America: The Cremator

Chapter 206 A-Rank Upper-Level Mysterious Devourer!

Su Long tried to adjust the walkie-talkie, but the communication channel remained silent.

Their communication with the outside world was completely cut off. Su Long looked at the three people behind him and made arrangements: "Everyone, turn on your tactical flashlights and find out where we are first."

The beams of four powerful flashlights tore through the darkness before us.

As the light swept across the area, the entire underground parking lot was revealed to everyone.

It's impossible to tell what it originally looked like from the outside.

The spacious underground space was completely destroyed. The load-bearing columns that were originally used to support the weight of the building collapsed on a large scale, and the steel bars burst out from the broken concrete and were twisted into strange shapes.

The gray-white walls were covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and dark red fleshy tentacles squeezed out from the depths of the cracks, hanging upside down in mid-air.

These tentacles, covered in mucus, slowly wriggled with the faint airflow, as the interior of the building was decaying and growing some kind of malignant tumor.

The road beneath their feet was uneven and filled with foul-smelling black water.

The scattered car wreckage was rusted, with the outer shell oxidized to the point that only a thin layer of iron remained.

Old, worn, and decaying – that’s the first impression a parking lot gives you these days.

Su Long walked over to a Ford sedan that was almost completely rusted and tapped the roof with his gloved fingers.

Click.

The roof of the car shattered into a pile of reddish-brown powder, which fell in a flurry.

Surong's expression darkened, and he turned to Rodney: "Things here are aging too fast. How long has it been? If even the steel plates are this brittle, can the physical structure of that safe house still hold up?"

Rodney stepped forward, examining the rusty wreckage by the light of his flashlight, and said calmly, "That's not something to worry about too much."

"The corrupt rules of the inner world are indeed devastating to ordinary physical materials, but they have no effect on high-purity silver and radioactive materials."

Rodney then continued, "When those three safe rooms were built, the main structural interlayer was filled with a sufficient amount of silver."

"As long as the silver interlayer is not forcibly torn apart by some strange force, the shell of the safe house will not have too much of a problem due to this kind of environmental erosion."

Upon hearing this, Su Long smiled slightly: "That would be for the best, otherwise we'd be scrambling for clothes and documents in a broth made by a bunch of government officials."

After saying that, he pulled the map out of the side pocket of his tactical vest and unfolded it, laying it flat on a relatively smooth piece of concrete.

The four people gathered around, their flashlight beams focusing on the blueprint.

Su Long's finger slid across the map, past several intricate underground lanes, finally stopping at an area heavily circled in red in the north.

"This is the stairwell leading to the underground parking lot, and the backup safety cabin on the basement level is right next to it."

Su Long looked up to confirm the direction and roughly judged the team's current location.

"We are currently near the south entrance. According to the scale of this map, that means we are about 400 meters away from the safe house."

Dania leaned closer for a look: "What's that big blob in the center? It looks like a building. Looks like we can't go straight there."

Su Long traced a zigzag line along a main road on the blueprint with his finger.

"Yes, so we have to follow the zigzag path along the edge."

"Go around the main driveway outside the basement. This is the widest road, so even if we encounter a large monster, we'll have enough room to fight."

Having confirmed the route, Sulong put away the map and tucked it back into his pocket.

It's time to set up the formation.

"Everyone, we're now entering combat mode." Su Long looked at the three of them and quickly gave the order.

"I'll lead the charge. I'll handle all the reconnaissance, obstacle breaching, and the first wave of direct fire. Whatever comes charging out from the front, I'll hold it off."

After finishing speaking, Su Long turned to look at Dania: "Dania, you're second in line."

Dania gripped the heavy-duty machete in her hand and nodded.

"If a firefight breaks out ahead, or something attacks from the flank, you must immediately use your close-combat advantage to help relieve the pressure on me."

Then Su Long emphasized his words.

"Most importantly, if the battle devolves into chaos, your primary task is to protect Hannah."

"Leave it to me," Dania agreed readily.

Surong shifted his gaze to Hannah, who was clutching the Bible tightly, and softened his tone.

"Hannah, you're in the third position."

"Your position is in the middle of the team, giving you the best view. You are responsible for keeping an eye on the team's movements from the front and back."

"If anything strange approaches, you need to immediately enchant and enhance the weapon given to us by the Holy Light, and immediately activate the Holy Light Shield."

He looked into Hannah's eyes: "Don't be nervous, the team needs your abilities."

Hannah took a deep breath and nodded heavily.

Finally, Suron looked at Rodney, who was standing at the end of the line, with a solemn expression.

"Mr. Rodney, in this enclosed underground space, the back of the line is actually the most dangerous spot."

"This position is vulnerable to attacks from behind, but it is also the only point where you can observe and keep track of the entire squad's movements."

"So, I'll leave the rear guard position to you."

Rodney said calmly, "Make reasonable arrangements and go ahead with it, Mr. Suron. Leave the team's back to me."

The formation has been finalized.

Su Long turned around, hung the tactical flashlight on his shoulder strap, and pointed the beam straight at the dark road ahead.

"Let's get going. Hopefully, we won't encounter any major trouble along the way."

The four maintained a tight formation, treading on the uneven ground, and advanced deeper into the building.

The tactical boots made a slight slapping sound as they stepped on the puddles and debris.

It was so quiet that you could hear nothing but their footsteps and breathing.

Even the fleshy tentacles hanging upside down in mid-air were just wriggling, showing no inclination to attack.

Su Long walked at the front, scanning the area illuminated by the beam of light.

The flashlight beam swept across the collapsed support columns and rusted car wreckage, trying to catch anything unusual.

As they went deeper, the environment in the underground passageway became even more challenging.

The water on the ground grew darker and darker, and the stench emanating from it could be smelled even through a gas mask.

An unsettling sense of oppression permeated the air, as if the entire space was slowly squeezing inward.

Suddenly, Su Long stopped in his tracks, abruptly raised his left hand, and clenched his fist.

The three people behind them froze instantly. Dania immediately picked up her machete, Hannah opened her Bible, and Rodney turned around, wary of what was behind him.

"What's wrong?" Dania asked in a low voice.

Su Long did not answer, but simply shone the beam of his flashlight into a shadowy area a dozen meters ahead.

It was an overturned van, the cargo box of which was severely twisted.

A pool of red, transparent, viscous liquid was slowly seeping out from the gap in the truck's rear door.

Sulong, carrying Sirius, slowly approached.

As the distance closed, the beam of the tactical flashlight clearly illuminated the pile of things.

Several sets of dark blue uniforms covered in red, transparent slime were the uniforms worn by the building's security personnel.

There was no corpse inside the clothes—no bones, no blood, nothing at all.

It was as if these people were completely drained in an instant, leaving only an empty uniform that was expelled.

Sulong used the tip of his boot to pick up a uniform.

The inside of the uniform was covered with fine holes, which showed signs of corrosion and charring.

Su Long immediately made a judgment: "These people have been digested. Everyone be careful. The things in this building eat very roughly."

Dania walked over to him and glanced at the uniform on the ground: "Not even bone fragments are left. That's quite an appetite. Those trapped employees probably won't last long."

Su Long continued walking forward: "Then we need to speed things up."

"If you go too late, you might not even get to drink the government officials' soup."

The team continued its advance through the dark underground tunnels.

The beam of the flashlight swept back and forth, and the deeper you went, the greater the density of wrecked cars became.

Without exception, these vehicles were severely corroded, with peeling paint and sheet metal as thin as paper. Even the slightest breeze would cause large patches of reddish-brown rust to fall off.

Su Long took the lead, his eyes quickly searching through the wreckage.

The interiors of most of the carriages were empty, and even the foam on the seats had rotted into a layer of dust.

But occasionally, when the beam of light swept across some driver's seats or back seats, one or two sets of clothes could be seen melting into the road.

These clothes had completely lost their original shape, clinging limply to the sheet metal, their surface covered with a layer of translucent, blood-red slime.

Looking at the slime, Su Long lowered his voice and reminded the team, "Watch your step, everyone, try to avoid that slime."

.

They continued on, skirting several piles of rubble formed by collapsed load-bearing pillars.

There is a right-angle turn in the lane ahead.

Su Long mentally compared the building plans he had seen before and said, "After turning that corner, we'll be about halfway there. The safe house is about 150 meters away, which is very close."

After rounding the corner, the scene before the four of them changed dramatically.

The hanging, fleshy tentacles were no longer overhead, and the water on the ground had decreased significantly. Instead, the pungent, sour smell in the air had become even stronger.

Su Long stopped, his flashlight beam fixed on the ground directly in front of him.

In the middle of the wide driveway, there were five groups of people dressed in black.

With the help of the bright light, the four of them could see what it was.

Those were five complete sets of standard equipment for special forces members.

Rodney recognized the tactical patch on the equipment, which read FDRF, indicating that these were special operations members belonging to the Federal Disaster Response Force.

"It seems that these five must be the advance team members who came in earlier."

The group cautiously stepped forward.

The five sets of equipment were scattered on the ground, but there was no damage to their surfaces, and the magazines and projectiles hanging on them showed no signs of use.

But the owner of the equipment has disappeared.

Just like what I saw in the car before, the inside of these thick bulletproof vests was filled with that dark red viscous liquid.

These viscous fluids flowed slowly through the clothing fibers, constantly producing tiny bubbles.

The human body had completely turned into this pool of blood-red, viscous liquid.

Wearing a gas mask, Sulong crouched down, drew his "Sirius" from his waist, and used the barrel to pry open one of his tactical vests.

Beneath the vest, there was a fully equipped MCX assault rifle.

Sulong reached out and gripped the barrel, lifting the rifle up.

The gun's surface was very clean, with no signs of damage from external forces.

He pressed the latch with his left thumb, and with a click, removed the magazine.

The magazine was heavy, filled to the brim with silver bullets.

Su Long pushed the magazine back into the chamber, stood up, looked at the three people behind him, and analyzed the situation: "The magazine of this gun is full, and there are no spent shell casings around, which means that this advance team has no chance to fire."

"So, without warning or any combat, this entire squad was suddenly wiped out?"

Upon hearing Su Long's conclusion, Rodney stepped forward and carefully examined the scattered pieces of equipment on the ground, quickly discerning some clues.

He pointed to the equipment on the ground and said his opinion: "There was definitely no fighting, and they should have been searching at the time, judging from where they were standing when they died."

"This is a very standard indoor search formation, with forwards, flank screeners, and rear guards. The roles of the five players should be very clear, and the formation shows no signs of falling apart."

Rodney's expression then turned serious as he continued his analysis: "If they were to encounter a frontal attack, their formation would inevitably become chaotic or shrink due to their survival instincts."

"But the reality is that these five people didn't even have time to react. They were instantly melted in place while maintaining their formation and advancing."

Dania, carrying the machete in one hand, looked around at the empty, dark underground parking lot.

She frowned, somewhat puzzled: "That's very strange. No shots were fired, no resistance was offered, and the formation wasn't even disrupted."

"So, from which direction did this attack come? What kind of monster could so silently swallow up a fully armed special forces team, skin and bones, in an instant?"

Just then.

Hannah, who had been walking in the middle of the group and always on high alert, suddenly looked up and shouted.

"Be careful!"

Before she finished speaking, Hannah abruptly flipped open the Bible she had been holding.

A dazzling holy light burst forth from the pages of the book, instantly erecting a hemispherical golden barrier above the four people's heads.

At the same time that the barrier was formed.

In the deathly darkness above, a large glob of scarlet liquid, carrying a strong smell of blood and decay, poured down.

"boom!"

The crimson liquid slammed against the golden barrier, and a series of piercing corrosive sounds rang out.

Sizzle sizzle—

Large plumes of white smoke exploded above the barrier, and a pungent odor penetrated the gas masks and entered the nasal cavities of everyone.

Hannah gritted her teeth, her hands cradling the Bible, her arms trembling under the weight.

The once dazzling golden barrier dimmed at a visible speed under the corrosive effect of this liquid.

The golden light was quickly worn away, and fine spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the surface, emitting a crisp cracking sound.

Su Long's expression changed drastically as he looked at the precariously crumbling barrier above him.

He knew Hannah's defensive capabilities all too well.

As a high-ranking sacred object, this Bible emits a holy light that possesses extremely strong exclusivity and defensive power.

Previously on the Trial Island, this barrier was able to withstand the onslaught of hordes of wretched corpses for a period of time.

More importantly, just a few days ago, this relic was enhanced by Kurt, and its defensive capabilities have already undergone a qualitative leap.

But now, it's just a fleeting glance.

This reinforced barrier of holy light was actually on the verge of collapsing under the erosion of the liquid.

Whatever the source of this attack, it's definitely not simple!

"I can't hold on any longer!" Hannah cried out, the light of the Bible already fading to its lowest point.

The crack widened instantly, and the barrier was about to shatter completely.

Surong's gaze locked onto the area above his head covered in crimson. Since the defenses couldn't hold, he would destroy it completely.

The "Ruler" entry is fully activated.

High-pressure airflow and pure spiritual energy fused wildly between his brows, forming a highly destructive spiral vortex.

The surrounding air whistled sharply under the pull of this force.

"break!"

Su Long roared.

A terrifying shockwave shot out from between his eyebrows, piercing through the shattering holy light barrier and slamming into the crimson slime pressing down on his head.

A violent impact erupted instantly, blowing the huge mass of viscous liquid away.

"Scatter! Find cover!"

As Su Longli shouted, his body quickly slid several meters to the side and back.

Dania reacted quickly behind her, holding the machete in one hand and grabbing Hannah's arm with the other, and quickly retreated several steps.

Rodney gracefully stepped back a few paces, holding the long-handled black umbrella in his hand, ready to open it at any moment.

At the same time, some of the liquid that had just been hit head-on by Su Long was blown backward and smashed into the dark depths of the ceiling.

Immediately, a corrosive sound came from above, accompanied by a dull wriggling sound.

Sulong pointed the tactical flashlight hanging on his shoulder strap directly upwards, followed by three other beams of light, exposing the creature hidden in the ceiling to everyone's view.

Even the most experienced exorcists, upon seeing the full form of that thing, couldn't help but catch their breath, a wave of nausea rising in their throats.

It was an extremely obese, humanoid, deformed monster.

It has no skin structure at all, and its scarlet muscles are exposed to the air without any cover.

The surface of the muscle was densely covered with yellowish-brown pustules, each about the size of a fist, filled with murky fluid, and constantly contracting with its breathing.

Its head is unusually large, taking up almost a third of its entire body.

A gigantic mouth, torn to the roots of the ears, was wide open, its interior filled with layers of barbed, shark-like teeth, from which thick, red liquid dripped continuously.

The monster's lower body didn't exist at all; the part below the waist seemed to have been forcibly embedded into the concrete ceiling by some enormous force.

A few clumps of the red slime that had just been blown away by Su Long landed right on its own cheeks and large shoulders.

This highly corrosive liquid showed no mercy, rapidly dissolving its muscles, causing large plumes of white smoke to billow out, revealing the pale bones beneath.

The monster writhed violently in pain, its massive body struggling wildly against the ceiling, causing concrete debris to fall from the surrounding area.

Its enormous, exaggerated mouth suddenly opened, and it let out a piercing roar from its leaky throat.

"Hungry—I'm so hungry!"

Immediately afterwards, the exposed muscles in its abdomen contracted violently, and a large gush of fresh, reddish-brown mucus gushed out from deep in its throat like a small waterfall, crashing heavily into the center of the driveway.

The thick floor was burned through, exposing the underground pipes beneath, and a large amount of black water poured in through the hole.

Sulong drew "Sirius" directly from his waist, the dark muzzle pointing directly at the giant mouth above that was still dripping with slime.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a gloved hand reached out from the side and landed steadily on Su Long's arm.

It's Rodney.

"Wait a minute, Mr. Suron." Rodney's eyes were fixed on the writhing lump of flesh above.

"There's something wrong with the spiritual structure of this thing."

Rodney pointed to the monster's half-body embedded in the floorboards and quickly explained, "Look at where it connects to the ceiling; those thick blood vessels and fleshy growths have completely taken root inside the building."

"Based on my experience, the exposed half of its body is merely an external organ used for feeding."

O

"If you don't completely burn away the roots hidden inside the ceiling, even if you blow its head and body to pieces with a single shot, it can grow a new one in a very short time."

Rodney withdrew his hand and looked at Suron: "The most troublesome thing about this kind of flesh-and-blood monster with extremely strong regenerative rules is eradication. We need to pinpoint its core location, or—"

"It's not that complicated."

Suron interrupted Rodney's tactical analysis, raised the muzzle of "Sirius" again, and locked onto the monster through the lens of his gas mask, his tone resolute.

"Ultimately, as long as that part of the ceiling is blown away along with it, everything will be fine, right?"

Before the words were even finished, the "One Hammer Decides the Out" skill was triggered.

The spiritual energy within Sulong surged wildly into the revolver in his hand.

Six pure, world-destroying flames rapidly converged within Sirius's magazine, forcibly compressing and locking all destructive power inside the chamber.

The surrounding air began to distort violently due to the highly concentrated energy field, emitting a buzzing sound.

The enormous monster overhead seemed to sense the deadly danger. It stopped roaring, opened its massive, serrated mouth, and tried to retract its obese body back into the ceiling.

late.

Sulong pulled the trigger.

"boom--!

""

A loud bang resounded.

A dazzling column of dark red fire shot out from the muzzle.

The bullet disintegrated the moment it left the barrel, transforming into a fireball that blasted deep into the monster's massive maw.

Faced with the world-destroying flames, the monster's enormous body was instantly vaporized by the extreme heat.

The powerful air pressure generated by the explosion created a shockwave that swept across the entire underground passageway.

A strong gust of wind made Suron's clothes flutter wildly, Dania's golden hair danced wildly in the wind, Hannah hugged the Bible tightly and closed her eyes, while Rodney turned his head slightly to avoid the oncoming stench.

The flames quickly died down, and the underground passageway was plunged back into darkness.

The beams of the four tactical flashlights immediately converged back to the position above.

The ceiling where the monster had been lurking now had a charred, deep hole more than three meters in diameter.

This deep hole runs directly through the entire thick floor structure, and you can even vaguely see the faint light from the space above.

The steel bars and concrete at the edges were directly melted by the extreme high temperature into glassy crystals, emitting a dark red residual heat in the darkness.

The inside of the cave entrance was clean and tidy.

The so-called regenerated root system, along with the entire load-bearing floor slab, was burned to ashes by that shot.

"Done."

Su Long casually flicked the Sirius, and the dark red light on the gun gradually disappeared. He skillfully flicked it with his thumb, and the cylinder was launched, a burst of heat escaping with a soft "hissing" sound.

Rodney lowered his arm from in front of him, looked up at the huge hole whose edges were still red, then turned his head and stared at Suron.

As an exorcist who had seen many big scenes, Rodney knew exactly how powerful that attack was.

The sheer force of destroying everything with violence is far more powerful than any fancy, secret techniques.

Sulong lowered the muzzle of Sirius's gun, the hot barrel emitting white smoke.

The next moment, several lines of text appeared on his retina.

[Burning the branches and roots of the "Great Devourer" grants 10 experience points.]

Su Long stared at the line of text, pausing for a moment.

I only got ten experience points, and most importantly, there was no notification of any new terms appearing.

This is not normal.

Over the past six months, he has used the system to burn all sorts of corpses and monsters. No matter what level of strangeness they are, as long as the system determines that they are newly emerging variants or new monsters, a basic entry will be provided after the first burning.

But this monster, capable of swallowing an entire task force whole, was burned to ashes by him, yet the system only gave him a pittance of experience points.

Su Long's gaze returned to the four words on the prompt panel: Branching Roots.

Analyzing the literal meaning, the monster he just killed could not be considered an independent entity at all.

It's not even a bizarre "clone"; it's more like an external organ.

But Su Long's previous experiences immediately flashed through his mind.

When he burned the clone of the B-level demon Valak, the system explicitly provided a specific entry.

Even when he only burned a small part of the monster, the system would still calculate the reward.

Why wasn't an entry provided this time?

Su Long began to think.

The underlying logic of the system's judgment should not change rashly. If no entry is provided, it can only prove one thing.

The section of ceiling that was just burned down, along with that pile of fleshy growths, represents a surprisingly small proportion of the entity known as the "Great Devourer," to the point that it's impossible to extract the relevant information.

Sulong immediately thought of the file about the "Black Goat Cub of the Forest" that he had seen in Stella's archives last night.

The fifty-meter-tall behemoth that forced the US military to bombard the shores of Rattlesnake Lake with two tactical bombs was merely a cell that had fallen from the mother body.

Now, is the bizarre situation where the entire Jackson Federal Building is occupied and more than 1,700 government officials are trapped inside like canned food being eaten, perhaps something similar?

The colorful, shimmering black mud covering the exterior of this building, along with the ubiquitous fleshy tentacles and acidic slime in this basement, are all "capillaries" that have extended in from some terrifying monster.

"Well done, my commander."

A hand patted heavily on Su Long's shoulder, interrupting his thoughts.

Dania walked over to him, carrying the machete. She glanced up at the charred hole, then at Sulong's stiff posture, and asked, "What's wrong? What are you thinking about? You look so pale."

Su Long closed the system panel, turned around, glanced at the team members, and began to speak about the information he had just learned through the system.

After all, in places like this, sharing intelligence is essential for survival.

"Everyone, I have some bad news. While I was burning that thing just now, I used some unique channels to find out who the real person behind it is."

"The Great Devourer".

Su Long uttered the name, his gaze fixed on the three people present.

"Does anyone know anything about this thing?"

Dania's smile faded slightly. She frowned, searching her mind for her family's intelligence network, then shook her head.

Hannah was equally bewildered; there was clearly no record of this name in the cathedral's exorcism records.

But Rodney Campbell, standing at the very back of the line, changed his expression.

The exorcist, who always maintained a gentlemanly demeanor, began to twitch violently at the corner of his eye, and his composure vanished completely.

Rodney strode forward, his voice low and filled with extreme tension.

"Are you sure, Mr. Suron? Are you sure you're the Great Devourer? That title isn't something to be taken lightly."

Seeing his reaction, Su Long knew he had figured it out.

"I'm absolutely certain because I personally possess some special abilities to analyze the origins of monsters. The results of tracing the monster's spiritual origins are very clear, pointing directly to the Great Devourer."

Upon hearing this affirmative answer, Rodney took a deep breath and turned to look at the fleshy tentacles that were still slowly writhing around him.

"If it really is that, then our current situation is quite dire."

Rodney stopped hiding it and began sharing background information about the monster with the team members.

"The 'Great Devourer' is rated as a top-tier A-level anomaly, but its actual danger level far exceeds what can be measured by A-level alone."

"Because it is one of the core contracted demons under the command of the S-class eerie Mammon."

Upon hearing the name, Hannah clutched her Bible tightly: "Mammon? That ancient demon who represents greed, one of the seven deadly sins?"

Rodney nodded and continued, "But the Great Devourer didn't originally belong to Mammon. It was originally a minion of Beelzebub, another S-class demon who represents Gluttony."

Dania leaned against an abandoned car nearby, somewhat curious: "From Gluttony to Greed?"

Rodney said in a low voice, "This isn't as simple as just changing jobs. This monster possesses extremely pure rules of devouring and digesting."

"Back when it was under Beelzebub's command, it directly stole part of Beelzebub's original power as an S-class demon, and then took this stolen power and defected to Mammon's territory."

"Mammon not only accepted it, but also restored its power with the power of greed, and formally bestowed upon it the name Great Devourer."

Rodney looked at the concrete pavement beneath his feet, which had been corroded by acid and left large pits.

"So what we just saw wasn't it at all; it was just one of the tens of thousands of mouths it used to eat."

Su Long listened to this story.

It possesses some of the digestive abilities of "binge eating," yet has been reshaped by the rules of "greed."

With these two extremely negative spiritualities mixed together, it's no wonder this guy would choose a place like the IRS as his target.

The largest amount of wealth in the United States flows through here every day; it is the most concentrated breeding ground for greed.

Those ordinary people who were driven to desperation by tax issues left behind endless resentment in this place.

The Great Devourer dragged this building into the Otherworld just to have a top-notch buffet.

Rodney continued, "According to the family archives, the S-class demon Mammon has appeared in the human world three times in history."

"But during these three descents, Mammon himself did not lift a finger, nor did he directly cause any casualties among ordinary people."

Dania was somewhat skeptical: "An S-class anomaly descends and doesn't kill? Is it here for a visit to the mortal world?"

"Mammon only took away a lot of wealth and life expectancy." Rodney's eyes became extremely serious.

"Those three descents, although Mammon did not directly kill anyone, caused the deaths of approximately 100,000 people in each area he visited."

"And these 300,000 lives were all swallowed up piece by piece by the 'Great Devourer,' which acted as the vanguard."

"The Great Devourer is like Mammon's stomach, clearing away all obstacles for its master in advance and converting the flesh and blood it devours into the enormous energy needed for its descent."

The team in the underground parking lot fell silent.

Suron's fingers rubbed against Sirius's gun.

He looked at the location of the underground safe house marked on the map; it was less than a hundred meters away from them.

The two previously fully-staffed task forces were turned into two pools of blood before they even had a chance to fire a shot.

What they now know is that the giant devourer's esophagus has taken root in the building.

Dania looked at Suron.

"Commander, if this building really is the giant devourer's meal, then the safe room we need to rescue—"

Su Long shone the beam of his tactical flashlight into the deepest part of the lane, and within the beam, a heavy, pure silver blast door was faintly visible.

"Let's go." Suron gripped the gun handle tightly.

Behind that door, how many living people are left, or whether it has become a feeding trough for captive animals, can only be known by pushing open the door.

>