America: The Cremator

Chapter 199 Listening to the Sound of DNA Breaking!

Meanwhile, in the Otherworld.

Sulong's breathing became extremely heavy, and with each breath he felt his lungs burning.

He clung tightly to Elena and Byron, struggling to move forward despite the crushing pressure that seemed to be trying to crush him.

With each step, the muscle fibers in his legs would make a cracking sound as they were pushed too hard, before quickly healing again in the [God of War] state.

This process was extremely draining on his physical strength.

three meters.

Two meters.

The turbulent spatial currents shimmering at the edge of the fissure were almost within reach.

Through that huge gap, the scene of the present world was clearly visible; it was the world of the living, their only way out.

If we take that final step and throw Elena and Byron into that halo, this perilous journey to the other world can finally come to an end.

Su Long took a deep breath, tensed his calf muscles, and prepared for his final sprint.

Ring ring.

A series of crisp bell sounds rang out behind Su Long without warning.

This kind of ringtone is very common and often appears at the entrance of various shops or on some decorations, making it very familiar to Su Long.

But this is the wilderness of the underworld; it shouldn't be here.

Sulong slowly turned his head, his gaze passing over the ruins of the logging road still emitting black smoke, and landing on the area of ​​the crater left by Baphomet's self-destruction.

On that parched land, a strange plant sprouted out at some unknown time.

This thing stands tall and straight, over two meters high, and its overall shape resembles a sapling that is growing rapidly.

But its roots, main stem, and branches are entirely pieced together and squeezed together from large chunks of bright red flesh that are violently writhing.

The surface of this flesh was covered with wrinkles, and translucent, viscous tissue fluid flowed down the fleshy stems, dripping onto the ground with a hissing, corrosive sound and rising wisps of blue smoke.

Dark green, murky liquid flowed from the thick veins, coiling around the surface of the main stem like vines, pulsating with a strange rhythm.

At the ends of those broad, fleshy leaves, instead of flowers or fruits, hundreds or thousands of tiny eyes were densely packed.

These eyes vary in size, from as small as soybeans to as large as fists, and their sclera is covered with dark red blood vessels.

With a sudden swaying of the leaves without any wind, the eyeballs bounced and collided back and forth at the tips of the leaves.

The pupil and lens inside the eyeball, like solidified hard objects, frantically pounded against the translucent thin wall on the outside of the eyeball.

It emitted that crisp, clear "ding-a-ling" sound.

Su Long's gaze inevitably met those hundreds and thousands of eyes.

"Bang"

The mental barrier in Su Long's mind shattered with a deafening roar.

In an instant, all sounds from the outside world were completely cut off.

The sounds of wind, breathing, and even heartbeats disappeared.

The crisp sound of the bells exploded directly in the deepest part of Su Long's mind.

Excruciating pain, a pain that seeps into every part of you.

He felt as if his brain was being eaten away piece by piece, and every nerve was trembling.

Sulong's leg muscles instantly lost all strength, his knees buckled, and he knelt directly on the hard, scorched earth. Elena and Byron, whom he was dragging, also fell to the ground.

His mind went completely out of control. A massive, chaotic flow of information, distorted logical concepts, and countless bizarre and fragmented silhouettes were forcibly poured into his mind like a flood bursting its banks.

Sulong saw it.

He saw countless stars rotting and falling beneath the dark red sky, turning into giant pustules.

Vast cities, constructed entirely of flesh and bones, slowly writhed in the void, their doors and windows resembling the gills of a breathing vessel.

He seemed to transform into an indescribable, enormous body, churning deep within the clouds, each breath carrying away the sanity of thousands upon thousands of living beings.

This information is beyond the scope of what the human brain can process; forcibly receiving it will only burn out the cognitive system.

Su Long clutched his head tightly with both hands, letting out a suppressed roar, while his eyes quickly became bloodshot, and the world in his vision began to distort and deform.

The scorched earth on the ground turned into writhing entrails, the sky transformed into a gigantic maw, and the entire space seemed to be shouting at him.

Just as reason was about to be completely overwhelmed by this torrent, Sulong, taking advantage of the last extremely brief moment of clarity, relied on his remaining instincts to communicate with "Raphael" hanging on his waist.

A refreshing taste of liquor entered his mouth.

Su Long swallowed it directly, the liquid sliding down his esophagus and transforming into a burst of spiritual energy that rushed straight to his head, barely suppressing the frantic eating sounds somewhat.

My mind regained a brief, limited period of clarity.

He was panting heavily, his whole body completely soaked in cold sweat. He then shook his head violently, forcing himself to look away from the fleshy plant.

I absolutely must not look at it again.

With a sudden burst of strength, Sulong gripped Elena and Byron tightly again, preparing to continue charging toward the rift.

But when he looked straight ahead, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave during those few short seconds when he was suppressed by mental pollution and kneeling on the ground.

The huge gap ahead, shimmering with spatial turbulence, underwent a change.

The passage connecting to the present world was less than three meters in front of Su Long, tightly wrapped by a large cluster of fleshy roots growing from the ground.

Su Long stood still, looking at the blocked passage ahead, his hands still in a dragging posture.

Their path to survival was blocked.

And on the parched land behind them, the clear sound of bells rang out once more.

Ring ring.

The leaves of the fleshy plant began to shake violently, and its eyes all turned in unison, staring intently at Su Long's back.

Moreover, the several enormous silhouettes that were originally still on the horizon completely locked onto this location.

Heavy footsteps, heavy enough to trigger an earthquake, came from the far horizon.

Each time it fell, it caused the entire land of this world to tremble violently, and several withered trees in the distance collapsed with a roar amidst the tremors.

Su Long released his grip on the two men's hands, straightened up, turned around to face the strange, fleshy plant, and placed his hand on the gun handle at his waist.

Cold sweat trickled down his chin as his brain raced, calculating the best attack method.

He knew the power of "Sirius" better than anyone. Combined with the speed of "Deadly Rhythm" and the raging world-destroying fire, six bullets were enough to severely injure an ordinary B-grade monster.

But that's not enough when faced with this thing in front of you.

The main stem of this plant is buried deep underground, and its massive root system is like a huge net, constantly drawing in evil spirituality while simultaneously locking the rifts leading to the present world.

The penetrating wounds caused by a few bullets, or the localized burning from the world-destroying flames, are simply not enough to completely destroy it in an instant.

Unless it's a fatal blow, those disgusting fleshy stalks will regrow within seconds, supported by immense spiritual power.

Even more deadly are the eyes hanging on its leaves.

"Ring ring one"

The crisp sound of the bell continued to ring.

The lenses inside those eyeballs were pounding wildly, emitting wave after wave of mental pollution.

On the distant horizon, the footsteps of those enormous silhouettes sounded like vengeful ghosts, and with each landing, the entire land of this world trembled violently.

Those indescribable high-level monsters are rapidly approaching this place.

Perhaps, this plant in front of us is an extension of the power of one of them.

Just as Su Long was rapidly considering a solution, a trembling hand suddenly grabbed Su Long's left wrist.

Su Long suddenly lowered his head.

Elena knelt on the ground, her body swaying precariously from the continuous mental pollution. She didn't even have the strength to stand up, yet she clung tightly to Su Long's wrist.

She struggled to raise her other hand, her fingers stiff as she forcefully shoved a small black jar into Sulong's palm.

Sulong recognized the jar.

This is the equipment that Elena took out from the bottom of the explosion-proof box before setting off. At that time, she carefully placed this black canister in the most easily accessible position on her chest.

Throughout the journey, even when she encountered an A-level demon like Baphomet, she didn't touch this thing in the slightest.

Despite her extremely weak breath, Elena's tone was resolute: "Use—this."

Su Long grasped the black jar and touched the red mechanical switch on the top of the jar.

With a forceful flick.

"Click".

A crisp metallic snap clicked as the heavy, sealed lid of the jar popped open, revealing the contents inside.

The moment the sealed cap was opened, Su Long felt a stinging sensation pierce through the gas mask and act on his skin. He frowned and immediately activated his spiritual energy.

The God of War's state was still maintained. The red patches that had just appeared on his cheeks quickly faded away due to his abnormal regenerative ability, and his skin color returned to normal.

This thing is too eerie.

If an ordinary person were standing here, their facial cells would be completely destroyed the moment the lid is opened, and within a few hours their entire body would fester and turn into a pool of blood.

Sulong glanced down at the warning label on the inside of the jar lid.

The red background with black lettering features an extremely glaring nuclear radiation symbol in the center.

[Iridium-192 irradiated hand grenade.]

Upon seeing this line of text, Su Long immediately understood why Elena had never used it.

This is the secret weapon of the Weird Support Bureau – a single-soldier dirty bomb.

Su Long reached directly into the can and pulled out the heavy grenade.

The explosive charge at the core of this grenade was encased in a thick layer of dark gray metal.

That's a high concentration of the radioactive isotope iridium-192.

The metal casing was cut with a dense grid of pre-fabricated fragment grooves.

The design concept is simple and straightforward: simply pull out the pin, and the high explosive inside will detonate. The thick iridium-192 outer shell will then completely disintegrate along the pre-designed grooves, releasing thousands of radioactive fragments that will fly outwards at extremely high initial velocities.

Physical attacks are like tickling this bizarre flesh and blood that can regenerate and heal indefinitely.

Sulong recalled the last time he fought Baphomet, when the English archer Thorne used a radioactive metal arrow. Even such a small clump of arrow could cause serious damage and suppression to the A-level Baphomet.

Such a large grenade must be quite powerful.

Sulong gripped the grenade tightly, turned his head, and looked at Byron lying to the side.

"Byron! I'll count to three, two, one, and you'll use your blood to create another mirror like that, right in front of us. Can you do that?"

The explosive impact of the grenade alone would cause its destructive power to spread outwards in a spherical shape, meaning not only would the strange plant be unable to escape, but the others would also die.

Byron lay on the ground, struggling to open his bloodshot eyes.

His vision was blurry, but he could clearly see the dark gray grenade in Su Long's hand. He raised his right hand and made an "OK" sign in mid-air with trembling hands.

"Ring ring—ring ring!"

The eerie sound of the wind chimes grew increasingly rapid, with the frequency of the sound constantly rising.

Less than three meters ahead, the thick blood vessels wrapped around the main stem of the fleshy plant began to throb wildly, with dark green liquid flowing rapidly within them, making a loud rushing sound.

At the tip of the leaf, hundreds of lenses inside the eyeballs were frantically ramming against the thin wall of the eyeball, and even black mucus was seeping out from the corner of the eye.

Its massive root system churned violently underground, tightening the fleshy barrier that sealed the spatial rift, blocking all the gaps.

On the distant horizon, a multi-eyed monster as large as a mountain had fully revealed its form.

With each step it took, the dark red sky of the inner world trembled, and a violent hurricane carrying ash swept in.

There's no time left.

Su Long took a deep breath, gripped the metal pin of the grenade tightly with his left hand, and pulled it outwards sharply.

"Click."

The safety pin has come loose.

Su Long held the Iridium-192 grenade, which was starting to heat up rapidly, in one hand, his gaze fixed on the frantically shaking fleshy plant.

"3!"

'

2!

'

1!

'

Su Long suddenly swung his right hand forward.

The dark gray grenade flew out of his hand with a piercing whistling sound, heading straight for the main stem of the fleshy plant.

Just as the grenade was about to hit its target, Byron, who was lying on the back, mustered his strength and slammed his fist on the ground.

The wound on his left wrist burst open again, and a large amount of blood gushed out, rising rapidly in front of the three of them and forming a dark red blood mirror more than two meters high.

After doing all this, Byron rolled his eyes, collapsed completely onto the scorching hot earth, and lost consciousness.

The next moment, the grenade struck the main stem.

A blinding orange-red fireball suddenly expanded in the center of the fleshy plant, and then the fire was engulfed by another, more deadly light.

It was a pale, grayish-white light, followed by shimmering patches of pale blue ionized glow.

The radioactive isotopes were fully activated by the explosives, and the thick metal casing cracked along the pre-fabricated grooves.

Thousands of metal fragments, carrying extremely lethal radiation, were fired outwards in a frenzy.

The shrapnel in front pierced through the main stem of the flesh-and-blood plant without any obstruction.

The shrapnel that were trying to fly towards Su Long and his companions were instead struck solidly against the dark red blood mirror, their trajectories forcibly altered, and they were forced back into the plant.

This is equivalent to compressing 100% of the destructive power of this dirty bomb into a space of less than two meters.

The flesh-and-blood plant was struck head-on by the instantaneously exploding irradiated grenade; its roots began to melt violently the moment they came into contact with the radioactive fragments.

The intense radiation emitted by Iridium-192 directly destroyed its spiritual structure.

The main stems, pieced together from large chunks of bright red flesh, resembled fat soaked in acid, turning black, rotting, and peeling off in large patches.

The thick blood vessels wrapped around the surface of the main stem broke off inch by inch, and the dark green liquid was directly evaporated into a foul-smelling smoke under the ionization glow.

The hundreds and thousands of eyes hanging at the tips of the leaves lost all their vitality under the sweep of radiation.

The thin walls on the surface of the eyeballs quickly turned white and wrinkled, the internal lens stopped striking, and then, accompanied by a series of dense "poof" sounds, these eyeballs burst open one after another, exploding into clumps of blackish-yellow paste.

The chilling "ding-a-ling" sound of the wind chimes abruptly stopped.

The main stem of the flesh plant collapsed with a crash, turning into a pool of dead flesh emitting a cold light.

The massive root system that tightly enveloped the spatial rift also rapidly turned black and withered the moment the main stem died.

The thick roots withered and shrunken, falling off in patches like a tangled mess of rotten hemp.

The rift, shimmering with spatial turbulence, reappeared in Su Long's field of vision.

A way out has been opened.

Surong's eyes were bloodshot. Byron had collapsed while maintaining the barrier, and Elena was already exhausted.

Now, he's the only one who can still move.

On the horizon behind them, the high-ranking, eerie figure, as large as a mountain, let out an angry roar.

A terrifying spiritual pressure swept over, causing the land of the underworld to tremble violently beneath its footsteps.

Without any hesitation, Sulong bent down, grabbed Elena with his left hand, and held Byron tightly with his right.

He completely exhausted the last bit of strength granted by the [God of War] state, and the tearing sound of muscles unable to bear the strain came from his limbs and bones.

Dragging his two unconscious companions, he trudged through the melting, rotting flesh and black water, making his final sprint toward the crevice.

Three meters. Two meters. One meter.

The eerie pressure from the high-level cultivator had already reached Su Long's back. He could feel a chilling aura locking onto his body, and he couldn't stop!

He carried the two men and rammed them headfirst into the gap.

A strong feeling of weightlessness enveloped my entire body.

The surrounding temperature dropped sharply.

The viscous air of the Otherworld completely disappeared, replaced by the damp night breeze of Rattlesnake Lake in the present world.

Byron, Elena, and Suron fell heavily onto the gravel beach.

Su Long released his hands, lay back on the cold stone, and breathed in the earthy, fishy air.

They really came back alive!

We've returned to the world of the living!

Before Su Long could catch his breath, the roar of engines filled the sky.

Two Apache attack helicopters hovered low overhead, their blinding white searchlights crisscrossing and illuminating the rocky beach littered with eerie debris as bright as day.

On the outer armored defense line.

Upon seeing someone rush out of the crevice, two Bradley infantry fighting vehicles immediately roared out of the position and came to a steady stop less than five meters away from Sulong.

The side door of the infantry fighting vehicle popped open, and a squad of fully armed federal soldiers rushed down with rifles, quickly establishing a perimeter around the three.

Following closely behind were three fully armed military doctors.

They rushed over and quickly checked Elena and Byron's vital signs, then lifted the deeply unconscious Byron onto the armored vehicle.

Elena and Suron, who were still able to walk, were also helped into the same motorcade.

Inside the command vehicle behind the defensive line at this moment.

The officer looked at the three people who had been led into the danger zone through the screen, let out a long sigh, and then immediately grabbed the communicator.

"Sappers! Get out there! Plug that damn asshole right now!"

-

Two fully armed engineers, carrying reality stabilizers, ran quickly toward the spatial rift that was still flickering in mid-air.

They slammed the instrument heavily onto the gravel beach, turned on the power, and two beams of light shot from the front of the instrument, hitting the edge of the crack.

Under the forceful intervention of the stabilizer, the passage between the two realms began to shrink rapidly. The gap that could originally accommodate several people passing side by side was rapidly closing under the suppression of the blue light.

One meter, half a meter, ten centimeters.

The gap is getting smaller and smaller, and the dark red sky of the Si World is about to be completely isolated from the pool.

All the soldiers present breathed a sigh of relief, and their fingers, which had been gripping the triggers, loosened slightly.

However, at the very last moment before that crack was about to completely close.

An extremely faint sound drifted slowly into the real world through a crack no bigger than a fist.

Ring ring.

The noise from the helicopter propeller was so loud that it was completely ignored by everyone present.

An eyeball covered in dark red blood vessels rolled out from the crack that was about to close.

"Clatter".

His eyeballs fell into the shadows of the rocks on the gravel beach, his pupils rolled around in their sockets, and finally stared straight at the direction of Su Long in the distance.

Stepping out of the vehicle, Su Long leaned against the cabin wall, panting heavily. The effects of the [Divine] state were fading, and fatigue was washing over him.

Outside the vehicle, Lieutenant Dalton, who was leading the mission, patted the hatch to signal the driver that it was ready to start, and then pressed the communication button on the side of his helmet.

"Command center, this is Team A. The target's vital signs are stable. Prepare to evacuate."

The officer's voice came through with a crackling sound: "Well done, Lieutenant. And confirm the condition of that fissure."

Dalton turned around, his gaze passing over the eerie, charred remains scattered on the ground and landing in the air not far away.

The two reality stabilizers were operating at full power, their dark blue beams gripping the less than ten-centimeter-wide spatial gap, rapidly smoothing out the rules of the mortal realm.

Dalton stared at the crack and reported to his superior: "Both stabilizers are working normally. The crack is being filled and welded shut. It is expected to be completely welded shut within three minutes."

The officer issued a new order: "Lieutenant, take your men to inspect the surrounding area. Make sure there are no intruders from the Siji world. Even if you have to turn the well over, you must not leave any hidden dangers."

"clear."

Dalton picked up his M4A1 assault rifle, switched on the gun light switch, and the high-lumen beam swept across the gravel beach.

The surface of the well was covered with the shredded remains of skinners torn apart by machine gun fire, as well as the black pus of ghouls.

He carried his gun, stepping over spent cartridges and rubble, and walked step by step toward the area directly below the crevice.

A strange sensation came from under my feet, as if I had stepped into a lump of soft, fermenting, dead meat.

"Pfft."

A dull, muffled popping sound erupted from the sole of the boot.

Dalton stopped, moved his right foot away, and lowered the muzzle of his gun, the bright light shining on the well he had just stepped on.

Na Si lay with an eyeball that had been completely crushed by the pool, about the size of a fist, its sclera covered with thick, dark red blood vessels.

Because the boots crushed the outer thin wall, the viscous, blackish-yellow crystalline substance inside the eyeball, mixed with turbid fluid, flowed out through the cracks in the gravel, along with wisps of sweet-smelling white smoke.

Dalton frowned in disgust and muttered under his breath, "Oh shit."

"Whose unlucky eyes are these?"

Then he lifted his slime-covered boot, preparing to rub the clump of mud off on the huge rock beside him.

Just as he lifted his foot, a very faint cracking sound suddenly came from the flattened pieces of flesh in the pool.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of slender, hair-like, blood-red tendrils shot directly from the blackish-yellow sap.

The tips of these tendrils pierced directly through the sole of the shoe and slammed into the sole of Dalton's foot.

His body stiffened abruptly, and the blood-red tendrils began to proliferate wildly the instant they came into contact with the blood of the person in question, piercing upwards along the veins in Dalton's calf, crushing the leg bones and fascia along the way.

Large chunks of fabric were torn apart by the swelling flesh inside.

Dalton was held aloft by this terrifying force, his limbs twisting and twitching.

Thick, dark red roots gushed forth from his seven orifices, completely tearing his face apart.

The soldier's body was completely drained in just a few seconds, turning into fertile ground for the monster to grow.

Ultimately, it transforms into a withered human skin, hanging on those rapidly expanding branches, which are saturated with nutrients and intertwine and twist.

Finally, a plant that was three meters tall stood on the gravel beach.

The thick main body is made entirely of pulsating red muscle fibers, with dark green liquid flowing through the blood vessels wrapped around its surface.

At the ends of the broad, fleshy slices, countless eyeballs are being squeezed out from the viscous membrane.

Tick.

A drop of dark green liquid fell into the well.

On the outer defensive line, the spiritual detectors worn by all the soldiers on their waists activated simultaneously, and a continuous buzzing sound instantly resounded throughout the entire Rattlesnake Lake.

Behind the defensive line.

The instrument panels inside the command vehicle all turned red, and the blinding red alarm lights illuminated the cabin in a blood-red hue. Several instruments responsible for monitoring spiritual fluctuations overloaded, and several clusters of charred sparks burst from the panels.

The communications officer ripped off his headset and yelled at his officer, "Sir! Urgent message from Team A at the front! The bizarre invasion of the Siworld has been confirmed! Lieutenant Dalton is dead! Requesting fire support!"

The officer shoved aside the adjutant who was blocking his way and stared intently at the screen.

Those were real-time high-definition images transmitted by a small bird reconnaissance plane circling high in the sky.

In the center of the screen, there is only a bizarre, fleshy sapling.

The dense eyeballs hanging on the screen darted around randomly, and the distorted sense of incongruity, transmitted only through electrical signals, made everyone in the carriage feel extremely uncomfortable.

The officer grabbed the microphone.

"All vehicles on the surface, retreat immediately! Create distance! Lock it in the very center of the firing circle!"

"Transmit the coordinates to the rear artillery and flight formation! Blow that tree to ashes!"

As the order was given, the steel behemoths at the forefront of the defense line roared to life with their engines.

After a brief exchange, Wolverine No. 2, carrying Su Long and the other two, was the first to set off.

The driver slammed on the accelerator, the tracks churning up the gravel on the well surface, and with his injured neck, he was the first to quickly retreat to a safe area behind him.

Beside them, Wolverine No. 3 started a few steps later.

They placed the heavy vehicle body horizontally at the rear of Wolverine 2, forming a steel shield to provide fire cover for the retreating vehicle.

Once it was confirmed that Wolverine 2 had created some distance, Wolverine 3's engine began to supply power.

The next moment, the well surface below Wolverine No. 3 suddenly exploded without warning.

A cloud of rubble mixed with black mud rose into the sky.

More than a dozen blood-red roots, thicker than a thigh, broke through the soil at the bottom of the well and wrapped around the load-bearing wheels and tracks on both sides of the vehicle.

A piercing metallic cracking sound rang out as several roots squeezed into the gear gaps of the track. As the roots expanded, the alloy gear pools shattered.

More red roots spread upwards along the chassis of the vehicle, tightly gripping the armored shell.

Subsequently, the 30-ton Bradley scooter was lifted up by these roots, leaving the vehicle completely suspended in mid-air.

"We're stuck in the pool!"

"Chassis damaged! Power lost!"

Inside the infantry vehicle suspended in mid-air, the gunner maneuvered the turret to turn and aim at the strange plant.

"Fire!"