Please support the translation by reading the translation and commenting on otakutl official site.
Thank you.
Everyone from Otaku Translation
Chapter 8: Unlocking Spine Crawler
The rocky bridge was unusually slippery, covered in traces of Rockbug excrement. Tang Fang cautiously controlled his steps, slowly making his way forward.
After a short while, a woman poked her head out from the cave entrance, took a quick look at the environment below, and furrowed her brows. Seeing Tang Fang stepping onto the bridge, she hesitated and was about to follow suit when a voice from behind interrupted her.
"Wait, let him cross first before you go."
Surprised, the woman glanced at the man behind her. "I thought you didn't care about anything."
"I like his personality," Arroz said as he watched Tang Fang on the rocky bridge.
"What are you two talking about?" Just then, three other men caught up from behind, peeking outside. Their expressions became grim upon seeing the situation.
The woman and Arroz fell silent again, while the three men, realizing they were being ignored, exchanged awkward smiles.
The man with a scar on his mouth looked at Tang Fang on the bridge, then nervously edged forward, taking small steps onto the rocky bridge. Arroz frowned but didn’t stop him.
Tang Fang moved ahead for a while longer and then looked up, sighing in relief. The rocky bridge may not be wide, but it was sturdy enough. As long as he maintained his balance, crossing it in one go wasn't too difficult.
"Hey, boss, guess who I just saw?" he suddenly heard a voice, filled with excitement, shouting from the opposite side.
Then, a blinding light flashed, followed by Grosso's deep, raspy voice. "Isn’t this Mr. Commander?"
"There’s a saying in your culture, 'Fate brings people together.' I have a gift for you, Mr. Commander, and I hope you’ll accept it with a smile! Hahahaha..." Amid his laughter, a high-explosive grenade rolled onto the bridge.
"Lawrence, blow up the other side, or the next time we meet, I’ll slit your throat."
As soon as Grosso’s voice fell, the man who had just stepped onto the bridge flinched. With a flash of malice in his eyes, he reached for his waist, pulled out a grenade, and rolled it onto the bridge.
Boom! Boom!
Blinding flashes illuminated the front and back. The powerful explosions shattered the bridge into three parts. Tang Fang lost his balance as the ground tilted beneath him, and he plummeted downward.
"Hahahaha." Amid the flickering lights, Tang Fang heard Grosso and the others laughing. He also saw the woman slitting Lawrence’s throat, causing blood to spurt.
Thud, thud, thud.
Rocks tumbled into the water below. Tang Fang quickly aimed the flashlight on his gun at a platform littered with bug eggs nearby.
As he pinpointed his escape route and prepared to swim toward the platform once he hit the water, suddenly, the surface of the pool rippled, and a massive black shadow leapt out, baring its teeth at him.
Wind whistled past his ears, and a foul stench hit his face. Tang Fang was shocked. He hastily redirected his gun, and in the beam of light, he saw a creature resembling a snake but with a shark-like head lunging at him with its jaws wide open.
Clearly, the creature saw him as a delicious meal, and even with the risk of being crushed by the falling bridge, it was determined to devour him.
There were only two options left for him: being crushed or being eaten. With no other choice, Tang Fang fired his gun while simultaneously summoning the system interface in his mind.
One, two, three — three ripples spread across the air.
Screech!
Accompanied by a sharp bug-like cry, three gusts of wind swept past, and a Zergling latched onto the shark-headed creature. Its sharp claws easily pierced through the tough outer skin, sinking deep into the water monster's flesh.
The other two Zerglings pounced onto the creature as well, their claws and teeth tearing open wound after wound, purple fluid oozing out.
Roar!
The water monster let out a dragon-like screech of agony, thrashing its body. Its long tail whipped around and struck one of the Zerglings on its back.
Screech…
With a pained cry, one of the Zerglings was impaled by the monster’s tail.
It was only then that Tang Fang got a clear look at the creature. It had two tails: one shaped like a fish's fin, while the other resembled a scorpion’s stinger.
Splash.
Tang Fang fell into the water, surrounded by rocks crashing down from above, causing water to spray everywhere.
Without pausing for a second, he swam toward the platform as quickly as he could, even though rocks occasionally hit him, causing unbearable pain. Despite hearing the second Zergling's cry behind him, he held onto one belief: no hesitation, no turning back — escape and survive!
Splash, splash.
The monster stirred the water, creating massive waves. The last Zergling was finally shaken off, and with a flick of its scorpion tail, it brought the Zergling to its mouth and took a bite.
Crunch.
Green fluid sprayed from between the monster’s jagged teeth.
Roar!
An enraged dragon-like bellow echoed. Now seemingly out of the falling bridge’s reach, Tang Fang turned his gun and glanced back.
In the water monster’s ink-black eyes, hatred flickered as it roared at his retreating figure. Its tail fin slapped the water, and it charged at him again.
Tang Fang squinted but didn’t move.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, water sprayed into the air. The broken bridge crashed down, raising a towering wave.
Roar...
The dragon-like cries continued, growing weaker. Eventually, the waves subsided, and a strange-colored figure appeared several meters in front of Tang Fang.
It was the water monster, but its head had been smashed flat. Now, it floated lifelessly on the surface like a dead fish.
Tang Fang exhaled deeply. Luckily, he had dodged in time; otherwise, he might have shared its fate.
His life was spared, though he had lost all three Zerglings. During the fall from the bridge, his crystal value fluctuated three times, increasing from 31 to 46, a gain of 15 points. Tang Fang knew that Arroz must have killed the other two men.
But something else puzzled him. After the water monster died, he hadn’t collected any life energy. After some hesitation, he decided to swim closer and investigate.
Removing a fragment grenade from his waist, he cautiously swam forward.
The water monster’s body floated with the waves, showing no signs of movement.
In just a few breaths, he reached the creature’s corpse. After confirming it was truly dead, Tang Fang extended his right hand toward its wounds.
[Detected Zerg DNA sequence.
[Recombining gene structure, Gene level: E+. Research tree unlocked. Technology level 1. Structure unlocked: ‘Spine Crawler.’
[Life energy collected. Total: 100 Units.]
Unlocking the structure "Spine Crawler" and collecting 100 life energy?
Tang Fang was momentarily stunned, then couldn’t help but laugh heartily. It was a blessing in disguise, a reward after hardship. Losing three Zerglings to gain a new structure and 100 life energy was a huge win.
Spine Crawler: Costs 100 crystals, 300 health — almost 10 times that of a Zergling — with building armor, strong attack, and no unit limit.
The only downside was its slow movement, making it suitable only for ground defense. But for Tang Fang right now, a Spine Crawler was much more useful than a Zergling. He was effectively a mobile base, so the slow speed wasn’t much of a drawback.
However, even with the extra 100 points, his crystal count was only 146. A Spine Crawler required a drone to hatch, and the first drone had been used to construct a spawning pool. He would need 150 crystals to hatch a new drone, and he was still 4 points short.
Please vote for this novel at
If you would like to support this translation, you may choose any one of the options below.
How to find a list of chapters
Please find the chapter label next to your favorite translator's name, and click the label.
No comments:
Post a Comment