This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 159 Snake

Snake scales rubbing together.

The serpent's body, covered in bronze-colored scales, rubbed against the scattered metal, sparking blue-purple flecks.

The snake's head rose high, smashing through the beam, scattering the four red characters "Do Not Touch" all over the ground.

Escorted by combat professionals, the scholars fled out the door and rushed into the newly arrived ranks of tanks and armored vehicles. Yi Jian stood guard behind them, his expression serious, holding a gun in one hand, covered in blood, but with few injuries of his own.

A dozen or so corpses lay scattered in front of the door, interspersed with snake carcasses on the ground. They were all dressed in ordinary linen clothes, with faces that looked no different from ordinary people, and expressions of pity and gentleness, as if they wanted to relieve people's suffering.

Parasitic snakes pierced their flesh, their tails coiled around their bones, their upper bodies emerging from their arms and held in their hands as weapons.

Just now, a swarm of snakes attacked Yi Jian and his companions, one of which, a snake nearly seven meters long, was truly terrifying.

While they were struggling to deal with the giant snake, this group of strange people rushed out of the forest, ignoring their calls and questions, and simply charged upwards without uttering a word.

Yi Jian had encountered some enemies who wouldn't listen to reason before, but this was the first time he'd seen anything like it. An instinct made him choose to kill them immediately. Sure enough, these enemies ignored their fallen comrades and rushed forward. As soon as they got close to the scholars, they stretched out their bloated arms, and venomous snakes burst out from the bursting flesh, biting at the scholars' faces!
Yi Jian's precise shots took down several of the most threatening snakes, and as the snakes died, so did the host.

But whether they were killing or dying, their expressions carried an eerie tenderness and pity. A pity that was deeply unsettling.

The artillery fire tore through the darkness.

With a deafening roar, the giant snake was blasted to smithereens without even leaving a corpse behind. But the surrounding earth churned, spewing forth even more new snakes, which intertwined and emitted terrifying hisses that sent chills down one's spine.

Before starting a new round of battle, Yi Jian looked towards the entrance of the research institute, where a scholar's body lay. He was the first scholar to be attacked, and his position was too close to the door.

Under the cover of night, the deadly poison corroded his face, charring his flesh and turning his blood black. But not long ago, he was talking to Yi Jian and Han Jiangxue, and handing over the access card to Nie Weiyang.

Tears welled up in Yi Jian's eyes, making his vision crystal clear, and the light from his skills and artillery fire emitted a beautiful glow.

This should have affected a shooter's vision, causing his accuracy to drop, but Yi Jian gritted his teeth, raised his hand, and fired a shot!
'boom! ! '

A beam of light pierced the eye of a giant snake, blasting it into a bloody mess. In his innate skill list, the words "[Serpent Vulture: Natural Enemy of Snakes]" shone brightly.

This is the third major battle of the day. Yi Jian did not use his Faith skill again—but he still didn't miss a single shot!
"Crush them! Leave no one alive!" A voice rang out, coming from the on-site commander. "Today, not even a fly will be allowed to enter or leave the research institute if it hasn't been registered!"

‘Boom! ! ! ’

An explosion came from underground, followed by a slight tremor of the earth and rocks. Yi Jian nimbly jumped onto a nearby armored vehicle, exchanged a glance with the driver inside, who did not stop him.

As the tank moved forward, he fired repeatedly, each shot hitting a snake precisely, though not necessarily in a vital spot: "Something underground exploded!"

"They probably detonated the explosives!" the commander shouted. "Never mind! We'll all keep to our duties!"...

As the giant snake rushed into the ruins, billowing dust was still falling, mixed with rubble like hail.

This snake has five eyes, the extra three located on a fleshy growth on its forehead, resembling flowers or a crown. In each eye, outlined as if by gold lines, the diamond-shaped pupil has contracted into a vertical line, and the pale blue iris gleams coldly in the darkness. Its massive jaws, studded with barbed fangs, can open to nearly 180 degrees, and its forked tongue is longer than a bus.

The explosion caused it great damage; its front abdomen was still bleeding, and the blown-out scales were scattered in the pool of blood. Each scale was sharp, thick, and large, almost enough to be used as a shield.

The pain made it instinctively raise its upper body, trying to lift the wound off the ground as much as possible, but because its size was too large, it could not stand upright and could only let some flesh and blood be smeared on the ground as it rubbed against the ground.

This made it even more frenzied. It thrashed and crawled into the space, like crawling into a box through a pipe. But the box was obviously not big enough for it. The walls were whipped and cracked by the crane-like tail. Broken steel beams, shattered concrete, and metal floors blown away by the explosion were all twisted, deformed, and shattered under the crushing weight of the snake's belly.

Fragments of earth and stone fell softly along the dark brown patterned scales, with golden threads hidden among them. At first glance, they were not obvious, but from a distance, clear golden spots could be seen, resembling peacock tail feathers.

At this moment, the emerald green snake eyes scanned the surroundings, but the snake's eyesight was barely enough to find its target. So, a faint red glow appeared in the heat-sensing groove on the side of its skull.

In its perception, there is only one goal here.

The only goal.

The target's body temperature wasn't high, in fact, it was extremely low, completely unlike any creature it remembered. It stepped onto the top of the ruins, the highest point in this space. A strange, long spike coiled around its forelimb, gleaming with an eerie light, gave it a strong sense of danger…

The nauseating stench was so strong that the people hiding on both sides almost vomited. Han Jiangxue pinched her nose tightly, exchanged a glance with the people around her, and silently made her way to the opening.

They were all covered by a spherical ice shield, a magical skill of Han Jiangxue, which allowed them to block heat perception for a short period of time.

According to Han Jiangxue herself, she doesn't usually use this skill much, since she usually just kills small snakes when she encounters them. She never expected to encounter such a large one this time—which shows that no skill is useless; it's just a matter of how well it's used that determines everything.

As they quietly slipped into the breach caused by the explosion and moved among the haphazardly placed wooden spikes, Han Jiangxue turned and glanced in Nie Weiyang's direction.

She only saw the enormous, truck-like head of the snake rising high, while its tail had just pulled away from the opening. If it weren't restrained, it would surely turn back to chase them, or rush into other passages to search for the others who had come this time. This cage, too large for a person and too small for it, was its meal plate and its best grave.

Perhaps out of caution, or perhaps due to a strategic tactic, the snake did not launch a rash attack. Han Jiangxue turned and followed the group into the dark tunnel—

She didn't see it, and no one else saw it, as the giant snake lowered its head with a hint of doubt, sniffing its sole target. It seemed to see it as both prey and companion, yet quickly confirmed that it was indeed prey. A strong sense of threat compelled it to attack; its biological instincts made it arch its body, hissing as it assumed a hunting posture. The sound was like the wailing of a demon or the howling of a strong wind, sending chills down one's spine.

Can we win? How can we win?
How could such a huge creature appear here, in this era?! Doesn't the oxygen level in this world suffocate it??

The group of people who ran into the tunnel gritted their teeth and tried their best not to look back. They rushed into the darkness as the giant python launched its attack, heading towards a dangerous area filled with green and blue light.

Nie Weiyang and his colleagues must each fulfill their respective duties!
(End of this chapter)