Chapter 173: Dark Boundless Realm 28
Monsters with strange, grotesque tentacles surged out from the “gate,” vying to be the first. One tentacle, covered in barbs and suckers, whipped toward them, slapping against the camera and knocking over the filming equipment. The display screen distorted, dominated by a writhing tentacle.
With a zapping sound, the screen first turned to static before erupting in black smoke and exploding.
Li Wanran’s face turned pale as she grabbed the communicator and spoke rapidly, “The Old Industrial Zone needs assistance!”
The armed vehicle was only a few hundred meters from the tobacco factory, and there were many personnel stationed nearby. They had to stop those monsters tonight; they couldn’t allow them to breach the city!
Li Wanran also lowered the window, grabbing a night vision binocular to observe the situation at the factory. She saw several massive, indistinct black shapes crash through the factory’s shattered glass windows and squeeze through the gaps. They were soft-bodied and large, able to slip through smaller spaces like octopuses; some even burst out of the glass like they were flying! Some monsters could fly!
With two loud bangs, bullets struck the flying monsters, causing them to screech and plummet.
The armed personnel in the vehicle were intercepting the suddenly emerging xenomorphs.
Each monster looked bizarre, as if they crawled out from hell—creatures that should not exist in this world. Some were covered in tentacles, others had dozens of eyes, and some wielded scythe-like limbs, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
“Is this what xenomorphs look like?” Li Wanran gasped.
It was her first encounter with xenomorphs, but Song Tingshuan had seen them before and had more experience in this regard.
Song Tingshuan pulled a box filled with bullets from under the seat, calmly saying, “There are many xenomorphs I don’t even recognize. That ‘gate’—was it only opened for a moment, or will it remain open in the future?”
As she spoke, a dark shadow swiftly approached the armed vehicle.
It was a Scythe Demon! And it was a mature Scythe Demon!
It stood as tall as a person, with its curved bony scythes glittering ominously under the moonlight as it swung them, creating a sharp sound.
Song Tingshuan’s pupils widened as she shouted, “Prevent impact!”
The “Language Incantation” activated, and at the critical moment, the Scythe Demon’s scythe suddenly veered off course, gliding past the window of the armed vehicle.
But at the same time, Song Tingshuan’s legs weakened, and she collapsed inside the cabin. She coughed twice, and a bit of blood seeped from the mask covering her face. The conditions for activating the “Language Incantation” were extremely stringent, and the nearby Scythe Demon was a mature xenomorph. It was too ambitious to try and influence it; even controlling a growing xenomorph was difficult for Song Tingshuan.
If the target of the “Language Incantation” was stronger than Song Tingshuan herself, her control would not only be unlikely to succeed, but she would also suffer the backlash of failure.
The Scythe Demon did not give up its pursuit. With a swift motion, it lunged forward, catching up to the armed vehicle. With a swish, it swung its scythe again, aiming for the tires.
Song Tingshuan, ignoring the blood on her face, yelled, “Evade the vehicle!”
The driver of the vehicle sharply turned the steering wheel. Amid the screeching sound of tires, the Scythe Demon’s scythe flew past the wheel, narrowly missing it and embedding itself into the ground.
However, the Scythe Demon had more than one predatory organ. At the same time its scythe struck the ground, it unleashed another scythe.
Sparks flew! The specially made, hard tires of the armed vehicle exploded with a loud bang!
Dust billowed into the air, and the ground bore a long black mark from the burning tires. One side of the armed vehicle lifted off the ground and flipped over.
The Scythe Demon’s blade could slice through both humans and steel, and even the high-intensity bulletproof vests of the Second World could hardly withstand its attacks, demonstrating the demon’s ferocity.
Everyone in the vehicle was thrown about, but fortunately, their weapons did not discharge during the tumultuous crash. The people inside the cabin were able to move. Li Wanran propped herself up, glancing toward the driver’s seat. Thankfully, the airbag had deployed, and the driver, protected by the seatbelt, showed no obvious injuries, only briefly losing consciousness.
The constitution of Awakened individuals was much stronger than that of ordinary people. Both she and Song Tingshuan were largely unscathed.
Song Tingshuan’s forehead was drenched in cold sweat. Her lips moved as she murmured, “This vehicle cannot withstand the Scythe Demon. It could tear it apart in no time. Our guns can’t affect it; it has an outer exoskeleton, and even the high-powered firearms of the Second World can’t harm it—unless we use heavy firepower…”
“Can we lure it away?” Li Wanran asked.
“How can we lure it? The moment we show our heads, it can chop us like vegetables,” Song Tingshuan replied. “Calling for others to support us would just be delivering them for slaughter.” She stopped the armed personnel who wanted to join the fight, warning, “Don’t go out! You’ll die faster!”
The vehicle was equipped with technical equipment like monitors, but not heavy firepower. Song Tingshuan suspected that even rocket launchers would be ineffective against the Scythe Demon, as it wouldn’t just sit there waiting to be shot. Its attacking speed was comparable to that of a mantis! A combat squad from the Second World’s Investigation Bureau would likely lose several members facing a mature Scythe Demon.
The Scythe Demon stopped the armed vehicle but did not rush to kill its prey. Instead, it emitted a delighted screech and slowly approached the overturned vehicle, much like a cat playing with a caught mouse before finally eating it.
Li Wanran picked up the communicator and said, “Position three, fire a signal flare towards the ten o’clock direction.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a signal flare shot up into the night sky with a whoosh; personnel stationed at another location were coordinating with them. The flare burst into red, blue, and green lights, continuously changing colors and catching the Scythe Demon’s attention.
But to her despair, the Scythe Demon glanced at the signal flare before continuing toward the overturned armed vehicle.
“It actually has intelligence…” Li Wanran whispered.
They couldn’t escape; there was still an unconscious driver in the vehicle, and the Scythe Demon was too fast to outrun. Song Tingshuan’s language ability was ineffective, and Li Wanran’s ability was not combat-oriented. The weapons they had would only tickle the Scythe Demon; the combat personnel’s equipment was not up to the task against it…
They watched through the iron protective windows as the Scythe Demon slowly approached, as if death itself were closing in on them.
Excitedly, the Scythe Demon raised its scythe toward the armed vehicle.
In the next second, a deep blue vortex appeared beneath the Scythe Demon, as if it had suddenly stepped into thin air, plummeting toward the vortex. It almost fell entirely into it, but it reacted quickly, extending its long scythe to firmly anchor itself to the ground, halting its descent.
The Scythe Demon struggled to crawl out of the vortex, but the deep blue vortex suddenly closed in. The Scythe Demon screamed as the lower half of its body was swallowed up and vanished, blue-green blood spraying out from the severed torso and corroding the ground.
White smoke hissed and burned; some of the blue-green blood splattered onto the armed vehicle, leaving terrifying corrosion marks on the steel exterior.
Despite having its body severed, the Scythe Demon did not die. It twisted and writhed desperately.
However, as the blue vortex disappeared, it reappeared again beneath the Scythe Demon. The demon shrieked as its body could not stop falling into the vortex. When only its head remained above, the vortex tightened again, severing its body.
A gust of wind blew through, leaving just the head of the Scythe Demon lying forlornly on the ground with blue-green blood pooling all around, the corroded earth sizzling ominously.
Song Tingshuan gaped, unable to believe what she was witnessing. Li Wanran was equally shocked; she immediately looked around, trying to find the girl who had appeared multiple times during the scene retrospection.
Song Tingshuan attempted to open the car door, but it was deformed and wouldn’t budge.
She was about to kick it in frustration when the deep blue vortex flickered, and a hole appeared in the door just large enough for one person.
Song Tingshuan looked up to see someone standing in front of the car door.
The vehicle had overturned, and she stood above it, looking down at the people inside the cabin.
Wearing a mask and a deep blue hooded sweatshirt… Song Tingshuan immediately realized she was the girl Li Wanran had mentioned! The girl who had appeared several times in the tobacco factory.
Before Song Tingshuan could express her surprise, she saw the girl step back and jump down from the vehicle.
Li Wanran whispered, “No matter what… let’s get out first. She helped us.”
The girl stood a short distance away, watching as Song Tingshuan and Li Wanran clambered out of the vehicle. Two or three people in black combat gear also crawled out, working together to pull the unconscious driver from the vehicle.
Song Tingshuan jumped down and exchanged a glance with Li Wanran before looking back at the girl.
The girl’s clothes were completely intact. Behind her lay the mangled remains of the Scythe Demon, its severed body smooth and clean at the cut. Glancing at the lonely head of the Scythe Demon nearby, Song Tingshuan felt it was absurd.
It seemed as if she had killed the Scythe Demon effortlessly.
“Hello,” Li Wanran stepped forward, speaking.
“Hello,” Kui Xin glanced at her. “Can you help me keep a secret?”
Li Wanran was caught off guard. Her first reaction was that the girl knew she had seen her in the scene retrospection, but she quickly realized that the girl opposite her did not understand her abilities and was unaware of what she had uncovered in the factory.
The girl’s request to keep a secret was likely only about her extraordinary abilities.
“That’s only proper. We won’t casually divulge others’ privacy, especially when those privacies might relate to someone’s life,” Li Wanran replied.
“Alright,” Kui Xin said.
Her voice was youthful, even younger than what Li Wanran had initially guessed.
“It’s going to be a busy night tonight. We need to hurry and deal with the monsters,” Kui Xin said. “Are monsters still pouring out?”
“No, the gate only opened for a moment.” Suddenly, another voice echoed in the area—it was a male voice.
Li Wanran then noticed a man standing under the tree about ten meters away, his clothing slightly disheveled, with ragged pant legs and some scattered bloodstains on his clothes… it seemed he had just been in a fight.
“Dove, you’re here too,” Kui Xin nodded toward Tang Guan.
“Just arrived,” Tang Guan politely nodded back at Kui Xin. “Maotoufu.”
“Maotoufu and Dove?” Song Tingshuan paused, quickly realizing this was a code name.
