Stalker Alert

"Be careful. There may be monster eggs hidden anywhere here!"

"Avoid stepping on the sand at all costs. If we step into the sand, those monsters will quickly emerge!" added Bai Han, pulling out information about the sand-dwelling creature known as the antlion.

[Antlion: A sand-type creature that thrives in dry and warm sand. It will abandon dark and relatively dry caves in favor of reproducing rapidly in harsh environments. Its eggs require a very humid environment to hatch. However, once the eggs are awakened, the antlion will lose its ability to move due to the humidity and die immediately! This is why antlions possess super high speed and flying ability, which they must learn immediately after birth to quickly jump into the sand.]

It was clear that this monster would not be easy to deal with, and given the superhuman abilities of their original bodies, it was likely that the guards protecting them were ancient creatures.

As they walked, they arrived at a vast open area that connected in all directions. However, the scene they saw was tragic: despite the beautiful stalactites and cubicles decorating the area, it was filled with countless corpses of Ferdicans.

Most of them had died of old age, but many had been brutally killed by the remaining monsters following the biggest riot in the history of Ferdican. When the giant spider was subdued, all its eggs had hatched, and this area was no exception.

Looking at the countless eggshells and dents in the sand, it was evident that the monsters had completely ravaged the area. Despite their heavy hearts, the group knew they couldn't let the residents' deaths be in vain. They had to discover the purpose of the crystals and their relation to the monsters.

[Mission Progress: 75/148]

They quickly collected all the biological crystals from the current generation's eyes and headed toward Cave No. 1's opposite direction. However, upon returning to their original garrison base, Bai Han noticed a small detail.

"Someone has been here before us."

Everyone trembled in fear. They had only been gone for a short time, and the area appeared the same. But Bai Han pointed out the broken warning lights by the cave entrance, which no one noticed before due to the cave's darkness.

Moreover, the damaged wires came from Cave No. 3, causing even more fear among the group. Could the giant spider they subdued have come back to life?

Simon shared his thoughts with Bai Han, "It couldn't have been the spider. The intruder is likely tall and has fewer than eight antennae."

Soon, the depression in front of Cave No. 3 and the way the wires were broken confirmed their suspicion. The depression in the ground was orderly and the footsteps were square, unlike the messy walking of spiders. The monster that had been following them had accidentally touched the electric wire and followed them all the way to Cave No. 2.

But now that the monster had come out, it meant that it must still be in Cave No. 2. Were they going to wait for it to appear in this place? Bai Han knew they couldn't afford to wait. He remembered the last words of the system notification: the antlion guards were intelligent and would definitely play games with their prey.

If they had deliberately stopped, the guard who was secretly observing them must have expected that they had discovered their whereabouts. At this moment, the guard would likely change its path.

The best course of action was to head directly to the other direction of Cave No. 1. Cave No. 4 was a dead end, and if they tried to trick the guards into going there, they could get trapped.

" Let's act naturally. We'll head to Cave No. 1. "

Everyone looked at Bai Han in confusion. Weren't they waiting for the guard here to launch an ambush?

"You know, this is why the two of you are only lieutenants…"

After making his statement, Bai Han and Lin Yuwei entered Cave No. 1 and promptly checked and prepared their ammunition, guns, and armor.

Having recently defeated a horde of monsters, they had leveled up and gathered some equipment, a sign that they were preparing for an unprecedented boss battle or an encounter with more monsters in the confined space.

As they studied their attribute panel and inventory, they noticed that they had gained some experience points from defeating the antlions. However, since those creatures were of lower levels than them, they did not obtain many rare items from the defeated monsters, no matter how high their Luck was.

However, things were looking up for the two gunmen. They had obtained a lot of golden fruits and EXP bonus items. They even obtained some relatively good defensive items. As for the remaining low-level weapons and defensive equipment, they could also wait until the end of this trip to directly turn them into some weapon materials.

As they conversed, they gradually made their way to another habitat, anticipating a continuation of their journey.

However, something unexpected occurred as they arrived at their destination. The habitat appeared to be strangely still and desolate, with no signs of life. There were no fallen residents or any indications that they had aged and perished.

Instead, the inhabitants seemed to have vanished without a trace.

"Simon, Sanderson, what's going on? Why is there nothing here?" Lin Yuwei looked at the two soldiers in front of her in confusion. 

The two soldiers seemed to be confused as well. They touched the stalactites beside them and looked at the cave beside them. It was indeed strange.