bookbashuk Chapter 120 A missile floated down from the sky...
Chapter 120 A missile floated down from the sky...
Chapter 120 A missile drifted in from the sky...
This giant bio-worm, whose sole purpose is underground excavation and troop transport, has clearly gone astray in the course of its evolution.
Its dark red chitinous armor covering its body has evolved extremely high toughness and wear resistance to adapt to high-intensity friction with hard rocks, soil, and even granite bedrock hundreds of meters deep in the earth.
However, being resistant to friction does not equate to being bulletproof.
Faced with the torrential downpour of heavy firepower from modern human civilization, this seemingly terrifying armor was so weak in defense that it was practically a piece of cheap cardboard.
"Fire! Don't stop! Empty the ammunition belt!"
The M2HB heavy machine gun on the armored vehicle roared wildly, and thumb-thick .50 caliber armor-piercing incendiary rounds intertwined in the air to form an impenetrable net of death.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
The worm's skin was brutally torn apart the moment it came into contact with the bullet screen.
Instead of bright red blood, large amounts of orange-yellow biomass fluid, formed under extreme mutation, sprayed out like high-pressure fountains from the hundreds and thousands of burst bullet holes on its body.
Even more deadly are those man-portable anti-tank rocket launchers.
The high-explosive armor-piercing round, trailing a long plume of smoke, accurately struck the enormous, throbbing air sacs on either side of the worm's body.
"Boom! Rumble—!"
A violent chain of explosions erupted on the worm's massive body.
"Aww!!!"
The worm emitted an extremely painful and piercing hiss.
Its enormous body, several stories high, twisted and rolled wildly in the ruins of the street.
"It can't hold on any longer! It has absolutely no ability to fight back!"
Inside the command center, the commander stared at the colossal beast on the holographic screen, howling and writhing amidst the gunfire, its flesh torn apart, his eyes bloodshot with excitement.
He suddenly swung his fist and slammed it heavily against the armored vehicle's bulkhead, making a dull thud.
"Heavy firepower team, aim for its mouthparts! Sever its spine! Keep it on the ground forever!"
However, in stark contrast to the commander was the adjutant standing beside him.
This tactical adjutant, who was known for his composure, showed not the slightest bit of joy at this moment.
The eyes that stared intently at the battlefield through the goggles of the gas mask held only doubt.
"Sir—"
The adjutant's voice came through the voice changer. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the commander's wrist as he reached for the communicator.
"Cease fire. Order troops to withdraw immediately—immediately move to maximum mobility!"
"Are you fucking insane, Lieutenant?!"
The sharp pain in his wrist jolted the commander from his euphoria. He angrily flung his adjutant's hand away and roared, "It's about to die! You want me to retreat now? Are you disobeying orders?!"
"Haven't you figured it out yet, sir?!"
Instead of backing down, the adjutant stepped forward and pointed to the giant worm wriggling wildly on the screen.
"Look closely at its movements! Even at the risk of being blown in half by our shells, even with half its body torn apart, it's still desperately trying to wriggle outwards! It doesn't even seem to have any intention of retaliating against us with that huge mouthpart!"
"It's not deploying troops! It's not attacking us!"
"This special high-level mutant expresses an emotion so pure it's almost reckless, even at any cost, in every action it takes."
"That means running away!"
These words were like a bucket of ice water poured over the commander's head.
The fervor on his face froze, and an indescribable chill shot up his tailbone to the back of his head, sending a shiver down his spine.
"It's moving away from some kind of threat—it's running for its life?!" the commander muttered to himself.
The adjutant's speech quickened. "Sir, please use the tactical knowledge you learned at West Point to think about this carefully!"
"Following the strict hierarchical logic of the Blacklight virus, this dedicated underground transport unit, lacking self-defense capabilities yet possessing extremely high strategic value," absolutely must be surrounded by a large number of hunters or other combat-type infected as its guards!
"But what about now? Look at the radar! Not a single one! Not even a single ordinary zombie followed it out!"
The adjutant stared intently at the bottomless sinkhole.
"Where did those hunters who slaughtered an entire armored battalion go? Did they abandon their protection of this queen? The Blacklight virus's swarm mentality will never allow that to happen!"
"Or is it that—they've all been wiped out, without even a chance to escort this excavating unit?"
The commander's pupils suddenly contracted.
He stared blankly at the deep pit on the screen, from which foul-smelling black smoke was constantly billowing out.
Yes, that's the most chilling blind spot in the whole thing!
What is the Blacklight Virus? It is a cold and absolutely rational collective consciousness!
They are tireless, unafraid of death, and don't even have the concept of "fear" in their minds.
What kind of terrifying thing could frighten this virus creation, which knows no fear, into surrendering in terror?
What kind of being could force this precious transport unit to break through the ground alone, braving the barrage of artillery fire from the human army, and fleeing frantically like a stray dog?!
The Manhattan underground—that dark lair that should have been the home of the Blacklight virus—
What exactly happened just now, or rather, what is happening now?!
"Retreat—retreat immediately!! Floor the gas pedal!!!"
The commander's roar still echoed in the communications channel as the troops began to turn their vehicles around, preparing for an emergency evacuation.
However, just one minute later...
"Sizzle—whoosh!"
A very strange sound, completely out of place in this bloody battlefield, suddenly came down from above the dark red clouds in the heart of Manhattan.
The sound was initially muffled, like someone lighting a huge industrial gas furnace several kilometers away in the air.
But then, the dull burning sound amplified dramatically, turning into a piercing shriek that tore through the air.
Several black-clad Watchers stopped and looked up at the sky in confusion.
"What was that sound? Did the Air Force's supersonic fighter jets break the sound barrier?"
"Wait a minute! Why does that voice sound so familiar?"
A veteran who had served in the artillery and air defense forces turned deathly pale instantly.
He ripped off his helmet and scrambled toward the armored vehicle's cover, pointing incredulously at the distant sky.
"That's fucking—that's the preheating sound of a solid-fuel rocket engine igniting!! Someone's launching a missile high in the center of the red zone!!"