Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1164 - 43: Serial Ambush, Tang Zheng is Trapped! (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Chapter 1164: Chapter 43: Serial Ambush, Tang Zheng is Trapped! (Seeking Monthly Votes)

The Tyrant’s strength was immense; one punch on the metal equipment produced a deep dent, with dust shaking off.

Susan trembled with fear and nearly cried out, but Tang Zheng quickly covered her mouth.

"Quiet, hide here, don’t move." Tang Zheng certainly didn’t want the woman to give away their position. He put down his backpack and took only the ammo clip loaded with biochemical bullets and the hand grenade No. 3 with him.

Susan reached out to pull him back, but unfortunately could only catch a piece of his clothing. She was scared, really didn’t want to be separated from him, and curled up into a ball.

The Tyrant was heavily injured, having lost an arm, and not a single part of its skin was unscathed. One-third of its heart, exposed at its chest, had been ruptured, and some of the muscle on its left thigh was blasted away, revealing the bone underneath.

Kohler seemed to have all his limbs intact, but several of his ribs were broken, as was the bone in his left arm. There were lacerations on his back from sharp claws. It was already a miracle that he had escaped the Tyrant for so long; to have done so unscathed would have made him the son of Lady Luck herself.

"I’m going all out." Kohler hadn’t given up. He didn’t ponder whether he would turn into a zombie in the future; instead, he sprinted towards a waste disposal pool.

That pool contained a highly corrosive chemical agent. Some of the biochemical monsters created in the laboratory couldn’t be eliminated through conventional means and would leave residue and genetic traces, requiring over a dozen treatment processes even after dissolution.

Kohler’s strategy was sound; the Tyrant had exceptional agility, attacking power, and even stamina. It could destroy tanks in close combat, but there was virtually no danger if it didn’t land a hit.

"A Tyrant that can use weapons is the strongest Tyrant." Kohler crouched slightly, preparing to jump onto another piece of equipment, but the Tyrant punched it, causing it to wobble.

Kohler lost his balance and fell. The Tyrant, taking huge strides, chased after him, swinging its deadly claws.

Tang Zheng climbed to the top of a nearby piece of equipment to observe. Kohler was struck by another heavy punch, his body tumbling out like a battered sandbag. However, he was now even closer to the processing area.

Rat-tat-tat, having abandoned his MG42 for the M4A1, Kohler dodged and attacked simultaneously. The biochemical bullets hit the Tyrant, embedding in its flesh, with the bursting heads of the bullets carrying agents that could corrode and age the muscle, inflicting tremendous damage to it.

The Tyrant’s instinct made it raise its single arm to protect its heart and head, but from the area it tried to shield, it was apparent the heart was more important.

For safety, a barrier was erected around the processing pool made of engineering plastic. Kohler sneered and ran around it.

"How can I get it in there? If only I had a Bazooka rocket launcher." Kohler frowned, throwing a hand grenade towards the Tyrant’s side.

As a group leader, Kohler’s throwing skill was excellent; the hand grenade flew behind the Tyrant’s head and exploded right on target, with the blast wave and flames billowing. However, the Tyrant was simply too massive to be tipped into the processing pool.

"Trouble!" Tang Zheng also felt a headache coming on. Lacking heavy firepower, it seemed too difficult to kill the Tyrant. Kohler looked like a monkey being chased, in a terribly sorry state.

Time was slipping away, and Kohler, sweating profusely with fatigue starting to take over his body, felt dizzy from blood loss. If not for the Tyrant being injured by the biochemical warheads with its attacking power reduced by half, Kohler would have perished long ago.

Tang Zheng watched anxiously on behalf of Kohler, wishing he could blow his head up and take down the Tyrant himself.

Kohler knew he couldn’t go on like this; sooner or later, he would be worn down to death. With a desperate effort and leveraging a heavy blow, he finally seized the opportunity to get close and threw a cluster hand grenade at the Tyrant’s feet.

In the midst of the loud explosion, the engineering plastic was blasted apart, and the Tyrant was pushed into the processing pool by the blast wave.

The corrosive liquid immediately submerged the Tyrant, and sizzling white smoke rose, filling the air with the stench of something acrid and charred.

The Tyrant struggled to stand, the pool being six meters high, but there wasn’t enough agent to submerge it completely; it only reached the Tyrant’s neck. You could see the skin flow down like melting wax; its appearance was completely ruined, yet the creature was still roaring in anger.

In Kohler’s last stand, his shoulder took a hit, completely shattering his scapula. Now lying on the ground, he had no desire to move. However, the splashes from the Tyrant’s struggle caused some of the agent to spill onto him, corroding through his clothes and burning his skin.

Swearing, Kohler quickly rolled away, then pulled out a folding knife to cut off his clothes and, enduring the pain, sliced away the rotten flesh. He then sighed in relief and tore his shirt into strips to bandage the wounds, temporarily stopping the bleeding before making his way to his backpack — it contained a first aid kit.

"Time to make my move, about one hundred and twenty meters, no wind." Tang Zheng’s gun followed Kohler’s movements, the ACOG scope showing a magnified view of Kohler’s head.

"If I can’t kill him with one shot, I’ll assault." Tang Zheng held Kohler in high regard; after all, the man had managed to kill a Tyrant.

As Kohler moved, Tang Zheng waited for the right moment. Only when Kohler reached the middle of the equipment would there be a chance for a second shot, in case the first one missed. Kohler would have to dodge, prolonging his exposure in the open.

"Here we go." Seeing Kohler stagger into the attack position, Tang Zheng pulled the trigger.

After the great battle and despite his lax vigilance, Kohler, as a fearless Tier 5 contender who had survived thirty Trojan Horse Games, had gradually developed a sixth sense. His perception of danger was beyond that of an ordinary person. The moment the bullet left the barrel, he instinctively tilted his head, almost dodging the shot.

A bullet grazed Kohler’s temple, clipping off a few strands of hair.

Instantly suppressing the intense pain, Kohler zigzagged erratically, charging toward the cover of equipment opposite him.

Tang Zheng had anticipated this, so he didn’t panic and continued to shoot with calm precision. His third shot struck Kohler in the chest.

Kohler had a strong will; despite his injuries, he hadn’t fallen and struggled to get away. Just as he was one meter away from the equipment, Tang Zheng’s rifle fired three bullets into his chest.

The M4A1 wasn’t specifically a sniper rifle, and Tang Zheng didn’t want to aim for the head—the target was too small. That’s why it took a little more time. He preferred a sure thing, knowing there were dozens of ways to kill Kohler once he was injured.

Watching Kohler fall to the ground, Tang Zheng didn’t rush over. Instead, he fired several shots at the corpse, making sure to blow his head to pieces. Only then was he reassured of Kohler’s death.

The Tyrant’s screams diminished as its body dissolved.

"OK, Susan, bring over my backpack," Tang Zheng said as he jumped off the equipment, carefully advancing using cover. He had no intention of getting careless and being killed.

"Sure, I’m on my way," Susan replied, but she didn’t come out because a woman in tight leather clothes held a straight knife to her throat.

The leather-clad woman raised her left hand, waving to signal the ambushers; they were here to collect data, to find some samples that hadn’t been destroyed. They didn’t expect to witness the vicious battle that had just taken place and were shocked that they could kill a Tyrant.

As Tang Zheng concealed himself to hunt down Kohler, this team, like opportunistic sparrows, had set their sights on them.

"Hm? Something’s off about Susan’s tone," Tang Zheng thought. Under normal circumstances, the girl would have rushed out to congratulate him. But this time, she was not only slow to respond but also seemed tensed up. Tang Zheng was about to collect Kohler’s Space Wristwatch, but he veered off the path. Passing an equipment, he suddenly darted behind it and hid.

Seeing Tang Zheng’s maneuver, the enemy panicked and opened fire at once, missing every hair on him.

"Damn, we’ve been spotted. Attack," the woman cursed decisively and then turned to Susan, "Who are you people? What are you doing here?"

The leather woman was Ukrainian, a member of the Eastern European Resistance; if not for the fact that Susan looked like a civilian, she would have killed her already.

"We’re civilians!" Susan cried out, "We’ve been caught up in it."

"Don’t lie to me, or I’ll cut you down," the leather woman threatened Susan. She was beautiful, with long flaxen hair and a very hot figure, but she had a frosty face and thick eye makeup.

"I’m telling the truth," Susan prayed, hoping Tang Zheng would save her.

"Big sister, that kid is cunning and hiding..." Before a man could finish his warning, he was shot in the head and the Biochemical Bullets corroded the body into a puddle of liquid.

Gunfire erupted in the Processing Area as the terrorists suppressed Tang Zheng with their firepower.

"What kind of scum is this?" Tang Zheng was vexed. As he moved, he regretted the Biochemical Bullets he’d lost. He didn’t go after Susan, thinking if she hadn’t died, she’d been taken hostage.

Following the trajectory of the incoming bullets, Tang Zheng spotted a bald man cradling a machine gun, about to pop out for suppression fire to create an opportunity for his comrades. But he saw the muzzle of the youth’s rifle quickly shifting toward him.

Bang, bang, the Bald man took bullets to the shoulder and fell.

"Big sister, I’ve been shot," the Bald man cried anxiously. "Release the Licker, this guy is tough."

"Release the Licker? What does that mean?" Tang Zheng frowned. He hadn’t killed the Bald man on purpose; the enemy’s screams would lower their morale, and he could use it as bait, waiting to kill his comrades when they came to his rescue.

"Shut your mouth," the leather woman didn’t lose her cool, cutting Susan with a karate chop to the neck and knocking her down, then turned to kill Tang Zheng.

"This battle is so muddled," the leather woman disdained this chaos. She fought to create a piece of paradise for her people, not to kill innocents without cause.

"We’re just civilians; we have no reason to fight," Tang Zheng said, judging by the earlier mention of zombies that these people likely weren’t survivors from the Trojan Room. He wasn’t afraid of combat; his words were just to tease information out of them.

"You capitalist dogs, go to hell," a man cursed as he hurled a hand grenade at Tang Zheng.

"A bunch of lunatics." As Tang Zheng pondered how to annihilate them, the roar from the Waste Disposal Pool grew louder instead of softer, as if it were a final frenzy.

The leather woman didn’t want to waste any more time, and just as she was about to open fire fully and kill Tang Zheng, another roar echoed followed by heavy thudding footsteps approaching. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation vote or monthly vote; your support is my greatest motivation.)