Panshi Fortress, Outer Defense Ring.
Beneath the Blood Moon, the tide of corpses was like ink, and the roars of beasts were like thunder. Rotting ghouls and ferocious mutated beasts converged into viscous torrents of death, madly assaulting the fortress's towering alloy city walls!
The sharp shriek of claws scraping metal, the dull thud of bones striking the gate, mixed with bloodthirsty roars, were like the death knell of hell, making the city walls tremble slightly!
On the city walls, searchlights frantically swept across the surging beast tide!
Wherever the light beams reached, they illuminated countless crimson eyes, drooling fangs, and twisted bodies covered in bone spurs or scales!
"Open fire! Shoot them for me! Aim for the joints! Shoot their legs! Shoot their eyes!"
A military officer, his face covered in blood, roared hoarsely, his voice almost drowned out by the deafening clamor!
Da da da da—!!!
Behind the battlements of the city wall, heavy machine guns spat out scorching tongues of fire!
Metal Storm, like the scythe of the grim reaper, swept fiercely into the beast tide! Bullets tore through rotten flesh! Shattered bones! Splashing blood and minced meat everywhere!
The mutated beasts charging at the front fell like harvested wheat! But... more monsters stepped over the corpses of their companions, continuing their charge fearlessly!
"Armor-piercing rounds! Get the armor-piercing rounds! Target! Bone Armor Corpse Rhino!" The officer pointed down at the city wall, at a huge Corpse Rhino, like a small tank, covered in thick bone armor, madly ramming the gate with its thick horns!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
From higher up on the city wall, the dull sound of sniper rifles rang out! Specially made armor-piercing rounds, with a shrill whistle, accurately shot towards the weak bone seams at the Corpse Rhino's joint connections!
Puchi! Puchi!
Filthy blood splattered! Bone fragments flew! The Corpse Rhino let out a painful roar! Its charging momentum abruptly halted! But... it shook its massive head, and a grayish-white bone callus rapidly formed over the wound!
The fierce light in its crimson eyes intensified! It slammed into the gate again with full force!
Rumble—!!!
The alloy gate groaned under the unbearable strain! The massive dent instantly expanded! Rivets at the connections flew off! Cracks spread like a spiderweb!
"Incendiary bombs! Covering fire!" The officer's eyes were bloodshot!
Whoosh—! Whoosh—! Whoosh—!
Several incendiary bombs, trailing orange-red tails of flame, smashed fiercely into the densest areas of the beast tide!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Blazing fireballs shot into the sky!
Viscous napalm instantly exploded! The shrill howls of beasts were instantly drowned out by the roar of the flames! The acrid smell of burning mixed with the fishy smell of burning flesh permeated the air!
The flames temporarily blocked the assault of the beast tide!
But below the city wall... a thick layer of charred corpses had already piled up! More ghouls and mutated beasts, like an tireless tide, bypassed the sea of fire and continued to surge from both sides!
"Damn it! There are too many! We can't kill them all!" A soldier looked at the endless beast tide below, his voice tinged with despair.
"The inside of the fortress is in chaos! The energy shield is down! Otherwise, these offal wouldn't even reach the city wall!" Another soldier spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
Just then!
Boom—!!!
A terrifying impact, dull to the extreme, as if from deep underground! Mixed with the ear-piercing shriek of twisting and breaking metal! Suddenly came from inside the fortress!
The entire city wall... violently... trembled!
The soldiers lost their footing! Crying out, they grabbed onto the battlements!
"What's going on?!"
"Underground! It's coming from underground!"
"Damn it! What kind of monster... is inside the fortress?!"
Inside the fortress, residential area passage.
The terrifying crashes and metal tearing sounds, like the footsteps of death, grew closer and louder!
Rumble—!!!
A deafening crash! A relatively weak alloy floor in the residential area... suddenly... bulged upwards! As if struck fiercely by an invisible giant hammer! Instantly twisted and deformed! Covered in spiderweb-like cracks!
The next second!
Puchi—!!!
A massive dragon claw, covered in chilling black scales, shimmering with lava-like dark red patterns... like tearing paper!
Forcefully... pierced through the half-meter thick alloy floor! The sharp claw blades gleamed with the cold light of death! Fiercely stabbed into... the space above!
"Roar—!!!"
A roar filled with brutality, majesty, and... endless hunger! Like a furious roar from the abyss! Through the broken opening! Fiercely rushed into the residential area passage!
The terrifying sound waves mixed with a substantial dragon's might! Like an invisible shockwave! Instantly swept through!
In the passage! Several survivors who were fleeing in panic suddenly stiffened! Their eyes instantly became bloodshot! Bulging! Viscous blood oozed from their mouths and noses! Their bodies, like mud... softly collapsed to the ground! Their internal organs... had been shattered!
Immediately after!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The massive dragon claw, covered in black scales! Like the bucket of an excavator! Frantically tore and expanded the hole in the ground! Hard alloy was easily torn, twisted, and sent flying like tofu!
A... massive and... ferocious... head! Slowly... emerged from the broken hole!
A head covered in thick bone armor! Between the bone armor gaps! Two crimson lights, like searchlights, lit up! Cold! Violent! Full of... greedy desire for flesh and blood!
The Dragonborn! It... broke through the underground! Entered... the fortress's residential area!
Its crimson eyes slowly rotated! Scanning this space filled with the aura of fresh life! Deep in its throat... a dark red light... gathered again!
"No—!!!" In the distance! A military officer let out a desperate roar! Raising his rifle, he fired frantically!
Da da da da—!!!
Bullets rained down on the Dragonborn's scaled head and neck! Making crisp clinking sounds! Sending sparks flying! But... not even a single mark was left!
The Dragonborn didn't even... glance at him!
It slowly opened its massive maw! Deep in its throat... that dark red light... instantly... erupted!
Boom—!!!
A viscous, scorching, pungent sulfur-smelling... dark red dragon's breath! Like a high-pressure water cannon! Fiercely sprayed out! Sweeping across the passage ahead!
Chii—!!!
Alloy walls! Instantly corroded! Melted! Dripping like candles! Pipes! Instantly vaporized! Vanished! The ground!
A deep, smoking, charred trench was plowed! On both sides of the trench... were several... bodies... instantly carbonized, leaving only charred skeletons!
Destruction! Absolute destruction!
The Dragonborn's massive body... slowly... crawled out of the broken hole! Its giant feet, covered in black scales, stepped onto the charred ground! Emitting dull thuds! With every step... the ground trembled slightly!
Its crimson eyes... locked onto the end of the passage... that heavy alloy gate leading to... the upper core area!
Hunger! It needed... more... stronger... flesh and blood!
Special Care Ward.
The violent shaking and terrifying roars, like the death knell of the grim reaper, frantically rang in their ears! Inside the ward, the lights flickered wildly! Cracks on the walls spread like living things! Dust and debris fell rustling!
Chen Xue was thrown to the ground by the tremor, her forehead hitting the bed frame, blood flowing down her cheek.
Ignoring the pain, she struggled to crawl towards the bed, clutching Ling Chen's hand tightly, her voice choked with tears and extreme fear: "Ling Chen! Wake up! Please wake up! We... we have to leave here!"
On the bed. Ling Chen was still "unconscious." But the Soul Jade Physique's cold will clearly "saw"... Zhuang Han, transformed into a bone-spiked beast... had already crashed through the fortress's crumbling outer alloy gate!
Like an out-of-control locomotive! It was rampaging inside the fortress! Sending soldiers flying! Tearing ghouls apart! Charging madly... towards the Special Care Ward!
Distance... three hundred meters... two hundred meters... one hundred meters...
The time... had come!
Ling Chen's mind stirred slightly. The Soul Jade Physique's cold will instantly retracted! All simulated weak auras... instantly vanished! Replaced by... a kind of... "lucidity"... like a final burst of energy before death!
He suddenly "opened" his eyes! His gaze "scattered" and "terrified"! His body "trembled" violently!
"Uh... cough cough cough..." He coughed violently, "blood" oozing from the corner of his mouth, his voice "weak" and "hoarse," "Chen... Chen Xue... quick... run... something... something's coming..."
"Ling Chen! You're awake!"
Chen Xue was both surprised and overjoyed, tears instantly welling up, "Don't be afraid! I'll help you up! We..."
Boom—!!!
A deafening crash! The ward's heavy alloy door... as if struck by a cannonball! Suddenly... dented inwards! Deformed! The lock... was forcefully torn apart! Twisted metal, like sharp blades... splattered everywhere!
Amidst the smoke and dust! A... massive, ferocious, bone-spiked... terrifying figure... blocked the doorway!
It was over three meters tall! Like a Giant Lizard standing upright!
Its entire body was covered in ink-jade bone armor! Dagger-sharp bone spurs protruded from its joints!
A monstrous tail covered in grotesque bone ridges dragged behind it! Its scarlet beast eyes were like two blood-red lamps, fixed intently on Ling Chen, who trembled with 'terror' on the hospital bed!
A violent, bloodthirsty, destructive aura, like tangible ice shards, fiercely pierced into the ward!
"Roar—!!!"
The Bone Spiked Beast let out a deafening roar, carrying a terrifying momentum that seemed to tear everything apart! Its massive body suddenly charged into the ward! Its thick bone claws, accompanied by a piercing shriek that ripped through the air, viciously clawed towards Ling Chen on the hospital bed!
"No—!!!" Chen Xue let out a heart-wrenching scream! She threw herself towards Ling Chen without hesitation, trying to block the fatal claws with her body!
But… it was too slow!
Pfft—!!!
The sharp claws passed through Ling Chen's chest without any obstruction, bringing out scalding blood and fragments of shattered internal organs!
"Ugh ah—!!!" Ling Chen let out a tragic, distorted wail! His body, like a broken sack, was fiercely lifted by the bone claws and hoisted into mid-air!
Blood, like a fountain, surged out from the huge bloody hole in his chest, instantly dyeing his hospital gown red, dyeing the Bone Spiked Beast's claws red, and also… dyeing Chen Xue's despairing pupils red!
"Ling Chen—!!!" Chen Xue let out a mournful cry like a cuckoo weeping blood! Her vision went black, and she nearly fainted!
In the Bone Spiked Beast's scarlet beast eyes, a hint of cold… mockery flashed? It suddenly opened its massive, fang-filled maw and bit down fiercely on Ling Chen, who was suspended in mid-air like a rag doll!
Crack—!!!
A teeth-grinding sound of bones shattering rang out!
Ling Chen's… upper body… along with his head… instantly… vanished into… that fang-filled maw!
Blood, like a downpour, sprayed down, splattering Chen Xue's pale face, splattering the pristine white walls, splattering… the cold ground!
The Bone Spiked Beast made a satisfied swallowing sound in its throat! It casually tossed Ling Chen's remaining lower torso, like garbage, onto the ground!
Thud!
That broken, still faintly twitching, blood-soaked lower body slammed heavily in front of Chen Xue! The fractured spine… stark white… pierced through the skin… exposed to the air!
"Uh… uh…" Chen Xue stared blankly at this… hellish scene before her! Meaningless gasps, like an old bellows, escaped her throat! Her pupils… completely lost focus! Her mind… was blank!
Dead…
Ling Chen… was dead…
In front of her… he was… literally… torn apart… and devoured…
"Ah—!!!!!"
A piercing scream, inhuman and filled with extreme pain and despair, suddenly erupted from the depths of Chen Xue's throat! She went mad, throwing herself desperately at the severed torso, hugging it tightly! Tears mixed with the blood on her face… surged down!
"No! No! No! Ling Chen! Ling Chen! Wake up! Wake up!"
She cried out heartbrokenly! Her hands frantically pressed on the bloody, mangled wound, trying to stop the blood that had long ceased flowing! Soft silver light surged wildly from her palms!
It poured into the cold remains, but… it was like a mud ox entering the sea! There was no reaction!
The Bone Spiked Beast coldly glanced at Chen Xue, who was crying over the remains, a hint of imperceptible… indifference flashing in its scarlet beast eyes.
It let out a low roar from its throat, and its massive body suddenly turned, crashing through the broken doorframe and disappearing into the swirling dust and chaos deeper in the corridor!
Mission… complete.
The Boulder Core · Command Center.
On the holographic sandbox, the area representing the special care ward… suddenly… turned a glaring… grey!
"Report! Special care ward… life signs… gone!" A staff officer's cold voice rang out.
"What?!" Qin Weiguo suddenly turned his head, staring intently at the grey area! His eyes were filled with shock and… a hint of unbelievable… doubt!
Ling Chen… was dead?!
That young man, like a ghost, who kept him awake at night… just… died like that?! Torn apart and devoured by a… mutated beast that suddenly broke in?!
It was too… sudden! Too… coincidental!
"Monitor! Retrieve ward surveillance!" Qin Weiguo ordered sharply!
The holographic screen switched! Inside the ward… dust billowed! The image shook violently! Only a blurry view could be seen… a massive Bone Spiked Beast crashing through the door! A claw piercing the chest of the young man on the hospital bed! Lifting him! Then… a massive maw biting down!
Blood splattered! Remains fell! Chen Xue hugged the remains, crying bitterly…
The image… cut off here! The signal… completely disappeared!
"…" Qin Weiguo stared intently at the bloody scene, his brows tightly furrowed. Dead? Really… dead? That guy who could "escape death" under Chu Hang's rules… was just… easily torn apart by a mutated beast?
He always felt… something… wasn't right!
"Commander! The Dragon descendants has broken through to B3 level! It's approaching the energy core!"
Another staff officer's urgent report interrupted his thoughts!
"Damn it!"
Qin Weiguo snapped back to attention! A hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes! Whether Ling Chen was truly dead or faking it! Now… they had to deal with the… bigger threat… at hand!
"Activate the 'Furnace' protocol!" Qin Weiguo's voice was cold, carrying an undeniable resolve, "Target! B3 level! Dragon descendants! Melt… it… for me!"
The Boulder · B3 Level · Outer Passage of the Energy Core.
The Dragon descendants's massive body slowly moved through the passage.
Each time its giant foot, covered in black scales, landed, the ground trembled slightly, leaving a deep, scorched-edged footprint—that was the corrosive residue of Dragon's Breath.
Its scarlet eyes swept over the heavy alloy gate ahead, which shimmered with energy. Behind the gate… came an extremely pure, extremely vast… energy fluctuation!
Delicious! The ultimate… deliciousness!
Deep in its throat… a dark red glow… began to gather again!
Just then!
Buzz—!!!
The walls on both sides of the passage! The ceiling! The ground! Instantly… countless dazzling blue light beams lit up! The light beams intertwined, forming a huge, three-dimensional grid that covered the entire passage!
Immediately after!
Sizzle—!!!
Countless high-energy plasma beams, as thick as an arm and flickering with a ghostly blue electric arc, erupted like a torrential downpour from the grid nodes, fiercely shooting towards the Dragon descendants in the center of the passage!
Plasma beams! Temperatures exceeding a million degrees! Enough to instantly vaporize steel!
However!
The surface of the Dragon descendants's massive body! The black scales covering its entire body! Instantly… lit up!
Countless tiny, living-like dark red patterns frantically flowed beneath the scales, forming an invisible energy barrier!
Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!!!
The high-energy plasma beams violently struck the energy barrier, emitting a harsh electrical hissing sound! Ghostly blue electric light flickered wildly!
Like countless venomous snakes tearing at it! The energy barrier fluctuated violently, flickering on and off! The dark red patterns on the scale surface flashed madly! Some scale edges even… began to… faintly redden! Soften!
But… the barrier… did not break!
A hint of… rage… flashed in the Dragon descendants's scarlet eyes!
It suddenly looked up! Facing the ceiling area where the energy grid was densest, it opened its massive maw!
Boom—!!!
Dark red Dragon's Breath! Like a destructive torrent! Fiercely sprayed out! Instantly engulfing that area!
Hiss—!!!
The alloy ceiling melted like butter, dripping! The energy grid instantly twisted, broke, and extinguished, revealing the complex pipes and circuits behind it!
The Dragon's Breath, its momentum undiminished, slammed heavily into the alloy gate at the end of the passage!
Rumble—!!!
The gate trembled violently!
Its surface instantly scorched! Melted! A huge dent appeared! But… inside the gate… the thick energy shield… still stubbornly… glowed!
"Roar—!!!"
The Dragon descendants let out a roar filled with anger! Clearly… this gate… was more solid… than it had imagined!
Its scarlet eyes rotated! It seemed… to be weighing! To be thinking!
Deep in the passage… that pure energy fluctuation… tempted it!
But… this turtle shell… and those annoying energy beams… made it feel… a hint of… threat!
Its massive body… slowly took a step back! Its scarlet eyes stared intently at the scorched gate! Deep in its throat… the dark red glow… began to… slowly gather again! This time… the light was more condensed! More… scorching!
It was going to… charge up! A single blow… to break the gate!