Chapter 9: The Kite

When the mother creature rose upright before Chen Jian, he truly felt the oppressive weight emanating from this colossal being. Its massive lower limbs struck the concrete ground, as if in the next moment it would step directly on his head.

Looking up, Chen Jian could not even see the creature’s head; his entire view was blocked by its ragged tentacles wildly waving in the air.

He finally understood why humans worship and fear giants—because such a creature… no matter how bizarre its appearance, the moment you lay eyes on it, you immediately sense an unnatural, profoundly eerie… beauty.

Yes, beauty.

A beauty as if a deity had descended.

—But alas, Chen Jian had no mood to appreciate this now, for this adversary sought to end his life.

He swiftly ran toward the building’s rear, the mother’s tentacles snapping close behind.

“Bang!”

A tremendous crash sounded as the already fragile building instantly shattered.

“Deploy drones! Establish aerial surveillance!” Chen Jian commanded loudly, and his team reacted without hesitation.

In an instant, two drones ascended rapidly, and Chen Jian’s smart goggles displayed images streaming from high above.

“We can’t keep fighting! Lei Jie, report remaining ammo!”

“I still have five grenades, two fragmentation grenades, and plenty of bullets!”

“No matter how many bullets you have, it’s useless! Shen Yue, how much ammo do you have left?”

“Less than two hundred rounds.”

Nearly out of ammunition.

Once Lei Jie’s grenades were gone, the squad would be left with only small-caliber weapons.

Clearly, these small arms could never inflict effective damage on the mother creature.

What to do?

Chen Jian’s mind raced, yet before he could draw a conclusion, tactical orders were issued instinctively.

“Everyone spread out to distract! Use aerial surveillance to avoid direct confrontation!”

“Use buildings as cover! Engage in layered counterattacks and orderly retreat!”

“Find its weak points—figure out a way to take it down!”

“Understood!”

At his command, the four squad members immediately dispersed.

The urban terrain had an advantage: it severely restricted the movement speed of large vehicles.

And this mother creature was essentially a large vehicle.

As the squad weaved through streets and narrow alleys, even with aerial vision, the mother creature became confused.

It could see them.

But it could not reach them.

After all, it was a monster—not the kind of colossal beasts from Ultraman or Godzilla!

The squad’s danger instantly lessened, and better yet, the drones’ thermal imaging detected no other abnormal heat sources.

The mantises had not joined the assault.

Perhaps, as Chen Jian had guessed, their evolution was geared toward “hunting in the dark,” so the bright midday sun rendered them immobile.

The situation was favorable; the advantage was theirs.

Chen Jian’s confidence surged. He slipped into a narrow alley, paused after confirming the mother creature was not moving toward him, and caught his breath.

“It seems it can’t do anything to us—that’s why Du Hu wanted to lure us underground. He knew the mother creature couldn’t crush us on the surface, just like an elephant can’t crush an ant!”

“True, but we still can’t harm it!” Shen Yue’s voice crackled through the earpiece, his breathing heavy. As the squad’s strongest burden-bearer, he was clearly tiring.

“We have to decide fast—fight or run!”

“What weak point?!” Chen Jian spat.

“This thing isn’t even an animal; it’s like a shapely fungus.”

“Its head has been blasted from a triangle to a pentagon shape—how can it still move freely?”

“I doubt its brain is on the tentacles.”

“And it only has a few tentacles left!” Lei Jie interjected.

“Captain! Its lower limb is less than two meters in diameter—should we try breaking it?”

“Good idea!”

Chen Jian’s eyes lit up. Then he ordered:

“Shen Yue, fire in bursts to draw its attention!”

“He Shuo, use the Type 10 to target its head! If you find eyes, prioritize shooting them!”

“Lei Jie, aim for its lower limbs—try to break a leg with two grenades!”

“Understood!”

With the tactical shift, the four adjusted positions.

Chen Jian circled out of the alley, found a firing angle, and without hesitation opened fire on the mother’s head, where previous sniper grenades had weakened it.

The creature’s attention snapped to him, but just as its head turned, Shen Yue, who had kept a distance, opened fire.

“Bang, bang, bang—”

Bullets pierced deep into the creature’s muscle; its keratinous outer layer was shattered.

The damage might be limited, but each bullet was like a sharp thorn piercing its skin.

It must feel pain, for it was thrown into utter confusion by these stinging assaults.

“Lei Jie! Now’s our chance!” Chen Jian shouted.

“Boom! Boom!”

At the instant the mother creature halted, two grenades flew from the side, hitting its lower limb joints.

Flesh and blood splattered as bone, coated in blood and mucus, was exposed for the first time before the squad.

The mother creature staggered, nearly falling, but immediately grabbed a nearby skyscraper with its tentacles to steady itself.

—But He Shuo would not give it a chance.

“Bang!”

A 12.7mm bullet fired from behind hit the mother’s leg bone with surgical precision.

A dull explosion rang out as bullet and bone fragments scattered.

The next second—

The mother creature completely lost balance and collapsed!

“Lei Jie! The other leg!”

“Roger!”

“Boom!”

Another grenade followed the same process.

The creature’s other lower leg detached from its body; it had lost all ability to stand.

“It’s down!”

Chen Jian advanced steadily, a burst of fire severing one of the flailing tentacles.

The massive body struggled on the ground, its astonishing muscular reactions still active.

But lacking strong regenerative abilities, once limbs detached, it would never move again.

“Safe!”

“Keep searching for weaknesses—find a way to finish it off!” Chen Jian ordered calmly.

Just then, a warning sounded through his earpiece:

“HumanI'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.