Chapter 152 - 151: The War Begins

Chapter 152: Chapter 151: The War Begins

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The deafening roar had not yet faded when Gu Su’s pupils suddenly contracted. He immediately looked in the direction of the explosion, his gaze piercing through the battlefield’s dust and smoke. He was shocked to see a massive golden warship stuck diagonally in the scorched earth.

Its bow was buried deep in the soil, its stern jutting high into the air. Its broken keel was exposed, making it look like a Giant Beast that had been pinned down and was still twitching faintly.

The warship was about thirty-odd meters long, with an exceptionally bizarre design—a hybrid style that was half-mechanical, half-scaled.

The main body of the hull was forged from an alloy that gave off a cold gleam. Wisps of green smoke rose from where brass pipes and gears interlocked, and the surface was covered in a network of mechanical lines.

The edges, however, were covered in layers of overlapping golden scales. Each scale was the size of a palm, with edges as sharp as blades. Under the reflection of the purple sky, they shimmered with a strange luster, a mix of Metal and flesh.

The main cannon on the bow had already cracked open, revealing the scorched barrel inside. It had clearly been met with fierce resistance as it fell.

That heaven-shaking roar from just moments ago was the grand finale caused by the warship being cut in half by anti-aircraft fire, crashing violently into the ground, and then suffering from its own internal damage.

Right now, the entire warship had been brutally blown into two pieces. A savage gash split the middle of the hull, its broken bulkheads resembling a ripped-open abdominal cavity.

Twisted and deformed Metal billowed with black smoke, and the lingering aftershocks of energy still remained. Some broken mechanical parts and golden scales were scattered about, emitting a faint stench of blood and rust.

As the wreckage of the warship shifted, dozens of man-high giant eggs rolled out from the ship’s fractured opening. They crashed heavily onto the gravelly ground with dull thuds.

The shells of these eggs were a sickly milky-white, their surfaces covered in dark red, vein-like patterns. They seemed to have been coated in some kind of mucus, making them rough and sticky to the touch.

Some of the eggs had been shattered by the blast wave of the explosion. A viscous, yellowish-green fluid flowed from the cracks in their shells, emitting a pungent, rotten-fish smell. Curled-up biological bodies could be vaguely seen within the liquid.

It was a bizarre-looking alien creature. It had a lizard-like head, with two cloudy sacs where its eye sockets should be. Its torso was already vaguely humanoid, and its entire body was covered in fine, dark red scales. Its limbs were curled up in front of its chest, and translucent webbing connected its knuckles.

These creatures still tightly clutched strangely shaped weapons in their hands—some were spirally-grooved Metal tubes, others were Bone Short Staffs inlaid with Crystal Stones. The tips of the spears and staves all glinted with a faint blue, cold light.

However, the internal organs of these creatures that had tumbled from the broken eggs had already been pulverized by the force of the explosion. Their scales were shattered, and their yellowish-green bodily fluids mixed with black blood. They lay motionless in the filth of egg fluid and dirt, leaving only cold, lifeless remains that were still faintly warm.

Just as Gu Su was concentrating on observing the battlefield wreckage and secretly analyzing the enemy’s details, the giant eggs that had been lucky enough not to burst suddenly began to vibrate ominously at the same time.

The vein-like patterns on the eggshells suddenly lit up like ignited fuses, and streaks of golden light shot out from the cracks.

Immediately after, the eggshells shattered one after another. Accompanied by a teeth-grinding CRACKLE, a scale-covered claw was the first to tear through its confinement, followed by a lizard head and a torso draped in natal slime.

These creatures fully opened their amber, vertical pupils. The moment they were exposed to the external purple light, their pupils contracted into thin slits, revealing the unique cruelty and alertness of a cold-blooded animal.

The moment they landed, they instinctively stretched their stiff limbs with an unsettling grace, like Demons awakening from a long slumber. They held their strange weapons tightly in hand, ready to Attack at any moment.

"Send in the Bone Dogs! Plague Corps Squad, get ready!"

The instant the Scale Armor Monsters appeared, Gu Su’s gaze hardened. Without a moment’s hesitation, he issued the combat order.

His eyes were locked on the newly hatched monsters as he quickly counted them.

’About twenty or so. Still a manageable number.’ But their bizarre biological structure and the weapons in their hands, which were clearly beyond the era of cold weapons, set off alarm bells in his mind. He quickly calculated his options.

’This is a good chance to test their true combat strength. I need to figure out their Attack methods and Defense capabilities before deciding on a follow-up deployment, to avoid unnecessary casualties from a blind assault.’

Following Gu Su’s command, the pack of Bone Dogs that had been roaming the battlefield ruins, constantly on standby, immediately surged forward like a tide.

The four legs of these fearless Undead creations churned, kicking up clouds of black ash. The green Soul Fire in their hollow eye sockets flickered, and low growls rumbled from their throats. Their sharp fangs glinted coldly under the purple light, a picture of ferocity.

Unexpectedly, the Scale Armor Monsters’ reaction was even faster than the Bone Dogs’. Though few in number, having just fallen from a great height and broken out of their shells, with their bodies still a bit unsteady, they made the most correct response in the first instant.

Three of them formed a tight, back-to-back triangular formation, their Spiral Spears pointing diagonally forward, the spear tips glowing with a faint golden energy.

Several others spread out to the flanks. The Crystal Stones at the tips of their Bone Short Staffs began to accumulate a blinding light. Their movements were skilled, clear evidence of professional combat training. Even in a desperate situation, there was no sign of panic.

In the first exchange, the Bone Dogs suffered a heavy blow.

The lead Scale Armor Monster flicked its wrist, and its Long Spear became a blur as it thrust out, accurately piercing the skull of the foremost Bone Dog.

The crisp sound of a shattering skull mingled with the hiss of an extinguishing Soul Fire. The stricken Bone Dog didn’t even have time to whimper before it collapsed to the ground, instantly immobilized.

But the Bone Dogs felt no fear. Their numbers far exceeded the enemy’s, and their bite force was extremely strong. They didn’t retreat an inch despite their comrades’ deaths.

More Bone Dogs outflanked them, their jaws opened to their limits, revealing jagged teeth. One pounced at a Scale Armor Monster’s throat during the interval it took to withdraw its spear, its teeth scraping against the scales with a harsh, grating sound.

Another went for the lower body, its fangs sinking deep into the enemy’s vital area, clamping down and refusing to let go.

Gu Su’s brow furrowed, and he was inwardly shaken. He had never imagined that the Bone Dogs’ powerful jaws would fail to kill these Scale Armor Monsters in a single bite.

He observed closely and was shocked to discover that beneath the monsters’ dark red scales, faint energy lines were circulating. It was living armor, a fusion of biology and machinery.

The scales were exceptionally hard, like heavy alloy plate armor. They withstood the Bone Dogs’ Tearing, leaving only a few shallow teeth marks.

Instead, the enraged Scale Armor Monsters immediately launched a frontal counterattack. They swept and stabbed with their Long Spears and struck precisely with their Bone Short Staffs. Their movements were fierce, and several more Bone Dogs had their bodies pierced or their bones shattered, collapsing one after another.

Gu Su could see clearly that only when two or three Bone Dogs pounced simultaneously and focused their bites on the same part of a single Scale Armor Monster could they break through its scale Defense and inflict a fatal wound.

A solo Attack could, at best, inflict a minor injury; it was completely unable to kill them.

Even when a Bone Dog managed to bite through the edge of a scale, causing yellowish-green blood to seep out, the Scale Armor Monsters would just roar and strike back, grievously wounding the Bone Dog. Even on the verge of death, they would still whip their tails like steel lashes, carving deep grooves into the ground.

Just as the Bone Dogs and Scale Armor Monsters reached a stalemate, a dense Black Fog suddenly surged at the edge of the battlefield. An all-black Spiritual Van sped out from it, its ramming horn striking a Scale Armor Monster that was about to throw its Long Spear. The monster was sent flying over ten meters, crashing heavily onto the gravel. It spat out yellowish-green fluid, and several of its scales shattered.

Immediately after, the Spiritual Van dissolved into a cloud of Black Fog and vanished into the air, leaving behind twenty-five Walking Dead Warriors holding Wooden Shields and Warhammers.

Though the movements of these poison-enhanced Undead were stiff and slow, they exuded a tireless sense of pressure. The moment they appeared, they immediately charged toward the Scale Armor Monsters, raising their Warhammers high. With a whistling sound, they smashed down hard on the unprepared enemies.

The Scale Armor Monsters clearly hadn’t expected Gu Su to use such a surprising tactic, and a flaw appeared in their tight defensive formation.

The Walking Dead Warriors’ Warhammers accurately smashed into the heads of several Scale Armor Monsters with great force, creating loud THUDS. Scales dented and cracked, and the dark golden energy lines sputtered sparks like damaged circuits.

But what shocked Gu Su so much that it took his breath away was that even after taking a full-force blow from a Walking Dead Warrior, the Scale Armor Monsters still didn’t die on the spot.

Relying on the thick, hard living armor on their bodies, their subcutaneous muscle fibers squirmed in a way that defied common sense, as if countless tiny mechanical structures were operating to disperse and absorb the impact. They were only staggered by the blow, their heads wobbling slightly, and more cracks appeared on their scales, but they remained combat-effective.

The savage glint in the Scale Armor Monsters’ eyes grew even more intense. When the second hammer fell, they were even able to adjust their posture and block with their Bone Short Staffs, creating a harsh metallic clang as the staff and hammer collided.

"To withstand a full-force blow from a Walking Dead Warrior..."

Gu Su’s voice was low, his knuckles tight on the parapet’s railing. A grave look flickered in his eyes as he rapidly calculated in his mind.

’The individual combat power of these Scale Armor Monsters is at least equivalent to a Level 3 Elite Skeleton Warrior. Their bio-mechanical fused Constitution means it’s hard to kill them quickly with conventional melee combat.

’What’s more troublesome is that these are just the vanguards from a single downed ship. God knows how many more enemies will follow, or what terrifying war potential the beings who can build such bizarre warships possess.

’Is this still a beast tide?

’This is clearly a civilizational invasion.’

While Gu Su was mulling this over, the steps of some of the Scale Armor Monsters clearly faltered.

’What’s going on?’

And at that moment, the foremost Plague Corpse knocked a Scale Armor Monster to the ground with its heavy hammer and began to smash it relentlessly.

The action of the Plague Corpse triggered a reaction from the other Walking Dead Warriors. They relentlessly swung their heavy hammers, beating the Scale Armor Monsters to death.