The two people behind her immediately stopped at her words, gripping their guns tightly as their eyes vigilantly scanned the surroundings.
After listening carefully for a moment, Lin Jingjing crouched and placed her hand on the ground to sense for vibrations.
Seeing this, a quick-witted Shi Feng dimmed the light sphere illuminating their path to its lowest setting.
Feng He stood with her back to the other two, keeping a constant watch on their surroundings.
The slightest rustle would startle her into aiming her gun in that direction.
"Up the trees. Take cover," Lin Jingjing ordered as she stood up.
The two didn't question her. They immediately secured their weapons, sprinted toward a large nearby tree, and scrambled up with practiced ease.
After all three had climbed up, they slowed their breathing. Three minutes later, a horde of monsters suddenly emerged from the area to their lower right.
They had a strange appearance: sharp claws, pointed fangs, crimson eyes, and scaly hides. The faintly glowing red spot on their chests, which pulsed rhythmically, was their heart.
That was the weak spot of these mutant beasts.
The mutant beasts let out low growls as saliva dripped from their fangs to the ground.
The people here called these monsters mutant beasts.
They emitted a thick, foul stench that grew more pungent the closer one got.
They crawled on all fours, their noses twitching greedily as if they had caught the scent of a delicious meal, drool spilling from their mouths.
The moment the mutant beasts appeared, the three hiding in the tree made their breathing even quieter.
Their hands unconsciously tightened on the weapons that were their lifelines.
As the first one slowly crawled forward, more and more mutant beasts appeared behind it.
It wasn't until the sixth one had passed that the stream finally ended.
'No wonder Captain Li said these mutant beasts were getting smarter. This was a route the patrol bots had never taken, yet this pack of mutant beasts managed to find it with precision.'
'Their King must have evolved.'
Feng He and Shi Feng glanced toward Lin Jingjing, who wasn't far off. Feng He then raised a hand and made a sign to her.
[Should we engage?]
Lin Jingjing saw it and immediately signed back.
[Avoid. Mission is food delivery.]
Their primary mission was to deliver the meal. Captain Li hadn't instructed them to engage mutant beasts on sight.
The mission was the priority.
The two raised their hands and made an "OK" gesture.
Only after the mutant beasts were completely gone did the three climb down from the tree. Lin Jingjing activated her Star Ring, opened the map, and saw a shortcut nearby.
'Taking the shortcut will be faster.'
Lin Jingjing led the other two along the shortcut, arriving at their encampment ten minutes ahead of schedule.
They were immediately stopped by a patrol. Lin Jingjing quickly produced the token Captain Li had given them and handed it over.
The guard glanced at it before lowering his weapon and letting them pass.
Once inside, Shi Feng grumbled, "We're people, not mutant beasts. Why'd they stop us?"
"Oh, please. This is the main base. Everyone has to show ID to get in," Feng He said, exasperated.
Upon reaching the designated spot, Lin Jingjing immediately took tonight's dinner, item by item, out of her Space Ring and set everything up.
Shi Feng and Feng He had already grabbed ladles and begun serving the waiting soldiers.
After laying everything out, Lin Jingjing joined the serving line as well.
'Good thing we drank some Nutrient Liquid before we came,' Lin Jingjing thought. 'Otherwise, we'd definitely be drooling from this aroma.'
"Today's food smells even better than usual."
"Yeah, and the meat is more tender and flavorful."
"I wonder which master chef cooked this."
"Hope we can have it again tomorrow."
Listening to the soldiers discuss the food, the three servers were secretly thrilled.
'Heh heh, we're the ones who cooked this food, after all.'
'We were generous with all the seasonings. Of course it's fragrant!'
The last man to approach with a tray was not only very tall but also strikingly handsome.
He had fair skin, a high-bridged nose, sharp brows, and bright eyes. Even the hands holding the tray were long and pale.
Lin Jingjing glanced up, but immediately lowered her head after meeting his ice-blue eyes.
'This person must have a high rank. Even his uniform is more exquisite and of better quality than anyone else's.'
Lin Jingjing also noticed a large red star pinned to his chest.
She didn't know what the star represented, but of all the people who had come before, he was the only one wearing it.
'It must signify something extraordinary.'
At this thought, her previously trembling hand grew steady.
With one scoop, she piled a generous helping of meat onto the rice.
"Your hand isn't shaking anymore?" The man asked, finding the scene amusing.
Lin Jingjing gave a dry laugh. "Occupational hazard."
'Who could blame her? She had a condition that made her hand shake whenever she had to play the part of a stingy cafeteria lady.'
After replying, Lin Jingjing mustered her courage and asked, "Are you the captain here?"
"I am."
'If he's the captain, then this is easy.' Lin Jingjing hesitated for only five seconds before deciding to tell him what they had just encountered.
"Oh, good. That saves me the trouble of finding someone else." Lin Jingjing put down the ladle and handed him the tray.
"On our way here, we ran into six mutant beasts—the kind that crawl on all fours, with fangs and crimson eyes," Lin Jingjing reported. "They kept moving straight ahead. I don't know where they've gone now."
The man's hand holding the tray tightened. Though it didn't look like he used much force, the entire tray was crushed out of shape.
'Steel Beasts.'
'That type of mutant beast is the most difficult to deal with. They're fast, their fangs and claws are razor-sharp, and their scales are incredibly tough.'
'The red patch on their chest is their only weak spot.'
Because of his action, the food piled high on the tray spilled onto the ground.
Seeing the food on the ground, all three of them winced with distress.
'Cherish your food. Don't be wasteful.'
It was an instinct carved into their very bones.
"You're not lying?" the man asked, completely unconcerned that his well-defined hands were now covered in sauce.
Lin Jingjing shook her head. "I'm not. We took a shortcut to get here."
"Delivering the food is our top priority, after all. We couldn't get sidetracked."
'She was just reporting what she'd seen. If something happened later, it would be hard for the three of them to explain why they hadn't.'
At her words, the man's handsome brows furrowed.
"Next time you see them, kill on sight." After speaking, he set the tray aside, pulled a few napkins from a dispenser, and wiped the grease from his hands.
He was about to leave when a thought seemed to strike him. He turned and said to the three of them, "You three, with me."
The trio followed him into a building made of metal.
The metal building was already full of people, whom the man had evidently summoned on his way over.
'They sure got here fast.'
"You. Point out the route where you saw the mutant beasts," the man said, indicating Lin Jingjing.
He then stepped aside, yielding the center position in front of a massive map displayed on a large screen.
Lin Jingjing showed no fear. She stepped forward, picked up a nearby pointer, made a few motions over the map, and then aimed the pointer at a specific location.
"The mutant beasts emerged from this spot."
It was a 3D map. After locating the spot where they had hidden, Lin Jingjing indicated where the mutant beasts had appeared.