Encircle the Enemy to Draw Out the Reinforcements?

The appearance of the Abscess Sprayers even gave Yan Fangxu a bit of a headache.

The pus sprayed from these monsters formed pools when it landed on the battlefield, corroding the ground with a sizzling sound.

No one could stand there anymore.

And if you were unlucky enough to get sprayed, the splattered pus was harmless if it hit your personal armor; it couldn't eat through. But if it hit your arms or legs, it could quickly penetrate your clothes, causing extensive corrosive burns that would soon leave you unable to fight.

The worst was getting sprayed all over. The soldier would die screaming.

What were these things, some kind of biological artillery?

If the monsters were allowed to spray freely, the whole unit might get wiped out here.

Fortunately, there weren't many Abscess Sprayers, and their range was very short—only fifty meters. They were no real artillery.

Within fifty meters, even with hordes of other Abscess Monsters shielding them, they were still easy to hit.

After seeing the threat posed by the Abscess Sprayers, the soldiers prioritized them as targets.

The 3rd Battalion was newly formed, but it was the first to be equipped with the G9 Gun Family produced at the settlement. Powerful and reliable firearms were the soldiers' best companions. The G9 machine-gun variant was especially effective, with greater power, a higher rate of fire, and a larger magazine that sustained its fire for longer. Against these monsters, it was like a lawn mower.

Bullets poured out like water. The monsters standing in front of the Abscess Sprayers were mowed down in droves, their bodies even torn to pieces. Then the bullets shredded the Abscess Sprayers, too.

They paid a price, but once again, they repelled the monsters' attack.

The woods around them fell quiet.

In those two waves of attacks, the monsters had left behind at least a thousand corpses.

Before this, Yan Fangxu had never seen such a large gathering of monsters anywhere in this forest.

That alone was highly unusual. And what happened next gave him an even stronger sense that something sinister was afoot.

The monsters seemed to understand that continuing their previous, furious assault was pointless—it would only get them killed. They stopped attacking in force, but they didn't leave completely.

From where they were, the soldiers could see shadows shifting deep within the distant woods. The monsters hadn't left. They were lurking behind the trees, and even from far away, the malice they harbored was palpable.

The soldiers, Yan Fangxu included, tried firing into the woods.

The results were poor.

This area had originally been an Incubation Nest. To clear it out, they had cut down and burned many trees in which the monsters' eggs had been implanted, creating a small clearing. When the monsters attacked, there had been no cover within a hundred meters of the soldiers' defensive position.

But beyond a hundred meters, the bullets lost much of their effectiveness in the woods.

After a short period of training, these soldiers had indeed become competent fighters. But even competent fighters weren't necessarily sharpshooters who never missed. At a hundred meters, with the enemy concealed in dim woods and extensively obscured by trees, hitting them was no easy feat.

Thanks to his exceptional military skills and the powerful Electromagnetic Rifle in his hands, Yan Fangxu could guarantee a hit every time: whatever he saw, he could kill. But after firing twice and killing two monsters that seemed to be Abscess Sprayers, he stopped shooting.

He not only stopped himself, but also ordered his men to cease fire.

He had realized there was a problem: the enemy's numbers were too great. They might run out of bullets without killing all the monsters.

Their ammunition was limited.

They had thought they were just going into the woods to destroy an Incubation Nest, not to fight a war, so they hadn't brought much in the way of ammunition reserves.

And even if they had gone to war, they would still have needed the logistics troops to bring up more ammunition. How much could they carry on their own in the field?

Yan Fangxu had been cautious. When he led his unit out on the mission, he had even requisitioned a Brute Ox cart, loading it with food and ammunition.

But even that supply wasn't limitless.

If they stayed put, they would eventually run out of food and ammunition.

He led an attempt to break through, but it failed.

Once the troops entered the woods, their firepower advantage diminished considerably, while the threats they faced grew more dangerous.

Not only were those "biological artillery" monsters harder to kill and more likely to injure the soldiers, even ordinary Abscess Monsters became dangerous. After all, no one could tell which tree one might suddenly leap out from behind.

The bigger problem was that no one knew how many monsters were lurking in the surrounding woods. If they forced a breakout, how many more casualties would they suffer?

After an initial attempt showed them how difficult it would be, Yan Fangxu ordered the troops back before they suffered any casualties. They would continue to hold their position and request reinforcements from headquarters.

He soon received a reassuring reply.

"Hold your position and stand firm. The Governor will lead the 2nd Infantry Battalion and the Marine Assault Team to your rescue."

That reply was certainly reassuring.

The Governor wouldn't abandon them.

But as more time passed, Yan Fangxu's unease gradually grew.

From the monsters' behavior, he sensed intelligence.

The first two attacks had been mindless, typical of these monsters. When they encountered other living creatures, they charged without thinking, seemingly unafraid of death.

But now, they were using the terrain of the woods to keep the soldiers surrounded and pinned in place. That was not a decision mindless creatures could make.

Either these monsters had developed intelligence, or human hands were behind their actions.

Yan Fangxu leaned toward the latter.

Then why had the monsters chosen to surround them without attacking?

To starve them to death?

That clearly made no sense.

Then their target...

Had they anticipated that reinforcements would come?

Was this a ploy to draw out the reinforcements by laying siege to them?

Were they after the Governor?

A flood of thoughts surged through Yan Fangxu's mind, leaving him in a muddle.

Most of the route the rescue force would take passed through dense woods. If a large horde of monsters attacked the Governor's forces on the march, the consequences would be unthinkable!

He immediately activated the communications device again.

This time, he managed to contact Gu Hang and report his suspicions to the Governor.

But after hearing his report, Gu Hang only said:

"Don't worry. I have a plan. Take your time."