79: Enhanced Serum Warrior

In the position of the Government Army's 3rd Armored Company, heavy rain washed over the muddy trenches.

"Three o'clock! Fire!" the Company Commander roared, and the machine gunner immediately swiveled his gun, bullets pouring out like a storm.

But the shadowy figures were too fast.

Five Serum Warriors crossed the open ground at nearly the speed of leopards; bullets struck them, splattering blood, but failed to stop their charge. The warrior at the very front, a man who should have had his lungs pierced by three 7.62mm bullets, merely staggered slightly before continuing his frantic sprint.

"Reload! Reload!" The machine gunner's voice had changed pitch.

The next second, the shadowy figure leaped.

That Serum Warrior jumped directly over the three-meter-high sandbag barricade, and upon landing, he single-handedly grabbed the machine gunner's throat, lifting him into the air like a chicken. The soldier's legs kicked frantically in the air, his fingers desperately clawing at that iron-vise-like hand, but to no avail.

"Mon-monster..." The assistant gunner beside him collapsed to the ground, watching helplessly as his comrade's throat was crushed.

The Serum Warrior casually tossed the body aside and turned to the assistant gunner. His eyes glowed with an unnatural red under the night-vision goggles, and his lips curled into a grin, revealing stark white teeth. The assistant gunner trembled as he raised his pistol and fired three shots. Two hit the chest, one hit the shoulder.

The bullets seemed to have hit rubber.

The Serum Warrior looked down at his bleeding bullet holes, tilted his head, as if wondering why he felt no pain. Then, he smiled.

"No... No!" The assistant gunner sat paralyzed in the mud, crawling backward, "Help! Hel—"

Crack.

The Serum Warrior stomped and crushed his kneecap, then bent down, grabbed his hair, and slammed his face violently into the ground. Once, twice, thrice... until the head burst open like a rotten watermelon.

At the other end of the trench, a Government Army soldier was frantically screaming into the radio: "They're not afraid of bullets! They're not goddamn afraid of bullets! We need artillery suppor—"

His voice abruptly cut off.

A hand, bulging with veins, pierced through his chest, crushing the still-beating heart. The Serum Warrior pulled back his bloody arm, licked his fingertips, then grabbed the heavy M2 heavy machine gun from the ground. This weapon, which normally required two people to operate, was lifted with one hand, as easily as a toy.

Da da da da—!

12.7mm bullets swept across the entire position, cutting down Government Army soldiers behind cover. Some tried to escape but were caught by the pursuing Serum Warrior by their ankles, swung like a hammer into the ground until their spines broke into grotesque shapes.

"Retreat! All units retreat!" A surviving officer roared into the radio, his voice filled with unprecedented fear, "These aren't humans! These are not goddamn humans at all!"

But it was too late.

The last Serum Warrior stood on a mountain of corpses, letting out an inhuman howl. His fingernails had turned into black claws, and his spine was abnormally bulging, as if something was about to burst out of his body.

And at his feet, those wounds that should have been fatal were healing at a visible rate.

Southern Golden Buddha Federation, Songka Province front-line camp. The night was inky, and the rain poured down.

Adu De stood under the awning of the makeshift command post, staring at the distant ridge illuminated red by artillery fire. Excited reports came from the front-line Commander over the radio: "The Government Army's 3rd Armored Company has been routed! Our people have already occupied their supply station!"

He put down the communicator and turned to look at the North Steel advisor beside him: "How are the Serum Warriors performing?"

Alex Maxim, cigar in mouth, smoke twisting in the rain: "Better than expected." He pulled up a tactical tablet, which displayed real-time battlefield data, "The first batch of 100 enhanced warriors has an average kill efficiency 4.7 times that of regular soldiers, and sustained combat time after injury is extended by 300%."

Adu De frowned: "What about casualties?"

"30 killed in action, 12 seriously wounded," Alex grinned, "But out of the 12 seriously wounded, 8 can still fire their weapons."

He played a combat recording sent from the front line. In the footage, five warriors injected with the "Alligator" serum were crossing a minefield at an astonishing speed. Their movements were more than twice as fast as normal people, and their muscles appeared an unnatural dark red under infrared imaging.

"Look at this," Alex zoomed in on the screen.

A Serum Warrior suddenly stopped, his ears twitching slightly; he had heard something. The next second, he lunged toward the cover on his left, almost simultaneously, the Government Army's machine gun fire swept over the position he had just been standing in.

"Reaction time 0.12 seconds," Alex said proudly, "The average reaction time for regular soldiers is 0.25 seconds."

The scene switched, another Serum Warrior was free-climbing a vertical concrete wall. His fingers clawed into the brick joints like hooks, and the three-meter-high obstacle was scaled in less than five seconds. Upon landing, he directly collided with a Government Army soldier, shattering the opponent's sternum with a single punch.

"Overall strength increase of 40%," Alex added, "And pain perception is reduced by 80%."

The most shocking scene appeared at the end. A Serum Warrior, shot in the abdomen with his intestines spilling out, still fired a heavy machine gun with one hand until he ran out of ammunition before collapsing.

"This..." Adu De's throat felt dry, "Don't they feel pain?"

"It's not that they don't feel it," Alex sneered, "It's that the brain is forced to ignore pain signals. The serum amplifies combat instinct and suppresses all 'weak' physiological responses."

Just then, a piercing howl suddenly came from deep within the camp.

The sound was not like anything a human could make, more like the shriek of some wild beast being skinned, mixed with the "crunching" sound of bones twisting.

Adu De suddenly drew his pistol: "What's going on?"

Alex's expression instantly darkened: "Take me to see."

They passed through the muddy camp and arrived in front of a makeshift medical tent. Inside the tent, two Russian military medics were desperately holding down a Serum Warrior. His eyeballs had turned blood-red, his muscles were abnormally swollen, and the bulging veins under his skin appeared a grotesque bluish-black.

"Experiment subject No. 16 is experiencing severe rejection!" the medic shouted, "Quick, get the tranquilizer!"

But it was too late.

The warrior suddenly erupted, shattering the medic's skull with one punch, then lunged at another medic, biting through his throat. Blood splattered on the tent, quickly washing into dark red streaks in the heavy rain.

"Fire!" Alex snapped.

The surrounding soldiers immediately raised their guns and fired, bullets piercing through the tent, riddling the out-of-control warrior. But as the body fell, everyone saw an even more terrifying sight. His fingernails had turned into sharp keratin claws, and his spinal vertebrae were abnormally protruding, as if about to pierce through his skin.

Adu De's face was ashen: "Is this what you call 'controllable side effects'?"

Alex didn't answer, but instead hurried to another tent. There lay 12 seriously wounded Serum Warriors, six of whom already had reddish eyes.

"Immediately quarantine all injected subjects!" he roared into the communicator, "Initiate Plan C!"

Golden Summit Holy City, Golden Buddha Federation Ministry of Defense.

Minister of Defense Bawei Ongsu stared at the battle report from the front line, his fingers almost indenting the table.

"The 3rd Armored Company was completely wiped out, and the 7th Infantry Battalion suffered over half casualties," the Chief of Staff's voice was hoarse, cold sweat beading on his forehead, "The surviving soldiers said those rebels simply couldn't be killed."

Bawei suddenly looked up: "What do you mean 'couldn't be killed'?"

The Director of Intelligence quickly stepped forward and placed a tablet computer on the table. The screen showed a shaky battlefield video, several Government Army soldiers were firing frantically, bullets hitting the charging rebels, splattering blood, but failing to stop them. One of the rebels had three bullets pierce his chest, yet he still single-handedly raised a heavy machine gun and swept down the soldiers behind cover.

"This is impossible..." Bawei murmured.

"And there's worse," the Director of Intelligence pulled up another video, a seriously wounded rebel lying on the ground, intestines spilling out, yet still crawling to bite through a medic's throat, "Not only are they not afraid of pain, but..."

He zoomed in on the image, and at the rebel soldier's wound, muscle tissue was visibly wriggling and healing.

Bawei's face instantly turned ashen: "Did Titan do this?"

"It shouldn't be them, it's the North Steel People," the Director of Intelligence handed over a satellite photo, "GRU special forces have established a secret laboratory in Songka Province, and our spies captured this."

In the photo, several North Steel Army soldiers were distributing metal boxes to Southern Liberation Front militants, with biohazard symbols printed on the boxes. Another photo showed several militants whose muscles rapidly swelled and eyes glowed with an unnatural red after being injected with a dark red liquid.

"Biochemically modified warriors..." the Chief of Staff whispered, "This already violates the Peace Bell City Convention."

Bawei sneered: "Do you think the North Steel People care about that?"

He suddenly stood up and walked to the window. The night in Golden Summit Holy City was still bustling, but the Southern Four Provinces had become a hell. If no action was taken, the entire Golden Buddha Federation could be dragged into the quagmire of war.

"Contact the Nova United States Embassy," Bawei turned, his voice cold, "We need support."

"Don't contact the Eastern Federation?"

"Foolish!" Bawei cursed: "The Eastern Federation would love for the Southern Four Provinces to invite them to dig up the Siam Strait! It's fine to ask the Eastern Federation for other things, but this is inviting a wolf into the house!"

Nova United States Embassy in the Golden Buddha Federation, classified meeting room.

Robert Wu, the SIA Head of Emerald Ocean, stared at the evidence provided by the Golden Buddha Federation military, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"North Steel, serum..." he murmured softly, "No wonder these people have lasted so long in the Black Rye Principality."

Ambassador John Clayton tapped the table: "The President's meaning is that we cannot intervene directly. Both North Steel and the Eastern Federation are watching here, and once we openly participate in the war, the situation will completely spiral out of control."

"But we can provide 'indirect support'," Robert pulled up a list, "'Javelin' anti-tank missiles, 'Switchblade' loitering munitions, M5A2 rifles and ammunition... enough to arm two mechanized divisions."

Clayton frowned: "And the conditions?"

"First, the Golden Buddha Federation must sign an agreement to permanently abandon the Siam Strait project."

"Second, all captured North Steel serum samples and technical data must be preferentially provided to the Nova United States for research."

Clayton pondered for a moment, then nodded: "These conditions are suitable. I will convey them to the President."

Soon, the order from the Roman Palace entered the Ministry of Defense's system.

"Notify the Third Fleet to prepare material transport. But it must be disguised as 'humanitarian aid', absolutely no evidence must be left behind."

Three days later, the Southern front line of the Golden Buddha Federation.

Twenty military transport vehicles disguised as civilian trucks drove into the Government Army base. Soldiers pulled back the tarpaulins, revealing the brand new New Union-made equipment inside.

"These 'Javelin' missiles can penetrate U-90 tanks," a New Union Army advisor said to the Golden Buddha Federation officer, patting a launcher, "As for those 'monsters'..."

He opened a silver metal box, neatly lined with syringes: "High-concentration tranquilizer, one shot can paralyze an elephant for a day."

The officer picked up a syringe, hope flashing in his eyes: "That's enough."

In the distance, artillery fire once again lit up the night sky. A new round of war was about to begin.