Chapter 83: Something's Wrong! Really wrong!

"Captain, should we open fire?"

"We don't have time to relocate, they can see the entrance."

As the swarm of bugs approached closer and closer to the cave, there were murmurs among the team.

Being trapped in a cave by a group of bugs on Bug Planet was an experience none of the nine newcomers had ever encountered, or anything similar for that matter.

But this kind of situation didn't faze them at all.

Before joining the Hunter Corps, they were all elite soldiers in their original units. The nine of them combined had killed enough bugs to pile up a small mountain of corpses.

"Don't worry, let them come."

"Use grenades first, then firearms, wait for my command."

Zhou Yuan shook his head.

They hadn't engaged much in combat that morning; they mostly used tactical nuclear bombs, and their other ammunition was nearly full.

A swarm of bugs numbering in the thousands was nothing to a team with the advantage of defense; it was barely enough to warm up.

"Ready."

After seeing that the team was prepared, Zhou Yuan stepped out of the cave and blew off a bug soldier's head with his AWM.

The bug soldiers were not far from the cave to begin with, and they would eventually discover them, so it was better to take the initiative and seize control of the situation.

"Sizzle!"

As soon as the gunfire sounded, the bug soldier swarm immediately became agitated and charged towards Zhou Yuan.

"Don't rush, wait until they're within one hundred meters."

"Two hundred meters... one hundred and fifty meters... one hundred meters... now!"

With two grenades in hand, Zhou Yuan slowly backed away while constantly reminding the team members.

"Clang!"

As soon as the order to open fire was received, over a dozen grenades were thrown out of the cave.

Except for Zhou Yuan, no one else could throw a grenade a hundred meters, but the bugs had no idea how to avoid them.

When the grenades landed, the swarm of bugs had just entered the blast zone.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

After a brief wait, the grenades exploded on cue.

The simultaneous explosion of over a dozen grenades was quite powerful, directly flipping the vanguard of the bug swarm upside down, killing some and maiming others.

"Fire!"

At that moment, Zhou Yuan also issued the attack command, using the heavy machine gun to mow down the bug swarm.

In fact, the best way to deal with a swarm of this size would be to use mixed explosives.

However, he had learned his lesson on Pluto.

Because he had run out of mixed explosives early, more than twenty people behind him couldn't take down a single tank bug.

So now, he was playing it safe, trying to keep heavy firepower as a last resort in case they encountered another tank bug.

Gunfire rang out, and the bug swarm's advance came to a sudden halt.

In fact, bug soldiers had very thick health bars, and their vitality was as tenacious as cockroaches. With their large numbers, they were best suited to be cannon fodder.

But their three-meter-tall bodies became their weakness when charging.

Once the front-line bugs were killed, the bugs in the back would be in trouble. If they wanted to continue charging, they would have to climb over their comrades' corpses, and their forces wouldn't last long.

When the bug numbers didn't have an absolute advantage, bug soldiers fighting in an assault were asking for death.

[Killed a bug soldier, gained 1 soul point.]

[Killed a bug soldier, gained 1 soul point.]

[Killed a bug soldier, gained...]

"After the situation stabilized, Zhou Yuan took a moment to glance at the status panel. His soul points were increasing along with the empty bullet casings at his feet. 'Scout the nearby area,' he ordered as his magazine neared depletion. Retrieving a new magazine from the ammo box, he muttered a quick incantation before tossing it out of the cave.

Gunfire echoed through the cave, but with the team focused on battling the bugs, no one heard Zhou's words or noticed his actions. 'Conserve ammunition, use single shots,' he shouted after releasing a laser bird, issuing a new command. The team's ammo was still plentiful, but the pressure from the bug horde was decreasing, and full firepower was no longer necessary.

'Yes! I love this feeling!' Zhou exclaimed. 'Let's see who can rack up the most kills, everyone!' His team, previously concerned about holding their ground, now felt completely reassured, their morale and combat readiness soaring.

They had learned a valuable lesson: facing a larger force with a smaller one did not always mean certain defeat. This small skirmish had yielded rich rewards, expanding their perspective and boosting their confidence.

'Captain, we've got a problem!' Venom rushed to Zhou's side, pointing to the right side of the cave entrance. Peering through his binoculars, Zhou saw that the bug reinforcements had arrived, accompanied by an even larger group than the first.

'This isn't good...' Zhou furrowed his brow and immediately issued orders: 'Contact command center, inform them of the bug horde's movement, and request a flight unit to scout our left flank. Prepare for a breakout—assault teams to lead, demolition teams to cover the rear. Have grenades and mixed explosives at the ready.'

These bugs seemed to have a purpose. As he observed through his binoculars, it became clear that the bug horde was heading towards the left side of the cave. They were merely situated alongside the horde's route. Had the cave been just a hundred meters deeper, they wouldn't even be fighting this skirmish.

Perhaps... perhaps his earlier thoughts were correct!"

"The starship worm is likely hiding in the mountain range, using the high peaks as cover. The combat worms are attempting to protect the starship worm by pushing through. However, it was just a theory, and he needed to confirm it.

... ...

"Captain, it's done!"

"The command center values this intelligence and has promised to dispatch a flying squadron immediately."

Before long, Coffee reported the communication status to Zhou Yuan.

"Excellent. Everyone, listen up. Prepare to break through in the left forward direction and throw another wave of grenades as we exit. Zhou Yuan switched to a grenade launcher and signaled the team to get ready.

"Go!"

After a brief pause, Zhou Yuan fiercely waved his hand.

The ten-man squad immediately charged out of the cave, throwing grenades towards the advancing swarm and splitting into two teams as they ran towards the left front of the cave.

Rope, Queen, and Alcohol were the assault team, leading Demon King, Coffee, Venom, and Magic ahead.

Zhou Yuan carried the shockwave cannon and generator, alternating between using the grenade launcher and machine gun to clear out the pursuing soldier insects.

"Use the mixed explosives, now!"

After dragging the swarm for more than ten seconds, Zhou Yuan gave the order again.

The open ground was different from the cave. The insects could attack them from four directions, and even with three machine gunners armed with grenade launchers, they struggled to withstand the swarm.

"You filthy bugs, want some explosives?"

"Come on over, Daddy has something nice for you!"

The shockwave cannon and generator were prepared with mixed explosives long ago, and they acted as soon as they received the command, with each person throwing two boxes of mixed explosives.