Chapter 136: Kill Whichever One Comes

Chapter 136: One Comes, One Falls

Two drones took off simultaneously, staggering altitude to maintain high-speed maneuver, maximizing battlefield information breadth while increasing information density.

The 3D map had long been established; as each enemy was marked, the red arrows on the edge of Chen Jian's smart goggles merged into a continuous red ring.

After the battle began, at least a thousand demons were startled and began moving toward Chen Jian's squad, i.e., the direction from which gunfire came.

Their movements were somewhat chaotic, as if they had not imagined that in this ordinary place, someone unafraid of death would launch an attack against them.

But chaos aside, the demons' speed was remarkable.

The mobile network erected around the central hospital allowed the demons unhindered passage; perhaps within a few minutes they could cross two kilometers and reach the squad.

Defensive pressure was immense, yet the squad's tactics remained unchanged.

The three tasked with 'bombing' the central plaza camp remained silent, merely pulling the trigger repeatedly.

Grenade after grenade arced into the air, then descended in a perfect curve.

When those grenades hit the ground, hundreds or thousands of steel pellets were propelled by the shockwave of the CL-20 packed inside, flying at explosive speed before embedding deep into the demons' bodies, tearing muscle and bone apart.

The frail shelters could not withstand such carnage; whether the demons were outdoors or hiding inside, fragments pierced their bodies indiscriminately.

For a moment, spurting blood rose in layers of red mist, almost overwhelming the smoke from the explosions.

Meanwhile, Li Shi, operating the 301 heavy machine gun, calmly squeezed the trigger.

After assault training and familiarizing himself with the heavy gun, he shed the habit of pulling the trigger and not releasing.

He switched between long and short bursts effortlessly; whenever he spotted a cluster of enemies in his sight, he pressed the stock firmly into his shoulder, using his body weight and core strength to control the gun that should have been wildly uncontrollable, laying down a precise stream of tracer rounds into the crowd.

Heavy steel pellets struck the demons' bodies; the immense impact forced every demon trying to rise back to the ground.

When the hail of fire ceased and they attempted to rise and counterattack, they discovered, to their horror, that their bodies were already mutilated.

The tearing pain never reached their brains, because the nerves there had been shattered along with muscle and bone.

The exploding bullets sprayed flesh fragments into the air; the intense stench of blood aroused the demons' bloodlust and killing instinct, yet as they frantically searched for prey, they realized they had become the prey themselves.

Fear's instinct began to dominate; flight became the first choice.

These demons had never experienced such a true 'slaughter'; compared to their own methods of flaying skin, breaking bones, and eviscerating entrails, the scene before them was far more terrifying.

Life before heavy fire was as fragile as a glass doll; when 12.7mm caliber bullets flew past, the glass shattered like ice scattering in the air.

The central plaza camp descended into chaos.

The leaders there roared, trying to reorganize their subordinates, but the next second Li Shi's long burst descended upon his head.

At a distance of 900 meters, the 301 heavy machine's accuracy was not exactly 'that high'.

But what if the machine gun was operated by a near‑300‑jin holy‑blooded warrior?

A dozen or so bullets pierced the leader with unerring precision; the next second his skull exploded and his body split apart as if quartered.

Chen Jian didn't even have time to get a clear look at it.

Only in the afterimage on his retina could he roughly judge that it was a 'beast' over four meters tall.

What traits did it have?

Was it strong enough?

Did it spew poison gas?

If not, why did Lei Jie classify it as a level‑four monster?

These questions would likely never be answered.

Because it left no remains.

In less than a minute, the central plaza camp was almost completely destroyed.

Lei Jie and his comrades' firing rate dropped, while on the other side, gunfire from Shen Yue, Xie Liu, and He Shuo grew denser.

"West side: enemy group detected. Lei Jie assists Shen Yue in defending with rifles."

"Li Shi maintains suppression, watch ammunition."

"Zeng Yi adjusts target, watch northwest approaching enemy, distance 1.2 km, open first strike upon entering 1 km range."

"Watch the PDA screen; target is Qu Shui Bridge, i.e., the southern apex of Ling Lake."

"Received!"

"Understood!"

He Shuo's dispatch orders were issued, and everyone responded in turn.

Up to this point Chen Jian had not fired a single shot, yet even He Shuo, who bore battlefield command and oversaw the whole situation, did not reassign this greatest 'available resource'.

Because he knew Chen Jian was waiting.

The demons were drawing near, and so were their leaders!

Exactly sixteen—fifteen leaders, each at least level‑four monster strength; even if one reached the squad, it would bring untreatable trouble.

Thus Chen Jian had to give his all and focus completely.

He drew a deep breath, locking his gaze on the image displayed in his tactical goggles.

Less than a kilometer away, on the central lake of Ling Lake, a monster he had never seen before was rapidly approaching.

It was clearly human, but the grotesque mutation that granted it immense power also stripped away most of its human traits.

Muscles bulged and tore, exposing raw flesh; repulsive rotting skin; bony growths piercing the skin; and a completely deformed head.

It resembled a water ghost.

But it was an enlarged, more twisted version of a water ghost.

A word flashed in Chen Jian's mind.

Loathing.

Not the Hulk from Invincible, but the one from Warcraft III.

Chen Jian could scarcely imagine how such a creature could survive in its obviously deteriorated health, nor how it had acquired the ability to live in water.

But that no longer mattered.

When it came within 500 meters, it entered Chen Jian's kill zone.

After all, your size is still not enough!

Chen Jian deployed his weapon rack; the smart goggles guided the infrared seeker of the sleeve‑arrows to lock onto the distant target.

Then, a double volley!

Two sleeve‑arrow missiles launched, hurtling toward the target at 900 kilometers per hour.

The icy lake surface served as the perfect backdrop, while the monster, whose body heat far exceeded the water's temperature, became the most conspicuous target on that backdrop.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Two consecutive explosions rang out; the missiles struck their target with pinpoint accuracy.

Carrying immense kinetic energy, the sharp warhead pierced the monster's body, and the 60 grams of CL-20 explosive within unleashed tremendous power.

Yes, that amount of explosive is equivalent to a single defensive grenade.

But what if that grenade were detonated inside the enemy's body?

Accompanied by the blast, a mist of blood sprayed sideways.

The monster's belly was instantly hollowed out, and its shoulder blown open into a large hole.

Bluish-gray viscera gushed forth, polluting the pristine lake surface.

Several seconds later, the scattered blood finally fell onto the water, gradually diffusing.

Just seconds before a ferocious, unmatched beast, the monster instantly became a massive floating corpse, and the horrors witnessing the scene instantly lost their reason.

One part of the horrors fled in panic, while the rest indiscriminately swarmed into a formation not their own, as if seeking shelter under another leader. Just as Chen Jian had foreseen, the intelligent leaders were the core of the horrors; once deprived of their command, they amounted to nothing more than scattered sand!

Chen Jian drew a deep breath, turned his direction to face another monster already charging.

Its speed was great—at least compared to that 'Abomination,' it was much faster.

Yet precisely because it was fast enough, it committed a fatal error.

It had drawn too close before it could gauge the strength of Chen Jian's squad.

At a distance of 400 meters, the 201st aircraft mounted on Chen Jian's rack began to unleash its fury.

7.62mm bullets flew like a storm toward the monster darting through the treetops, and in an instant it was knocked to the ground.

Although such fire was not enough to kill it quickly, its movement was severely hampered.

Just as Chen Jian raised the rocket launcher, preparing to fire a single decisive shot at 300 meters, a sudden change occurred.

The opponent's body twitched suddenly, then a burst of blood-red smoke exploded and rapidly spread.

Vision was instantly obscured, but only for a moment.

Through the thermal-fused night vision goggles, the opponent's movements lay bare.

It was trying to use the smoke cover to flank Chen Jian's line of fire, and its skin changed like a chameleon, blending into the surroundings.

The speed of this change was astonishing—far faster than any real chameleon, by an unknown factor!

Chen Jian now understood why Lei Jie classified these leader monsters as level four.

At least this 'chameleon,' its mechanism, deserved that level-four designation.

Without thermal imaging aid, humans relying on the naked eye could hardly spot it beyond 100 meters.

But once within a hundred meters, that became its killing ground!

The muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon it cradled was clearly loaded with grapeshot; once fired, a sky-full of shot would surely blanket every enemy—

Unfortunately, it faced Chen Jian wearing night vision goggles.

The bullets passed through the smoke unhindered, scoring hit after hit; after a dozen or so rounds, Chen Jian suddenly realized this rocket might not need to be wasted.

"He Shuo! Fire a follow‑up shot!"

"Understood!"

After requesting support on the fly, He Shuo moved the barrel without hesitation.

At 200 meters, the 12.7mm armor‑piercing round of the heavy sniper struck true in the monster's skull.

"Bang!"

Flesh and blood exploded; the monster collapsed lifeless to the ground.

Having lost two leaders in succession, the horrors' advance was greatly impeded.

They were even stalled like a flood held back by a dam, on the southern shore of Ling Lake.

And that was precisely the spot Zeng Yi had already zeroed in on.

"Poof‑poof‑poof‑poof—"

Four grenades arced upward, then rained down into the dense enemy throng.

The corpses of comrades became the sole shield; the grenades exploding among the horrors may have achieved the highest single‑shot casualty record for this weapon since its inception.

Dozens of horrors lost their lives, and the rest instantly fell into chaos.

Although horrors kept arriving from the rear, Chen Jian suddenly felt—

—the balance of advantage was slowly tilting.

He Shuo obviously noticed this as well.

Thus, he decisively spoke:

"Lei Jie, abandon the suppression of the central plaza camp."

"Bring up the mortars; target, the central hospital."

"Distance two kilometers; meteorological data has been fed to the drone for calculation!"

"Understood!"

Lei Jie immediately set to work laying the mortars, which would take at least ten seconds.

And within those ten seconds, He Shuo's pinpoint judgment was confirmed.

Those horrors, and even the vast majority of their leaders, began surging toward the central hospital.

Without doubt, that was their command hub.

And this very move brought upon them a deadly doom.

The newly acquired extended‑range shells were fired off, six rapid shots in succession.

The high‑explosive rounds detonated among the horrors, and one shell landed directly before the freshly arrived horror leader.

The immense impact halted it in place, while the high‑speed fragments buried themselves deep without reservation into its hard keratin armor.

This shot didn't kill it, but it was a grave wound!

Chaos.

An unprecedented chaos began to unfold.

Gunfire, artillery, and explosions from the horror horde began to sound.

Yet these guns, cannons, and blasts could in no way reach the targets they sought to strike.

Because from the start of the engagement until now, a full four minutes have passed, and even the nearest casualty occurred outside the squad's position by 200 meters.

Perhaps at this moment those monsters realized that the best way to conceal themselves was not "camouflage."

But rather, over‑the‑horizon attack!

One need not possess true over‑the‑thehorizon capability; merely exceeding the enemy's visual range suffices.

Lei Jie's motion had not yet ceased; a few seconds later he fired a second volley of four rapid shots at the dozens of human figures sprinting out of the hospital building.

The same scene unfolded again, identically, and those humans lacking any protection immediately fell in great numbers.

After suffering heavy casualties, finally three monster leaders, as if in agreement, launched a synchronized assault toward the squad's position.

But just then, behind them, the sound of explosions finally rang out.

Ji Xing sprang into action.

Her speed was even faster than Chen Jian had anticipated, the continuous explosions driving the chaos to a climax.

All the demons within the Anqing ruins finally stirred, finally realizing this was not a simple attack.

They also finally realized that those assaulting them were not the enemies they knew.

——

But even so, what could it matter?

When the chaos began to spread like a plague, there was no time left to organize.

Chen Jian fired a rocket at the monster lunging nearby, then turned his head eastward.

There, Xie Liu kicked the demon lunging at her away with a straight thrust, then tore apart its body with the 201-class machine in her hands.

She had cleared all the demons from the evacuation route.

All by herself.

"We can withdraw."

Chen Jian spoke, issuing the order:

"The mission objective is essentially accomplished."

"Everyone, board the vehicles, provide alternating cover as we withdraw!"

"Ji Xing, if you can hear me, it's time to go!"

(End of chapter)