Chapter 23: Outside the City

After passing the toll booth, they arrived at the ring road in no time.

Dozens of Multi-legged Insect Beasts were tearing at something, occasionally making a crunching sound. With their large mouths, they had an enormous appetite, which also led to their strong aggression. In the beast herds, they were the most numerous, the first to appear on the coast, and the first to enter the city.

The status of the Multi-legged Insect Beasts should be at the bottom.

Their hearing was very sensitive. As soon as Zhou Liming appeared, they abruptly raised their heads and stared at the direction where Zhou Liming was located.

Further away, more than ten Fierce Beasts that Zhou Liming had never seen before were lying on the ground. From a distance, they looked a bit like lizards, but they had a row of sharp white Bone Spurs on their backs, which resembled Stegosaurus in that aspect. Palm-sized scales flashed with a dim light under the night sky. Looking at their thick skin and rough flesh, and their massive bodies, their defense was absolutely amazing.

The situation was somewhat unexpected for Zhou Liming. Facing these unknown Fierce Beasts, he did not dare to move lightly.

Commotion arose in the pack of Multi-legged Insect Beasts. Then, dozens of them abandoned the corpses they were gnawing on and rushed toward Zhou Liming. The sounds they made were chaotic “chirping” noises. As their four legs scrambled, they made a “swishing” sound under the high-frequency movement.

The Fierce Beast Form of Zhou Liming hesitated for a moment, but then he activated his speed and sprinted on the ring road.

The skin of the Multi-legged Insect Beasts was also covered with a layer of faint scales. Based on Zhou Liming’s understanding of scales, this thin layer of armor might not even be penetrable by pistol bullets. More importantly, the Multi-legged Insect Beasts were not slow. When they ran, they were much faster than humans. As dozens of them charged, their swinging large mouths revealed white teeth, dazzling Zhou Liming’s eyes with a flash of white.

“Buzz,” a faint sound almost inaudible to the human ear. The frequency waves from the Bone Spurs, as Zhou Liming swung them, turned into a dirge for the dead souls.

The Green Flame Wolf’s defense was even higher than that of the Multi-legged Insect Beasts. Since the Green Flame Wolf could not withstand a single strike from Zhou Liming, these Multi-legged Insect Beasts certainly could not. The Multi-legged Insect Beasts touched by the Bone Spurs let out a mournful cry and fell down with a “bang” while sprinting, sliding a long way along the ground.

The Bone Spurs were so hard that they could split steel, but their greatest strength was their vibration frequency, making them invincible.

Any Multi-legged Insect Beast hit by the Bone Spurs immediately had a wound larger than a fist. Those that did not hit vital points lost their combat effectiveness due to such large wounds. Those that hit vital points died on the spot. They were only a low-tier type among Fierce Beasts, and their numbers were the largest.

“Ah…”

Zhou Liming, after transforming, was influenced by the fierce consciousness of the Fierce Beast Genes. He was no longer honest and dull as usual; instead, he became frantic.

The Fierce Beast Form was divided into more than a thousand types, ranging from small to medium to giant sizes. Each meteorite carried one type of Fierce Beast Gene. Zhou Liming did not know which Fierce Beast Gene the meteorite that hit him and released the gene carried, but it could be predicted that the level was not low, as shown by his current combat power.

More importantly, when facing these low-tier Fierce Beasts, there was always a sense of indifference in his heart, as if his noble and proud self looked down on fighting them.

This was the first time Zhou Liming used the Fierce Beast Form to fight. He did not understand any combat skills at all. After several Multi-legged Insect Beasts failed to bite through the scales on his surface, he let go completely, charged into the pack of Multi-legged Insect Beasts, and swung the Bone Spurs on his hands wildly, as if he were chopping meat with two kitchen cleavers.

Blood flew everywhere. More and more Multi-legged Insect Beasts fell, letting out shrill roars.

“Pfft!” A sound came from a distance, as if some kind of Fierce Beast snorted.

The originally frantic Multi-legged Insect Beasts seemed to be affected and paused. Then, they scattered in all directions.

Zhou Liming, who had fallen into this killing thrill, stopped. He turned his head to look at the place where the sound just came from. It was exactly where the more than ten Fierce Beasts were resting. The previous slaughter seemed to have affected them. He saw one of them shaking its head and standing up, making “puff puff” sounds from its nose.

Zhou Liming widened his eyes. He did not expect that such an inconspicuous Fierce Beast would be so amazing after standing up.

Just now, they were lying on the ground resting, and Zhou Liming only saw their backs. Now that they were standing up, they suddenly looked like a mountain. These large reptilian Fierce Beasts were seven or eight meters high and more than ten meters long. They did look a bit like lizards, with four strong and powerful legs. The difference was that on their backs was a row of sharp-looking white bone pieces.

Arrogant as Zhou Liming was, facing Fierce Beasts of this level, he did not dare to test its abilities before fully understanding his own powers.

Fortunately, the Fierce Beasts were not machines. They had their own personalities and temperaments. Annoyed by being disturbed, they only issued a warning. Then, they lay down again, ignoring Zhou Liming.

Relieved, Zhou Liming ran along the ring road.

Along the way, he could see incomplete corpses everywhere, which made Zhou Liming’s hair stand on end and his heart pound wildly in his chest. Although he was now in Fierce Beast Form, his mind was still human. An eighteen-year-old person witnessing a scene like hell would rarely go crazy or faint from fear.

“I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid. I’m not…”

Muttering words to comfort himself, Zhou Liming endured the fear of dead bodies in his heart. As long as he thought of the younger brothers and sisters in the Orphanage, Dean Zhou, and An Xiaowei, who were still hungry, Zhou Liming would keep going forward no matter how dangerous it was ahead.

Soon, he reached the entrance of the main avenue leading into the city.

Looking around, the place was a mess. The entire reinforced company that had set up defenses here at noon had failed to prevent the impact of the Fierce Beasts and did not escape either. The more than ten military vehicles used for escape were lying on their sides, covered in bloodstains. The highway was covered with pools of blood and broken corpses everywhere. From the clothes on them, it could be confirmed that it was indeed the company of today.

In front of the ravine built by this company, cars piled up like waves were shattered by the Fierce Beasts. The corpses of more than ten Multi-legged Insect Beasts could still be seen, their bodies covered in bullet holes, and the blood on them had already solidified. A Fierce Beast that Zhou Liming had seen for the first time was also lying on a Mitsubishi SUV. It had green skin, long upper limbs with four sharp claws, and a head somewhat like a wolf’s head. It seemed to have been shot in the head by a sniper rifle and died.

Zhou Liming sighed slightly. This company was indeed as he had initially thought; it was impossible to stop the Fierce Beasts.

They must have been retreating when they were caught up by the Fierce Beasts with terrifying speed, and then… From the broken corpses of the soldiers in the military vehicles, one could imagine what the scene was like. The soldiers screamed, and then were torn apart and eaten by the Fierce Beasts. The resistance with firearms seemed so powerless…