In a faint red light, a deep passage winds its way down. The walls of the cave slowly squirmed, spewing hot poisonous gases from time to time. The air was filled with the smell of burnt and sour.

The corpse of a cosmic mercenary lay to the ground, armor covered in corroded and burning scars.

He was not attacked, the cause of death was that the life-support system stopped working, and the armor that had protected him suddenly became a closed gas container. Let him be poisoned alive in it. Perhaps this mercenary was once a meteor star, but he was still as fragile as a chicken in the face of the poisonous gas in the depths of this ruin.

A clean palm turned the mercenary's corpse over, and the dead old man looked at it, then stood up.

"We're coming. This kid is the unlucky guy who was teleported in by the spatial rift before. It seems that he did not do a good job of preparation, and the energy and potions he carried could not meet his consumption. This is the prey of poisonous gas, it's really pitiful, look at him, even his body has been corroded. The only bones left were a few bones. ”

"I don't know what you think, but I think that if you are going to die, you must also die on the battlefield. Such a death is really meaningless. ”

"Yes, old man." The other mercenaries replied.

The dead old man nodded. Continue your journey into the depths. As they went deeper, their surroundings deteriorated dramatically, and the dead old man felt closer and closer to his goal. He couldn't wait to see the end of the cave, the treasure that had been preserved for nearly 10,000 years.

That was the essence of Claudir, the thing he, the cosmic mercenary, the star thief, and all humans wanted most.

As long as they have this, they will get out of their weak position. Thus entering the ranks of the nobility of the universe.

Cosmic aristocracy. What a glorious name. It's exciting to think about. For this purpose. The dead old man doesn't mind paying more.

In the silent passage, only the footsteps of mercenaries and star thieves remained. The team was moving fast, and in fact no one wanted to wait an extra second at this stage. Because of the poison gas and the blazing heat, they are constantly consuming the life-sustaining energy of their armor. Many warriors have begun to run out of energy and potions.

Of course. The fighters who remain today are the best of this mission. Even if they don't have armor, they can survive in this environment, but then they will inevitably have to focus on survival, and their strength will be greatly damaged in battle.

The team marched silently, and before I knew it, a long time had passed. Suddenly. The dead old man's footsteps stopped.

He glanced back at the mercenary behind him. "How many of us are left?"

"There are seventy-three people in total, dead old man." The mercenary replied. This number is familiar to him, because he is the leader of the second echelon.

But the dead old man's pupils suddenly contracted, and his voice was slightly deep. "What's the reason for that, I only perceive seventy-two people?"

"It can't be, my lord." The mercenary leader immediately retorted, and just as he was about to speak, the dead old man's face changed again.

"No, it's seventy-one!"

"What!?" The mercenary leader was shocked and hurriedly turned back. But at the back of the line, a mercenary was falling.

His armor was still intact. But inside the armor was empty, there was nothing left. Through the armor, the leader can even see the aiming system and the brain light screen inside. But the mercenaries inside disappeared without a trace in an instant.

"Ahh The team leader was suddenly startled and let out an uncontrollable exclamation.

But at this time, it was too late to say anything, and almost in an instant, more than a dozen mercenaries at the rear of the team fell to the ground in unison. None of their armor was damaged, but the people inside were gone.

"This ...... What's going on? Be on alert, be on alert now! The mercenary leader screamed as he opened the armor's defense system, and a huge tower shield spread out from his hand and instantly stood in front of him. And just as he reacted, all the mercenaries sprang into action, quickly forming a circle that surrounded both Jules and the dead old man.

The mercenary's reaction was not unpleasant, but no matter how fast they were, three mercenaries still fell in the process, and their strange way of dying was no different from that of their previous companions.

In the middle of the line, Jules's face was as pale as paper, and he stared blankly at his fallen companion.

Just now, just a few seconds ago, they were still living teammates, but now there is only an empty armor left, this extremely cruel contrast is difficult for Jules to accept, even if she is also a mercenary, even if she has experienced fierce battles, but when has she ever seen such a strange and cold death?

In the face of an unknown crisis, life is so fragile and so small.

"Jules, you go to the back."

At this moment, the voice of the dead old man sounded in his ears, and Jules suddenly woke up like a dream, and hid behind the dead old man.

It was only then that the dead old man took a closer look at the corpse of the dead mercenary. Then he closed his eyes.

His demeanor was calm, as if he hadn't seen the death of these mercenaries. But at the same time as he closed his eyes, a powerful sense of thought descended on this passage like substance, and it weighed heavily and truly on each mercenary.

The mercenaries' hearts were suddenly relieved. There was a relieved expression on his face.

Although the dead old man's thoughts were very stressful, they knew that this was exactly the embodiment of the dead old man's protection of them, and when the stellar thoughts filled the space, no one could sneak up on them anymore.

This mysterious and strange enemy will also reveal his true identity.

The sour smell in the air became even stronger, and gradually, each mercenary heard his own heartbeat, and his breathing became more and more rapid.

At this moment, the dead old man suddenly snorted, and then looked sharply in one direction.

"Get out!!"

Before he finished speaking, he saw that the space where he was located suddenly distorted, and a dim, vague figure appeared. Then, before the mercenaries could react, the surrounding cave walls shook violently, wriggling, spreading out and separating like living creatures. In just a split second, a massive cavern spawned around them.

Above the huge cavern, a blood-like mist was rolling and wriggling, it was the confused shadow, and in the middle of this strange mist, a pair of bloodshot eyes were staring at them coldly.

At the same time, a cold, yet violent, sense of thought suddenly began to flow.

"...... Found ......"

"In that case...... Let's kill them all...... Give up your flesh and soul and energy...... Let's be the nourishment for my rebirth!! ”

Before the words were spoken, a blood-colored whirlwind suddenly appeared above the cave and swept towards them frantically.

"Be careful!!"

"Defend with all your might!"

"Open the shield!!"

"Ah............" (To be continued.) )