Chapter 497: Reinforcements Arrive
Before they encountered Xu Sa, they ran into a mutated python—hundreds of meters long. The crystal core was located too deep within its body for Lu Weiyi to detect it via its energy signature, so he never realized they’d already stepped into its territory.
It was Li Ze who first raised the alarm. “Do you guys feel like something’s watching us?”
“I do!” Han Fei gripped a dagger in one hand, the long blade angled outward across his chest. His footsteps had unconsciously slowed to a crawl.
“Three hundred meters away. An S-class mutated creature,” Lu Weiyi said in a low voice, a sense of dread creeping into his heart.
“Young Master Lu, turn around. Now!” Ai Ping gave the crisp order. The other two obeyed immediately, and Lu Weiyi followed close behind.
Just as they turned around, Song Xiao—who had been barely keeping up—suddenly stepped on empty air and half his body sank into a pit covered by fallen leaves. Already at the edge of his limits due to injury and exhaustion, the sudden mishap pushed him over the edge, and he let out a panicked scream.
It was like the world froze for a moment. Everyone held their breath, scanning the area. When they didn’t detect anything immediately, a silent sigh of relief spread among them.
“Sh*t,” Han Fei cursed under his breath and moved forward to pull him out.
“Get back—!” Li Ze’s voice exploded in warning. Gunfire followed instantly, accompanied by flashes of light and the clang of bullets hitting metal.
At the same time, a foul-smelling gust of wind rushed toward them. Han Fei, who had grabbed Song Xiao’s arm, rolled to the side and sprang up with his gun. But when he looked back, only Song Xiao’s legs remained embedded in the ground—his upper body had vanished.
Silence returned to the forest. If not for the lingering stench of blood in the air, one might think it had all been a hallucination.
The four survivors stood back-to-back, using their abilities to probe the surroundings, trying to locate the creature that had attacked so suddenly.
“What… was that?” Han Fei finally asked in a low voice.
“No idea…”
“A… python,” Lu Weiyi ground out through clenched teeth, doing his best to avoid making any noise that might attract the predator’s attention. “It’s… above us.”
All three beside him paused and slowly tilted their heads upward. The first thing they saw was a pair of yellow eyes, each the size of a child’s ball, glowing like lanterns suspended in mid-air.
Before a creature of such immense size, things like ability level didn’t matter much anymore. Its sheer mass alone made them feel utterly insignificant.
Someone audibly swallowed. No one dared speak. Given its incredible speed, escape seemed impossible.
A deathly silence fell over them. Beads of sweat dripped from foreheads. It was like a silent standoff between two predators.
Just as Lu Weiyi was debating whether to hide the others in his space or leave them behind, a crackle of lightning rang out from not far away, immediately drawing the attention of the python above. It turned toward the sound as swiftly as it had come—vanishing like a gust of wind.
“It… left?” Han Fei’s voice trembled.
“Not far,” Lu Weiyi replied, immediately recognizing the lightning as Xu Sa’s ability. As he debated whether to provide backup, a fiery whip began lashing through the air from another direction.
“They’re trying to lure it away. Let’s go.”
The group sped toward the source of the flames. A few hundred meters ahead, Liu Rui popped out from behind a large rock.
“Hurry… quick…” he said before vanishing again.
When they caught up, they found a cave entrance behind the stone. The forest leaves rustled—clearly, the python was closing in fast.
Liu Rui’s voice called out urgently from below. The four of them jumped down. As the stone rolled into place and sealed the entrance, a huge impact slammed against it. The rock sank half a meter into the ground, wedging tightly and sealing the entrance shut.
Little Green Vine slipped through the soil and scanned the area outside. Lu Weiyi’s expression turned serious. “Move now. Mutated creatures can sense crystal core energy. A group like us is basically a walking crystal buffet.”
Above, the python was sniffing around where they vanished, already preparing to strike again.
Liu Rui said nothing and immediately led them deeper.
“You’re with Xu Sa?” Lu Weiyi asked.
“Yes…” Liu Rui was panting heavily after just a short distance—odd behavior for an S-class ability user.
Lu Weiyi bent down to carry him, but Han Fei—being the largest of the group—beat him to it. He didn’t slow his pace at all. Tossing his gun to Li Ze, he grabbed Liu Rui’s arm, spun him onto his back, and said, “Just point the way.”
“N-North…” Liu Rui gasped and pointed.
Lu Weiyi expanded his psychic energy through the underground space. The area was a natural cave system—filled with twisted tunnels, jagged rocks, and uneven paths. Some sections were wide enough for a dozen people to walk side by side, while others were barely half a meter across, forcing them to squeeze through sideways. The ground sloped unpredictably, sometimes up, sometimes down.
After hundreds of meters, they heard footsteps ahead. The group stopped immediately and raised their weapons.
“Sa… Brother Sa!” Liu Rui called out.
“It’s me! Did they make it?” Xu Sa’s voice echoed in the cave. Moments later, he stepped into view and looked them over, smiling. “I knew you’d be fine.”
“Just you? Where are the others?” Xu Sa led them into a slightly wider chamber. There, remnants of a fire still smoldered on the ground, and the air was filled with the scent of cooked meat.
“What are you eating? Got any left? Give me some,” Han Fei said as he set Liu Rui down.
Xu Sa immediately pulled out a pot of stewed meat from his space. As he lifted the lid, the aroma made everyone unconsciously swallow. “It’s safe here, eat something first.”
He briefly explained their situation. “Liu Rui was seriously injured. I accidentally stumbled into this place with him and found it relatively safe, so I decided to let him rest here for a few days before moving on.”
Lu Weiyi inspected the area and realized that it was at least over ten meters below the surface. No wonder he hadn’t noticed it even while flying overhead.
After a quick conversation, they finished the pot of meat down to the last bite.
Xu Sa was clearly frustrated about being tricked but couldn’t say much—Song Xiao was already dead.
“The base’s rescue team should be arriving soon. Let’s move quickly to meet up with them and search for the others,” Lu Weiyi said after a short rest.
“Sure, but the area around here is the territory of that mutated python…” Xu Sa looked bitter at the mention of it. “I don’t even know how it mutated like that. Its scales are completely impervious—my crystal-core gun couldn’t leave a scratch. I’ve had four encounters with it, and aside from seeing it eat, I haven’t figured out what other powers it might have.”
“I’m not sure if it even has special abilities. After that, it just started hiding underground and only comes up occasionally to hunt.”
“If I hadn’t heard gunfire from above by chance, I was planning to follow this tunnel out of its territory with Liu Rui,” Xu Sa said, then turned to Lu Weiyi with a burning look in his eyes. “I think that thing’s level is really high. How about we team up and take it down?”
High-level ability users were always in short supply of high-grade crystal cores. Their base even regularly tracked high-level mutant zombies nearby for targeted collection missions. Now that a chance had presented itself, they were reluctant to give it up—especially with reinforcements on the way.
“We ran into a mutated ape a few days ago too. I think its level wasn’t low either. Liu Rui was seriously injured at the time, and I had to rush off. Otherwise, I would’ve tried to take it,” Xu Sa said, stroking his chin with a regretful look.
“I already took care of it. But for now, let’s not engage that mutated python,” Lu Weiyi said. He was worried the impact from absorbing the last crystal core had pushed his powers too far and feared he might accidentally level up on the spot. “Let’s follow the tunnel and see if we can sneak past it.”
Xu Sa immediately sensed something was off. Normally, Lu Weiyi would push forward with the team—whether to train them or secure the crystal core, he’d never opt for avoidance.
Looking him over carefully and seeing no serious injuries, Xu Sa let it go.
After a brief rest, they moved on. The tunnel was pitch black but posed no real danger. Occasionally, regular rats—unchanged by mutation—scurried past and avoided humans instinctively. A few careless mutant animals that had fallen into the cave had to be dealt with, reminding them that this was no longer the pre-apocalyptic world.
The cave system kept going. Over an hour later, the group had crossed beneath a mountain ridge and felt they had finally exited the python’s territory. They picked a spot close to the surface and manually dug out an exit.
Their luck turned as soon as they emerged—an aircraft buzzed across the sky.
“Could it be them?” Han Fei excitedly grabbed a nearby tree and leapt up. “Someone come up! If I use my powers, they’ll think I’m attacking.”
Xu Sa, exhausted from caring for Liu Rui and barely having slept, waved him off. “Check first. If it’s really them, I’ll send a lightning signal.”
“No need,” Lu Weiyi replied, his psychic sense already confirming it. A passenger aircraft bearing the Half-Moon Bay insignia, along with military helicopters, were flying overhead in formation.
Through the gaps in the canopy, Xu Sa raised a lightning orb into the sky. With a crackle, it exploded dozens of meters above the forest—like a thunderstorm flashing through the early morning sky.
