Zero Point nodded silently, but as soon as he stood up, he slumped back to the floor. Then the man managed a wry smile: "No choice, my whole body is weak and sore. The after-effects of unlocking the Gene Lock are terrifying. At that moment, I truly thought I was going to die right there."

Zheng Zha froze for a second, then roared out in surprise and delight: "Unlocking the Gene Lock? Zero Point, you unlocked the Gene Lock? That’s excellent! Don't worry, we only have a few hours before we return to the 'Main God' space. Once we get back, you can repair your genes, don't worry... But for now, you had better not enter that unlocked state again, or your genes might collapse immediately. If they collapse like this, we won't be able to save you."

Zero Point nodded silently, steadying himself on the Gauss sniper rifle he held. From his appearance, it seemed as if his combat strength had returned.

However, Zheng Zha knew that after the first time unlocking the Gene Lock, a significant amount of time would be required before one could fight again—even he, who possessed both internal energy and vampire energy, had experienced that.

And Zero Point had no energy reserves whatsoever? So, after supporting Zero Point to stand, he immediately ran back towards the two prisoners of war.

With such a large disturbance, the expected bugs would have already appeared. A large number of ground insects had been drawn away by Chu Xuan and the others, so when Zheng Zha reached the pair, they were still lying there unharmed. However, their reactions were diametrically opposed. The close-combat man glared ferociously at Zheng Zha, truly looking as if he wanted to tear off half of Zheng Zha’s flesh with a bite, while the other man was exceptionally fearful.

Especially upon seeing that the other man was in the exact same state as him, his terror deepened.

"I advise you both to be sensible and tell the truth. The harvest from capturing you hasn't been great. Both weapons turned out to be allegiance-bound, your protective magical artifacts have been destroyed, and even when asking for your storage items, you both only said that the item was on him... I don't mind killing you right now. But my teammates might need to self-enhance some attributes. I'll leave the task of killing you to them, just as you yourselves suggested. Do you want a quick death, or do you want to be killed after being slowly dismembered? Choose for yourselves!" Zheng Zha said coldly, looking at the two.

Their expressions remained starkly different. The Caucasian man named Roster snarled viciously, "Damn it, why waste so many words? If you have the guts, just use one stroke..." Before his words finished, he stared in horror as Zheng Zha slowly gestured with his knife near his lower body. The man finally stopped speaking, paralyzed by terror.

The other man quickly nodded, saying, "Yes, yes, please don't kill us! My items are all in his storage belt. Please do not kill me, I am willing to provide you with mental skills. Oh, weren't you trying to find your partners? Right now, their situation is the most critical. Those bugs from the Brain-Worm Royal Guard have surrounded and attacked them. I imagine they can't hold out much longer, and the deployment of the Brain-Worm Royal Guard means the Brain-Worm wants to eat their brains. Do you want to see your partners die tragically after having their brains sucked dry? Spare me, I will definitely help you get to the deepest parts of that insect nest!" Zheng Zha and Zero Point exchanged a glance; Zheng Zha nodded and said, "Fine, sparing you is not a problem. Then you should lift their jamming immediately. I need to contact them first."

The man quickly replied, "The jamming was lifted when I fought with this guy just now, but I blocked the signal from this area, so they couldn't find you. Do you need me to link your consciousness to your mental controller?" Zheng Zha glanced at Zero Point, signaling caution, then looked back at the man. The man quickly closed his eyes. He truly lived up to being a powerhouse whose attributes were cultivated with a large number of reward points; he swiftly connected Zheng Zha's consciousness with Zhan Lan's. Zheng Zha immediately called out, "Zhan Lan! What's the exact situation? My operation was successful. What are your coordinates and the situation regarding the insect response?" Zhan Lan’s consciousness seemed to tremble slightly, and she quickly replied, "Zheng Zha, are you alright... Heh, look how foolish I am. Since you can contact me, you must be fine. Don't worry, we are all alright. Do you want to speak with anyone else?" Zheng Zha quickly said, "Yes, help me connect my consciousness with Chu Xuan's."

As soon as the words fell, slightly over a second later, Zheng Zha was linked to Chu Xuan’s consciousness.

"Chu Xuan, my operation was a success. The two powerful attribute users have been captured alive, but most of their items are either unusable or stored away, so we can't get much good stuff yet. How is your situation?" Zheng Zha urgently asked Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan let out a firm 'En' sound: "I am in great danger here. You only have five to ten minutes to get over here. After that, one person will die every minute. You manage the precise timing yourself. Also, it's best not to kill those two for the time being. Your mission now is to get here as fast as possible. We have encountered a type of extremely difficult, pitch-black ground-crawling insect. Every time, they force us back into the cave before we can kill them. Hurry up on your end."

Hearing this, Zheng Zha stopped talking. He gave a firm acknowledgment, then hauled the mental controller he was holding: "Scan the nearby terrain map into my mind, and also scan their current location. Zero Point, you take that other one... you can still run, right?" Hearing this, Zero Point nodded. After all, he was enhanced by Dragon Blood, and his base physical condition wasn't bad either, so Zero Point carried the other man and ran behind Zheng Zha.

Zheng Zha’s current appearance was quite menacing. He held a blood-drenched man with severed limbs in his left hand, and in his right hand, he carried a blood-red crystal long blade. His entire body was covered in filth and blood. If such a person were running in the real world, people would definitely keep their distance. Even now, he looked intent on hacking through anything that stood in his way. Any insect that blocked his path was met with a single slash, cleanly cut into two segments.

The distance from Zheng Zha’s location to where Chu Xuan and the others were located was quite far—even at Zheng Zha’s running speed, it would take about three minutes, not accounting for potential obstacles like insects or detours caused by boulders blocking the path. However, Zheng Zha dealt with such situations very directly. He swung the Tiger Soul blade several times, then delivered a powerful kick. Even the hardest stone would be sliced into fragments by the blade’s glow. Zheng Zha used this method to cut corners. This way, even if Zero Point was slightly slower, they could reach Chu Xuan and the others’ location within five minutes.

When the two ran past an entrance to a passage, their eyes suddenly brightened. This was another vast underground plain. This plain was also filled with massive fungus-like plants. But what distinguished this area from the previous location was that the ground here was riddled with ground-crawling insects and a type of scorpion with massive pincers. When Zheng Zha and Zero Point arrived, these insects immediately charged madly towards them. But when they were about ten meters away, the insects hesitated, which startled both men who were preparing to attack. Then, the insects slowly stopped, as if they hadn't seen Zheng Zha and Zero Point at all.

Zheng Zha and Zero Point exchanged glances; both were surprised and overjoyed. They walked through this sea of bugs while carrying the two men. Indeed, not a single insect attacked them along the way. Zheng Zha sneered at the mental controller in his hand and said, "I didn't expect you guys to be such convenient tools. Then, carrying you, we can just go and capture the Brain-Worm alive. Why bother going through the trouble of luring it out?" The mental controller opened his mouth, about to speak, but the other Caucasian man shouted fiercely, "Nijia Bin, damn you, does saying one less word mean death?" Nijia Bin immediately stopped talking, but Zheng Zha and Zero Point saw everything. Zero Point acted decisively, swiftly gouging out Roster's eyes and tossing the two eyeballs toward Nijia Bin, letting the Caucasian man scream hysterically. Nijia Bin quickly shouted, "I told you, I told you everything! We really don't get attacked by the insects, but once we get within three hundred meters of the Brain-Worm, or do anything that could endanger the Brain-Worm, we will all be attacked! Our team started with five rookies, but several died precisely because we didn't know about this rule of the Brain-Worm at the beginning. Do you think we actually want fewer reward points?" Nijia Bin looked at Zero Point, and they both nodded, convinced that what Nijia Bin said was true. At that moment, Chu Xuan, who had been mentally connected to Zheng Zha, suddenly spoke, "If that's the case, I have a good idea... Zheng Zha, look at the map. Do you see our location? Zhan Lan, mark this spot, and here... Like this, Zheng Zha, do you clearly see the markings on the map? My plan is to..." Jump to