Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 94 - 7 Earth Dragon

Chapter 94: Chapter 7 Earth Dragon

The simple statement by Chen Jian sent a shock to Zeng Yi, though not comparable to a nuclear explosion, at least rivaling the first time he saw the four-person team kill the mother body in Chuansha City.

If you want to learn, I’ll teach you.

What kind of words are these?

In this world, knowledge, skills, and resources are strictly controlled entities. Whether it’s the Holy Blood Temple or the Mechanical God Sect, these are "gifts" that must be tied to a strict hierarchy.

But now you’re telling me, an outsider, that I can also learn your combat skills?

And even appoint someone to teach me hand-in-hand?

At this moment, Zeng Yi truly felt that the organization he had joined was somewhat out of place in this world.

---- But is it possible that only these out-of-place things can save this world?

His thoughts drifted a bit, but the other four had already packed up the vehicles, waving him to get in.

Zeng Yi couldn’t think much more, only with an additional kind of expectation in his eyes.

The two cat cars continued eastward, but Huangzhou City was small to begin with, and there was no viaduct to take. The squad’s progress was much slower.

The complex terrain amplified unknown dangers, and once they formally entered the city, except for He Shuo and Lei Jie who were driving, the other three disembarked to scout and remove obstacles.

It took a full two hours before the team found the road previously marked on the map by Huang Yu.

It was a road specifically opened for transporting materials and equipment while the Mechanical God Sect was "raising" monsters.

The road showed signs of having been burned and cleared, but its condition was worse than those overgrown with vegetation.

Crater-like potholes made by monsters were densely arranged on the road surface, with only a small edge area accessible.

"Stay alert, two kilometers to target location."

"Drone detected no anomalies, continue advancing."

"Weapons off safety, ready for combat at any time."

"Understood."

"Received."

Chen Jian deployed the exoskeleton’s mount, cautiously scanning the road ahead.

The noise of the cat car engine startled creatures in the woods on both sides of the road. Just as the convoy continued forward, a small monster suddenly darted out from the bushes. At the instant it appeared, Chen Jian’s Type 191 rifle was already firing.

"Bang! Bang!"

With two shots, the monster fell to the ground at the sound.

Chen Jian approached the monster on foot, frowning and saying softly after recognizing its appearance:

"Mole!"

"Is this thing everywhere?"

On the side, Zeng Yi shook his head and replied:

"No, we’ve never seen moles in other areas before. It was our first encounter even at the Han Shui Relics."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jian’s heart skipped a beat.

Back when he killed the bullfrog, he had already made a judgment about these mole monsters.

They have a symbiotic relationship with large monsters, likely depending on them to survive.

Therefore, when they appear here, it likely indicates a new large monster has emerged in this region.

"He Shuo, lower the drone altitude."

"What’s the situation inside Mongolia’s lair, can you see clearly?"

"Can’t see clearly."

He Shuo repeatedly tried adjusting the drone’s angle but eventually shook his head and said:

"No anomalies on the ground, various facilities previously set up by the Mechanical God Sect and wooden support structures are clearly visible."

"But from the ground to underground, there’s a giant pit, and the entrance looks very deep."

"Shall we fly in and take a look?"

"Sure."

Chen Jian nodded decisively and then said:

"Send another drone, Drone 2 as a relay signal source, to scout underground."

"Zeng Yi, conduct a close reconnaissance around 500 meters from the target location and report back in half an hour."

"The others follow me to advance to the target point and occupy the fortifications left by the Mechanical God Sect to establish a fire point."

"The situation is unknown and complex, be ready to retreat at any time!"

"Got it!"

With the command, everyone immediately took action.

The distance of this last road segment wasn’t far, and conditions improved significantly, so the team moved quickly. In less than 20 minutes, Chen Jian had led them to occupy an artificially constructed dirt platform above the lair.

Judging by the remaining facilities, this seemed to be an "altar" used by the Mechanical God Sect for feeding.

Significant dried bloodstains were visible around the altar, and many partially decomposed body parts were discarded on the vast ground below.

The air was filled with a nauseating stench, and Chen Jian frowned as he said:

"What’s the situation? Is the Mechanical God Sect chopping people up to feed that monster?"

"It’s very possible."

Shen Yue nodded, looking grim, then said:

"I suspect this monster isn’t inherently aggressive towards humans---- its food sources are quite abundant already."

"The Mechanical God Sect is likely trying to train its aggression, much like some criminal organizations once used human flesh to train hunting dogs."

"If they succeed...ugh, the ecology between humans and monsters might need to be completely broken and reconstructed."

"Impossible to break."

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

"The foundation for humans to domesticate animals is a stable food source and living environment, yet given humanity’s current capabilities in this world, that’s utterly impossible."

"Giant monsters still occupy top ecological niches and won’t change in the short term----He Shuo, how’s the drone reconnaissance?"

"Descending deeper."

He Shuo briefly answered:

"No anomalies found yet, this underground space should connect to some karst cave formations, very large internal space, terrain rugged, hard to fly."

"Signal degradation is severe, probably won’t fly much further."

"Understood, fly as deep as possible."

Chen Jian monitored the real-time footage from the drone and turned to ask Zeng Yi:

"Zeng Yi, how are things on your end?"

"Discovered many moles, but strangely, these moles, despite gathering around Mongolia’s lair, seem.....all dormant."

"Movements are slow, only a few moles are active."

"Their aggressiveness is much reduced compared to when we encountered them at Han Shui...I’m not sure what’s happening, should I catch one for you to look at?"

"No need to catch it, just come back."

Chen Jian flatly refused, but the questions in his mind only grew deeper.

A broken bridge, suddenly appearing moles and their abnormal state, the abyss-like cave.....

All the elements suggested there were bigger secrets within this lair yet to be uncovered, but right now, they lacked any suitable means to explore it.

Desperate measure, they had to risk entering the cave.

He carefully observed the bottomless pit, and just as he was about to decide to lead the team in, a shadow suddenly flashed in the drone footage.

A massive, soft, twisted, scale-covered...serpentine shadow!

Because of the cave’s narrow terrain, the drone couldn’t capture the complete silhouette of the shadow.

Yet even judging from fragments of the footage, the length of the creature was at least more than ten meters!

Everyone instinctively paused what they were doing, and Lei Jie asked in astonishment:

"Is that.....a snake?"

"Mongolia looks like a big tortoise, is this damn thing...a turtle-snake symbiosis?"

"No."

Chen Jian took a deep breath and then replied:

"I know why the bridge collapsed, the geological structure was damaged."

"The moles’ lack of activity isn’t dormancy; it’s poisoning!"

"The plastic Mongolia ate wasn’t dug out by itself, it was brought out by this monster."

"It’s an earthworm!"

"To be precise, a giant caecilian!"

"This thing feeds on humus and releases a large amount of nitrous oxide gas."

"The state of the moles is nitrous oxide poisoning!"

"And ’Mongolia’, it’s also not inactive, it inhaled large amounts of nitrous oxide during the depth exploration of the cave, causing intermittent poisoning!"