Chapter 010: The Awakening of Abilities

Although the intelligence of the bat beast is not high, the thought that the food it could easily hunt has turned into this state fills its eyes with anger. Now, looking at the prey that has lost the ability to resist, the bat beast wants to tear this troublesome prey apart bite by bite, for only in this way can it relieve the hatred in its heart

Before the bat beast's mouth could touch the dagger, it was struck on the lip by the lightning arc above the dagger, causing it to quickly retract its head. Li Li took the opportunity to roll several times, increasing the distance between himself and the bat beast. He then slowly got up, looking warily at the bat beast not far away.

Half of the bat beast's head vanished in the gunfire, slowly collapsing; this was the only image that Li Li saw before losing consciousness, after which he fell directly into a state of oblivion from the chaos of his thoughts

This time, Li Li did not confront the bat beast head-on; he merely fixed his gaze on the charging bat beast, standing quietly in place, as he no longer had the extra strength to charge forward and could only adopt a defensive stance as a means of offense

"Commander Chen, all the brothers in your company have already withdrawn from Quancheng, and you are the last one left. I sincerely thank you for your assistance these past few days." The middle-aged man standing next to Chen Gang looked at him earnestly, paused for a moment, and then continued, "Although the gate currently seems capable of holding off the monsters for a while, you and I both understand that this is only because the powerful high-level monsters have not yet appeared. Once they do, the defense line will collapse immediately."

The middle-aged man wore a military uniform adorned with the words "Second Artillery". He glanced at the instrument in his hand and said in a calm tone, "There are 7 minutes and 52 seconds left from now until the time for speaking."

"Uncle Zhang, you can rest assured, there is no need to worry about me," Chen Gang replied flatly. This middle-aged man was none other than Zhang Chengchi, the highest commander guarding the forbidden gate.

Departing, the destination is Anshi City. Chen, without further ado, turned around and left Quancheng with more than ten subordinates

Just as the bat beast was about to collide, Li Li quickly crouched down and drew the military knife tied to his calf with his right hand, swiftly slashing at the bat beast's neck. The bat beast with its tough skin endured the blow, suddenly extending a claw and fiercely striking Li Li's back, knocking him down to the ground.

The bat-like creature slowly approached Li Li, opening its wide mouth, ready to torment its prey slowly to quell the anger within. Li Li watched as the monster drew nearer, gradually closing his eyes. He was now gravely injured, with a comminuted fracture of the left scapula, his right arm broken, and a large gash over ten centimeters long in his abdomen, from which blood and some internal organs oozed out, creating a horrifying sight.

After Chen Gang saluted Zhang Chengchi, the surrounding soldiers also saluted. Then they turned to look at the gate, their eyes revealing a hint of respect. It was evident that the soldiers guarding the gate were prepared to defend it to the death, until the last person.

Various monsters were similarly vaporized without any resistance. On the ground, one can faintly see the postures of the monsters before they were vaporized. At the moment the shockwave formed, a solid transparent protective shield suddenly appeared several meters away from the surface of the massive brain-body monster, blocking the intense shockwave from the outside

Gradually, he could even smell the strong stench of blood emanating from the large mouth of the bat beast. He knew that the bat beast had opened its mouth wide to bite him, but he no longer cared. His consciousness was also gradually becoming hazy, and even the pain from the bite would not be too pronounced.

The bat beast looked at its charred right paw, raised its head filled with anger and resentment, and gazed at Li Li, who was lying on the ground several meters away. At this moment, he had no strength left to get up, and the only hand he could still move was broken during the recent fight.

The bat beast was also severely injured this time, with the steel stake nearly penetrating its soft abdomen; however, it was not fatal. The bat beast stuffed the flesh it had torn from Li Li's left shoulder into its mouth, extending its bright red tongue to lick the bloodstains remaining at the corners of its mouth, glaring at Li Li with bloodshot eyes. The smell of blood stimulated its nerves, driving it into a more frenzied state

This young man has quite the spirit, daring to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a bat beast, and he has even awakened his special abilities. Let's take him with us. A middle-aged man standing next to the resolute-looking young man assessed the battered and bruised Li Li lying on the ground; he had witnessed the battle just now.

With a furious roar, the bat beast lunged at Li Li, propelling itself forward with its powerful hind legs. At the same time, it extended its right claw in a dive, aiming to crush Li Li's skull. Without time to think further, Li Li gripped the dagger tightly in his right hand and charged forward to meet the attack.

The DF-21 intercontinental ballistic missile detonated at an altitude of approximately 500 meters above the ground, creating a luminous sphere that was countless times brighter than the sun. The epicenter reached temperatures exceeding one hundred million degrees, and the sudden formation of this extreme heat caused a rapid increase in air temperature differentials, generating a powerful shockwave that radiated outward from the epicenter like sunlight.

They were completely unaware while speaking that a faint light flickered at Li Li's chest, and then it returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Approximately eight minutes later, a massive ballistic missile plunged from low Earth orbit into the atmosphere, hurtling towards a small town located in a canyon area at a speed exceeding twenty kilometers per second. The town was infested with various kinds of monsters, among which one stood out as the most eye-catching and bizarre. This creature resembled an enormous brain, magnified countless times, devoid of any skull protection. The giant brain monster exhibited a dark flesh color, covered in numerous tentacles of varying sizes, with suction cup-like appendages at the tips. Its entire body resembled a mass of boneless, soft flesh, and strangely, this monster had no eyes. As it moved, countless tentacles writhed on the ground, creating a rather repulsive sight.

"Alright, Uncle Zhang, take care." Chen Gang nodded, understanding that there was no point in idle chatter given the current situation, and directly bid farewell to Zhang Chengchi

The arc of lightning surrounded the dagger and struck the right claw of the bat beast, while Li Li was directly thrown away by the bat beast. During the process of knocking Li Li away, the bat beast suddenly extended another claw, directly reaching for Li Li's abdomen. The sharp and powerful claw tore a large gash in his abdomen, and the bat beast's right claw, which had been grazed by the dagger, was charred black, clearly a result of the arc of lightning attached to the dagger.

The rocket, marked with DF-21, slowly ascended out of the atmosphere and entered low Earth orbit, then gradually leveled off and flew towards an inconspicuous small town next to the largest concentric circle in the western part of the Republic as indicated on the satellite map

Li Li's mind began to replay memories from his childhood, scenes flashing through his mind like a roller coaster. He saw himself running around with a stool in his arms, saw himself catching fish by the river with his childhood friend, saw himself working on the mountain with his mother, saw himself attending classes at school, saw himself going to relatives' homes for the New Year dinner, saw the moment when his parents reluctantly sent him off to university for the first time, and saw the girl he had secretly admired playing the piano upstairs.

In a matter of seconds, a well-disciplined, fully equipped, and well-trained army appeared beside Li Li

A crisp gunshot rang out, abruptly interrupting Li Li's mind as it replayed past events related to the library. However, his consciousness was also quite chaotic, akin to a drunken person in a daze, existing in a state of confusion

"Squad Leader, this kid is still alive," said a medic carrying a medical kit, as he checked Li Li's neck and spoke to a young man beside him with a resolute expression.

Through the bloodied and mangled left arm, one can clearly see Li Li's deep white scapula exposed to the air. Li Li raises his head to look straight ahead, trying his best to ignore the wound, forcing himself to focus intently on the bat beast in front of him.

The bat beast, seeing Li Li lying on the ground, opened its mouth filled with canine teeth and bit into Li Li's left chest. Instantly, a heart-wrenching pain surged from his left chest, rapidly stimulating his brain nerves. The bat beast tore a piece of bloody flesh from Li Li's left chest with its mouth, chewed it a few times, swallowed that piece of flesh, licked its lips as if still savoring it, and then bit down on Li Li once more.

Li Li cast a glance at the bloodthirsty bat beast, then glanced at Longhu Bridge out of the corner of his eye, seeing that his parents were nearing the bridgehead. The determination in his eyes intensified; he understood that as long as he could hold on for another thirty seconds, his parents would be safe. He slowly withdrew his gaze, his expression resolute.

Meanwhile, in a remote mountainous area in the western part of the Republic, a series of thunderous "rumbling" sounds suddenly erupted. A small hill, covered in vegetation and trees, was lifted by countless fragments of rock amidst the explosion. The section above the mid-slope was completely blown away by the shockwave of the explosion, followed closely by a rocket measuring several dozen meters soaring into the sky

Aow! The bat beast let out a roar and charged madly towards Li Li

The shockwave, carrying temperatures exceeding one hundred million degrees, surged towards the houses, cars, pools, and various monsters on the ground. Trees carbonized and turned to ash in less than a second, cars vaporized instantaneously, and heat-resistant glass was directly transformed into silicon dioxide crystals by the extreme heat

"Take him along, let's retreat to Anshi as planned." After the young man spoke, two soldiers quickly prepared a military stretcher and swiftly placed Li Li onto it. The young man who spoke was none other than Chen Gang, who had participated in the rescue mission at the research institute a few days ago.

Stung by blood, the bat beast became even more frenzied, disregarding the dagger coming towards it, preparing to bite off Li Li's arm. At that moment, the blade erupted with a sound like "thunder and lightning," and a series of golden lightning arcs suddenly appeared on the dagger. Li Li immediately felt a current flowing through his palm into the military dagger, a sensation reminiscent of the one he experienced during the clash with the bat beast.

At an underground base not far from this small hill, a military officer dressed in uniform with the rank of Major General looked at the projection screen and said to a middle-aged man wearing glasses: "How long until we reach the target location"

More bizarrely, its body is adorned with various human figures, surrounded by countless others. Upon closer inspection, it can be discerned that the humans hanging from its body are almost all female. They are naked and vacant in expression, occasionally a tentacle extends from the massive brain and inserts into their mouths, gurgling as an unknown liquid is poured into these women's mouths. The most terrifying aspect is that their chests can be seen gently rising and falling, proving that they are still alive. Occasionally, a tentacle extends from the massive brain and inserts into their mouths, gurgling as an unknown liquid is poured into these women's mouths. The most terrifying aspect is that their chests can be seen gently rising and falling, proving that they are still alive

I also understand that you are a special forces unit, having fought countless battles against monsters and possessing considerable combat experience. However, the current situation is not optimistic. If anything were to happen to you, how would I explain it to the old commander?" Zhang Chengchi advised earnestly.

Li Li sensed the danger and, with his right hand, seized a dagger and fiercely thrust it towards the gaping mouth of the bat beast. He was now fighting for his life, with no way to retreat