Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 545 The Territory of the Flesh-Eating Ants
“I’m afraid that’s not enough.” A hunter shook his head and smiled bitterly. “Although I’ve never been here before, I’ve heard from a survivor who has dealt with flesh-eating ants that these insects that have turned into monsters are many times more fire-resistant. Your simple flamethrower is enough to deal with ordinary ants, but to deal with flesh-eating ants, I’m afraid you’ll still have to use napalm or white phosphorus.”

"After all this talk, has any of you actually seen flesh-eating ants?" A female hunter with purple hair frowned and patted the car door, making a loud banging sound. "Why do you all act like experts on dealing with flesh-eating ants?"

The group looked at each other, then shook their heads: "No... we've only heard others talk about it."

"I saw the report released by the Dragon City Hunter Management Department. I think the description of the flesh-eating ants in it must be quite detailed, right?" another hunter muttered.

"Detailed my ass! Do you think those government departments are really so kind as to provide you with intelligence? Unless you're a hunter working for them, free hunters like us have to pay to get the most detailed information!" A hunter, shirtless and with skin covered in speckled mineral crystals, scoffed. "I haven't seen the research report on the flesh-eating ants, but I previously paid someone to buy a research report on another kind of monster. Guess how much it differs from the publicly available free information?"

"How much short?" the hunter who had just been muttering asked.

"The free intelligence is only two pages long, but the paid intelligence is a whole folder full of more than 120 files and reports. It even clearly states whether this kind of monster is afraid of acid or alkali, and which parts are edible!" The shirtless male hunter sneered.

"Is it edible?" One of the mercenaries was taken aback. "Why are they researching this?"

“When you run out of ammunition and food, the remains of a monster can be considered a kind of supply.” The shirtless male hunter coldly sized up the somewhat immature young mercenary. “As for how this experimental data was obtained… well, those guys in white coats certainly wouldn’t have tasted it themselves, so the answer is obvious. You don’t really think these research institutions would release research data from live human experiments to the public for free, do you?”

"It's all just empty talk!" the purple-haired huntress said impatiently. "With so many people in the caravan, hasn't a single one of them ever been to this place before?"

"There's something I'm not sure if I should say," sighed the veteran hunter who initially suggested using flamethrowers. "I'm afraid saying it might affect morale."

“We’ve come this far, what morale is left?” the shirtless male hunter said immediately. “Speak out whatever you know… it’s better than everyone keeping their heads down and heading straight for the gates of hell.”

“I just contacted a friend who had encountered flesh-eating ants before and asked him how to deal with them… When he heard that I was going to take this route, his first words were ‘Are you crazy?’…” the veteran hunter continued, “He told me that if he were in the caravan, he would rather wait until Giant’s Hill returned to calm than choose to detour through the flesh-eating ants’ territory.”

"Did he say how to deal with the flesh-eating ants?"

The veteran hunter shook his head: "He said he just closed his eyes and charged forward, slamming on the gas pedal, leaving his survival entirely to fate... There were seventeen of them, and only two made it out alive. One of them lost two legs and an arm, while he was luckier, only losing an ear and half a hand to the flesh-eating ants... In addition, he also lost a layer of skin on his face and hands... To get rid of the flesh-eating ants crawling on him, he sprayed himself with strong acid spray a few times..."

"A strong acid spray can kill flesh-eating ants?" a mercenary exclaimed with delight. "I happen to have two cans here!"

"Save your breath. That thing is for cleaning up the mess after you've escaped the flesh-eating ants' territory." The shirtless male hunter waved his hand. "If you want to use that thing, you have to get out alive first... As for where you plan to spray the acid spray during the escape, are you going to spray the ant swarms that are crawling out of the ground, or the flesh-eating ants that are climbing onto the car? Do you think the flesh-eating ants aren't tearing through the metal body of the car fast enough, so you're going to use acid to speed them up? This thing is even less effective than filling a water bottle with gasoline..." Just as everyone was arguing and vaguely considering giving up, Nagano Soya's voice, disguised by a voice changer, rang out on the communication channel: "How about I lead the way?"

"The pilot of the White Tiger?" Everyone immediately focused their attention on the White Tiger. "Does the White Tiger mech have any means of dealing with the flesh-eating ants?"

“I can activate the energy shield and stand at the forefront to burn away the flesh-eating ants that get close. As long as your vehicles follow closely behind the path I create and don’t fall behind, there should be a good chance that you can break through the flesh-eating ants’ territory,” Nagano Soya said.

“Boss… are you sure?” The accountant sitting in the heavy trailer frowned. “Although replacing energy blocks is much easier than replenishing propellant, we don’t have much stock left… The flesh-eating ants’ territory extends more than 20 kilometers deep, and if we use the energy shield the whole way… we’ll have to use up at least a quarter of the energy blocks.”

"So where do you think the energy cubes should be used? During battle?" Nagano Soya's question immediately stumped the accountant.

They chose to risk going around the flesh-eating ants' territory because they didn't want to fight the awakened giants.

If it's possible to avoid combat, then paying some of the price that would have been paid in combat anyway is understandable.

“I just feel…we don’t need to be in such a hurry,” the accountant muttered in a voice only she could hear.

“I think this method will work.” The purple-haired hunter nodded. “But let’s make it clear beforehand: if any vehicle falls behind or gets accidentally infested by flesh-eating ants, I won’t go to its rescue.”

"Whether they live or die depends on their own abilities and luck." Everyone nodded and returned to their cars.

Baihu got off the trailer and walked to the front of the line.

Nagano Soya switched the movement mode to cruise control—although the White Tiger could traverse the flesh-eating ant territory in a very short time with the thrusters at full power, the vehicles behind it certainly couldn't keep up.

“I will clear the way at a speed of 140 kilometers per hour. If anyone is not confident in keeping up with this speed, I suggest that you return to Yumen now or wait for Giant Hill to calm down,” Nagano Soya said. “I will give you one minute to consider.”

The three cars immediately turned around and drove back the way they came. After waiting for half a minute, two more cars quietly left the group.

(End of this chapter)