bioinnovel Chapter 237 The Heart!
Chapter 237 The Heart!
The cave walls narrowed rapidly as the descent progressed.
Dark red, membrane-like material covered the rock face, resembling the inner walls of infected blood vessels, reflecting a damp sheen under Xing Tian's searchlight.
Zhang Yan stood on Xing Tian's shoulder armor, one hand resting on the edge of the cockpit.
The wind blew up from below, carrying a mixture of smells of rust and rotting flesh.
The Black Scorpion's eight mechanical legs were stuck to the opposite cave wall, and it crawled vertically downwards like a spider, its electronic eyes drawing two beams of light in the darkness.
Xing Tian, on the other hand, jumped directly.
The two-and-a-half-ton dark red heavy armor was like an iron bullet, bouncing and slowing down between the cave walls, leaving a half-meter-deep footprint on the rock with each push.
Gravel and a dark red membrane fell down together.
It fell for about forty seconds.
The cave walls suddenly disappeared.
The space suddenly opened up.
Xingtian descended to the ground.
boom.
The ground beneath my feet was no longer rock, but a layer of dark red organic material about half a meter thick, which felt soft and spongy, like stepping on the skin of some living thing.
Zhang Yan stood atop Xing Tian's head, looking around.
This is a huge underground cavity.
The dome is at least fifty meters high, and the four walls are all made of a dark red membrane-like substance covered with vein-like patterns, within which a dark light flows slowly.
Like the inner cavity of a giant heart.
And in the very center of the void—
Zhang Yan's pupils contracted slightly.
A columnar structure about three meters in diameter rises from the ground into the dome.
It is neither rock nor metal.
It is a kind of translucent dark red crystal with thick liquid energy slowly rotating inside.
Each rotation was accompanied by a dull pulsation.
thump.
thump.
thump.
That heartbeat that could be heard from the ground.
The source is here.
[Ding! Nest core confirmed.]
[Target: Dark Red Crystal Pillar (Secondary Energy Hub of the Ruins).]
Threat rating: S-tier structure.
[Note: The Nexus possesses self-defense capabilities; its destruction will deprive all Ruins' Familiars in the area of their energy supply.]
[Current detection: 11 Grade B, 3 Grade B+, and 1 Grade A energy reactions exist within the core area.]
Zhang Yan turned off the panel.
Eleven B-grade.
Three B+ grade Slit-Mouthed.
A grade.
He glanced at the energy data.
Xingtian 64%. Xuanxie 81%.
His lips twitched slightly.
It's not a laugh.
It's the kind of calm that comes after settling accounts.
"Black Scorpion, at the twelve o'clock position, that pillar."
"Clear a path, then I'll blow it up."
The black scorpion jumped down from the cave wall, splashing a patch of dark red slime as its eight legs landed.
The next second, countless eyes lit up in the darkness.
It's not just two lights shining at a time.
It happened at the same time.
Eleven hellhounds rushed out from the shadows from all directions.
Three cleavage-like creatures plummeted upside down from the dome, their bladed arms tearing through the air with a sharp whistling sound.
In the far depths of darkness, a gigantic silhouette is slowly rising.
Grade A.
Zhang Yan didn't look at it.
"Clean up the smaller ones first."
Xuanxie's particle cannon fired first.
A blue beam of light exploded in the chamber, instantly vaporizing the head of the first hellhound.
But the remaining ten did not retreat at all. They seemed to have lost the sense of pain, or even the sense of fear, and howled as they lunged at the two mechs with red eyes.
Xingtian charged into the pack of dogs.
The chainsaw sword swept across.
With a single slash, the two hellhounds were split in two, their dark red fluids spraying all over Xing Tian.
The third one bit Xing Tian's left calf.
A harsh scraping sound came from the tungsten alloy armor.
Zhang Yan ignored it.
Xing Tian raised his right foot and stomped down.
The sound of a hellhound's spine breaking was muffled, like stepping on a wet wooden box.
The rotary cannons started spinning simultaneously—
It's not aimed at the hellhound.
It was facing the three cleavage beings falling from the dome.
The barrage of comments wove a net in mid-air.
The two cleavage creatures were deflected and bounced off the ground.
The third one—
Its bony bladed arms crossed in front of it, and it withstood more than a dozen tungsten-core bullets, only suffering a few dents.
Then it landed on Xing Tian's shoulder.
The blade pierced the joint of the shoulder armor.
[Xingtian - Left shoulder joint injury: 12%]
Zhang Yan's operation did not stop at all.
Xing Tian's left hand gripped the cleavage-wielding arm of the one with the cleavage.
The hydraulic system is operating at full power.
The sound of metal clashing against bone was so sharp it became distorted.
—Broken.
The man with the split arm had his right arm broken off at the base.
Xingtian then used his severed arm to pierce through the central suture line.
The man with the split mouth had his body split in two as if a zipper had been pulled open, and he fell to the ground still twitching.
Zhang Yan didn't give it a chance to self-destruct.
He stomped on it.
Head shattered.
Energy dissipates.
He looked up.
Xuanxie had already taken down four hellhounds, and the blue light from the particle cannon was particularly dazzling in the dark red cave.
The remaining hellhounds and slit-mouthed creatures were forced back to the vicinity of the crystal pillar, forming a circle as if guarding something.
And that A-grade outline finally stepped completely into the light.
Zhang Yan clearly saw its shape.
It looks like a giant toad.
No.
It is ten times larger than a toad.
The wart-like protrusions on its back were all dark red energy sacs, and its mouth occupied two-thirds of its entire head, stretching all the way to the back of its neck.
Four disproportionately thick legs were planted firmly on the ground, each step causing the organic matter in the ground to sink in.
[Scanning of the A-level Ruins' retinue complete.]
[Suggested codename: Abyss Devouring Toad]
Attack methods: Energy Absorption (close-range energy absorption), Acid Erosion Spray (ranged corrosion), Shockwave (area-of-effect stun).
[Weakness: Inside the oral cavity.]
[Special Warning: The Abyssal Devouring Toad possesses the "Devour" passive ability—when a physical attack hits its body surface, the attacker will lose a small amount of energy.]
Zhang Yan stared at the last line of text for two seconds.
Physical attacks will drain your energy.
In other words, hitting it is like charging it.
He turned off the panel.
"Black Scorpion".
"Clean up the remaining small ones."
"Give me the crystal pillar."
Xuanxie obeyed the order, turning the particle cannon around to target the remaining Hellhounds and Slit-Mouthed Ones.
Blue beams of light flashed continuously.
Zhang Yan controlled Xing Tian, bypassing the Abyss Devouring Toad, and advanced towards the crystal pillar.
The Abyss-Eating Toad did not pursue.
It squatted in place, its mouth wide open, revealing a dense array of inward-curving teeth.
Then--
Its back energy sac expands simultaneously.
A shockwave emanated from its surface.
Silent.
But Zhang Yan sensed it.
In Xingtian's cockpit, all the displays flashed simultaneously.
The neural synchronization system exhibited a delay of 0.3 seconds.
Only 0.3 seconds.
But in combat, 0.3 seconds is enough to die three times.
Zhang Yan's fingers flew across the control panel.
Xingtian resumed his movements and continued to advance towards the crystal pillar.
The Abyss-Eating Toad moved.
It didn't rush over.
It opened its mouth.
A glob of dark green liquid gushed from deep within its throat, flying toward Xingtian in a parabolic trajectory.
Acid etching spray.
Zhang Yan manipulated Xing Tian to dodge to the side.
Green liquid fell onto the ground.
"laugh--"
The organic ground was instantly corroded, creating a pit two meters in diameter, billowing thick smoke and emitting a pungent stench.
Zhang Yan's gaze swept back and forth between the Abyss Devouring Toad and the crystal pillar.
Unable to engage in melee combat—they will have their energy drained.
Long-range weapon—the rotary cannon—has limited effectiveness against Class A armor.
Its only weakness is inside the mouth.
But when it opens its mouth, that's when it sprays acid.
He has a window of opportunity.
only one.
Zhang Yan made a decision.
"Xingtian, electromagnetic railgun, charge."
[Electromagnetic railgun charging... estimated energy consumption 12%.]
[Current energy: 64% → 52% remaining after recharging.]