Chapter 154 Gatling Tyrannosaurus

After the two of us wandered around for a while, I heard the rustling sound of leaves coming from a towering ancient tree ahead. Immediately following that, a monster leaped down from the intertwined branches mid-air.

This fellow was about two meters tall and looked much like an ape-man, its mouth filled with sharp, protruding fangs. As it lunged down from the air with its arms extended, its sharp claws slashed viciously right toward us.

[Searched latest updates exclusively on... demonic ape, level 44, ordinary beast]

Description: A mutated giant ape living within the Death Forest, extremely fond of devouring human children.

However, the moment this creature lunged over, Huanyue took the initiative to charge forward, thrusting her holy sword upward. The demonic ape let out a miserable screech as a huge tear was ripped across its belly, spilling blood and internal organs all over the ground. Right after that, its head was neatly severed.

As we continued pushing forward, the appearance of monsters became increasingly frequent. We were subjected to attack after attack, yet every single one of these assaulting monsters was effortlessly converted into our experience points.

After advancing for another twenty minutes or so, the situation gradually began to change. The monsters appearing around us were not only growing more numerous, but also progressively stronger, reaching a point where they could no longer be brushed aside so easily.

Suddenly, a level 50 elite beast, a Flame Leopard, lunged out. I immediately summoned the Sonic Werewolf. Upon materializing, the Sonic Werewolf let out a roar, sweeping four crescent-shaped energy waves outward. Striking the monster, the waves instantly inflicted severe slash wounds, after which the Sonic Werewolf charged forward and delivered a flurry of punches to finish it off.

The battle grew more and more intense. Countless monsters attacked us recklessly, causing our health points to continuously drop. We could only rely on drinking healing potions to hold the line, yet this still failed to stem the downward trend of our dwindling HP. At this rate, if we didn't break out and run, we were going to be buried beneath a mountain of monsters.

After a grueling spell of fierce combat, we finally found a temporarily safe spot beneath a towering ancient tree. We sat down to rest and recover our stamina while listening to what those guys in the academy channel were shouting about—

Ye Feng: "Damn it! What the hell are those idiots in Class 10 doing? It's only the damn second wave, and they already can't hold the line? Hey! Stop luring the monsters toward our side, dammit! Of all things to lure, you had to pull five level 55 bosses over here? Do you bastards want us all to die..."

"Emergency report! Emergency report! Eight level 45 bosses have appeared at the East Gate, request backup!"

Long Xin: "Calling big bro~ How are you doing over there right now?"

Me (struggling exceptionally hard): "Not so great, how are things on your end?"

Long Xin replied: "We're barely holding our ground, big bro, hurry back!"

***

After resting for a while, we continued our advance. Because there were simply too many monsters on the ground, I had no choice but to summon Long Zhan once again to carry us. Relying on Long Zhan's speed, we finally flew out of the forest. The moment we cleared the tree line, we heard the angry roars of monsters blanketing the mountains and plains. Rumble, rumble—hooves trampled the earth, causing the ground to thunder and shake as if the entire world were trembling and vibrating amidst the din. The sheer quantity of the monster army was beyond imagination. Between heaven and earth, a thick, suffocating stench of blood permeated the air. Thousands upon thousands of various monsters surged from all directions toward the direction of Heavenly Dragon City, cutting a path of frantic destruction all the way. The ground was covered densely with wave after wave of countless monsters, converging like a surging tide. Finally, I caught sight of this horde of monsters colliding with a vanguard legion of about two hundred players.

The battle erupted in a split second. A sweep of my Fiery Eyes revealed that these monsters were not high-leveled; a standard player at the current stage could easily dispatch a few of these magic beasts. Merely in terms of individual strength, they were inferior to the player legion, but their numbers were vastly superior—easily ten or even a hundred times greater.

As the first wave charged forward, the wolf-type monsters were slaughtered by this group of players, collapsing one after another amidst miserable howls. However, the scent of blood they left behind only stimulated thousands of other monsters to surge forward wave upon wave, trampling over the corpses of their comrades as the two sides engaged in a bloody, brutal slaughter. Yet, this player legion was isolated and was soon completely swallowed up by the monsters. Continuing onward, we were soon surrounded by flying beasts in our vicinity, but coming near us was no different from courting death. Pushing forward in this manner, we finally saw Heavenly Dragon City looming right before our eyes. Just then, however, a flock of three-eyed crows surrounded us. Their bodies began to swell, and one after another, they detonated in explosions. Instantly, Long Zhan lost its balance in mid-air and plummeted downward.

Upon crashing onto the ground, countless monsters lunged at us. I quickly recalled Long Zhan to replenish its health and summoned Amaterasu. As soon as Amaterasu appeared, its twin blades flashed incessantly, sending flesh and blood flying as countless monsters perished in droves. We too joined the fray. Facing the continuous assault of endless, frenzied monsters charging at us, we gradually began to be suppressed and found it hard to fend them off. Monster after monster met a miserable end, yet our footing was also forced into a continuous retreat.

"Long Ling, do you regret coming out of the city with me?" Huanyue asked.

"No!" I replied.

"Really?"

I chuckled. "Of course. For you, I wouldn't even mind destroying the world."

"Really?"

"I was just joking, don't take it seriously."

"Hateful." With that, she turned her head away.

"Heh." I chuckled, using the Ruyi Staff to knock away a monster attempting to ambush Huanyue, while Huanyue simultaneously chopped a monster lunging at me into two halves. We remained locked in this stalemate for about an hour. To us, this hour felt unimaginably long. Countless monsters charged incessantly, leaving behind corpse after corpse, while the battle line where we stood was constantly compressed. Heavenly Dragon City, which had originally been right before our eyes, grew increasingly distant. At this rate, being swallowed up by the sea of monsters was merely a matter of time.

After this kind of combat had persisted for nearly an hour, the earth suddenly shook and fractured. At the same time, the monsters surrounding us began to scatter. Just as we were feeling puzzled, the ground split open with a loud crack, and from within the fissure, a colossal, pitch-black behemoth crawled out.

***

Following the appearance of this monster, wave after wave of roars echoed around us once again. Immediately afterward, one massive behemoth after another burst out from the monster pack: boss-class monsters such as a skeletal king composed entirely of giant bones, a six- or seven-meter-long Flame Demonic Wolf King, a Ghost Bull King with three horns on its head, and a blood-red Blood Ape General with two heads, alongside elite and strengthened beasts like Black River Giant Lizards and Two-Headed Demonic Wolves. No less than ten thousand of these monsters emerged to surround us, transforming our surroundings instantly into a world belonging exclusively to monsters.

"What do we do?!" Huanyue asked, her delicate brows knitting together.

I summoned Long Zhan once again and ordered it to carve out a path. It seemed the time had come to use the power of a new companion. Relying on Long Zhan to blast a bloody path through, we reached a patch of open ground, where I took out a metal sphere and hurled it with all the strength I could muster. Once thrown, the metal sphere burst open, and suddenly a gigantic gateway ripped open in the empty space. Surrounding monsters couldn't help being startled as a mechanical claw stepped out, followed by a completely crimson mechanical dragon's body. Instead of wings, it had a pair of jet-like thrusters on its back, a massive Gatling gun held firmly in its left hand, and a glowing blue longsword strapped to its right arm as it stood before me.

"Roar!" Monsters from all directions let out a chorus of roars, surging toward this spot. The Gatling-toting Tyrannosaurus raised the Gatling gun in its left hand forward, a long belt of machine gun ammo trailing from the weapon's rear.

Then, the soft, static hiss of electromagnetic energy rang out, and six pitch-black barrel units began to spin rapidly, driven by electromagnetic force.

Click! Click! Click!

A blinding, dazzling tongue of fire abruptly erupted from the muzzles. Standing firmly on the ground, the Gatling-toting Tyrannosaurus unleashed a frantic barrage of fire. The monsters charging at the front were blasted into brilliant bursts of light, while scorching bullet casings clattered onto the ground, quickly forming a thin, dense layer.

Only now did I truly experience the formidable might of a Mechanized Race summoned beast. Before these bullets, the thick-skinned monsters were completely vulnerable, collapsing to the ground one after another. Under the ferocious covering fire of the Gatling-toting Tyrannosaurus, we quickly stabilized our footing amidst the thousands of monsters and steadily pushed forward in the direction of Heavenly Dragon City. Huanyue and I followed closely behind the Gatling beast, with Long Zhan and the others guarding our flanks, plowing forward all the way. Before this ultra-modern mechanical monster of mine, the massive army of thousands of monsters proved utterly feeble. Hundreds upon hundreds of monsters died violent deaths, and I watched as the growth rate of my experience bar turned out to be freakishly fast.

33%, 34%, 37%, 40%—watching the mounting experience points filled my heart with sweet satisfaction, and I began to wish the monsters would come in even greater numbers.

"Haha, your daddy is back!" My shout rang out resoundingly amidst the countless hordes of monsters.