CHAPTER 359: CHAPTER 356 [STOPPED]

Chapter 356: Intercepted

Although the massive creature was tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, it staggered under the metallic storm of the Gatling gunfire, bellowing madly. It turned and pounced towards Vanel.

Soon, it crashed into the barrier, the impacted spot viciously repelled by the barrier’s force.

The monster shook its head in rage, several tentacles whipping against the barrier like lashes, to no avail. In just that short moment, Vanel had emptied another ammunition belt.

"Vanel! Drive the vehicle in!" Nolan suddenly bellowed.

Vanel was taken aback. But after locking eyes with Nolan from a distance, as if understanding something, he immediately jumped out of the vehicle. He activated the snow vehicle from the front and then jumped out through the door again.

The snow vehicle slid into the barrier on its own. Nolan had already leaped from the ruins, sprinting towards it.

"Nolan, what are you doing?!" Chen Nuo yelled.

"Wait for me!" Nolan, without looking back, rushed to the snow vehicle’s external cargo hatch, flipped open the door, and jumped in.

The snow vehicle slid slowly for more than ten meters...

Chen Nuo could already hear the distant monsters regrouping and crawling over again, but Nolan finally jumped out of the vehicle.

As he ran, he gestured to Chen Nuo, "We can go now! Get out of here fast!"

Chen Nuo took a deep breath. "Come here, everyone grab onto me!"

At this moment, Chen Nuo had pushed his spiritual power to its absolute limit. A series of faint, stabbing pains pulsed deep within his mind as he forcibly maintained his will.

Carrying the Captain on his back and holding Rebecca with one hand, Chen Nuo saw Nolan sprinting over and immediately reached out to him as well.

Outside the barrier, Vanel witnessed this scene and had an epiphany—he had, after all, experienced the South America Tropical Rainforest mission with Chen Nuo. Back then, Chen Nuo had used this mysterious skill to lead everyone to escape at the last moment.

Upon seeing this, Vanel decisively turned and ran. He rushed into the convoy, picked a vehicle, dove into it, immediately started the engine, and then drove the vehicle around swiftly.

Vanel’s reasoning was simple: Chen Nuo was using that incredible ’teleportation’ skill. So, the best course of action was to leave immediately. Then, after Chen Nuo and the others were out of danger, he would use the communicator to make contact and drive to rendezvous with them.

As soon as Vanel turned his vehicle around, he saw a sphere of light flare up at Chen Nuo’s position within the barrier. It flickered once, then vanished instantly. Chen Nuo and his companions disappeared along with it.

Chen Nuo had experienced teleportation twice before, and this time he handled it with practiced ease.

He clearly perceived the pattern. He felt his body being transported through space, as if an omnipresent force was twisting and pulling, causing severe pain all over.

At the same time, he felt a resistance, as if his whole body were submerged in water. This sensation seemed to be breaking through layers of barriers—perhaps the very walls of space...

Chen Nuo was now quite familiar with this sensation.

However, just when he thought this "teleportation" would be the same as before, something unexpected happened!

Suddenly, that sensation of gliding through water slammed into an obstruction! It was like swimming underwater and colliding head-on with a steel plate!

The sensation of obstruction made Chen Nuo’s entire body jolt! Then he felt the teleportation process abruptly interrupt. Suddenly, his body felt as if it were plummeting from an immense height, tumbling in an overpowering free-fall...

BANG!!

A muffled thud. Chen Nuo felt his body smash onto the ground.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Several more muffled thuds followed, also sounding like impacts on the ground!

Chen Nuo struggled to rise, his eyes wide. His face instantly turned ashen!

He saw that he was still inside the base!

At this moment, Chen Nuo had landed within the barrier at the edge of the base!

And within his line of sight, just a few meters away...

The Captain, Rebecca, and Nolan were outside the barrier, having successfully escaped it!

Only I was intercepted inside the barrier?! It was as if the barrier was a sieve. When I tried to "teleport" out, the sieve let the Captain and the other two through, but I alone was caught inside!

Chen Nuo’s expression was grim. He took a deep breath and attempted to initiate a second teleportation. But as soon as the thought formed, an excruciating pain drilled into his head, making him dizzy and forcing him to sit down abruptly on the ground.

Chen Nuo immediately realized that he definitely couldn’t initiate a second "teleportation" for the time being.

The skill inexplicably failed once; I’ll have to try it again. If I can’t handle a second attempt with my current consciousness and spiritual power, I should find a place to hide first and try again after the skill cooldown.

Thinking this, Chen Nuo looked up. Outside the barrier, the Captain, Rebecca, and Nolan lay on the ground, unconscious from the side effects of the teleportation and not yet awakened.

Luckily, at this point, Vanel’s snow vehicle, which had driven more than ten meters, came to a screeching halt. Vanel jumped out and ran over.

He first stared wide-eyed at Chen Nuo, then at the three unconscious figures on the ground.

"Davarishi! You?"

"Don’t come over!" Chen Nuo exhaled slowly, shook his head, and sternly warned Vanel, "Don’t step into the barrier. Once you come in, you can’t get out."

Vanel’s expression was complex, his voice strained. "What happened? Why didn’t you make it out?"

"Ran into some trouble," Chen Nuo shook his head, then took a deep breath. "Never mind that for now. Take them and leave this place immediately."

"What about you?!" Vanel yelled anxiously.

Behind Chen Nuo, the massive monster inside the base had given up its attack on the barrier. It turned around and had noticed Chen Nuo, this "little one." It twisted its body and started crawling towards him.

And farther away, more and more monsters were emerging from Underground...

"Go!" Chen Nuo cursed. "I’ll find a place to hide here for now!"

As he spoke, Chen Nuo had already struggled to his feet. He waved at Vanel and yelled, "You guys go first! Don’t worry about me!"

"No!"

"Stop wasting words. You can’t help me with anything right now." Chen Nuo shook his head.

"No! Davarishi, you don’t understand!" Vanel roared anxiously. "That vehicle! Nolan had me drive it in! There’s a bomb in it!"

Huh?

Chen Nuo’s face changed immediately!

"That guy jumped into the vehicle just now; he must have started the countdown! You don’t have much time left!"

"WTF?!"

Chen Nuo swore loudly.

He didn’t have time to talk to Vanel. He turned and ran toward the snow vehicle that was slowly moving toward the interior of the base. He first stopped the snow vehicle, then leaped into the cargo hold.

The monsters continued to close in, but Vanel had already reacted swiftly. The bear-like man couldn’t enter the barrier but stood outside it, picked up the Gatling gun again, and kept firing a metal storm at the swarming horde of monsters, clearing those that got near the snow vehicle where Chen Nuo was...

Inside the cargo hold, Chen Nuo saw something that made him gasp.

This... fucking hell, what is this... Well, at least Nolan wasn’t entirely insane. There was no nuclear weapon symbol on the thing in front of him. Which meant this thing wasn’t a nuclear bomb. But... Indeed, it wasn’t a nuclear bomb... It was a Fuel-Air Bomb! Shit, I wouldn’t survive that either!!

"Fuck you, Nolan! You’re playing way too big!" Chen Nuo cursed loudly.

The countdown device had already been activated, showing less than five minutes left...

"Vanel!!" Chen Nuo poked his head out from the cargo hold. "How do you defuse the timer on this thing?"

Vanel emptied his ammo belt, then yelled a response at Chen Nuo that left him dumbfounded:

"It can’t be defused! Once activated, it can’t be stopped!" Vanel cursed while pulling out an automatic rifle to continue providing fire support for Chen Nuo against the monsters—the Gatling’s ammunition was completely depleted.

After all, they had come to search, not to wage war, so it wasn’t feasible to carry too much ammunition.

The automatic rifle was far less powerful than the Gatling gun, and its fire suppression was much less effective. The swarming monsters began to close in much faster.

Vanel continued to yell, "The detonator on this thing can’t be disassembled because it was designed for last-resort emergency use. The technicians designed it so that once activated, the detonation cannot be stopped!"

"Can’t be disassembled?" Chen Nuo was skeptical. What if I try to brute-force it?

"It will detonate immediately!"

Chen Nuo turned to look at the countdown... four minutes left.

There was another way: using Telekinesis. Theoretically, just like when I was in Jinling, I could use Telekinesis to unlock doors. In essence, it involved using Spiritual Force Tentacles to enter the lock mechanism and then using Telekinesis to remotely spring the locking pins. But the problem was... that was a lock! The complexity of a lock mechanism was manageable with Telekinesis. The electronic detonator of a bomb... was far more complex. It wasn’t impossible, but it would take time to slowly infiltrate with Spiritual Force Tentacles and thoroughly study the structure and principles of the detonator... Time was needed! But there was no time left!

"Get out of here, Davarishi!"

Vanel had emptied another magazine from his automatic rifle. He could only draw his pistol—this was his last resort for fire support.

But the pistol’s rate of fire and bullet power were almost inconsequential against the onslaught of monsters. They provided nothing more than a bit of harassment, with no real fire suppression or stopping power.

Seeing the monsters had already closed to within twenty steps of him, Chen Nuo felt helpless, knowing that he couldn’t possibly stay here to study the detonator.

After jumping down from the snow vehicle, Chen Nuo had already made a swift decision!

"Vanel! Take them and leave! I’ll figure out a way myself! Go now!"

As he spoke, Chen Nuo leaped into the air and swiftly landed on the ground.

Just then, a huge tentacle crashed down behind him. Sensing danger, Chen Nuo rolled aside. The tentacle struck, flattening the front of the snow vehicle!

The giant monster was coming for Chen Nuo!

"Fuck!"

Chen Nuo shivered.

It wasn’t that I was scared of being crushed... But if that tentacle had smashed into the cargo hold just now, flattening it and directly triggering the Fuel-Air Bomb, that would’ve been a huge mess!

With that thought, Chen Nuo turned his head and waved his arm at the giant monster before picking up a piece of broken steel plate from a modular building from the ground and hurling it fiercely.

"Over here!!! Come on!!!"

Chen Nuo dared not leave this behemoth near the bomb; if it damaged the cargo hold and set off an early explosion, he wouldn’t even have the chance to escape.

Having drawn the monster’s attention, Chen Nuo didn’t hesitate and ran towards the command center!

The modular building of the command center had already been riddled with holes from explosions.

When Chen Nuo burst back into the main hall, the surrounding walls had been blown open. Fortunately, the passage he was aiming for was still barely intact.

He rushed into the passage and immediately saw the sign for the "Experimental Area" on the large door, which had been blasted down and lay there askew.

When Chen Nuo ran in, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It was a stroke of luck; there were no monsters inside.

These creatures that had broken through from the Underground bunkers and made their way to the surface had all gone up to attack his people earlier. At this moment, none were left behind here.

Chen Nuo quickly ran to the blast-proof door. The door was intact, but the monsters had clawed through the wall from the inside.

Chen Nuo went straight through, arriving at the elevator shaft, and glanced down...

"Dammit!"

Chen Nuo cursed angrily and disappointedly.

The elevator shaft had become a pile of rubble, completely collapsed.

Chen Nuo’s initial intention was to escape into the Underground bunkers. At least there, he might have a chance of surviving the Fuel-Air Bomb’s explosion on the surface.

But the collapse of the elevator shaft completely blocked his path.

He ran back out again.

By then, a minute had passed.

Chen Nuo mentally calculated that he had, at most, three minutes left.

"Corot!!"

"Corot, you motherfucker, answer me!!"

"Fuck you! You old bastard!!!"

Well, that old bastard didn’t answer.

Chen Nuo couldn’t care about that now and yelled, "Do you see that vehicle?!"

As he ran, he jumped onto the top of a modular building, evading the chasing horde of monsters.

Meanwhile, the giant monster was closing in.

Chen Nuo sprinted with all his might, like a nimble monkey, rapidly leaping from the rooftop of one modular building to another...

"That vehicle! There’s a huge bomb in the cargo hold! A really big one! Super powerful! The kind that can blow this place to high heaven! You want to kill the monsters here, right? Get that vehicle Underground, down into the glacier where the Nash creatures hibernate! Explode it there! That could solve the problem!!! Trust me, the power of this bomb can kill these monsters!!"

Chen Nuo finished shouting in one breath, simultaneously dodging several monsters’ attacks, one of which was a tentacle flung by the giant monster.

The modular building behind him had been smashed to pieces, and monsters were also climbing onto the rooftops of modular buildings from the side, encircling him.

Finally, Corot’s voice emerged in his mind.

"Are you sure?"

"Motherfucking old bastard! I’m sure!!" Chen Nuo roared. "That thing is very powerful!! Even if it doesn’t kill all the monsters, it can take out a large number! The more it kills, the easier it will be for you to eliminate the rest, right?"

After a few seconds of silence, Corot responded, "...That makes sense."

Chen Nuo turned to look. Of the monsters chasing him, suddenly, dozens of them turned and ran back, back to where the snow vehicle was.

The creatures extended their tentacles and astonishingly lifted the snow vehicle. The vehicle, as if it had acquired several monstrous undercarriages, was then rapidly "carried" by the tentacles of the surrounding monsters towards the pit in the warehouse area. In an instant, it was dragged into the pit’s tunnel.

Chen Nuo breathed a sigh of relief. The number of monsters pursuing him had significantly reduced, but he still couldn’t relax. He could only rely on his Ability User’s physique and Telekinesis-assisted leaps to run and dodge throughout the base.

The giant monster, especially, posed the greatest threat to Chen Nuo. With its long tentacles, it appeared slow, but due to their sheer length, it actually moved quite fast.

Several times, Chen Nuo changed direction and backtracked, trying to shake off the creature, but the behemoth merely had to turn around to foil his efforts.

No, I have to eliminate it first! Otherwise, I won’t be able to find a safe place to hide. If Gatling bullets can’t kill this thing...

Chen Nuo frowned.

He suddenly turned and ran towards the central control equipment. The place, now a ruin after an explosion, still had various exposed metal pipes.

Chen Nuo dived into the ruins, moving nimbly as he weaved his way through, all the while drawing the monster’s pursuit.

Finally, when the giant monster reached the ruined central control equipment center, its huge body proved too cumbersome. It was also quite injured, and its tentacles were no longer flexible.

As its enormous body trampled over the ruins, more than ten exposed and broken metal pipes, remnants from the blast, became its shackles.

It tried to force its way through, but the sharp pipes pierced directly into its body!

The monster roared and twisted, but the more it struggled, the more pipes stabbed into its flesh...

Chen Nuo looked back, panting, his heart somewhat settled. It’s trapped!

But just then, over a dozen ordinary monsters closed in from all around.

Chen Nuo cursed.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to use my spiritual power to attack! But I was thinking about a second teleportation—my spiritual power was almost exhausted after the first one! Although it has recovered a little in that brief moment, I don’t dare use it. I have to save my spiritual power, save enough for a second teleport! Without firearms, and I should use spiritual power only when absolutely necessary...

Chen Nuo took a deep breath. Looking at the approaching horde of monsters, he reached out, grabbed an exposed metal pipe from a nearby wall, and with a powerful twist, ripped it free.

He swung it twice in his hand. Well, I’ll just treat it as a melee weapon.

Chen Nuo swung the metal pipe, caving in the head of the first monster that rushed him.

He pierced the second one through the body with the sharp end of the pipe, pinning it to the ground!

But then, a tentacle from a third monster sent Chen Nuo flying. His body smashed into a ruined boiler.

When he got up, Chen Nuo exhaled, a dull pain throbbing in his chest and abdomen.

Fortunately, the impact mainly caused a concussion. His bones weren’t broken, and a quick internal check confirmed no organ damage or bleeding.

But now weaponless, Chen Nuo faced at least a dozen monsters, a wry smile on his face.

He gritted his teeth, deciding to launch a Mentality Cutting to deal with the immediate batch, and then find a place to hide.

Although my spiritual power has just recovered a bit, using it up again... No matter, I have to deal with the current situation first!

Just as Chen Nuo was about to release the skill, suddenly, a beam of light shone from not far away...

The giant monster, pierced by more than a dozen metal pipes and entangled as if in a net, suddenly developed a crack in its abdomen!

Through the crack, a cold light burst forth!

Then, a HISS! That sharp tearing sound, enough to set one’s teeth on edge!

The giant monster’s abdomen was completely sliced open! A cold light radiated brilliantly!

Then a figure swiftly leaped out from inside and landed. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the figure even struck a one-knee landing pose!

Chen Nuo had no time for ridicule; his eyes lit up with delighted surprise.

"Kamisou Ichiro? Fuck!! You’re actually alive?!"

Kamisou Ichiro, his face and hair caked in disgusting slime, shook his head vigorously. He exhaled deeply before shouting to Chen Nuo, "Mr. Anderson! Why are you the only one left?"

Chen Nuo hurried over to join him. "I thought you were dead! The last I saw, you were swallowed whole by that monster."

"I let it. This monster is very powerful; firearms can’t pierce its hide, so it can only be damaged from the inside!"

Honestly, I don’t know whether to praise his cleverness or call him such a show-off!

Chen Nuo glanced at the time...

There should be about a minute and a half left before the explosion.

"Find somewhere to hide! This place is going to blow up soon!"

"What?" Kamisou Ichiro frowned. "An explosion?"

However, this man from Neon maintained the habit he’d shown so far: he didn’t ask too many questions.

He immediately nodded at Chen Nuo. "Mr. Anderson, are you injured?"

Chen Nuo indeed was, and quite seriously, with traces of blood from his ears, nose, and the corners of his mouth.

"I’ll clear the way!" Kamisou Ichiro waved the military saber in his hand and said in a low voice, "You point the way. Where are we running?"

"There!" Chen Nuo quickly pointed in one direction.

Kamisou Ichiro’s eyelids lowered; he took a deep breath. "Let’s go!"

The man from Neon strode forward in the direction Chen Nuo indicated. A monster in their path was bisected by a flash of Kamisou Ichiro’s saber!

Chen Nuo ran behind him, not forgetting to compliment, "Impressive swordsmanship!"

"Mr. Anderson, this is Kendo..."