Long Ming soon got the flashlight and returned to the entrance.
However, he did not use the flashlight; instead, he clipped it onto his tactical belt.
The reason Long Ming did not use the flashlight was that the light was too conspicuous. Many insects were extremely sensitive to light, and some, like moths, had strong phototaxis.
Long Ming then walked in, stopping when he could barely see anything, and waited slowly for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Time passed second by second.
Long Ming's eyes gradually adapted to the darkness, and he could make out a few contours.
But this was hardly enough to explore; it was all too easy to be ambushed.
At this moment, Long Ming pulled a perception serum from his backpack, stabbed it into his shoulder, and injected it into his body.
As the serum entered his system, Long Ming immediately felt his hearing and smell become extremely sharp; even in the dim vision, he could barely make things out.
This sensation was wonderful indeed—the supplies in the supply pod were truly effective.
Long Ming no longer hesitated and proceeded to explore cautiously, moving lightly.
The main passage he entered was spacious, with walls on both sides made of reinforced concrete, though something seemed to adhere to their surfaces.
Long Ming moved slightly closer to observe and discovered that the originally smooth walls were covered in dense, honeycomb-like holes, each plugged with translucent insect eggs.
Seeing this made his scalp tingle; at that moment, it felt as though he were walking inside a hive.
Still, Long Ming gritted his teeth and pressed forward.
Crack~
Faint sounds rang out from time to time.
As he went deeper, more and more dried shed insect skins littered the ground, impossible to completely avoid.
Fortunately, the noise was not too loud and did not attract enemies.
Several minutes later, Long Ming passed through the passage and arrived at a semicircular transfer area, where more than a dozen soldier corpses lay.
These corpses had been gnawed beyond recognition; some had no bones left, only tattered combat uniforms.
Long Ming did not rush forward to search but observed carefully instead.
Numerous gray worms remained on the ground. These worms were not large—about fist-sized—and most were still dormant.
If he was careful and did not make too much noise, there should be no problem.
Immediately afterward, he raised his head to look above.
Metal beams ran across the ceiling, covered with cobwebs, and indistinct shapes could be seen wriggling. Most likely, insects were lurking up there.
After confirming there was no major danger, Long Ming carefully made his way toward the corpses.
Soon he reached the first corpse.
It was utterly ruined, but the Baka rifle in its hand had survived.
Long Ming scanned it with his wristband; durability was still at 82, so he reached out and picked it up.
This gun could currently sell for at least five thousand Shan coins; even if the price dropped by the time he left, three or four thousand was certain.
Then Long Ming walked toward the next body.
After a moment, Long Ming had six Baka rifles slung over him, and his backpack was stuffed with so many magazines it could not close. Several Baka rifles in decent condition still lay on the ground, unpicked.
Looking at those guns pained him, but he had no choice but to give them up.
Long Ming looked ahead. The transfer area had three passageways leading to different areas.
Since there were no signs, Long Ming headed for the center passage.
Soon he passed through the passage into a corridor. The corridor floor was covered with corpses that had died in particularly gruesome ways, and their hands held no weapons.
On both sides were room after room.
If he had not guessed wrong, disaster had struck the base late at night; many soldiers had been killed before they could react.
Long Ming carefully entered the first room.
It was an eight-man soldier's quarters, in complete disarray.
Corpses lay on the floor and beds.
Long Ming took a quick glance, then noticed a row hanging on the wall: gray combat uniforms, bulletproof vests, and tactical backpacks.
His eyes lit up at once, and he scanned them with his wristband.
Gray combat uniform.
Durability: 95/100
Infantry bulletproof vest.
Durability: 100/100
Infantry tactical backpack (physical backpack)
Usage: worn on back
Dimensions: 50*28*22cm
Capacity: 30l
Note: All items are dropped upon death or failed evacuation.
Although the space was only slightly larger than his initial backpack, this was a standard tactical backpack, with weapons that could be hung on the sides and a better texture.
Long Ming stepped forward and took down a tactical backpack, then dumped everything out of his own backpack. He threw away the extra Koge automatic pistols, telescopic batons, and such, and stuffed the rest into the tactical backpack.
Immediately after, he took a gray combat uniform from the wall and put it on, then replaced his ordinary bulletproof vest with an infantry bulletproof vest.
After finishing all this, Long Ming continued to search the next room.
Not long afterward, he had searched most of the rooms; the contents were basically the same, but due to the backpack capacity and encumbrance, he could only give them up.
Long Ming continued forward to the end, where he saw a staircase leading down.
He carefully went down the stairs and arrived at the corridor on sub-level one. A stench of decay rushed toward him.
Long Ming suppressed his discomfort and looked. The corridor floor was covered in a thick layer of slime, beneath which lay corpses, broken rifles, and deformed shell casings.
Rooms with thick metal doors stood on both sides of the corridor.
Long Ming held his breath as he moved forward, the corner of his eye sweeping over the rooms he had passed. Their metal doors had all been dented by impacts, with clear claw marks and bite marks still visible.
When he reached the middle of the corridor, he saw an officer's corpse lying on the ground.
The corpse was severed at the waist into two sections, and clear teeth marks could be seen on the spine; its hand still gripped a shotgun.
Carson shotgun.
Durability: 90/100
Magazine capacity: 3/7 rounds
Long Ming glanced at the information that popped up on his wristband, bent down, picked up the Carson shotgun, hung it on the right side of his tactical backpack, and then continued forward.
Not long afterward, Long Ming reached the doorway of a room whose metal door had been destroyed.
He leaned against the wall and carefully poked his head inside. Facing him was a toppled cabinet, with numerous documents scattered across the floor.
At the innermost part of the room lay a corpse.
Looking at the layout inside, Long Ming's eyes flickered. If he was not mistaken, this should be an archive room.
He carefully went in and came before the corpse, looking down.
From what remained of the corpse, this appeared to be that of a young woman.
At this moment, Long Ming suddenly noticed that in the corpse's hand was a very beautiful tactical dagger, with a skull emblem on the handle.
Long Ming immediately squatted down and picked up the tactical dagger. The entire dagger had a glossy surface and looked very good.
Kagba tactical dagger.
Durability: 91/100
Total length: 26cm, blade length: 14.5cm
His wristband immediately popped up a prompt message.
Long Ming glanced at the prompt, and a smile appeared on his face. Indeed, a good weapon.
Just as he was admiring the dagger in his hand, a black centipede-like insect silently crawled out from the corpse's clothing.
Just as it was preparing to launch a sneak attack,
Long Ming directly raised the tactical dagger in his hand and precisely pinned the black insect to the corpse with one slash.
Viscous liquid splashed everywhere.
The insect struggled a few times, then lost all vitality.
Looking at the dead insect, Long Ming wore an expression of surprise. He had not expected this perception serum to be so effective that he could even hear the insect crawling.
It seemed that if he had the chance, he should get more perception serums. It was simply a divine tool for clearing instances.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 32