You tell me, this is called daily youth?

The soldiers took off their helmets, entered alert mode, turned on their flashlights to illuminate the way ahead, and the passage came to an end, with a dark gate appearing in front of them.

They were already deep outside the wall, so everyone slowed down their pace. When they reached the door, two soldiers stepped forward, grabbed the handle, and moved together.

Kaka.

The sound of mechanical gears was heard, and the door slowly opened. The dark and disgusting musty smell outside instantly became strong.

Yuki was already used to the smell, but was curious about this primitive way of opening the door. Suddenly he realized that there was no energy core in the door, so it was made into a simple mechanical structure.

The light in the passage gradually dimmed until it disappeared. Why did it feel like it was beyond the control range of the signal base station?

Yuki looked back, but unfortunately the passage was completely blocked by tin cans.

"Mr. Yuki, we can only send it here. Remember, once you find a suitable location, send the coordinates. The sentry array will be launched and activated within two hours." Chris placed something like a pistol in Yuki's palm and hesitated.

"Also, you must be careful."

To her, the outside world is purgatory, and anyone who dares to go outside the walls is a hero.

The passage was pitch black, and the flashlight beam could illuminate the dust floating in the air. No, it was some kind of microorganism.

"Is it true that no one has ever fought outside the wall?"

"Really? Not that I know of, at least." Chris shook her head vigorously and looked at the other soldiers. "Well, I can't remember some things from my childhood. Do you know of any similar things outside of the literature?"

"How is that possible? Such a feat would surely be announced by the High Command."

"Who can remember childhood clearly? My head is filled with all kinds of fighting techniques."

The soldiers all shook their heads, wondering why Yuki was so concerned about such a thing.

Can't remember what happened in the past?

Yuki glanced at Hiyori, stopped asking questions, turned around, and saw that the captain was already waiting impatiently.

"Captain, hold the entrance for me until I return."

"No matter what happens, I will defend you until the last moment." The girl in power armor saluted.

Yuki stared at her, knowing that there must be something wrong with the top leaders of the Defense Force, but the feelings of these soldiers were pure.

That's enough.

Yuuki walked into the dark passage, with Hayasaka Ai and Sakurajima Mai at his side. Looking forward, he could see the captain's back in the dim light of the flashlight.

The wings of freedom that escape from the cage and fight for survival.

Chapter 24: Captain Levi

The Captain's back is very suitable for the current environment. This is the path for the humans of Emerald Star to move towards freedom, and it is also the beginning of the players' escape from the cage.

Inside the walls, strict surveillance always makes communication inconvenient, but once out of the cage, I can finally speak freely.

The dark cave slowly extended upwards, proving that the exit was not under the wall. There was nothing to smell in the air except the musty odor, and all one could hear were the sounds of light footsteps.

Thinking about the countless bugs outside, everyone, including Yuuki, felt a little scared and admired Levi's psychological quality.

The sergeant silently led the way at the front, seemingly accustomed to stepping into unfamiliar and dangerous areas. However, his eyes kept looking around, which showed that he was not a mindless and reckless person.

Top scout.

Yuuki nodded slightly and looked at the girls following him. They were either looking around or looking through the information. Bugs on the information would definitely appear.

Reliable teammate.

Yuki relaxed. This team was professional and united.

On the surface, the players took the risk for the reward, but Yuki was a little more thoughtful and wanted to strike while the iron was hot to get that epic achievement.

But deeper down, some players harbor the seeds of heroes, wanting to maintain their own values ​​in this twisted game.

"We're almost at the cave entrance."

Following the cold reminder, everyone looked up and saw a hole in front of them, emitting a green light, and then the disgusting smell reached its limit, as if they were standing in a rotten garbage dump.

"Ready to fight."

Yuki groped forward in the dark, and heard the sound of metal colliding behind him. Being a hero also requires strength.

This damn place stinks so much.

Yuki held back his retching and stuck his head out like a groundhog, only to find that he was on a small hill, surrounded by purple-black fungal carpets.

These fungal mats undulate with the terrain, and there is a dense "forest" on the left, which seems to be evenly wrapped around the trees. Looking east, a mountain range stands at the end of the horizon.

It looks like it's more than ten kilometers long and there's no obstruction in between.

"It's too far away. If something unexpected happens, it won't be easy for us to get close to the wall."

"Did you really think bloodline skills were so easy to acquire?" Levi sneered, interrogating, "How are you going to do it? How about just randomly finding coordinates to launch it, and then we'll report back?"

"How is that possible? The Defense Force said they would ensure activation. Besides, we've finally come out, we have to find more clues. If we can't complete the main mission one, this is the opportunity to complete the main mission two." Yuki answered calmly.

"Do you really want to complete the second main mission? Aren't those mechanical believers causing trouble?"

"First, I can't pin my hopes on others. Second, if I really have to do anything to that fire, it will kill everyone in this dungeon, and I can't bear it."

Can't bear it? You too?

Levi raised his eyebrows. He didn't believe what the players said. At least Yuki didn't seem to be too immersed in the role. Instead, those women were more trustworthy.

But he didn't ask any further questions, because in the other person's heart, he didn't seem to be too involved in the role.

Yuki ignored Levi's strange look. Some things could not be explained rationally. He waved and asked Hiyori to come over.

"Miss Hiyori, have you memorized the route?"

Since there were outsiders around, Yuki was very polite.

"Well, I've been drawing a digital map and marking the coordinates of the underground passage on the ground." The girl nodded and showed the tablet to the two. "If anything goes wrong, we can break through the ground and jump directly into the underground passage. The narrow terrain there won't be afraid of the swarm's numerical advantage. I've also tested the rock formations, and players above the Transcendent level can break through it."

The winding passage was outlined on a digital map, along with its approximate depth.

It's not a vase.

Levi was surprised and put away his contemptuous thoughts. Some players were terrible at killing people, but it was crucial. A map like this required super observation skills.

"But the entrance might be blown up by those psychic warriors, and then being trapped inside would be an even more miserable death."

"No, as long as Captain Chris is alive, she will wait until we return." Yuuki shook his head firmly. Seeing the suspicion on the captain's face, he asked, "Don't you trust my judgment of people?"

"I just think you shouldn't get too caught up in this." Levi snorted, and without explaining, he jumped out of the cave with both hands. "Since you've guaranteed a way out, let's go find those bugs."

His words were inconsistent. Since he didn't trust Captain Chris, how could he guarantee a retreat? Sakurajima Mai looked at Yuki and silently mouthed something.

Proud?

Well, sort of.

Yuki couldn't help but grin and quickly followed.

According to the electronic map given by the defense forces, there should be a settlement outside the exit, oh no, it should be said that it used to be a settlement.

It was extremely disgusting. The broken walls and ruins were covered with purple-black fungal mats, and only the outlines of the buildings could be roughly seen. Outside the settlement was a forest and a small river that had long dried up.

Everything I stepped on and touched with my hands felt slippery, like touching greasy skin with dense blood vessels wriggling on it.

The group of people were not in a hurry to explore forward. The information that the fungal mat would not attract swarms of insects was from the defense forces, and it was difficult to tell whether it was true or not.

Everyone could only smell the stench, wait there for several hours, and then conduct various experiments on the fungal blanket.

The fungal mat was chopped off by knives, shot by guns, and burned by fire, but no insect came to check the situation.

"It seems that the warning function of this thing is really useless to players." Yuki put away the knife. According to the defense forces, this is a DNA collector that only works on specific people.

After all, this planet still has storms and frost. If the Zerg is too sensitive, it will not be able to do anything. The defense forces only need to send a few people to shoot down from the wall and ambush with heavy firepower to collect heads.

"There's another possibility. The swarm is setting a trap to lure us deeper." Hayasaka Ai said silently, but was interrupted by Levi before she could explain.

"That means there is a traitor among us who passed information to the Zerg."

Those dead fish eyes swept over everyone, then walked down the hill silently.

"Let's go, let's find a bug first." Yuki followed and waved his hand: "Without the surveillance of the defense forces, we can explore the secrets."

There were no biologists present, and there was no need to figure out the living environment of the insect swarm. They needed to find specimens and study them carefully.

The group walked down the hillside. The large purple-red buildings provided the best cover. The settlement was not big, with only a dozen houses, but they didn't see a single bug as they walked through the building area.

It seems that the swarm is not as large as I thought.

Yuuki looked around. He really thought that there was an endless sea of ​​insects outside the wall, but he didn't even see the shadow of an insect, so he focused more on Levi.

This captain was originally at the extreme human level at best, but now he moves at an extremely fast speed. He disappears from sight if you're not paying attention, and reappears after a while. Then he becomes alert to everything around him and lies on the ground listening like a hound.

"He's very professional." Mai whispered, and she didn't need to do anything.

"We're natural scouts, proving that Lady Smile has high hopes for us." With someone paving the way, Yuki was happy to have some free time. "Of the four teams going beyond the walls this time, ours is the most trustworthy."

If they don't trust each other, how can they dare to go deep outside the wall? I guess the other three teams are fighting wits and courage.

"To be more precise, I have high expectations of you," the senior corrected her, lowering her voice. "I saw the Goshawk refueling last night."

"Don't be pretentious, just tell me directly."

"A transport plane brought an iron box and replaced the Goshawk's original fuel rods and took them away."

Is it really just replacing the battery?

Yuuki was a little disappointed, which was normal.

"Don't worry, I walked closer and saw a huge jade stone inside the iron box, but it's different from the one Hayasaka took out." Mai secretly glanced at Levi in ​​the distance and lowered her voice.

"The stone that was brought in didn't glow. It was exactly the same as the one that was replaced. But after it was installed in the engine, it seemed to activate. I heard the operator say it was called an ignition ceremony."

Ignition ceremony?

Yuuki read it several times and it definitely had nothing to do with religion, it was more like what the senior student mentioned as "activation".

Ignition? Fire? You can't just bring it out.

He could only think of this much and did not call Hiyori to come over and analyze it together, because the captain who was exploring the way ahead finally stopped and raised his hand to them.

insect.

A group of people dispersed instantly and hid behind various shelters. Yuki stuck half of his head out and saw with his naked eyes several huge black shadows emerging from the purple-black woods.

"One warrior bug and twenty soldier bugs. They look like a patrol."

"Are bugs on patrol too?" Kaguya Shinomiya had climbed to a higher point, draped in optical camouflage. "It's hard to see in the woods, but this is the only team around."

Of course they have to patrol. The Zerg is aware of the player's arrival and is even more aware that the fungal blanket cannot detect the player.

But according to the information from the defense forces, the Zerg swarm is a honeycomb structure. Except for a few high-level Zerg, the disappearance of a lower-level Zerg will not alarm the entire swarm.

This is a bit like the human brain, which cannot perceive the peeling of a piece of foot skin. If the scale is magnified a million times, how can it notice these trivial details?

"Leave the samurai bug and one soldier bug, and kill the rest. Kaguya, don't let any of them escape, and don't use heavy firepower on the others."

Yuki drew his sword and moved along the low wall. Just as the team was about to deploy, he heard a cold voice.

"You guys hide, I'll take care of them."

As soon as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a white light emerging from the edge of the woods. Levi was holding two thin blades made purely of light, leaving a series of afterimages behind him.

It was extremely fast and agile. As soon as the two leading soldier insects raised their antennae, the two cockroach heads separated from their bodies.

The force was used just right, and the figure leaped into the air, overlooking the oncoming samurai bugs and the soldier bugs that turned around and ran away. A pair of white wings of light spread out behind him, and he disappeared briefly from Yuuki's retina.

When it reappeared, the escaping soldier bug had its head chopped off, while the warrior bug was still turning its head to look for its target.

So fast.

Yuki, who was also known for his speed, stood up and leaned out of the low wall. He saw Levi flapping his wings slightly and killing his way back from the end of the swarm.

The sharp blade and the nimble figure are like wings of freedom.

Chapter 5: Playing Chess with Life (K)

Killing insects was as easy as cutting melons and vegetables. The warrior insect lost its left arm in one encounter, and everyone was surprised.

Gorgeous yet simple, no movement is superfluous, like a surgeon concentrating on performing an operation, or like a dancer, so that no insect can even touch the edge of her clothes.

"This guy is so strong." Hayasaka Ai held the death knell, but she had no confidence in hitting the opponent.