Chapter 38: Plunder and Departure

"Undying?"
Ye Mi tilted her head, suddenly curling her lips into a smile. "Is that so?"
Her poisoned spear was still embedded in Anders' chest, tightly bound by vines. Without warning, a surge of inky green venom was injected directly into Anders' body!
"Ugh—!"
Anders sensed something was wrong; the vines exploded in a frenzy, trying to ensnare Ye Mi, but they were swiftly severed by Keira's flying knives.
His regenerative speed slowed noticeably. Fresh vines withered and fell away as soon as they sprouted. Seizing the moment, Ye Mi spun around, driving the poisoned spear brutally through his heart!
Anders froze, staring in disbelief at the tip of the spear protruding from his chest.
His body began to rapidly petrify, skin turning into something like withered tree bark. At last, with a thunderous crash, he fell to his knees.
"Im...possible..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker. "I clearly... already..."
Ye Mi withdrew her poisoned spear with cold indifference, watching as his body lost all vitality, finally becoming a grotesque wooden corpse.
The energy of the Light Ruins was even more terrifying than she had imagined.
A night wind swept across the platform, and suddenly, all was silent.
Raj poked his head out from behind Red, swallowing hard. "Gina, is... is it over?"
It was over. Anders could not be more dead.
Ye Mi nodded and reminded her still-dazed companions, "Hurry up and loot."
What is the first thing you do after a battle?
Of course, you count your spoils.
Ye Mi walked to Anders' wooden remains, kicked him lightly to confirm he was well and truly dead, then knelt down and began rummaging through his backpack.
Her fingers moved deftly. Inside, there were only a few packs of compressed rations, two bottles of water, and a small medkit.
Aside from that, almost nothing of value.
This was to be expected. Expedition teams entering the Light Ruins traveled light—only the bare necessities, weapons, and energy sources. Unless you found a treasure inside, there was little of worth.
Clearly, Anders had not found any, or he would have used them already.

The most valuable Light Ruins energy crystal had already been swallowed by Anders in one gulp. Ye Mi recalled the size of that crystal...
It was worth at least a million credits.
At this thought, Ye Mi sighed.
What a wasteful man.
"You can't just loot credits directly..."
Anders must have had plenty of credits, but those were stored in a network bank. First, Ye Mi's real body wasn't in the Light Ruins; second, even if she tried to connect and transfer funds using Gina's chip, she couldn't breach the firewall.
So those credits became an unwanted inheritance.
Thinking for a moment, Ye Mi reached out and tore off Anders' intact cybernetic eye.
That might come in handy later.
Ye Mi knew well that the Defense Bureau's security systems all used biometric identification. As a squad leader, Anders' data would definitely be registered; this could help her in future actions in the Light Ruins.
Meanwhile, Red had already led Raj and Keira to loot the other members of Squad 13.
Keira excitedly pulled out a military energy pistol, but Red immediately held her back.
"Don't take the weapons," Red whispered, "they all have tracking chips."
Only then did Keira realize how hot the gun in her hands really was, and she hurried to put it down.
Ye Mi heard this from a distance, her ears twitching. She suddenly remembered she also carried a Defense Bureau expedition squad pistol.
It had belonged to that brown-haired girl.
Ye Mi had many killing moves now; she hadn't needed to use a pistol that consumed Light Ruins energy crystals.
After possessing Gina, she had stashed that gun in Gina's backpack. Now, reminded by Red, Ye Mi quietly placed the gun by Anders' pack.
It was worth remembering that the brown-haired girl seemed to have a brother in the Exploration Department's management. If he decided to investigate his sister's fate, the consequences could be dire.
Thankfully, now there would be no loose ends.
Elsewhere, Raj busied himself, emptying out everyone's supply packs and stuffing energy bars, nutrient vials, and medical gel into his own pockets.
When he finished, he looked up to see Ye Mi had moved off and stood at a distance. The black metallic ability covering her body was undergoing a strange transformation.
She raised her right arm, and metallic patterns began to flow.

With a faint mechanical sound, her hand slowly changed shape, ultimately morphing into the exact gorilla-fist form as the vice-captain of Squad 13.
But even more astonishing was her next move—her entire arm suddenly stretched out like a spring and shot forward with a whoosh!
"Holy crap!"
Raj was so startled he staggered backward.
The gorilla fist smashed the air, then snapped back again.
Ye Mi looked at her new weapon with satisfaction: after Rust Tide devoured the vice-captain’s prosthetic, it not only copied the gorilla-fist function but also evolved an even more terrifying launch ability.
Footsteps approached behind her. Ye Mi turned to see Raj, curiosity written all over his face.
He stared intently at the black metal slowly fading from Ye Mi’s body and asked, "Gina, what kind of ability is this? Why does it have a devouring function?"
He didn’t know about Rust Tide?
Ye Mi paused and then realized. The Defense Bureau had only just captured one living specimen; such a monster would be a closely guarded secret, known only to insiders.
As a civilian team, Grey Hawk Squad wouldn't know unless they'd encountered one themselves.
Ye Mi shook her hand and said casually, "Just a liquid metal ability—can devour metallic objects. Nothing special."
Raj’s eyes lit up. "Nothing special? It can destroy prosthetics with ease—that's powerful!"
He wanted to say more but Red walked over and patted his shoulder. "Enough questions. It’s not your ability anyway. Time to go."
"Captain... you always have to be so harsh."
Raj drooped, then added, "Still, we really should get out of this hellhole."
The distant passage still shone brightly, showing no sign of fading, but Grey Hawk Squad had no intention of lingering any longer. They quickly left this place of divine trial.
Ye Mi took one last look at the platform scarred by battle and strewn with corpses, then turned and stepped into the pillar of light.
Her figure grew hazy in the radiance, but at the very last moment before she vanished, her voice rang out clearly: "Stay sharp. No one knows where the passage will send us."
With those words, the other three entered the tunnel in turn.
Their figures faded into the darkness behind the bronze doors, leaving only silence in their wake.