Six Sonic Beasts

What's the next step?

Cai Cai took out her phone and checked the time. "It's already past 10 p. m. Should we continue leveling up tonight, or take a rest?"

"Take a break."

I glanced at everyone; they all looked exhausted. So I said, "Let's find a safe place to rest for the night, and continue leveling up at the coast tomorrow morning."

"Um!"

Ruolin nodded. "Go back to Pikachu's? So Pikachu won't be stolen when we get back tomorrow morning."

"OK!"

It was nearly 10:30 when we left the insect hive and arrived at the pickup truck's parking spot. Cai Cai and Fatty found some dry branches and started a campfire not far from the pickup truck, and everyone took out their own rations.

Fatty and I took out a bucket of instant noodles, Ruolin took out a can of food, Kou Mei brought a vacuum-packed Osmanthus duck, and as for Cai Cai, he actually took out a steaming hot pot of sauerkraut fish from his storage space.

"Want to grab something to eat together?"

Cai Cai took out several pairs of chopsticks, her face beaming.

Everyone tacitly put down the food they were holding.

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they extinguished the campfire and prepared to rest.

Ruolin and Kou Mei, two girls, sat in the driver's seat of the pickup truck, while the three of us men sat in the back, clutching our guns.

"You two should get some sleep."

I grabbed the Wind Whisperer, jumped out of the car, and said, "I'll keep watch for the first half of the night, and Cai Cai for the second half."

"OK!"

Cai Cai nodded in agreement.

In Star Abyss, the nights in the wilderness are extremely dangerous. Not only do they face threats from insectoids and alien species, but they may also be robbed by wanderers. Therefore, it is not safe for everyone to rest here, and someone must remain awake and on guard.

After scanning the area with infrared night vision goggles for a while to confirm that it was safe, I took a deep breath, leaped onto a tree ten meters away from the pickup truck, and, holding the Wind Whisperer, remained on guard.

"Drop!"

Just then, my phone rang. It was a WeChat from Lin Qingying: "Not coming back tonight?"

"Um."

I replied, "I'll be staying out tonight. Would you like to see the starry sky?"

"Good."

So I switched my phone to night mode, took a picture of the starry sky in the wilderness, and sent it to her.

"So beautiful, so clear."

Lin Qingying said, "You need to be careful."

"Um."

After that, the two of them didn't know what else to talk about, so they stopped talking.

In the middle of the night, I was so sleepy that I went to Pikachu and shook Cai Cai awake. "It's your turn to be on duty. I'm going to take a nap."

"OK!"

Cai Cai immediately jumped out of the car with her Submachine Gun, saying, "Damn it, there are mosquitoes... and Fatty's snoring is like a tractor, I'm really impressed, he can sleep so soundly in this environment."

I couldn't help but chuckle, "If we train for another day tomorrow, everyone's ammo reserves will probably be depleted. Let's head back to Huaining City before dark tomorrow, and then we can finally get some rest."

"Um!"

Cai Cai grinned. "Boss, you take a nap first. I'll take over from here. You're the main player, so you need to conserve your strength and energy."

"OK!"

So, I took out the Explosive Gun, hugged this sense of security to my chest, and lay down with Fatty in the back of the pickup truck, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

There were indeed mosquitoes at night, and I was bitten awake several times, but I was too tired to pay much attention to it. Overall, my sleep quality was passable.

The next day, in the early morning.

A light rain began to fall, and everyone woke up around six o'clock.

"Why is it raining?"

The fat man couldn't help but complain, constantly brushing the rain off his body.

"Stop talking nonsense."

I glanced at him and said, "Let's grab something to eat, then head out to the Cloudy Coast!"

"Um!"

Everyone took out some sausages, biscuits, and other snacks for a simple breakfast. Afterward, Fatty drove, Kou Mei sat in the passenger seat, and the remaining three heavily armed players sat in the back with their guns.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked Zhang Ruolin.

She smiled and said, "I slept for four or five hours, which wasn't quite what I was used to, but it's better than not sleeping at all. Thank you for your hard work last night, Cai Cai."

"Of course."

I looked at Cai Cai and said, "Hang in there, we'll head back before dark today."

"Um!"

Cai Cai nodded emphatically.

At this point, I glanced at my Experience Points. I had accumulated quite a bit by clearing the insect hive, so I casually leveled up to level 29 and put all three of my free points into Strength.

The pickup truck drove slowly, and about half an hour later, a coastline came into view.

"Wrong..."

I frowned, opened the large map and looked at it carefully. Sure enough, there were inconspicuous red dots rushing towards us from the coastal jungle.

"Knock knock~~~"

I immediately banged on the driver's window and shouted in the Team Channel, "Fatty, stop the car! We're being watched!"

"Wh... what... are they targeting me?" the fat man stammered.

"It looks like a variant!"

Cai Cai jumped out of the car, assumed a shooting stance, and aimed ahead.

I jumped down as well, hugged the Explosive Gun to my chest, and switched to a magazine full of bombs. The bombs also deal area-of-effect damage, and to some extent, they are very effective against low-level aliens!

"Shh... shh..."

The trees in the jungle swayed, and countless gray-brown figures kept rushing out!

Tier 1 mutant, Devourer!

"With the pickup trucks behind them, fire all at once!"

At my command, everyone leaned back against the pickup truck and turned their guns toward the aliens. The next moment, the Explosive Gun opened fire with a "rat-a-tat-tat" sound, and bullets exploded among the dense swarms of devourers, dealing exceptionally high damage!

A level 30 elite Devourer with 3500 HP can be taken down with a volley of 7-8 shots from Explosive Gun!

For a time, under the suppression of everyone's firepower, the Devourers screamed incessantly and could not get close at all. Before dying, they desperately opened their three-lobed mouthparts and flailed their tongues wildly, which looked particularly terrifying.

"Depend on..."

The fat man trembled all over, witnessing such a scene for the first time, and his face turned slightly pale.

"Maintain suppressive fire!"

I suddenly turned to the side, switching magazines with my Left Hand while raising the Legion Blade with my right. I unleashed a Dragon Blade + Bloodthirsty Assault on a Devourer that was lunging at me with its mouth wide open, instantly slicing its head into pieces. The scene of blood and flesh flying everywhere was extremely spectacular!

Watch out behind you!

Cai Cai suddenly turned around and saw a Devourer rushing onto the pickup truck, opening its three-lobed mouthparts and lunging at Kou Mei, as if it was about to devour Kou Mei in one gulp!

"Ah!"

Kou Mei was shooting when she looked up and her pretty face turned deathly pale!

At that critical moment, I suddenly threw out the General's Blade!

"Puff!"

"1092!"

As expected of advanced Throwing Skill level 10, it's both fast and powerful!

Taking advantage of the moment the Devourer raised its head, I thrust the muzzle of my Explosive Gun into its mouth and fired four shots in quick succession, each a Headshot and a weak point attack, blasting it to pieces!

"Don't panic, maintain suppressive fire!"

I turned around abruptly and unleashed another barrage of attacks on the dense horde of devourers in front of me.

In just two minutes, piles of Devourer corpses accumulated in front of the Pikachu, and their numbers finally began to decrease, leaving only a few scattered Devourers, shaking their heads and slowly walking around us.

"Sizzle~~~"

Suddenly, one of the Devourers raised its head and roared at the sky. The sound, which resembled infrasound, was extremely oppressive.

"This is bad."

Cai Cai said, "This thing is calling for backup, should we retreat?"

"If we're not leaving, what are we even doing here?"

I smiled faintly, "Check the ammunition, reload the magazines, and prepare for the next battle."

"Good!"

Everyone's expressions relaxed.

"Ding Han."

The fat man finally turned to look at me, his face pale, and said, "Did you guys always risk your lives to level up like this?"

"Otherwise what?"

I smiled faintly, "Fatty, <Star Abyss> is a game for the brave. You need to accept and adapt to it as soon as possible, and then become an indispensable force in our team."

"Um..."

The fat man's gaze gradually hardened. "I will do my best!"

Actually, the fat guy was already quite brave. If it were an ordinary player, seeing so many Devourers opening their three-lobed mouthparts for the first time would probably have scared them so much they wet their pants.

About ten minutes later, birds began to chirp in the distant jungle, and then figures rushed out of the woods, standing at a distance and letting out low growls at us.

"What the heck??" The fat man squinted.

"Sonic Beast."

I calmly said, "Be careful, there are six Sonic Beasts in total, plus dozens of devourers. This is a bit tricky!"

"Depend on..."

Cai Cai gritted her teeth and said, "This is going to be difficult... If Sonic Beast is going to use a positional warfare strategy, it can just unleash Sonic Boom from the spot, and no matter how many of us there are, we won't be a match for it."

"What should we do, boss?" Kou Mei looked a little flustered.

"Let's change our tactics."

I frowned. "Fatty, get ready to drive. Kou Mei, go to the passenger seat. The three of you in the back, prepare for mobile shooting! Fatty, remember, all you have to do is drive the Sonic Beast in circles. Don't stop. Sonic Beast's Sonic Boom attack has a few seconds to charge up. That's enough time for you to drive out of the Sonic Boom's range. The rest is up to the three of us in the back."

I grinned. "Six Sonic Beast, all level 30 Blue BOSS. If we eat them all, we'll get six Blue BOSS -level Ability Crystal chests. Good luck everyone!"

"Okay!"

Cai Cai and Ruolin both smiled happily.

"Get in the car, let's go!"

As the Sonic Beast began their charge in the distance, I lunged into the back of the truck, carrying the Roarer, and shouted, "Ruolin, hold the shield and shoot with one hand! Cai Cai and I, shoot with all our might!"

"Okay!"

In the back of the pickup truck, Zhang Ruolin suddenly raised her shield and fired Submachine Gun with one hand while Cai Cai and I flanked her, taking advantage of the shields to aim at the charging Sonic Beast and firing a barrage of shots!

"Roar~~~"

Finally, one of the Sonic Beast roared, and suddenly wisps of wind rose around its body. Then it began to gather its strength, preparing to unleash a level 7 Sonic Boom!

"Fatty, give me the oil!" Cai Cai shouted.

The pickup truck's engine roared desperately, and the vehicle accelerated slightly.

"Puff--"

In the distance, a Sonic Boom erupted, the attack's range extending just about ten meters away from us!

"Very good!"

I chuckled, quickly switched magazines, and aimed directly at the Sonic Beast's head. Amidst the "bang bang bang" of gunfire, Headshot and Headshot combined with critical damage kept popping up!