Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 101 - 13 Monster Attack

Chapter 101: Chapter 13 Monster Attack

The arrival of the monster was faster than Chen Jian had anticipated.

And much faster at that.

On the night Zhou Qin left, sharp and eerie wails like a baby’s cry echoed over the whole of Yellow Stone City.

Having just completed his first watch and just laid down, Chen Jian was awakened by the noise. As he followed Shen Yue out of the room with its still unfinished roof, scant lights began to glow throughout Yellow Stone City.

The residents awakened by the sound either gathered in terror or alertness, readying themselves for defense.

"What’s going on?"

Chen Jian listened carefully to the distant wailing and frowned as he asked:

"Stray cats in heat?"

"Damn it, stray cats in heat...does it sound like that to you?"

Shen Yue, half-laughing, half-crying, answered:

"It started an hour ago, coming from the direction of Haikou Lake to the southeast."

"I have already sent a drone, but didn’t find the source of the sound after circling around."

"All we know now is that it’s near Haikou Lake, with a terrifying decibel level that I estimate to be above 180 decibels."

"Estimate? How can you even estimate that?"

Chen Jian asked, puzzled.

"It’s an educated guess. The counter-sniper radar detected that the sound we received here is about 50 decibels. Given the attenuation over nearly 10 kilometers, the decibel level at the source must be over 180 decibels."

"This is very likely one of the monsters that Zhou Qin mentioned—a normal-sized monster can’t produce such loud sounds, unless it’s a sperm whale."

"But obviously, there’s no way a sperm whale can be on the land, and they can only produce ultrasound, right?"

"So there’s only one explanation, that this sound is made by something with enormous vocal organs."

"Only a monster."

"Understood."

Chen Jian nodded, walking towards the makeshift observation post as he asked:

"Thermal imaging can’t find the target either?"

"No, it can’t."

Shen Yue shook his head and replied:

"The vegetation near Haikou Lake is too dense. I remember it was a natural forest park back in our days, and now, over 300 years later, the trees have grown unimaginably large."

"The dense canopy completely obscures the thermal signals."

"That indicates that the monster might not be very tall."

Chen Jian raised his binoculars, pondered for a moment, and said:

"The average height of southern trees is around 13 meters, plus 300 years of growth with minor deviations, it won’t exceed 18 meters at most."

"However, the top space of the forest is quite dense, if the monster exceeds 10 meters, any movement would produce a noticeable signal."

"It might be less than 10 meters high...a Level 4 Monster?"

"Can’t tell..."

Shen Yue spread his hands and said:

"Want me to ask around?"

"...Sure, go ahead. Do you know its phone number?"

Chen Jian asked in a deadpan manner.

Shen Yue chuckled with frustration and helplessness:

"...I meant asking those people in the Holy Blood Temple... You think I’m dumb enough to say something like that now?"

"Not necessarily, you could totally say something like that."

"Can we get in touch with the Holy Blood Temple?"

"I have their frequency, I can try calling them."

"Then do it."

Chen Jian waved his hand, Shen Yue turned and left, as Lei Jie and others, who had just been awakened, met him on the observation post.

"What’s the status?"

He Shuo asked.

"A monster near Haikou Lake. We can only hear it, haven’t seen where it is."

Chen Jian answered briefly, then asked Zeng Yi:

"Have you encountered such a monster before?"

"No."

Zeng Yi shook his head quickly, while Xie Liu pondered and said:

"I’ve heard of something similar... It’s said that there’s a monster called ’Qin Yuan’ in the southern mountains of Xianning, which makes very loud, sharp noises, quite like this."

"But Qin Yuan is a small, social creature, not much bigger than a person."

"With such monsters, no matter how loud the sound, it couldn’t travel over ten kilometers, right?"

"Moreover, the sound we hear now is very singular, obviously emitted by one monster... Things might not be so simple."

Qin Yuan?

The Qin Yuan from the Classic of Mountains and Seas?

Nice name...

Chen Jian scanned the surroundings with his binoculars, the distant Haikou Lake shimmering under the moonlight, but he did not see any anomalies.

Normally, if it were just a "passing" monster, he could completely ignore it.

Given their limited weapons and ammunition, actively hunting a migrating monster might not yield adequate rewards.

But now it was different, the monster was simply too close to Yellow Stone City.

A distance of 10 kilometers, for a monster, might take just a dozen minutes to cross.

If it discovered traces of human activity here and launched an attack, Yellow Stone City could be destroyed in an instant.

Just like what was heard at Han Shui City, neglecting any monster could lead to extremely serious consequences.

Discovering it first, expelling it first, and killing it first is the best solution.

With this in mind, Chen Jian decisively said:

"We need to go over and take a look, at least gather enough intelligence first."

"Shen Yue, what did the Holy Blood Temple say?"

A moment later, Shen Yue’s voice came through the radio.

"No useful information; they refused to communicate with me."

"...Can’t you impersonate a Holy Blood?"

"They have passwords... Forget it, I’m coming back right away."

"Prepare your equipment!"

"Understood!"

Shen Yue responded briefly, and a moment later, he gathered with six others, including Li Shi, on the lake’s shore.

After quickly explaining the city’s defense plan to Huang Yu, the seven of them boarded two cat vehicles to cross Great Governance Lake, heading south along the only S412 highway.

The night here was quite silent, apart from the constant wailing upfront and the low grumbling of the cat vehicle’s engine.

Chen Jian was loaded with weapons on his back, three rocket launchers, a recoilless rifle, and a 201 class machine gun, maximizing his firepower.

As they drew closer, the howling of the monster became clearer.

According to the counter-sniper radar’s audio pickup, the decibel level easily exceeded 80.

This was already a terrifying figure.

Remember, the team was still a full 5 kilometers from the designated target reconnaissance point!

And for every 10-decibel increase, the volume perceived by the human ear nearly doubled.

If the decibels could genuinely reach over 180 at close range, the entire team might find itself unable to effectively organize tactical actions.

Because even shockwave grenades produce sounds around 175 decibels.

Chen Jian frowned deeply and said:

"Something’s not right."

"Proceed another two kilometers, then set up a lookout post for observation."

"If we still can’t find it, we’ll retreat back to Yellow Stone City."

"With the cover of the lake, at least we..."

"Screeech----"

Before he could finish, the wailing in his ears suddenly intensified enormously.

Chen Jian’s heart jolted, and he quickly ordered:

"Turn around!"

"Roger that!"

The two cat vehicles immediately turned around, while at the same time, a sudden change occurred in the high-altitude drone feed!

A giant monster leapt up from between the trees.

In the moonlight, the membranes under its arms spread wide like wings, and its ant-like head, with a triangular mouth wide open, revealed several sharp fangs.

It stretched its muscular arms to grab the canopy and climb upwards, its thick, snake-like tail coiled around the trunk, effortlessly snapping large swaths of branches with a flick.

And under its armpits, two additional legs, like iron hooks, kept extending and retracting, with the corpse of a wild deer dangling from them.

Sharp fangs bit down, sending blood flying from the corpse.

Chen Jian turned to look at the monster through his binoculars, and its antennae moved flexibly, seemingly searching for traces of an enemy.

The antennae opened, revealing nostrils similar to those of moles.

At this point, the team was less than 3 kilometers from the monster.

They could no longer run forward.

The more they ran, the bigger the target, the easier it was to be discovered!

Chen Jian decisively ordered:

"Get off the highway and park!"

"Hide in place!"