Chapter 108: Element B

Chapter 108: Element B

A mortar shell could not possibly be so accurate as to sink a small boat drifting three kilometers away; no one could be that lucky.

But when the high-explosive shell detonated less than fifty meters from the boat, Zhou Qin and the man on board still jumped in fright.

The man had not yet reacted, merely furrowing his brow and asking:

“Did their shells all veer this far off?”

“If they can’t even control basic artillery aim, they’re probably all about to die out, right?”

Zhou Qin stared, incredulous, at the man beside him; his eyes first filled with doubt, then shifted to a strange pity.

Indeed.

The “overseer” at his side still hadn’t grasped what was happening.

The arrogance inherent to those in power had corroded him deeply, even blinding him to the plain truth before his eyes.

“All dead?”

“Perhaps they are all dead, after all.”

“But what died must have been the monster.”

“Haven’t you noticed that in this silent night, the monster’s howls have ceased?”

“Haven’t you noticed that the distant cannon fire and gunshots have completely stopped?”

“Haven’t you noticed that the flames of those explosions have long since dissipated with the smoke?”

You don’t know.

At that moment, Zhou Qin felt a sorrow that sank into his bones.

For the first time he realized that the “superiors” he had always trusted and revered might not be as correct as he imagined.

The Holy Blood Hall ought to have been a mighty and wise organization, yet for some reason he constantly sensed a lingering “decay” within it.

It was like the malaise of a beast nearing its end, about to die.

He had thought this was merely a temporary setback, after all the Hall’s blood physicians were still researching the secrets of holy blood.

He had believed that one day, when holy blood’s powers were further developed, the Hall would rise again under the Holy Father’s lead, sweep the world, and trample all enemies beneath its feet.

But now he suddenly realized that this “ideal” might not be so realistic.

The decay did not come from outside; it was born of internal corruption.

When those in power have become foolish, the problems here are likely already quite severe.

“They’re all about to die out.”

What a foolish thing to say.

So foolish it left Zhou Qin stunned.

He drew a deep breath, steadied his racing thoughts, then slowly shook his head and said to the man beside him:

“Overlord, perhaps you’re mistaken.”

“The battle is indeed over, but the victor will certainly not be that monster—it will be the Huaxia army.”

“What a joke!!”

The man glared at Zhou Qin, his tone harsh as he demanded:

“How could they possibly win??”

“That’s a third‑level monster—no, even a second‑level monster!”

“Even the Mechanic God Sect would have to send its Holy Hall Guard Brigade, using their heavy cannons, to have any hope of exterminating it!”

“Those heretics you speak of—how many are they? They don’t even have heavy cannons!”

“Those explosions may look impressive, but you can see they’re nothing more than big fireworks.”

“What are they using to kill the monster? The very shell that just landed on us?”

“The power of this shell is hardly different from the Mechanic God Sect’s seven‑kilogram cannon.”

“And its accuracy is so poor it’s basically—”

“We can go take a look.”

Zhou Qin, rare in his audacity, interrupted the man before him and then said:

“Anyway, they’ve already spotted us—this shell was a warning.”

“Since that’s the case, why not show ourselves openly?”

“If they really are dead, you can return to the Imperial Capital and report.”

“But if they’ve won, that proves they are formidable opponents; staying ahead of the Mechanic God Sect can only benefit us.”

When he finished speaking, the man fell silent.

He seemed to be hesitating.

After a long while, he finally spoke:

“I must return to Jiujiang.”

“You go have a look.”

“Bring me the news as quickly as you can!”

“Yes, sir.”

Zhou Qin bowed respectfully, but his eyes already flickered with a strange light.

On the other side, Chen Jian and his squad, having just fired a shot, had drawn near the monster’s corpse.

The lingering smoke drifted between the trees, mingled oddly with the scent of roasted meat.

Chen Jian felt an urge to vomit, yet instinctively found the smell pleasant—perhaps because he knew it was the monster’s flesh, not his own kind, and the aroma involuntarily reminded him of its taste.

Damn, the Cantonese soul awakens again.

Chen Jian hastily shook his head to dispel the absurd thought, then cautiously led his team forward, lobbing a hand grenade to give the twitching monster’s corpse—still spasming from muscle reflex—a final send‑off.

After confirming the monster’s nerves were completely dead, Chen Jian finally approached, shone his tactical flashlight on the upper body, and examined its anatomy closely.

“Tsk, super‑sized lungs, super‑sized vocal cords.”

“I thought its neck was just the bit below the head, but its chest is also neck; the true chest lies in the belly, the true belly in the tail.”

“You’ve completely turned my head around.”

Hearing Chen Jian’s words, Shen Yue laughed through tears and said:

“Anyway, this thing is really strong.”

“Without the thermobaric round, dealing with it wouldn’t have been so simple.” “Funny enough—Lei Jie, did those ring‑band merchants know we were going to fight this monster? Did they send it on purpose?”

“I don’t think so.”

Lei Jie shook his head and answered:

“They even sent missiles, as if they had randomly selected two batches of formidable-looking gear and shipped them over.”

“Never mind the missiles; the rocket launchers— they’d received intel that we’re skilled with these, so sending them made sense, perhaps they just happened to have thermobaric rounds on hand.”

“In short, we’ll need to meet them face‑to‑face to work out the details.”

“Captain, what do you say—should we head back now?”

“Right away.”

“Chen Jian gave a slight nod, then issued the order:”

“He Shuo, take a photo of this monster for the record and update the data in the PDA.”

“Xie Liu, see if there’s anything useful on this creature’s body—you said it had venom; could you try to collect some?”

“No problem, I’ll have a look.”

“Xie Liu answered briefly, then stepped forward to examine the monster’s tail.”

“Shen Yue watched her curiously, then turned to Chen Jian and asked:”

“Are you inspired by that earth dragon, wanting to try biological control?”

“Clever.”

“Chen Jian nodded and replied:”

“If it really is a strongly corrosive liquid, bringing it back will always be useful.”

“The foundation of industry is the two acids and three alkalis; we can’t synthesize it now, but maybe this stuff’s composition is sulfuric acid?”

“Oh, come on—where would a living organism produce sulfuric acid inside?”

“I was just giving an example; anyway, let’s take it—there’s no harm, we can treat it as research material.”

“That’s true.”

“Shen Yue nodded in agreement, and after Xie Liu carefully sealed the unknown fluid secreted from the monster’s tail, she also rose and nodded to Chen Jian.”

“At that moment, He Shuo also finished photographing the monster for record.”

“But just after he took the final photo, he suddenly spoke up:”

“I have a feeling this thing is some kind of mutated bat.”

“I didn’t examine it closely before, but now it looks like its features are very bat‑like in every way.”

“Xie Liu had also said these creatures are small individuals and mainly live in groups, which makes them similar to bat habits.”

“It didn’t come from the southwest, did it? There’s a Hidden Water Cave there, full of bats, and the location fits.”

“But it’s strange—if the individuals in the population are all small, how did this one grow so large?”

“Is that important?”

“Lei Jie asked curiously:”

“We’ve seen several huge monsters before—earth dragons can grow that big, so why would a bat being that large be strange?”

“Strange.”

“Shen Yue interjected:”

“You didn’t understand He Shuo’s meaning.”

“His point is, if there’s some factor we call Element A that created these monsters, then Element A’s effect on organisms of the same kind should be constant; otherwise it would violate the laws of physics and biology.”

“But this giant Qinyuan is clearly worlds apart from the ordinary Qinyuan monsters, which means that, on top of Element A, this thing might also be under the influence of Element B.”

“So this really is a quite meaningful discovery.”

“If we want to unlock the secret of the monsters’ appearance, starting with the widely effective Element A is absolutely not a good choice, because there are too many samples and we have nowhere to begin.”

“But if we can first determine what Element B is, the problem could see a breakthrough.”

“Understood.”

“Lei Jie gave a thumbs‑up and said:”

“But this is a long‑term plan, right?”

“We’re not in a rush to find it now, right?”

“Right.”

“Chen Jian gave a simple reply, but several key words flashed through his mind.”

“Element B, Hidden Water Cave, bat, mutation”

“Element B, Hidden Water Cave, bat, mutation”

“Near the Hidden Water Cave there isn’t just the cave; there’s also a nuclear power plant that had been planned for decades and only began construction the year they crossed over.”

“Could the appearance of this giant Qinyuan be related to that nuclear plant?”

“If it is related, are there other secrets hidden in that nuclear plant?”

“Perhaps this question can only be set aside for now.”

“But Chen Jian had a feeling.”

“This Qinyuan might become the key to their future solving of the monster mystery.”

“All right.”

“Chen Jian let out a long breath and gave the order:”

“The monster’s dealt with—let’s fall back.”

“Those ring‑road merchants are still waiting; we need to hurry up”

“Abnormal heat source! Abnormal heat source!”

“Chen Jian hadn’t finished speaking when the drone in the air suddenly sounded an alarm.”

“He instantly gripped his gun tightly, pointing warily in the direction the drone indicated for the heat source.”

“But soon he could clearly see the shape of the heat source.”

“It was a person.”

“At the same moment, a voice somewhat familiar to him drifted from the woods far away.”

“Don’t shoot! I’m Zhou Qin—”

“(End of chapter)”