Translator: AnubisTL
The dragon's skeleton was far larger than the green dragon's, making the latter look like a mere cub in comparison.
Pathetic.
After briefly reporting the situation, Biaozi continued deeper into the plaza, holding his powerful flashlight. His eyes darted around excitedly yet cautiously, scanning the surroundings.
The plaza was empty except for the skeletal dragon.
The flashlight in his hand had been given to him by Lord Mang. It was embedded with a Tier 1 Energy Stone, far surpassing the brightness and duration of the flashlights he'd scavenged from the city ruins.
Another chance to make a name for himself!
The next moment—
The dragon's skeleton suddenly began to tremble. Countless dust particles shook off its bones. The patterns on the plaza walls began to glow with an eerie red light. In the blink of an eye, the skeletal dragon had regained its flesh.
It was entirely green.
A large green dragon.
"ROAR!!!"
The roar shook the entire plaza.
At the same moment, a gate slammed shut behind them, completely blocking their path back.
Biaozi's expression shifted slightly. He turned sharply to glance at the passage behind him, now completely blocked off. There was no way back.
At that moment, a message from President Ai flashed across his Iris Chip:
"Detected: Tier 5 Monster, Undead Green Dragon."
"The space below has been sealed off. The train conductor is working on a way to provide support. Hold your ground."
This message appeared simultaneously before all members of Guard Team One.
"We're doomed!"
A usually inconspicuous member of the first team was instantly overwhelmed by despair. He stumbled backward, pressing himself against the plaza wall, his voice trembling with tears.
"Brother Biao, we're finished! We're all finished!"
It was a Tier 5 Monster.
For the train, a Tier 5 Monster was easily dealt with, barely worth a second glance. But for them, it was a threat capable of wiping out the entire squad.
"Calm down, all of you!"
Biaozi couldn't bother relaying information through President Ai at this moment. What they needed now was a morale boost. He roared at the Tier 5 Monster, the Undead Green Dragon, which was stretching its limbs before them.
"It's just a Tier 5 Monster! Our rifles are loaded with Tier 6 rounds!"
"Everyone, follow my orders. I'll go first."
Before he could finish speaking, the First Squad member who had been in a panic, realizing that tearing up his Train Ticket was useless, plunged into utter despair. He aimed his rifle at the Undead Green Dragon and pulled the trigger. The muffled tutututu of gunfire echoed through the chamber as bullets found their mark.
But...
The monster's body was simply too massive. Its length alone was seven or eight meters. When it sensed the attack, it wrapped itself in its wings. While the Tier 6 bullets successfully struck and penetrated its defenses, they failed to inflict significant damage. Instead, they only fueled the undead green dragon's bloodlust, making it even more enraged. With a furious roar, it flapped its wings and charged at First Squad member who had fired the shot!
BOOM!!!
Its claws pierced straight through the member's chest, pinning him to the wall.
"Shoot its eyes!" Biaozi roared at the member, his face contorted with fury. "Xiao Mao, fire!"
Then he charged toward the green dragon.
"Everyone, climb onto the green dragon! Jam your knives and bullets into its weak points! Don't give it any room to charge!"
Pinned against the wall by the green dragon's claws, the First Squad Member felt his life force rapidly draining away. His eyes filled with despair and resentment as he tossed his rifle aside. "What the hell good are a few bullets now?"
Then, he pulled out a car blade fragment from his pocket and with all his remaining strength, plunged it into the green dragon's eye, just as it was about to swallow him whole!
Slish!
The Tier 50 car blade fragment pierced through the dragon's eye with ease.
The sharp pain from the vulnerable spot being struck instantly drove the green dragon into a frenzy. It snapped its jaws shut, severing the member's entire upper body and swallowing it whole before soaring to the top of the plaza, where it thrashed violently.
The waves of stinging pain coursing through its body only intensified the green dragon's rage.
Meanwhile, Biaozi had climbed onto the dragon's neck, gripping a scale tightly to anchor himself. With his other hand, he relentlessly hacked at the dragon's flesh with the car blade fragment.
He had faced far more perilous situations in the "Resident Evil" map of the Combat Training Virtual Space.
Though death in the virtual space was not permanent, his extensive experience with dying had taught him to remain calm in the face of death.
This is the green dragon's blind spot!
Just then—
A series of muffled gunshots erupted from within the green dragon's body. The creature let out a piercing, agonizing roar, then plummeted to the ground like a falling leaf. After struggling for a few moments, it suddenly went still.
"Dead...?"
Biaozi, who had been clinging to the green dragon's neck, stood up dazedly. How had it died?
He grabbed his rifle, jumped off the green dragon, and walked to its head. After firing a full magazine into its eyes, he reloaded and surveyed the scene. The green dragon was definitely dead, as dead as it could be.
But...
Guard Team One had suffered its first casualty today.
Xiao Mao was dead.
Xiao Mao had been too terrified. If only he had listened...
"Wait!"
Biaozi's expression suddenly shifted. He turned to the First Squad Members who were climbing out of the green dragon's body, his voice slightly urgent. "Where's Wildcat?"
There were only seven people here, plus himself—eight in total!
Where had Wildcat disappeared to?
The situation had been chaotic earlier, and he hadn't paid close attention to each person's position. Had Wildcat failed to climb onto the green dragon and been swallowed by it?
Just then!
"Right here," Wildcat said, struggling out from under the green dragon's tail, covered in slime and blood. His hair was matted together as if he hadn't washed it in weeks. He stood shakily, raised his rifle, and grinned at Biaozi.
"I crawled in through the back, dug a hole deep inside, and blasted the Green Dragon's womb with a few magazines."
"Brother Biao, you said to attack its weak points. I think this counts."
"...?"
Biaozi paused, then realized what Wildcat had done. He strode over and pulled him into a tight hug, grinning. "Damn, Brother! You've done an incredible job! That's why the Green Dragon suddenly died."
"But..." Wildcat tilted his head toward the severed corpse in the corner, his voice tinged with sadness. "Maozi is dead."
Boom!
At that moment, the gate sealing off the passage slowly opened. Zhang Damei, who had been waiting outside with the second team, immediately strode over to Biaozi. When she saw the motionless green dragon's corpse, disbelief flashed in her eyes. "Dead? Really dead?"
"You killed a Tier 5 Monster without mechs?"
Biaozi didn't immediately respond to Zhang Damei. Instead, he patted Wildcat on the shoulder and whispered, "If he's dead, he's dead."
"Maozi was never brave to begin with. Living in the apocalypse was too painful for him. Death is a release."
Then he examined Wildcat, whose body was twisted in an unnatural way. "Are you badly injured?"
"Not too bad. That monster kept trapping me inside it. I think I might have broken something."
As the group talked, the fallen green dragon gradually turned to dust and vanished from the plaza, leaving behind only an accessory blueprint and a chip. The plaza itself was slowly collapsing.
Biaozi quickly picked up the items on the ground, then helped Wildcat to his feet and turned to Zhang Damei and the others. "We'll talk later. This place is about to collapse. Let's go!"
...
Inside the locomotive cabin of the Stellaris, Chen Mang sat calmly in his chair, watching the scene unfold on the screen. He had just witnessed the entire event through Biaozi's first-person perspective. An unexpected Tier 5 Monster had appeared, sealing off the plaza below.
The train couldn't send reinforcements.
Biaozi and his team were on their own.
"Tier 5 Monster..."
After a long silence, Chen Mang murmured in the carriage. He had assumed Guard Team One would be wiped out in the square below, but they had actually won.
Theoretically, even a newly-turned adult male, wielding a Tier 6 weapon, had a chance of killing a Tier 5 Monster. After all, if the weapon could penetrate its defenses, there was a chance of killing it.
But that was just theory. The real-world probability was much, much lower.
In actual combat, many problems could arise. Biaozi and his team had virtually no defensive capabilities; one touch from the monster meant certain death. Yet, they had managed to surround and kill the Tier 5 Monster with only one casualty—a feat nothing short of a miracle.
"This Tier 5 Monster wasn't particularly strong," Xiao Ai's voice echoed from the locomotive cabin. "Its attack methods were limited, and it even had blind spots. If it had been one of the Tier 5 Monsters from the Kunlun Mountain Region, Biaozi and his team wouldn't have survived."
"Because it had just revived, its claws only tore open its belly. A normal Tier 5 Monster would have turned them into a blood mist on the spot."
"That's still incredibly impressive," Chen Mang whispered.
At that moment—
Several lines of text reappeared on the control panel screen:
[You have successfully returned the green dragon to its homeland, fulfilling its wish and allowing it to return to its roots.
The skeleton deep within the crypt is the true corpse of this green dragon.
Long ago, the green dragon's soul was imprisoned here. Each time it revived, it would inhabit a different green dragon's body. Only by killing the green dragon's soul could it truly find salvation.
A fragmented soul controls a body long decayed.
People often believe that life is hope, but they fail to realize that sometimes only death offers true redemption.
It may attack you, but that is not its true desire.
Thank you.
The blue-grade Deep Sea Shield Accessory Blueprint, along with the green dragon's salvation, has shattered. It can now be obtained through various means, not just by killing the green dragon.
Stellaris train's Reputation Value +100.]
"..."
Chen Mang remained silent, while Biaozi delivered the rewards from the recent drop.
They consisted of an accessory blueprint and a chip.
The blue-grade accessory blueprint was for the "Deep Sea Shield."
And a Virtual Map Chip for "Dragon Fortress."
Similar to "Resident Evil," this chip required the Combat Training Virtual Space and offered both Normal and Extreme Mission options. Completing these missions would enhance comprehensive physical fitness.
Not bad rewards.
Chen Mang already had the "Deep Sea Shield" accessory, so the blueprint was currently useless and could only be sold later.
"Xiao Ai," he said. "Take Wildcat to the Medical Pod for treatment."
"Train Conductor, Wildcat has already been treated with the Basic First Aid Kit."
"Huh?" Chen Mang frowned slightly. "The Tier 10 overpowered effect of the Basic First Aid Kit can only reattach severed limbs. Wildcat's injury was a fracture, so how was it healed?"
"He used a car blade fragment to cut off the fractured bone, then reattached it. The Tier 10 overpowered effect of the Basic First Aid Kit automatically restored the broken and misaligned bone."
"..."
Chen Mang's eyelids twitched, but he said nothing. He simply steered the train out of the underwater labyrinth, speeding across the lakebed. The moment it broke the surface, the wheels instantly transformed into Bunny Clouds, soaring through the air toward the horizon.
"Three aren't enough. Give me three more."
Inside Guard Car No. 7, Biaozi lit three cigarettes and stuffed them into Wildcat's mouth. "These have pain-relieving properties. Feeling any better now?"
"Much better."
Wildcat, his entire body wrapped in bandages, lay on the bed, his body occasionally twitching. His face was deathly pale, covered in sweat beads the size of soybeans. The fractures had healed completely, but the pain was excruciating.
Fortunately, the cigarettes offered some relief; otherwise, he would have passed out long ago.
"Wildcat."
Meijia, her eyes red-rimmed, knelt beside Wildcat's bed, repeatedly wiping the sweat from his forehead with a hot towel. She held his hand tightly, her lips moving slightly, but she remained silent.
"It's okay," Wildcat said, forcing a smile as he patted Meijia's head. "My injuries have completely healed. It's just a bit painful, but it'll be fine by this afternoon. No need to wait until tomorrow."
"Go back to your room first. This is no place for a woman. Hurry back."
Meijia nodded, her eyes reddening, and rose to walk toward the refrigerator.
Just then—
Chen Mang, accompanied by Xiao Ai, walked through several carriages to Guard Car No. 7 and sat on the bed opposite Wildcat. He asked softly, "How are you feeling now?"
At the sight of Lord Mang, Wildcat immediately struggled to sit up, leaning against the wall with a nervous expression.
"My injuries have all healed. I'm ready for duty at any time."
"Next time you're this badly injured, use the Medical Pod. We have plenty of iron ore. The Stellaris can afford to provide guards with the resources for healing."
"Mm," Wildcat started to explain, but seeing Biaozi's gaze, he swallowed his words and could only nod weakly.
"Alright."
Chen Mang didn't linger. He stood up and turned to Biaozi.
"A new map has been added to the Combat Training Virtual Space. Take First Squad Members and clear all the normal missions as quickly as possible to maximize their comprehensive physical fitness. If you had been piloting mechs on this mission, you wouldn't have been so humiliated."
(End of the Chapter)
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