Entering the Southriver Underground Palace

Leon Liu and Max Lin survived because they were both wearing mechs. Of course, another squad leader was also wearing a mech, but he died inside the underground palace.

The meeting was suspended, and everyone moved to the hospital.

Looking at the twenty-eight special police corpses, everyone felt extremely heavy-hearted.

So far, the hospital still hasn’t found the cause of death.

Half an hour later, everyone returned to the conference room.

This time, Director Arthur Chen didn’t shout about sending everyone down into the underground palace, because if more deaths occurred, he’d also be partly responsible.

“Captain Zhou, what do you think we should do about this?” Henry Yun asked Ryan Zhou. He was also a major, on the same rank as Ryan, but in terms of authority, he was the top official in Southriver County, while Ryan was just a battalion captain. So Henry had more power, but now, by asking Ryan’s opinion, it was clear he didn’t want to take the lead anymore.

“Use the city artillery!” Ryan Zhou said gravely.

Director Chen hesitated, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

“Captain, why not let me take the Mech Squad down and give it a try?” Ian Song suddenly spoke up.

“Landon, this mission won’t be easy!” Ryan Zhou said seriously.

“Haha, this officer really has guts!” Arthur Chen said with a laugh.

“Shut up, or I’ll drag you down there with us!” Ian Song shot him a disgusted look.

“...You...!”

Director Chen’s face turned bright red on the spot, his eyes now full of resentment.

Ian Song continued, “Captain, both Deputy Leon Liu and Captain Max Lin went down into the underground palace before, but they were fine. This shows that as long as we’re wearing mechs, we can avoid being affected by the mysterious substance inside. So our Mech Squad can give it a try!”

Ryan Zhou hesitated for a moment, then said, “Alright, you lead the Mech Squad down and give it a try, but don’t push it—if things get dangerous, pull out immediately!”

Ten minutes later, at the construction site above the underground palace, Ian Song stood in front of the ten Mech Squad members, giving a briefing.

His gaze swept over everyone, and he said firmly, “This mission concerns the honor of our Mech Squad, so we have to get it done. But this time, it’s dangerous—if anyone wants to back out, now’s your chance!”

No one said a word.

"Since that's the case, suit up!"

The next moment, Ian Song and the others each took out the mech helmet from their cases and put them on. Instantly, a thin layer of mech armor wrapped around everyone.

"Move out!"

Ian Song waved his hand and led the ten squad members to a pit about five or six meters deep.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped right in.

Hugh Xu and the others quickly followed, jumping in after him.

The pit was connected to a tunnel, three meters wide and over ten meters deep. Strange stone carvings lined both sides of the tunnel walls.

Soon, the eleven of them reached the end of the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel was a stone gate over three meters tall. It had already been blown open, and beyond it was a spacious circular hall.

According to the previous video, this was where the special police fought the giant rats and giant snakes.

"Everyone, stay sharp!"

Ian Song called out softly, then picked up a stone and threw it ahead.

"Pa!"

The sound of the stone echoed through the hall.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

A chorus of rat noises rang out. Suddenly, packs of giant gray rats, each the size of a mongrel dog, surged from the connecting tunnels and charged straight at Ian Song and the squad.

"Attack!"

A golden long blade and a golden shield appeared in Ian Song’s hands—standard weapons equipped with the mech armor.

With a sweeping slash, he decapitated the three giant rats charging at the front.

Seeing this, the ten squad members were instantly invigorated. Each of them leapt forward, forming a fan-shaped formation with Ian Song as they began to advance.

The cold weapons built into the mechs were extremely sharp—even the gray rat hide, which couldn’t be pierced by lasers, was easily cut through.

In just a minute, under Ian Song’s lead, they slaughtered over a hundred giant gray rats.

Above the underground palace, Ryan Zhou and the others couldn’t help but cheer at the sight—the Mech Squad’s combat power was truly formidable.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!"

Even after killing over a hundred giant gray rats, their numbers didn’t dwindle. Instead, more poured in from the tunnels, swelling to over a thousand and putting immense pressure on the Mech Squad—they could barely hold their ground and couldn’t advance any further.

Suddenly, Ian Song made a strange sound.

Immediately, the hundred or so giant gray rats at the front all turned around and began frantically attacking their own kind.

"That’s hypnosis!"

"My god, Landon Lu actually hypnotized over a hundred giant rats at once!"

"His hypnosis skill is truly amazing!"

The crowd above the underground palace was stunned by this scene, except for Ryan Zhou, who wore a satisfied smile. He knew that after taking three bottles of Psychic Solution, Landon Lu’s mental power had definitely increased.

Whether it had reached 3 points or 4, he wasn’t sure.

Over two hundred giant gray rats were tearing each other apart, blocking the way for those behind.

For a moment, the Mech Squad finally caught a breather.

"Vice-Captain Lu, your hypnosis skill is incredible!" Leo Li shouted in praise.

"Enough flattery. Stay alert—the giant snakes haven’t appeared yet!" Ian Song reminded.

Five minutes later, the hundred-plus hypnotized giant gray rats had won the fight, but only about fifty remained.

"Kill them!"

Ian Song charged forward, his blade flashing as he cut down three hypnotized giant gray rats. The rest of the squad followed, swinging their blades. Since the rats didn’t flee or dodge, they were all wiped out in less than ten breaths.

But as soon as those rats were dead, more giant gray rats surged forward.

Ian Song repeated his trick, hypnotizing another hundred-plus giant gray rats at the front. They turned and attacked their own kind once more.

In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed. The corpses of giant gray rats in the hall numbered over a thousand, and the air was thick with the stench of blood. Fortunately, everyone was wearing mechs and couldn’t smell a thing.

During that half hour, more than two thousand giant gray rats flooded into the hall, their green eyes glowing eerily. The sight made everyone in the Mech Squad’s scalp tingle.

"Fall back—retreat to the hall entrance!" Ian Song ordered.

As the squad retreated to the entrance, more than ten giant black snakes appeared. Each was over ten meters long, their bodies covered in black scales—they looked terrifying.

"Perfect timing!"

Ian Song uttered a string of strange syllables. Immediately, the giant black snakes plunged into the rat horde and started attacking them.

The giant snakes were incredibly powerful—one bite killed a rat, and a single swipe of their tails sent whole swaths of giant gray rats flying.