207: Chapter 207 We...entered its lair

That crisp "click" sounded like a sudden clap of thunder in the deathly silent cavern!

Like a key, it instantly unlocked the gates of hell!

In that instant, the "rustling" throughout the cavern came to a screeching halt.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

This absolute, suffocating silence lasted for less than half a second.

And then!

BOOM—!!!

It was as if the entire mountain was roaring! The black tide composed of tens of thousands of spiders,

like a dam bursting, erupted from the ground, the walls, and the ceiling—from all directions—toward their position!

The previously scalp-tingling "rustling" had now converged into a dull roar, like a heavy armored division grinding across the earth!

The dense scraping of countless chelicerae against rock mixed with the high-frequency "hissing" shrieks they emitted in excitement or rage,

forming a symphony of death capable of shattering the psyche of any living being!

"Holy shit! My bad!!"

Fatty let out a roar mixed with extreme terror and regret!

Almost the instant the sound rang out, he realized what a fatal mistake he had made!

Without thinking, he raised his rifle and frantically pulled the trigger at the nearest black wave!

"Come on! You pieces of junk! Come at Lord Pang!!"

But his firepower was as insignificant as spitting into a tsunami in the face of this infinite sea of spiders.

Bullets hit the front row of spiders, bursting into clouds of green ichor,

but their corpses were instantly submerged and trampled by those behind them. The speed of the tide did not slow down in the slightest!

"Back to back! Circular defense!!"

At this critical juncture,

Song Yiqing's thunderous shout rang in everyone's ears!

There wasn't a trace of panic in his voice, only absolute, cold, and unquestionable command!

Before his voice had even faded, he slammed one hand onto the ground!

"Sky Incineration—Fire Wall!"

Boom!

A violent, crimson-gold flame erupted outward with him as the center!

The flames did not take the form of a dragon, but instead instantly formed a circular wall of fire about five meters in diameter and three meters high,

wrapping everyone tightly inside!

The crimson-gold flames burned and leaped wildly, completely dispelling the surrounding darkness,

and illuminating the faces distorted by fear!

The front row of the spider wave slammed into the fire wall without any fear of death!

Sizzle—!!!

The grating sound of searing flesh rang out in dense succession!

Countless spiders were ignited by the terrifying high temperature the moment they touched the fire.

They emitted shrill shrieks, rolling and struggling in the flames, quickly turning into charred, black lumps of carbon that reeked of burnt protein!

The pungent stench, a mixture of charred carapaces and evaporated venom, instantly filled the space, making everyone gag!

The fire wall temporarily halted the advance of the spider tide!

"Steady! Don't panic!"

Lin Tianyi was the first to react.

Leaning close to Fatty, he used his rifle to fire precise semi-automatic shots, picking off the stray spiders trying to leap through gaps in the flames.

Wang Xianzhi's face no longer held any of its usual laziness or disdain; it was replaced by an extreme focus and coldness.

The longsword in her hand had turned into a silver curtain of light. Any spider lucky enough to leap over the fire wall

would be split in two mid-air by her incredibly precise sword light. Their green blood didn't even have time to splatter before being evaporated by the heat!

Zhang Qilin silently stood beside the most panicked person, Fatty. His injured hand hung naturally at his side,

while his other hand gripped the black gold ancient blade. Every strike was concise and efficient to the extreme.

With a flash of blade light, a spider was inevitably decapitated. Without a single wasted movement, it was as if he wasn't fighting,

but executing a high-precision program. Using his own body, he plugged the most dangerous gap in the defensive circle.

However, everyone knew this was only temporary!

Song Yiqing's face, illuminated by the crimson-gold firelight, was as pale as gold-leaf paper.

Maintaining such a large-scale fire wall was a massive drain on him!

The sweat on his forehead evaporated as soon as it trickled down. He felt as if he were trapped inside a giant steamer.

And the spiders outside were endless! They seemed to have no fear or sense of pain, simply following their primal predatory instincts to frantically assault the fire wall! The light of the fire wall was dimming bit by bit at a visible rate!

[Inside the Livestream Room]

The entire livestream room had gone completely wild!

The bullet comments refreshed like a waterfall, so fast that the content was unreadable, showing only blocks of color formed by "Go for it," "Holy shit," and "Hang in there!"

[Hang in there, ahhhh!!!]

[God Song! Hold on! Don't fall!]

[I damn well can't breathe! I've never seen anything this intense in my life! Please! You have to survive!]

[Too terrifying! This number is fucking ridiculous! Are these even living creatures?!]

[That fat guy! I really want to rush in and slap him! But... he wants to use his life to hold the line, I'm... feeling so conflicted!]

[God Song! Quickly think of something! The fire won't last much longer!]

...

Dawn Squad.

"Crazy... it's all crazy..."

Liu Tao's lips trembled as he watched the purgatory-like scene of fire and spiders on the screen.

"This number... has exceeded biological norms! This is a 'living ecosystem' attacking them!"

Wei Fengzhao's expression was grave to the extreme, his eyes locked onto Song Yiqing's face.

"He's looking... he's looking for a way to break the deadlock!"

Wei Fengzhao said in a deep voice,

"He's holding up the fire wall not just for defense, but to buy himself precious fractions of a second to think!

He must find the only way out before the fire wall collapses!"

"But... where is the way out? There are spiders everywhere! This is a dead end!"

A team member said in despair.

"No..."

Wei Fengzhao shook his head, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

"In the Forbidden Zone, there is never a true dead end. The more hopeless the situation seems, the more likely a chance of survival is hidden in the most incredible place!

I hope... I hope he can find it!"

...

Back to the livestream.

Inside the circular barrier of fire, Song Yiqing's eyes were no longer looking at the surrounding spiders.

The trigram runes in his eyes spun frantically, his gaze piercing through the firelight,

piercing through the darkness like high-precision radar, rapidly scanning the structure of the entire cavern!

The terrain, the material of the rock walls, the flow of air, even the direction and density of the spider tide...

Everything converged in his mind into a massive, three-dimensional map!

He saw it!

At their nine o'clock position, about fifty meters away, there was a massive rock fissure that looked like it had been split by a giant axe!

The fissure was extremely narrow, barely a meter at its widest, extending upward into the dark ceiling.

That was the hardest part of the cavern's rock mass, and more importantly, the spider density there was relatively the lowest!

It was as if the terrain there was naturally unsuitable for them to climb or gather!

It wasn't an exit!

But it was the only defensible fortress that could greatly limit the spiders' numerical advantage!

"I found the way out!"

Song Yiqing suddenly roared, his voice hoarse yet full of power!

"Everyone, listen to my orders!"

"Nine o'clock! Fifty meters away! That rock crack! We have to charge through!"

He abruptly contracted the range of the fire wall, concentrating all the fire power to the left!

"Fatty! Use grenades to clear the path! Don't fucking save them!"

"Qilin! Xianzhi! You two, one on the left and one on the right, protect the flanks! Carve a bloody path for me!"

"Lin Tianyi! You take the rear! Use your strongest firepower to hold back the pursuers from behind!"

"Charge!!!"

With the command, the originally stationary circular defense formation instantly transformed into a sharp, unstoppable spearhead!

"You got it!!"

Fatty roared, throwing two grenades in succession!

Boom! Boom!

The violent explosions blasted two huge gaps in the crowded spider tide ahead!

Countless spider limbs and fragments mixed with green ichor flew into the air!

"Kill!!"

Song Yiqing led the charge, turning the concentrated fire power into a conical jet of flame that, like the ram of a warship, forcibly widened the gap!

Wang Xianzhi and Zhang Qilin followed closely behind, protecting his sides.

The blade of Wang Xianzhi's longsword was no longer visible, replaced by a continuous, cascading silver curtain of sword light!

Any spider attempting a side attack was instantly sliced into several pieces!

Zhang Qilin was even more direct. Every swing of the black gold ancient blade in his hand

carried an aura as heavy as a mountain. Wherever the blade passed, those hard carapaces were easily split open like paper!

His other hand, with those two shriveled fingers, would occasionally strike out like lightning in extreme situations.

Spiders that were struck would instantly stiffen and then fall powerlessly.

He was actually utilizing that residual, eerie power!

Lin Tianyi was at the very rear of the team. While retreating, he calmly used three-round bursts to precisely kill those

spiders trying to flank them from behind. Every movement was calm and efficient, providing the most stable rear security for the entire team's charge!

The fifty-meter distance felt like a fifty-kilometer chasm at this moment!

Beneath their feet was a slimy "carpet" composed of spider corpses and green ichor.

In their ears were deafening explosions and the shrieks of spiders.

In the air was a nauseating bloody smell mixed with gunpowder and burnt stench.

Everyone was giving their all, completely entrusting their lives to the teammates beside them!

Finally!

The pitch-black rock crack was right before their eyes!

"Fatty! Wang Shan! Get in first!" Song Yiqing roared.

"Lin Tianyi! Leapfrog cover! Retreat inside!"

"Xianzhi! Qilin! Hold the entrance!"

Song Yiqing violently turned the last bit of fire power in his hand into a massive fireball,

slamming it into the spider tide chasing from behind. The violent explosion bought them the final precious two seconds!

With seamless tactical coordination, everyone retreated into the rock crack in sequence!

Zhang Qilin was the last to enter. The moment he turned around, he delivered a backhand slash, splitting a spider that had lunged at the entrance in two, before flashing inside.

Boom!

Countless spiders, like a black waterfall, slammed hard into the narrow entrance of the rock crack,

but due to the terrain's limitations, they could no longer form an effective attack formation, only able to crowd, shriek, and struggle frantically outside.

Inside the crack, the survivors leaned against the cold rock walls, panting heavily.

Before the relief of escaping death could even surface, a deeper sense of despair enveloped them.

They were safe for now, but they were also trapped.

This rock crack was an upward-sloping tunnel, deep and dark, leading to who-knew-where.

And outside was an infinite sea of spiders.

They were caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Now... what do we do?"

Fatty asked with a trembling voice. Looking at the dense mass of red eyes outside, he felt his SAN value plummeting.

Song Yiqing didn't answer. He was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, adjusting his nearly exhausted Qi.

Just then...

Thump...

Thump...

A heavy, oppressive dragging sound, as if some massive creature was moving, slowly drifted down from the deeper darkness above the rock crack.

That sound did not belong to the spiders outside.

It was heavier, more viscous. Every time it sounded, it felt like an invisible giant hammer was slamming hard against everyone's hearts!

Outside was an ocean of spiders.

But in the darkness overhead, another unknown and even more terrifying existence was slowly... descending.

Song Yiqing snapped his eyes open. He looked up at the bottomless darkness, a flash of shock and realization crossing his eyes.

"We... have entered its lair."

...