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.

Chen Gu and Qing Ruyan moved together, following the group into the Thorns Forest.

The various advanced sensors on their Mecha helmets malfunctioned. To the naked eye, the forest interior was a blur of red.

"Follow me," Old Mo said, leading the way. He navigated through the forest with many twists and turns until they reached a clearing.

There stood a giant metal wreckage.

It resembled a postmodern sculpture, riddled with holes. Its overall form was like a great beast with a huge coelacanth's head attached.

Upon closer inspection, the 'sculpture' was heavily rusted. It seemed unlikely to withstand the corrosive red mist for much longer.

Everyone looked on, full of confusion, when suddenly someone exclaimed, "This, this is the Elephant Fish Monster!"

But how could such a powerful steam-powered mechanical xenospecies, with strength ranging from the Fourth to Sixth Energy Level, mysteriously die here, riddled with holes?

Upon closer inspection, the holes on the Elephant Fish Monster's carcass were all quite smooth, not like bullet holes torn open by random gunfire.

Chen Gu's expression darkened, and Qing Ruyan asked quietly, "What are you thinking of?"

"Let's talk once we're out of here."

After a thorough check, everyone felt heavy-hearted.

The powerful Elephant Fish Monster was dead, but the cause of its death remained shrouded in mystery, which hardly seemed like good news. Leder was the most disappointed. The Elephant Fish Monster's body was empty, so he couldn't obtain any mechanical organs.

According to his earlier plans, the Elephant Fish Monster's organs could have been used to create several powerful cyborgs.

"Let's get out of here," Leder commanded, feeling helpless. During the retreat, Chen Gu and Qing Ruyan fell behind to cover their rear.

Chen Gu quickly told Qing Ruyan about the Ghost Woman Mutant he had encountered at the Zhaojieze City branch—a Mutant whose bodily fluids could corrode almost anything.

"Those holes... they look like they were corroded by splashes of bodily fluid."

Qing Ruyan was shocked. "There's a Mutant here?"

"I can't be sure; it's just a guess," Chen Gu replied. "But I can't think of any other reason that would turn this powerful mechanical creature into such a ghastly state!"

Qing Ruyan fell silent, seriously considering the probability of Chen Gu's hypothesis.

Once outside, both of them were troubled. The Yingudusi Devil's Pit was already full of dangers; if Mutants were added into the mix... the difficulty of their mission would skyrocket.

Chen Gu suggested to Qing Ruyan, "How about we find an excuse to pull out? With so few of us, if we encounter real danger, we'll be completely wiped out."

"When we get out, we can report the situation here to headquarters and request that higher Energy Level professionals be dispatched to investigate."

Qing Ruyan thought for a moment but shook her head. "No, right now it's only your conjecture. We need to gather solid evidence to convince headquarters to take action."

Chen Gu was inwardly anxious, but he couldn't sway Qing Ruyan's decision. To leave on his own would not only involve getting past Leder, but the journey back alone was also dangerous.

The group withdrew from the Thorns Forest. Suddenly, a WHOOSHING sound came from behind them, like a strong wind rustling through bushes.

Chen Gu's 'Mind Belief' suddenly flared with a warning. He spun around and shouted, "Watch out!"

The entire Thorns Forest trembled, firing thousands of sharp spikes!

In the sky, a volley of slender red projectiles shot towards them, a scene reminiscent of ancient times on their home planet when opposing armies would hurl javelins at each other.

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