Chapter 57: Outside The City

Both Jim and Daley brought a D200 Assault Rifle each. Their choices were based on keeping their firepower intact while maintaining maximum lethality. As such, they did not choose a weapon that was too specific. 

"David, do you want to pick a gun for your backup?" Jim asked upon seeing that David's Eye of Death replica was in Maron's hands.

"No need for that, Jim, I have this!" David smiled and patted the scabbard on his back.

"David, we're not armorers. Although cold weapons may sound powerful, it still depends on who's using them!" De Quincy advised David—although he was not too friendly with him because the latter was close to Maron.

"Don't worry, David is a genius!" Maron turned around and answered.

Jim immediately stopped talking. The last time Maron said that, he saw David passing the Military Sniper range assessment using the Eye of Death replica.

Seeing that Jim was not saying anything, the rest did not bother to persuade David either. 

Anyway, the weapons they had were enough to deal with the trouble they might encounter. 

On the other hand, Sergeant Boris stayed behind in the heavy-armored hovercar, and the two heavy machine guns on board were his weapons.

When David leaped out of the car, he first smelled a faint odor. 

Maron found a protruding boulder and set up his Eye of Death replica on it before beginning to search for his target. 

"Daley, you'll be in charge of the left. De Quincy, you take the right, David you watch the rear. Call me if anything happens, I'll clear the way!" Jim said as he set up his D200 Assault Rifle. 

"Jim, what about me?" Maron asked when he realized that Jim did not make arrangements for him.

"Don't leave your current position. Sergeant Boris who's in the armored hovercar can protect you. With the sniper rifle that you have, you can attack the larvae within two kilometers around you. If you're not satisfied, go to the hovercar and switch your weapon to a medium to close range weapon and follow us!" Jim said helplessly.

Anyway, they would not be straying more than two kilometers away from the heavy-armored hovercar. Actually, out of all of them, Maron was the safest. He was resting atop the boulder and was covered by Sergeant Boris' two heavy machine guns at close range all around.

"Go ahead then, I will protect you guys!" said Maron who was satisfied with the arrangement. 

"Maron, don't aim at any spot that is within ten meters away from me. I'm not confident in your marksmanship!" David commanded worriedly when he thought about Maron's marksmanship.

Maron practiced his marksmanship in the windless environment of the shooting range. Hence, it was uncertain how accurate he could be.

"Maron, don't shoot in our direction!" Jim hurriedly reminded. He had also thought about the fact that Maron was not an expert. 

Even De Quincy couldn't help but cringe when he looked at the Eye of Death replica in Maron's hand and wondered whether Maron would blow his head off with his unreliable marksmanship. 

After a few repeated instructions from the few of them, Maron promised not to shoot indiscriminately before ending the chaos that had arisen before the operation had even begun.

"Connect all your identity bracelets into the 988 contact channel and keep the contact active!" Although it was just a trip that would not be too dangerous, Jim nonetheless strictly followed the rules for everything.

Floating at a spot that was meters above David's head, the Shadow Servant began to observe the surrounding.

At this height, he could see everything that was within a few hundred meters away from him, especially with the clear vision of the Shadow Servant. As long as it was within the line of sight, David could see every detail through the Shadow Servant's vision. 

He was certain that no Bugs would be able to escape the eyes of the Shadow Servant, except for those that were hiding behind the rocks.

The four-man team advanced forward with David at the rear. 

"Jim, why don't the city defense personnel attack the larvae?" David asked after judging the distance that they were away from Pelan City. He was sure it was still within the city's defenses. However, the City Defense Brigade did not do anything about the larvae there.

"The City Defense Brigade is only responsible for defending against the Class 1 Bugs. The larvae are normally handed over to hunters or crows to clean up. On the one hand, that would provide some necessary income for the hunters or crows, and on the other hand, it would be too energy-consuming if the larvae are attacked with the city defense weapons every day. Of course, if the number of larvae is abnormal, the City Defense Brigade will also go outside the city to besiege them. If all else fails, they will deploy the defensive drones to bombard them! " Jim explained as he walked.

David had heard that larvae were inextinguishable due to the reproductive method of the Bugs. There were large numbers of larvae lying dormant underground and the larvae would usually choose not to evolve when they had ample energy. Instead, they would split into more larvae to recollect energy.

It was impossible to annihilate the larvae in this situation, and they could only continuously clean them up.

Fortunately, Planet Rocky was already desolate and did not have much energy that they could use to replenish themselves. Hence, the larvae would at most evolve into Class 1 Bugs, and the chances of them evolving into Class 2 Bugs were very low. Hence, the most important thing was the constant purging and depletion of their energy.

On other planets that were closer to Battlestar, the damage caused by the Level 2 Bugs and more advanced Bugs would force the Star Federation to have no choice but to devote more battle power to those planets.

At this moment, the Shadow Servant saw a sharp skull that was revealed behind the rock 20 meters in front. David was about to send out a reminder when Jim fired his D200 Assault Rifle. 

He shot the skull precisely with continuous point-blank shots. 

After an ear-splitting wail, a puddle of green blood flowed out, spreading around the stone.

"Haha, my luck is good!" Jim laughed and rushed forward. Although he was elated, he still remembered to aim another triple-blow at the head of the fallen larva. He only stopped after he confirmed its death.

Just as the Bug larva fell, the Shadow Servant who was 10 meters above David's head took the initiative to fly forward. It stopped 10 meters in front of David and sucked hard. 

David then felt a wave of energy being sucked into his body through the Shadow Servant's perception. However, it was extremely weak and far less soothing than when he had absorbed human souls previously.

"David, come here and take a look. I'll teach you how to decompose larvae!" Jim exclaimed at David, who remained in the same spot.

"Coming!" David responded as he withdrew some of the perception that the Shadow Servant had and walked quickly towards Jim.

He saw the complete Bug Larva behind the rock. 

It was slightly smaller than a human adult, and the larva was covered in a thin shell. It had a curved body and eight pairs of slender legs beneath it, two of which were particularly long and spiky.

Its earth-gray appearance caused it to be easily overlooked in this environment.

"David, this first cut is going to sever the nerves in the larva's brain!" Jim withdrew a dagger from beside his leg and stabbed it between the cracks in the shell of the larva's back.

"No matter what, never forget that the Bugs are a powerful race with strong vitality. Even if they are dead, don't take them lightly. Our fragile bodies can cause us to pay a huge consequence if we make just one mistake!" Jim continued.

David nodded, and he watched Jim's movements attentively.

As Jim explained, the shells of the Bugs, which looked rather tightly-fitted, were lifted with a few easy strokes of his knife.

Once the shell was removed, two pieces of strengthened meat that were completely different from the rest of its flesh were exposed. Jim sliced each piece of the strengthened meat with his dagger before removing them with his bare hands.

"David, do you have the guts to eat it now? Fresh strengthened meat will have the best effects!" Jim said to David smilingly as he held up two pieces of strengthened meat.

David grabbed the reinforced meat and looked at the slimy bodily fluids of the larva that were still on it. He couldn't help but feel his thoughts run through his mind.

However, he knew that he had to pass that hurdle. He had heard that many armorers could improve and advance while fighting because they could replenish their energy with fresh strengthened meat.

He closed his eyes and put the strengthened meat in his mouth. The strengthened meat was not processed, unlike the sliced, edible ones that were available for sale.

He had nearly 1,000 kilograms of strength, thus his teeth were extremely strong and powerful. The raw strengthened meat was not as bad as he thought it would be. It had the same taste as the processed strengthened meat he had at home. There was a hint of sweetness in it.

However, he soon thought that the hint of sweetness was likely to be the sticky fluids of the larva. He curbed his nausea and suppressed the churning in his stomach before speeding up.

"Great!" Jim, Daley, and De Quincy all cheered loudly when they saw David eating both pieces of strengthened meat.

They had all been in David's shoes before, and hence, they knew what it was like to eat strengthened meat for the first time. Everyone had vomited during that stage before.