8. Stealth attack by the deceased

Although Sin Soldiers are used for scouting, they still have basic survival gear.

A breathing mask with a filter cartridge was included in the combat equipment that Corporal Mars had provided to Noland Lee.

Once this device is worn over the head, the surrounding environment can only be observed through two thick glass lenses, and one can hear their own breathing, easily generating feelings of tension.

Noland Lee had only seen such things in war-themed or zombie-themed works before, and this was his first time wearing it...

Honestly, his curiosity about the undead outweighed his unease... at least for now.

It is a unique psychological state of Travelers.

They believe that because they have traveled and are accompanied by a system, they will inevitably survive and become legendary figures.

Before really facing a threat of death, they treat their journey with a gaming attitude.

Noland Lee considers himself to be cautious enough, more cautious than the average Traveler, but deep down, he knows that he will get through any dangerous situation.

So when he stepped into the stairway leading to Underground Area One, his heart had a bit of slack caused by curiosity towards the undead creatures.

Soon, a small accident made him take up the attitude that he shouldn't have and treat his first employment task with complete seriousness.

This accident came from a cunning undead creature.

It lurked on the walls of the staircase.

It looked identical to an ordinary stone wall, and no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a regular stone brick.

But when Noland Lee, who was emitting the scent of the biochemical bait, came about 10 meters from this "stone brick," a dark shadow burst from the "brick."

In that instant, Noland Lee was completely defenseless.

He caught sight of the approaching shadow with the help of the coal lamp's light but could not control his body in time to dodge due to his lack of military training.

He had seen it but couldn't avoid it; Noland Lee's forehead throbbed, as if foreseeing his head being pierced by the dark shadow.

Fortunately, Corporal Mars kept his promise and quickly responded to the dark shadow, saving the slow-moving Noland Lee.

A yellow bullet shot out from a short-barreled rifle with a silencer attached, accurately striking the "stone brick" that emitted the dark shadow and bursting open a splash of purple-black contaminated blood.

A large clump of black, filthy flesh fell from the wall, turning into a "mud" mixture of bone fragments and hair.

At the same time, the dark shadow that was about to fall on Noland Lee's face completed the process from extremely hard to soft, then from soft to slack in just half a second and splashed onto the ground with a patter.

Noland Lee slowly exhaled the air held in his chest and instinctively raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead. Only then did he realize that the breathing mask blocked his palm, and he could only let the sweat drip down his cheeks...

"Thank you." Noland Lee turned around and nodded in gratitude to Corporal Mars who had helped him.

Corporal Mars deliberately pretended to be cold and responded with a barely noticeable nodding motion.

He walked forward, past Noland Lee, and used the tip of the gun to pick up the dark shadow on the ground, illuminating it with the coal lamp's light to take a closer look.

As Corporal Mars moved, the true appearance of the dark shadow entered Noland Lee's sight.

It was a tentacle covered with tiny black hairs.

The tentacle was connected to the "mud" on the ground, and its tip was a flower-shaped oral device with sharp teeth and fangs.

One could imagine that if Corporal Mars' shooting was delayed by a third of a second, the hairy tentacle's oral device would have landed on Noland Lee's face...

"What is this thing?" Noland Lee asked in a low voice.

Corporal Mars shook the rifle, flicking the hairy tentacle to the ground, glanced at Noland Lee and said:

"Cavern Stalkers, a low-level sutured creature of the Undead Cult, disguise themselves as stone bricks, hide in the walls, and lie in wait to launch stealth attacks. It smelled the biochemical bait, so it immediately launched a stealth attack when you stepped into its range."

Corporal Mars returned to the group and engaged in a brief conversation with the others, without avoiding the sin soldier.

Noland Lee stood silently on the side, listening, and gradually realized how experienced the Imperial Army was in combat.

They could infer the general situation of the underground grave vault based solely on the remains of a single undead creature.

One of the corporals in the group said:

"This Cavern Stalker we encountered has tentacles with a total length of about 3 meters, and the cilia on the tentacles are short and stiff, about 6 millimeters in length... I judge this to be a mature Cavern Stalker with vertical dispersal ability."

Another soldier took out the layout of the Grave Vault and placed it under the light of the coal lamp.

Corporal Mars drew a few strokes on the map and presented his speculation:

"The vertical moving speed of mature Cavern Stalkers is 10 meters per second, and they can move swiftly through hard stone bricks and wall structures.

"It usually takes two months for the Spiritual Pivot to summon this level of Cavern Stalkers on a large scale.

"Our current location is at a depth of two meters below the ground, and there is an estimated vertical distance of 100 meters between us and the tomb passages on the third underground level."

"... My preliminary estimate is that there are a large number of mature undead creatures in the tomb passages on the second and third underground levels that have been there for at least two months."

"This is not good news."

"Yes... What's worse is that reviving such a large group of mature undead creatures would require at least a Level 2 Spiritual Pivot."

Corporal Mars concluded:

"We need more intelligence to pinpoint the exact level of the Spiritual Pivot. So let's move on, ladies and gentlemen, let's clear the way for the Imperial Army... For the glory of the Empire!"

The squad members responded with a growl:

"For the glory of the Empire."

The soldiers stopped talking and turned their eyes to Noland Lee.

Noland Lee, not wanting to be difficult, obediently and slowly walked down the stairs beneath his feet.

This time he was much more serious, completely restraining any unnecessary emotions and fully immersing himself in observing the surrounding environment.

As he walked, he suddenly discovered a clever trick to using the Deconstruction Technique.

When activating the Deconstruction Technique, the system will give a name to the target object.

For example, the dark clouds in the sky of the Suffering Borderland.

Noland Lee thought it was just an ordinary cloud layer, but the system directly labeled it as "abnormal," reminding the host of the abnormality in the cloud layer.

Noland Lee could take advantage of this to detect Cavern Stalkers disguised as stone bricks in advance.

As he walked along, he kept casting the Deconstruction Technique without actually using any energy to deconstruct, merely obtaining the name of the target object from the system.

This method was very useful.

Within five minutes of encountering the first Cavern Stalker, he discovered six lurking Cavern Stalkers using this method.

Although he had detected their presence in advance, Noland Lee did not take any extraordinary action.

He did not want to expose his ability to detect Cavern Stalkers.

Instead of taking preemptive measures to avoid the Cavern Stalkers, Noland Lee simply crouched down and covered his head protectively at the moment they launched their ambush, leaving room for the soldiers behind him to shoot.

This set of evasive moves like a frightened rabbit looked somewhat pathetic.

Noland couldn't be bothered with appearances anymore; survival was paramount, and image could take a back seat.

It's not possible to always expect Corporal Mars to be shooting true, right?

The soldiers didn't say much and gradually got used to this Sin Soldier who would crouch and cover his head at the slightest sound...

Corporal Mars observed Noland Lee's actions with a flicker in his eyes.

People said the scholars at City College were well-dressed and highly respected, but they were all timid. When faced with danger, they would freeze on the spot like idiots.

Isn't Noland Lee Jarvis doing a good job?

Well... although crouching and covering his head was a bit silly, it was better than being dazed.

Corporal Mars nodded silently, feeling reassured that Noland Lee could adapt to situations so quickly. After all, the reconnaissance work to come would not be as simple as it was now.