Chapter 9: 8. Stealth attack by the deceased
Although Sin Soldiers are used for scouting, they still have basic survival gear.
A breathing mask with a filter cartridge was included in the combat equipment that Corporal Mars had provided to Noland Lee.
Once this device is worn over the head, the surrounding environment can only be observed through two thick glass lenses, and one can hear their own breathing, easily generating feelings of tension.
Noland Lee had only seen such things in war-themed or zombie-themed works before, and this was his first time wearing it...
Honestly, his curiosity about the undead outweighed his unease... at least for now.
It is a unique psychological state of Travelers.
They believe that because they have traveled and are accompanied by a system, they will inevitably survive and become legendary figures.
Before really facing a threat of death, they treat their journey with a gaming attitude.
Noland Lee considers himself to be cautious enough, more cautious than the average Traveler, but deep down, he knows that he will get through any dangerous situation.
So when he stepped into the stairway leading to Underground Area One, his heart had a bit of slack caused by curiosity towards the undead creatures.
Soon, a small accident made him take up the attitude that he shouldn't have and treat his first employment task with complete seriousness.
This accident came from a cunning undead creature.
It lurked on the walls of the staircase.
It looked identical to an ordinary stone wall, and no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a regular stone brick.
But when Noland Lee, who was emitting the scent of the biochemical bait, came about 10 meters from this "stone brick," a dark shadow burst from the "brick."
In that instant, Noland Lee was completely defenseless.
He caught sight of the approaching shadow with the help of the coal lamp's light but could not control his body in time to dodge due to his lack of military training.
He had seen it but couldn't avoid it; Noland Lee's forehead throbbed, as if foreseeing his head being pierced by the dark shadow.
Fortunately, Corporal Mars kept his promise and quickly responded to the dark shadow, saving the slow-moving Noland Lee.
A yellow bullet shot out from a short-barreled rifle with a silencer attached, accurately striking the "stone brick" that emitted the dark shadow and bursting open a splash of purple-black contaminated blood.
A large clump of black, filthy flesh fell from the wall, turning into a "mud" mixture of bone fragments and hair.
At the same time, the dark shadow that was about to fall on Noland Lee's face completed the process from extremely hard to soft, then from soft to slack in just half a second and splashed onto the ground with a patter.
Noland Lee slowly exhaled the air held in his chest and instinctively raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead. Only then did he realize that the breathing mask blocked his palm, and he could only let the sweat drip down his cheeks...
"Thank you." Noland Lee turned around and nodded in gratitude to Corporal Mars who had helped him.
Corporal Mars deliberately pretended to be cold and responded with a barely noticeable nodding motion.
He walked forward, past Noland Lee, and used the tip of the gun to pick up the dark shadow on the ground, illuminating it with the coal lamp's light to take a closer look.
As Corporal Mars moved, the true appearance of the dark shadow entered Noland Lee's sight.
It was a tentacle covered with tiny black hairs.
The tentacle was connected to the "mud" on the ground, and its tip was a flower-shaped oral device with sharp teeth and fangs.
One could imagine that if Corporal Mars' shooting was delayed by a third of a second, the hairy tentacle's oral device would have landed on Noland Lee's face...
"What is this thing?" Noland Lee asked in a low voice.
Corporal Mars shook the rifle, flicking the hairy tentacle to the ground, glanced at Noland Lee and said:
"Cavern Stalkers, a low-level sutured creature of the Undead Cult, disguise themselves as stone bricks, hide in the walls, and lie in wait to launch stealth attacks. It smelled the biochemical bait, so it immediately launched a stealth attack when you stepped into its range."
Corporal Mars returned to the group and engaged in a brief conversation with the others, without avoiding the sin soldier.
Noland Lee stood silently on the side, listening, and gradually realized how experienced the Imperial Army was in combat.
They could infer the general situation of the underground grave vault based solely on the remains of a single undead creature.
One of the corporals in the group said:
"This Cavern Stalker we encountered has tentacles with a total length of about 3 meters, and the cilia on the tentacles are short and stiff, about 6 millimeters in length... I judge this to be a mature Cavern Stalker with vertical dispersal ability."
Another soldier took out the layout of the Grave Vault and placed it under the light of the coal lamp.
Corporal Mars drew a few strokes on the map and presented his speculation:
"The vertical moving speed of mature Cavern Stalkers is 10 meters per second, and they can move swiftly through hard stone bricks and wall structures.
"It usually takes two months for the Spiritual Pivot to summon this level of Cavern Stalkers on a large scale.
"Our current location is at a depth of two meters below the ground, and there is an estimated vertical distance of 100 meters between us and the tomb passages on the third underground level."
"... My preliminary estimate is that there are a large number of mature undead creatures in the tomb passages on the second and third underground levels that have been there for at least two months."
"This is not good news."
"Yes... What's worse is that reviving such a large group of mature undead creatures would require at least a Level 2 Spiritual Pivot."
Corporal Mars concluded:
"We need more intelligence to pinpoint the exact level of the Spiritual Pivot. So let's move on, ladies and gentlemen, let's clear the way for the Imperial Army... For the glory of the Empire!"
The squad members responded with a growl:
"For the glory of the Empire."
The soldiers stopped talking and turned their eyes to Noland Lee.
Noland Lee, not wanting to be difficult, obediently and slowly walked down the stairs beneath his feet.
This time he was much more serious, completely restraining any unnecessary emotions and fully immersing himself in observing the surrounding environment.
As he walked, he suddenly discovered a clever trick to using the Deconstruction Technique.
When activating the Deconstruction Technique, the system will give a name to the target object.
For example, the dark clouds in the sky of the Suffering Borderland.
Noland Lee thought it was just an ordinary cloud layer, but the system directly labeled it as "abnormal," reminding the host of the abnormality in the cloud layer.
Noland Lee could take advantage of this to detect Cavern Stalkers disguised as stone bricks in advance.
As he walked along, he kept casting the Deconstruction Technique without actually using any energy to deconstruct, merely obtaining the name of the target object from the system.
This method was very useful.
Within five minutes of encountering the first Cavern Stalker, he discovered six lurking Cavern Stalkers using this method.
Although he had detected their presence in advance, Noland Lee did not take any extraordinary action.
He did not want to expose his ability to detect Cavern Stalkers.
Instead of taking preemptive measures to avoid the Cavern Stalkers, Noland Lee simply crouched down and covered his head protectively at the moment they launched their ambush, leaving room for the soldiers behind him to shoot.
This set of evasive moves like a frightened rabbit looked somewhat pathetic.
Noland couldn't be bothered with appearances anymore; survival was paramount, and image could take a back seat.
It's not possible to always expect Corporal Mars to be shooting true, right?
The soldiers didn't say much and gradually got used to this Sin Soldier who would crouch and cover his head at the slightest sound...
Corporal Mars observed Noland Lee's actions with a flicker in his eyes.
People said the scholars at City College were well-dressed and highly respected, but they were all timid. When faced with danger, they would freeze on the spot like idiots.
Isn't Noland Lee Jarvis doing a good job?
Well... although crouching and covering his head was a bit silly, it was better than being dazed.
Corporal Mars nodded silently, feeling reassured that Noland Lee could adapt to situations so quickly. After all, the reconnaissance work to come would not be as simple as it was now.
Chapter 10: 9. The Gaze of the Dead
At the end of the staircase was an artificial metal gate.
This gate cut off the path between the staircase and the first underground level.
Under ideal conditions, the metal gate would block air flow between the inside and outside, sealing the poisonous gas emitted by undead creatures within the tomb passages of the underground crypt.
But now, corroded traces appeared on the metal gate.
Around the door seams and hinges, there were many corrosion patterns like tassels.
Thin wisps of greenish-yellow poisonous gas seeped out from these damaged areas, flowing up along the corridor of the staircase.
Corporal Mars raised the coal lamp to the door panel.
Faint but somewhat dazzling light reflected off the corroded spots.
"...The corroded areas are very smooth, with no burrs. They must have appeared in the last dozen days," Mars muttered under his breath.
He turned his head to look at the sergeant behind him:
"When was the last time this door was inspected?"
The sergeant flipped through a diary a few pages to find the exact date:
"Chief Officer, the latest inspection was 21 days ago."
Corporal Mars nodded thoughtfully:
"Hmm, in other words, not long after we finished the inspection, the door was corroded by the poisonous fog behind it... It seems there are quite a few undead in the first underground level."
He took out the key for the metal gate, inserted it into the keyhole to unlock it, and then gripped the door handle with both hands:
"Get ready, mates. I'm going to open the metal gate... Sin Soldier No. 888, come help me open the door. Remember, after opening the door, you cannot retreat without my permission. No matter what happens, you can only move forward or stand still."
"Yes, Chief Officer."
Noland Lee held the door handle, his heart rate slightly picking up.
He had a bad feeling that the scene behind the door might be somewhat unexpected.
The heavy metal gate was opened by the soldiers with their combined strength.
Noland's hands were filled with a coal lamp given to him by a soldier.
Under the urging of the soldiers' gazes, he stepped into the completely dark space.
As soon as he set foot in the tomb passage of the first underground level, the light of the coal lamp was further compressed.
Noland fiddled with the dimmer switch and then shook his head helplessly.
This ghost place seemed to reject light.
Even if he turned the brightness of the coal lamp to the highest setting, the light could only hover within a one-meter radius.
Noland could only move forward almost in total darkness.
The cold and sinister atmosphere in the air became more intense, the rolling chill penetrated the Sin Soldier uniform and clung to Noland's skin, making him shiver.
It was a cold that could pierce armor and body, directly affecting one's soul, as if it could rob the living of all hope and vitality.
Noland clenched his teeth and steeled himself to move forward.
From the moment he stepped through the metal gate, his Deconstruction technique never stopped.
Unable to see anything in the darkness, he could only rely on the system feedback messages to determine what he had passed by.
[System Message: You are about to perform Deconstruction on "ancient floor tiles"...]
[System Message: You are about to perform Deconstruction on "old wall lamp"...]
[System Message: You are about to perform Deconstruction on "awakening skeleton"...]
Wait, awakening skeleton?... Noland stopped in his tracks and listened carefully.
From a few meters ahead, a very faint sound could be heard.
"Creak, creak." It was like the sound made when fingers tapped on ribs.
[System Message: You are about to perform Deconstruction on "unknown name undead creature"...]
An undead creature has appeared, where is it?
Noland Lee widened his eyes and raised the coal lamp in his hand as high as he could, trying to extend his arm so that the light could reach farther.
What the hell is this thing!?
Noland Lee stiffened, his eyes glazed over.
A giant skeleton was slowly standing up from the floor covered in bones.
The skeleton was at least four meters tall, like a towering bone sculpture.
As it stood up, white powder slid off its body, revealing a bone surface covered in scars.
The coal lamp's light reflected a cold, sharp glare off the skeleton's forehead, causing Noland Lee to involuntarily shiver.
A purple light ball lit up in the skull of the skeleton, as if indicating that this undead creature was awakening from its slumber.
The brightness of the light ball was much dimmer than the coal lamp's, and it seemed that it would take a while for this creature to fully awaken.
However, Noland Lee could already feel its gaze.
The giant skeleton was staring at him.
Noland Lee forced himself to calm down.
He looked back towards the direction of the entrance.
Corporal Mars and the others were watching the enemy with solemn expressions, not issuing any orders for Noland Lee to retreat.
One of them saw Noland Lee's hesitance and shouted:
"Stay still! That's a Big Skeleton, a low-level Undead Construct."
The short-barreled rifles in the soldiers' hands seemed to be pointing at the undead creature, but also towards the back of the Sin Soldier.
Seeing this scene, Noland Lee knew that the most difficult moment had arrived for him.
Scouting the number and composition of enemies was the purpose of the reconnaissance squad.
To do this, soldiers had to make full use of the Biochemical Bait on the Sin Soldiers' body, in order to awaken as many undead creatures as possible on the First Underground Level of the Grave Vault.
This four-meter-tall Big Skeleton was just one of the first batch of undead creatures to awaken, and it was far from sufficient to determine the enemy's strength.
More and more undead creatures needed to awaken before the soldiers could estimate the total number of enemies on the First Underground Level.
Only then would the Sin Soldiers be allowed to retreat.
Instead of relying on Corporal Mars to issue a retreat order earlier, it was better to rely on his own abilities to turn the tide of the situation.
After quickly thinking it through, Noland Lee came up with two plans.
Plan One:
Resolve the issue of the Biochemical Bait's scent dispersal.
If the Biochemical Bait doesn't emit a scent, the number of awakening undead creatures will continue to decrease, increasing his chances of survival.
However, this might result in the awakening state of the undead creatures falling short of expectations, leading to the soldiers' scrutiny. Corporal Mars might also become suspicious.
Plan Two:
Find out the weaknesses and attack patterns of the undead creatures, and survive through their onslaught.
Noland Lee thought this plan was better.
It was more covert than the first plan, and wouldn't draw unnecessary attention.
With his mind made up, Noland Lee immediately muttered:
"Activate Deconstruction, dissect this undead creature, and find its weaknesses!"
[System Message: You are about to perform Deconstruction on the "Big Skeleton". It is estimated that each 1 point of energy consumed will increase the degree of deconstruction by 25%. You currently have 10 Energy Points. Do you confirm to proceed with the Deconstruction?]
The majority of his existing energy points had been naturally restored over time.
By spending about half of his stock, he could learn all the information about the Big Skeleton.
As Noland Lee stared at the increasingly bright purple light in the skeleton's eye sockets, he no longer hesitated.
"Confirm the consumption of 4 energy points, and carry out a 100% completion deconstruction!"
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
70 Power
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