Chapter 346 - 339: Three Leopards

Chapter 346: Chapter 339: Three Leopards

Cui Jian was under immense pressure. It was hard to say if the eerie silence outside meant his entire team had been wiped out.

The ones stationed here were all veterans from elite units, professional soldiers. Aside from the heavy losses they might have taken during the initial ambush, they should have been able to hold out for a while, even without Evolvers.

To wipe out over fifty soldiers in such a short time... it was hard to imagine what was out there.

"Inject the adrenaline boosters!"

After giving the order, Cui Jian quickly took out a steel needle from his uniform, removed the protective cap, and jabbed it straight into his left arm.

An adrenaline injection would be somewhat dangerous for a normal person, but for an Evolver, not only was there no risk, the short-term enhancement was also quite significant.

The enhanced injectors issued by the Special Security Team were a new product from the R&D department, containing energy essences extracted from powerful lifeforms.

Due to the special components, the stimulating effects would manifest within ten or so seconds. For the next half hour, their reactions would be sharper, their sense of pain would be dulled, and their strength would increase significantly based on their physique.

By taking this step, they had basically decided to go for a direct confrontation the next time the leopard revealed itself.

After the nine of them finished their injections, their breathing deepened, their chests heaving. Their skin turned slightly red as their body temperatures rose sharply.

In the perception of the hiding leopard, the auras of the nine men instantly grew stronger.

"HISS!"

He let out a sharp breath through his nostrils and swapped the magazine in his weapon.

"Everyone, cease fire in a moment. Be careful not to hit our own. When it appears again, Squad 7, get in close. One man per claw. Watch its head and tail. I’ll take out its eyes!"

Two steel spikes appeared in Cui Jian’s left hand. The muscles between his fingers were relaxed yet poised. Few people knew he was actually left-handed.

At a critical moment like this, he trusted cold weapons more than firearms. After all, guns were limited by the weapon itself and the bullets, factors he couldn’t completely control.

However, while the men were on high alert, the leopard was also feeling an inexplicable sense of dread.

Just as Cui Jian feared his men outside were wiped out, the giant leopard had also gone a long time without hearing the roars of its own kind.

It now wanted to get past these humans and see what had happened outside. But it knew the nine of them were aware of its location. If it made any other move, they would surely follow.

"Captain Cui, it’s not coming out!"

"That’s fine, we’ll just force it out! High-explosive grenades, sequential timed detonation!"

The nine men each gripped a grenade and gently pulled the pins. After a shared glance, they all released the spoons and silently counted in their minds.

"Throw!"

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~~

Thrown by the Evolvers, the grenades shot like cannonballs, soaring into the distant woods where the giant beast was hiding.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ...

"ROAR~~"

The shrapnel might not have done much damage to the giant beast, but the deafening blasts and flames were still powerful enough to force it to leap away to a new position.

"Go!"

Six men pushed off with their feet, kicking up a layer of forest soil and moss as they charged directly at the giant beast.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! ...

The clash of claws against alloy steel blades rang out like striking metal.

"OOF!" THUD!

An Evolver was struck in the chest by a sweep of its tail. He was hit so hard he couldn’t stop dry-heaving, the coppery taste of blood filling his throat.

Because they had failed to account for the tail, the other Evolvers were also forced back.

A cold glint flashed in Cui Jian’s eyes, and his glasses reflected the light.

His left hand blurred. Two sharp points of cold light tore through the air, shooting straight for the giant beast’s eyes. They reached it in an instant.

"ROAR~"

The giant leopard instinctively ducked its head. Two bloody gashes were carved across the top of its skull as the projectiles zipped past.

THUNK! THUNK!

The two steel spikes embedded themselves deep into a large tree nearby, right up to their hilts, leaving two holes.

BANG! BANG! BANG! ...

He sighed. ’Still a miss.’ The encirclement hadn’t created a good enough opening. But even though his first strike failed, he began firing his gun wildly, and the other Evolvers seized the chance to open fire as well.

In a short time, they unloaded and hit the giant leopard with more than twenty rounds.

"Heh! This one’s even bigger than the last! Is it turning into a Demon or something?"

A deep, aged voice was rapidly approaching.

Hearing this, Cui Jian’s heart leaped with joy. The comment basically meant things outside weren’t as bad as he had imagined.

And as the voice faded, an old man in a white training suit leaped out from the trees, landing before the giant beast.

A Soft Sword with a cord-wrapped hilt at his waist twisted into his hand. Sunlight filtering through the dense canopy glinted coldly off the blade.

TING!

It was difficult to find purchase in mid-air, but the instant the leopard’s paw swiped at him, the Soft Sword shot out and severed each of its claws at the base. Then, like a snake, the blade coiled around the paw to its back.

SLICE~

The ligaments and tendons on the back of the massive right paw’s wrist were severed.

"Hah~"

The white figure flashed, dodging the bite of the massive beast’s head. With a powerful tug, he used the entangled right paw to pull the giant beast off-balance, causing it to stumble forward.

Elder Mo used this momentum to spin in the air, flexing the muscles in his left arm.

In a blur, his elbow struck the side of the giant leopard’s neck where it connected to the head, landing like a heavy cannonball.

CRACK!

The sound of the elbow hitting the neck carried a strange vibration.

CRASH~~

Amid the massive crash, the huge beast’s skull slammed into the ground, blasting out a large crater. A tree grazed by its head snapped at the base and toppled over.

Then, the leopard, as large as a small bus, went limp and collapsed to the ground with a thunderous thud.

The ground seemed to shake the moment the giant beast fell.

But Elder Mo didn’t stop. He flickered around the giant beast’s body a few times.

With a series of CRACKS and SNAPS, he dislocated all of its limbs and its jawbone.

He looked at the surrounding soldiers and the nine men who were clearly from the Special Security Team.

"This beast isn’t dead, just unconscious. I did this to be safe. I figured you’d prefer to capture them alive, since they’re native creatures of our world."

As he spoke, Elder Mo walked over to Cui Jian and took two petals of a Flower of Life from a pocket inside his clothes.

"Here. I don’t need to tell you how to use this."

The moment Cui Jian saw the petals, he knew the man’s identity. In fact, he had already suspected it, even though he couldn’t get a clear look at the old man’s face or figure.

"You’re from Dawn?"

"Yes. I was just passing by and came when I heard the explosions."

Gazing at the giant leopard on the ground, Elder Mo’s expression also turned grave.

"I didn’t expect that evolved beasts like this had already appeared in the Taihang Mountain Range."

Cui Jian’s expression was also serious.

"Indeed. Capturing these two leopards alive is crucial for us! Thank you so much for your righteous intervention. I’ll report to..."

He had wanted to say he would request a commendation for him from his superiors, but he stopped himself, realizing that Dawn probably never needed their commendations.

"ROAR~~"

Another roar echoed from the woods.

"Heh heh, so you finally couldn’t hold back. Saves me the trouble of going in to find you!"

The old man chuckled. He had obviously known there was another one, but its aura was far weaker than the previous two.

Cui Jian was furious when he heard this. ’When will this end? There’s another one?’

This time, however, as the roar faded, the sound of rapid running rustled the trees, and a leopard leaped recklessly from the woods.

Five Evolvers on the side instantly sprang into action. Dagger blades and bullets struck non-lethal spots, subduing the leopard almost the instant it leaped out.

"That’s the one! That’s the one that attacked us at the beginning!"

A veteran blurted out.

Only then did everyone finally let out a sigh of relief.

Although this newly appeared leopard was also large, it was only slightly bigger than an African Lion, not too absurdly so.

"Alright, I’ll be taking my leave. This old man still has things to do. There’s no more danger in the area."

After giving a cupped-fist salute to the soldiers present, Elder Mo vanished in a flash.

The Special Security Team members and the soldiers all saluted in response. After the old man had disappeared, Cui Jian slowly approached the unconscious giant leopard.

"The process was nerve-wracking, but the result was good!"

As he spoke, he took off his glasses. The color of his irises seemed to be constantly shifting.

He lifted the giant eyelid of the unconscious leopard and stared directly into its eye. After more than twenty seconds, the pupil of the giant beast also began to change.

From a distant tree, Elder Mo observed this scene closely.

’So this agent named Cui is a Power User, too!’

PS: Chapter two for Thursday.