Chapter 58: 50. Stinkbug Flies
Translator: 549690339
The stone wall was pierced by the flame pillar, shattering rocks and scattering dust.
Lieutenant Grett’s voice came through the sound of falling stones:
“This Cavern Evil Spider is really cunning! I was just a little short of hitting it each time! … Which team just blew the copper whistle? Are you guys still alive?”
“We’re still alive… Cough, cough, cough…” Sergeant Mars waved away the dust in front of him, coughing as he spoke:
“Chief Officer, Mars Squad reporting to you! Thank you for coming to our aid!”
Upon hearing the name of the squad, Lieutenant Grett’s tone became more serious as he yelled towards the dark area separated by the wall:
“Be careful! Mars! That Cavern Evil Spider is a Death Notice Assassin transformed. Its target is you and Sin Soldier No. 888! It’s after our plan! Don’t let it succeed! … You haven’t told it anything, have you?”
“No, Chief Officer!”
Sergeant Mars glanced in Noland’s direction but saw nothing due to the darkness obscuring his figure:
“Neither I nor Sin Soldier 888 have betrayed the Empire. That Cavern Evil Spider knows nothing!”
“That’s good! … Stay where you are, I’ll be right over. From now on, you’ll act with me, and do not leave my sight.”
Lieutenant Grett clanged against the stone wall, attempting to enlarge the hollow in the wall to accommodate his giant figure. Sergeant Mars turned to Noland and shouted:
“Jarvis, come over here.”
“Yes, Chief Officer.”
Noland replied, holding his silenced rifle, inching closer.
His vigilance did not waver.
When he saw the flame pillar, he knew it was Lieutenant Grett coming to their rescue.
But this did not mean the crisis was averted.
In fact, Noland had already located the Cavern Evil Spider hiding on the ceiling using Deconstruction.
Just as Lieutenant Grett had said, this Cavern Evil Spider which had transformed from the Death Notice assassin, had come for their secret plan.
After hiding on the ceiling, it did not leave the area due to Lieutenant Grett’s arrival.
Its target was right here.
It would not give up easily, even if Lieutenant Grett was here.
It lingered on the ceiling like a cunning hunter honing in on its prey, ready to strike at any moment of vulnerability.
As Noland moved, his eyes constantly lingered on the ceiling above him, releasing Deconstruction repeatedly to keep track of the enemy’s movements.
Sergeant Mars saw Noland emerge from the darkness.
Following Noland’s gaze upward, he saw nothing but impenetrable darkness:
“What’s wrong, Jarvis? What are you looking at?”
Noland told the truth:
“Chief Officer, I have this feeling that the Cavern Evil Spider hasn’t left. It seems to be watching us from directly above our heads.”
Sergeant Mars clenched his rifle, frowning as he scanned the ceiling, but never finding a trace of the enemy.
He listened.
Besides the noise of Lieutenant Grett smashing the wall, nothing else seemed noteworthy in the air.
Sergeant Mars looked away, gesturing for Noland to follow:
“Jarvis, don’t overthink it. That monster must have temporarily fled to someplace farther away. Let’s hurry and join Lieutenant Grett.”
Just then, two faint vibrations of air came from above.
Noland’s gaze sharpened, grabbing Sergeant Mars’ arm and pulling him to the side.
With a couple of splats, two globs of sticky spider web fell from the sky, landing next to them and forming two web walls.
rlhvvo more air vibrations came through.
This time even Sergeant Mars heard the sound.
Without even having a chance to thank Noland, he pushed him away, dodging the attack, then leveled his gun to fire.
But before he pulled the trigger, a glob of spider web accurately struck his gun, wrapping it up and whisking it toward the ceiling with a “whoosh.”
And just like that, Sergeant Mars had been disarmed!
After avoiding the cobwebs, Noland Lee didn’t pull out his gun to shoot, but instead took out his copper whistle and blew it again.
At the moment Corporal Mars’s gun was taken away by the Cavern Evil Spider, Lieutenant Grett, using his special ear structure, heard the whistle.
“This damn creature is still here!?!” Lieutenant Grett roared:
“Where is it? Can any of you see it? Quickly fire your bullets, let me hear the sound of the bullet impact, so I can pinpoint its location!”
Noland Lee remained calm and composed, showing no alarm in the face of danger.
He raised his rifle, squinting towards the sky, ignoring the layers of darkness, and fired several shots in rapid succession.
For the first five shots, he aimed near the Cavern Evil Spider on the ceiling, deliberately missing to create the illusion that he was searching for the enemy’s position with his bullets.
With the last shot, he precisely targeted the Cavern Evil Spider.
The sound of a bullet hitting stone bricks is different from the sound of hitting the Cavern Evil Spider.
The former is sharper, while the latter is more of a dull thud like a throwing Imife hitting a wooden stake.
Upon hearing the distinct sound of impact, Lieutenant Grett immediately raised his right hand and released a Flame Pillar at the point of impact.
The Cavern Evil Spider, having been hit by the bullet, screeched:
“Damn you, Sin Soldier! How can your luck be so good?! How did you find me so quickly!?”
Facing the incoming Flame Pillar, the Cavern Evil Spider’s anger surged:
“Grett! I’ll tear you apart!”
It leaped from the ceiling, narrowly avoiding the scorching Flame Pillar.
Although it said it was going after Grett, the creature’s body, under the guidance of its spider lines, completed a high-difficulty aerial change of direction and swooped down towards Mars below—truly cunning.
The light of the Flame Pillar could illuminate ordinary darkness but could not dispel the “Perception Obstruction” darkened vision.
Noland Lee could lock onto the Cavern Evil Spider’s movements through Deconstruction, but Corporal Mars couldn’t see the Cavern Evil Spider in the light from the Flame Pillar.
Mars didn’t know that the Cavern Evil Spider was already pouncing on him!
Noland had to think of a reasonable way to remind Mars. His mind spun rapidly, and in an instant, he had a plan.
“Chief Officer, catch this gun.”
Noland tossed the rifle with both hands, intentionally throwing it to the empty space beside Mars, instead of directly tossing it to Mars himself.
Corporal Mars heard Noland’s voice and reached out to catch the gun.
In order to accurately catch the rifle, he instinctively moved half a meter to the side.
This shift, just enough to make the pouncing Cavern Evil Spider miss.
As soon as Corporal Mars grabbed the rifle and looked sideways, he came eye-to-eye with the Cavern Evil Spider…
Corporal Mars was startled by the sudden appearance of the monster and hurriedly held the rifle horizontally, pushing it forward to block the chela reaching towards his chest:
“It’s here, sir! It’s right in front of me!”
“Whoosh!” A Flame Pillar responded instantly!
Corporal Mars rolled on the spot, dodging the dangerous flames.
At the same time, the Cavern Evil Spider retreated back to the ceiling:
“Ah! My patience is exhausted! Damn ‘Imperial Fist,’ damn imperial soldiers. The most damnable is you, Sin Soldier! You’re always ruining my plans! All of you can go to hell, all of you!”
The Cavern Evil Spider roared in anger.
As unknown to what it did, the air was suddenly filled with a strong stench, along with a buzzing sound like swarms of locusts moving in unison.
“Not good! This thing doesn’t plan to leave any survivors! It’s summoning the ‘Stinkbug Flies’! ”
Lieutenant Grett cried out anxiously:
“Run, both of you! Don’t let the poisonous insects catch up with you! I’ll hold this monster here! You both hurry up and retreat with the other soldiers to the First Underground Level, don’t mind me! I’ll cover your backs!”
Corporal Mars choked out:
“Sir!”
“Go!” Lieutenant Grett shouted without any doubt:
“The Cavern Evil Spider is even stronger than me.. The ‘Stinkbug Flies’ it summoned with all its power are enough to kill all the soldiers on the scene! Hurry up and tell everyone to retreat! This is an order!”