Chapter 137: Fratricidal Strife - Part 1

Staring at the circular tunnel that still radiated intense heat, the two heavily injured E-rank superhuman soldiers exchanged a glance, a lingering fear causing them to tremble. They felt an immense sense of relief that they had not clashed with the Seventh Squad just moments before. Even Qu Yi, usually known for his arrogant and overbearing nature, was now too terrified to speak. His face contorted, his mouth hanging open as if he wanted to spew curses, but the fear that the Seventh Squad might suddenly return forced him into a silence filled with spite and resentment.

"Let's go!" one of the E-rank soldiers said, reaching out to help Qu Yi. Qu Yi swatted his hand away with a dark expression, acting as if he were owed a fortune, and stormed into the tunnel first. Watching his retreating back, the E-rank soldier wore a faint, mocking smile. He barked a few orders at the surviving members of Qu Yi’s squad—not caring whether the maimed and injured men could keep up—and hurried after his companion to catch up with Qu Yi.

They walked for several dozen meters along the tunnel, which had been melted out by the plasma jet, until they reached a fork in the rock wall. One path led to the natural caverns of the core area, while the other was a perfectly straight, circular tunnel gouged out by the beam of light. Its unknown depth left the members of Qu Yi’s team feeling deeply unsettled.

After a moment of exclamation, the two E-rank soldiers were about to leave when they suddenly froze and looked at each other.

"Did you hear something?" one of them asked, closing his eyes to sense the surroundings. However, the chaotic energy fluctuations in the area had completely disrupted his hyper-magnetic sensory abilities. The other soldier tilted his head, listening intently. From deep within the circular tunnel, there came the faint, subtle sound of rolling gravel.

"That heavily mutated rat isn't dead?" the two men exclaimed in shock.

Qu Yi, startled, instinctively lunged toward the fork in the path. But after a few steps, he noticed that his two guards had remained where they were. Furious, Qu Yi opened his mouth to roar, but fearing he might alert the mutated creature, he lowered his voice to hiss, "Zhang Chao, Zhao Han! Are you two idiots just standing there waiting to die? Get over here and protect me while I retreat!"

The two E-rank soldiers, Zhang Chao and Zhao Han, glanced at him before coldly turning their backs. Zhang Chao said with a hint of excitement, "To think it survived such a powerful super-energy attack?"

"It’s likely on its last legs, at best," the other replied. "An E3-rank mutated creature! Even if it's crippled, killing it would surely yield a massive amount of hyper-vitality, wouldn't it?"

Zhao Han grew equally agitated. "And since we are within the range of a convergence point... if it dies, will it condense an E3-rank E-crystal?"

"Should we go in and check?"

They locked eyes, both seeing the greed reflected in the other’s gaze. How valuable was an E3-rank E-crystal? In the black market of the superhuman world, E-rank crystals and above had never appeared, so there was no reference point. But if calculated simply by the energy contained in X-crystals, a single E3-rank E-crystal—which held 1.6 billion units of "multidimensional zero-point inert energy"—would be equivalent to the total sum of over 16 million F1-rank E-crystals!

The two men swallowed hard. For E-rank superhuman soldiers like them, hunting superhuman creatures brought in a decent monthly income, but 16 million F1-rank E-crystals represented an astronomical sum for men who had only just entered the ranks of official superhuman soldiers. And this was merely an estimate; if they found a buyer desperate for high-level crystals, the actual price could be several times higher. Why else would they play the lackey if not to earn more crystals and gain access to resources? With this kind of wealth, they wouldn't have to be anyone's dog ever again. What resource couldn't they buy then?

Their eyes flickered as they made up their minds. Ignoring Qu Yi’s hissed commands, they drew their weapons and carefully crept deeper into the circular tunnel. Seeing them abandon him, Qu Yi flew into a rage, but the cowardice that had already shattered his spirit kept him from leaving alone. Terrified, he followed them. The surviving squad members had no choice but to grit their teeth and limp after them, supporting one another; if they dared to desert Qu Yi and run, their fate would be far worse than dying at the claws of a mutated beast.

The circular tunnel did not extend far into the mountain. The first few dozen meters were merely a widened fissure, but once the beam of light had pierced the end of that crack, the dense rock had severely dissipated the energy. The beam had only managed to bore through ten more meters of solid stone before vanishing. Surprisingly, the E3-rank heavily mutated rat had not died; it had only lost half of its face, its left ear, its front and rear left limbs, and half of its tail.

Seeing the dying "half-faced rat," Zhang Chao and Zhao Han were overcome with ecstasy. Such high-danger mutated creatures were rare, and even if one were encountered, it would never fall to small-fry like them. Furthermore, given their E1-rank combat strength, they likely wouldn't have been able to kill an E3-rank creature even if they had met it in its prime.

"Huh? This dog-cursed rat isn't dead?"

Just as the two were preparing to deliver the finishing blow, Qu Yi’s shrill, joyful cackle came from behind them. Overjoyed, Qu Yi shoved past them to the front and observed the creature cautiously from a distance. Realizing that the mutated rat had lost both its hyper-vitality protective field and its ability to move, leaving it to lie there waiting for death, he sneered.

"Those fools didn't even realize their target was still alive?" Qu Yi laughed wildly. "They deserve to let me scoop the reward! Why are you two curs still standing there? Give me your blades!"

Zhang Chao and Zhao Han exchanged a grim look, a flash of murderous intent passing between them. Suddenly, Zhao Han turned and swung his blade; an arc of energy, strikingly similar to the superhuman combat technique "Lion-Heart Sword" mastered by Maya, flashed and vanished. The surviving members following the trio wore looks of confusion, which quickly froze on their faces. Columns of blood erupted from their necks, sending their heads flying; their headless bodies collapsed limply, littering the ground.

Zhang Chao, wielding his weapon, closed in on Qu Yi with a savage expression. Only then did Qu Yi realize what was happening. Terrified, he scrambled backward, his voice cracking in a shrill, desperate shriek: "You... what are you doing?"