Chapter 250: Detection Failure
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
The ninth platoon spread out and retreated while the Spider Zergs were hot on their heels.
"Balls! Did this detector broke?"
Overbite knocked the handheld detector with a fist agitatedly. He was confused by what he saw: red dots all around them.
They heard another howling, and the rocks and earth around them started to tremble. Behind a piece of large boulder next to the team, another Tank Zerg emerged, accompanied by a wave of spider Zergs. The situation had gone beyond the control of a platoon.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Jansining shouted, but the shouts of the Zergs had drowned his voice.
It was then clear to Jansining that they had entered a hive. He lamented over the inaccurate information they had received from the higher-ups. They had missed the location of the hive by a day worth of travel.
But, there was no time for lamenting, Jansining figured that he should lead his team out of this hellhole as soon as possible.
"HQ, this is Jansining of the ninth platoon. District D, Area number 5991. Hostile activities. Requesting air aid! I repeat! Area number 5991, requesting air aid!"
Jansining didn't hear a reply; instead, he heard a constant white noise.
"WTF?"
"Sir, our signal is being intercepted."
Overbite's said it helplessly. The intervention of such a high tier Zerg confirmed Jansining's suspicion: they had walked right into a hive.
"Lieutenant, we are surrounded. What should we do now?"
"Pull back, get into that cave!"
Jansining watched as wave after wave of Zergs popped up from the ground around them. He thought today would be the day that he said goodbye to the world. He felt that it was a pity to have Wang Tong's life wasted by an erroneous information. The best thing he could do right now was to delay the inevitable as long as he could.
However, as soon as the platoon walked into the cave, the Zergs quietly surrounded them and didn't follow them in there.
"Curse these bugs. What are they gonna do now?"
Wang Tong studied the cave and noticed that this could be dug out by the Zergs. He suspected that the further they went into the cave, the more likely they would encounter another army of Zergs.
"They seem like they are waiting for something, or maybe they want to capture us alive." Wang Tong said solemnly. He conceded the fact that there was no way out of this situation.
"All we can do now was to hold our position and wait for the rescue team. Wang Tong and I would secure the entrance. Big Head, give us some cover. I want you two brothers to keep exploring the cave, but don't go too far. The rest of you stay put and wait for my further orders."
The Zergs waited a few more moments and started to charge at the cave entrance. Wang Tong and Jansining closed into the wave of enemies. The cave entrance was narrow enough to allow only a dozen or so Zergs to enter at the same time, so it became a choke point in the Zerg's advance, and helped the soldiers' defense.
In a blink of eyes, a dozen Zergs fell to the ground. Wang Tong knew that Jansining couldn't keep on going much longer, so he said: "I'll cover here, Lieutenant! You go inside and help them out! I have a feeling that the bugs want us alive. Otherwise, they would have just shot us with the Tank Zerg."
The entrance didn't have much space, so Jansining figured that he might as well leave more room to let Wang Tong do what he did best.
"Overbite, I don't care how you do it, but make sure to connect us with the HQ. I don't want to f*cking die here." Jansining shouted at the top of his lungs. Wang Tong was holding his ground firmly regardless of how ferociously the Zergs charged at him. He didn't stay inside the cave; instead, he moved slightly beyond the entrance to gain more space. But it was still confined enough so that the Zergs would not be able to gain an edge over him with their larger body.
"I know that, lieutenant!" Overbite repeated their coordinates over and over to the communication unit, trying to catch the moment when the interception signal was temporarily weakened. Besides, the longer they could hold out in this cave, the longer the Zergs had to release the disruption signals and the more likely the military would pick up the Zerg's signals and decide to investigate. After all, the Zerg's won't sent out disruption signals for no reasons.
A few moments later, the Orien Brothers returned from their scouting mission. "Lieutenant, this tunnel is a dead end. We are trapped."
Everyone's face turned black. They were hoping that this tunnel would lead them to a less defended hive and they would find the queen trapped inside, waiting to be slaughtered. But, the reality seemed to suggest that the joke was on them.
"Take a break, Wang Tong. I will take your shift." Big Head shouted at Wang Tong. As Big Head's voice slipped away, so did the life of half dozen Zergs. They were shredded into pieces, pilling on top of a mountain of Zerg carcasses. The blockade made out of Zerg's flesh wasn't able to stop the living ones, as they feverishly ate the remains of their own kind until they had cleared a new path to the cave entrance.
Wang Tong didn't refuse his comrade's assistance like some gallant knight in the fake fairy tales. This was a war where no pixies or fair godmothers would come down from the sky to rescue him.
As Wang Tong retreated to the inner cave, he watched as five of his comrades worked together, barely able to ward off wave after wave of Zerg's. Ten minutes later, Jansining took another five soldiers to take over the shift. The amount of Zergs seemed countless, but human's energy was limited. The team had been stretched pretty thin, yet, the amount of Zergs outside the cave seemed to be increasing.
Wang Tong watched as the Zergs outside the cave formed a dense blanket that covered the earth. He thought it was more claustrophobic outside than it was this tiny dark cave. He felt tired, but he reminded himself not to give up hope because that was the only thing his platoon had left.
"Dear master, you are in extreme danger."
Wang Tong heard a voice in his head. He looked around to see if anyone was talking to him. His teammates were either fighting Zergs or taking a rest; no one had paid him any attention.
"Charcoal, is that you?"
"Yes master, it is me. The number of Zergs outside the cave has reached the critical number. Please evacuate the cave ASAP! Otherwise, your life will be in danger."
"Well thank you for telling me the obvious. I would have gotten out if I could, wouldn't I?"
"Master, based on my calculations, you have a 100% chance breaking out of here should you wish to initialize your METAL. Plus, the other soldiers would slow the Zergs down for you, so... "
"That's nonsense. Any other ideas that won't get my friends killed?" Wang Tong would never leave his brothers to the death clutches of the Zergs.
It was Wang Tong's turn to take the shift. His teammates breathed heavily and said with a raspy voice to their leader, "We won't make it, Lieutenant."
Jansining half glanced at Wang Tong wh,o was killing Zergs with ease, and gritted his teeth. It had been only ten minutes. Even if the HQ somehow discovered their distress signal, it would still take them a while to get here. An air strike would be risky too since it would endanger the soldiers' lives as well.
It had seemed to Jansining that all hopes were lost.
The bugs were going to become tougher to fight once it turned dark outside. Most Zergs had compounded eyes that could see as good as in daylight in pitch darkness.
Unable to find a solution, Jansining led a few soldiers to take Wang Tong's shift.
Although Wang Tong breathed laboriously, he could still hold out for a while. However, he was worried for his teammates as they had been depleting their soul energy rapidly. Once their soul energy dropped to the point that they wouldn't be able to sustain their METAL suit, they wouldn't be able to fight back at all.
"Charcoal, think something. Help us out!"
Wang Tong closed his eyes as he focused on visualizing the image of Charcoal in his mind. Charcoal blinked but didn't respond.
Suddenly, a light flashed in Wang Tong's eyes. He then asked: "Goldie 2, is there any way out of here?"
A golden glow started from charcoals body and worked its way through Wang Tong's chest to his dantian.
"Master, there is a natural cave behind us that could lead us out of here."
"Who the hell are you?"
"I am your assistant Goldie 2. I had fulfilled your first wish: revive charcoal. I am now reconfiguring his weapon, so you would be able to command him on the battlefield."
"Are you sure there is a way deep in the cave?"
"Positive. There is a barrier, however, roughly 10 meters thick."
Upon hearing the information, Wang sprang to his feet and shouted out to Jansining, "Keep holding them off. I think I have found a way out." Wang Tong's announcement gave everyone a second wind.
Soon, Wang Tong arrived at the dead end. He fused his blade with GN force and started digging. Despite the fact that Wang Tong's blade was made out of military grade titanium, the tough rock on Norton had made the digging process painfully slow.
Suddenly, Wang Tong's eyes turned a golden color, and two rays of bright beams shot out from those two pools of molten gold. The rays cut through the rocks as if cutting through butter.