Chapter 188 Discovery and Cooperation

“Li Yi, the battle is over. Take a rest.” Lin Yue walked over, slightly out of breath, and patted Li Yi’s shoulder, saying, “How are you? Not injured, are you?”

Li Yi’s vertical pupils glowed, his surging vital energy not yet calmed. He frowned and said, “Something’s not right.”

“What’s not right?” Lin Yue asked.

Li Yi said, “Although there are many Spider mutants, not a single one of them thought of escaping during our fight. This is very unreasonable. I encountered Spider mutants in the Danger Zone before. At that time, a cultivator named Brother Tao was leading us. Brother Tao found a spider-man in an abandoned building and fought with it. In the end, that spider-man was injured and escaped.”

“This shows that these Spider mutants have intelligence, know fear, and don’t just charge mindlessly.”

“You’re right. With the strength we’ve displayed, these monsters would most likely avoid us and scatter if they knew they couldn’t win. Survival instinct is something every creature possesses.” Lin Yue also frowned in thought: “Li Yi, do you mean there’s another reason why these Spider mutants are rushing at us so fearlessly?”

“Exactly. I suspect these Spider mutants are acting under a command to charge at us so desperately. And there’s only one reason worth such a sacrifice from the Spider mutants.”

Li Yi’s eyes flickered, looking towards the end of the street.

“The spider mutant mother is nearby.”

At the end of the street, it was silent, with no trace of Spider mutants, only lifeless buildings.

Lin Yue was startled, then nodded and said, “Your conjecture is very plausible. If it’s to protect the mother, those Spider mutants would fight desperately, just like an ant colony. The queen ant is the most important, because without the queen, the ant colony cannot reproduce and grow, and will quickly decline and perish.”

“Zheng Gong, abandon the vehicles. Come with me and continue deeper into the Old City. I feel today is an opportunity. If we’re lucky, we might be able to hunt down that spider mutant mother,” Li Yi then said.

“Now? No rest? I’ve run out of sniper rifle bullets. Yuan Mingjin still has two bullets,” Zheng Gong said.

Li Yi waved his hand, interrupting him: “These Spider-Man are using their lives to stall us and waste our time. If we rest, it will be impossible to find the spider mutant mother’s trace again. Zheng Gong, didn’t you say you wanted me to take a gamble? Now is the chance.”

“Alright, since you’ve said so, let’s continue forward. Two bullets are enough. Seizing the opportunity to fire a crucial shot can successfully end this support mission,” Zheng Gong immediately nodded.

Li Yi immediately returned to the car, then took out another bottle of Golden Nutrient Solution and drank it all down.

After a fierce battle, he was hungry again.

However, after drinking a bottle of nutrient solution, the cultivator’s powerful absorption ability came into play. His physical strength was rapidly recovering, and the vital energy consumed during his punches was continuously being replenished.

“Let’s go.”

Li Yi didn’t hesitate and immediately continued forward.

Seeing this, the others also didn’t waste time and immediately set off again.

They crossed the street full of spider corpses and then continued along the silent road.

It was strange.

Except for that one section of the road with Spider mutants, the subsequent section was surprisingly safe. There was no danger nearby, and no trace of these Spider mutants was seen. This was very illogical.

“It seems the previous engagement attracted all the nearby Spider mutants. Now that we’ve cleared them out, this part of the Old City has completely returned to its former safety.” Lin Yue’s eyes flickered. She was attentive to the surrounding movements, as she was a Spiritual Awareness Expert, and thus the most perceptive.

But even so, she didn’t sense any danger.

“The more it’s like this, the more abnormal it is. Furthermore, analyzing the route the Spider-Man took earlier, if we just keep moving straight ahead, we might discover something,” Li Yi said.

Yuan Mingjin, holding his sniper rifle, whispered, “Li Yi, I only have two bullets. If the mission isn’t over after two shots, then I won’t be of much use.”

“I understand. Don’t worry. Follow my instructions. If it doesn’t work, I’ll retreat,” Li Yi gestured.

Yuan Mingjin nodded and said no more.

He wasn’t afraid, but he needed to inform Li Yi of his situation in a timely manner, so as to avoid miscalculating the team’s combat strength and causing unnecessary losses.

After advancing a bit further.

At this moment, Li Yi saw a bloody scene at a street intersection, with some shattered corpses scattered on the ground. It seemed a battle had occurred here not long ago, and someone had met with misfortune and died here.

But just then.

Lin Yue suddenly pulled Li Yi, then stopped, her expression very serious, gesturing for everyone to remain quiet.

Everyone stopped.

Li Yi looked at Lin Yue.

Lin Yue didn’t speak, merely pointed towards the roof of a residential building ahead.

At this moment, everyone looked.

They saw a pale white arm hanging down from the roof of that not-so-tall residential building. It seemed to be part of a Spider mutant, but this arm was too massive. If the owner of this arm was also a Spider mutant, then its size must be astonishing.

However, due to the angle, they could only see one arm, but they could be sure that the monster seemed to be resting on the roof and had not discovered their arrival.

“It’s that white spider mutant mother…” Zheng Gong’s emotions became a bit agitated.

Yuan Mingjin also took a heavy breath, immediately chambering a round and instinctively aiming.

Li Yi waved his hand, stopping Yuan Mingjin: “Shooting from this angle will only break one of its arms and won’t cause a fatal injury. Zheng Gong, you and Yuan Mingjin go find a sniping position in a nearby building. Be quick. Lin Yue and I will try to stop that thing to buy you time for a shot.”

“What you’re doing is too dangerous. A Spider mutant of that size is no different from an Overmortal Creature,” Yuan Mingjin said in a low voice.

“If we didn’t encounter it, then so be it, but since we have, how can we not try? You two are responsible for shooting. If two bullets still don’t kill this thing, retreat immediately. Directly fighting an Overmortal Creature of this size is not a good choice,” Li Yi said.

“Alright, then you two be careful.” Yuan Mingjin nodded, then quickly led Zheng Gong towards the tallest building nearby.

They had to quickly occupy the high ground and find a sniping position.

Li Yi and Lin Yue also moved. They advanced towards the spider mutant mother’s location, being very careful not to make any noise, so as not to startle the monster and let it escape again.

The Old City’s terrain was complex. Although the monster was large, finding it would be very troublesome if it truly hid.

However, just as their plan was proceeding normally.

Another team appeared in Li Yi’s line of sight.

Leading them was Gu Mengping, along with several unfamiliar external combat personnel. They were covered in blood, some from monsters, some their own. They seemed to have also experienced a battle with a group of Spider-Man, and their losses were quite severe, because Li Yi didn’t see any investigators in the team, which meant their investigators had died in the previous attack.

“Li Yi?” Gu Mengping also saw Li Yi and Lin Yue. He was about to greet them but quickly sensed something was wrong.

He immediately looked in the direction Li Yi and the others were heading.

Then his pupils suddenly contracted.

Clearly, Gu Mengping also saw the massive spider-man lying on the rooftop.

At this moment, Gu Mengping showed a look of pleasant surprise.

His team had been fighting here for five days to complete the mission and eliminate the Spider mutants in the Old City. He hadn’t expected to finally get lucky today and find the spider mutant mother. If they could successfully kill it, then this difficult mission would be completed, and his spot in the Golden Academy would be a certainty.

However, Gu Mengping then looked at Li Yi and Lin Yue.

They had discovered the spider mutant mother first. It seemed a bit inappropriate for him to act now.

Li Yi and Lin Yue were also staring at Gu Mengping. Clearly, neither of them had expected other external combat personnel to suddenly appear at this crucial moment when they were about to act. Although everyone was a colleague, the Investigation Bureau had released spots for the Golden Academy, so they were all in competition with each other.

After a difficult battle, they had finally found the spider mutant mother, so it was naturally impossible to hand it over willingly.

This was not the time for politeness.

Becoming a Transcendent concerned everyone’s future survival.

“Gu Mengping, we found this first. By the rules, we should go first. If our operation fails, then you can act,” Lin Yue said, staring at Gu Mengping, directly stating her thoughts.

This was fair.

And it wouldn’t lead to conflict.

But the premise was that Gu Mengping would agree.

However, Gu Mengping shook his head and refused: “I’ve been on this mission for five days, not to mention the hardship during that time, and I even lost an investigator. I don’t want to fail at the last minute. How about this, let’s cooperate. Whoever successfully hunts it down in the end gets the credit, to avoid hurting feelings, how about that? This thing isn’t as easy to kill as you imagine. If we don’t cooperate, problems will arise, which isn’t good for anyone.”

His suggestion also seemed to have no problems.

Lin Yue frowned, wanting to refuse, but Li Yi stopped her.

“Okay, let’s act together. Whoever kills this thing gets the credit.”

“That’s good then, Li Yi, a pleasure to cooperate.”

Gu Mengping smiled. He hadn’t expected Li Yi to agree so readily, but since the words were out, he wouldn’t be polite at all. He then waved his hand, signaling for the sniper rifle in his team to immediately rush towards the nearest tall building.

Lin Yue whispered at this moment, “Li Yi, you shouldn’t have agreed to him. We found this first.”

“I know, but Sister Lin, you need to understand, this thing is very dangerous. We aren’t sure we can kill it. Cooperation is the best outcome right now. It avoids us bearing all the risks, and it avoids conflict between both sides. And I also hope someone can test the waters for me.” Li Yi’s eyes flickered.

“I see.” Lin Yue nodded, understanding Li Yi’s thoughts.

No one knew how strong that spider mutant mother was. It was best to have someone test it, but the person doing the testing would be at great risk and very likely get into trouble.

“But I’m worried that giving Gu Mengping a chance, if he really succeeds in completing the mission, then we’ll have come for nothing,” Lin Yue expressed her concern at this moment.

Li Yi said, “Gu Mengping’s presence lowers our danger, so of course, we have to pay some price. However, his chance of success is not very high, because his team only has him as a Spiritual Awareness Expert and one sniper rifle, while our team has two snipers and two Spiritual Awareness Experts.”

“Two Spiritual Awareness Experts?” Lin Yue blinked: “When did you become a Spiritual Awareness Expert?”

Li Yi said, “When it comes to a real fight, my combat power is that of a Spiritual Awareness Expert. Although I can’t compare to top ones like Yang Yilong, matching a regular Spiritual Awareness Expert is no problem.”

He wasn’t bragging.

If he really fought, he could completely unleash the combat power of a Spiritual Awareness Expert.

“Hearing you say that, I can accept your previous suggestion.” Lin Yue nodded: “Then let’s give Gu Mengping a chance. Let him test the waters first, and then we’ll look for an opportunity to act.”

“They’re moving. Let’s go, we move too.”

Suddenly, Li Yi saw Gu Mengping’s group suddenly scatter and quickly approach the spider mutant mother.

Li Yi didn’t want to be a step behind and immediately acted as well.

Seeing this, Lin Yue immediately said no more, staying alert to everything around them, and preparing to act at any moment.

“Gu Mengping, Li Yi and Lin Yue are also moving. Be careful not to let them get ahead,” an external combat personnel said at this moment.

Gu Mengping said, “There’s nothing we can do. The support signal was sent out, so other investigators will naturally rush over. The number of Spider mutants in the Old City is too great, consuming a lot of our time. If we don’t ask for help, we’ll have to keep wasting time here, and then we won’t be able to complete any mission.”

“Fortunately, it wasn’t Daoist Peter who came this time, otherwise we wouldn’t even have the right to compete. He’s both a Spiritual Awareness Expert and a top sniper, the only one in Tianchang City. But this Lin Yue is also not simple. As soon as she broke through, she killed Wei Bin, mastered Fist Art, and passed the white bone painting test. Sigh, these people are all like monsters, so difficult to deal with.”

Towards the end, he also felt annoyed and simply stopped talking.

Soon.

The two teams had quickly arrived at the foot of the building.

But as they approached, Spider-Man immediately crawled out of the surrounding residential buildings. They seemed to have discovered them, and then even let out strange cries, as if sending some kind of signal.

Not good!

This change immediately made everyone’s expressions change drastically.

They thought the nearby Spider mutants had all been killed, but they hadn’t expected there to be hidden ones.

However, there were very few hidden Spider mutants, and they were all particularly small, not like those meant for combat. They seemed to have been specially bred to serve as sentinels. And precisely because these Spider mutants posed no danger, the cultivators didn’t notice them, just like ants on the roadside, which they subconsciously ignored.