As a line of figures advanced slowly, the passage ahead opened up. Fang Senyan and his group had already endured two waves of frenzied ambushes on their way; in addition to the ridiculously fast-attacking, crimson-gold-striped Vemonthus, crimson-gold Hydralisks had also appeared! These creatures seemed to be variants situated between common Zerg lifeforms and elite ones, and without exception, their attack speed was blistering. Even the two rare elite Zerg Fang Senyan had previously encountered, "Boil-Plasma" and "Thick-Acid," possessed attack speeds no faster than these!

However, those rare elites appeared only once or twice among thousands of Hydralisks, whereas for these crimson-gold-striped Hydralisks, such insane attack speed was an ingrained instinct!

Rounding a rock formation resembling a wall, everyone's vision suddenly cleared. A hundred meters ahead lay a flat expanse roughly the size of three to five basketball courts. At the very center of the clearing stood a colossal, onion-shaped object, at least ten meters tall, occupying nearly the space of a basketball court. Its base was entangled with thick, short, purple tentacles that gripped the stone ground fiercely. The surface of this thing appeared to be composed of a membrane, presumably filled with a viscous fluid emitting a faint, fluorescent dark green light, trembling rhythmically as if breathing, revealing a cold phosphorescence within.

Suddenly, the fluid inside this object began to rapidly illuminate, spreading upwards from the base—from the initial deep green, through light green and pale green, finally to blazing white! The spherical membrane rapidly swelled, revealing veins like human vasculature pulsing across its surface, quickly filling up. The thick purple tentacles below began to writhe rapidly, slowly pushing the "onion head" and aiming it toward the high heavens.

When the sphere had expanded to its maximum—at least double its original size—its surface membrane suddenly contracted and convulsed violently! With a loud thwump, an indescribable mass of fluorescent green matter was ejected toward the sky with impossible speed! A powerful gust of wind swept the surroundings, even blowing the hair of Fang Senyan and the others in the distance straight back. That mass of fluorescent green substance, at least the size of a five or six-ton truck, kept deforming and expanding in the air after being shot out. Traces of faint green light trailed behind its main body like a comet’s tail, scattering speckle-like across the sky. Even though the main body of the fluid was rocketing away, the overflowed droplets slowly drifted down, creating an image of bewitching and uncanny beauty! . . . . . . Unquestionably, this massive, deformed entity was the Giant Spore Emitter Anti-Air Tower required for the mission. The substance it sprayed into the sky was sickeningly familiar to Fang Senyan and the others: the Acidic Spore Cannon, capable of inflicting massive damage even in the vacuum of space! The Emitter Tower merely provided the shell with a relatively high initial velocity; the ejected Acidic Spores possessed temporary life and basic intelligence, enabling them to accelerate further in the air and automatically seek out targets to detonate within a certain range. It was, effectively, a massive biological missile.

Fang Senyan glanced at Mo Gansa, then gestured toward the Giant Spore Emitter Anti-Air Tower a hundred meters ahead: “Can you hit the mountain?” Mo Gansa patted the body of his rifle, pulling back his thick lips to reveal a mouthful of white teeth: “Relax, mate. This thing is as big as a super-sized Cape Town hamburger. I could hit it with my eyes closed.”

Fang Senyan nodded: “Everyone, be aware. We can’t destroy it easily from this distance; otherwise, the mission difficulty wouldn't be B-rank.” Mo Gansa fired his gun, and there were two possible outcomes: either the giant spore tower would instinctively counterattack, or it would attract the stealthily approaching Queen’s Guard.

“Everyone find reliable cover immediately and arrange your formations, ensuring you can shift into optimal combat readiness within two seconds. As for Mo Gansa, didn’t you say you could hit it with your eyes closed? Then you take cover and just reach out to fire. In the worst-case scenario, you only lose your right hand.”

“Damn it, that last sentence was really unpleasant to hear,” Mo Gansa grumbled. “But I have no choice but to obey.”

Ten seconds later, the gunshot tore through the night's silence exactly on cue. To Mo Gansa’s stunned disbelief, the bullet from his Golden AK struck the Giant Spore Emitter Tower, eliciting absolutely no reaction. Less than ten seconds later, the twisted and deformed bullet casing was slowly squeezed out by the tower’s tough outer skin as it subtly writhed.

“Ranged attack invalid?” Such an absurd notion flashed through everyone’s minds. But in the very next second, nearly a hundred crimson Zerg troops surged out from beneath the flat ground in front of the Giant Spore Tower, roaring wildly as they charged. Among these forces were no fewer than ten crimson-gold-striped Hydralisks! The terrifying rate of fire these creatures possessed had already been witnessed; if they focused their spray on one individual, it would be no less devastating than an attack from fifty Hydralisks simultaneously!

The instant the opposing forces clashed and locked into a struggle, Mo Gansa instantly holstered his Golden AK and drew out his short spear once more!

That silver, broken spear adorned with a flag the color of fresh blood. He kissed it briefly with his thick lips, then: Sacrifice!

Throw!

At this moment, he deeply missed the Executioner, Joel. Undoubtedly, in the current team, Fang Senyan and Reef had performed flawlessly at the front lines, absorbing fire and damage, and although the coordination between the two still appeared somewhat awkward, it already showed immense potential.

Therefore, Mo Gansa naturally had to demonstrate strength commensurate with theirs; otherwise, falling behind meant elimination!

For this reason, Mo Gansa had exerted his full power along the way, accounting for over sixty percent of the damage output up to this point. But this time, the Spartan javelin, leaping like lightning, failed to achieve the expected result! This wasn't due to diminished power, but because these Hydralisks, practically direct subordinates of the Queen of Blades, were too cunning and powerful! The Spartan short spear smashed through five crimson-gold-striped Hydralisks like an unstoppable force before its momentum waned. After killing the sixth, it was spent; the seventh crimson-gold-striped Hydralisk was only severely wounded!

Even though only four Hydralisks remained—to be precise, three intact ones plus one crippled one!—they were the crimson-gold-striped Hydralisks, the direct subordinates of the Queen of Blades! Without a doubt, Mo Gansa had successfully drawn their aggression, and simultaneously, they shifted their focus of attack immediately onto Mo Gansa.

Their strong, developed thoracic muscles were contracting; their dense lymph nodes, clustered like bunches of grapes, were secreting acid; their infrared vestibular organs had registered the heat emanating from the enemy. It was predictable that within seconds, Mo Gansa would face a torrential baptism of acid spray from these four Hydralisks! And the humiliating part was that Mo Gansa was currently stuck in the stunned inertia phase from unleashing his ultimate move, completely unable to dodge!

Fang Senyan had brought all the human soldiers except Lieutenant Colonel Jiao Di. They truly lived up to their elite title, simultaneously focusing their firepower on one intact crimson-gold-striped Hydralisk. The barrage unleashed in an instant dropped its threat level to zero—an organic mass shredded by bullets could not spray acid.

Next, Reef, charging at the forefront, utilized the ability of his silver Plot-level shield: Tongue Laceration! A ferocious black tongue of light suddenly erupted from the processed alien skull, killing the severely wounded crimson-gold-striped Hydralisk!

But two Hydralisks remained!

Two full crimson-gold-striped Hydralisks!

Mo Gansa was not Fang Senyan or Reef; his ability to withstand hits was barely superior to an Elite Machine Gunner. Moreover, he was still paralyzed from deploying his ultimate move and needed two more seconds before he could move. The acid sprayed by those two crimson-gold-striped Hydralisks within those two seconds would be enough to put him in absolute peril. In the best-case scenario, he would have to use that capsule of Honor-Grade High-Protein Injector; in the worst, two successive critical hits from the remaining Hydralisks would instantly vaporize Mo Gansa, leaving him no chance to use his life-saving medicine.

Suddenly! The dozen or so smaller Vemonthus charging at the front abandoned their current opponents and leaped forward. They happened to block the firing path of one of the Hydralisks. Consequently, although the highly corrosive acid sprayed out almost recklessly, the majority of it was intercepted by these smaller Vemonthus. Of course, under the relentless assault of the extremely corrosive acid, these small creatures were inevitably doomed, exploding into bloody mist mid-air.

Undoubtedly, such a suicidal maneuver was executed under the orders given by Fang Senyan to these smaller Vemonthus!

The final crimson-gold-striped Hydralisk was not far from Fang Senyan, but it was still over ten meters away. Fang Senyan drew a weapon from his chest compartment in that instant, aiming it with grim resolve!

Strangely, the moment this dark, primitive weapon appeared, a rich aroma of rum could be detected in the air!

Mo Gansa, watching from a distance, forgot his own crisis for a moment. He had finally seen the Sailor’s trump card as he wished, his pupils contracting sharply, followed by tears welling up... Such a firearm! A powerful weapon capable of unleashing murderous intent like a tidal surge, now held in the hands of this guy, Sailor, who hadn't even mastered basic ranged combat. What a monumental waste of talent!