Cryptomining Supervillain

Chapter 237: 237 HERMES VS MEAT HEAP

237 HERMES VS MEAT HEAP

Sienna's expression remained blank, but inside her mind was racing.

"Sister Sienna… you do have a backup plan, right?" Mortuum pressed.

Their convoy suddenly veered off the main road and barreled toward the light forest.

"Why are we going into the woods?" Isabelline cried. "The bushes will slow us down!"

The juggernauts spotted the maneuver instantly and swooped after them. This was their moment… the slowed vehicles meant easy targets.

"They're right behind us! What should we do?!" someone shouted from the rear vehicle.

Only Sienna stayed composed. "Just stay focused and rush to the gathering point."

The juggernauts descended.

Soldiers on the trucks opened fire, but the mecha pilots were AI programs—they dodged effortlessly and retaliated with precise blasts.

A pair of armored trucks were hit and disabled. Several meta humans were killed in the cross fire.

"Whew… that was too close," Gamboge muttered. "But for how long? We can't outrun them forever."

A heavy tension settled over the group until Sienna finally said, almost to herself, "It's about time."

"About time for what?" Isabelline asked.

Then, shapes emerged from the trees.

People—no, things—stumbled out in droves, pale, mindless, and hungry. More and more of these monstrous beings crawled from between the trunks, surrounding the woods.

"Zombies?" Celadon blurted. "Is that what you were waiting for?"

"They're not zombies," Sienna corrected calmly. "Damen gave them a better name…Corrosivers."

These were the mutated people of Melrose City, transformed by Erythos's gene-plague derived from Damen's altered blood.

After the liberation of Melrose city there were still too many Corrosivers in the city. It would shock the citizens to live around them, so Sienna placed them in the wilderness.

When she came to the farm to rescue Argent, she brought the Corrosivers as a backup.

The juggernauts halted in midair, their sensors blaring warnings. Hundreds of Corrosivers filled the forest…. They were exactly where Sienna had lured them to fight.

This was her Plan B.

The mechas opened fire. The Corrosivers were shredded instantly… their limbs blasted apart, torsos crushed, and bodies obliterated.

But before the juggernauts could confirm kills… the scattered flesh twitched.

Then crawled.

Then merged.

The broken pieces dragged toward one another, fusing into a rising mass. More Corrosivers threw themselves onto it, adding to the ever-growing body until it formed a towering humanoid monstrosity with massive limbs.

It became a Meat Heap.

With a single swing, the Meat Heap snatched a juggernaut out of the air. The mecha struggled, its armored plating resisting at first.

But the monster's flesh hissed corrosively. Metal softened… melted… collapsed.

The Meat Heap was corrosive.

Even a Juggernaut couldn't withstand its touch.

"Unbelievable… is that the legendary Meat Heap?" Mortuum whispered.

"How did Meat Heap dissolve the Juggernauts?" Gamboge asked.

"They are not called Corrosivers for no reason…Meat Heap is its advanced form," Sienna repeated with a faint smile. "that's another name that boy Damen came up with."

One by one, the juggernauts fell…caught, melted, and crushed by the monstrous heap. Within minutes, the battlefield was silent.

Sienna and her siblings were safe, saved by the Meat Heap.

"Is… is the battle over?" Celadon asked, his hands still shaken.

"This one is," Sienna replied, her voice steady. "But we're still a long way from reaching Liberty City."

Their vehicles roared forward, speeding out of the forest and back onto open ground…while close behind them, the colossal Meat Heap lumbered after the convoy, its massive footsteps shaking the earth as it followed.

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After nearly a full day of nonstop driving, Sienna's convoy finally approached the outskirts of Liberty City.

"Finally… we're home," Isabelline breathed in relief.

But just as their guard dropped, a deafening roar split the sky. Something massive tore through the clouds—an enormous warship descending from above.

As it dropped lower, its hull shifted. Wings folded backward, limbs extended, and the cockpit slid into place.

The warship was transformed into a colossal mecha.

"What the hell is that thing?" Gamboge shouted.

Sienna's face tightened as she watched the machine solidify into its humanoid form. "This can't be… the Veyrans? Why are they coming after us?"

The mecha was Project Hermes—the pride of the Veyran family. It was once used to crush the Aetheris during their recent feud. Yet now… it came to Aetheris' aid.

"The Veyrans were the Aetheris' enemies! Why would they suddenly join forces?" Celadon asked, stunned.

"I don't know," Sienna admitted, and for once worry cracked her calm façade.

Isabelline swallowed hard. "Someone must be pulling the strings. Otherwise, the Veyrans would never help the Aetheris."

Sienna nodded grimly. "We still know far too little about the enemies we're facing."

Project Hermes' engines shrieked as the machine launched forward. Its fist slammed into a Meat Heap's head, obliterating it in a single blow.

The Corrosivers scrambled, pulling themselves together… rapidly rebuilding the giant's head.

But Hermes… remained untouched. Its armor didn't melt at all.

"Why couldn't Meat Heap melt that mecha?" Celadon asked.

Isabelling noted the material on the mecha, "Damn, they are using anti-corrosive coating on the machine. This machine is designed to fight our Meat Heaps."

Using its momentum, Hermes struck again.

And again.

Each blow shattered the Meat Heap into smaller pieces. Then the shoulder cannons fired, incinerating the scattered flesh before it could crawl back.

"That's the only way to kill Corrosivers," Sienna muttered. "Destroy them completely before they reassemble."

"The mecha knows how to kill our Meat Heaps," Mortuum added.

"This is bad. Meat Heap won't last minutes at this rate," Gamboge warned.

"We're almost at Liberty's gates!" Sienna shouted. "Push the engines…now!"

The convoy sped forward with everything their vehicles had left…. Their destination was near.

Behind them, the Meat Heap collapsed for the final time…unable to rebuild without more Corrosivers to replenish it.

"Damn it… Meat Heap's down," Celadon muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.

"We're here!" Sienna called as they reached Liberty Train Station. The moment the vehicles halted, everyone jumped out and sprinted for the entrance.

A massive shadow enveloped them.

Project Hermes hovered overhead..its hand raised for a killing strike. One blow would turn them all to dust.

"Come on! I'm not ready to die!" Gamboge screamed.

The mechanical giant's arm descended…

And then stopped.

It was frozen in midair and merely inches away from smashing them flat.

"Great…we're not dead yet!" Gamboge cried, bolting for the station.

The others ran after him. Moments later they crossed the threshold into Liberty City's protected zone—where even Project Hermes couldn't harm them.

But as they caught their breath, one question gnawed at everyone's mind:

Why did Project Hermes stop?

It could have killed them all… yet something—something unseen—held it back at the very last second.

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