Full-Time Public Enemy

Chapter 131: The Crimson Forest

Suddenly, her two long ears, spinning at a steady pace, made a BIU sound and simultaneously pointed in a certain direction. Without any hesitation, she aimed her gun that way and exclaimed, "There’s something!"In that direction grew native plants from Empire River Star, a messy patch of red thorns. However, on their home planet, the thorns were quite low, whereas here they were as tall as towering trees.

Each branch was incredibly thick, struggling to stretch outwards, and every spike seemed like a javelin, giving the impression they could launch from the plant body like crossbow bolts.

Moreover, these giant thorn trees could emit a faint red, poisonous gas, making the entire Thorns Forest look hazy and illusorily serene.

HISS HISS HISS...

A sinister sound emerged from the forest, as if something was about to burst out. It was followed by the RUSTLING of a large patch of thorn bushes collapsing and branches shaking!

The mercenary captain quickly made tactical hand signals. Eight heavy armored vehicles dispersed in an arc, their mounted weapons all aimed at the Thorns Forest.

The mercenaries dismounted, using the vehicles for cover, and targeted every exit of the forest.

After a long wait, there was still no movement. Everyone was confused but dared not lower their guard. Hu Ling thought for a moment and called out, "Old Mo, you’re up!"

Old Mo handed his firearm to a gloved mercenary beside him and cautiously advanced to within a few dozen meters of the Thorns Forest. Then, his body began to twist bizarrely. A pile of sand appeared over his heart, quickly turning into a whirlpool of quicksand that howled as it transformed his entire body.

He opened his mouth, his voice rasping like sand grains in the wind, "I’ll take a look inside."

Then, with a SWISH, the quicksand spilled onto the ground, flowing rapidly towards the forest like water.

Qing Ruyan maintained the composed air of a master, remaining at the rear. She gently nudged Chen Gu’s chest with her elbow—almost in the same spot he had touched hers—and whispered, "Did your ’Mind Belief’ detect anything?"

Chen Gu shook his head imperceptibly. "There’s something watching us from all around, but it’s rather elusive. It was inside the Thorns Forest just now, but it has disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Qing Ruyan was puzzled.

"I can’t explain it either. They just vanished abruptly from my perception."

Qing Ruyan also adopted a rare, grave expression, as if something had occurred to her, but she remained silent.

The SWISHING sound of flowing sand came continuously from the Thorns Forest. Hu Ling and the others remained on high alert, ready to rush in and rescue Old Mo if he encountered any trouble.

About seven or eight minutes later, some quicksand seeped out from the forest. Soon after, a large stream of sand followed, gathering outside the forest into a humanoid form before slowly reverting to Old Mo’s human appearance.

Hu Ling asked eagerly, "Did you find anything?"

"No living creatures," he responded. "But there’s something you should come see."

He also reminded them, "That red mist is poisonous. Turn on your oxygen devices."

The mercenaries were all wearing sophisticated Mechas, each equipped with a miniature personal Life Support System. Leder had prepared an identical set of Mechas for everyone, and they all suited up.

These were standard-issue Mechas of the Confederation military, far inferior to the puppet Melincha’s. Its advantage was... it was cheap.

Although Old Mo’s reconnaissance found no danger, Leder still cautiously left half of the team outside. when opposing armies would hurl javelins at each other.