Chapter 2833: Sucking The wounds caused by the light beams healed at a visible speed! “Bang! Bang! Bang!!” The Licker group endured the beam fire, rapidly charging towards the defensive shields raised by the players at the front lines! The Lickers’ sharp claws scraped across the alloy shields, sparking with a sizzling sound, and the massive impact force sent the shield-bearing players flying backward! “Chi! Chi!!!” Two Lickers on the right side quickly darted through the broken defense and dragged the players who had been knocked down into the sand, disappearing completely. The other players could not react in time and watched helplessly as their comrades were swallowed by the desert! Cold sweat drenched the players. In just half a minute of fighting, two comrades were already missing, their fates unknown. Wayne had never encountered such terrifying mutant worm creatures. Each mutant worm’s strength level had already surpassed that of an elite-level creature! As the players’ defense line was instantly torn apart, Wayne hastily took an energy grenade from his backpack and threw it in the direction of the approaching creatures. “Bang!!!” The energy bomb exploded, sending an invisible shockwave rippling outward. Affected by the shockwave, a large portion of the Licker group was momentarily stunned. “Run!” Wayne shouted, then turned and fled. The rest of the mercenary players immediately started running for their lives. At this point, they didn’t care about formations! Anyone who ran slower would die! Several Lickers, stunned by the shockwave, stood frozen for 5 seconds before immediately recovering and continuing to chase after Wayne’s team. D*mn! Wayne looked back after running for a while and saw a vast, brownish sea of mutant worm creatures rapidly closing in on them. There were at least three or four hundred of them! What kind of monsters were these?! What was even more terrifying was that they moved incredibly fast on the sand! The gap between the two sides was rapidly shrinking! Players who ran slower would be tackled by numerous Lickers and dragged into the sand, disappearing without a trace. The once hundred-strong team lost over ten more players to the mutant worms as they were tackled and dragged into the sand during the escape. As the rear of their large group was once again about to be overtaken by the mutant worm swarm, Wayne gritted his teeth and threw another shockwave bomb behind them. “Boom!!!” The shockwave bombs were the latest technology provided by the ship, and their quantity was limited. They were worth 100,000 credits each, and they were effective against mutant worm creatures. Despite their high price, there was no market for them outside; the ship provided only a small number, and once they were available, players would rush to buy them, reselling them at ten times the price. Wayne had only exchanged three of them in preparation for unforeseen circumstances. The only thing Wayne felt lucky about now was that they hadn’t ventured too deep into the desert. As long as they could leave the desert region, they would be safe! In the face of the crisis, Wayne used all three shockwave bombs and managed to escape to the desert’s edge. The other players followed, each of them leaving the desert region, feeling as though they had narrowly escaped death. They collapsed, sitting in the woods outside the desert, panting heavily. Looking back, the mutant worm creatures gradually dispersed once they reached the edge of the desert and disappeared back into the sand. Wayne calmed himself and looked around. His face was pale with fear. Out of a large mercenary team of over a hundred members, fewer than fifty had managed to escape safely! Another mercenary commander walked over to Wayne, eyeing the calm desert with growing suspicion. “Those monsters… I don’t think they appeared for no reason…” “Yeah…” Wayne gazed at the desert ahead, his eyes filled with deep fear. No wonder they hadn’t seen any Burrowing Sand Locusts—there were far more terrifying creatures lurking in the desert. But it was strange. Why were they the only ones attacked? Wu Xiao’s group had also ventured into the desert region, yet they hadn’t been attacked by the mutant worm creatures. Could it be… They had a way of avoiding the mutant worm creatures? Had they known about the threat in advance, which is why they hadn’t wanted to bring them deeper into the desert? A flash of anger appeared in Wayne’s eyes. D*mn Wu Xiao! “This can’t be left like this!” Wayne gritted his teeth, looking at the other two commanders who had suffered heavy losses. He signaled to his trusted subordinates and instructed, “Go find Arkley, tell him we’ll agree to his terms! Have him come over immediately!” “Yes! I will contact him right away!” At the same time, in the desert, Wu Xiao and his group saw Wayne’s team, which had nearly been wiped out by the Licker swarm. A chill ran down their spines. Such terrifying creatures! They were lucky they hadn’t listened to Wayne’s persuasion to let him guide them; otherwise, they’d probably be in the same, if not worse, situation as Wayne’s team. … An hour later. Inside the spirit crystal mine cavern. Fang Heng’s palm, which was holding the gemstone, crumbled into dust and quickly dissolved into the air. [Hint: The player’s zombie clone has completed the refining of the spirit gemstone, and the player has obtained S-level spirit gemstone*1.] [Hint: The player absorbs the power of the spirit gemstone (Quality: S), gaining high-tier psychic experience +2891.] [Hint: The player’s high-tier psychic level has reached the maximum, and the player can no longer gain more skill experience. Please try to level up skills.] [Hint: The player has triggered the academic advancement mission-Master-level psychic progression.] Mission name: Psychic Master Advancement. Mission type: Academic advancement mission. Mission description: On your journey to mastering psychic powers, you feel that you have hit another bottleneck. Please find ten SS-level spirit gemstones and successfully pass the psychic storm to complete the master-level psychic progression. “Master-level…” Fang Heng glanced at the game hint and muttered to himself quietly. This was going to be tough. The gemstone refining skill would only max out at S-level spirit gemstones. To level up gemstone quality further, other methods would be required. He couldn’t obtain them at the moment. That being said, if he wanted to advance quickly, he would have to return to the ship and exchange it for the master-level skill book. Speaking of which, he had been grinding for so long, so he should have accumulated a fair number of contribution points and S-level spirit gemstones. Exchanging for a master-level skill advancement book shouldn’t be a problem, right? Let’s check the situation. Fang Heng stood up. Not far away, a box was filled with S-level spirit gemstones. Typically, about a ton of ore could yield 0.5 S-level spirit gemstones after refining. Fang Heng estimated that exchanging for the master-level skill advancement book was definitely feasible. Nearby, Zaka and the others were still sorting gemstones. Zaka was drenched in sweat. Goodness, this was far more tiring than sorting deliveries! In the beginning, since the zombie team was small and the mined ore was limited, Zaka could still chat and joke while taking his time. But as the multi-functional combat shovels arrived and Fang Heng’s Licker proliferators started appearing, Zaka was now exhausted and couldn’t even speak. Around the three of them, piles of crystal ore had stacked up into small hills.