RNP Chapter 459 Swamp City
Chapter 459 Swamp City
Lin Zhi stood before a swamp reeking of decay, his brow furrowed. This swamp was unlike any he had ever seen before; thick, dark green liquid bubbled and bubbled, emitting a nauseating stench. A thick fog enveloped the area, severely reducing visibility; only the faint outline of a sinister castle could be seen in the distance.
"This place is really weird." Yan Jun muttered to himself, gripping his weapon tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Zhang Ying cautiously took a step forward, her shoe sinking into the swamp with a "plop." She quickly pulled it out, a look of horror on her face. "Everyone be careful, this swamp looks dangerous."
Just then, several strangely shaped insects suddenly sprang out of the swamp. They were enormous, more than a person's height, with exoskeletons as hard as iron, gleaming with a metallic sheen. They had huge compound eyes on either side of their heads, emitting an eerie red glow, and their mouths were full of sharp fangs, constantly dripping green slime.
"It's the Zerg!" Lin Zhi shouted, quickly getting into a fighting stance.
The Zerg brothers, Wang Jun and Wang Kai, exchanged a glance and charged forward without hesitation. Wang Jun moved with agility, wielding his longsword, unleashing a sharp blade of energy towards a Zergling. The Zergling seemed to sense the danger, dodging to the side, its massive claws reaching for Wang Jun. Wang Jun nimbly leaped to avoid it, simultaneously slashing back at the Zergling's leg with his own blade. A clang rang out, sparks flew, and the Zergling's leg remained completely unharmed.
Wang Kai launched an attack from another direction, wielding a short axe in each hand. He leaped high into the air and slashed down hard at the Zerg's back. The Zerg roared in pain and turned to sweep its tail across the ground. Wang Kai couldn't dodge in time and was struck in the shoulder, sending him flying and crashing heavily to the ground.
Seeing this, Lin Zhi rushed over and helped Wang Kai up. "Are you alright?"
Wang Kai gritted his teeth, "I'm alright, these Zerg have really strong defenses."
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yan Jun attacked from the side, his spear flashing like lightning as it pierced the insectoid's abdomen. The insectoid, in pain, writhed violently, a claw reaching for Yan Jun. Yan Jun quickly retreated, but slipped on a wet, slippery stone, falling backward. The insectoid seized the opportunity to pounce, its gaping maw ready to bite.
At this critical moment, the four siblings, Li Yi, Li Ming, Li Hua, and Li Li, launched a simultaneous attack. Li Yi's bow and arrows fired continuously, accurately aiming at the insectoid's eyes. Li Ming and Li Hua, wielding longswords, attacked the insectoid's legs from both sides, attempting to weaken its mobility. Li Li, meanwhile, cast spells from behind, sending beams of light towards the insectoid, inflicting damage.
The Zerg was thrown into disarray by the onslaught, but it quickly regained its footing and began to retaliate. It spewed a stream of green venom from its mouth towards the group. They scrambled to avoid it, and the venom, landing on the ground, instantly corroded large craters.
"This venom is too potent, everyone be careful!" Zhang Ying shouted.
The battle reached a stalemate, with both sides showing signs of fatigue. Suddenly, even more Zerg surged out of the swamp, apparently drawn by the commotion.
"No, we'll be surrounded if this continues," Lin Zhi shouted. "We have to find a way into that castle; maybe there's something inside that can fight the Zerg."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and while fending off the insectoid attacks, they slowly approached the castle.
The castle gates were tightly shut, appearing very heavy. Vines covered the area, with sharp thorns growing on them; a careless touch would leave a bloody cut.
"How do I open this door?" Yan Jun looked at the door with a helpless expression.
Linzhi walked around the castle and found a side door, but a huge iron chain lock was hanging on the door, and the lock was engraved with strange runes.
"This lock doesn't look simple; we need to find the key," Lin Zhi said.
Just then, Wang Jun suddenly shouted, "Look over there!"
Following his pointing finger, everyone looked and saw a glowing object not far away. They cautiously approached and discovered it was a key emitting a blue light.
"Could this be the key to open the door?" Li asked.
Lin Zhi stepped forward, picked up the key, walked to the side door, and inserted the key into the lock. With a "click," the lock opened.
The group slowly pushed open the side door, and a musty smell wafted out. Inside was a long corridor with ancient portraits hanging on the walls, but the faces of the figures in the portraits were all distorted, making people feel uneasy.
"Everyone be careful, something feels off here," Zhang Ying said.
They proceeded cautiously down the corridor when suddenly they heard a deep roar coming from ahead. They exchanged glances and slowly approached the source of the sound.
When they arrived at a large hall, they found a colossal Zerg lord standing in the center. It was even larger than the Zerg they had encountered before, standing two stories tall. Its exoskeleton shimmered with multicolored light, appearing both magnificent and dangerous.
"This is a Lord-level Zerg!" Lin Zhi gasped. "Everyone be careful, it's much more powerful than the previous Zerg."
The Zerg lord seemed to sense their arrival. It slowly turned its head, and two beams of red light shot out from its huge compound eyes, staring intently at the group.
"Prepare for battle!" Lin Zhi shouted, and everyone quickly assumed fighting stances.
The Zerg lord launched the first attack, extending a gigantic claw that slammed down towards the group. The force of the blow was astonishing, distorting the air in its path. The group scrambled to dodge, retreating hastily.
Wang Jun and Wang Kai charged forward again, their twin blades flashing as they slashed at the Zerg lord's legs. The Zerg lord raised his leg and kicked them both away.
Yan Jun seized the opportunity to attack from behind, thrusting his spear towards the Zerg lord's back. The Zerg lord roared in fury, turning and lashing Yan Jun with his tail. Struck, Yan Jun was sent flying, crashing heavily into the wall.
Li and his group also launched their attacks, unleashing various spells and arrows at the Zerg lord. The Zerg lord shimmered with light, and these attacks did little damage to it.
"This lord is too difficult to deal with!" Li Ming exclaimed.
Just when everyone was feeling hopeless, Lin Zhi suddenly discovered a weak point on the Zerg Lord's chest, where the outer shell was relatively thin.
"Attack its chest!" Lin Zhi shouted.
Upon hearing this, everyone concentrated their firepower on the Zerg lord's chest. After a fierce battle, the Zerg lord finally succumbed and collapsed to the ground.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; they were all exhausted after such a fierce battle.
"We need to find a place to rest first," Lin Zhi said.
They found a relatively safe room in the castle and sat down to rest. After this battle, everyone realized that every step in this insectoid world was fraught with danger, but they would not give up easily, because they knew that only by moving forward could they find a way back or survive in this world.
After resting for a while, the group regained some strength. They began exploring the castle, hoping to find more useful items. In one room, they discovered an ancient book containing secrets about the Zerg world and methods to fight them. By studying the book, they learned about some of the Zerg's weaknesses and how to create weapons to counter them.
As they explored the castle further, they discovered an underground laboratory containing unfinished experimental equipment and materials. The group decided to use these resources to create weapons to fight the Zerg. During the weapon-making process, they encountered various difficulties, but through their wisdom and hard work, they ultimately succeeded in creating several powerful weapons.
With their new weapons, the group's confidence soared. They embarked on their journey once more, using these weapons to repeatedly defeat the Zerg attacks in their subsequent adventures. However, the Zerg's power seemed to be steadily increasing; they began organizing large-scale offensives, attempting to annihilate the humans who had invaded their world.
During a fierce battle, the group found themselves in dire straits. The Zerg were overwhelming in number, and they were gradually becoming unable to hold them off. At a critical moment, Linzhi discovered a Zerg command center. He realized that destroying this center would disrupt the Zerg's attack plan. Thus, after paying a heavy price, the group successfully broke through numerous defenses and reached the command center.
After a thrilling battle, they finally destroyed the command center. The Zerg were thrown into chaos, and their attack temporarily halted. The group used the opportunity to rest, learn from their mistakes, and prepare for the next challenge.
"This place looks eerie, we need to be careful," Yan Jun said, frowning.
Lin Zhi nodded, carefully observing his surroundings. "I sense there are quite a few dangers lurking here."
The three cautiously made their way along the edge of the swamp when suddenly they heard a deep roar coming from the depths of the swamp. Zhang Ying gripped her weapon tightly, tense. "What's that sound? Is there something big inside?"
As soon as he finished speaking, two enormous insectoid creatures slowly crawled out of the swamp. They reeked of a foul stench and had thick, powerful limbs. These were the insectoid brothers, Wang Jun and Wang Kai.
Wang Jun brandished his enormous claws and roared, "Humans, you've trespassed on our territory! Prepare to die!"
Lin Zhi, undeterred, responded loudly, "We were just passing by and had no intention of offending you."
Wang Kai sneered, "Just passing by? It's not that simple. This swamp isn't a place you can just come to."
Just as tensions were running high, four more figures appeared from the side: the four insectoid sisters, Li Yi, Li Ming, Li Hua, and Li Li. They were agile and their eyes gleamed with cunning.
Li Jiao chuckled, "Oh, a few interesting humans have arrived. Don't think you can leave so easily."
Yan Jun whispered to Lin Zhi and Zhang Ying, "They seem difficult to deal with. We need to think of a way."
After thinking for a moment, Lin Zhi said loudly, "We don't want to be your enemies either. Why don't we sit down and discuss this? Maybe we can find a win-win solution."
Wang Jun snorted, "Win-win? Do you think we'd believe you? Humans don't say many things that are true."
Li Hua chimed in, "That's right, brothers, let's just take them all out."
Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, Hua Yuan and Zhang Yuan suddenly appeared. Hua Yuan shouted, "Don't be impulsive! Maybe there's room for negotiation."
Zhang Yuan also said, "That's right, everyone, calm down first."
Seeing this opportunity, Lin Zhi quickly said, "We can exchange information about each other, and maybe we can find clues that will benefit everyone. We come from another world and have limited knowledge of this insectoid world. You must know a lot of things that we don't. We can exchange information."
Wang Jun thought for a moment, "What you said makes some sense, but how can we trust that you won't take this opportunity to play some tricks?"
Linzhi sincerely said, "We guarantee each other's integrity. If we have engaged in any deception, you can deal with us as you see fit."
Wang Kai glanced at the other Zerg, "Alright, let's hear what you have to say."
Linzhi began to recount their experiences after arriving in this world, as well as some of the rumors they knew about it. The insectoids gradually lowered their guard and began to share their lives in this swampy region and what they had learned.
It turns out that a mysterious energy source lies hidden beneath this swamp, said to greatly aid the evolution of the Zerg. However, the area is also fraught with dangerous creatures and traps, and the Zerg have been guarding this place to prevent other forces from spying on it.