NABC Chapter 55 Discomfort
Chapter 55 Discomfort
The stone pillars shattered, and the dim light from the sky pierced through the treetops, casting irregular, eerie patches of light onto the ground.
A pair of jet-black feet stepped on the gravel.
It has a slender body and long limbs. The scales on its body are like a dense skin with almost no gaps. Its snake face looks around.
Unlike other snake-men, it does not have a bulging neck and head, and its body proportions are very harmonious.
It was the monster that Xu Yang had seen in the documents before, but which did not have a corresponding description.
【Ringed-Scaled Snake Man】
[The venom's power has faded, the scales have evolved further, the body structure has been optimized, making it better able to cope with harsh environments; a powerful strength resides within its emaciated body.]
[Note: Power is the very reason to be king.]
……
Behind the tree trunk, Xu Yang's expression turned serious.
Fight or...
Evacuate? No, that's not an option.
To find out the location of the laboratory, we must go to the area behind the snake-man. We will come face to face sooner or later; I had already expected this.
This guy looks intimidating, but whether we can beat him or not, we'll only know after we fight him.
There is no reason to concede defeat before the opponent has even made a move!
Xu Yang stepped out to the side, raised the Fermund pistol with one hand, and aimed the black muzzle at the black figure.
Not too close, not too far.
The two suddenly locked eyes, and their fingers pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Thump thump thump...!
With several shots fired in quick succession, the snake-man only had time to protect its head with its arms before the specially made armor-piercing bullets struck its body, causing the monster to stagger back several steps.
The magazine was emptied, and the snake-man's body trembled slightly. Bullet holes appeared on the scales of his arms, torso, and chest.
However, the bullet only lodged shallowly on it and did not penetrate.
pat.
A bullet fell into the rubble on the ground, and then more bullets fell from the body.
The snake-man released his arm; the bullet holes on his body were nothing more than superficial wounds to him.
Unable to penetrate enemy armor.
Xu Yang's expression was solemn. He put away his gun and prepared for his next move.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice rang out:
"It's... my turn."
A cold glint appeared in the snake-man's vertical pupils, and while his forked tongue was still flicking, he spoke in human language.
Immediately, it pressed down with both legs and exerted force.
Bang!
The soil was trampled and torn apart, but Xu Yang charged forward first.
Sacrifice yourself!
Eyes hardened by ice, body as swift as a meteorite.
The snake-man suddenly froze, unable to dodge in time, his vision filled with a shadow hurtling towards him.
next moment--
Bang! ! !
An even more violent impact, like rolling thunder, sent two bodies tumbling through the air, shattering several stone pillars.
The smoke of battle subsided for a moment.
Amidst the rubble, the buzzing in Xu Yang's ears dissipated, and in an instant, a gust of wind swept across his face.
bottom up.
A black-scaled claw strike came suddenly!
when!
The kite-shaped shield immediately blocked the sharp claws, and Xu Yang stepped back.
Amidst the smoke and fire, a disheveled figure crawled out of the rubble.
The black shadowy figure, covered in scales, trembled slightly. Although its chest was somewhat sunken, it was clearly not fatal.
Xu Yang's eyes were solemn.
He didn't hold back in his attack, but he still couldn't take him down.
A few more times?
He shook his head inwardly.
This monster's body is too resilient; simply sacrificing oneself might not be enough to kill it.
Moreover, it had already been activated several times to clear the way. Although its stamina was not yet depleted, given the expendable energy, it was best to use it at a critical moment.
such as……
When the blade breaks through the opponent's body, the impact effect can cause a fatal wound.
With this thought in mind, the white blade on his wrist instantly shot out, and Xu Yang's eyes revealed killing intent.
On the other side, the snake-man roared and stopped speaking human language, clearly feeling threatened as well.
next moment.
Xu Yang attacked first, thrusting his arms forward and stabbing the snake-man in both shoulders.
Clang!
Even though he had expected it, he was still secretly surprised.
The blow felt like striking an iron plate!
"hiss!"
The snake-man's eyes were filled with mockery. Instead of dodging the sharp blade on his shoulder, he lashed out with his claws, aiming straight for his chest.
At the critical moment—
The man's eyes turned cold, and for a moment he also disregarded everything.
As he took a breath, a new surge of power suddenly burst forth from his arms!
"die!"
Click.
The tip of the knife pierced beneath the scales.
Xu Yang's eyes twitched, a hint of astonishment flashing across them.
Chi-
A claw tore open the coat, leaving a deep scratch on the stab-proof vest underneath.
It also failed to penetrate.
The two looked at each other, and as if in tacit agreement, they separated to the sides at the same time.
The monster moved its feet, its vertical pupils fixed on the human opposite it.
The opponent is a creature in the same ecological niche as it, whose strength and reaction are no less than its own, and it also possesses a terrifying attack method of collision.
tricky!
On the other side, Xu Yang's eyes were stern.
He looked at the two small gashes on the snake-man's shoulder, with only two thin drops of blood clinging to them.
I felt depressed.
Ring-scaled snake-man, ring-scaled?
Beneath this thing's layer of scales, separated by an extremely thin, dense membrane, lies another layer of scales.
It wraps around the body like one ring after another.
No one knows exactly how many layers of ring scales it has, but this defensive power... is almost the most terrifying I've ever seen.
Does he really have to sacrifice himself to die by shield bashing?
Judging from the battle just now, the opponent took a solid hit and then sacrificed himself, but his condition did not seem to have declined much. Xu Yang was only worried that his own stamina would be exhausted before he could sacrifice himself.
He let out a soft breath.
The original plan remains unchanged: first, break through the skin's surface.
Now that things have come to this, we must find a location that can bypass the scales' defenses.
His body tensed as he scrutinized the snake-man.
In an instant, a thousand and one things were on my mind.
A moment later, some ideas came to mind.
Leaving aside the torso and limbs for now, let's either start with the facial features, or...
His gaze swept over the snake-man's lower body, but he couldn't find the monster's excretory opening; it must have been covered by scales.
Xu Yang was somewhat disappointed that he had lost a breakthrough point...
"hiss!"
The snake-man let out a low growl. The gaze from the other side gave it a strange, chilling malice, as if the other was brewing something evil.
Interrupt him!
Its vertical pupils glared, and it charged towards Xu Yang, its dark claws striking out instantly.
Bang!
Xu Yang raised his arms to block the attack with the blade.
With both sides evenly matched, the situation reached a stalemate as they traded blows.
The clanging sound made the blade tremble.
Xu Yang's figure swayed, and the dagger slashed across the opponent's body once again.
The skin was not broken.
After several rounds of fighting, he failed to achieve any results. Instead, his blade trembled violently, and he tried to stab the other's eyes several times, but the other blocked the attack each time.
At that moment, another strike came.
Xu Yang shifted his body to the side, dodging the attack, his eyes growing increasingly unfathomable.
If there are no weaknesses, create them; the essence of battle is a matching of information.
Only by taking things by surprise can we break the deadlock.
Now, there's only one thing the other side hasn't prepared for.
His thoughts became even more profound.
The blade on his wrist retracted instantly, and his metal-inlaid iron fist struck with tremendous force.
A look of surprise flashed across the snake-man's eyes, but he did not back down.
The two engaged in close-quarters combat...
As time passed, fists were no match for claws.
After several stabs, Xu Yang's stab-proof vest was torn apart, and bloody claw marks appeared on his chest.
Blood stained his clothes.
Blood loss, excruciating pain, and a feeling of weakness all came at once.
The fascia near the shoulders was torn and severed by the claws, making it difficult to exert force in the arms.
It has seriously affected their condition.
He seemed to have little strength left, and his foot slipped on a pebble, causing him to stumble.
It's just a minor imbalance.
In the eyes of the snake-man, a murderous intent flashed.
The time has come!
It stepped forward, moving like a ghost, and instantly closed in on the target.
The next strike came as the claws lashed out at the neck.
In a flash, Xu Yang's hair stood on end, and he threw a straight punch at the face, attempting to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao.
The snake-man laughed. The fascia and muscles in the opponent's chest that had exerted force were torn apart by that one punch.
How ridiculous!
In its cold, sinister gaze, it saw only opportunity—
A chance to kill with one blow!
Everything can be faked, but your physical condition cannot be faked!
The man before her was nearly crippled, his strength waning. He slit his throat—
Take him away!
It only attacks, it doesn't defend!
puff.
The beautiful sound of flesh being cut open.
The pitch-black claw blade cleaved through the throat, and blood gushed out.
Before the snake-man could even rejoice, his pupils turned to Xu Yang, but he suddenly froze.
In sight—
The man laughed heartily.
In an instant, the seemingly effortless punch that appeared to be easily dodged suddenly became swift.
bass!
A blade tip popped out.
How is that possible?!
The snake-man's gaze swept over the man's chest, where the fascia and flesh had quietly merged together.
In its incredulous expression.
In an instant, a chilling killing intent pressed against his lips.
In the throat, the regenerative properties suddenly activated, and the first muscle fiber connected in an instant—
The strange power in the legs.
Surge!
Bang! !
Like a cannonball exploding, the two collided again, and the impact easily pried open the gaps between the teeth.
The shadow flew backward toward the stone pillar, amidst a loud crash.
The blade trembled!
Crack the jaw, pierce the bone, shatter the brain!
dead!
……
The smoke of battle has cleared, and peace has returned.
Xu Yang looked ahead; his arm had been broken in the impact, and bone fragments were tearing through his clothes.
The snake-man beneath him remained motionless.
As the special function was activated, the arm emitted several cracking sounds.
It was restored in an instant.
Xu Yang twisted his arm sharply, and the blade swirled around inside the monster's head again.
Pull it out!
The blade, and even the entire gauntlet, was dripping blood.
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
I still fell for that damn thing.
Sure enough, it's always better to hold back in battle. If the regeneration ability had been exposed earlier, it might not have been so easy to succeed.
He touched his neck.
Apart from some bloodstains, there were no wounds on it.
However, at this point, his physical strength...
Xu Yang picked up his backpack, sat down under a tree, took out some high-calorie food and ate it on the spot. He rested for about fifteen minutes to replenish his energy.
Perhaps because the Ring-Scaled Serpent People had driven away the other monsters earlier, the Stone Pillar Maze seemed to fall silent, remaining completely still during its rest.
Xu Yang stood up, looked back at the newly opened fragmented corridor, and picked up the kite-shaped shield.
I looked up at the sky.
Night was still some way off.
Since there's still time, we should at least see what lies beyond the maze.
……
Bang! !
His body crashed into and broke the last stone pillar.
There were no more obstacles. After passing a few large trees, a strange cluster of buildings appeared in the dim light of twilight.
The ground was covered with a layer of black star stones, and a ditch was dug in the middle to connect to the river in Zhenjiang.
On the Star Stone ground, besides the grotesquely piled and meaningless stones, there are black, pyramidal-shaped buildings, like some kind of gloomy and sharp hats, with round openings at the bottom for creatures to enter.
Beside the cave entrance, there were some stiff, deformed black figures standing on either side—
It is a stone statue of a snake-man.
In the dim light, its surface appears somewhat mottled, but it is not clearly visible.
Xu Yang walked forward, stepping into a dark world of jagged rocks.
Suddenly, a sound like scales rubbing against stone came from inside the surrounding pyramidal buildings.
He stopped in his tracks.
From the openings of several buildings, some familiar monsters crawled out.
Xu Yang looked around, scanning all the dozen or so monsters, and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
There are no Ring-Scaled Serpent People, only a small number of Starstone Serpent People and Stone-Skinned Frog People, and as is well known, a pistol magazine holds seventeen bullets.
He drew his gun and aimed.
Bang!
Thump thump thump...!
The alien monster's head was shattered by bullets, and the one that ran up to Xu Yang had its head severed by a blade.
In an instant, corpses littered the field.
……
The frogmen cut off their tongues, the snakemen chopped off their heads, until the backpacks were bulging and almost overflowing with the spoils.
Xu Yang got up from the ground, and there was no further movement around him.
The monsters in this area seem to have been cleared out.
He walked towards the building entrance and then carefully examined the snake-man stone statue, noting that its surface was indeed mottled.
It is a collection of engraved scratches, its winding and mysterious structure seemingly following some kind of pattern.
Is this... a kind of writing system?
A glint of light flashed in his eyes.
【Star Stone】
[Once a living being, now a peculiar stone, inscribed with the madness of the living: "Ascend to the meteor, pay homage to the ancient spirits," "Foolish loser," "Silent soul, gazing into the serpent's abyss," "Coward"...]
[Note: The call of the ancient Serpent Abyss...]
……
Serpent Abyss, Ancient Spirits?
Apart from having some additional inscriptions, it is no different from other star stones.
Xu Yang's expression was somewhat strange.
The term "biological petrification" may be related to two specific terms, and the stone statue is essentially the corpse of a snake-man.
However, the fact that the monsters placed the corpses of their own kind at the entrance and carved insulting and insane words suggests that turning into stone statues was an extremely shameful thing for the monsters.
With no clues yet, Xu Yang frowned and looked inside the building again.
Inside, there was nothing but piles of rubble; it was just a simple dwelling.
After leaving the square cone-shaped house, he turned to survey his surroundings.
Under the gloomy light, the ground was completely black, and for a moment it was impossible to see anything special about it.
Xu Yang took a flashlight out of his bag and probed the ground as he walked across the narrow ditch.
Looking towards the end, it leads directly to Zhenjiang.
Although he had just killed some monsters, he didn't think that was all. Perhaps the area that this river led to was a much larger settlement of creatures.
This might be an outpost.
Otherwise, there's no way to explain how this place was built with just a dozen or twenty frogmen.
Such a statement should be called a joke.
Moreover, when I glanced into the river that morning, although the water was somewhat murky, there were indeed some faint black shadows in the distance.
As he pondered this, he continued to explore the surrounding black rock area.
I don't know how long I wandered around.
Just when he thought he should perhaps go and check the riverbed
Suddenly, I heard some faint sounds.
Xu Yang immediately became alert and looked around, but found nothing unusual.
He simply followed the sound and walked forward.
Ahead stood a square, cone-shaped building, indistinguishable from the others, and the closer one got, the clearer the sound became.
Like... hiss?
Moreover, it seemed that the sound wasn't just coming from inside the house; his gaze lingered on the ground for a moment, and the same sound was faintly echoing from the ground as well.
Underground!
Xu Yang quickened his pace, but as he got closer, he suddenly felt a vague sense of unease.
Before long, we arrived at the Fangzhui House. Looking inside, under the beam of the flashlight, we saw an ugly staircase made of black stone.
Directly underground.
The narrow passage was so deep that the end could not be seen.
Before Xu Yang even entered the house, the strange discomfort in his body became particularly noticeable.