"Life signal disappeared. The Broodmother has left," an android said.

"Remember the objective: we salvage everything and avoid needless confrontation," the Captain said.

Though the team had ingrained the sentence into their mind, it was mandatory for the Captain to remind them.

"Yes, sir. We'll promptly get in and out without killing a single one of them," another man said.

The mission was excessively easy. Without the main group, the remaining Arachna was pitiful.

The group approached the wreckage, checking the condition of their weapons along the way. They scrutinized their guns for any defect that might decide their lives and deaths.

"Angelica, scan the area." As the group approached the wreckage, the Captain gestured a stop and ordered Angelica to perform a basic scanning spell.

An android couldn't produce a real spell, but with a built-in spell circuit, it could replicate the process and perform a weaker counterpart.

After receiving a Fons battery from the Captain, Angelica performed her spell. The expensive Fons battery depleted its energy, making the Captain sigh. For his team's safety, he had to do it.

The blue light emerged from Angelica. It traced from her chest to her arms and finally to her hands. According to a preset movement, she spread her hands and finished the recitation.

Her motion generated a gush of motion, creating a semi-transparent field that expanded toward the wreckage. It enveloped the area and faded away. She drew back her arms.

"The wreckage's origin is unknown. The model closely resembles the transportation vessel. No danger above acceptable range detected. An anomaly is spotted at the centre of the vessel."

Angelica replaced the Fons battery. It fitted the depository on her chest, glowing blue, brimming with energy.

The Captain took the dead Fons battery. Despite having no energy to supply, the case remained pricey and could be refilled.

"Angelica, show us the map."

Angelica raised her hand to chest-level. A string of blue light aligned into a rough hologram of the vessel's structure. Everything was blurry due to the spell quality, but it was enough.

The spell was the reason why Angelica was so expensive. The group poured their life-saving into her. With her, they reduced their mistakes and fail rate by almost half.

"Angelica, deactivate your hologram."

As the hologram consumed a great deal of Fons, the Captain promptly recorded the detail and let other members sketch the outline of the wreckage.

"This is no ordinary transport ship. It's a military vessel!"

The Captain cried in excitement as he examined the layout. The design was too efficient for a random merchant ship. The pathway was clean and direct, having great airflow and less aesthetic value.

"Today is our lucky day. The ten years we spend here is worth it."

Everyone echoed the sentiment. In this barren countryside, it was nigh-impossible for the military to send a force here, let alone getting destroyed.

Fifteen minutes later, the group revised their plan and cautiously made their way to the vessel.

"Take only what matters, and don't touch any confidential files. We'll get in and out. No Arachna will know anything," the Captain said. "Angelica, prepare for any sudden intrusion."

Angelica shifted her manner and toned down her footstep. Her presence dimmed. The only change visible was the Fons battery on her chest glowing brighter.

In the combat-oriented mode, she didn't gain any offensive power, but her actions would be more precise and used more energy. As a supportive android, she possessed no actual combative ability.

The group surveyed the surrounding. The spiderlings aimlessly walked around the entrance, their grumbling and stink odour deterring the natural wildlife.

They were the weakest and most common creatures of the Arachna. Born to throw their bodies at the enemies and cause chaos, they didn't possess any exotic ability, though their basin-sized body and acidic blood were still a formidable force when grouped up.

With a plan in place, the group fell into their position. The rear threw a rotten jerky into the wilderness, its fleshy stench moving to the vessel under the guidance of the wind.

The spiderlings chased after the direction of the trap, though some remained at the entrance, evidently not hungry enough.

When they arrived, a grenade rolled to the meat. The Arachna circled it, poking and screeching at it. In the next second, the grenade shone in blue light, and a stream of electricity erupted from the inside.

The Captain gestured. The members shot the spiderlings at the entrance with their guns equipped with the silencer, creating only a muffle noise.

After waiting in their spot for ten minutes, the group didn't detect any patrolling Arachna. From their calculation, the stench of corpses would have already covered the vessel, meaning that any surviving Arachna should have already come out.

"They must be the leftover of the main force."

Everyone agreed to the reasoning. By living the spiderlings here, the Arachna had them guarded the place in case of a return, as well as making it as hard as possible for others to settle in.

"Angelica, perform life signal scan," the Captain said.

The blue light flashed. The same scene occurred. This time, however, she scanned the area for any potential living being. This spell and the previous one were the only two spells she could do.

"No life signal detected," Angelica said after a slight pause.

"Let's go then." The Captain said.

Everyone soon wore their night goggles. They went inside the wreckage, carefully inspecting both the floor and the ceiling.

Despite the ruined exterior, the vessel's interior was clean. Although it wasn't dustless, it was neat enough for ordinary people to live.

As they encountered no danger, their caution turned into excitement. The neatly-arranged files and the broken equipment confirmed their theory of a military vessel.

A static noise broke the silence. The Captain looked at his watch and found something strange. It couldn't capture any signal from the outside.

"An interference field is still working?"

Though it didn't disable most of his equipment, he could no longer send any message to the outside world.

A loud bang boomed. The gate behind the group fell shut. The light from the tunnel faded into the darkness with only the forward route. Something was amiss.

The Captain halted his group from displaying hostility. From his deduction, the gate closed with human interference, someone lucky enough to hide until this moment. If they were someone inside the military vessel, they must be a high-ranking officer.

"Sir, we've come in peace. After the Broodmother left, we come in to salvage any noteworthy item. We didn't know about Sir's situation, and we humbly apologize for our rude behaviour." The Captain forced his group to bow to the camera with him.

The Captain remained in his stance until his legs started to tremble. The light went on, momentarily blinding the group. The sound of systems proceeding their maintenance filled the Captain with relief.

"Everyone, drop your weapons and take off your goggles."

The group revealed their faces to the officer, though they didn't want to do so. It was better than getting on the bad side of an officer.

The officer remained silent. No matter how long the Captain waited, he couldn't hear anything. Only until he was sweating so much he remembered the last thing.

"Angelica, resume the regular mode."

Angelica changed her manner and relaxed her Fons usage. Though she remained vigilant to the surrounding, she didn't continuously scan for everything in her sight.

"Sir, this android is a newer type of the supportive androids. My apologise for mistaking your intention."

The officer must have been too paranoid about anything potentially dangerous. That should be why he somehow survived inside the Arachna's base.

The Arachna was merely a group of monsters. They couldn't defeat the Great Races despite their overwhelming numerical advantage because they lacked the most fundamental quality of the Great Races: creativity and wisdom.

Even at the highest level, the Arachna, despite having a great mental capacity to command a large group of spiderlings, didn't possess the great quality of creativity and compassion.

Their methods, though effective, remained primitive and ruthless in nature. They lacked emotions and the innate ability to invent.

That was why the Captain was so sure of the identity of the officer. After all, no Arachna would be able to use technology.

Because if an Arachna could do so—it would be a nightmare.

GDLiZy

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