apostle insects outside the ruins.

“My Lord, with such an arrangement, might we lack enough hands?” Black asked, somewhat concerned.

“The enemies likely know we’re coming already. There are too many tunnel entrances to these ruins. If they try to run, Chezhou and Weaver alone might not be enough to hold them back. Only with Napatha’s help can we pin them down effectively. It can’t be helped.” Gan Luo turned to look meaningfully at the seven or eight weird Elves and Humans nearby. “Besides, didn’t we get help from the Holy Light Team? Right, Lord Wolf?”

“Skinny Bear, don’t get cocky. You won this time. But, we won’t forget our two fallen comrades for what happened.” Wolf’s handsome face was as dark as storm clouds as he replied expressionless.

He had originally been reduced to only a head. But before entering the Wormhole, Gan Luo had used the Insectoid blood pool to restore his body, thus avoiding an unending blood feud between the two major teams. Plus, with the Chaos Team capturing the remaining Divine Light members, Wolf had no choice but to compromise under duress. Not only had he abandoned their main quest, but he was also forced to assist the Chaos Team.

“Hmph,” Gan Luo chuckled lightly twice, unmoved by Wolf’s threat. He raised an arm covered in spiky barbs and waved, signaling the Apostles to enter the tunnel.

The ten Chaos members and eight Divine Light members were divided into three mixed groups – Gan Luo intentionally split the two teams. Even though he had a contract with Wolf, their competition quest was already sunk cost. It was impossible to say whether the Divine Light members would deliberately go easy on their targets inside. Therefore, each group had to include a Chaos member to supervise.

“Sister Hu Fei, why are the Chaos members fixated on this ruin? Aren’t there other ruins in the dimension?” Little Lian sidled close to Beautry Hu and whispered quietly at the back of the group.

“I heard Lord Wolf say it seems this Chaos team also wants to poach someone from the Order Front this time. They deliberately waited until the target team entered the ruins before following!” Hu Fei spoke, a touch of sorrow in her expression; one of the two Divine Light members who died was close to her. “Why ask this, Little Lian?”

“I… no reason. It’s just this place feels strange. It gives me a bad feeling!” Little Lian pouted, looking uneasily at the pitch-black tunnel. “I have this feeling something bad is going to happen!”

“It should be fine. Even though our quest failed, with both teams cooperating now, we’re stronger, and there are two High-Rank Apostles!” Hu Fei was startled for a moment but forced herself to reply reassuringly.