manynovel Chapter 56 Emergency Protocol
Chapter 56 Emergency Protocol
The sound of sharp claws scraping against the metal floor echoed from both the front and back of the passageway, accompanied by suppressed, heavy breathing, creating a chilling symphony in the empty space. Chen Haotian and Tony stood back to back, warily watching the direction from which the sound came.
"Sounds like a big guy," Tony frowned slightly behind his visor as the miniature missile launchers on his armor's shoulders quietly opened. "Hopefully their hides aren't too thick; I don't want to blow this place up."
Chen Haotian activated his full senses. The air was filled not only with the stench of decay, but also with a cold, pure predator-like aura. "They're here," he whispered.
From the shadows ahead, two enormous, crawling figures emerged first. They were massive, with abnormally developed muscles, an unnatural grayish-white color, their skin completely atrophied, exposing bulging muscle fibers and thick blood vessels. Most striking were their mutated brains, exposed directly outside their skulls, pulsating slightly. A long, scarlet tongue, several meters long and covered in barbs, whipped through the air like a whip, dripping corrosive saliva from its tip, burning into wisps of white smoke on the metal floor. These were the "Lickers" the Red Queen had spoken of.
Almost simultaneously, the same sound came from behind them, and two more Lickers blocked their retreat. The four monsters surrounded them, their scarlet, pupil-less eye sockets (or rather, sensory organs) locked onto the two people in the center of the passage, their long tongues stretching and contracting restlessly, emitting a hissing sound as they cut through the air.
"A pincer attack, how enthusiastic." Tony sneered, launching the first attack without hesitation. A shoulder-mounted missile, trailing flames, hurtled out, aiming straight for the exposed brain of a Licker in front of him.
However, the Licker's reaction speed was astonishing. Just as the missile was about to hit, its powerful hind legs pushed off the ground, and its massive body leaped to the side and upward with an agility disproportionate to its size, narrowly avoiding the center of the blast. The missile crashed into the wall behind it and exploded with a deafening roar, sparks flying everywhere, and the shockwave made the entire passageway tremble slightly. But the Licker was merely thrown to the ground by the blast, rolled over, and quickly got up. Apart from a little soot on its body, it seemed to have suffered no serious injuries.
"Damn, it's so agile?" Tony was somewhat surprised. He immediately charged his palm cannon, and two pulse beams shot out.
The other Licker in front suddenly lashed out with its long tongue, like a venomous snake emerging from its hole, striking the edge of a pulse beam with pinpoint accuracy. Although the tip of its tongue was burned by the energy and emitted blue smoke, it caused the beam to deflect slightly, grazing its shoulder and leaving a charred crater in the wall. It let out a painful roar, but its movements became even more ferocious, using all four limbs to pounce on Tony like lightning.
At the same time, the two Lickers behind them also launched an attack. Instead of pouncing directly, they used the walls on both sides of the passage to leap and weave forward, their sharp claws leaving deep scratches on the alloy walls, moving so fast that they were just gray-white afterimages.
Chen Haotian moved. Facing a Licker pouncing through the air, he advanced instead of retreating, his figure blurring as he appeared beside the monster like a ghost. His palm, infused with pure internal energy, slashed like a knife, accompanied by a piercing whistle that tore through the air, aiming fiercely at the Licker's relatively vulnerable neck joint.
"Pfft!"
With a muffled thud, the sensation wasn't of broken bone, but rather the piercing of extremely resilient muscle tissue. The Licker's neck muscles were incredibly dense; Chen Haotian's palm strike, powerful enough to cut through steel bars, only penetrated halfway before being trapped. The Licker roared in pain, its other claw sweeping towards Chen Haotian's head with a gust of wind.
Chen Haotian reacted extremely quickly, instantly withdrawing his palm and retreating. At the same time, he flicked his other finger, sending a condensed stream of true energy like an invisible bullet towards the exposed brain of the Licker.
"Bang!"
The energy blast struck precisely, denting a small area of the grayish-white, pulsating brain. The Licker let out a shrill scream, its attack halting abruptly, its massive body swaying slightly, clearly indicating that the blow had caused it considerable damage.
"Its weakness is indeed its brain, but its defense is very strong!" Chen Haotian quickly assessed the situation, and at the same time, his body moved like a willow catkin, dodging the long tongue of another Licker that attacked from the side and behind. The long tongue, covered with barbs, lashed out like a steel whip at the spot where he had just stood, cracking a gap in the metal floor.
Meanwhile, Tony's battle with the two Lickers intensified. His gold and red armor moved at high speed through the tunnel, dodging attacks from claws and long tongues. He unleashed a barrage of attacks: palm cannons, micro-missiles, and even high-frequency cutting blades launched from the armor's arm guards.
"Jarvis, analyze their movement patterns! Find gaps in their attack!"
"Analyzing, sir. The target organism's muscle explosive power exceeds three times the limits of a normal organism, its neural reaction speed is extremely fast, and its sensory system appears to rely on a combination of heat sources and vibrations for judgment. We recommend using area-of-effect energy shocks or high-frequency vibration weapons to interfere with its perception."
Upon hearing this, Tony immediately changed his strategy. He no longer pursued precise strikes, but instead slammed both palms into the ground!
"Bang!"
A powerful pulse of energy emanated from him in a ring. As the energy wave swept through, the lights in the passage flickered violently, and the four Lickers simultaneously froze and lost their balance for a moment, letting out confused roars. Their exposed brains seemed particularly sensitive to this energy shock.
"Works!" Tony seized the opportunity, and several small, dart-like devices were ejected from the back of his armor. These devices automatically dispersed in the air and adhered to the walls and ceiling of the passage.
"High-frequency sonic boom grenade, activate!"
A burst of sound waves, almost imperceptible to the human ear but extremely high in frequency and intensity, instantly filled the entire passage. For the lickers, who relied on their keen senses, this was undoubtedly a catastrophic blow. They simultaneously let out painful howls, their movements became chaotic, spinning around in place like headless flies, struggling even to maintain their balance.
Chen Haotian's eyes sharpened, knowing the time had come. He circulated his inner energy at an unprecedented speed, his figure transforming into a blurry stream of light, and actively rushed into the space between the two Lickers who were caught in the chaos.
"Thunderclap Finger!"
He let out a low shout, joined two fingers together, and faint blue lightning flickered at the tips of his fingers, carrying an aura of supreme yang and strength to ward off evil, and pointed at the exposed brains of the two Lickers.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Two soft sounds, unlike the previous palm strikes, this time, the finger strikes, imbued with special force, were like red-hot iron rods inserted into butter, penetrating the seemingly tough brain tissue without any hindrance, reaching deep inside.
The two lickers froze abruptly, all their movements ceasing abruptly. Then, as if all their bones had been removed, they collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming still. Two small, charred holes remained on their exposed brains, emitting a faint smell of burning.
Almost at the same moment Chen Haotian dealt with the two in front, Tony seized the opportunity when the two Lickers behind him were affected by the sonic boom. High-frequency cutting blades popped out from the armor's arm, and with a swift lunge, the blade flashed, severing the two Lickers' heads (including their exposed brains) precisely from their necks like a hot knife through butter!
Filthy blood splattered on the walls and floor, and four enormous corpses lay in the passageway, marking the complete failure of the Red Queen's second round of defense.
Silence returned to the passageway, broken only by the sound of the energy weapons cooling down and the slightly rapid breathing of the two people. On the wall screen, the red-faced girl remained suspended, but this time, her lines seemed to carry a subtle, almost solemn, change in emotion.
"Level 2 defense protocol failed. Intruder threat level confirmed: highest level. Activate final contingency protocol." Red Queen's voice remained cold, but her pace seemed to quicken slightly. "Power cut off to non-core areas of the base, concentrate power supply to B-7 test zone. Release the 'Tyrant' prototype, T-001."
As she spoke, at the far end of the passage, a massive alloy gate, far thicker than any she had seen before and marked with signs of dangerous creatures, slowly opened with the roar of hydraulic equipment. Behind the gate was an even more expansive space, in which various enormous cylindrical culture chambers could be vaguely seen standing.
A sense of oppression, far heavier and more suffocating than that of the Licker, surged from that direction like a tide.
Chen Haotian and Tony exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of seriousness in each other's eyes.
"T-001? Sounds like a prototype before the official product line," Tony said, stretching his armor joints. "Hopefully, it won't disappoint us too much."
Chen Haotian took a deep breath, feeling the approaching aura of destruction and death, but a more excited smile appeared on his lips: "Finally, a decent one has arrived. Red Queen, this is getting interesting."