Chapter 346 - 241: Gambling City Crisis
Chapter 346: Chapter 241: Gambling City Crisis
Late at night, in the town square, electric arcs flickered across a statue temporarily constructed from copper wire.
’So America has its own share of master craftsmen.’ The "lightning effect" they created wasn’t as dazzling as the one at the Rongcheng high-speed rail station, but it was still quite eye-catching in the darkness.
American soldiers lay in ambush around the square, armed to the teeth. In addition to a vehicle-mounted electromagnetic pulse cannon, there were other armored vehicles and tanks.
There were two tanks, both M1A2 SEP models. These were massive machines, with a hull length of 9.77 meters, a width of 3.66 meters, and a height of 2.44 meters. Their total combat weight was 71 tons.
Many people might imagine tanks to be relatively small, not much larger than an ordinary SUV, but seeing one in person revealed just how huge they really were.
With his Giant Power, Li Xiang could now lift fifty tons. So, okay, he couldn’t actually lift this 71-ton tank. But an SUV, like a relatively large Audi Q5 weighing around 1,800 to 2,200 kilograms, was something Li Xiang could pick up and toss around with ease.
Li Xiang had used this kind of Electric Energy Trap before, and it proved just as effective for the American soldiers. Sure enough, after a wait of about three hours, just as the soldiers were about to lose patience, a black shadow streaked in from the distant darkness, accompanied by a faint sonic boom. It pounced directly onto the statue flickering with electric arcs.
"CHITTER, CHITTER~" The black Exotic Beast greedily devoured the Electric Energy, letting out cries of pure ecstasy.
It was the size of a tabby cat, but its looks were a far cry from one. No, it had no looks to speak of at all, for it was so indescribably ugly that it completely defied all Earthling standards of beauty.
How ugly was it? It was the kind of ugly that made one sick to their stomach just looking at it. A grotesque sight that caused extreme psychological distress. There was absolutely nothing on Earth uglier than this thing.
An American officer roared, "Fire!"
In an instant, a barrage from every weapon engulfed the Exotic Beast!
"SKREEE—"
The Exotic Beast let out an enraged roar. In a black flash, it appeared several hundred meters away, causing all the ordnance to miss its mark. Some stray bullets even struck the tanks and armored vehicles on the opposite side; fortunately, their thick armor left them unscathed.
The soldiers panicked. "Where’d it go? Where’d it go?"
"Ah, there it is! Not good, it’s charging right for us!"
"Oh, my god!"
Soon, screams of agony rose and fell. The tabby cat-sized Exotic Beast tore through the soldiers as if they weren’t even there, killing them one by one.
The gunner of the high-tech, vehicle-mounted electromagnetic pulse cannon had already missed his first shot. He tried to fire again, but he couldn’t get a lock because the Exotic Beast was simply too fast.
The gunner fired a few wild shots, killing several of his own men and overturning a few armored vehicles. But the Exotic Beast remained active, leaping about and leaving a trail of afterimages. As the death toll mounted, the beast turned and pounced toward the gunner. The man scrambled out of his vehicle to flee, but it was no use. The Exotic Beast caught him and killed him with a single bite.
Of the hundreds of men, not a single one was spared.
The Exotic Beast was covered in blood. Though its head was small, its mouth could gape as wide as a washbasin. From it, countless grotesque, sticky tongues covered in barbs and bumps extended, penetrating the human corpses to rip out the tender internal organs and savor them.
The tips of its tongues were armed with sharp spikes, like swords, that could easily slice open a human body.
Some of the braver nearby residents peeked from their windows. The bloody scene they witnessed chilled them to the bone.
Many people hid under their beds or in their cellars, trembling in terror.
The town lost power. All the Electric Energy had been devoured by the Exotic Beast. Nourished by the energy and the bodies of several hundred American soldiers, the beast, originally the size of a tabby cat, had now visibly grown much larger, about the size of a Doberman Pinscher.
Of course, a Doberman is a very handsome dog. This Exotic Beast, however, remained indescribably ugly. Its head was densely packed with eyes, and it possessed a great many tongues from which a foul-smelling, corrosive slime dripped constantly. Electric arcs still flickered over its body, making it look as if it had crawled out of Hell itself.
Not only had the Exotic Beast’s size increased, but its power had also grown. At birth, its speed was Mach 1. Now, it had likely reached Mach 2.5.
With a flash of black and a faint sonic boom, it vanished.
Meanwhile, Li Xiang and his team had arrived at the meteorite crater in the Black Rock Desert.
They had parked their car in Nix Town, taken out their skis, and slipped into the cordoned-off area. Following the coordinates provided by the relevant authorities, they easily found the deep crater.
Unfortunately, the "eggshell" was already gone, likely confiscated by the US Military. They decided to set that aside for now, as they had no idea where it had been taken.
While the "eggshell" had some research value, it was certainly nothing compared to the Exotic Beast itself.
The top priority was to catch the Exotic Beast.
Luo Feifei, using her "Insight" Superpower, found a small, unusual piece of ice while searching the area. It wasn’t frozen water, but some kind of viscous liquid.
Li Xiang walked over, picked it up with a gloved hand, and sniffed it gently. He nodded. "This should be slime from the Exotic Beast."
"OK!" Luo Feifei understood. She took out her divination tools—a Turtle Shell, Copper Coins, and other implements—and using the frozen sliver of slime, began to perform her Divination Technique.
It had to be said, Luo Feifei’s Divination Technique was freakishly effective. She could lock onto a general direction for things that high-tech sensors like radar and infrared couldn’t detect.
"It seems to have gone south."
Led by Luo Feifei, the group shot off on their skis, moving as fast as the wind.
Luo Feifei took the lead, with Li Xiang bringing up the rear to make sure no one fell behind.
Fortunately, they were all Extraordinary Beings. Even the two relatively weaker members, Yao Yao and Zhang Youyou, were able to keep up for the time being.
In fact, Yao Yao could no longer be considered weak. After receiving the Mandarin Duck Double-Bladed Sword and the Snake Skin Soft Boots from Li Xiang, her power had undeniably skyrocketed. When using these two Extraordinary Spiritual Soldiers, she far surpassed the others, ranking second only to Luo Feifei.
About an hour later, Li Xiang’s group arrived in Tonopah Town. Seeing the hundreds of corpses scattered across the square and the surrounding area, they all looked at each other in shock.
With the exception of Li Xiang and Luo Feifei, the rest of the team felt deeply disturbed.
Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou had lived sheltered lives; they had never witnessed such a scene before.
Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui had never even killed a chicken back home. Lei Jiaming was slightly more hardened, but his experience was limited to things like slaughtering a pig for the New Year. As a result, every one of them was pale as a sheet.
A few of them fought back the urge to vomit.
Thankfully, they all managed to keep it down.
Furthermore, they were completely bundled up in helmets, windproof face shields, masks, and scarves, their features hidden from view. This was a secret mission, after all; they couldn’t risk being identified. It would be a problem if their faces were captured by a security camera or satellite.
"Based on the condition of these bodies, they died no more than two hours ago," Xu Xuan assessed.
Li Xiang nodded.
With so many bodies at the scene, the Exotic Beast had also left behind plenty of slime, claw marks, and bite marks. This gave Luo Feifei much more to work with, making her Divination more accurate.
"The reading shows the Exotic Beast fled south. It should be... lying low in a large city," Luo Feifei said, pointing in that direction.
"Let’s keep moving," Li Xiang said. He checked the map. Farther south, there was indeed a large city: the world-famous Gambling City, Las Vegas. It was densely populated and had abundant Electric Energy, matching the direction Luo Feifei had indicated.
Li Xiang and his team sped away, and the town fell silent once more.
There were indeed survivors in the town, though not many, and all of them were trembling in fear. Someone had called the police, but unfortunately, the town only had two officers. They had been with the American soldiers, and their bodies were now long cold.
It would take some time for police or military from other areas to arrive. This was the United States, after all, not China; in the freezing cold and the middle of the night, efficiency wasn’t nearly as high.
Police presence in American small towns was notoriously thin to begin with. In a developed state like California, a town of over ten thousand people might have twenty police officers, whereas in some less developed states, a town might only have three to five.
Many other small towns had no police at all. There had even been news reports about places like McCorkle Town, South Carolina, where the entire police department, including the chief, had resigned due to budget cuts.
According to statistics, there were 521 small towns in the United States with no police force. The pay was low, the risks were high, and the work was demanding—nobody wanted the job.
If there were more police or a larger population, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Li Xiang’s team to enter the crime scene and examine the bodies.
While inspecting the scene, Li Xiang had noticed the vehicle-mounted electromagnetic pulse cannon. He’d thought it was a nice piece of equipment and had considered taking it. But a closer look revealed that its Electric Energy had been drained and many of its electronic components were fried. It was obviously the Exotic Beast’s doing.
Besides, the vehicle and the cannon itself were spattered with blood, which was disgusting, so he lost interest.
It was the same story with the two tanks. There were eviscerated corpses inside, contaminating the vehicles. Li Xiang had no interest in them.
...
They followed the trail, discovering more suspicious tracks along the way, and arrived in Las Vegas at around seven in the morning.
The world-famous Gambling City sat on the edge of the Nevada desert, surrounded by mountains ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 meters high, their peaks capped with white snow.
On the outskirts of the city, the group stopped, and Luo Feifei performed another Divination.
After a moment, Luo Feifei glanced at Li Xiang and said in a low voice, "I’m certain of it. That thing is lying low somewhere in this city."
However, the Divination Technique could only lock onto a general area, not pinpoint an exact location.
The city was too crowded and it was now daylight, so everyone packed up their ski equipment. They gave it all, along with their firearms, to Li Xiang, who stored everything in his system inventory to be retrieved when needed.
The group entered the city, pushing against a bone-chilling wind. The city was exceptionally cold.
Li Xiang said quietly, "That Exotic Beast is all alone here on Earth, so it’s probably cautious and prefers to move at night. We’ve been traveling all night and we’re tired. Let’s find a hotel to rest up and head out again this evening."
The Gambling City was always liveliest at night.
Li Xiang’s group found a small hotel. A hundred US Dollar tip to the clerk was enough to bypass the ID check, and they smoothly booked eight rooms.
Wealth had its privileges—they each got their own room.
Most hotels, especially the larger ones, required identification for check-in. For foreigners like them, that would mean passports.
They had passports, along with work IDs, academic conference invitations, and so on, but they avoided showing them if they could. They didn’t want to cause any trouble for their country.
That’s why they had opted not to stay in a luxury hotel, choosing to make do with this smaller one instead.
Fortunately, the facilities at this small hotel seemed to be pretty good.
After going upstairs, they all gathered with Li Xiang, who returned their backpacks and suitcases to them.
He then distributed some rations to everyone—beef jerky, chocolate, crackers, bread, and purified water—before they all returned to their own rooms to rest.
The women in particular were eager to get to their bags and suitcases for their various personal items. After an entire night of rushing through wind, snow, and bitter cold, even as Extraordinary Beings, they were all exhausted. Everyone returned to their respective rooms to soak in a hot bath.