Chapter 8: Sorry, We’re Just Passing By

Beside her, Archer suddenly clicked his tongue. He murmured, "The observation team is truly lazy these days."

In this kind of world, a mistake in reassessing a Polluted Zone could easily become fatal. Sentinels and Guides chose their equipment, supplies, and even their team members based on the official rank of the zone they were entering.

If the government marked a place as B-Rank, then people would naturally prepare for B-Rank threats. No one would enter it expecting to suddenly meet an S-Rank creature.

"AAA! Get away from me!" Ryland screamed as a giant praying mantis chased after him, repeatedly swinging its two arms that looked like curved machetes.

Instead of feeling sorry for him, Summer accidentally let out a soft laugh because it was simply too funny.

This man always acted like he was some kind of god whenever he stood in front of his fiancée, showing off his strength and pretending that nothing could scare him.

But the moment he encountered something beyond his ability, all that confidence disappeared. Right now, he looked like nothing more than a coward desperately running for his life.

Summer was not the only one who found the situation funny. The viewers watching her livestream had already started filling the comment section.

[HAHAHAHA! Why is he running like that?!]

[Captain Ryland, where did your cool and powerful image go?!]

[Wait, isn’t that Team 8?]

[It is! I recognize that guy! He’s Summer’s ex-fiancé!]

[EX-FIANCÉ?!]

[New viewers really missed the drama. This guy cheated on our rabbit with her sister.]

Archer, who was standing beside Summer, accidentally caught sight of the comments flooding her livestream and immediately furrowed his eyebrows.

"Do you want to save him?" Archer asked, his expression barely changing.

Summer folded her arms and tapped her cheek with one finger. Instead of answering immediately, she watched Ryland stumble over a piece of broken concrete and desperately crawl forward before the giant praying mantis could reach him.

"Do you have any obligation to save your co-workers?" she asked.

Archer answered without hesitation. "I was only given orders to rescue the people at the power plant and clear this zone."

In other words, he had no obligation to save the other participants.

Summer nodded slowly. "I see."

"SUMMER!" Ryland’s desperate scream echoed through the abandoned street again.

Although he called her name, Summer knew that he actually wanted to get Archer Reed’s attention, but his pride was too high for that.

Summer then saw him scrambling back to his feet. The giant praying mantis was only a few meters behind him now, its enormous curved arms swinging through the air.

One of them struck the side of an abandoned car.

BANG!

The entire roof was sliced apart as easily as paper and Ryland’s face immediately turned pale.

Not long after, Summer’s terminal vibrated, and a red hologram appeared in front of her.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Mutated Mantis Detected!]

[Distance: 304 meters]

[Threat Level: A-Rank]

Summer raised her eyebrows when she saw the information. An A-Rank creature?

That explained why Ryland was running for his life instead of turning around to fight. He might love showing off in front of Winter and the rest of Team 8, but even he should know the difference between bravery and suicide.

"Let’s just go to our main destination," Summer said to Archer. "We can clear this place after we go to the power plant, right?"

Archer nodded. "Yes. The power plant is the priority."

"Good." She waved her hands toward Winter and Ryland. "Sorry, we’re just passing by!"

Summer turned around and began walking away without the slightest hesitation. Archer followed beside her, looking just as unconcerned about the chaos behind them.

The viewers in Summer’s livestream, however, immediately went wild.

[WAIT, YOU’RE REALLY LEAVING?!]

[HAHAHAHA! Summer didn’t even look back!]

[What about Team 8?!]

[They have their own legs. They can run.]

[Brother Ryland is about to become mantis food.]

Unfortunately, the mutated mantis apparently had a different opinion about letting them leave.

Summer had barely taken a few more steps when Archer suddenly stopped walking. At almost the same moment, Summer heard a powerful crash behind her.

BOOM!

She quickly turned around and saw the mutated mantis had leaped high into the air.

Instead of continuing to chase Ryland, the creature suddenly changed direction and flew straight toward Summer and Archer.

Summer’s eyes widened. "Fuck!"

The mantis landed directly in front of them, cracking the pavement beneath its enormous legs. Before Summer could even move away, one of its curved arms was already swinging toward her neck.

Her hand immediately reached for the poison gun at her waist. She pulled it out and raised the barrel.

However, before her finger could even touch the trigger, the mantis suddenly stopped moving.

Summer frowned, tilting her head to the side because the mantis looked as if it had been frozen in time.

For a fraction of a second, she thought Archer had done something to paralyze it, but then she saw a thin line appear across the center of the mantis’s body.

Moments later, the line widened, and in the next second, the enormous creature split cleanly into two.

Summer blinked several times, amazed by what she had just witnessed. In her past life, a hunter was considered extremely skilled if they could kill a monster without getting even a single drop of blood on themselves.

And Archer had just done exactly that.

The two halves of the mutated mantis fell in opposite directions, while Archer remained standing in the middle without moving from his spot. The only thing he did was raise his hand, and there was a yellowish light around it.

Summer actually wondered what kind of ability he possessed, but before she could think about it any further, the comments on her livestream suddenly flooded the screen.

[WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!]

[Did Archer even move???]

[NO! I WAS WATCHING HIM THE WHOLE TIME!]

[Bro, that’s his ability! Doesn’t he have a spatial ability?]

[Holy shit, he really has that?! This is the first time I’ve seen him use it!]

[Mr. Archer Reed, this is why you have to turn on your livestream camera!]