Chapter 185: The Weapon
Chapter 185: The Weapon
The gruesome scene in the corridor instantly caught the attention of Wei Jun and the others, and some members of the Mutual Aid Society, after a brief moment of shock, revealed expressions of extreme fear.
The scene was too brutal, and being so close to them, they feared that they would be next.
Their first instinct was to flee, so they called upon the nearby security guards to lead the way, and then they began to frantically search for an escape route.
Besides the roll-up gate at the front, there were two obvious side doors on both sides of the factory building. One side was still engaged in combat due to the presence of a battle spider, so they unanimously chose to run out from the other side.
These people were also students of Wu Yi, and they moved swiftly. None of them took the stairs; instead, they all jumped down from above and rushed towards the side door. In no time, they were close to the exit.
Just then, a loud vibration came from above the passageway, and a figure leaped down, landing with a thud right in front of them, blocking their path.
Chen Chuan shook the long blade in his hand and slowly raised his eyes to look at all of them. For a moment, everyone stopped in their tracks and slowly backed away.
"Chen Chuan, if you dare to kill us, you will die too!" threatened a member of the Mutual Aid Society, his voice trembling with fear.
Chen Chuan calmly replied, "Did you ever think that you might die when you were killing others?" He slowly raised his blade, holding it horizontally in front of him, and a cold light seemed to flow along the edge of the blade.
The next moment, his eyes reflected a rapidly changing scene of swift movement and angles, along with the sharp, slashing sword qi. After this sudden pause, he appeared behind the group, and behind him, there was not a single person left intact.
Wei Jun, the organizer of this event, did not choose to flee with the others from the upper floor. He was well aware of all the exits in this place, and there was another passageway at the back of the factory building that led directly outside. However, the problem was that they might not be faster than Chen Chuan.
So, he had no choice but to retreat to a nearby safety room, and he glared at the two black-robed men beside him, saying, "Your ritual didn't work. You're responsible for this, or else you know the consequences!"
The two black-robed men exchanged a glance and drew a curved blade from their waist. They headed towards the outside.
Wei Jun immediately signaled the remaining members of the Mutual Aid Society to retreat into the safety room and pulled the custom steel door shut. In the instant the door closed, the gunshots and screams outside vanished.
One person's body trembled, and he said in terror, "This kid is crazy, insane! He dares to attack us..."
Wei Jun's hair was in disarray, and he had no time to ponder whether Chen Chuan had gone mad. His priority was to save his own life! He urged, "Where is it? Bring it out quickly!"
The security guards who had followed them in hurriedly pulled out two large boxes from a cabinet by the wall and placed them in the middle.
Wei Jun anxiously asked, "Jiang Wei, how do we use it?"
Jiang Wei was the calmest among them. He walked forward, knelt down, and first undid the latches with both hands, then pulled open the lock on top. He said, "This thing is from Mo Lan Corporation. It's my first time using it, but even if it can't kill Chen Chuan, it should be able to hold him off for a while. We can quickly evacuate, and once we're outside, we can gather enough people to kill him."
Someone else urged, "Yes, yes, now is not the time to talk. Hurry up, hurry!"
They had no idea how long the people outside could hold out. Chen Chuan's swift slash with the blade, leaving a trail of severed limbs and mangled bodies, had terrified them.
Jiang Wei turned the password a few times, and after a click, he opened the lid of the box. Inside was a thick white sealed bag, about half a meter square, seemingly wrapping something.
He picked up a high-energy nutrient syringe embedded in the side of the box and injected it into the contents. After pushing in all the nutrient liquid, he felt the contact trembling, and he quickly stood up and stepped back.
Just then, a tearing sound came from the thick sealed bag as two sharp blades extended from within, tearing it open. Inside, something stretched its body and slowly stood up.
Everyone in the room involuntarily backed towards the wall. It was a giant mantis with a bluish-gray color and a metallic texture all over its body.
Its powerful mandibles were contracting and expanding, and as the respiratory tube in its abdomen opened, it delivered ample oxygen to various parts of its body. With its vitality restored, the pair of bulging compound eyes fixed on everyone in the room. The front blade feet slowly moved, and a dangerous aura instantly spread out.
Jiang Wei said, "Battle Mantis, a bio-combat weapon acquired by Mo Lan Corporation from a certain enterprise. This should be able to hold that person off for a while."
"No, there's another box here. Quick, let's release them both at the same time." Someone else urged.
Jiang Wei ignored him. He first made several command gestures to the battle mantis, waiting for it to gradually relax its combat stance, before walking to the front to fiddle with the other box.
"It'll be ready soon."
Meanwhile, outside the factory building, after Chen Chuan had dealt with another group of people, he suddenly sensed something and turned to look. He saw two black-robed men walking towards him.
These two men seemed like a reflection of each other, with a face printed on their clothing. If these two separate faces were combined, they would form a relatively complete face.
This was somewhat similar to the abstract expression of the strange tale he had just witnessed, indicating that these two men were likely related to the secret rituals taking place in the area.
The two men split apart, then charged towards him from two directions, their steps and rhythm perfectly synchronized, displaying impeccable coordination.
But... their speed was too slow.
With a slight lift of his long blade, he executed a simple cross-chop, severing both their heads from their necks. Their bodies fell almost simultaneously, differing only in the direction of their fall and the nearly identical postures in which they lay, blood spraying in a consistent pattern. This was not by their intention but a result of his precise control of force and angle.
He shook the blade, then looked towards the other side of the factory, where screams and wails had just ceased.
He had cleared the area in the center of the factory within his line of sight, but he knew there was another group that had retreated into the room above.
Whether they ran or not made no difference unless someone with comparable speed came to block him. Within this brief moment, no matter how far they ran, he could catch up in no time, causing no delay.
After a moment's thought, he made a gesture, and the battle spider on the factory roof quickly crawled out to spin webs at the opposite entrance.
The high-strength properties of the spider silk would last for only ten minutes before even a gentle breeze could blow it away, but that was enough.
Holding the Snow Lady Sword, he climbed the metal stairs and walked along the metal plate passage towards the room where Wei Jun and the others were hiding.
As he approached, he suddenly sensed something and extended the sword, which clashed twice before something shot out.
He turned to see the object perched on a metal railing. It was about half a meter long with a triangular head, a slender neck, and an elongated body. Its large, blade-like capture feet faced him, and the tip of its hooked foot scraped against the steel, emitting a metallic scraping sound.
His eyes flickered, "A mantis?"
A mantis of this size, with the speed it had just demonstrated, was clearly a bio combat weapon.
And there was more than one...
He could sense another mantis moving in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity.
Inside the safety room, Wei Jun heard the security guard return and inform him that Chen Chuan had been entangled by a battle mantis. He immediately ran outside, saying, "While that kid is held up, let's get out of here quickly."
The group rushed out, following him in a panic.
As Jiang Wei ran, he threw a tube of high-energy nutrient fluid onto the ground, and it shattered with a loud crack, spilling its contents.
The others didn't understand his intention, and he had no time to explain. It seemed Chen Chuan wasn't alone; he might have brought something similar to the battle mantis, which relied on high-energy nutrients. Although it might not be attracted by the nutrient, it was worth a try.
The group ran swiftly, and soon they reached a narrow passage leading to a red-painted steel door at the end—the exit! One of the Mutual Aid Society members, impatient, rushed ahead, but after only a few steps, his head and body silently split into several segments, scattering on the ground in front of them.
"This is..."
Those behind him were startled and halted in their tracks.
Jiang Wei examined the severed ends, then took a knife from one of the guards and probed the gap, grinding his teeth. "There's a gap; we can squeeze through."
The group exchanged glances, and Jiang Wei adjusted his glasses. "I'll go first; follow me."
He lifted one foot and slowly stepped over, then bent his body and crawled through. Once he had passed, he used the knife to check ahead, seeing another gap below. He lay down and slowly crawled forward, making some progress.
The others, seeing his success, followed suit, removing their weapons and items and crawling through.
In the factory area, two battle mantises stared at Chen Chuan. They had their own combat style, not attacking directly. If Chen Chuan showed any intention to confront them, they would retreat, but if he tried to leave, they would follow and seek an opportunity to attack.
Chen Chuan's eyes flickered; these mantises were indeed tricky. Although he wasn't afraid, getting rid of them wasn't a quick task. While they weren't as fast as him, they could fly, move regardless of terrain, and coordinate their attacks.
However, they were just bio-weapons, and without a commander, they would only follow rigid attack patterns.
He slowly raised his blade and then... closed his eyes.
The two mantises followed their attack pattern, and almost as soon as he closed his eyes, they leaped towards him, slashing with their blade-like feet from both sides!
Chen Chuan took a sharp breath, and the Furnace Breathing Method suddenly activated, infusing his body with power. He spun in place, and a flash of blade light vanished!
The two mantises leaped over him from both sides, and as they were still in mid-air, their bodies slowly split open. Two blade slashes cut them diagonally from top to bottom, and the halves of their bodies fell to the ground, their internal liquid organs spilling out. Their limbs and separated bodies continued to twitch.
...
...
(End of Chapter)
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