repeated their coordinates over and over to the communication unit, trying to catch the moment when the interception signal was temporarily weakened. Besides, the longer they could hold out in this cave, the longer the Zergs had to release the disruption signals and the more likely the military would pick up the Zerg's signals and decide to investigate. After all, the Zerg's won't sent out disruption signals for no reasons.

A few moments later, the Orien Brothers returned from their scouting mission. "Lieutenant, this tunnel is a dead end. We are trapped."

Everyone's face turned black. They were hoping that this tunnel would lead them to a less defended hive and they would find the queen trapped inside, waiting to be slaughtered. But, the reality seemed to suggest that the joke was on them.

"Take a break, w.a.n.g Tong. I will take your s.h.i.+ft." Big Head shouted at w.a.n.g Tong. As Big Head's voice slipped away, so did the life of half dozen Zergs. They were shredded into pieces, pilling on top of a mountain of Zerg carca.s.ses. The blockade made out of Zerg's flesh wasn't able to stop the living ones, as they feverishly ate the remains of their own kind until they had cleared a new path to the cave entrance.

w.a.n.g Tong didn't refuse his comrade's a.s.sistance like some gallant knight in the fake fairy tales. This was a war where no pixies or fair G.o.dmothers would come down from the sky to rescue him.

As w.a.n.g Tong retreated to the inner cave, he watched as five of his comrades worked together, barely able to ward off wave after wave of Zerg's. Ten minutes later, Jansining took another five soldiers to take over the s.h.i.+ft. The amount of Zergs seemed countless, but human's energy was limited. The team had been stretched pretty thin, yet, the amount of Zergs outside the cave seemed to be increasing.

w.a.n.g Tong watched as the Zergs outside the cave formed a dense blanket that covered the earth. He thought it was more claustrophobic outside than it was this tiny dark cave. He felt tired, but he reminded himself not to give up hope because that was the only thing his platoon had left.

"Dear master, you are in extreme danger."

w.a.n.g Tong heard a voice in his head. He looked around to see if anyone was talking to him. His teammates were either fighting Zergs or taking a rest; no one had paid him any attention.

"Charcoal, is that you?"

"Yes master, it is me. The number of Zergs outside the cave has reached the critical number. Please evacuate the cave ASAP! Otherwise, your life will be in danger."

"Well thank you for telling me the obvious. I would have gotten out if I could, wouldn't I?"

"Master, based on my calculations, you have a 100% chance breaking out of here should you wish to initialize your METAL. Plus, the other soldiers would slow the Zergs down for you, so... "

"That's nonsense. Any other ideas that won't get my friends killed?" w.a.n.g Tong would never leave his brothers to the death clutches of the Zergs.

It was w.a.n.g Tong's turn to take the s.h.i.+ft. His teammates breathed heavily and said with a raspy voice to their leader, "We won't make it, Lieutenant."

Jansining half glanced at w.a.n.g Tong wh,o was killing Zergs with ease, and gritted his teeth. It had been only ten minutes. Even if the HQ somehow discovered their distress signal, it would still take them a while to get here. An air strike would be risky too since it would endanger the soldiers' lives as well.

It had seemed to Jansining that all hopes were lost.

The bugs were going to become tougher to fight once it turned dark outside. Most Zergs had compounded eyes that could see as good as in daylight in pitch darkness.

Unable to find a solution, Jansining led a few soldiers to take w.a.n.g Tong's s.h.i.+ft.

Although w.a.n.g Tong breathed laboriously, he could still hold out for a while. However, he was worried for his teammates as they had been depleting their soul energy rapidly. Once their soul energy dropped to the point that they wouldn't be able to sustain their METAL suit, they wouldn't be able to fight back at all.

"Charcoal, think something. Help us out!"

w.a.n.g Tong closed his eyes as he focused on visualizing the image of Charcoal in his mind. Charcoal blinked but didn't respond.

Suddenly, a light flashed in w.a.n.g Tong's eyes. He then asked: "Goldie 2, is there any way out of here?"

A golden glow started from charcoals body and worked its way through w.a.n.g Tong's chest to his dantian.

"Master, there is a natural cave behind us that could lead us out of here."

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?"

"I am your a.s.sistant Goldie 2. I had fulfilled your first wish: revive charcoal. I am now reconfiguring his weapon, so you would be able to command him on the battlefield."

"Are you sure there is a way deep in the cave?"

"Positive. There is a barrier, however, roughly 10 meters thick."

Upon hearing the information, w.a.n.g sprang to his feet and shouted out to Jansining, "Keep holding them off. I think I have found a way out." w.a.n.g Tong's announcement gave everyone a second wind.

Soon, w.a.n.g Tong arrived at the dead end. He fused his blade with GN force and started digging. Despite the fact that w.a.n.g Tong's blade was made out of military grade t.i.tanium, the tough rock on Norton had made the digging process painfully slow.

Suddenly, w.a.n.g Tong's eyes turned a golden color, and two rays of bright beams shot out from those two pools of molten gold. The rays cut through the rocks as if cutting through b.u.t.ter.