Chapter 345 - 338: Reinforcements and Bone Dislocation

Chapter 345: Chapter 338: Reinforcements and Bone Dislocation

The people in the car had no idea why the old man had suddenly gotten out midway.

There wasn’t much traffic on this road, and the mountain path had no surveillance cameras. The driver kept a careful watch as he drove, afraid of being caught on camera, but then he remembered this wasn’t an expressway and realized he was just being paranoid.

"Brother You, that elder of yours got out back there, and you didn’t even try to stop him? The look in his eyes was pretty creepy."

"It’s fine. My uncle often goes into the mountains to gather herbs. He probably spotted something and went to check it out. The mountains over there aren’t steep, so he’ll be alright."

"But how is he going to get to the city later? There were a lot of cars in that traffic jam just now, but this mountain road barely gets any traffic all day. It won’t be easy to hitch a ride."

The driver was a good person. By saying this, he was really hoping someone would call the old man, and he even considered turning back to pick him up.

You Ye glanced back down the road with a worried expression.

Just then, his phone buzzed with a message from Elder Mo. It read: "Don’t worry. I have a private car."

...

Cui Jian personally led his men deeper inside—nine Evolvers, plus dozens of Soldiers armed with live ammunition.

They were only halfway there when they heard the massive boom of a Concussion Bomb.

"Dammit! They’ve already made contact! You guys follow the tracker. We’re going ahead!"

After saying this, he gestured to the other eight high-level agents. The nine Evolvers pushed off with their feet, their pace instantly accelerating from a walk to a sprint, and they quickly put distance between themselves and the main force.

As the forest ahead grew denser, they soon vanished from the Soldiers’ sight.

"RAT-TAT-TAT..." "BANG~"

Gunshots rang out intermittently before quickly falling silent.

A sense of foreboding settled over the reinforcements.

However, their progress through the forest was severely hampered. Even for the Evolvers, it took nearly ten minutes to reach the signal’s location.

With the keen senses of Cui Jian and his team, they could smell the stench of blood from a long way off as they approached.

They chambered rounds in their high-powered pistols and rifles. Close-quarters combat was not the preferred option when dealing with beasts.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH...

The nine of them vaulted over a patch of shrubbery and arrived at the perimeter fence, where they saw the surrounding Soldiers.

In an instant, more than a dozen guns were aimed at them. The Soldiers breathed a sigh of relief when they saw they were human.

"The medical team is right behind us. They’ll be here any minute. What are the casualties? Anyone missing?"

Seeing that the Soldiers hadn’t been completely wiped out, Cui Jian’s tense heart relaxed slightly.

As he asked his questions, he scanned the surroundings vigilantly while also assessing the Soldiers’ condition.

One of them was severely injured, with a claw mark on his waist. It looked like his rifle or something else had partially blocked the blow, but it still left a horrific wound. Two Soldiers were applying pressure, but blood continued to seep out.

Another had a deep but non-fatal leg wound. Two more were unconscious. Given the training of these Soldiers, it was impossible they had fainted from fright.

"Reporting, sir! We have four seriously wounded and six with minor injuries! No one is missing!"

"What was it that attacked you? Did you get a clear look?"

The sergeant recalled the event, a lingering fear in his eyes.

"It was a leopard, much larger than a normal one. It was incredibly fast. Our eyes could barely track it in the forest. If it hadn’t been its first time encountering firearms, it might have dragged someone away!"

Thinking of this, the sergeant added a detail.

"The Concussion Bomb didn’t have the effect we’d hoped for, but it must have startled it. It took a few hits."

Hearing this, Cui Jian’s spirits lifted.

"Did it have much of an effect on it?"

"I couldn’t tell. It felt like it didn’t even bleed. Maybe firearms are useless against it."

The veteran Soldier shook his head helplessly.

"Heh, not a chance. You’re all using modified Type 95 large-caliber rifles. Even an evolved animal wouldn’t be completely unscathed after taking a direct hit from one of those. The fact that it fled is the best proo—"

His voice suddenly trailed off. Cui Jian froze.

A faint bestial odor wafted over, and the indistinct sound of a snarling beast echoed from a distance.

"RUSTLE..." "RUSTLE..."

The sound of parting foliage grew louder, and the smell became stronger.

The group went on high alert. Even the Evolvers tensed up, drawing their military daggers and steadying their rifle muzzles.

On the other side of the perimeter fence, the dense, tall bushes parted to reveal a massive head.

It was as big as half a Door, with amber eyes that glinted coldly amidst its mottled fur. Its snarling mouth revealed fangs at least twenty centimeters long, and it let out a continuous, warning hiss.

FUCK!!!

’This is what you call "much larger"? This is absurdly huge!’ Cui Jian shot a sideways glance at the sergeant.

Judging by the size of its head and the typical head-to-body ratio of a leopard, its body must be at least eight or nine meters long, not including the tail.

But the veteran Soldier’s expression was one of utter horror, and the other Soldiers’ faces were pale.

"S-Sir... that’s not the one from before..."

Two of them? A big one and a small one?

Cui Jian took a deep breath and exchanged glances with the others. This information made things even more difficult. He truly didn’t know whether to consider this good news or bad news.

"ROOOAR~~~"

The leopard let out a low growl in their direction, and a foul-smelling wind washed over the crowd.

Its gaze lingered on the firearms in the humans’ hands, a hint of caution in its eyes. Then, it emerged halfway from the bushes.

It had been crawling low to the ground before. Now, standing up, its back was more than two meters off the ground. Beneath its mottled pelt, its body was a mass of solid, streamlined muscle.

It exuded an aura of primitive ferocity.

Forget the Soldiers; even the nine Evolvers were extremely tense. Despite having guns, they felt that all of them combined would be no match for it.

’When did this leopard awaken? How did it get so big?’

"Hold your fire! Be careful not to discharge accidentally!"

The two sides were in a standoff. Cui Jian didn’t want to escalate the situation—at least, not yet.

"ROAR~~"

A massive roar, clearly louder and more ferocious than before, erupted. Many of the Soldiers were already breaking out in a cold sweat. Just then, the sound of the main force’s footsteps came from behind.

The reinforcements were clearly approaching, and the human side was about to have a huge numerical advantage.

’Good!’

Cui Jian keenly sensed a hint of retreat from the beast. Its body, which had been about to step forward, paused.

However, he had no intention of trying to take it down right now. In an open area, the firepower of dozens of Soldiers would be enough to blanket a target this large. But it was unclear how much damage their firearms could do, and in a dense forest like this, even tripling their numbers wouldn’t be that effective.

First, they had to force it back, then seal off the road and call for more troops and support.

"ROOOAR~~~"

"RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT..."

Gunfire suddenly erupted behind them, accompanied by a massive roar. There was clearly another beast behind them.

"AHH!!"

"ROAR~~"

The leopard in front of them suddenly leaped over the perimeter fence, jumped onto a tree, and charged toward them.

"BANG BANG BANG..." "RAT-TAT-TAT..."

The Evolvers, led by Cui Jian, opened fire without hesitation. The Soldiers who could still move joined in, creating a crossfire.

For a moment, gunfire echoed from both the front and the rear.

"THWAP THWAP THWAP..."

More than a dozen blossoms of blood erupted on the leopard’s body before it instantly dodged to the side.

The leopard’s agility was completely disproportionate to its size. It leaped back and forth between the large trees, using them to block the bullets.

"BANG BANG BANG..." "WHIZZZZ..."

Wood splinters from the bullet-riddled trees flew everywhere.

These weren’t the giant trees from deep in the mountains. Due to the leopard’s size, every tree it used for leverage swayed violently. Soon, a large swath of the forest was shaking.

Leaves, fruit, and dust rained down, partially obscuring the regular Soldiers’ vision.

"Grenades!"

"BOOM~" "BOOM~" "BOOM~"

Three high-explosive grenades were thrown in a triangular pattern, leading the target to cut off the leopard’s jumping path. The Evolvers then all aimed their guns toward its likely escape route.

"BANG BANG BANG..." "BANG"

This coordinated attack might not have landed many hits, but it at least forced the leopard to retreat for the moment, giving everyone a moment to breathe.

"Reloading!"

The sounds of Soldiers reloading their weapons echoed through the area.

Cui Jian’s expression was grim, his heart heavy.

’Just how many are there? What happened to the rear? Why did the roaring and gunfire from that direction stop a dozen seconds ago?’

...

「One minute earlier.」

As the rear guard of Soldiers was approaching the target location, a massive beast-like Shadow leaped out from the side.

"ROOOAR~~~"

A Soldier on the left didn’t even have time to react before he was bitten and dragged away.

"It’s here!! It’s here!! It’s bigger than a car!!"

"RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT..."

Several Soldiers raised their guns and started spraying bullets.

"Assholes, it has one of our men in its mouth! You’ll hit our comrade!!"

"He’s already dead!!"

The gunfire continued amidst the argument. The ghostly beast was incredibly fast. It didn’t matter if the man in its jaws was already dead; even if he were alive, they couldn’t afford to hesitate.

"ROOOAR~~~"

With no Evolvers to hold the line here, their reaction speed couldn’t keep up. Every time the leopard appeared, it claimed one or two lives. In just a dozen seconds, it had appeared four or five times, and at least 10 Soldiers had perished.

"It’s not eating us, it’s hunting!! Ready your grenades!! If it grabs you, pull the pin and give it a mouthful of fireworks!!"

A Lieutenant barked the order, clutching a high-explosive grenade in his left hand while bracing his rifle with his arm and firing continuously.

The gunshots and roars from up ahead told them that the experts from the Special Security Team had also run into trouble. For now, they were on their own.

"We absolutely cannot let this beast get out into the open!!"

Faced with extreme fear and danger, people usually react in one of two ways. Some become paralyzed with fear, making them easy prey. But veterans like these would often become ferocious.

Immediately, more than a dozen Soldiers gripped grenades in their hands.

The beast’s Shadow flashed again. The Lieutenant caught a glimpse of the enormous striped figure in his peripheral vision, but his body couldn’t keep up. He didn’t even have time to turn, let alone aim his gun.

’Dammit, to think I’ll be the first to go out with a bang!’

"BANG!"

A white shadow flashed and appeared at the giant beast’s side. The next moment, the car-sized monster was knocked sideways.

"BOOM!"

A large tree was snapped in two by the impact.

"ROAR~~"

Elder Mo struck the leopard’s cheek with his elbow, using his immense physical strength to shove it away.

"A cat this big... This old man has never seen anything like it!!"

His voice trailed from the white shadow as it zipped around the area, its speed at least double that of the ferocious beast.

"ROOOAR~~~"

The leopard got back on its feet and pounced, its extended claws like a set of sharp daggers.

The human before it blurred for an instant, and then a sharp pain shot through its foreleg.

"CRACK~"

A knife-hand strike landed under its right foreleg. After the heavy blow, the strike turned into a grab. With a twist of his hand, Elder Mo dislocated the leopard’s right limb.

"BANG"

A vicious kick to the stomach sent the entire leopard flipping halfway over.

"CRACK" "CRACK" "CRACK"

Three consecutive cracks.

"BOOM~"

The leopard crashed to the ground again, its four limbs now immobilized, kicking up a cloud of dust and fallen leaves.

"Roar..." "CRACK"

Its jaw was dislocated too. Now it couldn’t even make a sound, only writhe its body and thrash its neck.

Elder Mo, dressed in a white martial arts uniform, looked so small standing before the massive beast, yet he had stunned all the Soldiers into silence.

He glanced at the dead Soldier and the seriously wounded in the distance, then his figure flashed, and he appeared beside the Lieutenant.

"Your hand!"

The latter subconsciously held it out, and three flower petals appeared on the grenade in his left hand.

"Tear them up and divide them among the seriously wounded. Don’t waste them on minor injuries. There’s another one deeper in!"

Before the Lieutenant could even process it, the white shadow had already vanished, speeding deep into the dense forest.

PS: First Chapter for Thursday.