121: rescue

[GUPA Headquarters Outer Defense Line]

Gunsmoke, the stench of char, and the pungent odor of burning protein mixed together, permeating the air. Gunfire, explosions, and the agonizing, hungry shrieks of the Fissure Beasts intertwined into a hellish cacophony.

Thanks to the emergency research on samples conducted a few days ago, GUPA's defense forces were not entirely unprepared. Most frontline combatants were no longer equipped with conventional ammunition, but rather special 'Incendiary Explosive Rounds'.

Every time a bullet hit those dark red lumps of flesh, it triggered a small-scale, intense combustion, instantly creating charred wounds on the target's surface and effectively hindering its movements.

"Fire! Maintain formation! Don't let them get close!"

"Aim before you shoot! Conserve ammunition!"

The commander's hoarse roars echoed through the communication channel. Tongues of fire spat out as the scorching barrage formed a temporary wall of death in front of them.

The Fissure Beasts charging at the very front were riddled with holes by the continuous explosions, collapsing in convulsions and turning into burning wreckage.

However, this seemingly effective defense line was enduring unimaginable pressure.

There were simply too many enemies.

The tide of dark red flesh seemed infinite, surging from all directions. They ignored the deaths of their companions, stepping over the still-burning charred corpses and advancing persistently through twisted wriggling and leaping.

While the Incendiary Explosive Rounds could instantly wound or even kill individuals, the kill rate was far slower than the speed at which they swarmed. Whenever the soldiers needed to change magazines or had their vision briefly obscured by explosion smoke, these fearless monsters would seize the opportunity to close the distance by several meters.

Then, an even more despair-inducing scene unfolded.

The corpses of some Fissure Beasts that had been completely killed by the incendiary rounds but not yet fully incinerated were pounced upon by their kin surging from behind before they even had a chance to cool down.

They disregarded the residual heat of the flames, using their twisted mouths to frantically tear and devour the remains of their companions. As they fed, the bodies of these devourers swelled at a visible rate, the eyes and mouths on their surfaces opening and closing even more grotesquely as they filled with energy.

Then, under the horrified gazes of the soldiers, the centers of these monsters that had just feasted suddenly tore open. With a nauseating, squelching sound, a new, complete Fissure Beast was 'birthed,' shaking its head as it joined the torrent of the charge.

Killing them provided food for other individuals. Providing food meant more fission, and more enemies.

It was a despairing cycle of death where the more they killed, the more appeared. The defense line was being eroded and compressed bit by bit under this terrifying numerical advantage and bizarre regenerative ability.

At the desperate moment when the defense line was about to be swallowed by the dark red tide of flesh, a low, violent engine roar—like a blade tearing through silk—approached rapidly from the distance, coming from the upper flank of the battlefield!

Everyone instinctively looked up to see a streamlined figure woven of silver, black, and red, speeding up the wreckage of a tilted, abandoned overpass on the base's perimeter. At the moment it reached the highest point, the entire motorcycle leaped into the air like a reverse meteorite, diving down toward the area where the Fissure Beasts were most densely packed!

Just as the motorcycle was about to crash into the horde, the silver figure on the bike suddenly stood up, stepping heavily onto the seat and leaping into the higher air like an arrow from a bow, leaving the motorcycle behind.

"Haa—!"

In mid-air, Lu Jianchuan let out a low growl, his arms spread wide as the light from his azure goggles flared brilliantly! The energy circuits of his entire armor overloaded simultaneously; the violent Bio-current was no longer limited to his arms, but burst forth from every joint and every gap between the armor plates of his entire body!

Boom—!!!

Like a giant ball of lightning, he slammed heavily into the very center of the Fissure Beast swarm!

With his landing point as the center, a blue-white circular current field filled with destructive aura instantly exploded! Within a ten-meter radius, all the wriggling dark red lumps of flesh didn't even have time to scream before they violently convulsed, carbonized, and turned into charred residue in the blinding electric light! Fissure Beasts further away were also struck by the aftershocks of the current, their movements becoming paralyzed and stiff.

This thunderous strike instantly cleared a vacuum zone within the surging tide of flesh!

The moment he landed, Lu Jianchuan's fist had already boomed out like a cannonball, smashing into the nearest Fissure Beast that had just recovered from paralysis and was about to pounce. Before the fist even arrived, the high-voltage electricity condensed at the knuckles had already erupted!

"Pfft!"

The monster couldn't even maintain a complete form before it exploded into countless flying charred fragments under the entanglement of blue-white electric snakes.

Almost at the same time, in the shadows on the left, another Fissure Beast seized the opening left by its companion's death, lunging upward and pouncing straight for Lu Jianchuan's neck with its twisted mouthparts wide open!

Lu Jianchuan didn't even turn his head; sensing the position through the sound of the wind, his arc-covered left hand reached back as fast as lightning, precisely clamping onto the slimy, ugly body. The moment his five fingers exerted force to dig in, an even more violent current surged through his arm and into the beast!

Sizzle—!

Amidst the tooth-aching sound of electrical searing, the Fissure Beast trembled and swelled violently in his hand, then lit up with a blinding red light from within like an overloaded lightbulb. He swung it in a wide arc like a piece of trash, smashing it into two other kin on the right that were about to flank him!

Bang! Bang!

Struck by the 'bio-bomb' filled with electricity, those two Fissure Beasts were blown over with screams, residual arcs of electricity dancing across their bodies, leaving them unable to stand for the moment.

Lu Jianchuan didn't stop moving, using the counter-force of the throw to slide back gracefully, perfectly avoiding a sinister, low-to-the-ground bite from behind.

His figure flickered rapidly between charred corpses and living monsters; every brief pause was accompanied by a burst of electric light and the scream of a monster.

With no wasted movement, pure efficiency and deadly current intertwined, forcibly tearing a constantly expanding silver gap in the surging tide of flesh.

And his mount, that living motorcycle, similarly displayed astonishing combat intelligence.

It did not remain stationary; instead, it performed a fluid tail-flick drift in the clearing Lu Jianchuan had made, its thick rear wheel crushing two charred remains trying to crawl up, flattening them completely.

Facing a Fissure Beast pouncing from the side, its rear exhaust pipe structure instantly deformed and adjusted its nozzle. With a 'boom,' it spat out a scorching high-temperature jet like a flamethrower, engulfing three or four pouncing Fissure Beasts, which sizzled and turned into tumbling fireballs.

It nimbly roamed around Lu Jianchuan, sometimes accelerating to ram and send Fissure Beasts attempting to ambush its master from behind flying; at other times, it braked suddenly, using its sturdy body and spitting flames to block impacts from the flanks. The vehicle and the man formed a perfect rapport and coordination on this chaotic battlefield, firmly stemming the charging torrent of Fissure Beasts in this area!

The defense force soldiers, their pressure suddenly reduced, watched this scene—reminiscent of a God of War descending—in stunned silence, almost forgetting to continue firing. It wasn't until the commander's ecstatic roar exploded in the channel:

"It's the silver skeleton! Reinforcements are here! All units, coordinate with the silver skeleton and consolidate the defense line! Push these damn things back for me!"