The Necromancer is amassing troops like crazy in the apocalypse

They looked like white lanterns hanging aloft.

The members of Squad 8 frowned, their faces becoming more and more serious.

This didn’t seem like a mere ambush.

“Check it out!” Fisher commanded.

The thief sprinted forward, leaped into the air, and with a swift movement of his dagger, severed the white threads connecting the cocoon.

With a thump, the cocoon fell from mid-air.

The thief crouched down, cutting a slit in the cocoon with his dagger, then tore a hole at one end.

A purple-faced beastman corpse was revealed from within.

The faces of everyone present became increasingly grim.

Were all these cocoons filled with corpses?

In that case, the prospects of their rescue mission were looking grim.

Thump, thump, thump…!

Suddenly, the sound of frantic running approached from the front.

The ranger’s face changed, and he warned, “It’s a spider, a huge spider is nearing us.”

At the same time, a black spider, nearly the size of a brown bear, quickly came into everyone’s view.

It had six eyes and sharp feet, along with prickly hairs all over its body just like steel needles.

Just one?

Swish, swish, swish…!

Multiple eyes opened up on the back of the large spider.

An overwhelming number of small black spiders, each the size of a human head, were piled upon the back of the large spider, like a rolling mass of ink.

You could only see them if you look closely.

Damn it, they had trespassed into the spider’s territory.

Typically, such creatures would not leave their territory willingly, and anyone who intrudes will be attacked.

“Don’t provoke it.” Fisher quickly signalled everyone to stay still.

He then glanced at the ranger next to him and continued, “Bull, can you communicate with it? We’re just here to find someone. We’ll leave once we find him.”

The ranger raised his single hand, casting a faint light connecting him and the spider.

It wasn’t an attack, more like a state.

The spell was called “Animal Speech”, allowing the caster to communicate with beasts around them.

“We won’t hurt you, we are just here to find somebody. He was brought here two days ago. We will leave immediately once we find him.” The ranger spoke rapidly.

The language used towards beasts or demonic beasts needed to be as simple as possible due to their limited intelligence.

The six eyes of the huge spider stared down at the men.

The steel-like hairs on its body trembled, making a rustling sound, while the countless small spiders on its back began to stir restlessly.

“No, no, we’re not with them, we just need to take him away and we can compensate you. But if he dies here, then there will be nothing.” The ranger continued speaking, but the hand held behind his back made a dismissive gesture.

It meant that they could not reach an agreement.

“Retreat.” Fisher quietly ordered.

The squad members began to step back little by little.

But after only two steps, the giant spider’s eyes turned vicious, it opened its menacing maw, and let out a skyward roar.

Whoosh…!

The next second, the spiders hanging on its back dispersed like spreading ink, creating a dense and dark wave.

A multitude of spiders chased after the squad members.

Thump, thump, thump…!

The squad members sprinted away.

But the sounds behind them were getting closer and closer.

From a few meters away, a spider dropped down from the canopy and lunged at them.

“Counter-attack.”

Seeing that escape was hopeless, Fisher issued another order.

All of them turned around and swung their weapons towards the swarm of spiders.

Splat, splat, splat…!

The longsword cut through the spiders’ bodies, and their stinking fluids splattered everywhere.

However, more and more spiders from the rear pressed forward.

“Find an opportunity to kill the mother.”

“Understood!”

…

Elsewhere.

Within a forest overgrown with weeds.

Duke was walking in front, wielding his battle-axe to hack away at the thorns and branches obstructing their path.

Looking back, he questioned, “Captain, there’s no path here, why are we heading this way?”

“The path they took is not safe,” Wu Heng replied.

Squad 8 did not inform them about their movements, and Wu Heng had no intentions of following them either.

More people make it harder to move without attracting attention.

Moreover, before entering the forest, Wu Heng had Xiao Xiao secretly monitor their clues and findings.

It’s not so much about stealing the credit; instead, they fear the others’ secret intentions.

After all, Yazde, the one who invited him to the association, had baited him into a trap. He had narrowly escaped death. So he could trust these people even less.

Once he learned they had to enter the dense forest, he instructed Xiao Xiao to scope the area out in advance.

Looking down from the sky,

the entire tree canopy appeared shrouded in a spider web.

Moreover, deep within it, numerous spiders lurked.

Squad 8 walked straight into the spiders’ territory following the tracks.

Wu Heng, along with Duke, made a detour and took a different path.

“Captain, are we going the right way? Everything looks the same around here. We might get lost.”

The forest was eerily silent.

It was as if the whole space has been paused – not a single chirp or buzz to be heard.

Duke kept mumbling as he led the way.

Boom~!

An explosion and sounds of fighting broke out from behind while they were talking.

Wu Heng looked back, but dense foliage obstructed his view; he couldn’t see anything.

“Keep moving, a bit quicker.”

“Okay!”

Upon being reprimanded, Duke shut up and picked up his pace.

After walking for a while,

Wu Heng said again, “Head right, go straight through.”

“Okay!”

After crossing through several sections of the forest, they were met with tree after tree draped in thick spider webs, like layers of gauze hanging amid the forest.

A few chops of the axe shredded the spider webs.

They walked straight into the interior.

Deep within the web-covered area, a massive tree stood tall and proud, its branches suspending human-shaped cocoons, some of which twitched slightly.

Next to the huge tree was a wooden cabin, also encased in white spider silk.

Only a weather-beaten, moss-covered door was visible.

“Cap…Captain, what is this?” Duke asked.

Wu Heng replied directly, “Go and bring down those cocoons. Let’s see if any of the deceased are still alive.”

“Okay! Huh?” Duke was taken aback.

Deceased… but alive?

Did he want them dead or alive?

Duke didn’t think too hard about it and quickly went over to cut down the cocoons.

Wu Heng, accompanied by Basen and Bawudong, walked straight into the wooden cabin.

The inside of the cabin was also wrapped in spider silk. The wooden furniture was somewhat rotten, and there were even some insect secretions left behind.

A quick scan around didn’t reveal anything worth looting.

They left again.

This must’ve been a temporary hut for a hunter, long abandoned now.

The spiders had made it their home.

“Captain, someone’s alive!” Duke shouted from outside.

Wu Heng looked over and saw that Duke had already cut open the cocoons, revealing the heads of the people inside.

“How many are alive?”

“Three, but they don’t look too good. They might not last much longer.”

“See if you can wake them.”

Expressing some sympathy, Duke nevertheless took out a potion and poured it into one person’s mouth.

As the person slowly came around, he looked around frantically.

Seeing the massive amount of spider webs around him, his face turned as white as a sheet.

Wu Heng worried he might faint again and asked, “Are you from the mercenary group?”

The man nodded.

“Who is ‘Abudu’?”

“Me. Are you here to rescue me?”

Just like that? The first person he asked was the one they were looking for.

“Your wife put out a rescue call in the association. We’re here to help. As long as you’re him, that’s enough.”

“Thank… thank you…”

“Alright, now that we’ve confirmed it’s you, let’s get ou…!”

Before he could finish,

A rustling noise came from behind.

Then they saw a giant spider, followed by a horde of smaller spiders, rushing towards them along the path.