Chapter 9: 7. Biochemical Bait
Early the next morning.
The transition between day and night in the Suffering Borderland is not very obvious.
The sky at sunrise is almost as dark as before dawn, just with clearer clouds in the sky.
Noland Lee pretended to recite translations last night until late night, finally going to sleep amidst Corporal Mars' yawns.
He dreamed of catching a Charming Demon, one of those from the Japanese series.
He accumulated a lot of Energy Points, and used them all to deconstruct the Charming Demon.
Just as he was about to get the mysterious elixirs from the demon, the loud whistles in the camp shattered his beautiful dream.
Noland Lee could only get up bitterly, put on his clothes, and eat hard noodles for breakfast with his panda eyes.
Corporal Mars lifted the curtain and walked in, placing a set of relatively clean clothes on Noland Lee's bedside table:
"After breakfast, hurry up and put on this armored clothing. It provides some necessary protection and is much more reliable than your Sin Soldier uniform. Be quick, we're leaving soon."
"Yes, Chief Officer." Noland Lee asked:
"Where are we going?"
Corporal Mars moved to sit next to a chair, pulled out a roll of cigarette and sniffed it, but did not light it:
"We're going to war against the undead army. The battlefield is Grave No.1079. Oh, I've been there twice before, a full three-layer underground grave vault, each level with a huge area. This battle is definitely going to last all day."
Noland Lee nodded silently, glanced at the roll of cigarettes in the other's hand, and then lowered his head to gnaw on the bread.
What was bound to come would come, just unexpectedly soon. Ah yes, the pun was intended.
"Jarvis, let me remind you."
Corporal Mars leaned forward and said solemnly:
"In our army, only Sergeant Alvin Stafford and I know about Intelligence Department 4's experimental plan. Only we know your identity"
And the tall and slightly plump 19-year-old girl, she also knows my identity and mission... Noland Lee interjected in his heart.
Corporal Mars did not know Noland's thoughts and continued:
"You're about to act with my squad. My teammates don't know about your special mission, they'll just think you're an ordinary Sin Soldier. You understand what I mean, right?
"They might be...well, rude and not take you seriously. Just don't take it to heart. Once you complete your mission, you'll naturally gain their respect. Besides, I'll try my best to look after you during the battles and not let you die for no reason."
"Thank you, Chief Officer." Noland Lee sincerely nodded.
After eating, changing clothes and preparing to leave with the army.
Noland Lee met Corporal Mars's squad members, five Private Second Class soldiers and one Corporal.
Just as Corporal Mars said, the squad members didn't treat Noland Lee nicely.
However, they couldn't help but take a few looks at Noland Lee, attracted by his handsome face three times more good-looking than ordinary people...
Ah ha, this damned charm~ It's universally lethal to both men and women..
This should be the most useful thing left behind by the original master.
...
Tomb No.1079 is located about two kilometers west of the campsite.
It has a majestic and historical tomb entrance.
This entrance is composed of a stone arch made of square stone bricks, supplemented by a large number of ground tiles and walls covered in mysterious carvings.
Upon entering this gloomy place, the light immediately darkened several degrees.
The sunlight outside seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, unable to illuminate the area inside the entrance.
The flame from the coal lamp was also compressed and flattened by the mysterious force at the same time, reducing its brightness from illuminating a ten-meter radius to only illuminating a five to six-meter range.
If Noland Lee were an expert in the field of mysterious studies, he would certainly be able to express some opinions on this peculiar optical phenomenon.
But unfortunately, he is not.
He could only follow the queue like a rookie, under the watch of the soldiers, and proceed slowly.
Imperial soldiers' weapons and equipment were varied:
Short-barreled silenced rifles loaded with silenced bullets, box-shaped flamethrowers on their shoulders, sharp knives with serrated edges, multi-purpose engineering hammers, armored clothing to prevent sharp and blunt weapons, filter cartridge masks to block poison gas, etc.
Noland Lee could understand these things and their uses.
But... what was the caterpillar-like creature that had to be swallowed all at once?
This creature had an appearance similar to a caterpillar, with slender tentacles covering its body, presenting a dark green color.
By wrapping it with the mouth and swallowing it completely, one could feel the stomach's contractions and see many small green protrusions, like goosebumps, quickly appear on the skin's surface.
Each soldier swallowed a creature like this.
However, Noland Lee was forced to swallow as many as five, with five rows of green bumps emerging on his arm.
It's worth mentioning:
Not only was Noland Lee the only sin soldier in the army, but there were also three other sin soldiers. These three looked unfamiliar to Noland, and he wasn't sure if they had come on the same train as he did yesterday.
...
The Imperial Army advanced deep into the tomb's ground-level area.
It was quiet here, and there were no traces of the undead.
In a vast hall, Sergeant Alvin Stafford led the troops for a brief rest.
There were many reliefs on the walls of the hall, forming bizarre paintings.
The reliefs were destroyed by soldiers who had arrived here in the past, covered in scratches, chisel marks, and burn marks, making it difficult to see their content.
A chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the hall sprayed white fumes, and it was a gas purification device that cleaned the air inside the tomb.
Its gas delivery pipeline was arranged along the ceiling and walls, extending from the chandelier to the corner, connecting to the three cylinder-shaped iron canisters.
These three iron canisters stored the reactants needed to produce gas.
Because of the white fumes, the air quality of the tomb's ground-level area was not bad, and it could be inhaled directly.
But near the staircase, the yellow-green toxic gas could clearly be seen, constantly rising from below, mixing with the white fumes, attacking each other, just like the enemies engaged in combat.
Sergeant Alvin Stafford arranged for the engineers to check and repair the gas purification device, and at the same time, he extracted a team to go check the situation in the underground level of the tomb passage.
The reconnaissance squad now had its chance to shine.
There were four reconnaissance squads in the army, each with three sin soldiers, including the newcomer Noland Lee, totaling four sin soldiers.
Noland Lee and the other three sin soldiers were assigned to the four reconnaissance squads, becoming real front-line troops.
These four reconnaissance squads would go to the first underground level of the tomb through four staircases.
Now, they were about to set off.
"Sin Soldier No. 888, you walk at the front."
A private second class jabbed Noland in the waist with the barrel of his gun, pushing him forward authoritably:
"Be obedient and don't think about running away. We'll be watching you... if you don't want to die, don't leave our sight, otherwise, the undead creatures attracted by the biochemical bait will take your life."
Noland Lee touched his sore waist, glanced at the calm Corporal Mars, and turned his head to ask the soldier who had just pushed him:
"Biochemical bait? What is that?"
The private, impatiently, explained:
"It's the green bumps on your arm. They release a scent that attracts undead creatures, causing the slow-reacting undead to awaken from their slumber faster, revealing their presence."
Upon hearing this, Noland's eyebrows twitched...
It turned out that sin soldiers played the role of "bait" in this reconnaissance mission, specifically to attract the undead's attention.
The private who spoke hardened his face and lifted his chin slightly:
"Don't ask so much, you are just a dispensable sin soldier. If it weren't for the Empire's merciful laws, you wouldn't have the chance to join the sacred cause of exterminating the undead creatures. Now, do your job."
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