Hearing the relentless sound of guns from ahead, Brother Zhang, at the rear of the group, immediately panicked. After all, without some major trouble, how could there be such a fierce assault?
The girl was equally anxious. She quickly said, "Brother Zhang, don't worry about me. Go help, I'll catch up myself."
Their mission was to rescue people. No one would just leave the rescued behind. But seeing the massive snake up ahead, what was there not to understand?
The girl pointed at the distant snake. "This… this… we saw a huge patch of snake skin. The squad leader said it was a first-tier savage beast. Didn't expect it to be true."
The girl's "squad" referred to the ability team's squad leader.
"Go, help them."
Brother Zhang dragged the girl forward. She was already gasping from exhaustion, but she didn't dare complain now.
On the other side, the snake's massive head ignored the attacks entirely. The attacks barely scratched it, like tickles it didn't feel. Its eyes did not even blink. The whole head lunged toward them.
Almost everyone scattered instantly.
The snake's head was large but cumbersome. The attack missed the people, yet it smashed a deep crater into the ground. Not stopping there, seeing its head had failed to harm anyone, the snake's tail lashed toward the right where Lan Jin was.
Lan Jin leapt, using her electric ability to shock the tail. It froze for two seconds, giving her time to dodge the strike. Once on the ground, she conjured an extended lightning spike with the Violetbane Ring, leaping onto the tail to stab it directly.
The snake howled in pain, thrashing its tail wildly. But since Lan Jin had pinned it, the movement was limited. It lifted its head to strike at Lan Jin.
Huang Jinghe shouted, "Sister Lan, run!"
Just as everyone thought Lan Jin would be caught, Ling Jiang flashed forward, carrying Lan Jin far from the snake.
Ling Jiang then shouted to the group, "Take the chance and run down, don't just stand there!"
The non-ability members knew they could not help much, but none wanted to abandon these people to die. At that moment, Lan Jin shouted, "Bring down all the explosive crossbows!"
Hearing this, everyone realized Lan Jin had a plan. They left the explosive crossbows behind and ran.
Ling Jiang asked, "What's the plan?"
Lan Jin replied, "Need a plan? Tie all the explosive crossbows together, throw them into its mouth. Without a head, it won't do anything."
True, the plan sounded simple. "But will it really go that smoothly?" Ling Jiang asked.
"Of course not. What were you thinking?" Lan Jin replied. But for now, this was the only way. Otherwise, a snake this big left no other options.
From the side, Lao Gao shouted, "Isn't it said snakes have a weak spot? Hit the weak spot should work."
Lan Jin replied, "Sure, but where is its weak spot? Such a huge snake, where do we even start?"
This wasn't a small snake, and they, with no experience, could not experiment point by point. Even with a small snake, they would not know the weak spot.
Seeing Lan Jin's point, Lao Gao did not argue further.
Meanwhile, Brother Zhang's team, though without abilities, were all highly trained. They could immediately find the right moment to escape, place the explosive crossbows nearby so they could be picked up and used easily, and then retreat without looking back.
The snake, squinting at the fleeing crowd, kept stretching its head toward them. Lan Jin quickly said, "Ling Jiang, freeze the head first. Don't let it bite anyone."
Lan Jin leapt onto the tail again, conjuring another spike, while Ling Jiang jumped to use ice abilities on the head.
Once the head and tail were controlled, the danger dropped considerably.
While the snake struggled in place, Lao Gao quickly picked up the explosive crossbows and placed them on the snake's belly. Just as he was about to press the trigger, Brother Zhang and the heavyset girl finally arrived.
Seeing only a few people fleeing frantically, and the four resisting with abilities, Brother Zhang asked, "Where are the others? Where's everyone else?"
"Sent them down first. guns weren't needed. Left all explosive crossbows behind."
Even outside the dense forest, it wasn't completely safe. Without guns, what if something went wrong? So they left the crossbows behind; outside people could not use them anyway.
Brother Zhang said to the girl, "You go down first. We'll follow."
At that moment, the snake twisted powerfully, coiling its tail upward. Lan Jin flew into the air with it, unable to maintain her ability. She retracted her powers to dodge. As she fell, Brother Zhang caught her, preventing injury.
On the other side, Lao Gao pressed the button. A loud 'boom' echoed as the previously thrashing snake body erupted. A small crater formed, tiny pieces of tissue scattering everywhere.
Lao Gao had known explosive crossbows were strong, but not that a single one could hit this hard.
Brother Zhang explained, "I was worried about accidents, so we requested a modified version. Our team has no abilities, so the higher-ups approved it."
But the small crater caused intense pain to the snake. Its tail swept, knocking Lao Gao and Huang Jinghe onto a thick plant root. The root cracked, and both spat blood, slowly sitting on the ground.
They rested for a while, motionless. Seeing the tail swing again, Lan Jin used all her ability, shocking the snake with lightning. While the snake was stunned, Ling Jiang and Brother Zhang quickly moved the two, so when the tail struck again, they were gone.
However, the injuries were severe. During the move, both spat more blood. Lao Gao lifted Huang Jinghe. "We need to catch breath for a while. You all hold on a little longer."