The group left the pod and checked its condition while confirming that it didn’t suffer any damage. At least Dylan didn’t… in any case, they soon found the problem. Communications had been cut off when they got hit, but at least the important parts of the pod were still intact. Due to the distance, the pods also worked like an antenna to make the second-in-command talk with them directly.

  That wasn’t totally terrible. At least the enemies didn’t immediately chase the group, and the area had dense vegetation that would help them be able to use it to their advantage since the grass almost reached their chest.

  “... It seems that we got a bit off course as well,” Shon said once he climbed a nearby tree and confirmed that there were no signs of the second pod. “Still, since we only got attacked in the last thirty seconds of the landing, we shouldn’t be that further away from our destination. Let’s use our weapons to cut down this tree and gather some vegetation to hide the pod.”

  Dylan could tell that Shon was ready to curse and shout, but he wasn’t the captain of that team by coincidence. He knew that doing such a foolish thing would only cause problems, so he kept himself under control.

  ‘The pod is programmed to leave at the very last minute, but without the base of command, we can’t speed up that,’ Dylan thought while cutting some bushes. ‘I don’t think that the pod will fix itself. It doesn’t have that function, and we don’t have a mechanic here… we will have to endure this until the very last moment.’

  After ten minutes, the group finished that job and then reunited again. Shon was smart enough to see the direction the clouds were moving and realize which direction they should go. The original point that they should land was fifty kilometers away from the mountain where the survivors were… the only problem was to tell which mountain it was. They could see dozens of them in all directions.

  “You and you with me, protect the right side of my back and you the left side. The others will enter the search mode and look for ether wells,” Shon declared while looking at Dylan and the other members of the assault team. “Even if we can’t communicate, the second in command should find us if we increase our amounts of concentrated ether.”

  That made sense… It was great to have a leader that could think that clearly under such conditions. Dylan definitely could learn a thing or two from Shon.

  It didn’t take long for the group to find an ether well, but much to their surprise, they had to hide because they found those unknown creatures in the direction of the ether well. After hiding behind some trees, they took a glance at the three enemies and confirmed that they were looking around while standing at the top of the well… was that a coincidence?

  “We will approach slowly and then kill them at the same time,” Shon said while pointing to the enemies and telling each one they should target.

  Dylan and the other guy nodded… It was a bit of a pain that they needed to be stealthy, but it was clear that they were in the territory of the enemy since they had been almost shot down, after all. They need to be careful. Otherwise, they will end up surrounded.

  Using the grass as a disguise and the green of the search mode, those three approached the enemies slowly. When they were ten meters away, the enemies turned around, but they found nothing since they crouched down to hide… after several seconds, they could tell that the enemies looked away since they began to mumble something incomprehensible.

  Shon signaled for them to charge at once, and then Dylan changed into Sprint mode. When Dylan was already swinging his katana, the enemy turned, but only to see the weapon cutting its neck with ease.

  While the neck rolled, Dylan landed and then looked to the side, only to see Shon strangling and shocking one of the enemies with an electric rope, and the other was slicing up the back of the head of a monster and killing it.

  The others approached and then helped them get rid of the bodies by hiding them under some bushes… they were too big and heavy to pull, after all. Soon after, the group checked the weapons that the enemies had. All of them were using spears, and it was weird since they looked well made, but their material was a dark green that they had never seen before. They decided to carry them with them as samples.

  The group took a short pause and found the exact location of the ether well… it was quite weak, with a rate of 25% percent, but it was better than nothing. Besides, they only bought enough fuel to last for ten hours on the mission.

  “We will move in ten minutes, so let’s take a quick break while keeping an eye on the surroundings,” Shon said while storing away his rope.

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  ‘That is a weird weapon… I guess we can help the research team to forge the types of weapons that will suit us best,’ Dylan thought and then sighed.

  In the end, Dylan did well in not trying to imagine too much about the mission… not even in his weirdest dream would he have imagined that they would be attacked even before landing.

  Still, only an ether cannon would be able to cause that much damage without destroying the whole pod… also, there were no signs of advanced civilizations around or in the data that the Russians sent, so the possibility that they found them that fast because of some sort of radar was too small. That being said, Dylan had seen something that had the ability to detect energy sources pretty fast…

  After the short break, the group began to move again, heading north, but soon they found two obstacles. One of them was the first mountain on their way, and the other was another group of enemies heading to the left side of the mountain, which also looked to be their best option.

  “Climbing this will take too much time, and we should use the chance to decrease their numbers as much as possible,” Shon said while looking at the others. “We will do the same as before.”

  Dylan and the other soldier nodded and slowly approached the enemies. Still, they couldn’t help but click their tongues when another group of three enemies coming from the opposite direction appeared, and they stopped to talk. If they could at least understand the language, they would be able to gain something out of waiting, but they could only get angry now. Besides, the enemies were bound to find their traces if they headed in their direction.

  ‘We can’t use guns without risking alerting dozens of enemies nearby. A battle of attraction will only make things difficult for us,’ Dylan thought while furrowing his eyebrows.

  “We will let them approach, move to the sides in order to attack them when they get in range,” Shon ordered.

  It was good that they could communicate like that using their battle suit. Thanks to that, the enemies couldn’t hear anything since their voices didn’t leave the interior.

  The enemies talked for about five minutes before following their own path, and things happened just as they had predicted. The second group headed toward them… when they were five meters away, they could feel something weird in the air, but then they were attacked when the other group disappeared in the distance. Putting Dylan away, who could use that full swing extremely fast now? The other two sure were good at ambushing enemies… they weren’t veterans for nothing.

  Shon could strangle his target almost instantly with his rope. It was made of some special material since it was light and could shock his targets… but it was annoying that it could only be used once every several seconds. The other guy didn’t show even a bit of hesitation, despite having a smaller range. Slicing up the chest of his target almost seemed too easy for him.

  In any case, the group disposed of the bodies again after getting their spears… Dylan was starting to wonder if spearmen were just more common.

  ‘They don’t have that much endurance, and I guess we really shouldn’t try to give them the chance to use their acid attack…’ Dylan thought.

  The group tried to follow the other group, but instead of finding them, they found another group heading in the opposite direction… that didn’t even take five minutes. Did they have that many troops, or were they looking for the Russian team around that mountain?"

  The same way as before, they got rid of that group, but just when Shon was thinking of moving away from the mountain a bit, even if they had to follow a more roundabout route, they heard the sound of gunshots.

  “... Weren’t they aware that there are many enemies in this area?” Shon said while feeling like cursing, but he was prevented from badmouthing Francis since one of his men was nearby.

  The group wondered if it was a coincidence that they found their allies first, if it was a sign for them to meet somewhere, or if Francis and his team found the signs left by their ether with Felix’s help. Either way, they had to go and check.

  The whole group used Sprint Mode and then headed to their left side, but soon they had to stop since they saw more monsters heading in the same direction.

  “We can’t afford to kill all of them… we will be stuck in an endless fight if the enemies find us here,” Shon said while looking around. “There are only so many of them patrolling this area, though… maybe slowing down and waiting is a better option.”

  That made sense, but it seemed that Shon wanted to pretend that the other group wouldn’t be in trouble if they took their time. Still, what could they do if they rushed ahead while fighting nonstop? That was the kind of thought that Shon had in his head. He was the logical type and didn’t find reason to be harsh when the odds clearly aren’t in their favor. That being said, he couldn’t just ignore that one member of the assault team was with him for a short while.

  Shon gulped and began to sweat a little… he honestly didn’t know what to do now. Preserving his current team should be his primary goal. Playing hero wasn’t his style, even though the mission was to be like that in the first place.

  “I will draw the attention of some enemies and make them follow me. You can use that chance to check the condition of the others,” Dylan said while checking his fuel. “We can meet where we left the pod again in two hours.”

  Dylan Ulrich - Sprint Mode

  Health: 100%

  Attack Power: 12

  Armor: 05

  Adaptability: 07

  Movement Speed: 25 (Speed Core: + 02)

  Ether Stored: 565 g

  Weapon: Dual Daggers (100%), Katana (100%)

  Sub Weapon: Blazing Pistol (20), Freezing Pistol (20)

  “That is a long time… are you fine being alone for that long?” Shon asked.

  “I will, in any case, you guys might need some extra time to investigate the situation, so that is necessary,” Dylan said while looking around. “I will try to keep running North and circle around the area. That should give you more chances to investigate and gather intel.”

  Although he didn’t like the idea of splitting the small group even further, Shon nodded, since it was their best option.