Hearing the sounds of gunfire and cannons echoing from the darkness within the city wall passageway, Lin Feng and Shen Jie quickened their pace.

They rushed toward the source of the noise.

As they ran, Lin Feng activated his Mind Sensing Skill to scout for hidden members of the Zerg Race in the direction they were headed.

Soon, inside a Wormhole over eight hundred meters away, the light signatures of one Tier Two Awakener and several Tier One Late-Stage Perfect Awakened appeared on his senses.

Unlike the Zerg Race, due to the difference in body size, human Awakeners had light signatures with the same brightness as a Zerg of the same tier, but the source of the light appeared only one-third the size, if not smaller.

This was the primary method Lin Feng used to distinguish between Awakeners and the Swarm when analyzing his findings.

’Those Awakeners deep inside the Wormhole must be the elite squad led by Qin Hu.’

As Lin Feng and Shen Jie drew closer to the battle, his Mind Sensing detected several members of the Tier Two Zerg Race deeper inside the Wormhole, locked in a fierce fight with Qin Hu’s team.

Fully armed, Lin Feng raised his Electromagnetic Cannon and had Shen Jie, who was in his Black Knight state, fall back and wait for an opportunity to strike.

His Winged Tiger Frenzy state only lasted about five minutes and had to be saved for a critical moment. Besides, Shen Jie was stronger than him in close combat. More importantly, firing too many Armor-Piercing Bullets or Magnetic Storm Bombs inside the Wormhole could easily trigger a cave-in, burying them all.

The entrance to the Wormhole, the source of the noise, was now just ahead. Lin Feng whispered a reminder:

"You’ll guard our flanks and watch our six. I’ll handle any Zerg that attack from the front."

Shen Jie nodded. In his Black Knight form, his two-meter-long, gray-black Arm Blades gleamed coldly. After being modified by Zhang Liying, the Black Armor that materialized on his body could merge with his Red Profound Armor, essentially doubling his protection.

It was enough to withstand a full-force blow from a Tiger Spine Zerg.

It was like having an extra life.

A dozen seconds later, the pair made their way through the obstacle-ridden defensive corridor and arrived beneath a main fortress.

At the base of the fortress, a storeroom originally used for weapons and supplies had been completely hollowed out by the Zerg Race. A deep pit, twenty meters in diameter, now yawned before them.

Fortunately, the entrance sloped downward, so they didn’t have to jump straight in. The two exchanged a glance, then entered the bottomless cavern one after the other.

The entire Wormhole reeked of that familiar, strange smell, even stronger than it had been in the defensive corridor. Fortunately, the Underground Zerg Nest excavated by the Red-Armored Beetles had an excellent ventilation system. It drew in air from the surface and circulated it through the caverns, ensuring oxygen was present even hundreds of meters underground.

As carbon-based lifeforms of flesh and blood, the Zerg Race also required redox reactions to break down nutrients and sustain their biological functions.

Through modifications from bio-factories, the Low-tier Zerg Race had adapted to using oxygen for survival.

This made ventilation in the Hive exceptionally important.

And with the powerful sensory organs of Tier Two Awakeners, Lin Feng and Shen Jie could also perceive the faint airflow, preventing them from getting lost deep inside the Hive.

Unfortunately, Lin Feng’s Mind Sensing Skill couldn’t detect the structure of inanimate objects; it could only reveal the location of living beings.

Fortunately, the constant explosions echoing from deep within the cavern allowed the pair to easily locate Qin Hu and his team.

As they drew nearer, Lin Feng heard a strange sound he hadn’t expected—a buzzing, like machinery in a factory, echoing through the cavern.

’Perhaps it’s the Electromagnetic Pulse Cannon of a Pulse War Scorpion, firing with a reduced charge at Qin Hu and his men.’

After advancing more than two hundred meters through the dim Wormhole, they finally saw a light in the distance.

They saw Qin Hu and his men wearing Zerg exoskeleton armor similar to the Red Profound Armor. In their hands, they wielded massive Close Combat Weapons resembling Heavy Sabers or Giant Swords.

But the black-and-yellow weapons emitted a high-frequency, vibrating hum. As the Awakeners deftly swung them, cleaving into the attacking Tier Two Tiger Spine Zergs, the friction produced the same buzzing sound Lin Feng had heard earlier.

The Giant Sword clashed against the Tiger Spine Zerg’s Giant Mandible, sending out a shower of dazzling sparks.

In the dim light, aided by the searchlights mounted on their armor, Lin Feng saw that the weapons resembling Heavy Swords were actually two-meter-long electric chainsaws!

Powered by a furiously spinning motor, the serrated teeth began to slice into the Tiger Spine Zerg’s Giant Mandible.

Especially when an Awakener raised a Chainsaw Sword to block the downward chomp of a Tiger Spine Zerg’s upper mandible, the spinning teeth could sever it completely in just two or three seconds.

This incredible display of power made Lin Feng’s eyes light up, and he stared, completely captivated.

Lin Feng quickly moved up behind the group of Awakeners.

He raised his weapon, aiming at a level 27, Tier Two Late Stage Tiger Spine Zerg that was about to pounce on the group.

He pulled the trigger. Guided by the targeting lock of his Eye of the Death God Attribute, the 900-Damage Armor-Piercing Bullet flew straight into the Tiger Spine Zerg’s torso, just behind its jaw, and exploded.

The entire body of the Tier Two Zerg burst apart!

Its ten-centimeter-thick Armor shattered, sending severed limbs flying everywhere.

Because of this, the Tiger Spine Zerg absorbed the full force of the Armor-Piercing Bullet’s explosion, preventing any significant damage to the surrounding cavern.

With the only Tier Two Late Stage Tiger Spine Zerg dead, the Zerg Race’s offensive began to falter. Qin Hu’s elite squad continued to fight as they retreated.

As for Qin Hu himself, after using his Chainsaw Sword to cleave a Tier Two Early Stage Tiger Spine Zerg open through the jaw, he turned, walked over to Lin Feng, and shouted: