Chapter 64: Who’s The Trapped Beast
The drugs wouldn’t take effect this quickly; the forest was really big after all. It was entirely possible that many of these flying ants wouldn’t run into those people at all. However, if even one flying ant had managed to reach them, then a chain reaction would be triggered.
Without backup, Cillin’s preliminary work must suffice in order to seize victory in this hunt. Along the way, whenever he ran into a flying ant’s nest, he would spray the solution so that the insects would carry the crystallized drugs into the deeper parts of the forest, enlarging his chances of success.
Cillin was not in a hurry. ‘Black Thorn’ hadn’t told him to do anything specific within the hour, so he spent it doing preparatory work patiently instead.
Cillin had not spent more than fifty minutes from the moment he received the message to the point he slipped into the woods. His travelling speed was at least twice as fast as Seven Light’s direct train. The spot marked on the map was deep inside the forest. It was impossible to reach that location in ten minutes, and that was obviously not his opponent’s objective either. The reason they told Cillin an hour was just to prevent him from calling in reinforcements. They would not pay heed to Theresa as long as Cillin showed up in their radar within the hour. After all, Cillin was the one they’re gunning for.
They left him no means of communication. They did not show up to explain things, negotiate, or follow up on the communication even though they obviously knew of Cillin’s arrival at the forest. They had only one objective, and that was to kill Cillin. Every other place in Seven Lights was tightly watched by the police. This was the only and best place to resolve their conflict.
Time passed by slowly, but Eagle Thorn found no traces of Cillin anywhere at all. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. Seeing nothing amiss in his surroundings, Eagle Thorn got ready to contact his other companions. However, when he lifted his arm he realized that there were a few flying ants on it. He shook his arm slightly to shake them off, but this was just the beginning. The flying ants flew towards him one after another. His elbow, his pants, his back, his mask; the flying ants were starting to drop all over himself.
Because this operation was carried out too hastily, they knew nothing about this particular forest. Eagle Thorn thought that he might have accidentally ran into a flying ant nest and retreated a few dozen meters towards the back. But the situation did not improve, and there were more and more flying ants landing on his mask, severely disrupting his vision. He was just about to wipe them off when suddenly, warning bells began to ring at the back of his head. This was an instinct that was bred through many years of experience.
Eagle Thorn swiftly leaped away from his original spot and made a few dodging movements along the way. However, the angle of the needles flying towards him was so tricky, so swift, and not even travelling in a straight line that, even though he managed to avoid the first few needles, one of them still managed to cut through his skin and left two holes in his camouflage suit.
It was a three prong needle with three sharp points. However, when the needles pierced into the trees or slammed into rocks, they shattered before slowing melting into nothingness.
While Eagle Thorn was moving swiftly, he took out some meds and sprayed them on his wound. The meds quickly formed a film that sealed the wound and kept the smell of blood from spreading. It also controlled the wound within the area, so even if the needles were poisoned, the poison would not spread too quickly.
Eagle Thorn’s reactions could only be described as swift. His movements were skillful and he made almost no noise as well. After dodging nimbly a few times, he hid behind a big tree and kept watch of any surrounding movements.
He still hadn’t found his enemy!
Eagle Thorn did not dare act carelessly. These days people preferred guns over other weaponry, and even the ‘Black Thorn’ preferred to use guns to take care of their targets. However, Eagle Thorn also knew that anyone who could use archaic hidden weapon like this was not easy pickings either. In fact, Eagle Thorn felt that Cillin was more of a killer than they were; stealthy, calm, hiding at an even darker place while watching them.
However, Eagle Thorn only paid attention to Cillin and ignored the flying ants that were landing on him one after another. His wound was sealed with the medicine alright, but the two holes in his camouflage suit gave way to convenience for the flying ants.
Eagle Thorn himself was slowly starting to feel that something was wrong. The itch and pain brought by the biting ants were starting to spread throughout his entire body. One after another, the flying ants began landing on Eagle Thorn in search of entry points such as his shoes, pants, the needle holes etc and slipped inside them.
To prevent himself from being sneaked upon once more, Eagle Thorn endured the discomforting mix of pain and itch, forcing himself to calm down and ignore these sensations. However, it only grew more and more out of control. Eagle Thorn hoped that Cillin could act quicker so that he’d have a chance to move and get rid of these flying ants, but since the first attack, there hadn’t been any movement at all from Cillin. It was as if he was a Hunter quietly watching his prey struggling to escape its predicament.
The flying ants’ toxin wasn’t lethal, but it could irritate a person’s nerves and cause them to feel restless. Right now Eagle Thorn was obviously edging towards that result.
Eagle Thorn knew that his enemy was just waiting for that one fatal opening where he failed to endure the sensation and lose control, but this sensation of being bitten alive by thousands of flying ants was truly worse than death. An average person would have lost control a long time ago and rather kill themselves than withstand this torture.
The inside of Eagle Thorn’s mask was completely drenched with sweat. The toxin was already starting to irritate his nerves, and he didn’t know how much longer he could endure this. Making up his mind, Eagle Thorn gritted his teeth, sucked in a deep breath and abruptly zipped towards the far distance, running in an irregular pattern to make it harder for his enemy to lock him down.
Let’s get away and get rid of these ants inside my clothes first. Otherwise, if this continues, the one who loses this fight will definitely be me.
A flying ant bit open the breathing hole of his mask and crawled inside it. It slipped into Eagle Thorn’s nostrils and caused his running footsteps to pause just a moment. It was also at this instant a needle pierced through his throat.
The fresh blood caused the flying ants to grow even more excited because there was a smell that they liked inside the flowing blood. More and more flying ants landed on Eagle Thorn, covering the surface of his body in dense masses.
Shortly after, Eagle Thorn stopped breathing.
It was only after determining that Eagle Thorn had lost his life that Cillin had slipped out and arrived beside Eagle Thorn.
Eagle Thorn was wearing a special camouflage suit that blocked infrared thermal imaging and automatically changes colors according to the environment. There was a silencer on Eagle Thorn’s hand that Cillin chose not to touch. The gun was modified before, and there was a mini self-destruct device installed inside it. Cillin had no intentions of keeping a bomb beside him.
Cillin found yet another sonic gun from Eagle Thorn’s body, and after giving it a look he decided to keep it. This one’s safe.
Deep within the forest, Tiger Thorn’s expression was extremely dark and gloomy. This was because the dot representing Eagle Thorn on his biomonitor the size of a pocket watch in his hand had extinguished, indicating that Eagle Thorn had died.
“Eagle Thorn’s down!”
“How is that possible!” Brown Thorn ran over and glanced at the biomonitor in Tiger Thorn’s hands. Seeing the extinguished dot, Brown Thorn paused and said, “I’ll deal with the bastard.” If even Eagle Thorn could die, then the rest of their men might not necessarily fare better against Cillin. He had no choice but to go out himself.
“There’s no need, Brown Thorn. Snake Thorn and I will be more than enough.” A person beside Tiger Thorn stopped Brown Thorn and said.
Tiger Thorn nodded to show his agreement.
After the duo had left, Tiger Thorn saw yet another light spot vanishing from the biomonitor and twisted his head to look at Theresa on the floor.