"Whoosh—!!!"
Just as the sharp spikes were about to pierce her fair skin, threatening to riddle her entire body with holes,
the grappling hook gun abruptly pulled Ada back. At a critical distance of just one centimeter, Ada narrowly escaped the danger!
"Bang—!"
"Hoo-hoo-hoo…"
There was no time to bother with ladylike composure.
Ada plopped down onto the ground, panting heavily. Her beautiful eyes flickered with uncertainty; she had almost died just now, what luck.
This damn mission… she would absolutely never do something so dangerous again. When encountering any monster, she would always let others scout ahead first. She absolutely couldn't be as reckless as she was this time.
"Rustle, rustle, rustle…"
And it wasn't just Ada.
Leon and the Merchant, who had been thrown back by the spikes, also quickly rolled up from the ground, their hands rapidly feeling their backs to check for any other injuries.
After all, the previous attack had directly hit both of their backs; who knew if it had penetrated.
But the bulletproof vest was indeed powerful.
Its level was also high enough.
Although the surface had been pierced with dozens of pinholes, it hadn't truly penetrated. It could be said that the bulletproof vest in front of them truly saved their lives.
"Be careful,"
"This monster is different from the previous ones. It's the Iron Maiden I mentioned before, possessing spike attack capabilities and very fast speed. It's a mutated type. If it gets close again, I'm afraid your bulletproof vests won't be able to save your lives."
Seeing Leon and the Merchant out of danger, Luis quickly pulled them back and explained.
They were too reckless. Even if they didn't understand the danger of the Iron Maiden, they should at least have been able to see that the Regenerator in front of them was completely different from the previous ones.
Leon, the Merchant, and Ada rushing forward was a very careless and reckless act. What Luis had worried about before, that someone might die carelessly before the game ended, might really happen!
"Crack—!"
"Clang…!"
"Move back, I threw a flashbang. Don't get caught in the blast."
Compared to the carelessness of Leon and the other two,
Javier was more cautious. After all, he had witnessed the power of this monster in the game. Not only did its spikes have a large attack range, and it moved fast, but most importantly, it would self-destruct and take others with it.
Once all six Plaga parasites inside it were killed, the Iron Maiden Regenerator's body would rapidly swell and explode, just like the previous situation.
But the only difference was,
this time, what burst out wasn't disgusting, viscous flesh, but sharp spikes. Before dying, the Iron Maiden Regenerator would also unleash a full-range spike attack, much like a fragmentation grenade.
It would use its body as explosive fuel, causing the spikes on its surface to burst outwards. If hit, one would also die.
So Javier first used a flashbang to gain control time. There's no need to explain flashbangs much; they are an effective counter-weapon against Plaga parasites. The intense white daylight can cause all parasites to fall into a brief state of immobility.
Even monsters like the Regenerator, where the Plaga parasite is hidden within the flesh, would be affected—!
"Boom…!"
"Pfft…!"
A muffled sound.
The strong light exploded.
As always, the dazzling white daylight spread. The Iron Maiden Regenerator instinctively raised its massive arms to shield its eyes, its bloated body remaining still, not daring to move an inch.
Seizing this opportunity,
Javier quickly raised his M16 assault rifle. Relying on the Thermal imaging scope's lock-on, he clearly saw the positions of the six Plaga parasites inside the Iron Maiden Regenerator. He immediately pulled the trigger and emptied the magazine.
"Da da da da da—!!!"
Bullets rapidly shot out from the suppressed muzzle. Each shot maintained a steady three-round burst.
Javier had once said that the M16 assault rifle's advantages lay in its precision, lightness, and extensive customization options, allowing it to meet high-intensity combat demands.
But its drawbacks were also obvious.
The 5.56 bullets combined with the three-round burst mode would result in insufficient power. It was fine for dealing with ordinary people and common monsters, but against some tough elite monsters, the damage was insufficient, not as powerful as 7.
And the current situation perfectly illustrated everything—
The mutated Iron Maiden Regenerator was not only fast and had multiple attack modes, but its skin was also thicker than that of ordinary Regenerators. The outer spikes were like a layer of thorny armor.
The M16 assault rifle's three-round burst was not enough to penetrate its defense. It even took more than ten bullets to successfully kill a single Plaga parasite inside the Iron Maiden Regenerator.
Efficiency was greatly reduced.
One must know that if these parasites could not be killed simultaneously, the Iron Maiden Regenerator would not die.
Helplessly,
Javier could only draw his modified Desert Eagle. At a close range of twenty meters, the.50 caliber's power was sufficient. Amidst the rings of Mach light, eight bullets once again burst out of the barrel!
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang—!!!"
The gunshots were deafening.
At the same time, all six Plaga parasites disappeared from the thermal imager. A faint white smoke rose from the Desert Eagle's muzzle. It seemed that in terms of power and precision, firearms still had a very difficult dilemma.
By the time the Iron Maiden Regenerator reacted, its body already had six bloody holes. Its neck was blown apart, and its entire head hung dangling on its back, almost on the verge of falling off.
"Gurgle…"
"Gurgle gurgle…!!!"
And at this moment,
the anticipated situation occurred.
The Iron Maiden Regenerator, with all its parasites destroyed, began to twitch, writhe, and swell wildly throughout its body, just like before.
It was a sign that an explosion was imminent, and the spikes on its skin were also trembling erratically, making it look very creepy…
"Get down quickly, it's going to self-destruct!"
Seeing this, Luis in the distance quickly warned Javier. Javier already knew this, so he wasn't in a hurry. The Iron Maiden Regenerator's self-destruction had a time delay; it wasn't that fast.
Taking advantage of this time, Javier quickly kicked over the shelves in the corner of the corridor wall. A large amount of garbage and shelves fell to the ground, forming a makeshift wall-shield for Javier and the others.
"Bang—!"
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!!"
And the next second,
a piercing whooshing sound arrived.
The Iron Maiden Regenerator decisively completed its self-destruction. The needles all over its body, accompanied by the explosion of flesh, also flew out one by one, clanging and shooting onto everything around the corridor: walls, shelves, garbage bags. Spikes were everywhere.
"…"
"It's over…"
Dozens of seconds later,
Javier and the others, who were hiding behind the shelves, remained quiet for a while. After confirming that the Iron Maiden Regenerator was completely dead, they slowly got up and murmured.
Looking at the Iron Maiden Regenerator, which was now just a large puddle of unknown liquid, everyone couldn't help but sigh. This was yet another very difficult and troublesome monster to deal with.
Whether it was its oppressive attack style,
or the spike explosion after death, both were very troublesome. And this was only when facing a single Iron Maiden Regenerator. If there were other Regenerators or infected soldiers harassing them, then
Javier could hardly imagine the level of trouble. Not only would they have to deal with attacks from other monsters, but they would also have to quickly find cover to avoid the Iron Maiden Regenerator's spike self-destruction.
"Cough, cough, what a troublesome monster…"
"Ashley, are you alright? Were you scared?"
Seeing the battle end, Leon patted the dust off his bulletproof vest and quickly walked to Ashley's side to ask.
He had been too embarrassing just now, not helping at all. Fortunately, Ashley had always followed closely behind Luis, staying away from the battle's impact, which was why she had no injuries.
However,
facing Leon's concerned inquiry,
Ashley, who was standing beside Luis at this moment, did not answer immediately. Instead, her body began to sway as if she was about to faint. Seeing this, Leon immediately realized something was wrong.
He quickly embraced Ashley, who was about to faint, and swiftly pushed aside her messy blonde short hair. It was then that he discovered that the girl's dirty face was already covered with a large amount of black blood vessels.
Both sides of her cheeks were covered with these black blood vessels, dense and terrifying, like some kind of terrifying vascular pattern.
And Ashley's own consciousness had already faded, her body merely holding on instinctively.
Luis, seeing this, also changed his expression and quickly used his finger to gently open Ashley's tightly shut eyes.
It wasn't a problem not opening them, but once opened, Luis discovered that Ashley's eye whites were also covered with a large amount of blood vessels, almost turning completely red. This was a sign that the Plaga parasite was about to mature!
"Damn it…"
"Didn't I already inject the inhibitor? Why is it growing so fast?"
Looking at the abnormality on Ashley's body, Luis felt deeply puzzled. He didn't understand why, even though he had injected Ashley with the inhibitor, the parasite inside her was still developing so quickly. Could it be another mutation?
But very soon…
Luis would understand why—
"…"
"Where did he hide? (¿Dónde se escondió?)"
"I'm going to chop you into meat sauce (Te voy a cortar en salsa de carne.)!"
"There's a foreigner here (Hay un forastero aquí.)!"
"He's there (Ahí está.)!"
"I'm going to kill you (Te voy a matar.)!"
"Buzz buzz buzz—!!!"
At this moment,
a sudden clamor came from behind the corridor they were in. Not only that, but there was also that familiar buzzing sound.
Those were the infected soldiers from the Isolated Island Base, as well as some pursuing miners, and the trembling wings of Invisible Bugs.
And behind these forty or fifty soldiers and miner infected, as well as the Invisible Bugs, stood a tall figure, dressed in a noble purple silk robe, with a bald head under the hood, and sinister, deep eyes. In his hand, he held a Plaga parasite staff covered in grotesque tentacles, and he kept muttering strange incantations:
"…"
"Life is death, death is life… (La vida es la muerte, la muerte es la vida.)—!!!"
Chapter 90: Lost Lambs
"…"
"Lost lambs, I will lead you into the embrace of our Lord. Do not doubt, do not resist, do not refuse, believe in the Lord's mercy and grace… Death is life, life is death. Our Lord will lead you to liberation…"
A strange prayer slowly drifted from afar. The figure in the noble purple silk robe, holding the staff, kept muttering.
And the other soldiers and miner infected who were closely following around him, upon hearing this prayer, immediately began to become violent and fierce.
The blood vessels in their eyes constantly reddened, their breathing became more and more intense, and their entire bodies heated up, uncontrollably beginning to twitch and shake.
"Ho ho ho… Ugh… Ah…!!!"
"Pfft—!!!"
The next second,
accompanied by painful, low, hoarse roars,
the heads of these soldiers and miner infected rapidly exploded, splattering large amounts of blood and liquid. Grotesque insect brains were revealed, with vicious tentacles and scythes waving wildly, terrifying turbellarians opening their gaping maws, and horrifying trap-jaw ant heads with steel teeth.
Without exception, under the outpouring of the prayer, these soldiers and miner infected all entered the Exploding Bug berserk state.
"Ho ho ho…!!!"