Chapter 354: Chapter 354
Hmph, Jing Shu watched with frustration as the fat chicken became enamored with its new toy, concocting some poultry excuse. A single protruding rump and she already knew what this chicken was scheming. It’s the United States’ eggs, isn’t it? The fat chicken cherished them like a treasured possession, warming them in its nest. In the past, the chicken would have been clucking and scampering off furiously for a walk by now. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Could it really be that foreign moons are rounder? Is the fat chicken more interested in the eggs from the United States? Aren’t they all just eggs?
Jing Shu shook her head. A rare opportunity to update everyone’s perception of the fat chicken, to make them realize it was a fighting chicken, not just a brooding hen. Yet the fat chicken didn’t know how to cherish it.
While off on reconnaissance, Tan Ke was doing squats to stretch his ligaments; Little Black, his stomach still growling a bit, couldn’t help but fantasize at the sight of the fat chicken. Lingling was tuning her sniper rifle, and Jing Shu knew her scope had special lenses that could see living beings in the darkness.
The Snake Spirit kept flicking her tongue, gathering something. She was reportedly making lethal poison on the spot.
Jing Shu was always chewing on little snacks. She sat on a Big Stone, practicing with the Magic Cube. With Zhen Nantian’s intimidating eyes no longer there, Jing Shu felt much more comfortable. She had to push harder, hoping to upgrade the Magic Cube before this mission was over and free up more space. Jing Shu was eager for the high-end goods collected by the Nobles of the United States.
The earthquakes in Sacramento became more frequent, but they were smaller than those in Wu City. So far, no terrifying incidents of large-scale disappearances had occurred. Ten minutes later, Monkey returned with Ah Huang, Lingling’s parrot also flew back, as did the Snake Spirit’s Tai Ban.
Monkey spoke first. "This Diamond Mine has only one entrance, located inside the canyon. Currently, we have two methods of entering: one is to climb over the mountain from the backside, which takes about an hour, or to enter directly from the front of the canyon, which takes about ten minutes. However, there are definitely traps at the entrance. Ah Huang smelled the scent of other creatures, and there are quite a number of them."
Snake Spirit drew a simple map. "This is the heat signature my snakes detected: the living beings hiding at the entrance of the Diamond Mine and their distribution inside. There are four guards at the door, as well as seven ferocious beasts. Inside, there are seven people."
Lingling then said, "Their armed forces are pretty strong, and they’re quite vigilant. The parrot nearly got spotted by one of those creatures while flying overhead. The parrot did spot some weapons: a machine gun and several rifles. There aren’t any snipers, rocket launchers, or heavy weapons. There don’t seem to be any surveillance cameras, but we’d better not get too close. We couldn’t detect the traps at the entrance, so we don’t know what’s going on there."
Tan Ke, appointed as the team leader by Yang Yang, stepped forward and asked, "What’s the consensus? Climb the mountain or charge the front?"
Monkey said, "Climb the mountain. Less risk."
Snake Spirit, still flicking her tongue, replied, "I’ll first send in a batch of poison to kill everyone, then go head-on through the front. These can at most be considered C-rank targets, no challenge at all."
Lingling looked down. "I won’t go inside. I’ll cover you from the highest point outside. The parrot has already found a spot that overlooks the entire area."
Tan Ke then turned his gaze to Jing Shu, asking, "What do you think?"
Jing Shu squinted. She had intentionally refrained from sending in snakes and Bees for reconnaissance. Firstly, to see the true capabilities of these teammates, and secondly, for fear that the Snake Spirit, with her natural affinity for snakes, might detect something. At present, she was blind to the situation inside. However, eager to gauge her teammates’ abilities, Jing Shu said, "Let’s go head-on. A quick battle, a quick resolution." She needed to make a meal after getting back. She had been starving since arriving in the United States and hadn’t had the chance to properly enjoy a meal alone.
"I also think we should resolve this head-on. Who knows, we might even land another mission afterward and become C-rank. We don’t have time to waste." Tan Ke clenched his fist. "Your secret medicine is really effective. I’ve started to believe in you."
Jing Shu thought, And you’ll come to believe in me more and more.
The teammates from the Imperial Capital were all mysteriously confident—a confidence accumulated from battle after battle.
Little Black stayed behind to watch the car, while Jing Shu and the others proceeded on foot.
Snake Spirit released the Tai Ban Snakes. "Let’s go. By the time we cross over, my Little Snakes will have taken care of everyone."
A person who can control snakes to administer poison is truly difficult to guard against; no wonder they were rated A+. Wherever Snake Spirit went, she could silently poison a great number of people without anyone noticing, although Jing Shu was quite curious about how Snake Spirit managed to silently poison so many.
Jing Shu had the foresight to wear long sheepskin boots, which prevented mud from seeping into her shoes when she stepped down. Lingling’s shoes had fallen off several times already; with her legs bare, mud was caked all over her feet and legs. Jing Shu also noticed a few insects had crawled onto Lingling, but Lingling slapped them dead with her palm.
Her long legs looked really pretty under the dim light, Jing Shu thought.
Soon, Lingling parted ways with everyone else, climbing up the nearby mountain and disappearing into the dark. Snake Spirit shook her head regretfully; without any light, she couldn’t see anything anymore.
As they neared the entrance to the canyon, everyone stopped and crouched at the base of the mountain, pressing against the wall. The whole canyon was pitch-black, without any bird calls, save for the occasional strange cry.
"All the humans are dead," Snake Spirit announced. "Only seven ferocious beasts are left. I won’t waste my venom on them."
"Leave it to me! Watch me smash them with an iron ball! I can crush them with one hand!" Tan Ke declared, standing up.
Jing Shu couldn’t help but almost applaud. This is the elite of the Imperial Capital, taking on a mission so easily accomplished. She just followed behind like an unnecessary, unnoticed Doctor, taking the opportunity to secretly gather some supplies. How nice.
"I’ll go with Ah Huang to disable the traps first, then lure out the unknown creatures they mentioned," Monkey said.
Monkey and Ah Huang went to scout for traps. This type of work, including vanguard duties, was usually handled by Scouts who had rich experience. One of the most straightforward, albeit brutal, methods to deal with traps was to trigger them intentionally; the Scout would then escape, destroying the trap in the process.
Jing Shu furrowed her brows, staring into the canyon at the vague shadows. She felt they looked somewhat familiar, but due to the distance, even with her night vision, she couldn’t see them clearly.
And then the unexpected happened.
Just as Ah Huang and Monkey walked into the canyon, a huge iron railing crashed down from above, sealing it shut and completely splitting Jing Shu’s team into two groups. Ah Huang and Monkey were ’shut in with the hounds’ inside the canyon, while Jing Shu and her group were locked outside.
It was at that moment that a loud sound of gunfire echoed from the mountain—it was the sound of a sniper rifle!
Lingling was shooting! She had spotted danger!
Jing Shu’s group couldn’t concern themselves with having Monkey defuse traps any longer and immediately ran towards the commotion as fast as they could. They were then met with the sound of Ah Huang’s barking and Monkey’s screams of agony.
Lingling’s sniper rifle fired shot after shot, while Snake Spirit turned on a several-thousand-watt flashlight, finally illuminating the scene inside the canyon.