However, it was fine even if someone had noticed 24K. It was because, although everyone at the scene had joined the City-building Mission, none of them had seen 24K before.

Back then, inside the temple of the ruins, due to 24K’s ability to create mental illusions, everyone had seen a Level-100 Beetle Boss. As a result, they had immediately retreated without even daring to make a sound!

Only Feng Luo, due to his Evolution talent, had been able to increase his mental attack resistance. He had seen the true situation within the temple. He had then risked losing levels and succeeded at injecting the biological control chip into 24K’s body!

That was why no one would know 24K’s background unless 24K used the wormhole summoning technique! In addition, faced with the 1,000-Beetle army that was charging at them, no one had the time or strength to pay attention to what was happening behind them. It seemed unimaginably difficult for the players to get rid of these black Beetles that didn’t even average over Level 30!

−933

−899

−374

−345

−408…

The black Beetles on the ground, surrounded by the Sea of Fire and Firewall, didn’t seem to slow their advance even at the sight of the flames. They continued to charge forward like a rising tide!

Even after they entered the flaming area and were inflicted with high damage—as well as a “burning” effect—the damage that appeared over these Level-30 swarm-type monsters still didn’t break 1,000!

Clearly, these black Beetles’ fire resistance was certainly not low! One could even have argued that if the team had only had one Fire Manipulator, it might have been impossible to stop the creatures’ continued advance!

However, even as the swarm of black Beetles on the ground was halted, those on the walls and ceiling continued their advance and crawled past the fiery zone. They had already reached the area in front of Rose Thorns, Mr. Meng, and other close-quarters fighters at the forefront of the group. After that, they leaped down at the players from the ceiling and walls!

“Immovable Mountain!”

“Defensive stance!” shouted two Heavy Armor Warriors as they cast their defensive skills.

Two large alloy shields stacked together and blocked the path of most of the black Beetles crawling through the flaming area. However, immediately after they cast their skills, their expressions changed.

A fist-sized black Beetle, facing the alloy shield obstacle in front of it, did not try to go around it; instead, it opened its mouth and bit the shield!

Ka-chang!

The Level-50 Rare-grade heavy alloy shield made from various rare materials, capable of stopping continuous sniper fire, had a hole in it.

“Sh*t! How are their jaws so strong?! To be able to chew up a shield!” exclaimed the two Heavy Armor Warriors.

At the same time, they quickly cast Shield Bash and other attack skills to shake off the beetles that had latched themselves onto the shields, pushing the Beetles back into the Sea of Fire!

Regardless, the number of black Beetles getting past the barrier gradually increased. Some of them even came down after they reached the ceiling above the Machine Gunners or Manipulators, biting them as they jumped down!

If their jaws could chew up alloy shields, they naturally would have no problems with the combat uniform of Warriors or the energy robes of Manipulators.

−334

−394

−208…

Damage numbers appeared. The HP of everyone involved in the fighting was being reduced! The players were forced to retreat as they fought to avoid these Beetles that kept falling from the ceiling. At the same time, they continued to get help from Little Xue—taking blood tonics and defense-boosting potions!

Clearly, none of the swarm-type monsters inside the ruins were easy to deal with!

Squeak, squeak…

At the back of the party, Feng Luo quickly used a deflagration armor-piercing bullet to shoot the most densely packed areas. The impact of the bullets shattered the shells of the black Beetle while the flammable liquid burned the surrounding Beetles!

As for 24K, it sat on Feng Luo’s shoulder and sent a message to Feng Luo through the mental link: They are not beetle soldiers… Don’t you think this feels familiar?

Through the system’s “translation,” Feng Luo seemed to understand 24K. He looked puzzled. But no matter what 24K was trying to tell him, he had to worry about the swarm of black Beetles first!

Bang! Bang!

Ta-ta-ta!

Boom!

Fortunately, although these black Beetles were highly destructive, their levels and attacks were only average, and their HP and defense weren’t spectacular, either. As such, after two minutes, the first batch of over 1,000 beetles had been completely annihilated!

Pant, pant…

No one was in very good shape. The battle with the black Beetles had been their toughest since they’d begun the exploration. Mu Zi was suffering from a “Heavy Injury” status, as he only had around 200 HP left. Even Mr. Meng and Rose Thorns, as well as some other warriors, had their HP reduced to below one-third of their max HP.

The main issue was that there were simply too many of them. Due to their ability to pierce through the players’ defensive gear, even though they weren’t high in level, the cumulative damage they produced was incredible!

If it hadn’t been for Little Xue’s accomplished Doctor skills—and the fact that she carried multiple C-grade potions with her and had healed them effectively—one or two of the party members might have died!

“Should we continue to move forward?” asked the other Heavy Armor Warrior (other than Rose Thorns) after he checked his shield and found that it was damaged over 90 percent. Some of the parts had been almost completely bitten through.

Since the broadsword was a weapon, Mr. Meng had kept swinging it to attack; it hadn’t taken very much damage. However, his lightweight armor had several holes in it. Regardless, after he heard the Heavy Armor Warrior’s intention to turn back, he answered without any hesitation!

“Of course we’re going to continue!” said Mr. Meng, resting the broadsword on his back. “Even if we forget the Legendary shards, we have to complete this exploration mission even if just as a slap in the face for Dark Night Star and September Guild! We can’t be retreating now!”

The tall Machine Gunner spoke up. “Yes, I agree with Mr. Meng. We should continue! Apart from my Machine Gun, I’ve only brought ammunition in my backpack. If I use it sparingly, it can still last a while longer!”

“It’s a Legendary Grade item, man!” Chairman Jiao also said with determination. “Losing a level is nothing! After all, it’s not that hard to complete a leveling mission and regain a level. We can’t turn back now!”

Mu Zi raised his head after he was cured of the “Heavy Injury” and “weakened” status thanks to Little Xue’s treatment. He glanced at the silent Feng Luo out of habit. It was then that he saw 24K sitting comfortably on Feng Luo’s shoulder, munching on a crystal.

“Ah! Brother Feng, you have a Beetle on your shoulder! Lower your head! I’ll take care of it!”

Mu Zi looked shocked and reacted to the sight by raising his submachine gun to aim it at Feng Luo!