Chapter 168: If It Can Be Seen, It Can Be Killed

Chapter 168: If You Can See It, You Can Kill It

Chen Jian had imagined countless times what this so‑called secondary monster might look like, yet when he finally beheld its true form, the sight before him still left him stunned.

With a faint tremor rippling through the ground, a massive, almost shapeless mound began to crawl slowly across the earth.

It stretched at least three hundred meters in length, and towered an astonishing fifty meters high.

——

No—perhaps this is not its true body at all.

The umbrella‑shaped fungal forest is its camouflage, and the thick humus and sediment serve as its armor.

No one knows how thick these “symbiotic tissues” are, but it is certain that beneath the soil and dust lies an enormous worm of unimaginable size!

It evidently has no eyes, yet it pinpointed the positions of every member of the squad with uncanny precision.

And as it began to move toward the squad, all the surrounding fungi responded as if receiving a command.

The mushroom colonies simultaneously released a torrent of spores; the white‑mist‑like spores, once scattered into the air, swiftly changed hue, spreading into a blood‑red fog.

Within that fog, countless silhouettes of fungal men flickered, charging straight toward the squad’s location.

“Zeng Yi, Xie Liu! Advance and eradicate all the swollen forms, cut off the transmission of information!”

“Lei Jie, He Shuo! Aim at the target direction and fire, three 107‑caliber rockets in a volley!”

“Shen Yue, Li Shi, drive! Fall back first, get out of the fog’s reach!”

“Ji Xing, intercept the approaching fungal men with me! Keep an eye on high‑value targets!”

“Copy!”

A cascade of orders was issued in an instant, and the eight‑person team swiftly divided their tasks.

Moments later, Lei Jie and He Shuo leapt from the vehicle, crouching to deliver the first burst; the rear launchers spewed flame, and under the guidance of active infrared seekers, six 107‑mm rockets surged skyward, then dragged bright yellow fire down toward the target.

It was as if a celestial ladder had been erected between the squad and the monster, and when that ladder finally linked the two, a colossal explosion rang out.

“Boom!”

“Boom, boom, boom!”

“Direct hit!”

Lei Jie reported immediately, but the footage streamed back by the drone showed a disappointing scene to everyone.

The monster struck by the rockets suffered barely any damage.

The violent blasts merely carved shallow pits into its thick “armor.”

Under gravity, the semi‑fluid, swamp‑like humus quickly filled those pits again.

It won’t pierce!

Damn.

The Mechanical Cult’s claim that “even a giant cannon can’t breach it” turned out to be… this?

Chen Jian even felt sweat gathering on his forehead.

Indeed, no carbon‑based lifeform in this world can withstand a single barrage of heavy artillery.

But what if one hides behind a massive shelter?

This creature has taken a remarkably clever evolutionary path; instead of futilely piling on ostentatious chitin armor, it simply buries itself in “soil”!

In such a case, to pierce that superficial layer of earth might require a bunker‑busting projectile!

At that moment, the dark‑red fog released by the mushroom colonies was already being driven outward by the wind, and Li Shi and Shen Yue slammed the throttle, retreating sharply, carving a narrow arc to slip into the upwind side of the haze.

But this was only a stopgap; the dense fog continued to be generated, and before long the entire area could be shrouded.

“Spread radius three kilometers, still expanding!”

“Detected high concentrations of hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide—toxic! Everyone don masks, prepare for emergency respiration!”

“Fungal‑man clusters are approaching, Ji Xing, ready to meet the enemy!”

“Understood!”

At the command, Chen Jian raised the explosive rifle in his hands.

When the first fungal man appeared, Chen Jian didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

The miniature grenade detonated the instant it struck, cleaving the foe’s body into upper and lower halves, and only then did Chen Jian realize the fungal men’s skin had changed color.

From a pallid gray to a deep crimson.

Are they blending into the surroundings?

Or has the environment altered them?

Visibility dropped further, making target acquisition ever harder.

With thermal imaging rendered useless, the battle‑helm’s dynamic perception system became a lifesaver.

Each moving target was flagged, and after Chen Jian issued an automatic‑attack order, the two straight‑firing weapons at his waist fired in unison.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang——”

The gunfire roared on without pause; Chen Jian alone produced the effect of an enhanced volley.

Hundreds of fungal men were pinned at the edge of the fog, unable to move, granting Chen Jian and his comrades a precious breathing room.

Yet at that very moment, the distant secondary monster began to contract and writhe in a most uncanny manner.

“Careful! Raise the drones!”

Chen Jian issued the order the instant he noted the monster’s motion, and a heartbeat later the slug‑like beast lifted its upper body.

Immediately, dozens of deep‑green spheres, each at least a meter in diameter, were hurled into the air.

The spheres sped through the sky in a matter of seconds, already hovering over everyone’s heads.

Fortunately, they did not fall straight down.

“Spore clusters!”

Shen Yue instantly identified the nature of the spheres, and as his words left his mouth, dozens of spore clusters crashed down with a roar.

“Bang!”

Juice, slime, and countless spores splattered, the imaging module on his helmet rapidly refocused, and Shen Yue glanced around before speaking:

“The composition seems similar to a fungal carpet, but it contains a large amount of protease‑laden acidic fluid!”

“Watch out for impact! If one of these hits, it’s far more than a simple splash of liquid!”

“Copy! Drones, calculate trajectories and impact points, evade in advance!”

“Received!”

In an instant, two drones descended together and veered sideways; when the monster’s second “spray” erupted, several danger zones were swiftly marked on the planar map.

“Brake, brake!”

Chen Jian shouted, and the two cat‑cars halted on cue.

Immediately thereafter, several spore clusters slammed down a short distance—less than a hundred meters—in front of the two vehicles.

The splintering fragments carried with them a fresh wave of poisonous gas, and Chen Jian cut in decisively:

"Don the air filters, prepare to withdraw!"

"First, get out of the danger zone! Our firepower cannot inflict any substantive damage on it!"

"We need artillery!"

"Keep the drone on its tail, don’t lose the monster’s position!"

"Understood!"

With the orders given, the squad’s course of action snapped into crystal clarity.

"The extraction point No. 1 lies 1.2 km away—arrive in three minutes!"

"Copy that! Continue suppressing the fungal men!"

"Understood!"

The two vehicles surged forward in a single file, cutting through the fungal carpet; Chen Jian and Ji Xing kept their guns blazing, cutting down every fungal creature that dared to encircle them within a hundred‑meter radius.

As the gunfire grew ever more ferocious, the fungal beings seemed to acquire a flicker of fear.

Yet just as Chen Jian’s party was about to break free of the encirclement, a new monster materialized in his line of sight.

It stretched over four meters in length, its body a starkly insect‑like arthropod, six pairs of legs ending in long, blade‑like wheels; its thoracic armor rose in a trapezoidal ridge, cloaked in overlapping fungal plates, like the armored generals of ancient legend. "Careful!"

Ji Xing instantly swung his barrel around, his voice urgent:

"This is a Level‑4 monster! It’s fast! Don’t let it get close."

"Boom!"

Chen Jian’s shoulder‑mounted rocket launcher roared to life, the explosive projectile striking the so‑called “Level‑4 monster” from less than a hundred meters away and shattering it.

"What Level‑4 monster?"

"Just a target!"

Thick, viscous liquid rained down, and as it hit the ground the two cat‑cars surged forward.

"Six hundred meters out, after reaching extraction point No. 1 head east, loop around and withdraw, using the base line of Zǐjīn Mountain to cut off the monster’s pursuit!"

"Understood!"

Chen Jian’s cadence of orders grew ever swifter, his frequency ever higher, yet thanks to the smart visor’s rapid information sharing, the eight‑man squad moved without a hint of disorder.

"Toxic‑gas concentration has entered lethal levels!"

"Hydrogen cyanide above 50 ppm! Check the air filters! Shield exposed skin—do not expose!"

"Copy!"

The team answered again, and at that moment the diffusing haze had almost entirely enveloped them.

Even the afternoon sun could no longer pierce the smog; darkness fell between earth and sky.

The cat‑cars’ lights were on, but they barely illuminated less than ten meters ahead.

Fortunately, the thermal imager functioned flawlessly, and the two drivers could still see the road ahead with clarity.

The roar of the engines rang like a beast’s howl in the silent ruins, while monsters and fungal men pressed in from all sides; Chen Jian unleashed the auto‑grenade mounted on the cat‑car, carving a path forward at any cost.

Yet the darkness seemed endless.

Chen Jian finally understood why the Mechanical Cult and the Hall of Holy Blood classified this creature as “Level 2.”

Given their capabilities and the monster’s offensive methods, defeating it would indeed demand an enormous price.

The poisonous haze needed no explanation; should a tightly‑formed formation of the Mechanical Cult’s guard be struck by a single spore, they could simply retreat and feast.

Those proteases are no joke—small exposure causes little trouble, but a full‑body shower could, within minutes, strip the skin from the flesh.

Add the obscuring fog to the mix, and once inside they would be nothing but fodder for the fungal hordes.

Long‑range strikes were the only viable tactic.

And they had to be dense, saturated volleys of fire!

Chen Jian already had a plan in mind, so the decision to withdraw weighed nothing on his conscience.

He only wished to move faster.

Two minutes after turning away from extraction point No. 1, the smog finally began to thin.

The sun above re‑emerged its shape; after a quick glance at his bearings, Chen Jian issued his command:

"Leijie, fire another salvo of rockets!"

"Draw the Level‑2 monster’s attention, don’t let it keep chasing us!"

"We must shake it off and get back to 095!"

"Understood!"

Leijie obeyed without hesitation, leapt from the vehicle, and the final three rockets roared forth.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three muffled explosions echoed from afar; this time the three shells landed almost on the same spot.

From the drone’s perspective, Chen Jian delighted to see a small fissure torn in the monster’s layered armor.

"Its thickness is barely three meters—hittable, but only with precise aim!"

"Two cannons will suffice; if we stagger fire so the spread stays within twenty meters, we can pierce its carapace!"

"Shen Yue, breach the oil drum, douse it with gasoline, circle around and ignite!"

"These fungi likely possess thermal perception; we must deprive them of a target!"

"Understood!"

Shen Yue moved swiftly, and as the blaze rose, Chen Jian felt the pressure of the chase lessen.

After marching another few hundred meters, the last fungal man was shattered by Chen Jian’s explosive rifle.

At that moment they had completely cleared the smog zone, the monster now eleven kilometers behind.

They were safe.

Chen Jian exhaled a long breath, then said:

"That thing’s no joke."

"Fortunately, once we locate it, we can finish it off."

"Its ranged attack reaches at most two kilometers."

"We’re far beyond that!"

Meanwhile, as the eight‑man squad of the Huaxia army barely escaped the Level‑2 monster’s pursuit, the ten‑strong Sacred Hall Guard of the Mechanical Cult had already crossed the Yangtze, forming their battle line on the riverbank.

The archbishop‑commander, telescope in hand, surveyed the distant scene; when the artillery fell silent and the monster’s blood‑mist began to dissipate, a faintly mocking smile curled his lips.

He then passed the telescope to the priest beside him, his tone dripping with contempt as he spoke:

“Indeed, that is the manner of those mimetic heretics.”

“They actually dared to think that a handful of us could fell a second‑tier monster; I cannot tell whether to call them foolish or bold.”

“Yet, as it now appears, they have already paid the price.”

“Such a dense toxic haze, even the strongest of their arts could not remain untouched.”

“Perhaps they have already been poisoned, and their lives are but a flicker away.”

“To us, that is a welcome omen; these mimetic heretics ought now to suffer for their hubris.”

“Exactly so.”

The priest beside them nodded, flatteringly saying:

“In matters of tactics, they could never be held to the same standard as the Archbishop.”

“No, their tactics are formidable.”

The Archbishop shook his head, then spoke:

“Only a warrior without faith can never claim true victory.”

“Only the radiant light of the Holy Trinity can dispel the evil that stains this land.”

“Very well, the hour draws near.”

“While they draw the monster’s attention, let our soldiers move.”

“Form the ranks, raise the great cannon.”

“Sing the sacred hymn!”

“Yes, my lord!”

A moment later, the hymn rang out.

“Gears inscribe the holy circle, steel veins pulse as they once did (as they once did!).

Sacrificial oil pours into the valve, the iron womb births redemption (redemption!).

Let the heretics hear our roar, let the projectiles tear their very lungs.

The pressure gauge is the holy eye, the mercury column rises and falls to tally sins (sins!).”

”

And with that hymn, every cannon of the Guard Legion has already trained its barrel upon the monster’s location.

(End of chapter)