226: Demon City Front: Hell's Tidal Flats

“A Chuan!”

He Jingrui cried out in horror, but he was entangled by a monster rushing from the other side, completely unable to help.

Ding Xinyang was even more frightened into a daze.

Due to Lu Chuan’s momentary distraction, the protective shield could not be replenished with appetite coins in time; its light rapidly dimmed, and its form even began to become unstable.

At this moment, they had already rushed to the edge of the encirclement, but they were also completely exposed in front of that strange giant turtle.

The giant turtle’s eyes glowed fiercely with green light, and its human mouth opened again; a second, stronger, and more corrupted mental shock had already been brewed, aimed at Lu Chuan, who had almost lost the ability to resist.

A moment of extreme peril!

Lu Chuan could clearly “see” that destructive black torrent surging towards him, but his body could not react, and his consciousness kept sinking in coldness and darkness… Just at this desperate moment—

“Detected host suffering high-intensity mental pollution attack, vital signs rapidly declining!”

“Emergency mechanism triggered!”

“Consuming all remaining appetite coins, temporarily strengthening ‘Mind Bug’ barrier.”

Buzz!

An indescribable, warm, and rich energy suddenly erupted from the deepest part of Lu Chuan’s body!

That was not a powerful offensive energy, but an extremely inclusive, peaceful, and protective force containing the essence of human life.

Like a bowl of hot soup on a cold winter night, the warm light from a window when returning home on a rainy night, the fragrant smell of food when hungry… This power instantly dispelled the coldness and darkness in Lu Chuan’s mind and formed an invisible yet real “barrier” in front of him.

The corrupted mental shockwave crashed into this “Mind Bug” barrier, and it actually made a “sizzling” sound, rapidly dissolving, disintegrating, and finally turning into nothing, like ice and snow meeting the warm sun.

For the first time, a look resembling “bewilderment” appeared on the giant turtle’s rotten human head.

Lu Chuan gasped sharply, his eyes regaining clarity; although his face was still pale, he had been saved by the system at a critical moment.

He also realized then that his innate ability actually had such a wonderful use!

“Go!”

He had no time to think; taking advantage of the moment when the surrounding monsters were momentarily stunned by this sudden change, he once again activated the protective shield, and together with He Jingrui, dragging Ding Xinyang, they used their last strength to suddenly break out of the monsters’ encirclement.

They left the monsters’ roars and the rolling turbid current behind them, swimming away desperately without looking back.

Behind them, only the unwilling faint green light spots in the turbid river water remained, and the giant turtle’s resentful and cold rotten eyes, staring fixedly in the direction they had left.

The light of the protective shield had dimmed to its extreme, and the alarm sound echoed in Lu Chuan’s mind like a death knell.

“Protective shield stability 10%! Energy about to run out!”

“Estimated remaining time: 3 minutes!”

And they had not yet completely escaped the danger zone.

The real life-and-death pursuit was still ongoing!

In the last three minutes, the protective shield, like a candle in the wind, desperately carried the three of them upwards, towards what they believed to be the riverbank.

Behind them, the human-headed giant turtle led numerous mutated monsters in close pursuit, launching various attacks that continuously impacted the nearly shattered protective shield.

“Stability 3%, energy about to run out.”

Lu Chuan could even hear the ear-splitting cracking sound from the protective shield.

“We’re almost at the surface!” He Jingrui roared, able to see a faint light above through the turbid water.

Just as the protective shield completely flickered out and dissipated into specks of light—

Splash!

The three of them suddenly broke through the river surface and landed heavily on a muddy tidal flat.

Cold air instantly rushed into their lungs, carrying a strong smell of gunpowder, blood, and an indescribable, frantic energy aura from the rift.

They breathed greedily, coughing violently.

However, before they could celebrate their escape, deafening explosions, dense gunfire, the frantic roars of Strange Beast, and the shouts of human soldiers, like a violent symphony, instantly engulfed them.

They looked up and saw a true scene of hell on earth.

The sky seemed to be torn apart; the huge “wind of heaven and earth” rift, like a festering wound, continuously “spewed” out various grotesque and terrifying Strange Beast.

They fell like raindrops, either directly pouncing on the ground defenses or flapping their wings towards the depths of the city!

Above ground, a steel defense line had already been established.

Tanks spat flames, heavy machine guns wove dense barrages of bullets, soldiers fired frantically from their fortifications, and various man-portable missiles, trailing exhaust, shot towards the aerial and ground Strange Beast!

Explosions flashed continuously, and severed limbs, broken body parts, and shattered metal fragments flew everywhere.

Every minute, human soldiers fell, and Strange Beast were torn to shreds by powerful firepower.

This was the front line of the Demon City Defense War.

And Lu Chuan and his two companions, by some stroke of bad luck, had just emerged from the water into this most fiercely contested tidal flat area.

Before they could assess the situation, the river water behind them exploded again.

Bang!

The terrifying human-headed giant turtle was the first to rush out, its massive body smashing onto the mudflats, splashing large amounts of sewage.

Immediately after, mutated catfish, Mud Monsters, glowing jellyfish… a dozen underwater monsters came ashore, their eerie green eyes locked onto the three who had just caught their breath.

Their appearance immediately attracted the attention of nearby human soldiers.

“Report! New unknown creatures detected in Tidal Flat Sector 7! Attacking three… civilians?”

A soldier immediately reported the situation using his communicator.

A portion of the firepower was instantly diverted, and bullets and shells poured down on these newly appeared monsters.

However, these mutated monsters had tough hides, or possessed strange defensive properties; ordinary bullets had little effect on them.

Only heavy weapons could cause effective damage, but they also had to be wary of Lu Chuan and his two companions who were so close.

“A Chuan, are you two alright?”

He Jingrui spat out the muddy water, struggled to his feet, pulled the terrified Ding Xinyang behind him, and adopted a combat stance.

His injuries had not yet healed, and the underwater battle had added new wounds; his face looked very pale at the moment.

Lu Chuan also struggled to his feet, his brain rapidly working to find a breakthrough.

The appetite coins accumulated from several stall missions were almost exhausted, and the help the system could provide was limited.

The “Mind Bug” barrier seemed effective against mental attacks, but its use was limited against physical attacks and in this chaotic situation.

Just then—

Rumble.

The sound of giant rotors grew from distant to near.

Three heavy transport helicopters, painted with military insignia, like giant steel birds, braved sporadic harassment from flying Strange Beast, skimmed low over the river, and suddenly hovered over the tidal flat not far away.

The cabin doors opened, and thick ropes were thrown down.

One by one, warriors covered in various special combat armor, well-equipped, and exuding an incredibly fierce aura, swiftly rappelled down like dumplings.

Their movements were clean and precise; upon landing, they automatically formed combat formations, and their powerful firepower instantly cleared out several Strange Beast around the landing spot.

These were the six special operations teams ordered to carry out the “decapitation” mission.

Their objective was to charge into the rift, find, and kill or extract the King of Strange Beast.