Chapter 61: Section 62: I will protect you until the end of life


    All the food was distributed.


    Only a small portion of water was left.


    The food was basically all consumed.


    The exploration team members sat at the cave entrance, silently eating.


    Some of them had solemn expressions, while others gazed at the swarm of scorpions, their eyes radiating intense killing intent. Everyone knew that what followed would be their last stand.


    It seemed that the scorpions too sensed the unusually intense killing intent of the exploration team members and became restless, emitting strange and harsh screeches.


    ...


    As usual, Zhenjin consumed the most food. He chewed each portion of food carefully before swallowing it down his esophagus into his stomach.


    This simple process brought Zhenjin an indescribable sense of fullness and happiness.


    His stomach, already ravenous, was like a bottomless pit, devouring everything that entered it.


    Soon, Zhenjin felt his physical ability had greatly recovered.


    However, his stomach still churned violently, signaling to its master—I want, I still want more food!


    But there was none left.


    Zhenjin stood up, took a few jumps, and positioned himself in front of the scorpion swarm.


    The Silver Spear Scorpion sensed Zhenjin’s combativeness and immediately charged out from the crowd.


    But this time, Zhenjin didn’t tangle with it. Instead, he leaped violently, jumping directly into the midst of the scorpion swarm.


    Descending from the air, he landed on the back of a regular gun scorpion and plunged his sword through its head.


    This unlucky gun scorpion emitted a piercing screech, its body wildly twisting as if it were a fiercely stubborn wild horse. Soon after, its yellow-brown blood spread across the ground, and it quickly lay motionless.


    The gun scorpions paused momentarily, as if stunned by Zhenjin’s abrupt assassination.


    Then, the next moment, as if a hornet’s nest had been disturbed, the entire scorpion swarm erupted into terrifying screeches and frantically lunged at Zhenjin. The Silver Spear Scorpion was particularly ferocious among them.


    Zhenjin laughed heartily. Before the swarm could envelop him, he leaped out and quickly fled.


    The scorpion swarm pursued him relentlessly, their rage allowing them to achieve astonishing speeds. If it had been in the desert or grassland—simple terrain—Zhenjin would have been quickly overtaken. However, on this volcano, Zhenjin could jump to higher elevations. The scorpions, due to their low-profile body structures, could only climb diagonally upward, providing Zhenjin with several opportunities. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Seeing that they couldn’t catch up to Zhenjin immediately, some of the gun scorpions shifted their target and attacked the exploration team members at the cave entrance.


    The previous tacit understanding was broken by Zhenjin, and the scorpion attack carried a strong sense of revenge.


    “Into the cave!” The exploration team, well-prepared, quickly turned and crawled into the cave behind them.


    The gun scorpions pursued relentlessly but soon got stuck at the cave’s narrow entrance.


    The small hole had been specially corroded with potions—humans could crawl through, but the scorpions were too large.


    Seizing this opportunity, the team members inside the small hole waved their arms energetically, swords and knives thrusting wildly, stabbing fiercely into the bodies of the scorpions.


    The scorpion’s shells were tough and resisted the stabs.


    Their huge pincers also swung relentlessly, constantly striking the cave walls, creating loud banging sounds.


    Cracks appeared on the walls of the small entrance and grew progressively more numerous.


    “Retreat!” Sensing that the small hole could no longer hold, the exploration team members immediately retreated further into the cave.


    About ten breaths later, the first small entrance collapsed with a crash, and the gun scorpions issued high-pitched screeches as they charged in.


    But they immediately discovered that there were five or six small holes, and each emitted the scent of humans.


    Lacking in intelligence, the gun scorpions didn’t hesitate; they randomly chose one and continued to smash with their giant pincers.


    Then, swords and knives thrust out from the surrounding small holes.


    The scorpion’s back armor was the toughest, while their bellies were relatively soft.


    This time, the swords and knives continuously stabbed at the scorpion’s belly.


    This gun scorpion quickly couldn’t withstand the assault; its shell was pierced, and yellow-brown blood flowed from its wounds. It tried to retreat, but turning around in the tunnel was extremely difficult. Moreover, its companions blocked its path of escape.


    Soon, it lay dead under the blades.


    Seeing the death of their companion, the gun scorpions behind became even more frantic, swinging their giant pincers to clear the body of the dead scorpion and charge forward.


    The exploration team members applied the same method and killed a second one.


    Had it been a direct confrontation, the exploration team would have suffered heavy casualties by now, but employing the correct tactics, they hadn’t lost anyone.


    “Keep at it!”


    “We can kill them!”


    The morale of the exploration team soared.


    A third gun scorpion came in, quickly falling into the same predicament as its predecessors.


    It was soon wounded and emitted a painful screech. Then, it violently swung its scorpion tail, easily piercing the tunnel wall.


    One of the exploration team members, caught off guard, had his chest pierced, bright red blood spraying out, and he died instantly.


    The thick scent of blood further fueled the madness on both sides.


    Initially, the struggle and resistance of the first two gun scorpions had caused a collapse of the tunnel wall, enlarging the space. Thus, the third gun scorpion had room to maneuver its tail.


    The scorpion tail was the gun scorpion’s strongest weapon, and since the exploration team’s swords and daggers were limited in length, to strike at the scorpions, they had to be right next to the small entrance.


    Every swing of the scorpion tail could potentially end the life of an exploration team member.


    “Die!”


    “Kill, kill!!”


    “Die, die!”


    The exploration team members were bloodthirsty, not one fled the scene.


    In this terrain, even if they had wanted to escape, there was nowhere to go.


    In open areas, lacking the physical capabilities of Zhenjin, they would have been easily overtaken by the gun scorpions even in the mountains.


    Unable to run, there was only the option to fight head-on, to kill the scorpion swarm to secure any possibility of survival.


    Moreover, every member of the exploration team knew there was no food left, and only by killing these gun scorpions could they find a source of sustenance.


    Desperation!


    No way back.


    They could only move forward, carving a bloody path!


    It was a consensus held by all.


    The battle, however, was gradually tipping in favor of the scorpions.


    As time passed, the initially explosive exploration team members quickly became exhausted, their attacks frail, making it increasingly difficult to fend off the relentless assaults of the gun scorpions.


    Even the common gun scorpions were far stronger than humans. Though the walls of the cave, corroded over time, were firm, they couldn’t withstand the continuous pounding of the massive pincers for long.


    Zi Di, in an effort to create a favorable terrain, exhausted all the potions she had on hand.


    The favorable terrain was limited, but the number of scorpions seemed overwhelming.


    The exploration team kept retreating; the smaller cave formations continuously destroyed, until they finally reached their limit, leaving no path for retreat.


    One member after another perished.


    The casualties of the exploration team surged, horrific in death and injury.


    Zi Di’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints!


    A scorpion tail, like the spear tip of a charging knight, penetrated the thinning cave wall, swiftly appearing before the girl.


    In the split second between life and death, a flash of swordlight.


    The scorpion tail was severed, brushing past Zi Di’s ear, and struck diagonally onto the wall behind her, very close to the cave floor.


    Bai Ya lay there unconscious; the scorpion’s long spear was a mere two or three fingers away from his head.


    “Lord, you’re back,” Zi Di, having narrowly escaped death, exclaimed as she grabbed Zhenjin’s hand.


    The girl’s face hadn’t even had the chance to show joy before worry took over.


    “Ah, Lord, you are injured!” Zi Di cried out.


    Zhenjin’s body bore fresh, red bloodstains, and since the blood of the gun scorpions was darker in color, the origin of his wounds was clear.


    Zhenjin patted the girl’s hand: “Don’t worry, it’s just a minor scratch.”


    He surveyed the surroundings; the casualties of the exploration team were a sore sight. Only Zi Di, Cang Xu, and the unconscious Bai Ya remained. If he had arrived even a moment later, he might have only been able to collect the corpses.


    Zhenjin had exhausted all his strength.


    To shake off the Silver Spear Scorpion, he even resorted to sustaining light injuries.


    But by the time he fought his way back to the cave, the loss of the exploration team still weighed heavily on him, filling him with sorrow and despair.


    “Quick, let’s seize the moment and leave this place,” Zhenjin said as he lifted Bai Ya onto his back, with Zi Di and Cang Xu closely following.


    However, upon reaching the mouth of the cave, they saw the Silver Spear Scorpion leading a circle of scorpions, forming a tight siege around the cave.


    Zi Di and Cang Xu were pale-faced.


    Zhenjin looked grim.


    “Retreat,” the young knight gritted his teeth, his mouth tasting bitter.


    The exploration team had paid a ghastly price, but their final struggle proved unsuccessful.


    In comparison to the Flying Squirrel group, the scorpions were far too powerful.


    The Silver Spear Scorpion pounced forward, and Zhenjin took advantage of the limited terrain to confront it.


    The leader of the gun scorpions, larger than the common ones, found it difficult to maneuver in the cave, struggling even to swing its pincers.


    Zhenjin managed to land a hit, and the Silver Spear Scorpion withdrew from the cave, emitting a fierce screech.


    Under its command, not a single gun scorpion attempted to enter the cave again; they merely encircled the entrance.


    Night fell quickly.


    The scorpions lay motionless at the entrance, as if hibernating, yet occasionally they made rustling noises.


    Inside the cave, Zhenjin’s wound was properly bandaged.


    Zi Di, looking at a pile of gun scorpion corpses, appeared distressed.


    “These can’t be eaten.”


    “Their meat and blood contain very minute metal particles.”


    Humans aren’t gun scorpions; they can’t digest metal particles. Eating them would lead to consecutive failure of the kidneys and digestive system.


    Thus, the only food left was two bags of water.


    Zi Di turned her small leather bag inside out; what was once a full bag of potions had long since been depleted. Without raw materials, even with all these scorpion corpses, she couldn’t concoct any new potions.


    Moments later, the girl’s shoulders began to shake as she cried softly.


    “There’s no way, I can’t think of any solutions.”


    For so long, this strong young girl had finally broken down.


    Zhenjin gently held her in his arms.


    “I’ve let you down; I can’t make any potions to help you, Lord,” Zi Di sobbed.


    Zhenjin shook his head and sighed: “It’s okay, you’ve already done very well.”


    “I’m alive and here because of you.”


    “We can’t use low-level magic here; it’s always been too hard on you.”


    “No, it’s me who has burdened you, Lord Zhenjin. If it hadn’t been for my suggestion, we wouldn’t have sneaked aboard this ship. We wouldn’t have ended up on this island facing lizards and gun scorpions. You could have easily left me behind to survive on your own.”


    Realizing something mid-sentence, Zi Di suddenly looked up at Zhenjin with eyes as purple as amethyst.


    She implored: “Lord, please leave. Don’t worry about me anymore! You can escape from here.”


    Zhenjin smiled softly, with a hint of pampering, as he brushed a strand of hair from her eyes: “You are my fiancée, and I am your knight. Protecting you is my duty. I will guard you until the end of my life.”