Following the tracks relentlessly, York finally stopped the car and got out when he couldn't proceed further.
He looked down the road, glanced at the woman sleeping in the back seat, locked the car, and made sure it was secure.
The modified Ford Raptor was already top-notch in bulletproof material, hardly breakable by ordinary means. The woman was safer inside the car than anywhere else.
"Next is…"
Observing the chaotic footprints about five or six meters away, York proceeded without any equipment except for a Linebaugh revolver, a grenade belt, and a knight's sword. He followed the tracks forward.
The task, worth only two points, didn't require much preparation.
As he reached this place, different footprints began to emerge and increase in number.
"It seems that woman is part of an expedition team?"
Noticing the growing number of footprints, York had an epiphany and continued his pursuit.
Trekking through the dense forest, without any intention to hide, it was actually quite difficult to completely erase footprints and other traces.
Following more and more spider trails and horse tracks, York swiftly made his way through the jungle, arriving at a new location.
A giant cave, resembling the gaping maw of an abyss, appeared before him.
The end of the footprints was right at the edge of the cave, with some items and equipment left on top. It was not hard to imagine that this was the destination. York walked forward to the edge and looked down.
The cave was vast, with a wild and dark expanse that was perfect for exploration.
Seeing the rope nailed to the ground, York commented in his mind, kicking a stone and sending it flying.
As the stone fell, the sound echoed back, and the real-time 3D map in his mind instantly changed.
York became an omniscient observer, controlling the situation beneath the cave.
"About forty meters deep, nothing detected. Is this a lair of some underground creature?"
The thought passed, and York grabbed the rope and leaped down, using the rope's tension to abruptly stop two-thirds of the way down before releasing his grip to land.
He landed smoothly after just a few maneuvers.
Dark red mana spread across his eyes instantly, and York was captivated by his surroundings.
The expedition team indeed knew where to explore.
The cave floor was covered with dry leaves and rocks, seemingly untouched by humans, making it look utterly wild.
However, York soon noticed something unusual.
Red marks appeared on a rock wall.
They were the shape of a bloodied handprint.
"Only four fingers?"
Just then, a squeaking sound erupted.
The real-time 3D map changed, and a swarm of bats flew chaotically towards him from the cracks in the rock.
York waved his hand, conjuring a force in the void, instantly blocking the bats flying towards him.
Squeaking, the bats hit an invisible wall, falling to the ground, unable to reach York at the center.
"According to the different footprints recorded, this expedition team should have five or six members."
York looked towards a narrow opening on the right.
Surveying the surroundings, he noticed only this one exit.
There were footprints beneath it.
York pondered for a moment, then slowly approached.
The task was to annihilate completely, probably meaning he was to kill all the monsters here, and the reward of just two points indicated that he could do as he pleased.
So there was nothing to consider.
Without entering the tiger's den, one cannot get its cubs. He was someone who not only could enter the tiger's den to get its cubs but also kill the tiger.
The only unknown was whether the others, besides the woman in the car, were already dead.
York quickly found the answer.
Passing through the dim narrow passage, he entered a semi-dry, semi-wet chamber. He could hear the sound of underground water and see, with his mana-enhanced eyes, a bleeding limb five or six meters away on the left.
With his senses fully open, the real-time 3D map in his mind instantly changed.
York swiftly drew his gun and fired at the upper corner on the left.
Bang!
Fire erupted in the dark chamber.
There were no screams, only the sound of something falling to the ground.
"Can it climb walls like a gecko?"
Remembering the human-shaped figure clinging to the wall on the 3D map, York approached it.
Mana spread across his eyes, piercing the darkness, revealing what he had hit.
It was a creature with pale skin, completely naked, with facial features similar to a monkey.
No, it couldn't be called human. Sharp fangs, arms and legs almost the same length, and those sharp nails clearly weren't benign.
"Goblin? Gargoyle? Cave-dweller?"
York overlaid all possible likenesses he could think of.
At the same time, he noticed the creature's fused eyelids, sensing something.
If these creatures lived in such pitch-dark caves, then useless vision would naturally degenerate, while useful features would evolve to adapt to the environment.
Like hearing, smell…
Glancing at the creature's slightly flattened ears, York deduced this.
"In that case, there's no need to venture deeper. Making noise will naturally attract more creatures."
York looked around, spotted only a narrow crack, and decided against exploring further.
Too troublesome. Considering the bloody limb seen earlier, the expedition team was probably wiped out; he had no reason to go deeper.
Thinking this, York used his telekinesis to lift a stone and threw it against the rock wall.
With his strength, he could easily make a loud noise.
And he did. The air burst as the stone shattered against the hard rock, causing a loud noise.
In an instant, York's real-time 3D map changed drastically.
Within fifty meters, the map showed one humanoid figure after another crouching in the crevices or crawling on the walls.
"So it's a den of creatures, even capable of breeding? There are both large and small ones." York instantly fired a shot into a right-side crevice with his Linebaugh revolver.
Bang!
Blood and debris burst out of the crevice.
Simultaneously, it wasn't just one creature approaching. York could see other creatures rapidly advancing on the walls without needing the 3D map.
"Four of them?"
York remained calm, standing still, only his right hand moving.
He aimed the Linebaugh revolver at the nearest creature and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The creature clinging to the wall above had its head blown off, its body tumbling down.
York's actions didn't stop. He swiftly moved the gun to aim at another creature on the right.
Bang!
A bright flash, and the creature's upper body was obliterated.
With a muffled sound, York shifted the gun again.
Bang!
The fate of the third creature was no different from the first two. Under the .50 caliber holy bullet, they were all blown apart.
The gun, originally designed to hunt large animals and enhanced with magic, was naturally doubly powerful.
After using five bullets, two more creatures shrieked and rushed at York.
The first one leaped.
In the pitch-black darkness, York calmly drew his knight's sword, simply raising it and chopping down.
A basic chop split the airborne creature in two.
Blood sprayed out but was repelled by an invisible force.
Whoosh!
With the slicing sword followed by a piercing thrust, York's strength flowed to the sword tip, his arm and the blade forming a straight line.
At the end of the sword tip was the forehead of the last attacking creature.
A simple, straightforward thrust.
York calmly withdrew his sword as the creature fell backward.
In the cave, now filled with the corpses of the creatures, York stood undisturbed. He had completed his objective efficiently. There was no sign of the remaining expedition team members, and it was clear from the situation that they had likely met a grim fate.
Satisfied with the elimination of the threat, York turned to leave the cave. His mission was accomplished, and there was no further reason to linger. The dark, foreboding depths of the cave had revealed their secrets, and York had once again proven his capabilities in the face of danger and the unknown.
Stepping out of the cave, he was greeted by the faint light of the outside world, a stark contrast to the darkness he had just conquered. York's thoughts were already on his next move, considering the implications of what he had discovered and dealt with in the depths of the cave. The world was full of mysteries and dangers, and he was more than ready to face them head-on.
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