Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Genetic Mutator

In the Humvee.

“Are you really not going to wear the exoskeletal armor?” Gao Ning asked.

Gao Lao Er focused on driving. “I’m not interested. The tuxedo’s support functions are stronger. The Frankenstein robots are enough for frontal combat.”

“That makes sense. Then I’ll turn in the mission.”

Gao Ning laid one hand over the exoskeleton armor, and a line of text immediately appeared on the Red Alert interface.

Mission Two: Collect dimensional curiosities.

Target discovered. Retrieve?

Gao Ning tapped yes. A flash of white light passed, and the exoskeleton armor vanished.

Target retrieved.

Reward: Gene Mutator.

The moment the text disappeared, Gao Ning felt a weight settle in his palm. A compact mechanical device suddenly appeared there, rotating up and down in a steady rhythm.

It was small, even smaller than a chess piece by a margin, looking more like some curious ornament than anything else. Who would have thought it was a superweapon from the Red Alert interface?

Gao Ning was slightly stunned. “A superweapon, seriously? Is this battle going to be that dangerous?”

On the right side of the Red Alert interface, the icon for the gene mutation cloud had already begun its countdown.

Seeing the numbers on the timer, Gao Ning’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “Only ten minutes?”

This was a superweapon!

Before he could even finish the thought, Gao Lao Er slammed on the brakes. The Humvee skidded sideways, spun a full circle, and came to a hard stop in the middle of the road.

At that moment, the giant robots that had been marching behind them suddenly surged forward from both sides, charging out with ferocity.

Gao Ning looked up and saw a pack of fierce werewolves rushing straight at them, fanged and savage, twisted in shape like malformed humans, brimming with strength and speed.

Especially that unmistakably ferocious visage—it made Gao Ning blurt out, “Werewolves?”

The words had barely left his mouth before the giant robots crashed into the werewolves.

Howls tore through the air. The robots were nimble and swift, bristling with weapons all over their bodies; with a single leap, they could rip a werewolf clean in two.

But the werewolves were no helpless prey.

They worked in groups of three or five, risking their lives to pin down a giant robot, first tearing off its legs, then using their teeth and berserk strength to smash through the outer armor and shred the electronic components inside to pieces.

The two sides collided in the most primitive and savage fashion imaginable, with blood and explosions sounding without end.

Before Gao Ning could steady himself, Gao Lao Er had already leapt down, pulled back the canvas cover, and brought out the special weapon he had prepared with the muzzle facing upward.

It was a sniper rifle designed specifically for monsters.

Its range was only one kilometer, but its power was enough to shatter an elephant in an instant.

The bullet itself was more than twenty centimeters long, thickened and enlarged, with a hollow design.

When the round struck a human body, the force of impact would make the wound blossom open, enlarging the injury as much as possible.

It could even tear the target’s body into fragments outright.

Though immensely powerful, its recoil was equally severe. Combined with its low rate of fire, it was easy to expose the shooter’s position, so it was still in the refinement stage.

But these flaws meant nothing in Gao Lao Er’s hands.

He merely took a casual aim and pulled the trigger.

A thunderous blast rang out, and the few werewolves stacking themselves atop a giant robot were instantly blasted into mincemeat.

The violent shock wave caved in the robot’s armor, though fortunately it did not affect its ability to move.

The robot rapidly found a new target and pounced again.

Gao Ning also reacted at last. He took over the driver’s seat and casually deployed two freshly spawned giant robots.

In combat mode, the protection period was automatically lifted.

As soon as they hit the ground, the robots rushed into the battle.

The front line held them off as living shields, while the rear line called targets and fired. Though the werewolves outnumbered them, they still could not close in for the moment.

On a small hill not far away, the Fangwolf squad was hidden in a trench, each of them holding a pair of binoculars as they watched the battlefield.

“Scholar, you little rascal, not bad at all. You really called it right—those guys were prepared after all!” Potato said excitedly, patting Scholar on the shoulder.

Scholar shook him off with a wave of his arm. “Quit patting me like that. Don’t you know your nickname is Potato?”

Potato shouted, “You don’t have to say it every time!”

Wolf Fang said calmly, “The car hasn’t moved at all. The windows are tinted against sight, so we can’t tell how many people are inside. But even if there’s only one, we’re not losing out.”

“Boss, want to go down and have some fun?” Potato asked.

Wolf Fang shot him a cold glance. “Don’t think that because I chose the werewolf enhancement, it also erased my brains.

“They have some preparation, but the number of robots isn’t large.

“Out on the wasteland nearby, there are plenty of alien monsters that can become werewolves. Once the virus spreads, our troops will be endless. We can pile them up and bury them alive if we need to. Why should I take the field myself?”

Scholar said, “That reasoning is sound. By your account, the abilities in the Mysterious Train space are bizarre beyond measure, so unless it’s absolutely necessary, you never confront the enemy head-on.

“To be honest, I’m already surprised the captain managed to draw them out this time, because by normal logic, they should have been thinking along the same lines we are. Unless...”

Wolf Fang said, “Unless they’re utterly unafraid.”

Potato scratched his head. “You mean they think they can definitely kill us?”

Scholar sneered inwardly. “That’s only one possibility. Another guess is that they’re confident they can slip away easily if the situation turns against them.

“And I think the second possibility is more likely.”

Potato said, “Then are we still luring them into our trap? I spent a full seven hours preparing that underground labyrinth. I’m exhausted to death. If it doesn’t get used, I’m striking next time!”

Wolf Fang said coldly, “Enough nonsense. Proceed according to plan. Release another small unit of werewolves!”

Scholar said, “The captain’s strategy is right. The enemy has too many troops, and it’s easy to be led off course.

“Reinforcing in batches may look like the drip-feed tactic, but in truth it’s baiting them to walk into the pocket themselves.

“Once they enter the labyrinth, they’ll fall into an endless siege. No matter how well they are prepared, no matter how great their talents, they won’t be able to escape the werewolves’ frenzied slaughter!”

As he spoke, a trace of admiration appeared in Scholar’s eyes. “As expected of a veteran, the captain’s methods are truly superb.”

Wolf Fang snorted. “The day Potato notices that much on his own will be the day he finally makes progress!”

Potato protested angrily, “Hey, say whatever you want, but don’t drag me into it, okay? My nickname may be ugly, but I still have pride!”

Neither of them paid him any heed.

Potato glared for a long while, but no one responded. In the end, he could only slap the button in frustration. Two hundred meters behind the slaughterfield, the ground suddenly caved in to form a slope, and over a hundred werewolves rushed out and joined the battle at once.