Chapter 26: Ultimate weapon

Mitch’s large hand clamped tighter around May’s waist, leaving her no chance to resist. With a rough force, he flipped over, hauled the girl who still had her legs locked around him upright, and set her back on her feet.

At that exact moment, hurried scraping sounds came from above. Ray and the others slid down one after another.

The already cramped space, now packed with six men whose average height exceeded 1.9 meters, became so crowded that even turning around felt like a luxury. The moment they landed, the men formed a human wall by pure instinct, shoving the smallest figure—May—deep into the center and sealing her off from every threat about to arrive.

"Ace, blow it." Ray’s voice cut through the dark.

"Got it," Ace answered and pulled three specially made charges from the tactical pouch at his waist. When he actually looked at what he held, the smile on his face froze for the first time. The fuses had been soaked by the groundwater in the supermarket and were completely waterlogged—limp, useless scraps.

In the darkness, Ace’s smile twisted. "Boss... looks like we’ve got a small problem."

The surgical scalpel spinning between Theo’s fingers stopped. "We’re done for. That Tyrant is a Heat-Spike variant. We can’t get close."

"The corridor slopes at forty-five degrees. All our heavy weapons are still on the truck. Cold weapons can’t generate proper force in this environment, and as for hand-to-hand..."

He paused, a faint edge of mockery entering his voice.

"It’s just lining up to die."

Creak—!

The words had barely left his mouth when a teeth-grinding scream of metal being torn past its limit erupted overhead. A massive, barbed, blue-black claw punched straight through the door panel and clawed wildly above their heads. Thick, foul-smelling drool dripped through the gaps.

Jack’s eyes turned blood-red. Without a word, he planted his feet solidly, his massive frame becoming a living iron tower ready to fill that beast’s jaws with his own flesh and blood.

Ray drew the combat knife at his waist. He didn’t look back at anyone. In a hoarse voice, he gave his final order to the brothers behind him.

"Listen carefully. Whoever’s still breathing at the end—" His voice was quiet, yet it branded itself onto every heart like a red-hot iron. "—you get her out of here for me. And the rest of you—if even one of you can live, you live!"

"If you ever see my family, tell them I died a glorious death!"

"If you see my mother—"

"—tell her—" (the rest of the line was left unfinished)

May stood behind the wall of bodies and stared at the broad, resolute backs of men who were ready to die without hesitation. An invisible hand seemed to close around her heart until she could barely breathe.

These idiots.

She fixed her eyes on the point total that had just jumped to 410 after Mitch’s earlier "breakthrough," her eyes stinging with heat. Without a second of hesitation, she issued a mental command to the unreliable system.

[System, exchange! Exchange the life-saving blind box—give me a laser cannon and blow that ugly thing outside to pieces!]

A flash of soft pink-gold light that only she could see streaked across her vision. Something heavy settled into her hands.

Instead of the cold, hard metal of a firearm she had imagined, her fingers closed around something soft... like a tube of toothpaste.

May looked down.

What she held was a thirty-centimeter-long, pastel-pink plastic soft bottle, decorated with several cartoon drawings that looked distinctly suggestive.

The system’s voice rang cheerfully in her mind, unable to hide its pure mischievous delight.

[Ding. Congratulations, Host, on obtaining: Extra-Large High-Efficiency Lubricant (Slippery-Enemy Edition)!]

[Effect: Rich in high-molecular polymers. Dramatically reduces friction coefficients on all contact surfaces.]

[Ignores the laws of physics for absolute friction reduction—guarantees your enemies will slide all the way to the end!]

[This brand is proudly sponsored by Red Lace!]

May’s gaze landed on the flamboyant artistic lettering on the bottle. Her vision went black; she nearly coughed up blood on the spot.

[What in actual fuck is THIS???]

[Is this really the time for this shit? This isn’t a goddamn motel room anymore!]

[I asked for a laser cannon and you give me a bottle of lube? Am I supposed to make a woohoo with the Tyrant?!]

She cursed the shameless system at the top of her mental lungs, but the thunderous crash from above left her no time to waste.

Boom—

The thin wall finally gave way. The Tyrant tore it apart completely. Its enormous, misshapen bulk forced its way into the narrow entrance, bringing with it a wave of nauseating stench. It opened a maw packed with layer upon layer of fangs and unleashed a deafening roar at the insects below, preparing to launch a crushing, gravity-powered death pounce.