Chapter 110: Chapter 110: Deep into the Tiger’s Den, Brain Worm
That night, Lin Xiaoyue finished organizing the materials and reported to the higher-ups.
In the materials, Lin Xiaoyue described Qin Tian as a deep-minded, cunning and tricky guy, emphasizing the difficulty of dealing with him, and applied for assistance from other teams.
Soon, the Military Department responded, reprimanding Chen Guofeng for inadequate leadership, and sent three more investigation teams to Mist Town.
After arriving in Mist Town, the three teams immediately went into action. They were experts in tracking, using various abilities and methods to pinpoint Qin Tian’s whereabouts.
However, Qin Tian himself was a top hunter and knew all too well how to hide himself.
After a morning of hard work, the three teams came up empty-handed, with no leads at all. They realized that lingering further was only a waste of time.
Therefore, the investigation team reported the situation to the higher-ups.
Seeing that the three teams made no breakthroughs, the Military Department decided not to waste elite forces in Mist Town and promptly withdrew the four investigation teams, issuing a wanted order to various units and airlines.
At ports, stations, and other transportation hubs, all units were to conduct strict inspections, and report immediately upon discovering any trace of Qin Tian.
After the investigation teams left, Mist Town and Battalion 137 returned to their previous pace of life.
With the battalion commander and deputy battalion commander absent, the most powerful Tu Changsong temporarily took the position of acting battalion commander. The government and the security station received reports of missing persons from the public, but after processing the reports, everyone seemed to automatically ignore the matter.
The town functioned normally, only more dilapidated than before.
......
A week later
The night was like water.
In a vacant room, a man sat cross-legged on the sofa, suddenly opening his tightly shut eyes.
"Found you."
Qin Tian stood up, a gleam flashing in his eyes.
The window opened, and the light around Qin Tian suddenly distorted. Then his figure vanished, as if erased out of thin air. Minutes later, he arrived at Mist Plain.
Plop plop plop
The ground swelled into small mounds, and then a large group of yellow small snakes drilled out from underground.
This was a special breed of snakes, sand snakes, that Qin Tian had bought after a long detour from a breeder.
Unlike ordinary cold-blooded snake species that loved moist environments, sand snakes lived in deserts and were adept at digging and burrowing.
After buying them, he let them explore Mist Plain freely, communicating with the sand snakes using the talent of [Master of Snake Spirits] to share their perspective.
Just now, in the shared perspective of the sand snakes, he discovered a hidden passage, which had very obvious traces of artificial construction.
Therefore, he judged that the passage most likely led to the lair of the mastermind.
"Having prepared for so long, it’s time we met."
Qin Tian looked over the ground, a fierce look flashing in his eyes.
He was never one to take hits without striking back.
That damned guy had caused him to be wanted by the entire military, freezing his ID, bank cards, and turning him into a street rat.
Although he could live as another person through [Illusion], it wasn’t what he wanted.
Killing the culprit, finding the evidence, and clearing his name were what he intended to do.
The earth beneath his feet became soft, and soon Qin Tian sank below, disappearing from sight.
......
The underground passage was completely dark, the pathway wide enough for three people to walk side by side.
Walking through the passage, Qin Tian, with the combined talents of [Night Demon], [Top Hunter], and [Light Distortion], moved like a ghost in the darkness, making no sound or leaving any trace.
The air in the passage was humid, with a faint musty smell and other indescribable odors, like the sour stench of decaying things.
Qin Tian continued advancing through the passage, and every so often, he would crouch down to gently place a few steel beads on the ground.
After half an hour, Qin Tian finally heard some unusual sounds, his eyes sharpened, and he approached even more cautiously.
Soon, a massive cavern appeared before him.
The ceiling was about twenty meters high, with a large pool filled with green liquid at its center. In the pool lay a bizarre-looking creature, five meters long and about three meters tall, its body like a massive lump of flesh, without a hard shell, and a huge head that occupied nearly a third of its body, with a needle-shaped proboscis extending from it.
In front of the bizarre creature, a young man in white sat cross-legged on a stone platform, with a pile of white bones in front of him, and hundreds of spiders crawling at his feet.
"That is..."
Qin Tian stared at the bizarre creature, a terrifying name surfacing in his mind, causing his pupils to suddenly contract.
Brain Worm!
It was actually a Brain Worm!
The Brain Worm was a high-tier commander of the Insect Race, possessing extremely high intelligence and spiritual power, with a complex neural network system inside its giant head, capable of commanding Insect Race soldiers to execute various complex military actions.
In addition, they could devour human brains, converting human intelligence into their own abilities, and absorb the memories, abilities, and languages of their hosts.
The Brain Worm was a superior species to the Soul Devouring Worm and Soul Devourer, continuously secreting mucus in its abdomen to nurture new Soul Devouring Worm eggs.
According to the Encyclopedia of the Insect Race, a mature Brain Worm could exceed 300 meters in size, comparable to a small battleship, while the one before him was still in its juvenile stage.
But its commander’s characteristics were already evident.
So that’s it, everything is clear now.
Qin Tian’s eyes flickered, the young man in white was most likely a Beastmaster, who somehow got hold of a juvenile Brain Worm and signed a spirit contract with it.
The green liquid in the pool was the nutrient solution for the Brain Worm’s growth, but at the same time, the Brain Worm also needed to devour human souls to acquire memories and strengthen itself.
Perhaps due to the unique nature of Mist Town, the young man in white set up his lair in Mist Plain, throwing Soul Devouring Worm eggs into the underground Spiritual Spring, turning everyone into Soul Devouring Worm hosts.
Later, in the recurring mist, he abducted local residents and tourists to feed the Brain Worm and other spiders.
After some time of cultivation, the Brain Worm gradually grew stronger, with very powerful spiritual power, able to command Insect Beasts and even influence Zhao Nuo of Battalion 137, causing him to willingly commit suicide.
"You truly deserve to die!"
Qin Tian’s gaze was icy cold. The Brain Worm was a great enemy of the Human Empire, and many heroes had sacrificed their precious lives to kill Brain Worms. Yet, the young man in white actively nurtured a Brain Worm, using humans as feed to accelerate its growth.
Such a person was not human anymore.
But a beast.
A beast that disregarded life for selfish gain.
Qin Tian quietly took out Shadowstrike, aimed the barrel at the young man’s temple, and placed his finger lightly on the trigger, ready to pull it.
But at that moment, the young man in white suddenly turned his head and gave a faint smile in Qin Tian’s direction.
"After hiding for so long, did you really think I wouldn’t find you?"
"Qin Tian."