Chapter 177: The True Dangerous Predator
The transport plane, carrying a joint assault team of 15 people, arrived over the ruins of the research institute.
Bang bang bang!
Jubian and Black Smoke operated the turrets on both sides of the fuselage, breaking off the thinner branches at higher elevations, opening a “skylight” in the forest. This allowed radio waves from below to transmit upwards, eliminating communication blind spots.
Afterward, Lu Yuan and 14 team members rappelled down to a nearby thick branch.
This time, Cangyuan’s team increased to 7 members, adding Black Smoke and Jubian. They wore heavy firepower power armor, and their primary mission was support. They were not equipped with close-combat weapons, and the operating difficulty was relatively low.
Rita carefully observed the front, and all other team members quieted down. For a moment, only the chirping of various animals could be heard in the jungle.
“Damn it—”
She cursed under her breath.
“That’s the safe path we scouted earlier,” she pointed into the distance, “The roof had a hole, but now it’s completely collapsed…”
“Is there another way?” Lu Yuan asked.
“Yes, the entrance passage on the first floor of the building below, but as you can see, it’s very dangerous.”
Guarding both sides of the passage entrance were two massive, pure white monsters.
Based on the information previously shared by Emerald Life Science, Lu Yuan recognized them as two “Whip Wielderss,” a type of sub-apex predator on Emerald Star.
They were mammalian-like quadrupeds, 5 meters long, weighing nearly 10 tons, with well-developed muscles, elongated heads, and astonishing biting power.
The most prominent feature of the Whip Responders’ appearance was their extremely long tail, which was more than four times their body length. At this moment, it was raised high like a cobra, constantly adjusting its posture.
“Whip Wielderss have a large number of biological sensors on the tip of their tails, allowing them to hear heartbeats from a great distance,” Rita said with a troubled expression. “Our current position is already close to the edge of being discovered.”
“Then let’s make it quick. Two should be manageable.”
Lu Yuan stared down, already contemplating tactics in his mind.
“Absolutely not!”
Rita was startled by such a statement.
“Whip Wielderss are no longer traditional carbon-based life forms. They have a habit of devouring metal, and every muscle on their body is covered with an armor-like keratin layer, whose molecular structure is very similar to the metal-ceramic on your power armor. Additionally, their tails can deploy a large number of tungsten carbide blades, making their cutting power extremely formidable. Moreover, these two are nest guardians, exceptionally strong. They possess optical camouflage abilities, yet now they are displaying their most conspicuous white color. Do you know what this means?”
Lu Yuan nodded.
“They are confident in their strength. This is a warning to other creatures in the vicinity not to approach the nest.”
“It’s mainly a warning to us.”
Rita lowered her head, her voice despondent.
“Our ancestors had skirmishes with Whip Wielderss and couldn’t gain any advantage. After that, these beasts evolved this habit—”
Ye Xing clicked his tongue.
Does this mean they’re too lazy to kill, and are using their body color to tell us to get lost?
Humans are having a pretty rough time on this Emerald Star...
Lu Yuan understood that the mission passed down by their ancestors had become a culture, even a belief, for the native inhabitants of Emerald Star.
However, after four centuries, this mission had made no progress, which surely affected their morale. A sense of apprehension was inevitable.
Moreover, the natives could not revive, so they could not be forced to match the players in terms of courage. Reckless bravery would only result in needless loss of personnel.
“If the upcoming battle doesn’t go smoothly, then you take the field team and get out of here.”
Lu Yuan walked to the edge of the branch, looking down at the clearing below, which was about to become a battlefield.
Rita hesitated, her feelings conflicted.
On one hand, after these past few days of interaction, she knew that the Executive Officer was a good person, genuinely wanting to help her, and she felt ashamed to show timidity in front of him.
But on the other hand, in her perception, the reason he was so confident was simply because he hadn’t yet experienced the true cruel side of Emerald Star.
While she hesitated, Lu Yuan had already completed his tactical deployment, splitting the seven-person team into three groups.
“Let’s begin!”
He, Guo Li Cheng, and Ma Lou formed one group, leaping down from above and disappearing into the dense jungle.
At the same time, Ye Xing and Grassland pushed their flight packs to maximum output, diving down at a 45-degree angle.
“Hey! You little brats!”
The two hovered in mid-air, using ranged weapons to launch a preemptive strike, starting with a powerful taunt.
Gunfire was dense, but the results were mediocre.
Only the first few 20mm explosive rounds hit their targets. Although the two monsters were massive, they were extremely agile and immediately leaped aside.
They were animals after all, and upon such provocation, they immediately became enraged, letting out deafening roars to the sky.
Immediately afterward, they coiled their long tails under their bellies, and after gathering momentum, they pushed down sharply, exerting force in sync with their strong legs, leaping high into the air. They curled their bodies in mid-air, swinging their tails out like long whips.
From the gaps in the armor plates on the latter half of the tail, a large number of tungsten carbide blades popped out.
Their ability to strike, cut, and strangle with thousands of tons of force using their tails was precisely how the Whip Wielderss got their name!
“What a flying chainsaw…”
Seeing this, Ye Xing and Grassland quickly dodged to either side.
The team’s flight packs had all been replaced from lift fans to rocket engines. Although the continuous usage time was greatly reduced, the thrust was stronger, and maneuverability was enhanced.
Crack!
The two 20-meter-long tails struck with astonishing force, but they missed, their tips breaking the sound barrier and producing a thunder-like sonic boom.
They leaped onto a giant tree, using its thick main trunk as a landing point, intending to repeat the same tactic for another high-altitude interception.
The two in the air, following the tactics deployed by Lu Yuan, flew to a sufficiently thick horizontal branch.
The two Whip Wielderss leaped one after another.
According to the intelligence provided by Emerald Life Science, these monsters had habits somewhat similar to gibbons, preferring to swing through the jungle, constantly moving and changing position and height, seeking weaknesses in their prey from different angles.
They didn't use their arms to grasp branches, but their exceptionally strong long tails.
Ye Xing and Grassland’s levels were not for show; their reaction speed was fast enough, and they successfully dodged again. The Whip Wielderss, who had missed their targets, performed the action Lu Yuan had predicted, intending to hook onto the giant tree’s branches with their long tails.
Animal hunting habits are an instinct, difficult to change.
“Now!”
Following the Executive Officer’s command, Jubian and Black Smoke, who had been inactive until then, opened fire. Several smart missiles whistled out from their packs, heading straight for the branches that the monsters were about to latch onto.
Boom!
Fireballs rose, and splinters of wood flew everywhere.
After the explosion, two branches were blown off. The Whip Wielderss suddenly lost their footing, lost balance in mid-air, and fell downwards along a parabolic trajectory.
The trajectory of this unpowered fall was easy to calculate. Lu Yuan, with Ma Lou and Guo Li Cheng, had already ambushed themselves along the inevitable path of one of the Whip Wielderss.
“Go!”
Their flight packs activated, emitting long tail flames, and the three simultaneously took off from behind the thick leaves, charging head-on in a trident formation towards the falling Whip Wielders.
Lu Yuan, holding his “Dragon Breath” shotgun, opened fire from 100 meters away from the target.
“!!!”
The monster’s agonizing scream echoed through the jungle. This shot hit its face directly, instantly vaporizing at least 5 centimeters deep of its hard facial armor and flesh with the plasma light ball, revealing carbonized and necrotic deep muscles underneath. In some areas, the skull bone was directly exposed, making for a truly gruesome sight.
In intense pain, the Whip Wielders twisted its body wildly, swinging its long tail, but this mid-air swing couldn’t generate full force and was easily dodged by Guo Li Cheng, who had the most rocket-boosted flight combat experience in all of Cangyuan.
Then, she swung her sword, precisely aiming for the joint between two armor plates at the base of the monster’s tail.
These gaps in the armor plates, which were not embedded with tungsten carbide blades, were one of the few weaknesses on the Whip Wielders’s body.
“Taste my sword, ahhhhh!!!”
Although Guo Li Cheng was a female player, the intensity of her ear-splitting battle cry, or rather, ear-drum attack, was second to none.
With the aid of wrist-mounted booster rockets and chest-mounted amplification capacitors, she knew this electrically overloaded sword strike would definitely be a critical hit, and its power would be astonishing.
Crack!
The sound of vaporized muscle and broken bones was so melodious and delightful, completely exciting Guo Li Cheng.
This was the feeling!
With just one sword strike, the Whip Wielders’s tail was completely severed.