Chapter 59: The Beast Horde
Elder Zhou, who was at the Crystal Base Level, had his head directly pierced through, even though he wasn’t using the Crystal Base form at the time, but it was enough to illustrate the horrifying destructive power that the Black Armored Bee could achieve with the Angel’s Wheel.
Under normal circumstances, strength of the Alloy Level could hardly withstand a single hit; in the worst case, both involved would shatter upon collision.
Yet, when the Black Armored Bee’s stinger forcefully collided with the cap of the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, a bizarre scene occurred.
The body of the Black Armored Bee, as if having transformed from an incredibly hard alloy into brittle tofu dregs, twisted and deformed upon impact with the mushroom cap and then scattered into an explosion of fragments, while the mushroom head, shining with a lightbulb-like white light, didn’t bear a single scratch.
“Wei, let’s go.” Lin Shen, upon witnessing such a strange scene, almost instinctively turned his mount around to leave, while also firing a shot at the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, buying Wei Wufu time to escape.
Almost the moment Lin Shen’s words left his mouth, Wei Wufu had leaped onto his mount and was galloping furiously after Lin Shen.
This was no longer an issue of whether they could win or not. Fighting any further before figuring out exactly what the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast’s bizarre abilities were could easily result in gifting away their lives.
The Black-Cap Mushroom Beast’s eyes, deep like black gemstones, were fixedly staring at Lin Shen, appearing to have shifted its hatred onto him.
It attempted to rush towards Lin Shen, but was struck by a second bullet on its body.
Although the abilities of the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast were strange, it was after all still at the Alloy Level, evidently not fast enough to evade the bullets fired by the Angel Revolver.
The Pet Capsule shot out and, with a flash in midair, transformed into a Cross-Horned Horse at the Alloy Level, crashing into the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast.
The Cross-Horned Horse, resembling a horse but like a rhinoceros, had a horn at the front that was shaped like a cross.
That creature wasn’t particularly hard anywhere else, except for that cross-shaped horn which was very hard, comparable to the Black Armored Bee’s stinger. Lin Shen had specifically rummaged for it from his fourth brother’s vault and, equipped with the Angel Revolver, its striking power was equally astonishing.
In order to get this pet, he had even broken the lock of his fourth brother’s vault.
The Cross-Horned Horse’s cross-shaped horn collided with the body of the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, which Lin Shen saw very clearly.
The horn, clearly very hard, seemed to suddenly turn soft upon making contact with the body of the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, incredibly bending upon impact.
It wasn’t just the horn; the entire body of the Cross-Horned Horse seemed to turn soft as well, the powerful impact squashing it like a balloon into a pancake shape, then instantly exploding, turning into a shower of fragments and splashing Base Mutation Fluid.
The body of the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, however, remained completely intact, merely pushed back a few steps by the strong impact.
After regaining its stance, the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast let out a strange cry and angrily pursued Lin Shen.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Lin Shen, while spurring his mount to sprint, twisted his waist and shot continuously at the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, as one Pet Capsule after another was lightning-fast ejected and transformed into Base Mutation pets that collided with the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast in midair.
Of course, these pets weren’t Alloy Level, but Steel Capsules that Lin Shen had loaded.
Steel pets naturally stood even less of a chance of injuring the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast, but the speed bestowed upon them by the Angel Revolver gave them powerful impact force. Every hit on the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast would push it back a few steps, making it impossible to catch up.
After firing all seven capsules, Lin Shen reached into his pocket, pulling out a few more Steel Pet Capsules to load.
With a pull on the stock, the key chamber also opened, with the previous keys having already shattered automatically due to the death of the pets.
He loaded the corresponding Pet Keys into the chamber, the whole motion smooth and fluid, and then fired another volley at the pursuing Black-Cap Mushroom Beast.
The shooting made the Black-Cap Mushroom Beast leap in fury, but it just couldn’t catch up and was quickly shaken off.
Just as Lin Shen thought he might successfully escape, he saw the mushroom cap on top of the Mushroom Beast, which was radiating white light, suddenly intensify its brightness. What was originally a dim light like an energy-saving lamp now shone like a miniature sun, radiating light in all directions.
Then Lin Shen heard that strange cry again, indescribable, like the roar of a beast yet akin to insect song, bizarre in every sense.
As Lin Shen was puzzling over the creature’s actions, he suddenly heard Wei Wufu’s loud shout, “Ahead!”
Lin Shen withdrew his gaze from the Black-Capped Mushroom Beast to look forward, where he discovered a multitude of red mushrooms with white spots, the size of pot lids, sprouting from the previously barren asphalt road.
The red mushrooms sprouted at an astonishing pace, and in the blink of an eye, the road ahead and the forests on both sides were teeming with them, seemingly endless, their exact number unknown.
Pop! Pop!
One by one, the red mushrooms sprang up, transforming into Red-cap Mushroom Beasts that charged at Lin Shen and Wei Wufu from all directions with raucous cries.
“Break through!” Lin Shen knew he couldn’t stop. If they were surrounded, their only option would be to fight to the death—a near-certain death trap. The only choice was a desperate dash back to the Yashen Base.
Wei Wufu took the lead, charging ahead to clear a path for Lin Shen, knocking aside the Mushroom Beasts that swarmed at them and swinging his fists to smash the ones that leapt their way.
Lin Shen leaped up and, flipping onto his mount’s back, rapidly struck out, sealing the acupoints of the Red-cap Mushroom Beasts that pounced from behind.
Each Red-cap Mushroom Beast that had its acupoints sealed toppled to the ground, only to be trampled over by the others, quickly vanishing without a trace.
Boom! Boom!
The ground started to shake, and then they saw it: a Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast, its giant blue cap towering above the forest, emerged, as colossal as a true Tyrannosaurus Rex, perhaps even larger.
Every step it took seemed to make the ground tremble, and to make matters worse, another huge Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast appeared from the forest on the other side, blocking their path back to the Yashen Base from both directions.
The Black-Capped Mushroom Beasts behind them relentlessly pursued, closing the distance fast, while Red-cap Mushroom Beasts flooded around them like a tide.
“Damn it, what the hell is this? Mutant creatures that I’ve hardly even heard mentioned before are swarming here—what kind of rotten luck is this!” Lin Shen activated his Super Base Change as his carapace started to glow red-hot, preparing to fight for his life.
Without hesitation, Wei Wufu leaped into the air, rushing towards one of the Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beasts, “I’ll clear the way, you go.”
The Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast charged head-first, like a massive hammer from the heavens, clashing with Wei Wufu’s fist.
With a thunderous crash!
The body of the Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast reeled back as Wei Wufu’s punch dented its blue metallic mushroom cap.
Wei Wufu’s figure also fell from the sky, shaken by the terrifying force, landing amidst a group of Red-cap Mushroom Beasts and instantly cutting down his enemies.
Seeing another Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast charging with earth-shattering force and the Black-Capped Mushroom Beast close behind, Lin Shen had no choice but to abandon his mount. As a capsule fired from the Angel Revolver, his figure rapidly passed through, rushing behind the Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast and sealing its acupoint with a quick touch, freezing the giant in place.
Lin Shen turned just in time to see his Alloy Mount torn in half by the Black-Capped Mushroom Beast, which then turned and furiously gave chase once again.
After a brief rigidity, the Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast also turned and started to chase him with big strides.
He did not seal the Black-Capped Mushroom Beast’s acupoints simply because he had not yet discovered where its vital points were located.
The waves of Red-cap Mushroom Beasts kept surging around him. Lin Shen gritted his teeth and rushed forward. The strength from his Super Base Change allowed him to burst a Red-cap Mushroom Beast’s cap with a punch, not even necessitating acupoint sealing. He trod over their bodies as he continued to forge ahead.
Fist like blazing fire, sparks flying, one after another, the Red-cap Mushroom Beasts fell beneath Lin Shen’s feet, but they also hindered his escape.
As the Black-Capped Mushroom Beast and the Blue-cap Mushroom Giant Beast caught up again, Lin Shen gritted his teeth, preparing to fire another shot.
Suddenly, he felt his backpack move; the fat bird inside, awakened by the jostling, pushed open the lid and jumped out.
Lin Shen, unable to catch it, fired his gun while bursting forth, widening the gap with the Black-Capped Mushroom Beast. Just as he was about to continue the charge, he noticed the formerly raging horde had mysteriously quieted down.