Chapter 220 - 219: The Bizarre Rabbit Squad

Chapter 220: Chapter 219: The Bizarre Rabbit Squad

"Prepare the artillery.

Bone Forest, Bone Joint. I’m giving you your chance. Take your troops and get into position!"

Gu Su’s voice carried down from the wall—unhurried, yet with an undeniable authority. 𝖋𝘳ℯ

Bone Forest and Bone Joint moved swiftly.

The two Skeleton Bosses charged up the stairs on either side of the wall. Behind them, the Skeleton Warriors formed two columns, their steps synchronized. The grinding of their bones blended into a single, continuous sound.

Only when they were atop the wall did Gu Su notice that the Skeleton Warriors’ equipment had changed.

The armor was new, with a base woven from Saw Grass, covered with a layer of coarse Strong Root Grass fibers, and finally topped with a layer of Blood Waterflea leaves.

The three materials were pressed together and sewn tightly with vine threads, cobbled into crude armor plates.

The plates were of different sizes, with rough edges. Some corners were warped, and in some places, the grass stubble inside was exposed. The colors were also a mess: the gray-green of Saw Grass, the dark brown of Strong Root Grass, the deep red of Blood Waterflea soaked in Dragon Blood, all jumbled together, looking like junk pulled from a trash heap.

Worn by the Skeletons, the armor was a crooked mess. Plates warped up on one side and sagged on the other, while the straps were a mix of too loose and too tight. They didn’t look like a proper army in the slightest.

But Bone Forest didn’t care. It led its subordinates to occupy the left side of the wall, while Bone Joint took the right. The two squads stood ready by the crenellations, their Bone Swords hung at their waists, their Shield Armor Cards leaning against the wall, waiting only for Gu Su’s command to jump down.

Gu Su’s gaze was no longer on them.

He stood in the center of the wall, hands braced on the railing. Five arcs appeared in his field of vision. They were the trajectories of the artillery shells, stretching from the muzzles all the way to the distant wasteland. It was as if someone had drawn a few simple lines across the sky with a pen.

This was a product of his War Machine Skills. He couldn’t see these lines before and had to rely on guesswork to aim. Now, the lines were laid out before him, perfectly clear.

The line in the very center was green, and it was followed by a small plus sign.

That was the trajectory of the Dragon Scale Mortar, which was operated by the Walking Dead Gunner capable of using a Charged Attack.

The remaining four lines were white, for the ordinary artillery pieces. They had no gunners, no one operating them, but in his eyes, the trajectories of these cannons were just as clear.

He used to be able to fire only one cannon at a time. Now, with the lines for all five before him, he could see and Control them all simultaneously.

That was enough for Gu Su.

The rabbits in the distance were still advancing, ten to a row, with a gap of two or three steps between rows, perfectly neat and silent.

Those gray-white figures formed a continuous mass on the gray, hazy wasteland, like a slowly creeping blanket.

Gu Su stared at the white and green arcs, silently calculating the distance. ’Eight hundred meters... six hundred... five hundred.’

Four hundred meters.

He raised his hand.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The five artillery pieces fired in unison.

The wall trembled once. The shells were airborne before the smoke from the muzzles had even begun to clear.

In Gu Su’s vision, the ends of the five arcs landed simultaneously within the rabbit phalanx.

The first shot smashed into the center of the front rank. The moment the shell hit the ground, it exploded in a ball of fire, sending shrapnel and dirt flying two or three meters high.

Six or seven rabbits near the shell were blasted away, their severed limbs tumbling through the air a few times before hitting the ground and rolling far away.

The second shot landed in the back ranks, blowing open a large crater. The rabbits near the edge of the crater were thrown by the shockwave, tumbling across the ground.

The third, fourth, and fifth shots landed in succession. The explosions blended into one continuous roar, and debris and dirt flew everywhere.

But Gu Su immediately discovered that the flesh and bone of the blasted rabbits did not fall back to the ground.

They paused in mid-air, as if caught by something, then abruptly shot toward the nearby rabbits.

Shreds of meat latched onto the rabbits’ backs, Broken Bones embedded themselves in their legs, and blood smeared across their faces.

The rabbits that were hit shuddered violently, grew a size larger, and their fur was no longer as gray, turning a dark brown.

Gu Su frowned.

The second volley was already loaded.

Without waiting, he raised his hand again.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

This time, he saw it more clearly. The shells landed and exploded, sending shrapnel flying and flesh and blood splattering everywhere.

The fragments of the blasted rabbit corpses bounced up the moment they hit the ground and flew towards the nearest living rabbit.

A rabbit with half its body blown off was not yet dead. Chunks of its flesh peeled off piece by piece, floating onto its companion nearby. That companion grew a size larger, its eyes turning so red they looked like they would drip blood.

Third volley.

The rabbits had already charged to within two hundred meters.

The shells fell, blasting away another group, but the remaining rabbits just grew bigger.

Some had already grown to half a man’s height. Their front legs grew longer, their hind legs grew thicker, and they began walking on two legs.

Most of their fur had fallen off, revealing reddish skin underneath. The skin was covered in fleshy lumps, as if something was squirming inside. Their heads still looked like a rabbit’s, but their mouths were split wider, revealing two rows of fine, dense teeth.

One hundred and fifty meters.

One hundred meters.

Gu Su did not fire again. He waved his hand towards Bone Joint.

Bone Joint stood at the very front of the right side of the wall. Seeing Gu Su’s gesture, it split its mouth into a grin.

That Skeleton face shouldn’t have had an expression, but it was definitely laughing. Its jaw gaped open, exposing the bone beneath, and the ghostly fire in its empty eye sockets flickered.

It turned and roared at the Skeleton Warriors behind it, who were wearing tattered armor plates. The sound wasn’t loud, but all the Skeletons heard it. ℯ𝓵.

Bone Joint was the first to jump.

The Skeleton Warriors on the wall followed it, leaping down one by one, their ghastly white figures tracing arcs against the gray, hazy sky.

Their landing was not heavy. Dozens of pairs of feet crunched on the gravel, a SHUSHING sound like rain. The Skeletons didn’t pause upon landing. They stood and charged forward, Bone Swords drawn, Shields held level, meeting the man-high rabbits head-on.

The rabbits charged forward as well. They pushed off with their two hind legs, their front claws extended, running with a posture similar to a human’s.

The pieces of flesh and Broken Bones attached to their bodies had already fused with them. Some had a large bulge on their back, some had an extra section of bone protruding from a leg, and some had a formless mass plastered to their face.

But they ran very fast, much faster than before. They covered the distance of several dozen meters in just a few breaths.

Bone Joint charged at the very front, sweeping its Bone Sword out horizontally, hacking into a rabbit’s thigh.

The rabbit’s leg was as thick as a small tree and its bones were hard; the Bone Sword got stuck halfway through. Bone Joint kicked the rabbit in the stomach, pulling its sword free. The rabbit staggered but didn’t fall. Its other leg shot out, kicking Bone Joint and making it stumble.

Two Skeletons next to it pounced, one from the left and one from the right, plunging their Bone Swords into the rabbit’s flanks.

The rabbit howled, a sound not like a rabbit, but like something much larger.

More Skeletons surged forward from behind, surrounding the enlarged rabbits.

On the wall, Gu Su stood behind the railing, watching the chaotic battle below, a flicker of deep thought in his eyes.