Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Trap, Snake-man
The night was as calm as water.
A cool breeze swept across the plain, pitch black all around.
The four members of the Earth Dragon Team, wearing multifunctional helmets, turned on the night vision feature, chatting as they walked.
"We’ve been walking for three or four hours already, and we still haven’t found any clues,"
Xiao Yunlong said dejectedly.
Qin Tian frowned slightly; initially, he could detect a faint scent of blood along the way, but at a certain point, it suddenly disappeared. Since then, they could only choose a direction at random to keep moving forward.
"How about we find a place to rest for a bit?"
Looking at the desolate and lonely surroundings, Xiao Yunlong said, "Traveling at night isn’t safe."
"Alright."
Qin Dadi nodded.
The group found a small hill and sat on the leeward side. Qin Dadi pulled out some instant meals and bottled water from his backpack and shared them with everyone.
"Captain, I forgot to ask, which legion do the teams we’re looking for belong to?" Xiao Yunlong asked while eating.
After twisting open the bottle cap and taking a sip of water, Qin Dadi replied, "The White Tiger Legion."
"The White Tiger Legion’s special operations team~"
Xiao Yunlong was shocked, "It’s them? This mission is feeling more dangerous."
"That’s why we must be on high alert,"
Qin Dadi said solemnly, "If anything seems off, contact headquarters immediately, and don’t try to be a hero."
"Yeah, I definitely won’t try to be a hero; I’m a coward,"
Xiao Yunlong shrugged.
Qin Tian took small bites of a compressed biscuit, finding the chocolate flavor better than he expected, though it was a bit too dry and needed water to swallow.
Just then, an extremely faint sound came from afar, capturing his attention instantly.
Listening carefully for a while, Qin Tian squinted his eyes slightly and spoke:
"There are people nearby."
People?
Upon hearing this, the three others became vigilant immediately.
Qin Dadi asked in a low voice, "In which direction?"
Qin Tian pointed in one direction, "Over there, about two kilometers away."
"Wait, you can hear sounds from two kilometers away?"
Xiao Yunlong’s mouth dropped open in shock, "What are your ears made of? Bat?"
It’s cat, cats also have strong hearing.
Qin Tian answered silently. His current [Shadowbone Physique] was obtained from a Tier Four Shadow Catman, with the talent orb reaching deep blue.
His hearing, smell, and night vision abilities far surpassed ordinary people.
Moreover, they were currently on a plain, with nothing but the whistling wind as background noise, so hearing noise two kilometers away wasn’t surprising.
"Qin Tian, are you sure it’s people? Could it be some animals?" Qin Dadi asked cautiously.
"I heard the sound of conversation," Qin Tian replied.
Liu Zhaozhao said, "Could it be other teams?"
"No."
Qin Dadi shook his head, "For this mission, every team has its own designated area. I’m sure the Earth Dragon Team is the only one in this sector."
"If it’s not a special ops team, then it means..."
Xiao Yunlong’s eyes flashed with excitement, "We’ve found the targets!"
"If Qin Tian didn’t hear wrong, then it should be,"
Qin Dadi said, a smile appearing on his face. The Military Department placed a high priority on this mission, offering substantial military points, and they successfully found the missing personnel in just half a day.
This operation turned out to be unexpectedly smooth~
"Let’s move~"
The Earth Dragon Team immediately sprang into action, running quickly, and soon arrived in front of a cave entrance.
"Is anyone there?"
Xiao Yunlong shouted at the cave entrance.
"Yes, yes."
A hurried and somewhat weak voice came from inside.
There really is someone!
The group exchanged glances, turned on their flashlights, and entered the cave.
The cave was dark, with a very noticeable damp odor, and aside from that, there was a faint smell of rust.
"We’re here~"
A voice came from the front, and Qin Dadi quickly shone the flashlight in that direction.
They saw two men in special ops military uniforms sitting on the ground, their upper bodies leaning against the cave wall, with tattered clothes and dark red bloodstains. Their lips were a bit pale, indicating they were not in good condition.
"Which special ops team are you from?" Qin Dadi asked.
A crew-cut man said weakly, "My name is Xue Lin, and he’s Wang Tiancheng. We’re both members of the Celestial Wind Squad from the White Tiger Legion."
Xue Lin, Wang Tiancheng.
Qin Dadi compared the missing persons’ list with their faces, confirmed it was correct, nodded, and said in a deep voice:
"We are the Earth Dragon Team of the 319th Legion, ordered by the Military Department to search for the personnel who went missing a few days ago. We now confirm your identities, and I will contact headquarters to escort you back to the base."
"Thank you."
Wang Tiancheng spoke, his voice very hoarse and weak, "Brothers, could you get us some water to drink first?"
"No problem."
Xiao Yunlong immediately took out two bottles of water from his backpack and handed them to the two.
"Thanks."
The two took the water as if it were a treasure, quickly unscrewed the caps, tilted their heads back, and gulped it down without a moment’s pause.
"Don’t rush, drink slowly, I still have..."
Before Xiao Yunlong could finish his sentence, the two had already finished the entire bottle of water.
"... a few more bottles~"
Xiao Yunlong’s voice became softer.
"Are your wounds okay? Do you need any medication?"
Qin Dadi noted the multiple injuries on the two men, a hint of suspicion flashing in his eyes.
"No need, we’ll treat them when we get back to the base."
Xue Lin refused Qin Dadi’s kind offer.
"Could you give us some food as well?" Wang Tiancheng said hoarsely.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunlong quickly rummaged through his backpack, putting back the hard-to-swallow compressed biscuits and took out two energy bars.
"Thanks."
Wang Tiancheng handed one to Xue Lin, then slowly tore open the packaging, took a small bite, and chewed with difficulty.
At that moment, Qin Tian suddenly spoke up:
"What happened to your wounds?"
Upon hearing the question, Xue Lin and Wang Tiancheng paused, then looked up at Qin Tian.
"Let me explain."
Xue Lin sighed, "A few days ago, several of our teams received a mission to investigate the disappearance of the Steel 7 Company. After reaching the scene, since we couldn’t find any valuable clues, the captains decided to split up and share intelligence daily."
"Later, our Celestial Wind Squad followed a direction to search, only to unexpectedly encounter a group of Snake-men along the way."
Snake-men?
In Qin Tian’s mind, a classic image of Snake-men—a Medusa—immediately appeared.
"This group of Snake-men wasn’t very strong; we quickly killed most of them. However, as we prepared to finish them off, a Tier Four Poisonous Snake-man suddenly appeared."
"Poisonous Snake-man!"
Xiao Yunlong exclaimed, and shock appeared on the faces of Qin Dadi and Liu Zhaozhao as well.
"Yes, a Poisonous Snake-man,"
Xue Lin smiled bitterly, "Once he appeared, the situation reversed instantly. Our entire squad was no match for him. In the end, our captain burned his bloodline power to hold him off, creating a chance for us to escape."
"During our escape, we split into pairs, and Tiancheng and I managed to break through many Snake-men with all our strength, finding a safe place to hide."
"But both of our communicators were lost during the battle, so we couldn’t contact the Military Department. Fortunately, they didn’t give up on us."
After listening to Xue Lin’s account, Xiao Yunlong and the others were secretly shocked. A Poisonous Snake-man is much scarier than the Shadow Cat-man they previously faced.
For Xue Lin and his team to survive a Poisonous Snake-man encounter is truly a stroke of luck~
While everyone focused on the Poisonous Snake-man, Qin Tian felt that something seemed off.
What could it be?
Qin Tian’s gaze swept over Xue Lin and Wang Tiancheng, then suddenly, a detail caught his attention.
Wang Tiancheng’s leg!
Xiao Yunlong and Qin Dadi’s flashlights were focused on their upper bodies, leaving the lower bodies concealed in the darkness.
However, Qin Tian had excellent night vision, able to see everything clearly.
Wang Tiancheng’s leg was severely injured, seemingly corroded by some strong substance, with a large area of skin sloughed off, extending from the calf to the ankle.
The once-developed calf muscles now seemed to have been bitten off.
With such a severe injury, even walking would be difficult, let alone breaking through a group of Snake-men.
Is he lying?
But why would he lie?
Qin Tian frowned slightly; just then, his vision blurred, a faint dizziness washing over his brain.
Thud~
Thud~
The sound of a body hitting the ground reached his ears, and as he turned his head, Qin Dadi, Xiao Yunlong, and Liu Zhaozhao were all collapsed on the ground.
He was startled, glancing to the side.
Xue Lin and Wang Tiancheng were staring at him intently, eyes filled with inexplicable emotions, as if torn between helplessness, struggle, and remorse.
Qin Tian’s mind raced; he clutched his head, staggered a couple of steps, then slumped into unconsciousness.
A few seconds later
Sss sss sss
From deep within the cave came a faint rustling, as if something smooth was scraping against the ground.
Soon enough, several large figures emerged.
Upper bodies bare, solid and strong, with hair a deep green, their features a blend of human and serpentine, eyes sharp and yellow, with pupils like slender slits akin to those of snakes.
Their lower bodies had thick, muscular serpent tails, scales shimmering faintly dark green in the dim light.