Chapter 2713: Underground Sky Pit

Feeling something approaching, Xu Huo moved Yan Jiayu to the rear and pulled up the Spatial Ray Blade wall to block in front. The next moment, a few strands of blood dripped from above, and a creature half-human-high, resembling a monkey, gradually turned from transparent to solid.

On the other side, Pu Yu and the others similarly killed three of the same mutant animals, roughly the same size, and this was just the first wave of attack. More were coming from underground, and they moved very quickly, not entirely relying on speed, but using special portals appearing from time to time in the air.

Witnessing this scene, even Pu Yu couldn’t help but be surprised, "Spiritual energy actually formed special gateways here, and they can utilize these gateway passages!"

Because mutant plants aren’t very intelligent, even if they can release strong energy, such energy is mostly indiscriminate attacks, lacking the variety of methods of Evolvers—the gateway passages being one such method of the Evolvers.

"Are the gateway passages created by mutant plants, or these monkeys?" Yan Ping asked.

"Does it make any difference?" Pu Yu said, "No matter who it is, we must drive these monkeys away today!"

However, their numbers were overwhelming. After Xu Huo and the others killed the first batch, these monkeys learned quickly, using the gateway passages to evade, they actively bypassed Xu Huo and Pu Yu, heading towards Yan Ping’s group.

During the encounter, some Bounty Hunters had their Mechanical Suit sets damaged without realizing it. Within a few minutes, two were mentally disturbed, taking off their helmets and being bitten through the throat by the monkeys to death!

The short-haired woman was so enraged she wanted to use bombs to perish together with them, but Yan Ping stopped her, and finally, the group regrouped, using props to block them outside.

The prop had doors and windows, allowing them to see outside from inside. Those mutant monkeys didn’t leave but were crouching outside, on the roof, and all around, densely packed. Occasionally one or two bared their fangs and snarled at them, resembling white sharks with sparse and mismatched teeth, inconsistent with their body sizes, but matching the wounds of an earlier Rank-A Player missing two legs.

Yan Ping angrily punched the ground, "Those beasts!"

The short-haired woman was also injured, though she held herself together not to be affected. At that moment, she felt both regret and anger, "We should have been more careful."

Pu Yu withdrew his gaze from outside, "It looks like we need to deal with these monkeys before we can move forward."

"It’s not difficult to kill them all." Xu Huo said, "It’s just unclear if there are other mutant animals underground."

They were previously mistaken, assuming that in the area where mutant plants were active, regular animals would struggle to survive. But knowing the underground ruins exist, it’s hard to say if more mutant animals exist underground, or how large the underground ruins are. Or perhaps when the district was wiped out years ago, someone created a safe space underground?

These are all hard to say.

"The smell of monkey blood is too foul." Yan Jiayu commented, "So different from the scent of the forest, I’m worried it’ll attract an insect swarm later."

Xu Huo and the others had used Cleansing Potion upon entering, yet the odor still clung to their nostrils.

"Let’s ascend to the sky once more." Yan Jiayu suggested, "Changing places is better than confronting them endlessly."

They certainly couldn’t linger longer, as no one knew what creatures the stench might attract.

After some tidying, Xu Huo and the two Rank-A Players with Pu Yu went out first to kill off some monkeys, and then the group moved places by high-altitude travel.

But whether due to bad luck or that the monkey blood scent hadn’t dissipated, they soon encountered an insect swarm. With insects covering the sky and earth in a thick black mass, even some mutant plants retreated. The poisonous liquid they released had strong corrosive effects that could even damage their Metal Defense Suit!

Using the Space Defense Barrier as a shield, Xu Huo and the others fled for nearly half an hour before finally shaking off the insect swarm completely.

By then, almost everyone had sustained injuries.

The Antitoxin from Pu Yu had already been administered, instantly effective, though the corroded wounds took a long time to heal.

Facing an insect swarm, the best tactic is actually bombing them repeatedly; what insect couldn’t be bombed to extinction?

But due to the mutant plants, they had to cautiously consider if their actions would disturb the forest, rendering them unable to act freely, forced to flee.

"No wonder it’s a Rank-A survival instance." Yan Jiayu toyed with her already pierced helmet, "How many quality pieces of equipment end up damaged inside?"

Yan Ping’s team was worse off; several portable instruments and props were destroyed, suffering significant losses.

But at least there was some comfort in knowing they were going the right direction, and they would reach their destination in two days.

That night, everyone slept poorly.

By the next morning, Yan Ping’s group had already decided in advance to drop off Pu Yu and the others at their destination but not follow them into the underground ruins.

The Mechanical Suit sets were completely destroyed in one go, with no third opportunity for a full team equipment replacement, so this time they were extremely cautious.

Luckily, the next two-day journey resembled Pu Yu and the others’ first two days’ journey, with no disturbances.

Two days later, they arrived at their targeted location. After some exploration nearby, Xu Huo and the team found a covered Sky Pit nearly a thousand meters underground.

Calling it a Sky Pit is inaccurate because it wasn’t formed by earth or rock. Below that depth wasn’t the land of the original district either, but a circular pit where mutant plants were broken off uniformly, gradually forming.

The pit was unfathomably deep, yet mutant plants hadn’t filled it. Though new branches sprouted near the edges, they grew around the giant pit as much as possible, avoiding directly entering.

"Plants near the gap are growing very deformed." Pu Yu observed, "Maybe someone has applied special chemicals up there."

"Could it be your aunt?" Xu Huo asked, "This pit has been there for some time now."

"Not sure." Pu Yu and his team had searched the surroundings earlier, finding no traces. However, for someone who died years ago, mutant plants might have grown over many cycles, making it difficult to find remains.

Of course, they weren’t solely looking for bones.

"You kept quiet before, but can you now tell us what’s in the underground ruins?" As they descended slowly into the pit using props, Xu Huo broached the topic again, "You can use Primeval Stone as accessories, but if something there can truly tempt you, it must be of greater value. We’re at the place now, isn’t it unnecessary to hide it any longer, don’t you think?"

Valuable things may not only yield substantial rewards but could also bring danger.