Chapter 426: Death Filth Spirit

Chapter 426: Chapter 426: Death Filth Spirit

「Two hours later.」

Long Ming arrived in the A1 storage area of the *Ocean*. As far as the eye could see, there was an uncountable number of sealed metal containers.

"Hiss! So many containers."

A look of amazement crossed Long Ming’s face.

He casually opened a nearby container.

Chunks of dark red ore were revealed.

BEEP~

A notification immediately popped up on his wristband.

"Level 4 Ore: Bloodcrystal"

Long Ming was surprised by the notification. He hadn’t expected to find Level 4 ore here, and by the looks of it, there was a lot.

He was tempted for a moment, but ultimately, Long Ming resisted.

After all, these things belonged to the Second Legion. It wouldn’t be right for him to steal from under his own nose.

Long Ming suppressed his restless heart and continued onward.

Then, he saw a batch of sealed metal containers ahead marked with hazard symbols. Curious, he reached out and opened one.

High-grade, Level 3 Energy Crystals, each emitting a blue halo, filled his vision.

"COUGH, COUGH~"

Long Ming’s expression changed abruptly. He immediately shut the container he had opened and hurried away from the supply area.

He had to get out of there before Hilic woke up.

’If it saw these Energy Crystals, all hell would break loose. It would definitely loot this place clean, and I’d get hammered for it later.’

He continued straight down the central aisle.

Just then, he saw five darker-colored containers placed in the very back, and his curiosity was piqued once more.

He casually opened one, only to be completely stunned. The container was filled with chunks of golden stone that emitted a strange halo.

BEEP~

His wristband displayed another notification.

"Level 5: Sharp Gold Stone!"

Long Ming took a deep breath. ’The Second Legion is really loaded. Their shipment actually includes Level 5 ore?’

He stared at the Level 5 ore, his heart pounding with desire, but he still held himself back.

’I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. I didn’t see anything.’

Long Ming muttered to himself as he walked away.

But a second later, Long Ming came right back.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He decided to just go for it—he’d take them now and deal with the consequences later. He raised his wristband and transferred the five containers of Sharp Gold Stone into his personal vault.

’If I get caught, I’ll just give it back. I’ll just be holding on to it for them for safekeeping.’

It would be a terrible shame to miss out on something so valuable.

...

「Several hours later.」

Long Ming had been searching for ages but hadn’t found any confidential containers. More importantly, there wasn’t a single soul in sight.

Leaning against a metal wall, he couldn’t help but ponder the situation.

’Based on the audio logs, there were quite a few survivors after the *Ocean* crash-landed.’

’The problem is, they’ve all disappeared.’

’There are usually two possibilities in a situation like this. First, they discovered something—like the ruins of a secret base—and everyone relocated.’

’The other possibility is that something happened here that forced them to evacuate, making it impossible to remain on the ship.’

With this in mind, Long Ming decided to leave the *Ocean* and investigate the area outside.

Normally, a group that large moving out would have to leave some kind of trail.

...

「Half an hour later.」

Long Ming leaped down from an exit hatch.

He turned his head and scanned his surroundings. Dark red rock was everywhere.

The sky was streaked with flowing bands of dark red clouds.

After confirming there was no immediate danger, Long Ming lowered his head and began searching for clues.

Although the planet’s surface was made of extremely solid red rock, a large group should have left at least some minor traces.

So, Long Ming patiently continued his search.

Suddenly, he noticed some gravel on the ground that was distributed in a strange pattern.

Long Ming immediately stopped to take a closer look.

It looked as if the gravel had been disturbed by footsteps.

After a few seconds of thought, Long Ming followed the direction of the disturbance and soon found clear tracks.

Long Ming was certain these tracks weren’t from his own group. They had flown directly onto the ship and entered the *Ocean* through a breach. Therefore, these tracks must have been left by the survivors.

However, Long Ming couldn’t be sure if these were old tracks left from when the crew was searching the area right after the crash.

So, Long Ming followed the trail. He soon discovered that the farther he went, the clearer the tracks became.

Just as Long Ming was focusing on the trail,

a humanoid shadow, its entire body emitting black particles, materialized behind him and lunged.

Long Ming’s danger sense flared. He instinctively felt the peril, sharp claws shot from his left hand, and he spun around with a swipe.

KRAK!

The attacking humanoid shadow was torn into several pieces, which scattered to either side of him.

But just as quickly, the scattered black mist instantly reconverged behind Long Ming.

Long Ming spun around to see the coalescing mist and, with a sharp blade from his right hand, sliced it in two.

But his attack was like slicing through air; it had no effect whatsoever on the bizarre, humanoid black mist.

...

In the *Ocean’s* central control room.

Hopka stood before the control console, listening to the audio logs over and over.

Every time he heard the sounds of the non-commissioned officer’s mental breakdown, he felt something wasn’t right. ’Are the men of the Second Legion really that weak?’

Just then, a massive black shadow emerged from behind Hopka and lunged straight at him.

Hopka spun around, swinging his Giant Hammer in a wide arc.

The entire black shadow was instantly scattered like mist by the sweep of his Giant Hammer.

"I knew something was up! That damn Red Ghost wouldn’t have been so jumpy for no reason."

Hopka cursed viciously.

Just then, the scattered black mist coalesced again and lunged at Hopka’s face.

"Dammit, what the hell is this thing?"

Hopka swung his Giant Hammer with all his might, scattering it once more.

But his attacks had no effect at all.

...

In the H1 sector of the *Ocean*.

Antilo, piloting his third-generation custom Mechanical God, the *Lightchaser*, was searching a luxurious room of over five hundred square meters.

The furniture and supplies within the room were all extremely high-end.

This was clearly Major Dimru’s room. Only someone of his prominent background could afford such fine furnishings.

Just then, a humanoid black mist with hollow eyes, emitting black particles, appeared behind Antilo. It spread its arms and lunged.

Antilo instantly perceived the danger in a reflective decoration. He whipped out a metal blade and thrust it backward under his arm.

The metal blade instantly pierced the attacking shadow.

But it caused no substantial damage. Instead, the humanoid mass of black mist slammed onto Antilo’s back.

Antilo felt as if his head had been struck by a hammer, and his mind reeled. Bloody images flashed through his mind, and distorted sounds echoed in his ears.

"Get off me!"

Antilo activated his jet wings, using the blast to disperse the black mist clinging to his back.

He then raised his wristband and aimed it at the cloud of mist.

BEEP~

A notification immediately popped up on his wristband.

Notification: Death Filth Spirit!

...