Leap of Freedom (Chapter 158)
With the help of a powerful flare, Ye Sheng quickly looked down, only to meet a pair of huge eyes. It felt like being stared at by a giant, and in an instant, Ye Sheng was covered in goosebumps.
She didn’t dare to look anymore and immediately closed her eyes, burying her face in Gu Luoyu’s arms.
That was terrifying!
What on earth was that?
While Ye Sheng was too scared to look, Gu Luoyu glanced down. She wasn’t frightened by the huge eyes, but…
Gu Luoyu frowned. Their team hadn’t left the safe zone for long, yet a Level S contaminated creature had appeared so close to the base. It was indeed surprising.
Though it wasn’t a highly aggressive creature, the fact that it could hide underground and continuously reproduce posed a significant threat.
This time, it had caused a ground collapse because it was building a nest to lay eggs.
This underground creature was called the Giant-Eyed Cockroach. It looked like a water cockroach but had a pair of huge eyes on its back, silently observing its surroundings.
When faced with danger, the Giant-Eyed Cockroach would secrete a foul odor, causing creatures that smelled it to fall into a brief state of confusion, with their senses affected.
Combined with its speed, it could escape when it couldn’t fight, allowing it to live a long life.
The underground environment was much safer than the surface, and there were plenty of energy stones hidden in the soil, which the Giant-Eyed Cockroach could easily obtain as the highest-level "food" for evolution.
Thus, it became a Level S contaminated creature, though its actual combat strength wasn’t high.
However, its reproductive ability was strong, and it was hermaphroditic. It could lay thousands of eggs at once, and the larvae would also emit a foul odor. If they flooded the safe zone, it would undoubtedly be a disaster!
The red-haired esper, Sana, who had been thrown down earlier, was now lying on the back of the Giant-Eyed Cockroach, having inhaled the foul odor, leaving her in a dazed state.
Fortunately, espers were like cockroaches, hard to kill unless their hearts were crushed or their heads smashed.
But couldn’t she even form a Psychic barrier?
Gu Luoyu glanced at her and then looked away with disgust. She had Ye Sheng in her arms and wasn’t in the mood to save a stranger. However, this Giant-Eyed Cockroach had to be dealt with.
If it was allowed to continue laying eggs, the sheer number of larvae could swarm the base and scare Ye Sheng.
Since Ye Sheng was determined to stay with her, it was Gu Luoyu’s responsibility to protect her.
The Giant-Eyed Cockroach below let out a nervous hiss. It had just had a full meal and expected more "snacks" to fall, but instead, it got something tough to chew.
Like the snack on its back, had it not released the foul odor in time, it would have been injured.
But now, the snack standing above it exuded a terrifying aura.
Just as Gu Luoyu was feeling pleased about protecting Ye Sheng in the future, the Giant-Eyed Cockroach took the initiative. It let out a screech, and a green gas began to seep out from the cracks in its shell.
As the green gas spread, the esper Sana, lying on the cockroach’s back, started foaming at the mouth and convulsing. Clearly, the gas wasn’t just dangerous to inhale but also to touch.
Seeing the Giant-Eyed Cockroach attack, Gu Luoyu didn’t hold back.
Her mental powers condensed into a sharp sword, thrusting down with force, leaving the Giant-Eyed Cockroach no chance to escape. It was immobilized by the invisible attack.
The huge eyes were pierced, and yellow-green fluid spilled out. The now-blind Giant-Eyed Cockroach let out a furious screech, flailing its short forelimbs, only to discover a pair of transparent insect wings on its back.
Unfortunately, the wings couldn’t lift its heavy body, and it couldn’t escape Gu Luoyu’s second attack.
This time, Gu Luoyu aimed for the creature’s heart. Her mental powers turned into a spear, impaling the Giant-Eyed Cockroach. As its heart shattered, the green gas finally stopped spreading.
However, they couldn’t go down yet, they had to wait for the gas to dissipate completely.
"Gu Luoyu, what was that huge eye? It scared me to death," Ye Sheng asked, her curiosity piqued. After waiting for a while and hearing no more sounds, she immediately turned to Gu Luoyu with her question.
Gu Luoyu decided to pull Ye Sheng out of her arms to let her see for herself.
Of course, before Ye Sheng could look, Gu Luoyu had already used her mental powers to throw Sana off the cockroach’s back. She didn’t want Ye Sheng to think she was a ruthless person.
Gu Luoyu felt that she had become kinder since meeting Ye Sheng.
The base’s illumination flare worked well, lasting for more than ten minutes even in harsh conditions, unlike the ones on the market that lasted less than a minute.
Ye Sheng wanted to refuse but was too curious. She was both scared and eager, so she slowly turned her head to look.
She was afraid of meeting those huge eyes again and having nightmares.
However, the huge eyes were gone, replaced by a black beetle-like creature lying motionless with wounds oozing fluid.
A green gas surrounded it, rising like a cloud.
But it seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, making Ye Sheng realize that Gu Luoyu had used her mental powers.
"This is a polluted creature called the Giant-Eyed Cockroach. The gas it emits is hallucinogenic, and…" While Ye Sheng was examining the dead creature, Gu Luoyu explained in detail, leaving Ye Sheng shocked and amazed. She couldn’t believe such danger lurked so close to the base.
No wonder the base authorities were so serious about the increasing strength of contaminated creatures.
Wait…
Ye Sheng suddenly thought of something. She quickly raised her wrist, which was equipped with a super-smart watch, and started taking photos and videos of the creature’s corpse. She planned to upload the footage to the base later to earn points.
They couldn’t just throw away such a big contribution!
While Ye Sheng was considering how to get the best angle for her photos, the side bag she was carrying started to bulge. A swan head popped out, and the commotion finally stopped.
"Quack! Quack!" the dark swan cried excitedly, eager to express something.
Unfortunately, neither of the two could understand it. Instead, they found it noisy, just like Gu Luoyu, who was now looking coldly at the dark swan, wondering if she should create an accident to get rid of this annoying and bothersome creature.
It was disturbing her and Ye Sheng.
The dark swan shivered under Gu Luoyu’s gaze. Seeing that its cries didn’t get a response, it grew increasingly anxious. Finally, while Ye Sheng wasn’t paying attention, it crawled out of the bag and leaped toward the corpse below in a free fall.