Traveler Zerg World

Chapter 474 The Mutation in the Highland Cave 7

Lin Zhi, Yan Jun, and Zhang Ying cautiously made their way across the plateau. The air around them was cold and thin, and every step felt like it took all their strength. Their destination was a mysterious swampy area, said to hide many unknown dangers and secrets.

"This godforsaken place is no place for a human to live," Yan Jun complained, panting heavily.

Lin Zhi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "There's no other way. In order to find more clues about the Zerg, we have to make this trip no matter how difficult it is."

Zhang Ying looked around warily and said, "Everyone be careful. I have a feeling there's something strange about this place."

Just then, a low roar came from not far away, echoing across the vast plateau and sending chills down one's spine.

"What's that sound?" Yan Jun gripped his weapon tightly, tense and on edge.

Lin Zhi gestured for everyone to be quiet, then slowly approached the direction from which the sound came. When they parted a clump of dense grass, an astonishing scene appeared before their eyes—a huge swamp python was coiled in a mud pit, its body as thick as two people could hug, its scales shimmering with an eerie light.

"How can this python be so big?" Zhang Ying exclaimed in surprise.

Suddenly, as if sensing their presence, the python abruptly raised its head, opened its blood-red maw, and let out a deafening roar.

"Oh no, it's going to attack us!" Yan Jun shouted, and the three of them quickly got into defensive positions.

Just as the python was about to pounce, its body suddenly began to tremble violently. Its originally thick body seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, gradually becoming twisted and deformed.

"What's going on?" Lin Zhi stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what was happening before her eyes.

The python's body swelled continuously, its scales falling off to reveal the glowing flesh beneath. Then, its head began to split, growing two new heads, and numerous thick limbs extended from its sides. In just a few minutes, the python had mutated into a terrifying creature unlike any seen before.

"This is too bizarre!" Yan Jun was so frightened that his face turned pale.

The mutated creature let out an even fiercer roar and charged towards them. Lin Zhi shouted, "Don't stand still, attack!"

The three men simultaneously raised their weapons and fired at the mutated creature. The bullets struck its hard body, but only sparked a few times, causing little damage.

"This thing is too difficult to deal with!" Zhang Ying shouted while firing.

Just as they were in dire straits, the Zerg brothers Wang Jun and Wang Kai suddenly appeared. Wang Jun shouted, "How did you two get involved with this monster?"

Before they could answer, Wang Jun and Wang Kai joined the battle. Wang Jun wielded a huge battle axe, hacking fiercely at the mutated creature, the axe striking its body with a metallic clang. Wang Kai, meanwhile, nimbly moved around the mutated creature, his dagger constantly stabbing at its weak points.

The four Zerg siblings, Li Yi, Li Ming, Li Hua, and Li Li, arrived shortly after. Li Yi shouted, "Everyone, attack together! We can't let it get away!"

With everyone working together, they engaged in a fierce battle with the mutated creature. After a hard-fought struggle, the mutated creature gradually lost its ability to resist, collapsed to the ground, and let out a low moan.

"It's finally solved," Yan Jun said, panting heavily.

Looking at the mutated creature before him, Lin Zhi asked, "What's going on? Why did the python suddenly mutate?"

Wang Jun wiped the sweat from his face and said, "Let's open its body and take a look; maybe we can find some clues."

The group cautiously approached the mutated creature and began to carefully examine its body. Just then, Hua Yuan and Zhang Yuan rushed over.

Hua Yuan asked, "What happened here? Why is there such a commotion?"

Zhang Ying said, "We encountered a mutated monster."

After some examination, they found a crystal emitting a strange light inside the mutated creature.

"What is this?" Li Ming asked curiously.

Lin Zhi picked up the crystal and examined it carefully, saying, "I'm not sure either, but I feel it might be related to the Zerg."

Just as they were studying the crystal, a sudden commotion arose around them, and a group of strangely shaped insectoid creatures surrounded them.

"Oh no, it's a large Zerg army!" Yan Jun shouted.

Everyone tensed immediately, preparing to rejoin the battle. An even fiercer battle was about to unfold; whether they could escape the Zerg's siege and uncover the crystal's secrets remained to be seen…

The massive Zerg army quickly closed in, their dense, overwhelming numbers sending chills down one's spine. Linzhi shouted, "Everyone, back to back! Don't panic!"

Wang Jun brandished his battle axe and charged forward to engage the Zerg vanguard in combat, felling several Zerg with each swing. Wang Kai, meanwhile, leaped nimbly to the side, his dagger flashing like lightning, precisely piercing the Zerg's vitals.

Li Yi, Li Ming, Li Hua, and Li Li showed no fear, each employing the unique combat techniques of the Zerg. Li Yi unleashed energy waves from his hands, repelling approaching Zerg; Li Ming moved nimbly through the Zerg swarm like a ghost, his twin blades gleaming coldly as he relentlessly reaped Zerg lives; Li Hua conjured a shield to protect the group, while occasionally firing laser beams from it to damage the surrounding Zerg; Li Li let out a piercing scream, her sonic waves cutting through the Zerg's bodies like sharp blades, causing them to writhe and struggle in agony.

Yan Jun and Zhang Ying fought with all their might. Yan Jun's gun roared continuously, bullets whistling as they shot towards the Zerg; Zhang Ying, on the other hand, wielded a longsword, her sword flashing as she slashed down any Zerg that approached.

Hua Yuan and Zhang Yuan used the surrounding terrain to set up some simple traps to block the Zerg's attack.

The battle intensified, with hordes of Zerg surging in relentlessly, and the group gradually found themselves overwhelmed. Just then, Lin Zhi suddenly remembered the strange crystal and shouted, "Perhaps this crystal can help us!"

As he spoke, he held the crystal high, and the light emitted by the crystal seemed to have some effect on the Zerg, causing some of the nearby Zerg to become briefly confused.

Seizing the opportunity, the group fought back even more fiercely. Wang Jun saw his chance, leaped into the air, and hurled his battle axe with all his might towards the Zerg leader. The axe flew straight towards the leader with a whistling sound. The Zerg leader sensed the danger and tried to dodge, but it was too late. The axe embedded itself deeply in its body, and the leader let out a piercing scream before collapsing to the ground.

With their leader dead, the Zerg were thrown into chaos and began to scatter in all directions. The group, panting heavily, watched the Zerg gradually disperse and breathed a sigh of relief.

“This crystal is indeed strange,” Lin Zhi said, looking at the crystal in her hand.

"What do we do next?" Yan Jun asked.

After a moment's thought, Lin Zhi said, "If we continue to venture deeper into this area, we might find more clues about the Zerg mutation and this crystal."

After a short rest, the group continued their journey. Along the way, they carefully guarded against any potential dangers.

As they ventured deeper, they discovered that there seemed to be some kind of energy fluctuation in this swamp area, and this fluctuation was intricately connected to the crystals.

"Could this energy fluctuation be the cause of the python's mutation?" Zhang Ying wondered.

Lin Zhi nodded and said, "Very likely. Let's search further; we might be able to find the source of the energy fluctuations."

As they searched around, they suddenly heard the sound of flowing water. Following the sound, they discovered a small pool hidden behind a boulder. The pool emitted a faint glow, which was the source of the energy fluctuations.

"It seems this is the place," Lin Zhi said.

The crowd gathered around the pool, observing it closely. Suddenly, the light in the pool began to flicker violently, and a jet of water shot into the sky, revealing a blurry figure within it.

"What is that?" Li Hua asked in surprise.

As the light gradually faded, the figure became clearer, revealing itself to be an elderly insectoid man dressed in strange attire.

The old man slowly opened his eyes, looked at everyone, and said, "It is fate that you have come here. This crystal is a divine artifact left by our insectoid ancestors. It can trigger the evolution and mutation of the insectoid race. And hidden beneath this swamp is a huge energy source, which is the key to maintaining the balance of the insectoid race."

The crowd listened to the old man's story in astonishment.

The old man continued, "The Zerg are now in chaos. If you can help us restore balance, perhaps we can find a way to leave this world."

Linzhi asked, "What should we do?"

The old man said, "Place the crystal into the energy core in the center of the pool to activate the balancing mechanism."

Following the old man's instructions, the group carefully placed the crystal into the energy core. Instantly, the entire swamp area shone brightly, and the energy fluctuations gradually stabilized.

As the energy stabilized, the surrounding environment began to change. The once dangerous swamp gradually dried up, revealing a path leading to the outside world.

The air is thin on the plateau, and every step feels like it takes all your strength.

"This godforsaken place, I don't know how much longer we'll have to walk before we find that so-called clue to the mutation," Yan Jun said, panting heavily.

Lin Zhi wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes resolute: "No matter how difficult it is, we must find it. Maybe once we find it, we can unravel some mysteries of the Zerg world."

Zhang Ying nodded silently, without saying a word, and simply followed them closely.

Suddenly, a low hissing sound came from ahead, and the three of them instantly became alert. A huge swamp python slowly crawled out of the grass, its scales shimmering with an eerie light, its thick body as big as a small mountain.

"This is a swamp python? It looks like it won't be easy to deal with," Yan Jun said in a low voice, unconsciously tightening his grip on his weapon.

Lin Zhi took a deep breath: "Everyone be careful, observe its behavior patterns first."

Just then, the Zerg brothers Wang Jun and Wang Kai emerged from the nearby woods.

"Hey, you guys are here too. That python looks really scary," Wang Jun shouted.

Wang Kai said with a serious expression, "Stop talking nonsense, let's think about how to take it down first."

Not far away, the four Zerg siblings, Li?, Li Ming, Li Hua, and Li Li, also appeared.

"Brothers, let's attack together. It's too dangerous to fight such a huge python alone," Li said.

Everyone nodded in agreement; a great battle was about to break out.

The swamp python seemed to sense the threat posed by the group. It opened its massive jaws, let out a roar, and then pounced on them.

Lin Zhi shouted, "Scatter!" The crowd quickly scattered in all directions to avoid the python's attack.

Yan Jun seized the opportunity and shot an arrow straight into the python's eye. The arrowhead pierced deep into the python's eye socket, and the python, in pain, writhed wildly.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhang Ying rushed forward, brandishing his longsword and slashing at the python's body. The python's scales were incredibly hard, but Zhang Ying's sword still left several wounds on its body.

The brothers Wang Jun and Wang Kai were not to be outdone. They attacked from both sides, stabbing the python fiercely with their weapons.

Li Yi, Li Ming, Li Hua, and Li Li circled the python, looking for an opportunity to attack. Li Yi threw several throwing knives, which rained down on the python.

For a moment, the battlefield was filled with the flashing of swords and the shouting of killing.

After a fierce battle, the python gradually became exhausted. Its body was covered in wounds, and blood was flowing continuously.