Chapter 41: The Only Way

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Mutated zombies, including creatures like this Blood Demon, all shared one characteristic: they were enormous.

This Blood Demon was already comparable in size to a mecha. At that moment, Fang Tianhe and Shen Han were controlling their mecha in a fierce struggle against it.

Although the battle was evenly matched, it could hardly be called intense.

Fang Tianhe maneuvered the Rift-Sky Mecha and brought the vibrating greatsword down in a vertical slash. A massive wound, five meters long, opened across the Blood Demon’s body.

Yet the wound healed in the blink of an eye.

The saying “cutting water with a knife only makes it flow again” could not have been more fitting.

Whether cold weapons or firearms, attacks against the Blood Demon were almost entirely ineffective.

Indeed, to some extent, the Research Institute had not even dared to conclude whether this Blood Demon could truly be considered a living organism.

The only consolation was that its offensive power was remarkably weak. At least for now, it was being suppressed by the two mecha.

But everyone knew that this could not continue. They could not keep wearing the Blood Demon down indefinitely, because they were in the city center, where zombies were densely concentrated.

The longer this dragged on, the more zombies it would attract. Even more frighteningly, it might draw other mutated zombies as well.

If that happened, they would truly be in danger.

Aside from this unpredictable risk, the mecha’s energy supply was another serious problem.

Under normal circumstances, a single energy charge could keep a mecha running for at least ten hours.

But the energy consumed in a high-intensity battle was incomparable to ordinary usage. At most, it could last half an hour.

Even if they fought while retreating, they probably would not make it out of the city center, let alone escape from Tianshan City.

Lin Xinghai used his Detection skill on the Blood Demon.

Name: Blood Demon
Constitution: 532 points
Strength: 459 points
Speed: 638 points
Note: A peculiar elemental organism.

“Could it be that this Blood Demon really cannot be killed?” Lin Xinghai asked Roger as he stared at the information on the system panel.

“It is basically impossible to kill. Once you encounter one, all you can do is find a way to escape.” Roger’s brow furrowed into a deep crease.

“Basically?” Lin Xinghai immediately caught the implication and hurriedly asked, “Then there must still be a way to kill it. What is it?”

“The Blood Demon is completely immune to physical attacks. Energy attacks can still have some effect, more or less.”

“You saw that slash just now, when the captain used the Rift-Sky ability and split the Blood Demon in two, right? Did you notice the blood mist evaporating from the wound? That was caused by the energy impact.”

“It would be wonderful if we had a fire-type esper. Flames inflict the greatest damage on creatures like this. As long as all the blood composing the Blood Demon were vaporized, it would die.” Roger sighed.

But Lin Xinghai’s eyes lit up. “Fire! What about incendiary rounds?”

“They won’t work.” Roger shook his head.

Yet no sooner had he spoken than Lin Xinghai had already switched ammunition and fired.

With Lin Xinghai’s marksmanship, he could easily hit a target even from more than three hundred meters away.

The Blood Demon’s defenses appeared weak enough. Fang Tianhe could casually carve a wound five or six meters long with a single slash.

But that depended on the strength of the mecha.

When the incendiary round struck the Blood Demon, it penetrated only five centimeters before becoming lodged inside.

Of course, the power of an incendiary round lay not in its physical impact, but in the flames it unleashed.

Boom!

A gigantic fireball erupted instantly, engulfing the entire Blood Demon.

The Blood Demon was indeed afraid of fire. Wrapped in flames, it let out an enraged hiss.

But that was all.

As the blood throughout its body began to flow, the flames clinging to it slid off like running water. Even the incendiary round was rapidly expelled from its body.

The round fell to the ground, still spewing flames without pause, but the Blood Demon had already moved away.

The entire process lasted less than a second. Though the incendiary round could not be said to have posed no threat at all, the danger it caused was negligible.

Roger seemed to have anticipated the outcome. In a grave tone, he said, “That is what makes the Blood Demon so abnormal. The chemicals released by an incendiary round cannot adhere to its body at all.”

“Only a fire-type esper can continuously control flames and burn it long enough to inflict substantial damage.”

Lin Xinghai did not give up. He frowned in thought, feeling that there had to be a way.

At that moment, Fang Tianhe and Shen Han were also engaged in an intense discussion over the communications channel about how to withdraw.

Fang Tianhe said, “We cannot keep this up. Take the other mercenaries and retreat immediately. I will find a way to hold this Blood Demon back.”

Shen Han replied, “You may be able to hold it back, but how will you escape afterward?”

“I will naturally have a way.”

“What way could you possibly have? The energy remaining in your mecha should be down to sixty percent by now!”

“Even without my mecha, I have the greatest chance of escaping alone. We cannot possibly stay here together and wait for death!”

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Shen Han said, “No. I am staying behind. They can retreat first.”

Fang Tianhe replied, “Without mecha escort, how will the others leave Tianshan City?”

“Then I will release my mecha’s binding and have someone else come drive it. In any case, I am staying.”

Fang Tianhe fell silent.

The conversation between the two men could also be heard inside the multifunctional off-road vehicle. The mercenaries fell silent as well, and no one knew what to do.

Besides, if the Rift-Sky Mercenary Group lost Fang Tianhe, would it still be the Rift-Sky Mercenary Group?

Most likely, it would either disband or be swallowed up by another mercenary group.

Lin Xinghai paid no attention to their discussion. His gaze remained fixed on the distant battlefield.

One plan after another surfaced in his mind, only to be rejected.

Then, suddenly, a new idea occurred to him.

The idea seemed somewhat absurd, but it was not necessarily impossible.

Before that, however, he needed to verify one thing.

Lin Xinghai quickly loaded an armor-piercing round into the magazine, raised his hand, and fired.

Bang!

The bullet struck the Blood Demon’s body. Naturally, it caused no substantial damage.

But that was not what Lin Xinghai was watching. His eyes remained fixed on the point where the armor-piercing round finally came to rest.

It had penetrated one meter into the Blood Demon’s body.

Yet as the blood within the Blood Demon forced its way outward, the armor-piercing round was rapidly expelled. In a mere five seconds, it had been pushed back out.

Such regenerative ability would have been enough to plunge an ordinary person into despair, but Lin Xinghai’s eyes only grew brighter.

Firing an armor-piercing round one meter into the Blood Demon’s body naturally accomplished nothing.

But what if he replaced that armor-piercing round with an incendiary round?

If an incendiary round detonated completely inside its body and continued burning for five seconds, the damage it caused would be at least ten times, perhaps even dozens of times greater than that of the previous round.

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