Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 367 The Rescue and Slaughter of the Flesh Giants
The appearance of the flesh giants signifies that the battle situation on the land of the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent has entered a new stage.

During the zombie phase, despite the local chaos and numerous civilian casualties, the bald eagles, like piercing nails, anchored themselves in the more than eighty military bases on the four islands of the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's homeland. Together with the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's own hundreds of outposts, the three major defensive systems acted as a skeleton, supporting the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's unyielding body.

In theory, even if undead zombies appear behind you, as long as you run fast enough, you can still hide in a safe zone defended by troops.

In fact, the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent to some extent condoned this behavior, using the intimidating effect of the undead zombies and the strict obstruction from the Four-Clawed Sea Serpent's side to drive the people to the nearby Bald Eagle military base, which provided more test subjects for its masters.

But when the flesh giants arrived, the situation changed completely.

These creatures are of medium to high speed, have thick hides, and most importantly, they possess some basic combat intelligence. They know how to find cover, avoid continuous barrage of fire, and can even coordinate simple actions.

The era when a simple barbed wire fence, barricades, and firearms could be used to defend an area is gone forever.

Frontline officers like Sergeant Ishida were the first to feel this.

He was standing behind the defensive line on the north side of the bridge spanning the river, his hand holding the binoculars trembling slightly.

Just half an hour ago, a flesh-and-blood giant, whose body had not yet fully expanded, easily dismantled all the iron barricades, roadblocks, and netting placed on the bridge.

This creature was nearly three meters tall, resembling a fleshy creation haphazardly stitched together from several corpses and then inflated. Its segmented limbs, extending from various parts of its body, easily tore apart obstacles, lifted them, and threw them into the river.

Ishida ordered the two only heavy machine guns on the position to be concentrated and unleashed hundreds of bullets on it, finally overwhelming it and forcing it to retreat with its "heavy" body.

Ishida's call for help was once again met with a cold rejection.

"Ishida-kun, the defense perimeter is currently under severe troop shortages. Your position is already one of the safest defensive lines. Please hold your ground and await orders from headquarters!"

"Ammunition? At least give me more ammunition! Armor-piercing machine gun rounds, anti-materiel rounds, grenades, whatever you have! That stuff isn't afraid of regular bullets!"

Ishida roared into the phone, veins bulging on his neck.

Having slaughtered both the dead and the living for so long on the front lines, the once obedient and docile Ishida had unknowingly become extremely irritable.

"Ammunition is also in short supply. The factory located in the monster-infested area is unable to supply it, and the transport routes have been attacked multiple times."

"We'll try our best to arrange supplies, but until then, the front lines... I'll leave it to Ishida-kun!"

The voice was as sincere as ever, and Ishida had even imagined the guy bowing ninety degrees to the microphone in his mind.

But what's the point? Will bowing make the monsters retreat?

These damned bureaucrats and parasites deserve to be punished by Heaven once again!
However, Ishida's report to his superiors this time eventually attracted "support".

Given the presence of a flesh-and-blood giant, the bald eagle, its eyes practically bloodshot, immediately dispatched three AH-74 attack helicopters and two UH-70 Black Hawks from a nearby military base, leading an elite special operations team in a standard combat formation, heading straight for the bridge.

They didn't even bother to communicate with the Sea Serpent forces on the ground before launching a violent attack on the target area.

"Ground targets have been locked. Eliminate those small fry first to clear out a landing zone for the 'Wild Wolf' team."

As the commander gave the order, the 19-tube rocket pods suspended under the stub wings were the first to spew out deadly flames.

A barrage of 70mm rockets, like a rain of scorching steel, rained down on the horde of corpses gathered on the south side of the bridge. The violent explosions created a continuous trail, and severed limbs mixed with charred dirt were thrown into the sky.

This was a tactic specially arranged by the Bald Eagle expert team. The explosion and flame impact of the rockets could quickly clear out a large number of ordinary zombies, which would just be enough to separate the flesh giant from the horde.

Although flesh-and-blood giants can also be hit by rockets, for these behemoths with their exceptionally thick skin and flesh, being roasted by flames or pierced by shrapnel is not a big deal.

In just a few minutes, the first wave of attacks ended. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and gunpowder. The horde of corpses on the south bank of the bridge stopped moving, and the ground was covered with burning debris and craters.

The most conspicuous target, still wriggling, was immediately recognized by the bald eagle's special operations team.

The white light of the searchlight fell, and although it wasn't as noticeable during the day as it was at night, it was still enough for everyone to see the conspicuous lump of meat.

"Found the 'hamburger'! We've found it!"

"Hamburger" is the affectionate nickname given by the bald eagle soldiers to the flesh giant.

They call zombies "sausages" and skeletons "ribs," which are quite apt names!
It is said that the research institute also discovered a monster that could be sensed by fluctuations but could not be seen in its physical form, which the soldiers affectionately called "Medical Insurance".

Yes, ghosts or incorporeal liches are indeed very much like the bald eagle's health insurance—so real, yet so ethereal.

Without a doubt, after such a barrage of rockets, the only ones still able to move, besides a very few "Destined Zombies," would be "Hamburgers."

The flesh-and-blood giant, who hadn't fully recovered and had been hit by rockets again, was thus dragged out by the bald eagle's special operations team.

Its massive body was covered with new and old scorch marks and tears, with dark red muscle tissue and grayish-white fascia exposed, some of which were still wriggling back and forth, seemingly slowly healing.

The sharp-eyed flesh giant seemed to sense the priority of the aerial threat and began to stagger away from the bridge and into the deeper ruins. As it ran, it would occasionally extend its limbs to pluck flesh from the shattered remains of zombies along the way, haphazardly patting it onto its body in an attempt to fill the tattered holes in its body.

"It's trying to run away! Stop it!"

Armed helicopters surged forward, their 30mm chain guns roaring into action. Each short burst carved a trench in the ground, tearing anything still wriggling to shreds, and sending the flesh giant flying in pieces.

"Well done, it's down!"

"First squad, rappel down, prepare for capture!"

"Provide cover from helicopters number two and three to separate the 'hamburger' from the 'sausage' and prevent it from getting mixed up!"

A few minutes later, as the helicopter hovered at low altitude, members of the "Wild Wolf" special operations team quickly slid down ropes from a "Black Hawk" helicopter. Upon landing, they immediately set up a makeshift defensive line based on the surrounding environment.

A high-strength carbon fiber net was fired from the net gun, pinning the flesh-and-blood giant, whose limbs had been mostly severed, to the ground. The intelligent hooks at the edge of the net automatically gripped the ground and tightened rapidly, binding the giant's struggling and tearing limbs together tightly.

Six white eagle warriors maintained a safe distance and quickly secured the rope net to the steel cable hanging from the helicopter.

Black Hawk began to slowly ascend, the steel cable gradually taut, gently lifting the massive, tightly wrapped, still slightly twitching "flesh package" off the ground.

Meanwhile, the researchers in the squad, wearing white lab coats over their military uniforms, put on goggles and began searching through the pieces of flesh on the ground for the severed limbs of the flesh giant.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
"Ugh——!"

A low, mournful wail, like the simultaneous agonizing cries of countless people, came from the edge of the battlefield. Immediately following behind, a slightly deformed I-beam, over three meters long and broken off from some building ruin, spun out from the shadow of the tents, its target the AH attack helicopter that was hovering low in the forward position, providing cover for the "Wild Wolf" squad!
The long I-beam, like a deformed javelin, slammed into the spinning rotor of the AH-74, and the loud metallic clang instantly drowned out the roar of the engine.

The violent collision in an instant resulted in at least two main rotor blades breaking and the drive shaft twisting and deforming.

It's no wonder the flesh giant has some intelligence; it actually knew to smash the rotor blades.

The helicopter lurched violently, lost its balance in mid-air, and its nose plunged uncontrollably downwards. The remaining, tilted rotor blades swept across its own cabin, sending sparks and debris flying everywhere.

“Mayday! Mayday…” The urgent cries for help abruptly stopped on the radio channel. The out-of-control AH-74, trailing a long plume of black smoke, crashed heavily onto the still-burning scorched earth on the south bank of the bridge, immediately triggering a series of violent explosions.

First, the remaining rockets were detonated, and orange-red fireballs expanded, followed by the ignition of fuel, forming a towering pillar of flame. The scorching blast wave, carrying fragments and burning parts, created a metallic storm at the scene.

"Damn it, there's another one!"

"Fire support!"

The fastest-reacting captain shoved the researcher, who was still collecting samples, to the ground and let out a piercing roar. The other helicopters took off and fired multiple Hellfire missiles at the newly emerged, smaller "Hamburger".

This is a heavy anti-tank missile; using it to fight a flesh-and-blood giant is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

As streaks of red light streaked across the sky, the smoke and dust from the explosion completely enveloped that damned "hamburger".

Meanwhile, the first flesh-and-blood giant, already trapped in the carbon fiber net and hanging in mid-air, seemed to be spurred on by its companion's "feat" and the explosion below, and began to struggle even more frantically.

It gnawed and tore at the carbon fiber steel mesh with its remaining three heads and one half-claw, while violently swinging its body, causing the helicopter above to sway slightly.

"Unstable load! Emergency disconnect! Repeat, emergency disconnect!"

The pilot yelled and pressed the release switch. The steel cable detached from the connecting cable at the top of the net.

The enormous "meat bundle" plummeted from a height of over ten meters, crashing heavily onto the ground littered with rubble and spent shell casings with a muffled thud. It even bounced slightly, and the monster inside the net let out an angry howl.

The Black Hawk pilot, still shaken after escaping, unleashed his fury on the ground, his onboard mini-cannons spinning wildly, while another AH's machine guns simultaneously provided cover and pound on the flesh-and-blood giant on the ground.

In short, what was supposed to be a clean and efficient "sample collection operation" turned into a disastrous skirmish. The elite Bald Eagle force, with its overwhelming firepower, managed to clean up the two messes and complete its main mission at the cost of a multi-million dollar armed helicopter and five team members.

However, because this fierce battle delayed the event by much longer than originally planned, waves of civilians, including four-clawed sea serpents, rushed to the scene.

Because this bridge was one of the main passages connecting the occupied areas on the south bank with the relatively safe inland defense perimeter on the north bank, many survivors instinctively fled in this direction after the disaster broke out.

Because the bridgehead was occupied by zombies, and there were occasional gaps, the Sea Serpent's snake guards would use firepower to block any moving objects that tried to pass through. As a result, a small number of them became corpses or moving corpses, while the vast majority of them hid in the area of ​​the south bank bridgehead.

The dilapidated basement of the building, the collapsed back warehouse of the shop, the drainage culvert filled with sludge, and even the car that had long since run out of gas...

Compared to the boundless, dark wilderness behind them, teeming with countless monsters, the bridge guarded by the military in front of them seemed to offer a glimmer of hope for survival.

At that moment, the deafening roar of helicopters and the continuous explosions jolted them awake. Their instinctive reaction was that this was a military operation to clear out and rescue the area!
So they rushed out from their hiding place.

The sheer size of the crowd stunned even Ishida, who was observing from the opposite bank with binoculars. It was truly hard to imagine that so many survivors were hiding in this area around the bridge, which had been overrun by zombies.

The crashed helicopter was still burning fiercely, and the scene was filled with choking smoke and the acrid smell of burnt protein. In this death-filled scene, clusters of people swayed and staggered, converging into a muddy stream of escape.

The hope of life overwhelmed all fear.

Cries, pleas, and screams, mixed with various dialects and broken Mandarin, formed a cacophony of sounds. Because of the distance, it was impossible to hear what they were shouting incoherently, but a few words were repeatedly shouted and reached the ears of the bald eagle soldier.

"Help!!!"

"Save us!!!"

"Suke!"

The warriors of the white eagle instinctively raised their guns.

Among the crowd were people of all ages and genders: an elderly man with white hair who stumbled and lost his shoes in the process; a young woman with a pale face and tattered clothes; a middle-aged man who was still wearing a tie and a suit with his name tag neatly pinned to his chest; and a child who instinctively hugged a doll and ran while crying.

Their eyes were filled with fear, and they strained to open their mouths and stretch out their arms, as if that would bring them closer to the hope of survival.

Then, they met their fate.

The bald eagle soldiers showed no mercy to these men. In this dangerous area, any unfamiliar approach was seen as a potential threat, especially after the recent loss of an expensive helicopter and several elite soldiers, which brought their nervous vigilance to a fever pitch.

Beside the hovering Black Hawk hatch, the commander of this operation, a bald eagle army major wearing sunglasses, coldly surveyed the surging crowd below and issued chilling commands.

"This is the 'Wild Wolf' command center. A large unidentified group has appeared on the ground and is rapidly approaching our location and valuable samples. It is judged to be a high threat and may contain enemy personnel or infected individuals."

"To absolutely ensure the safety of the aircraft, personnel, and 'samples,' the standard clearing procedure is hereby ordered to be executed!"

"Repeat, proceed with the clearing procedure!"

Too lazy to even follow the warning procedure, the helicopter spewed fire again.

“Da da da da—!”

The machine gun bullets, trailing light, streaked across the sky like the lash of death, striking the densest part of the crowd.

One second the crowd was surging wildly, crying out and running towards hope, and the next it turned into a giant meat grinder.

Machine gun bullets easily tore through thin clothing and fragile bodies. People fell in droves like felled wheat, and blood splattered like cheap red paint, bursting into clouds of red mist in the air.

The firing lasted less than a minute. The sea serpent survivors who rushed over were either dead or fled back the way they came at an even faster speed.

"A bunch of bastards! You're wasting my time!" Major Eagle spat downwards and gave the order to retreat.

The helicopter, carrying the loot, began to climb rapidly, quickly becoming just a few black dots on the horizon, leaving only a desolate pile of corpses emitting wisps of smoke.

The fishy-smelling wind grew colder. On the other side of the bridge, Sergeant Ishida Riku slowly lowered his binoculars, letting out an extremely suppressed groan that seemed to come from the depths of his soul.

The young communications soldier, pale-faced and trembling, reported:
"Sir, headquarters has replied that the Eagle Joint Command has informed them... of the situation on site. They said... this is a necessary measure to ensure the safety of the operation, prevent the spread of pollution, and protect important military assets!"

"Even if this is evil, it is a 'necessary evil' for the sake of salvation. All Serpent Guards must fully understand and resolutely obey!"

"The 'necessary evil' for salvation..."

"This sounds so familiar!"

That's right. Throughout history, they have always said and done this, and to this day, they continue to emphasize and promote these ideas.

The necessary "entry" for "co-prosperity," the necessary "action" for "self-defense," the necessary "righteous war" for "liberation," and the necessary "rule" for "enlightenment"...

Ishida repeated the word again, then suddenly burst into a strange, exaggerated laugh.

"Tell me, White Eagle, who is more evil—us, or those monsters?"

(End of this chapter)