Bai Ci took a deep breath, pushing down the complex emotions swirling in her heart. She nodded, her fingertips brushing against the ring on her middle finger. Feeling its lingering warmth, she drew courage from it.
The protective barrier was a circle, and Bai Ci was its center. Unlike before, when Lin Wenyu had followed behind her, this time Bai Ci followed closely behind investigator Chen.
The entrance to the underground passage was still half-hidden by discarded wooden boards and cardboard boxes. The mixture of sandalwood, mold, and the metallic stench of blood in the air was even stronger than before.
Captain Chen walked ahead, his steps steady and cautious. He held the detector in one hand and a specially made silver short knife in the other—a weapon specifically designed by the Bureau of Investigation to deal with anomalous creatures.
Bai Ci had also been given an identical silver short knife. She kept close to Captain Chen, the ring on her middle finger constantly radiating warmth. The invisible barrier blocked the stray black bugs lunging at them, and the sizzling sound of them melting upon contact echoed clearly in the narrow passage.
“Watch your step,” Captain Chen suddenly said.
Following the beam of his flashlight, Bai Ci looked down. There lay a skeleton gnawed clean by the swarm. The bugs consumed flesh and blood but left bones and clothing untouched, making it just barely possible to identify the remains as Wang Qiang.
The fact that he had died so close to the entrance further proved that Su Xiao’s words had been a complete lie.
This man, who had only wanted to protect the newcomers and return home alive to his wife and child, had died at the hands of the very person he had desperately tried to protect. To perish in this cold, dark underground passage—how incredibly ironic.
Compared to this, the death mechanics of Anomalous Infection actually seemed merciful.
Captain Chen also fell silent for a moment. Recognizing the man from his clothes, a flicker of regret passed through his eyes. However, he did not linger. He simply gave Wang Qiang's body a quiet nod as a silent tribute.
“Let's go. We can't waste the time Miss Lin bought us,” he said in a low, heavy voice. Turning around, he continued deeper into the passage.
Bai Ci nodded silently. Without a word, she looked away and followed closely behind him.
They traversed the underground space and squeezed through a narrow corridor, relying entirely on the detector to locate the source of the insect queen's energy fluctuations.
After squeezing through the tightest section, which was extremely narrow at first, they walked about dozens of meters before the path widened once more. This was the heart of the underground passage, where the scent of sandalwood completely overpowered the stench of blood and rot.
It was a vast underground cavern. The ground was covered in thick mud, and the surrounding walls were encrusted with countless black bug eggs. The sheer density of them was enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
Right at the entrance of this cavern, lying directly in their path, was a tiny skeleton. It was small and delicate, clearly belonging to a child.
Bai Ci's gaze locked onto the tiny skeleton. She took a step forward instinctively and finally saw it clearly: a small jade clasp hung around the skeleton's neck.
They had found Lele.
“This is Lele,” Bai Ci said.
Captain Chen walked up to Bai Ci's side. Looking down at the skeleton, his voice was filled with deep guilt. “It was our negligence. We failed to track down Li Mingxuan in time, and it cost this child her life.”
His voice grew raspy, the self-reproach in his eyes intensifying. If they hadn't tipped their hand during the investigation, Li Mingxuan wouldn't have been driven to such desperate measures, unleashing the massive insect swarm and causing the tragic deaths of so many innocent people.
Just then, the detector's buzzing reached a crescendo. A sharp, piercing screech echoed from the deepest corner of the cavern, carrying a heavy, suffocating pressure.
Bai Ci and Captain Chen looked up simultaneously toward the pitch-black corner. A wave of black bugs was pouring out, some of which were noticeably larger than the rest. Like a black tide, they surged rapidly toward the duo.
In the center of the swarm, a massive bug over two to three times the size of the others crawled slowly. Its bloated abdomen was soft, and its entire body was a dark greenish-black with a shell that gleamed with an eerie luster. It was, without a doubt, the insect queen.
“It's the queen,” investigator Chen said, thrusting the detector into Bai Ci's hands. “I'll lead the attack. Keep up with me.”
Gripping his silver short knife tightly, he was the first to charge into the swarm.
Sensing the intruders, the insect queen let out a sharp screech. The surrounding swarm grew even more frenzied, and their attacks intensified.
Countless black bugs hurled themselves at the pair, slamming into the barrier created by Bai Ci's ring. They dissolved with loud, sizzling pops, dripping to the ground like water. They seemed endless, a relentless wall blocking their path as the temperature of the ring skyrocketed.
The guard bugs were much faster than the ordinary black bugs, and their shells were far harder. When the short knife struck them, it left only shallow scratches, unable to kill them.
“The ring's barrier won't hold much longer!” Bai Ci warned.
Investigator Chen nodded. Quickening his pace, he swung his short knife with even greater ferocity, aiming directly at the head of a guard bug.
This time, channeling every ounce of his strength, his blade pierced straight through the guard bug's shell. Green fluid sprayed out as the creature shrieked and collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
He forced open a path through the swarm with sheer brute force.
Carving their way forward, the two finally broke through the swarm's encirclement and stood before the insect queen.
Seeing this, the queen screeched in anger. Her abdomen contracted violently, spraying out countless eggs that hatched instantly upon hitting the ground, sending tiny black bugs swarming toward them.
Not only that, but the sound of ocean waves was also drawing closer. The queen was recalling the swarm she had sent out.
But at that very moment, several guard bugs suddenly breached the ring's barrier and lunged at Bai Ci. The ring's energy was completely depleted; cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier, rendering it unable to withstand the guard bugs' assault.
Bai Ci's face paled, and she instinctively took a step back, but the guard bugs were too fast. She had no time to dodge.
At that critical moment, investigator Chen spun around and shielded Bai Ci with his own body without a second thought. The guard bugs' sharp mouthparts stabbed deep into his back. Green fluid and dark red blood welled out instantly, soaking his clothes.
“Captain Chen!” Bai Ci cried out in shock. She had never expected that the investigator would sacrifice himself to protect her.
“Go!” Investigator Chen grunted. Throwing himself forward, he grabbed and held back the guard bugs that had breached the barrier. Drawn by the scent of fresh blood, not only the guard bugs but also countless ordinary bugs swarmed over him, tearing and biting.
The queen's soft abdomen was her fatal weakness. With the surrounding guard bugs pinned down by investigator Chen's self-sacrificing hold, Bai Ci seized the moment. She leapt forward, thrusting her blade straight toward the queen's underbelly.
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