bioinnovel Chapter 231 Stay!
Chapter 231 Stay!
The three-headed dog steadied itself, and its middle head let out a deafening roar as its three tails swept towards the black scorpion's leg joints.
The black scorpion leaped up and clamped its two pincers around the neck on the right side of the head while it was in mid-air.
The hydraulic amplification is fully activated.
The biting force of its pincers reached eighty tons.
The three-headed dog's shell cracked with a piercing sound under this force.
But the left and middle heads turned towards the Black Scorpion at the same time, one breathing fire and the other biting the Black Scorpion's mechanical leg.
Zhang Yan operated with both hands simultaneously.
The Black Scorpion released its right pincers and shoved the particle cannon into the open mouth of its central head.
Fire.
Blue light emanated from the back of the Cerberus's head.
The head in the middle exploded.
Black fragments and dark red liquid splattered all over the wall.
The three-headed dog let out a mournful howl.
The remaining two heads thrashed wildly, trying to break free.
Zhang Yan did not give it a chance.
The black scorpion's tail stabilizer fired two alloy anchors, which drove into the ground and secured itself.
Then, both pincers strike simultaneously.
The left clamp gripped the left side of the skull.
The right clamp gripped the right side of the head.
Apply force from both sides simultaneously.
The sound of the shell cracking echoed for a long time in the underground space.
The three-headed dog's body twitched a few times, and the dark red light quickly faded from the gaps in its shell.
Finally, it collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The black scorpion loosened its pincers and took two steps back.
There was a deep bite mark on the mechanical leg, and the outer shell was dented, but not penetrated.
Zhang Yan glanced at the damage assessment.
[Black Scorpion Damage Report: Left foreleg shell dented 7mm, hydraulic lines intact, combat effectiveness affected: 2%.]
acceptable.
He released the energy of the Heart of the Creator from the disc, enveloping the corpse of the three-headed dog.
The dark red energy was drawn away bit by bit and flowed into the disc.
[Heart of the Celestial Craftsman Fragment Energy Reserve: +1.3%]
It's not much, but even a mosquito's leg is meat.
Zhang Yan squatted down and examined the ground beneath the three-headed dog.
Beneath the concrete, there is an underground river.
The direction of the underground river's flow...
Heading south.
On the system's energy tracking interface, the faint trace of stagnation energy also points south.
Deeper still.
Further away.
Zhang Yan stored the data into the system, stood up, and retrieved the Black Scorpion.
His communication module rang again on the stone steps outside the iron gate.
"Mr. Zhang," Li Zhan's voice regained its usual composure, "Mission accomplished."
"Kunsa has been killed, the ground has been cleared, and our side suffered zero casualties."
Zero casualties.
The Dragon Scale Type I project was not in vain.
"Well done," Zhang Yan said.
There was a moment of silence on the communication line.
This was the first time Zhang Yan had said such things to them.
Li Zhan's throat moved slightly.
"...Mr. Zhang, we preserved the bodies of those three things on the third floor."
"There were also a lot of documents and equipment in the lab, which looked like someone was doing...human experiments."
Zhang Yan paused for a moment.
Human experimentation.
The mutants in those cages.
Cerberus.
There is also this underground space marked with the symbol of ruins.
Kunsa was just a drug lord.
He doesn't have the ability to create these things.
Someone is using this place as a testing ground behind the scenes.
"Take all the documents with you," Zhang Yan said. "Don't leave a single page behind."
"Take photos of the equipment for archiving; remove what can be disassembled; destroy what cannot be disassembled."
"clear."
Zhang Yan walked up the stone steps, crossed the drainage ditch, and returned to the ground.
It was already daylight.
In the mornings in the Golden Triangle, the air is filled with the smell of gunpowder and tropical plants.
The ground of the manor was riddled with bullet holes and littered with fallen armed men.
The six members of Dragonscale stood on the open ground in front of the manor's main gate, their exoskeleton armor covered in dust and blood.
When Zhang Yan emerged from the bushes on the side, everyone's eyes turned to him.
The first opening of the hammer.
"Mr. Zhang, what's the situation down there?"
"It's all done."
Zhang Yan walked among them and looked around.
Six people, standing ramrod straight.
The armor has bullet holes, scratches, and charred burn marks.
But no one was injured.
His gaze lingered on Li Zhan for a moment.
On Li Zhan's armored right arm, there was a deep claw mark—left by those C-level mutants.
Next to the claw marks, there was a line of small handwritten words.
It was the message on the note that Zhang Yan had placed in the box when he delivered the armor.
"Wear it and bring everyone home."
He had that sentence engraved on the armor.
Zhang Yan didn't say anything.
He simply patted Li Zhan on the shoulder.
The force was very light.
Li Zhan's body stiffened for a moment.
Then, this top special forces captain of China gave a serious military salute to the young man who was nearly ten years younger than him.
"Thanks."
It's not Xie Armor.
Thank you for that sentence.
It's to thank him for everything he did.
Zhang Yan waved his hand.
"Let's evacuate. The Burmese forces will arrive in twenty minutes at most."
The Dragon Scale Squad began quickly gathering supplies and documents.
Zhang Yan stood still, looking down at the energy tracking map on his tactical watch.
The trajectory of the Ruins energy pointing south appears as a thin red line on the map.
Heading south, through the jungles of northern Myanmar.
Extending into deeper, uninhabited areas.
He took out a satellite phone.
He sent Qin Changfeng an encrypted message.
"Mission accomplished, all members of Dragonscale are unharmed."
"An experimental base located beneath the target building has been discovered and cleared."
"The documents and samples were brought back by Dragon Scale."
The reply was very quick.
"Okay! You've worked hard. When are you coming back?"
Zhang Yan glanced at the southern horizon.
I hesitated for two seconds.
"I won't reply for now."
"?"
"An energy channel from the ruins has been detected in the southern part of the Golden Triangle, pointing towards a remote, uninhabited area in the mountains. I'll go check it out."
There was a five-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"...Are you alone?"
"Um."
"Do you need support?"
"No need, too many people will only get in the way."
Another silence followed.
"Three days." Qin Changfeng's voice hardened. "You must give me a sign that you're safe within three days."
"Otherwise, I'll airdrop all the dragon scales over to you."
"OK."
Zhang Yan hung up the phone.
He watched as the Dragon Scale Squad was ready to move to the evacuation point.
Li Zhan walked over.
"Mr. Zhang, shall we go together?"
"You guys leave first," Zhang Yan said. "I have some things to do."
Li Zhan looked at him but didn't ask any further questions.
He has learned not to question this person's decisions.
"Take care of yourself."
Li Zhan saluted again, then led his team and disappeared at the edge of the rainforest.
Zhang Yan was the only one left in the open space.
He stood there for a few seconds, then took out his phone.
Send a message to Nie Qingcheng.
"The mission is over, everyone is safe."
The reply popped up almost instantly.
"Great! When are you coming back? I'll have someone pick you up from the airport."
Zhang Yan's finger hovered above the screen for a moment.
"It might be a few days later."
"..."
"There's something going on here, I'd like to check it out while I'm at it."
Three seconds passed on the other end.
"Is it related to that thing?"
She is very smart.
Always very smart.
"Um."
Five more seconds passed.
"Is anyone with you right now?"
"no."
"Zhang Yan".
Nie Qingcheng's messages were no longer sent in short sentences, but in long paragraphs.
"I know I can't stop you, and I also know you're capable of protecting yourself."
"But could you send me three messages every day?"
"One in the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening."
"I don't require you to say anything, even a punctuation mark will do."
"If I don't hear from you for more than eight hours, I will use every connection I have to find you."
Zhang Yan stared at the screen.
Looked for a long time.
"it is good."
"besides."
"Um?"
"I froze two boxes of your favorite purple rice porridge in advance in the freezer, on the second shelf."
Zhang Yan lowered his head and smiled.
It's very light.
But it's true.
"understood."
He put away his phone and turned to face south.
The dense, seemingly endless rainforest unfolded silently in the morning light.
The energy traces of the Ruins, on the system's detection interface, resemble a blood vessel extending into that green abyss.
Zhang Yan slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and started walking.
He did not summon any mechs.
In such a dense jungle, the size of the mechs becomes a burden.
What he needs is quiet, seclusion, and eyes that can see through everything.
A new task prompt slowly appeared on the system interface.
[Side Quest Triggered: Tracing the Threads of the Ruins]
[Objective: Proceed along the energy corridor to locate Ruins' stronghold in Southeast Asia.]
[Reward: Unknown.]
[Warning: There is a possibility of encountering a Rank B or higher Ruins' retinue in the area ahead. The host is currently alone; please proceed with caution.]
Zhang Yan glanced at it and turned off the notification.
His figure disappeared into the first shadow of the rainforest.
Behind them, the ruins of the manor, flattened by dragon scales, were emitting their last wisps of smoke in the sunlight.
Ahead lies unknown darkness.
He didn't turn around.