Volume One: Planet of Ten Thousand Beasts Chapter 33: Stone Mountain
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The mission required ten desert blue-line thick-tail scorpion hatchlings, but they had obtained more than twenty—enough to fulfill the mission twice over.
“Lin Lu, Night Owl, and Little Sister will form one group. The five of us will make up the other. Lin Lu, you go first. We’ll finish burying the remaining mines.” Shark’s tone brooked no argument.
“You must come back alive!” Lin Lu gave Shark a deep look, then shouted to Li Juxu, “We’re leaving. Forget everything else—just bring your gun and ammunition.”
“We leave together. There’s strength in numbers.” Li Juxu had seen through Shark’s intention. Shark meant to sacrifice himself to give him a better chance of survival. Splitting up was nothing but an excuse.
Perhaps Shark did not want him to die because he was not a member of their unit. Perhaps he feared failing to repay the favor owed to Black-headed Wasp. But Li Juxu could not abandon his comrades and flee alone. If he left, those who remained would only die faster. The Blaster-002B was the only weapon capable of killing the Gray Wolf.
“Your stamina and speed are the worst among us. Without you slowing us down, everyone in this group has at least a sliver of a chance to escape.” Lin Lu suddenly seized Li Juxu by the chest and snarled, “Don’t get everyone killed. Leave now. Every second you delay brings us one step closer to death. Go!”
Li Juxu’s face flushed, then paled. He knew Lin Lu was provoking him deliberately, but he was still overwhelmed with shame, because she was speaking the truth. Little Sister, who appeared to be the weakest, was physically stronger than he was. The Gray Wolf had swiped her with one claw, yet she had climbed back to her feet as though nothing had happened. If it had been him, he would probably have had countless broken ribs and needed to be carried away.
“Take care!”
Li Juxu left those words behind and turned away. His heart felt unbearably heavy, and he bitterly hated his own weakness. If only he had been stronger, he would not have been so helpless.
Lin Lu had told him to carry only his weapon, yet she and Little Sister were both burdened with considerable equipment—at least forty kilograms apiece. Little Sister went first, Lin Lu followed, and Li Juxu brought up the rear. He pursued them with all his strength, but he could not close the distance.
They had gone on for roughly four or five minutes when gunfire erupted behind them. Shark and the others had engaged the Gray Wolf. Explosions followed in rapid succession. Knowing that bullets were not very effective against the Gray Wolf, Shark and his comrades had thrown out all their bombs and grenades. There was no longer any point in saving them.
Little Sister and Lin Lu acted as though they had heard nothing and increased their pace. Li Juxu did not dare speak. He kept his head down and ran desperately, afraid that if he opened his mouth, all his strength would leak away.
More than ten minutes passed. The gunfire had faded almost completely when a wolf’s howl suddenly rose behind them.
“Awooooo—”
The Gray Wolf’s howl was low and mournful, exerting an oppressive force that seemed to come from the depths of the soul.
“Little Sister, take Night Owl and go.” Lin Lu handed her the bag containing the desert blue-line thick-tail scorpion hatchlings, then turned to face the approaching Gray Wolf.
“We leave together. Alone, you couldn’t hold it back for even a minute. You’d simply be throwing your life away for nothing.” Li Juxu grabbed her, his voice firm.
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“Are you questioning my abilities?” Lin Lu’s eyes were razor-sharp.
“Didn’t you realize that we’ve strayed from the route?” Li Juxu asked.
“What do you mean?” Lin Lu was startled.
“I think there’s a mountain ahead,” Li Juxu said.
“That’s nonsense. How could there be a mountain in the desert?” Lin Lu immediately rejected the idea.
“Don’t forget, I’m a sniper. I can see things you can’t. After another five hundred meters or so, you’ll be able to see it too. Do we really have time to waste here?” Li Juxu asked.
“Move!”
Lin Lu did not hesitate for a moment. She believed that Li Juxu would never lie to her.
“Do you have any mines left?” Li Juxu asked.
Lin Lu said nothing. Little Sister said nothing either. Li Juxu understood at once: they had left everything with Shark.
They covered the five hundred meters at nearly a sprint. By the time they reached the end, Li Juxu was on the verge of collapse. Little Sister and Lin Lu indeed saw a mountain—a very strange one, rising abruptly from the desert. It was not particularly tall, perhaps a hundred meters or so, and was composed entirely of rock.
“I need one minute to rest!”
Li Juxu’s legs felt as though they had been filled with lead. They were impossibly heavy. He turned around and threw himself onto the ground, set up his sniper rifle, and fired. There was hardly any need for careful aim: the Gray Wolf was already less than a hundred meters away, and at that distance, shooting it was no different from firing at a target.
Pfft—
The Gray Wolf at the front of the pack was shot through the head. The others were startled and slowed slightly. But they were merely surprised. The pack numbered more than a hundred, perhaps, and they were utterly fearless.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two more Gray Wolves fell. The pack slowed again, their eyes filled with uncertainty.
“Little Sister, give me all the packs. Get him out of here.”
As Lin Lu spoke, she had already braced her submachine gun. She unleashed a burst into the pack, bullets falling like rain. The Gray Wolves at the front hurriedly dug in their paws to stop.
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Li Juxu was still wondering what Lin Lu meant by “get him out of here” when his entire body suddenly felt weightless. Little Sister had hoisted him onto her shoulder and was sprinting toward the mountain with astonishing speed.
“Put me down! Put me down right now—I can run by myself!”
Li Juxu was both ashamed and shocked. Little Sister was petite, barely reaching his chin. He was thin, but still weighed around sixty kilograms; with his weapons and ammunition, he was closer to eighty. Yet Little Sister carried him faster than he could run on his own.
Little Sister ignored his protests and continued racing forward. Li Juxu wanted to struggle, but he was afraid of making her stumble. His heart was filled with torment. He could hear her heavy breathing, and at that moment he yearned desperately for strength while loathing his own weakness more than ever.
“I can manage the rest of the way myself! Lin Lu is about to reach her limit—I have to get down!”
They were less than fifty meters from the foot of the mountain. Li Juxu called out to Little Sister. She, too, realized that Lin Lu was in danger and finally set him down. The instant his feet touched the ground, Li Juxu raised his rifle, took aim, and fired.
Pfft—
The bullet skimmed past Lin Lu’s cheek, leaving a streak of blood, then struck the Gray Wolf as it opened its enormous jaws. A spray of blood burst from the back of its head, and the beast was thrown more than a meter through the air, blocking the path of several wolves behind it.
Pfft, pfft, pfft…
The sniper rifle shook repeatedly as Li Juxu fired one shot after another. He forced himself to remain calm. Only in a composed state could a sniper achieve an excellent hit rate; the kind of inspiration that allowed a drunkard to write beautiful calligraphy or compose fine poetry could never exist in a sniper.
Perhaps it was the pressure of imminent danger, but both Li Juxu’s firing speed and accuracy entered a state he had never experienced before. In one breath, he shot down sixteen Gray Wolves. The corpses strewn across the ground frightened the remaining wolves into slowing their pace, buying Lin Lu precious time.
Lin Lu passed by Li Juxu without even glancing at him and rushed straight to the foot of the mountain. Only then did Li Juxu realize that Little Sister was no longer beside him. When he looked up, he saw that she had already climbed the rocky mountain and lowered two ropes.
Lin Lu tied the backpack to one rope, then raised her submachine gun and shouted to Li Juxu, “It’s ready! Come back!”
Li Juxu had never been in such a wretched state in his life. He nearly collapsed while running those fifty meters and almost fell twice along the way. Lin Lu had not stopped firing since she began. By the time he tied the rope around his waist, the barrel of his sniper rifle had turned red-hot.
Little Sister hauled Li Juxu up first. Lin Lu came last. The moment she leaped and seized the rope, the nearest Gray Wolf pounced at her and bit away half her shoe, exposing her snow-white toes, which were drenched in blood.
Like an ape, Lin Lu gripped the rope and climbed rapidly. The Gray Wolf leaped several times but could not scale the rocky mountain, and it paced frantically at the foot of the slope.
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