Juvenile Form

Chapter 24: Juvenile Form

The pungent smell of gunpowder mixed with the stench of decay made Zhou Diao, with his overly sensitive sense of smell, extremely irritable.

He kicked over a dead Bug Monster and cursed, "Fucking disgusting. It's bad enough that corpses breed flesh worms, but now these black-shelled bugs pop up too. Just how many bugs are in this damn cave?!"

Feng Ling crouched beside a Bug Monster and examined it carefully.

The front half of this big bug's torso resembled a centipede, with a pair of extremely strong and sharp mandibles and segmented back armor like a centipede's. It had fewer legs than a centipede—two rows totaling twelve feet.

The rear half of the torso dragged a long, flat abdomen. The abdomen was slightly darker in color, covered with a thin shell that was relatively soft. At the tail end of the abdomen were two small hooks, which helped the bug stabilize itself when climbing rock walls.

She had seen this hook-like structure on the white flesh worms too.

Feng Ling mused, "The white ones are probably the Juvenile Form. These cyan-black ones with back armor are the Adult Form after metamorphosis. No telling how many are left in the cave. Let's hurry—you have to kill them while they're still juvenile, or they become a real pain once they grow up."

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Huangfu Miaomiao making a strange expression. Feng Ling raised an eyebrow and asked, "What are you looking at me like that for? Is there something on my face?"

Huangfu Miaomiao jumped, then quickly shook her head. "Nothing, nothing!"

Huangfu Miaomiao was always on edge, so Feng Ling didn't think much of it. She turned to Zhou Diao and asked, "Vice Captain, what's the plan now?"

"We definitely need to wipe out the Juvenile Form early, but with all these cave entrances, we'll get lost if we just wander around." Zhou Diao reached into Qin Liang's backpack, fished out a black square box, and grumbled, "I didn't expect the cave conditions to be this complicated when we came down. Good thing Lao Su prepared this in advance."

"What's that?" Feng Ling asked curiously.

"The latest Cave Detector."

Zhou Diao kicked aside a few bug corpses to clear a space, set the black square box firmly on the ground, and opened the lid.

Inside was a pull-out LCD screen about the size of a standard A4 sheet of paper, with a complex array of buttons in different colors below it.

"Why didn't the scientists design the operation method to be simpler?" Zhou Diao pressed a few buttons irritably, but the device didn't respond.

Qin Liang quietly reminded him from the side, "You need to activate the small flying box underneath first."

Zhou Diao suddenly understood, slapped his forehead, and then launched into another flurry of operations.

A metal object less than 10 cm in diameter popped out from inside the box, shaped like a ladybug.

This Metal Ladybug had a propeller on its bottom. Once activated, it slowly rose into the air, not flying very high, hovering with a buzz at knee level beside Feng Ling.

Then the micro-scanner on its top emitted a green laser and began a circular scan of the cave.

"Alright." Zhou Diao breathed a sigh of relief. "Qin Liang, keep an eye on the display. Everyone else, stay on alert."

Feng Ling leaned in for a closer look. The display screen was split in two: the top half showed a 3D map of the cave interior, and the bottom half showed data streams she couldn't understand.

Qin Liang explained to her, "During the scan, the detector can record real-time data like temperature and humidity inside the environment. It can also detect life forms, helping the user get a fuller picture of the cave conditions."

"Fancy~" Feng Ling straightened up and asked Zhou Diao, "How much does this thing cost?"

Zhou Diao snorted, glancing at her with a hint of pride. "It's an internal, non-sale item from the Supervision Bureau. There's no price tag."

Feng Ling felt a little disappointed at that.

In the past, she would never have had any interest in such advanced high-tech, but since her savings had just broken a million, it was hard not to get her hopes up.

The Ladybug Detector flew farther and farther away, randomly disappearing into one of the cave entrances, leaving only the image data on the display continuously transmitting back.

"Vice Captain, we've used over half our ammunition. Should we return for resupply?" Xiao Li reported to Zhou Diao.

Zhou Diao thought for a moment, then said, "Wait until the detector finishes mapping. Then you guys go back to the car and grab the supplies."

The Special Forces had gone light on this operation, carrying only what they needed. Most of their ammunition was already spent. If another bug attack came, they'd likely face a shortage of firepower.

After considering all this, Zhou Diao's gaze shifted to the two men huddled in the corner, and he said to Xiao Li, "When you head out, take these two with you."

Xiao Li acknowledged, "Understood."

In the corner, Brother Chao's expression flickered between light and dark, as if he wanted to say something.

Beside him, Fang Ye wore a look of joy and gratitude, clearly eager to leave this place.

Brother Chao suddenly spoke in a sinister tone, "You won't make it back."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Zhou Diao ignored Brother Chao entirely and asked Fang Ye, "What's up with your buddy here? Is he not right in the head?"

Fang Ye gave an awkward smile, his eyes darting away, and he hung his head, not daring to meet anyone's gaze.

Then Brother Chao let out a grim laugh. "You're no match for it."

Zhou Diao was so annoyed by Brother Chao that he laughed. He walked over and asked, "Oh yeah? And who's this 'it' you're talking about? Call it out, and we'll have a little contest."

Brother Chao said nothing. He just lifted his head and stared up at the cave ceiling.

Zhou Diao, suspicious, followed his gaze upward.

Despite the illumination from burning sticks and other items, the cave ceiling remained dim and murky. Several pitch-black cave mouths dotted the space above their heads, exuding a deep and eerie aura.

Zhou Diao had killed many Xenomorphs, including Contaminants, and right now he felt a bit defiant.

He heard the familiar sound of bugs crawling, trying to pinpoint which cave mouth it came from, but every entrance here was interconnected, making it impossible to distinguish.

He tried to rely on his sense of smell, but the cave was thick with a heavy stench, drowning out any other odors.

The sound was getting closer.

Shhhk...

Shhhk...

Everyone's hearts were in their throats. They gripped their weapons tight, staring at the holes with full alert.

Finally, they saw it—a human face appeared in the largest opening.

A rotting, greenish human face.

So decayed it was deformed, like a melted wax statue. When it opened its mouth, even its teeth fell out and clattered to the ground.

But Brother Chao got excited at the sight. He rushed forward to pledge his loyalty: "I brought the people you wanted. Look, they all have cards! As long as you spare me, I can bring you even more!"

Thump.

The face dropped off. The head, covered in rot, rolled to the side with a dull sound.

Brother Chao was hit square on. He froze, head tilted back, stunned.

In his field of vision, enormous mandibles opened wide, like a claw machine claw dropping from above, suddenly lunging close! Everything went black in an instant!

Zhou Diao shouted in alarm: "Fire!"

The Special Forces members opened fire immediately!

But the Bug Monster was blindingly fast. The instant it bit down on Brother Chao's head, it yanked him back into the hole. Every single bullet struck Brother Chao instead!

His body hung suspended in the opening above. The riddled corpse gushed blood. Two seconds later, it fell.

The neck was completely severed. A headless body hit the ground, spraying blood.

Brother Chao's voice echoed through the cave—

"Damn you... you killed... my children... huh-heh... all of you... deserve... to die..."