Chapter 50 Mutant Spider
After clearing the fourth neighborhood, the convoy, carrying the remaining thirty survivors, headed towards the final target in District D7—Hongchang Shopping Center.
The shopping mall resembled a crouching behemoth, its exterior walls mottled, most of its massive glass curtain walls shattered, revealing a deep, dark interior. A nauseating stench, a mixture of decay, blood, and some other strange, foul smell wafted from afar.
The convoy stopped in the plaza outside the shopping center. The scattered zombies wandering the plaza were quickly cleared away by the soldiers, but everyone's gaze was fixed solemnly on the wide-open main entrance, which was pitch black inside, as if leading to hell.
Zhou Min's face was deathly pale. She pressed her fingers hard against her temples, her voice trembling uncontrollably: "Inside... the energy reaction is extremely... extremely large! And very... viscous? There's an extremely powerful life signal in the central area, full of aggression! Around... around there are some weak, dying life reactions, like they're wrapped in something..."
The captain frowned, observing the entrance through his binoculars: "The situation inside is unclear, and it's not suitable for a large force to enter. Ruan Ning's team, you superhumans have keen senses and strong combat capabilities, so go ahead with the elite group I've selected to scout and establish a safe point. The main force will provide support from the outside."
"Understood." Ruan Ning nodded. She could also sense the dangerous aura emanating from inside, but the more dangerous it was, the more likely it was to contain high-value targets.
A fifteen-person reconnaissance team, consisting of Ruan Ning, Lin Yan, Zhou Min, a captain, and eleven elite soldiers, cautiously entered the shopping center.
The interior was dimly lit, with only scattered beams of light filtering through the broken dome. The pervasive stench was almost suffocating. And the sight before them sent chills down everyone's spines—
As far as the eye could see, the circular corridor from the first floor to the fourth floor was densely covered with countless huge, grayish-white cocoons! These cocoons were made of viscous white threads and varied in size. Some were shaped like humans, with the outline of a struggling creature vaguely visible. Others were larger and seemed to contain the corpses of zombies or even other mutated creatures! Some cocoons were still wriggling slightly, and extremely faint, chilling whimpers could be heard coming from inside.
"My God..." a soldier couldn't help but exclaim, his hand gripping his gun trembling slightly. This place was practically some kind of monster's slaughterhouse and granary!
"Stay alert!" the captain whispered, scanning the surroundings warily with his gun.
Just then, Zhou Min suddenly grabbed Ruan Ning's arm, her voice filled with extreme fear: "It's awake! Up there!"
Everyone looked up and saw a pair of enormous, eerily green eyes suddenly light up in the shadows of the shopping mall's dome! Immediately afterward, an enormous black shadow slowly descended!
It was a mutated spider the size of a small car! Its entire body was covered in a shiny, hard exoskeleton with bizarre patterns. Its eight bristly limbs resembled steel spears, and its mandibles opened and closed repeatedly, revealing fangs dripping with a viscous liquid. Its abdomen was swollen, clearly from a long feast, radiating an aura of despairing oppression!
"Fire!" the captain ordered without hesitation!
"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—!" Bullets rained down on the mutated spider, but most of them only sparked a string of sparks on its hard carapace, leaving shallow white marks, and could not cause any effective damage at all!
"Hiss—!" Enraged, the mutated spider let out a sharp hiss. Its massive body was surprisingly agile, and a white spider silk as thick as a wrist, shimmering with a metallic sheen, shot out from its abdomen like a javelin, instantly sticking to a soldier!
"Ah!" The soldier screamed as he was violently pulled off the ground by a tremendous force and dragged toward the spider's gaping maw!
"Save him!" Lin Yan roared, her battle axe whistling as it cleaved towards the spider silk! However, when the battle axe struck the spider silk, it produced a metallic clang, leaving only a shallow mark!
At the critical moment, Ruan Ning made a move!
"Water Whip - Strangulation!" With a flick of her right hand, a condensed blue water whip struck first, precisely wrapping around the soldier's waist and creating a stalemate with the tension of the spider silk! At the same time, she made a fist with her left hand, and water vapor in the air condensed wildly!
"High-pressure water cannon!" A concentrated jet of water blasted towards the spider's head! The spider seemed to sense the threat and suddenly tilted its head. The water cannon grazed its eyes and slammed into the wall behind it, blasting a large hole!
In pain, the spider released its web. Lin Yan seized the opportunity to pull the still-shaken soldier back.
"Its carapace is too hard! Ordinary attacks are ineffective!" The captain's face was grim.
"The eyes and joints might be weaknesses!" Zhou Min shouted, enduring her headache, while simultaneously unleashing another mental attack in an attempt to disrupt the spider's movements.
Enraged, the spider leaped from the dome, its massive body crashing down in front of the group, shaking the ground. It brandished its sharp, segmented limbs, sweeping towards them like a scythe of death! Simultaneously, it continuously sprayed out sticky webs, restricting their movement.
One soldier couldn't dodge in time and was slashed across the thigh by the tip of a segmented limb, instantly tearing his skin and drawing blood! Another was stuck in a spider web, unable to move, and was about to become the next cocoon!
The situation is extremely critical!
Ruan Ning's eyes were icy cold; she knew she couldn't hold back any longer!
"Lin Yan, cover me! Zhou Min, keep distracting it! Everyone else, spread out and draw its attention!" Ruan Ning gave the order in a very fast voice, while pushing her mental power and water-based abilities to the limit!
A thick layer of moisture began to emanate from her body, and the temperature in the air suddenly dropped!
"Ice Crystal Dust Storm!"
Countless tiny, shimmering ice crystals swept out from her center. Although they couldn't break through the spider's carapace, they successfully blocked its vision, and the extremely low temperature noticeably slowed its movements!
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ruan Ning stomped her feet on the ground and moved with lightning speed, rushing towards the side of the spider!
Sensing the threat, the spider thrust at her like a spear! Ruan Ning neither dodged nor evaded. The instant the limb touched her body, her body seemed to transform into an invisible stream of water, twisting and sliding away in a way that defied the laws of physics—Advanced Application of Water-Based Ability: Fluid Evasion!
At the same time, she flicked her fingers with both hands in quick succession!
"Waterline cutting!"
Ten hair-thin yet extremely concentrated, high-speed rotating water lines shot out like lasers, precisely targeting the joints of the two limbs on the same side of the spider!
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft..."
A sickening cutting sound rang out! The incredibly hard carapace at the joint was finally severed by the continuous, concentrated cutting action of the waterline!
"Hiss—!" The spider let out a shrill scream as its two legs on one side instantly lost their support, causing its massive body to tilt violently and fall to the ground!
"Now!" A fierce glint flashed in Ruan Ning's eyes as she condensed all her remaining mental energy into an invisible, incredibly sharp "mental thorn," which she stabbed fiercely into the spider's relatively vulnerable head and chest cavity, which were temporarily unprotected due to the intense pain and imbalance!
At the same time, she exhausted the last of her water-based superpowers, condensing them into a deep blue, constantly compressing and rotating "water spiral drill gun" in front of her! This was no longer a scattered attack, but rather a concentration of all destructive power into a single point!
"Break!"
With a sharp shout from Ruan Ning, the mental spike struck first, causing the spider to freeze for an extremely short time! The next second, the water spiral drill gun, carrying a spiraling force that could tear everything apart, drilled into the same spot where the mental spike had struck, just like a drill bit!
"puff--!"
Dark green, viscous liquid and shattered internal organs gushed out from the wound! The mutated spider's massive body convulsed violently a few times, its eerie green eyes gradually dimmed, and it finally lost all life.
The battle is over.
Ruan Ning's face was ashen, her body swayed slightly, and she was almost completely exhausted. The series of attacks just now, especially the final combination of mental and water-based abilities, had almost drained all her strength.
Lin Yan stepped forward to support her, her eyes filled with shock. Zhou Min also breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground. The soldiers looked at the enormous spider carcass, then at Ruan Ning, their eyes filled with awe.
The captain took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and said in a deep voice, "Clean up the battlefield, check those cocoons, see if there are any survivors... Comrade Ruan Ning, you all rest first."
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