Chapter 19 - Devouring

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Walking in the cave, the military boot stepped onto the ground covered in mucus. The Gold Devourer's mucus was slippery, causing it to fall if it wasn't careful. Therefore, Zero walked very carefully, and at the same time, he lowered his footsteps. All subterranean creatures have lost sight because of the environment, but their hearing is unusually developed. Even if it was the sound of a pin drop, they would still notice it. Therefore, he walked slowly, afraid that the bugs would notice if he made a sound.

This cave that the Gold Devourer had dug was twisted and curved. Zero silently calculated his footsteps and came to the conclusion that he had walked nearly a kilometer. There seemed to be no end to the cave, but Zero didn't seem to care. In the quiet underground, in the dark abyss, he walked alone. It was as if this was a completely new world that had just awoken. Although there were many people at Z7, Zero still felt lonely.

After all, he was separated from those people by nearly half a century.

Zero could no longer remember the past. Who was he? Where did it come from? What have you done? There was no answer to all of this, but Zero knew that as long as he continued, he would one day approach and know the truth.

Just like this moment.

At the end of the cave.

Although it was the end of the tunnel, it wasn't necessarily the end. It was just that after reaching this point, the passageway took a 90 degree turn, directly extending towards the dark abyss.

Zero took out the Cold Smoke Flame, lit it up and threw it down. Flames swept through the vertical passageway, and some fist-sized iron beetles immediately scattered in all directions, distancing themselves from the cold but bright light.

Luckily, the vertical passage was only about ten meters away. Zero didn't pay attention to the distance yet. The Cold Smoke Flames continued to burn in the underground passage. They used their hands and feet to crawl down the uneven mud surface of the passage. When his feet touched the ground, the Cold Smoke Flames were extinguished. Darkness returned to the ground again, and soon enough, a green light flashed, causing the iron beetles that were heading towards the zero point to disperse.

With a fluorescent rod in his hand, he continued to walk through the passage that the Gold Devourer had opened up. The passage was tilting downward, as if it led straight to hell.

However, this time, the journey to zero ended quickly.

This was because he heard some special sounds coming from the quiet underground.

"Zi, zi, zi ~ ~"

It sounded like alternating current, but it also sounded like something was rubbing against each other. Zero could not be sure, so he just took out the M500 revolver. If this large caliber weapon were to be shot at close range, it would be like the tough shell of a Gold Devourer. The impact of 50 bullets.

The sound was getting closer.

Under the green glow, the passageway came to an end.

At the end of the tunnel, there was an even bigger cave. The light from the cave didn't reach the end of the cave. Nie Yan estimated that the cave was about 300 meters in radius.

Strange sounds came from below, crouching at the edge of the cave. Under the green fluorescent light, several huge insects were intertwined together. Those strange sounds were coming from the surface of these insects' mucus that were rubbing against each other. The Gold Devourer was like a maggot that had been magnified countless times, making it difficult to distinguish its head from its tail. Right now, a few large worms were constantly entangled with them, making it even more impossible to distinguish them apart.

Under the fluorescent light, the reflection of something hurt Zero's eyes slightly. He looked towards the source of the light. At the edge of the cave, there was a thick layer of copper mud.

Those were the Gold Devourer's food. Zero revealed a thoughtful expression. Why did the Gold Devourer bring the food here? Furthermore, judging by the quantity of the copper paste, these food should be enough to feed a few Gold Devourer for a few days. In other words, did they prepare food beforehand? Why? Was it because of the 'movement' beneath it?

Zero's mind was quickly analyzing the situation.

The Gold Devourer intertwined, looking like snakes reproducing. But Gold Devourer reproduce asexual, so they don't need to do this to reproduce. Zero did not know much about this creature. The information he knew was from the time Old Jack accepted the quest, and it was shown on a diagram.

He couldn't tell, but he didn't want to stay. The scouting mission did not include the extermination of the Gold Devourer. Zero wouldn't do anything unnecessary, but as he turned to leave, something new happened to the bugs in the cave below.

The largest Gold Devourer suddenly stuck its head out. On its chubby white head, there were two rows of six red eyes. A crack appeared in the middle of the insect's head, followed by a swirl of fat to reveal a mouth the size of its head.

Under the green light, he could see everything clearly. There were three layers of small upturned teeth inside the mouthpart. It was these unremarkable upside-down teeth that were able to split mountains and dig rocks. And now, the mouthpart's target was its own companion.

With a "puchi", the large bug swallowed its companion into its mouth. The big bug kept sucking on it, and just like that, it swallowed the other bug bit by bit.

The zero pupil contracted.

What is this? Killing each other?

It didn't take long for the worm to swallow its companion. Creases could be seen underneath the worm's body, as if its devoured companion was struggling. However, the gastric juice of Gold Devourer could fuse with golden fossils, so how could he possibly tolerate his own kind? Soon, the large bug's body stabilized. However, it seemed to be very hungry, so it aimed its huge mouth at the other bugs.

The sound of swallowing and sucking could be heard, and Zero just watched as the big bug devoured the remaining two companions. After eating three of their own kind in a single go, the Gold Devourer's body became incomparably large. It cried out in pain, and the six red eyes flickered incessantly. Layers of meat wave s were lifted up from the surface of the insect's body. He seemed to be digesting something, but also seemed to be excreting something.

The giant bug's body continuously twisted and turned, its large head beginning to sink down, its body curled up and became a cocoon of flesh the size of a small mountain. When the cocoon of flesh stabilized itself, it was like a human's heart, trembling slightly from time to time.

Zero quietly left. The scouting mission was over.

This strange phenomenon of Gold Devourer should be considered a type of evolution. By devouring other companions, one could improve one's genes and thus evolve towards a higher level of life form. In this era, in order to survive, he had to use every means at his disposal to become stronger. Humans are like this, and so are other creatures.

As for whether the Gold Devourer that had evolved into a new form would be able to threaten the base, he would need a professional to assess it. That was not Zero's job. It didn't matter how the base dealt with the Gold Devourer, Zero would not care.

When he returned to the mining site, two hours had already passed. Zero jumped out of the cave and heard the commotion outside. He frowned. It was work time, so he shouldn't be making such a ruckus. Things were not as simple as he thought.

Zero walked into the mine. Nick, the miner he had interacted with before, was arguing with someone about something. Seeing Zero, Nick quickly ran over. As he ran, he used his finger to draw the shape of a cross on his forehead.

"Thank God you're back, sir."

Zero nodded and asked simply, "What happened?"

"No contact, sir." Nick gasped and pointed in the direction of the base. "Just half an hour ago, we were going to transport the first batch of copper back to the base. But the gates of the base were locked and we were in radio contact with the interior of the base, so there was no movement at all. Everyone is panicking and don't know what's going on inside. "

"Didn't contact Old Jack?"

"How can I? When there was no response from the radio, we contacted the boss directly through the intercom, but no one answered. " Nick said hesitantly, "This is unbelievable. It's just like the people at the base suddenly disappeared."

Upon hearing those words, Zero fell silent. Leaving Nick behind, he slipped into the crowd and boarded the minivan, heading towards the entrance of the Operating area.

Only, no one knew that his hand was lightly holding onto the revolver's protective wood.

The entrance to the Operating area was tightly shut. The arrival of Zero caused all the workers around to look at him.

Zero jumped down from the miner's truck and asked, "Who is in charge?"

"Me." A middle-aged man came out from the crowd and raised his hand: "Sir, I am the manager of the mining operations, you can call me Jetto."

"What's the situation at the gateway?" Zero asked as he walked toward the door.

Jetto reported to Zero from the side, "The electronic system has completely failed and there's no response from inside the base. The electricians are already working on it, but the possibility of recovery is very low."

Next to the steel door, a skinny man was squatting on the floor, checking the electronic circuit of the door. Zero came to his side and asked, "Can you open it?"

"No, there's no response at all." The skinny man replied without turning his head. When he saw the soldiers dressed in the same uniform, he immediately jumped up and respectfully said, "Sir, I've tried my best."

Zero asked, "Can't you open it manually?"

"Manual system? This... " The electrician slapped his head and said, "Damn it, how could I have forgotten about the manual system?"

He immediately called over a few miners and hurried to the other side of the gate.

Not long after, with a "ka" sound, the door between the Operating area and base slowly opened.

The people around the gate were relieved. However, the skin underneath their clothes felt like it was being pricked with needles.

Danger!

There was a dangerous smell coming from inside the door.

The door opened a crack, and red, viscous liquid slowly flowed out. They flowed across the brown ground, past the shoes of Zero and the others, and then came to a stop ten meters outside the door.

The miners could not utter another word. At the door, an arm slipped out through the crack in the door due to the flow of the red liquid.

It was only an arm. It had been severed from the root of the shoulder. From the blurry flesh, a ghastly white arm had been pierced out.

"This... "What's going on?" The manager of the mining site was dumbfounded as he looked at Zero.

Su Ming took a deep breath and said quietly, "You guys stay here. Once I'm inside, close the door!"

After saying that, he stepped into the pool of blood and with another kick, he stepped into the entrance of the base.

A moment later the door slowly closed.