Chapter 98: The Gatherer Beetle

“We are in luck!” Mu Zi said with a smile. He was going to pick up the Crystal Core. However, just as he was about to take a step…

“Wait!” Feng Luo yelled and stopped him while looking at the Crystal Core.

Mu Zi stopped hesitantly. “What’s wrong, Feng?”

Feng Luo did not say a word. However, the Crystal Core beside the Mutant Rat Commander began to shake. It then floated into the sky and started “running” away along the corner of the wall.

Chairman Jiao was stunned. “What? The Crystal Core can run?”

“Something is wrong with this game!” Mr. Meng remarked apprehensively.

Bang!

While everyone was stunned and surprised, Feng Luo fired a shot with his M110.

Bang!

The Crystal Core clinked as it landed on the ground. At the same time, the other players saw a system notification.

Your teammate has killed a Level-25 Gatherer Beetle (Normal). You have gained 16 EXP…

“Oh! No wonder!”

Everyone finally understood what had happened. It wasn’t a ghost that had picked up the Crystal Core but a monster.

With his strengthened vision, Feng Luo had been able to vaguely see the monster that was trying to steal the Crystal Core. It was a type of brown-colored beetle with lumps on its dark brown shell.

Well, they were not beetles, technically. Their bodies were not in the same circular shape as the Suicide Bombeetles they had encountered. They were oval-shaped. They had scorpion’s pincers and six limbs underneath their lower bodies. It grabbed the Crystal Core dropped by the Mutant Rat Commander with one of its huge pincers and ran away quickly on its six limbs.

In such a dark environment, it was difficult to notice their brown bodies. In addition, they were moving along the wall where the light could not reach. Therefore, none of the players could track them.

They had finally realized that these monsters were trying to pull a fast one on them after Feng Luo managed to kill one.

Nevertheless, similar to the act of stealing equipment among players, all of them were unhappy with this “Crystal Core thief.” Forget the players who snatched equipment. Nowadays, even monsters could steal drops?

“Ah! Look! There are more of them!”

Due to the strange situation that had happened previously, Orange was scared as she hid behind Mr. Meng. She looked around and realized that more thefts were happening. Not just the Crystal Core—even some of the larger crystals dropped by the normal rats were being snatched by a few of the brown Gatherer Beetles. They took off hastily after grabbing the crystals.

“Stop them, quickly!” Chairman Jiao shouted.

The magic staff in his hand glowed, and, the next moment, an over 50-centimeter high earth spike came out from the ground, knocking a brown Gatherer Beetle out of the sky. However, the beetle still managed to hold onto the crystal firmly with its large claws, even when it was sent flying.

Bang!

Feng Luo was still feeling like himself. He blew the beetle up in the midair with his incredible accuracy to get it to let go of the grade-E energy crystal. However, despite the fact that everybody was trying to intercept them, one of the Gatherer Beetles still managed to escape eventually. It crawled into a dark corner and disappeared behind a pillar the size of two men. However, Feng Luo obtained the monsters’ information.

Gatherer Beetle. Level 25 Normal. Species Serial Number: JCG-02364. Estimated HP: 2800. XP-S3 Chip. Compatibility: 35%.

In contrast to the Suicide Bombeetle before, this “Gatherer Beetle” had over 35 percent compatibility, which indicated that it would guarantee a one-third success rate. However, it had failed to spark any interest in Feng Luo. Judging from the name of the beetle, he already knew it was probably a support-type pet. What he needed most was a pet that could support him in combat. However, there might still be something worth his while in these ruins, given the presence of these beetles.

“Hmm… Why does the sculpture on this pillar look like a statue of a god?” Chairman Jiao, who had failed to catch the beetle, raised his magic staff and go around the pillar twice. He sounded uncertain.

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Statue of a god? Feng Luo was stunned and then walked quickly toward him.

This “pillar” had an uneven surface. It was roughly the size of two people and stood four meters tall with its top connected to the ceiling of the parking lot. Its color was blackish gray. Its exterior was uneven, and its center was shaped like a man. Perhaps that was the reason why Chairman Jiao thought it was a statue of a god.

There were holes on the pillar that were the size of bowls. The Gatherer Beetle that had snatched away the Crystal Core might have hidden in one of these holes.

“That look…”

The image of Feng Luo seeing a statue-like building through his M110’s scope emerged in his mind. The similarities between the two materials… They both look like stone but except for the texture. There were similar holes on both of them, but the previous ones had been large enough to fit the Suicide Bombeetles. The holes in front of him were large enough to be entrances for the Gatherer Beetles.

“I get it!”

Feng Luo now figured out why such large numbers of Suicide Bombeetles had emerged suddenly behind them. These guys were using the pillars as their tunnels to crawl out of the statue!

With a flashlight pointing at the statue, it was possible to see that the holes were linked to tunnels underground. They might have been coming out from underground. It was possible that the tunnels were dug everywhere throughout the ruins. Or perhaps they were using the city’s sewer system.

The beetles might have been underneath the players right now.

But how could they avoid getting detected? Do the tunnels and the statue shield them from the scouting function? Or maybe…

Feng Luo thought of another possibility, but he was unable to prove it. Not now.

At the same time, a notification appeared on his communicator telling him someone was calling. Mu Wu’s voice came through the communicator.

“Hey, Feng. Where are you guys? How was it?”

“We are hiding inside an underground parking garage,” said Feng Luo. “We managed to escape from the Suicide Bombeetles, and there aren’t any casualties, for now. What are the losses on your side?”

Feng Luo assumed that the ambush from the Suicide Bombeetles had cost them a lot. Even if they were to warn Mu Wu and the Chief Commander immediately after discovering the situation, there would not have been enough time for everyone to retreat safely.

“We suffered severe losses,” said Mu Wu. “This ambush by the Suicide Bombeetles completely wiped out three of our squads. It even took out a Mecha with hundreds of them surrounded it. The total casualties are 93. It could have been worse if some of the Bombeetles hadn’t changed their target to the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group and the Veterans Tribe!” Mu Wu sounded serious. Such a situation went beyond his expectations at the start of the mission. “It was not what we anticipated. We had already faced similar problems like this in the Level-20 zone. There might be similar ones in the Level-30 and Level-40 zone. Therefore, our boss has decided to recruit 500 players from the Veterans Tribe and Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group. Otherwise, we couldn’t have even completed the mission!”

“Well, we have already spent this much money,” said Feng Luo. “It won’t matter if we spend more!”

Feng Luo didn’t care much anyway since it wasn’t his money. A massive reduction in the number of players by almost 100 would definitely affect the plan considerably. This was due to the grave death penalty in War. Not only would it remove one level from the dead players, but they would receive a twelve-hour ban before they would be able to return to the game.

All these players could only rejoin the battle the next day. Therefore, increasing the number of hired players was definitely a must.

“Moreover, more players were left in the North headquarters since they didn’t suffer from the ambush of the Suicide Bombeetles,” Mu Wu continued through the communicator. “They have decided to send five squads to assist with our progress, which would help in preventing the monsters from focusing on attacking a specific area with slower progress than others.”

Feng Luo didn’t think 50 people would be enough. But Young Master Night Star was the commander, and he had made his decision. Therefore, he couldn’t do anything.

“Oh! According to our investigations, these beetles might…”

Feng Luo informed Mu Wu about his suspicions about the “statue of god.”

Mu Wu sighed on the other side of the communicator. “Are you saying that these beetles were coming out from the holes of the statue? And their tunnels might be lying underground?”

“To be more accurate,” said Feng Luo, “I don’t think this thing is actually a statue of god. The beetles made it while they were digging the dirt out to build their tunnels. Some insects are able to excrete a special fluid while building their nest which will make their nest as strong as concrete.”

“Then all these patterns on the statues make no sense,” replied Mu Wu. “And you said its middle part looks like a ‘temple’?”

“Every species has their own architectural style,” said Feng Luo. “Maybe these beetles like it this way. Or maybe the game company is being pretentious.”

“It is possible. All right. I will send a player over to investigate this ‘statue of god’ right now.”