“Damn it!” The captain fiercely punched the outer wall of the fortress, his body bent over as he gasped heavily for air. “The front line has collapsed! At least a hundred of those high-danger multi-eyed birds have broken through. You should consider yourselves lucky to come back alive.”
A helpless female voice came from behind the small team.
The men turned, their eyes reddened with anger.
They saw a black-haired woman in a white lab coat, smoking a cigarette as she gazed calmly at the sea where the strange birds had just vanished.
Her features were ordinary, and she was slightly plump.
Dark circles under her eyes suggested fatigue, and she appeared to be in her forties, with noticeable crow's feet at the corners of her eyes.
If not for her researcher's white coat, one might think she was just a regular housewife.
“Yuan, why wasn’t anyone able to inform us? Why didn’t you tell us those birds were coming in?!” The captain barked as he strode angrily toward the woman and grabbed her collar, lifting her up with rage.
“Because we couldn’t reach you. The signal interference is even worse now,” she replied calmly. “I recommend you don’t get violent. I’ve spent the last three nights working to update the communication equipment.”
The captain, momentarily stunned by her unyielding demeanor, felt the fury from lost team members still boiling within him, but his grip weakened and he lowered her back down. “Why?!”
He slammed his fist into the wall again. “Why is this happening?! Four teams and all that's left are us few!”
“The danger level of the Blood Tide has reached level two. It has surpassed what ordinary people can handle. Even you top-tier elites, who have had your bodies enhanced by the Radiance Stone, must rely on firearms to engage in positional warfare.” Yuan answered sternly.
“So from the very beginning, you Black Stone people thought your enhancements were sufficient to deal with the Blood Tide? That's a folly!” she continued, her tone unyielding. “Once it reaches level four, even small-caliber guns and ordinary explosive shells will be largely ineffective against monsters of that level. They can be injured but will quickly recover and return.”
“What about complete Radiance Stone enhancements? Full-body enhancements?! They must be able to handle it!” the captain gritted his teeth, asking desperately.
“According to the latest data, individuals with complete enhancements managed to injure a level three Blood Tide monster in an underground test, but with a cost of three to one,” Yuan explained. “However, that is meaningless, as Blood Tide monsters will soon revive. The calculations in experiments show that level three Blood Tide creatures far exceed the physical limits of humans. This is a limitation of our race. Our body structure, cellular strength, has its limits.”
“So you’re saying level three is our ceiling?!” The captain asked, suppressing his frustration.
“Stop sending people to their deaths. Your Black Stone tests only waste resources and lives. This was established through countless costs when Silver Tower strictly defined the Laws of Life," Yuan concluded before turning calmly to leave.
Level three was the maximum that humans could handle through body enhancement.
Later that afternoon, the upgraded red value detector's LCD screen displayed: 15:03. Inside the cave, Yu Hong, having just finished a communication, felt heavy-hearted.
After a moment of thought, he decided on a course of action, stood up, and walked to the wooden door, looking out through the peephole.
Outside, wisps of white mist floated between the trees, appearing even more dangerous and mysterious than before.
‘It seems the red values outside might be even higher than earlier…’ He thought, feeling a weight of concern.
The once safe daytime was becoming extremely perilous.
Remembering Old Li's earlier warnings, he felt fortunate for having reinforced the safe house beforehand; the enhancement time was approaching.
Otherwise, future safety issues would be quite troublesome.
He had no way of knowing how the post office was faring, but it was no longer suitable to venture out aimlessly.
Suddenly, as he peered outside, something in the forest seemed to spot him through the peephole.
A gray shadow burst out of the mist, hurtling toward the peephole like a sharp arrow.
The speed was so fast that the air burst open with a piercing shriek that stung Yu Hong’s eardrums.
He quickly retreated, pulling the barrier down and rushing to grab his white bear suit in the corner.
Boom!!
Just as he moved away from the door, a deafening sound erupted as the door was violently struck.
The thick wooden door, which had been reinforced multiple times, was suddenly breached.
A grayish-white spike, as thick as a grown man's forearm and shimmering with a faint blue light at its tip, pierced through the peephole with ease.
It went right through the wire mesh, then through the wooden barrier, driving half a meter into the cave before withdrawing, stirring up a gust of air as it vanished back into the woods.
Yu Hong quickly donned his white bear suit, feeling a chill at the sight.
If he hadn’t just moved, that spike might have impaled him right through the chest, causing his death inside the cave.
‘So this is what breaks through the front lines?! Are the joint forces fighting against creatures like this?!’ He suddenly felt that the Blood Tide monsters he had encountered before were child's play.
If the phantoms and evil shadows were the embodiment of fear and horror, then this invisible gray monster was the embodiment of overwhelming might and despair.
‘That thing is too fast, and it can fly!’
Before he could finish his thoughts, Yu Hong’s expression changed drastically as he lifted the wooden shield to protect himself.
Boom!!
At the same time, the peephole was completely wrecked with another bang.
A gray spike punctured the room again, this time driving a full meter inside.
It then pulled back to within a few centimeters of Yu Hong, failing to strike and retreating quickly into the woods.
‘This cannot continue; the main door will be completely broken down! Hiding is useless!’
Feeling a surge of panic, Yu Hong made a swift decision.
He dashed to the door, flung it open, and raised his shield.
“Kill!!!”
He roared and charged forward like a heavy black rhinoceros, recklessly rushing towards the unknown gray creature outside.
If the opponent was indeed a Blood Tide monster, or a kind of mutated beast, then its basic biological traits must still follow certain rules.
When confronting wild creatures, he had to unleash his energy to make them understand that a confrontation would only bring pain, pushing them back.
As he stepped out the door, Yu Hong finally saw what that gray creature was.
It was a featherless monster bird with two rows of red beady eyes.
Its entire body was gray-white, and despite having no feathers, it flew with a speed that was simply unbelievable.
Under its skin, numerous bulges constantly shifted and undulated as if many things were frantically moving beneath its flesh.
Upon noticing Yu Hong rush out, it roared, letting out a croak like that of a toad, before slashing down its wing against Yu Hong's wooden shield.
The monster bird stood over a meter tall, with a slender body and a wingspan of four meters.
At that moment, as its wing swept down, it resembled a white shadow slicing through the air, creating a sharp sound like that of a razor-sharp knife striking Yu Hong’s shield.
Yu Hong felt his blood surging, veins bulging as he roared in fury and charged forward.
“Ahhh!!!”
Bang!!!
With a loud crash, the massive wooden shield splintered on the spot as the bird's wing collided head-on with the alloy plating of Yu Hong’s bear suit.
The two forces were evenly matched, neither side giving way.
“Damn you!!” Yu Hong shouted with one hand gripping the wolf's tooth club and swung it down with all his might!
With a power well beyond that of an average person, the heavy wolf's tooth club accompanied by its sharp spikes sliced through the air and slammed down onto the monster bird's neck.
At the same moment, the bird swung its other wing, striking Yu Hong’s left shoulder forcefully.
Both had chosen to use their opposite limbs for the sneak attack.
Bang! Bang!!
The dull sounds echoed almost simultaneously.
Both Yu Hong and the monster bird were struck by each other’s tremendous force, sending them flying backward.
Yu Hong rolled several meters sideways, colliding with the enclosing wall before he finally came to a halt.
The monster bird twisted its neck at an odd angle and crashed heavily into the wall, tumbling over several times in the grass.
Both struggled to rise.
“Die!!!” Yu Hong raised the wolf's tooth club, putting every ounce of strength into swinging it at the monster bird.
Taking the opportunity as the club soared toward the creature, he drew his reinforced handgun and fired rapidly at the monster bird.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
The continuous gunfire erupted like small explosions, and each time he pulled the trigger, a small puff of white smoke would burst from the gun's muzzle.
Powerful bullets shot out at twice the speed of sound, crashing down around the monster bird and the ground nearby.
Out of four shots, two bullets hit, exploding into two large bursts of gray-white blood upon impact, leaving behind fist-sized holes in the monster’s body.
Roar!!
The monster bird shrieked in pain, flapping its wings to take off and evade the wolf's tooth club, quickly vanishing into the mist of the forest, leaving a trail of gray-white blood in its wake.
“This is bad!” Yu Hong panted, watching the creature flee, panting heavily in place as he attempted to recover from the exertion.
He had truly given it his all, holding nothing back.
Even the vital energy he had just practiced was burned up in that effort.
He had barely managed to press a slight advantage in that collision.
This made the bit of confidence he had from his recent breakthrough shatter into pieces.
He was too weak!
How could he be this weak?! Why was he so weak?!
He slammed his fist into the rocky wall, causing stone dust to fly and creating a shallow dent.
‘To be so thoroughly beaten by a random wild monster! If two show up at once, will I be torn apart?!’ Yu Hong felt an overwhelming frustration, realizing he needed to strengthen his training further.
Having been tortured by the phantom once, and now facing such a ridiculously strong bird!
This environment offered no chance for survival.
Wait! The post office!
He suddenly recalled the loud explosion he had just heard, which seemed to come from the post office.
If he had the energy, he would certainly go support Old Li, but right now, he was spent, his shoulders aching unbearably and utterly lacking the strength.
After a quick glance at Qiu Yanxi and her mother, confirming they were safe and silent inside the wooden house, Yu Hong hurriedly returned to the cave with the broken door to check for injuries.
(End of Chapter)