CHAPTER 185: CHAPTER 185 SURROUNDED BY OVER 10,000 ZOMBIES

Combat Island, Central Mountain Range.

The squad continued to advance.

A few minutes later, they encountered three zombies.

These undead wandered aimlessly, but before they could react, three arrows took them down.

The scout reported, "Boss! Ahead, there’s a First Level mutant, ten mighty zombies."

"Copy that, you all heard? Silence!"

Lin Yi said, turning to Terghai, who nodded and readied his weapon.

The Beastmen are excellent blacksmiths, so even though their armor was mainly made of steel, they made no sound when walking or running.

Terghai held his favorite silver-red long blade, which looked capable of slicing through a tank.

With his men, he stealthily approached the enemy, then jumped out from behind some rocks.

One of the mighty zombies spotted them and roared, the others quickly responded and turned their heads, but it was too late.

The ten Beastmen took care of these mighty zombies with little effort.

Second Level mutants were no match for them, so First Level mighty zombies were a piece of cake.

The scout said over the radio, "Boss, I see a cave, should I go check it out?"

"No need..."

The squad soon arrived at, and stopped in front of, the relatively small cave.

The cave was about 3 meters high and 4 meters wide, but as they went deeper, the internal space became larger.

Solomon examined the edge of the cave and said, "I don’t think this cave is naturally formed. It looks like it was hammered out."

"Why do you say that?"

"My wife is fascinated with such things."

Solomon pointed to the cave and rocks, "She dragged me to all the major caves in Europe and Asia, whether I liked it or not, over the years, I’ve picked up some knowledge about caving."

"Got it, then let’s call for reinforcements to guard the surroundings, and we’ll go into the cave ourselves."

"No need. I’ll check out the cave."

Terghai said and then began walking into the cave, "Keep moving, don’t worry about me."

"No, it’s too risky." The stubborn Lin Yi shook his head, "At least let me leave a few humans and Beastman Warriors here to cover you."

"No need!"

Terghai stood at the cave’s edge with a sinister smile. His eyes suddenly turned yellow, almost like two flashlights, and his outline began to change.

It was unclear what was happening, but evidently, it was some kind of transformation skill.

Lin Yi had never seen a Beastman Lord use his skills, so he was quite surprised.

But it was too dark in the cave, he couldn’t see what the Beastman had transformed into...

However, he had some guesses,

This big guy seemed to have acquired a transformation skill called "Zoron’s Nightmare."

Might be powerful, but looked like one might lose their sanity and attack teammates... Leaving people there might not be wise...

Lin Yi nodded.

"Alright, let’s continue moving forward, let this big guy have all the experience points and loot to himself!"

The squad continued forward.

The canyon widened and narrowed at places.

Rocks of various sizes were scattered everywhere, but overall, they advanced smoothly.

They occasionally encountered zombies and mutants, the deeper they went, the more enemies they met.

Before long, they encountered fifteen First Level mutants, a hundred ordinary zombies, and one Second Level mighty mutant.

Lin Yi’s team had fifteen Eighth and Ninth Level beastly humans, a stone-skinned man, two archers, and a mage.

The mage stood at the back, the typical "glass cannon", tasked with standing there waiting for an opportunity until things got tricky to make a move.

An arrow hit the Second Level mighty mutant’s sturdy body, followed by a burst of lightning.

The serpentine lightning surged over the mutant’s massive body, shocking it and turning its armor-like bony protrusions red hot.

But that wasn’t all, three of the mighty mutant’s kind were also hit by the current, these four monsters were paralyzed for several seconds, one was fried to death on the spot.

After the human’s ranged attack, the Beastmen charged into the group of enemies, dispatching them with little effort.

In Lin Yi’s view, it seemed like the Beastmen were competing to see who could kill zombies in the most spectacular way.

One of the Beastmen used a unique melee skill, he swung his great sword in a spin, taking off the heads of over twenty enemies in one go.

Another Beastman let out a deafening roar, a dozen enemies collapsed at his feet, black liquid oozing from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses.

Every Beastman present was an elite warrior of the Tal Race, possessing rare skills passed down through generations.

Yet, the human soldiers were no less impressive, their skills may not have been equally dazzling, but they could still carve these small fry into pieces.

Xiaochuan focused on the mighty mutant, completely ignoring the ordinary zombies, and thus gained most of the experience points.

However, in the end, it was Lin Yi who took down that Second Level mighty mutant, his missing left arm slowing him not the slightest—after all, he wielded a One-handed Sword.

"For some reason, today’s drops are a bit disappointing..."

The one-armed warrior Lin Yi muttered.

They had killed a hundred zombies, fifteen mutants, and one Second Level mutant, yet only received one white reward, seven green rewards, and one blue reward...

"Yeah, Boss, even the rewards from this morning’s operation were less than we expected, only about half..."

"What the hell, Shelter?"

[With the increase in difficulty level, your reward drop rate has slightly decreased!]

"But that’s on Earth! We are now in the Sea of Space-Time!"

[You are connected to Earth, Earth’s rules affect all Earth players, no matter where they are!]

Lin Yi didn’t swear but took a deep breath to calm himself down.

After a short rest, the team set off again and soon encountered another group of zombies and mutants.

This time there were more enemies, but not so many that heavy weapons needed to be used.

The team easily defeated the enemies and confirmed their suspicion—the green reward drop rate fell to 50%, the blue reward dropped to 75%, while the white reward fell from 2% to 1%.

"Shelter...what on earth is going on?! You call this ’slightly decreased’?"

Lin Yi complained, but got no response.

There were a few more random encounters, but they weren’t a big problem, and the team soon reached a small valley.

If it weren’t for the black soil and rotting trees, this place would be quite pleasant.

The valley was between two cliff walls, perfectly circular, as if formed by a fallen meteorite...

Indeed, it was.

With time, the meteor crater was filled with soil, becoming what was once a vibrant and beautiful place.

The former meteor crater was large enough to accommodate a small town, but there were no signs of human activity here, only traces of a large number of undead creatures.

At first glance, there were at least a thousand.

In the very center of the crater, a huge black crystal protruded from the ground! It was at least fifteen feet tall and about ten meters in diameter.

"Boss! There are too many enemies, what should we do?" Solomon climbed up a rock to survey the area, asking.

"Retreat, we’ve found the enemy’s ’Crystal Tower,’ let’s bring the army tomorrow..."

Before Lin Yi could finish, a wild howl sounded in the distance, amplified by echoes, making it more difficult to discern the source.

Everyone painfully covered their ears.

It felt like an electric drill was stabbing straight into their ears, turned to maximum power.

The beastmen all lost consciousness...

Fortunately, the sound only lasted about five seconds, leaving humans unharmed.

"Is everyone still alive?"

Nearly deafened, Lin Yi felt his hearing impaired, his hands shaking.

"Yes, I’m still alive."

"So am I..."

"Boss, the beastmen are seriously injured!"

"Zombies are approaching!"

"Damn it! Set up the machine guns! Solomon, quickly call for reinforcements! Piero, use your Fire Wall skill—I need at least a minute to stop any creature from coming through!"

"Yes, Boss!" the Mage team leader said, waving his Fourth-Level Magic Staff.

He wasn’t entirely sure he could successfully cast this skill, but the boss gave the order, and he must obey...

He equipped the best gear for this raid, including a Mage Set, top accessories, and of course, a Mage Pendant.

Seconds later, flames shot from his staff in multiple directions, creating a genuine Fire Wall.

This Fire Wall was extremely wide, at least 50 meters, but it consumed a massive amount of Magic Value.

Fortunately, Piero had an Energy Core with him, and he could use two simultaneously, one inserted into the staff and the other placed in the Mage Armor.

They heard something roar angrily, but most zombies didn’t want to charge into the fire. A few did, but were burnt to char within seconds.

The flame skill’s power was immense.

Meanwhile, soldiers set up the machine guns, though their ammunition was scarce.

Lin Yi began to wield the Laser Gun, though it required several seconds for each teleportation.

"Xiaochuan, climb onto that rock and point targets for the machine gunners! Don’t forget to aim at the mutants! What about the reinforcements, Solomon?"

"They’re on their way, boss! They want us to hold out for five minutes." Solomon replied as he set up a machine gun.

"Just five minutes?! We have only twenty people here, facing twenty thousand damn creatures, not knowing how many mutants! Piero!"

"What can I do for you, Boss?"

"Can you still hold up?"

"Yes, Boss!"

"Good job. Keep holding on. Xiaochuan! What do you see?"

"Boss! There’s a large group of zombies on the other side of the Fire Wall, waiting for it to burn out. Should I attack?"

"Wait till everyone is ready!"

It didn’t take long for the soldiers to quickly set up the machine guns, taking over the Laser Gun from the boss.

Those who didn’t have Laser Guns drew their swords.

Once everyone was ready, Lin Yi gave the order.

The group unleashed a burst of bullets on the zombies across the Fire Wall, the flames reducing the machine gun’s effectiveness.

Most zombies were hit by the semi-melted metal bullets, but still in a short time, eliminated a large number of enemies...