Planning to Charge In

Without hesitation, Lu Heng found a relatively open and flat wall, put his foot down, and stepped directly onto it with his Spider-Shadow Climbing Boots.

However, this wall was reinforced by the Shelter's system, its surface smooth and solid, without any gaps or protrusions. The barbs on the soles of his boots couldn't find any place to bite and gain leverage, so his grip was useless. His foot slipped, Lu Heng slid straight off the wall.

It wasn't a hard fall, but it still landed solidly on the ground.

Lu Heng rubbed his backside, inwardly chuckling bitterly. He'd been dreaming too much; he didn't have a spider's special body, and this mortal body couldn't possibly leap across rooftops at will. The thought of cosplaying as Spider-Man flashed through his mind—it sounded cool, but alas, he wasn't destined for that.

He sat up from the ground, his gaze falling on the Equipment Modification Scroll in his hand. His fingertips traced the surface of the scroll, and he couldn't help but recall the corpse of the Mutant King Cobra, a slight worry creeping into his heart. The King Cobra's body was far larger than the Rat King's, and to be honest, he didn't have the courage to fuse the entire body into his Combat Suit.

"Forget it, let's break it down."

But then I thought about it again, and realized that I was a little reluctant to just use snakeskin for repairs and modifications.

Lu Heng got up and walked outside into the courtyard, then reached into his Wristband Space and retrieved the complete carcass of the King Cobra.

The enormous snake lay sprawled on the ground, its dark green scales still gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen even in death. Lu Heng placed his Wristband flickered, initiating the decomposition process.

The snake skin peeled off first, like a complete suit of armor being removed from the body, revealing the dark red muscle fibers underneath. Next, the snake flesh and bones separated in turn, and the snake fangs were gathered aside, their sharp Poison Fang gleaming pale in the moonlight. The Flesh Core and the Bronze Energy Core were the last to be extracted, one red and one blue, quietly suspended in the decomposition light screen.

Lu Heng first picked up the Bronze Energy Core. It was slightly cool to the touch, and its surface had a layer of fine patterns, like some kind of precision circuit compressed into a crystal the size of a fingernail. He embedded the core into the groove at the bottom of the Shadow Spider Reconnaissance Drone, and the moment the clip engaged, it made a very soft "click".

The dark red crystal lens on top of the reconnaissance aircraft lit up.

A notification pops up on the Wristband screen: Signal connection successful.

Lu Heng looked down at the screen, and the night vision image immediately unfolded. The image had a faint green tint, and the clarity wasn't extremely high, but it was enough to make out outlines and movements. He placed the reconnaissance aircraft on the ground and gently slid his finger across the panel.

The eight mechanical legs began to move.

Its steps were so subtle and almost silent that the mechanical spider moved slowly along the ground, like a living creature stalking in the shadows. Lu Heng tried to control it to go around a pebble; its legs nimbly adjusted their angles, climbed onto the stone, and then fell silently back down.

He shifted his perspective, pulling the camera up from the ground to about half a foot above the reconnaissance plane's position. From this angle, every stone and every shadow in the yard was clearly visible.

Lu Heng's lips twitched slightly.

This thing doesn't fly, but it's enough. It can fly at low altitudes and conduct ground reconnaissance, making it less likely to be detected than flying units.

He retrieved the reconnaissance plane and his gaze returned to the intact snakeskin.

The snakeskin, when unfolded, was several meters long, with layers of scales on its surface, feeling cool and dense to the touch. Lu Heng took off his old Combat Suit, laid the snakeskin flat, and unfurled the Equipment Modification Scroll.

Pale golden light emanated from the scroll, enveloping the snakeskin and the old Combat Suit. The two materials slowly merged in the light, and the snake scale patterns spread along the fibers of the Combat Suit, adhering to it as if it were alive.

The light dimmed.

Snake-Pattern Combat Suit [Bronze Tier]

Description: Made primarily from the skin of a giant Mutant King Cobra, with scale patterns that conform to its body shape. Inheriting the characteristics of real snake skin, its surface is dense and smooth, allowing it to deflect some slashing and clawing attacks; it has excellent tear resistance and good venom isolation; its lightweight texture will not hinder movement when worn.

Lu Heng reached out and picked up the Combat Suit. It was lighter than the old suit, but when his fingertips ran across the surface, he could clearly feel the fine resistance from the scales. He put on the Combat Suit, and the fabric fit his body perfectly, neither too tight nor too loose, as if it had been tailor-made.

He moved his shoulders and arms, feeling no restriction whatsoever.

satisfy.

After doing all this, Lu Heng brought up the interface on his Wristband and began to control the new toy Spider Reconnaissance Drone in front of him.

This wasn't an aircraft; it moved by crawling on eight mechanical legs. The palm-sized mechanical spider moved slowly along the ground, its legs rising and falling quietly and subtly, with night vision footage transmitted in real time to the Wristband screen. Lu Heng slid his fingers across the Wristband panel, trying to control it to turn and move forward, feeling the feedback from each step the mechanical spider took.

After playing with it for a while, Lu Heng finally regained his composure and slowly began to sense the state within his body.

He could clearly sense that the Geothermal Talisman had very little energy left. To restore the Geothermal Talisman's energy, he would have to go to the Geothermal Valley.

Then, a thought crossed his mind, and he remembered the strange supermarket in town.

Sitting on the ground, he replayed his experience at the supermarket in his mind. It was known that there were two anomalies inside: Butcher and Cashier. The situation was extremely oppressive when he broke in last time; he was so tense that he didn't dare to activate his Wristband for identification.

But now, even though it was just a brief experience at the door, Lu Heng recalled the details of that time.

They don't seem to be the kind of unsolvable, rule-based supernatural monsters found in novels, but because I've read too many novels about rule-based ghosts and monsters, I'm scared of myself.

Thinking about it this way, Lu Heng felt a little more confident.

He couldn't help but have another guess: the last time he stepped into the supermarket, those two monsters just watched quietly and didn't make a move immediately. Could it be that they were also wary of him?

"Perhaps, there really is such a possibility." Lu Heng sighed softly.

The more Lu Heng thought about it, the more he felt this was a rare opportunity.

He looked up outside the Shelter; the night had fallen, and the last glimmer of light on the horizon had completely disappeared. Logically, setting off tomorrow would have been the safest option, but his mind was racing, and he couldn't wait until dawn.

"I can't wait any longer."

Lu Heng quickly put on his full gear. He decided to stay overnight in the Geothermal Valley and replenish the energy of the Geothermal Talisman before making any further moves.

He called out to the Bone Demon, took it with him, and set off towards the Geothermal Valley.

The Bone Demon led the way, its chilling aura spreading outwards. Lu Heng was quite confident that, for the time being, no foolish monster in this forest would dare to provoke them.

The journey was safe and uneventful, and we arrived at the Geothermal Valley without incident.

As soon as they stepped into the valley, the Geothermal Talisman on their bodies began to heat up slightly, rapidly replenishing their stored energy.

Lu Heng sat cross-legged in the valley, with the Bone Demon standing beside him, silently taking on the task of guarding and protecting him.

As the evening breeze swept across the rocks in the valley, Lu Heng's thoughts drifted back to the eerie supermarket in the Town.

In his mind, the supermarket was like a hidden map yet to be unlocked, its allure constantly surging within him, making him eager to explore and eliminate the hidden threats.

But he remained rational. He knew perfectly well that there were definitely other unknown dangers lurking in the supermarket, besides the Butcher and the Cashier, who were like supernatural monsters.

Lu Heng raised his head and looked up at the dark and deep starry sky above, as various thoughts tugged and battled in his mind.

A moment later, he clenched his fist, unable to suppress the impulse in his heart.

"No, I can't resist, I have to just barge in."