Chapter 212 - 211: It Got Away

Chapter 212: Chapter 211: It Got Away

Feng Ling pulled out her phone to call Han Xu. "You have people watching outside the Nanhai Temple Subway Station, right?"

"Duan Fei and the Special Attack Team are handling that area," Han Xu replied.

Duan Fei was the Deputy Captain of the Inspection Team. After a month of fieldwork under Han Xu, he was now able to stand on his own.

"The Alien Species is heading that way," Feng Ling said. "Tell them to be on high alert and avoid being parasitized."

Hearing this, Han Xu frowned. "The snipers are ready. What’s your current position? I’ll warn them not to hit you by mistake."

"Don’t worry, regular bullets can’t hurt me," Feng Ling said, joking as she chased the giant insect ahead of her. "I’ll be fine as long as you don’t hit me with a rocket launcher."

Han Xu laughed too, though his laugh was tinged with a hint of resignation. "There are natural gas pipelines nearby. It’s not a suitable environment for rocket launchers."

Hunting an Alien Species or a Pollution Body in a densely populated urban area was always a restrictive affair. The slightest misstep could cause collateral damage.

The lives and property of the public must always be the top priority.

’Next time, if I can kill it on the spot, I will,’ Feng Ling thought. ’Chasing it down is too much of a pain.’

She put away her sopping wet phone and resumed her pursuit of the large black insect ahead.

The insect looked enormous and cumbersome, yet its crawling speed was surprisingly fast. Feng Ling chased for a good while but couldn’t seem to close the distance between them.

—No, perhaps it wasn’t that her quarry was too fast, but that she was too slow.

The thought made her chest tighten in frustration.

Li Qing had previously recommended the Card Goblin to her, saying that goblins excelled at shooting and throwing, which could compensate for her weaknesses. But she’d dismissed them as too weak and passed on the offer.

Now, she was feeling the sting of that decision!

’In a situation like this, unable to catch her target, a ranged throwing or shooting attack would have been the perfect solution, wouldn’t it?’

Sigh!

Ahead, the floodwaters grew shallower, and the station platform began to emerge from the surface.

The black insect, like a giant, legged loach, scrambled onto the platform and scurried frantically toward the exit stairs!

Feng Ling exhaled, sank her Teeth and Claws into the concrete slab above, and with all her might, swung her body forward!

Her body arced through the air. At the peak of her trajectory, she swung her Bone Blade down in a powerful cleave!

CLANG!—

The metal-hard Bone Blade struck the steps, carving out a deep gash.

She missed again!

A wave of irritation washed over Feng Ling. Suppressing her rage, she looked up just in time to see the enormous black insect, having already scaled the stairs, shoot away as slick as a bar of soap!

At the same time, a volley of intense gunfire erupted from outside the station!

Feng Ling sprinted up the stairs, her expression grim.

The prolonged chase had exhausted her patience. All she wanted now was a swift end to this—to kill the target as quickly as possible!

She burst out of the station entrance and saw countless bullet holes peppering the black insect’s body. Yet not a single drop of blood was spilled—only black pus and innumerable threadworms gushed out!

There was only one person outside the subway station.

He was completely encased in a hazmat suit, wielding a Flame Sprayer and blasting a dragon-like torrent of fire at the giant black insect!

To prevent his team members from being parasitized, Han Xu had only authorized them to engage the Alien Species with sniper fire from a distance. That was why only the more battle-hardened Deputy Captain was stationed at the entrance.

The Flame Sprayer was clearly effective. The areas it burned were charred black, and no threadworms emerged from them.

The downside, however, was the proximity to the black insect, and the hazmat suit severely hampered his movements, including running.

The black insect shrieked in pain. Spitting viscous fluid from its large, catfish-like mouth, it reared up its upper body and lunged down at the Deputy Captain!

The Deputy Captain lowered the sprayer and turned to run, but he was half a step too slow. The giant insect slammed down, pinning his legs!

Feng Ling reached the insect’s tail and, to vent her frustration, hacked at it twice before unleashing her Spiritual Suppression!

The effect, however, was minimal. The black insect continued to squirm forward, attempting to swallow the Deputy Captain whole.

Feng Ling sprinted to the insect’s head. Two of her Teeth and Claws shot out, clamped onto the Deputy Captain’s arms, and yanked him free, tossing him behind her!

The man inside the hazmat suit cried out in pain as he collided with something unseen.

Feng Ling paid him no mind. Four of her Teeth and Claws viciously clamped onto the black insect’s lower jaw, pinning its head down like a rake and giving it no chance to reverse its position!

Two Bone Blades sheared off its upper jaw without mercy!

Six cone spikes rose high like straight spears and pierced through the insect’s body from different directions!

She knew the Gu Insect Master was hidden within the black insect’s body. If she could just kill the boy, the insect would die with him!

The black insect struggled violently, its tail thrashing about and slamming against the ground, sending tremors through the concrete!

Seeing that it refused to die, Feng Ling’s rage flared. If six holes weren’t enough, then she would just make six more!

The cone spikes retracted and stabbed again! More and more holes appeared as she struck faster and faster!

’Just die already! Die!’

’Why won’t you die?!’

’How have I stabbed it so many times without hitting the Gu Insect Master?’

’Could the Alien Species and this insect have fused into a single entity?’

The black insect’s struggles gradually weakened. Its body, riddled with holes, went limp and collapsed on the ground like a reeking mountain of mud.

Innumerable black threadworms poured out of the mud-like mountain, writhing and crawling over one another as they all, without exception, moved toward Feng Ling.

Feng Ling spun around, picked up the Flame Sprayer from the ground, and unleashed a furious torrent upon the worms.

The worms instantly shriveled and hardened under the tongues of flame, turning to black ash.

Feng Ling walked as she sprayed, circling the massive insect until the sprayer couldn’t produce so much as a single spark before she finally stopped.

Powerful as the weapon was, its endurance was terrible. A single fuel canister lasted less than a minute.

Feng Ling tossed the sprayer aside and kicked at the insect’s scorched, hardened carapace. The inside was cooked through, wisps of steam rising from it.

Still, there was no sign of the Gu Insect Master—not even so much as a finger.

The Deputy Captain in the hazmat suit came jogging over with a limp. "Is it dead?" he asked Feng Ling.

Feng Ling’s face was grim. Without a word, she kicked the corpse a few more times. Pieces of the charcoal-like shell crumbled away, revealing nothing but indistinct chunks of flesh inside.

She turned to face the subway station entrance and closed her eyes, searching for the trail she had marked. Sure enough, she found a wisp of red mist emerging from the entrance. Unlike the Insect King’s path, this trail passed through the sheet-metal fencing and the greenbelt, heading in a different direction.

"The Insect King is dead, but the Alien Species got away," Feng Ling said, pointing toward the end of the red mist’s trail. She turned to the Deputy Captain. "Are there any noteworthy locations in that direction?"

Duan Fei paused. "That way? That’s... Nanhai Pier."

"Damn it!" Feng Ling cursed under her breath and sprinted toward a patrol car parked on the roadside. "I’m borrowing your car!"

"Huh? Wh—?!" Duan Fei watched, dumbfounded, as the patrol car sped off. He looked from the departing car to the charred insect corpse beside him, his mind in a whirl.

He fumbled for his phone and called Han Xu. "The Alien Species escaped! Feng Ling’s chasing it toward the pier!"

"You go too!" Han Xu said immediately. "I’m notifying the marine patrol to head over right now!"

"Don’t forget to call in the Cleaner Fish!" Duan Fei shouted back, already running toward another patrol car.