Free Web NovelChapter 30: Chapter 30: Military Base
Long Ming slammed on the brakes, the bike skidding sideways to a stop. He whipped his head around and saw the Cyan Erosion Insect was stuck in the cave entrance.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he raised his M24 sniper rifle, locked onto the Cyan Erosion Insect’s head, and pulled the trigger!
BANG, BANG, BANG~
Long Ming fired three consecutive shots, all hitting the Cyan Erosion Insect square in the head. Viscous fluid and biological tissue splattered everywhere.
Screee~
After a mournful cry, the Cyan Erosion Insect collapsed, unwilling to die, its life completely extinguished.
After venting his anger, Long Ming raised his wristband and glanced at it.
But the wristband interface showed no notifications.
Long Ming was speechless. ’This game really gives you no rewards for killing monsters.’
As for the Cyan Erosion Insect’s corpse, it was obviously poisonous. Besides, Long Ming wasn’t an expert and had no idea how to harvest materials from it.
"Sigh~"
Long Ming let out a helpless sigh, put away his M24, and turned the motorcycle around to leave.
...
A short time later, on a desolate mountain road, Long Ming rode his motorcycle ever onward.
He didn’t know where he was going, nor did he have a map.
But Long Ming was certain of one thing: he had to avoid stopping at all costs.
Although he had escaped the city, the wilderness wasn’t much safer. He could see insect eggs from time to time.
’Can I even get out of this world safely?’ Long Ming wondered.
Just then, a sign in the distance caught Long Ming’s eye.
"Ant City, 215 km."
After seeing the sign, Long Ming glanced at his fuel gauge. He should have just enough to make it.
He followed the sign’s direction.
Over an hour later, as the fuel ran out, the motorcycle’s speed gradually decreased.
Long Ming dismounted with a sense of resignation. The good news was that he wasn’t far from Ant City—only about twenty or thirty kilometers away.
He continued walking along the road.
Time trickled by, and the sky began to darken.
Panting, Long Ming stopped and plopped down on the edge of the road. He then took out a compressed biscuit and a bottle of mineral water from his backpack. ƒreewebɳovel.com
A gentle breeze blew past.
He gnawed on the biscuit, gazing at the desolate scenery before him, feeling a wave of emotion.
’Even though those insects had me running for my life, it’s actually not too bad overall. I don’t have to worry about that other unstable factor—I can just explore slowly on my own. After all, sometimes other players are more trouble than the monsters.’
Just then, a tremendous insect screech echoed from the sky.
Startled, Long Ming whipped his head around to gaze at the distant sky.
A flying insect, over twenty meters long with six pairs of wings and covered in black markings, shot past in the distance at an incredible speed.
Long Ming couldn’t help but swallow. He decisively gave up on walking any further, planning to make do here for the night and wait until morning.
So, he got up and looked around for a safe place to rest.
Soon, Long Ming found a massive boulder and settled down behind it to rest. He then raised his wristband to check the map.
The map showed many extraction points, but the distance between each one was quite far.
’That makes sense, though. This world has a high level of civilization and plenty of vehicles.’
By now, the night had completely fallen, and a sky full of brilliant stars emerged.
Long Ming slowly lay down on the ground, gazing up at the starry sky. It was very quiet all around, with only the faint chirping of insects.
Slowly, Long Ming’s eyelids grew heavy.
But he didn’t dare fall into a deep sleep. This place was, after all, teeming with all sorts of mutated insects.
And so, Long Ming groggily made it through the night.
When the morning sun fell upon him, he woke up and climbed to his feet.
"Phew~"
Long Ming let out a deep sigh. ’This game is seriously a pain.’
But he didn’t complain much, simply walking onward in silence.
「Midday.」
Long Ming stood outside the guardrail of the mountain road, gazing into the distance.
In the distance, a massive city sat on the plains.
The entire city was filled with towering skyscrapers, clearly larger in scale than the one Long Ming had fled.
The corner of Long Ming’s mouth twitched. In any other world, he would have been eager to explore a city of this size, but right now, his heart was filled with dread.
But just then, Long Ming suddenly noticed what looked like a military base situated to the right of Ant City.
He immediately raised his M24 sniper rifle and used its scope to get a better look.
The entire military base was surrounded by high walls topped with barbed wire and an electric fence. There was only one large entrance.
Long Ming began to analyze the situation rationally.
’This military base is definitely not safe, but compared to the city, I’d still rather explore the base.’
’After all, the city is huge, filled with insect monsters, difficult to search, and offers low short-term rewards.’
’The military base, on the other hand, should have fewer monsters, more weapons, and an insane short-term payoff.’
Soon, Long Ming made his decision and started walking toward the military base.
「Over three hours later.」
Long Ming arrived at the entrance. Skeletons, gnawed beyond recognition, lay scattered about. From the tattered combat uniforms, he could tell they had all been soldiers who died in battle.
Just then, Long Ming spotted a semi-automatic rifle lying next to one soldier’s remains.
Long Ming’s eyelids twitched. He immediately walked over and picked up the rifle.
A notification immediately popped up on his wristband.
Baka Rifle (Semi-automatic)
Durability: 62/100
Magazine: 12/30 (5.56mm)
Long Ming glanced at the notification and then stuffed the Baka Rifle into his backpack.
The reason he didn’t equip the Baka Rifle was that it didn’t have a suppressor. Firing it would make a huge amount of noise.
That would attract every insect monster in the vicinity.
And based on his previous experience, as long as he didn’t make too much noise, the insects lying in wait wouldn’t all swarm him.
Therefore, Long Ming wouldn’t use the Baka Rifle unless it was a last resort.
Long Ming then looked at the other soldiers’ remains. They had all been equipped with Baka Rifles, but unfortunately, the weapons had been destroyed by the insects’ bites.
He then headed inside the military base.
He soon entered, and his view opened up. The interior of the military base was enormous.
At a glance, he could see the wreckage of several crashed helicopter gunships, as well as dust-covered armored vehicles and tanks.
In the center of the base stood a massive, circular structure made of steel. A few smaller buildings were scattered around it.
Long Ming cautiously approached the nearest watchtower, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings. Although the visibility was good here and it was unlikely an insect would suddenly appear, he couldn’t rule out the possibility.
As for the armored vehicles and tanks, Long Ming didn’t dare get close. Those things were the most likely places for insects to be hiding.
Soon, Long Ming reached the base of the watchtower and climbed the ladder to the top.
The top of the watchtower was a hexagonal, ring-shaped open structure with a searchlight inside.
Long Ming carefully pushed open the door and observed for a moment. Seeing no danger inside, he stepped in.
A cloud of dust immediately billowed into his face.
COUGH, COUGH~
Long Ming couldn’t help but cough lightly.
Inside the watchtower was a table with a wireless communication device, a water cup, and other items on it.
Two soldiers’ corpses lay on the floor. Judging by the style of his uniform, one of them seemed to be a non-commissioned officer.
Other than that, there were no signs of insects.
Long Ming first went to the two corpses and carefully searched them.
Both of them had a Baka Rifle in hand, and each carried a magazine on their person.
Long Ming scanned them with his wristband. The two Baka Rifles had durability ratings of 75 and 81, respectively.
He picked up both rifles and the magazines, stuffing them into his backpack. He immediately felt his encumbrance increase significantly.
Next, Long Ming carefully searched the NCO’s body and found an iron medal in his upper uniform pocket.
A notification immediately popped up on his wristband.
Iron Medal.
Grade: Blue
Description: A symbol of honor.
Seeing that it wasn’t very large or heavy, Long Ming casually tossed it into his backpack.
His gaze then fell on the helmet that had fallen off the NCO.
Long Ming picked up the helmet, blew the dust off it, and put it on.
It felt a bit uncomfortable, but he decided to make do with it.
