Chapter 29 Disaster Knight
The gunman, faceless, wore a mud mask. His torso was pierced by a bullet, and within the wound, no flesh or blood could be seen, only a few broken pieces of wood. Chu Hengkong crouched down and lifted his camouflage uniform. Beneath it lay a hollow frame made of twisted wood and wire. The assassin of Grandma Sangjia was a crudely crafted puppet.
Beneath the mud mask, the gunman's head is a ball made of rubber and iron sheets. The creator, with a sense of humor, even painted a funny smiley face on it. Since a gun can't be used with just wood and wire, the puppet's arms are meticulously crafted. The white porcelain-bottomed prosthetic hands rely on ball joints to achieve flexible movements, moving almost like real hands.
The gunman wasn't even human, no wonder I hadn't sensed the killing intent before. Chu Hengkong searched the puppet carefully but couldn't find anything resembling a transmitter or silk thread.
Using a puppet as a killer always requires a medium. Could it be that an AI from another world can run on such a simple frame? Or...
What's attached to this puppet?
·
"Interim report, I failed. The target was more difficult than the intelligence described, and the puppet didn't last more than half a minute."
"As expected of a Chief Inspector," the man on the other end of the line exclaimed. "What is Chu Hengkong doing now?"
"I need to carefully destroy the puppet. I can't possess it a second time." The sniper paused and added, "Its tentacles are strange. They seem real but they're not."
"He's got a plan and a secret. It's probably wise to test him." The man pondered for a moment. "Let's retreat first, Bethan. We'll find another opportunity to retrieve the puppet later. It's never good to leave evidence behind."
"I'll take another look," Bethan said. It drifted with the wind to a dead tree, observing the settlement's movements from afar. A single puppet was insignificant, but what followed was worth its attention.
It really wants to know whether this fledgling "skillful hand" can defeat an old-fashioned "cornerstone" and twenty-one "glimmers"?
·
Chu Hengkong gave the puppet's head a final kick, crushing it into pieces.
The battle with Tina and the dog had only just happened. In a world with spirits and demons, possession was no joke. Therefore, he carefully destroyed the puppet's head and limbs to prevent any minor resurrection tricks.
During this process, fearful glances were cast from behind the windows. The sonic boom had alerted people to the battle in the settlement, but they hadn't seen the details, only the sight of men torturing a broken "corpse," and naturally they were terrified.
Chu Hengkong also noticed this. He held up his ID with his tentacles to prove his identity to everyone: "I am Senior Inspector Chu Hengkong, currently pursuing a dangerous suspect... Everyone, please close your doors and windows and stay indoors!"
Chu Hengkong suddenly raised his voice mid-sentence. The menacing aura of the announcement caused the swamp dwellers to immediately draw their curtains and tremble in the darkness. He had no interest in frightening the civilians; his threats were a warning because he sensed something was amiss. The swamp was dimly lit, and even if there had been a commotion, the residents wouldn't have found him so quickly. People could see Chu Hengkong because light seeped into the surroundings.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. A thick, bubbling sound echoed, and patches of light appeared in front and behind the cabin. Chu Hengkong's alert heightened. He'd expected to see glowing corpses, but the new enemies weren't even human. Balls of mud surged from the swamp, and the spots of light clung to the half-man-high clumps, transforming into a foul army that surrounded him.
There were twenty of these glowing mud corpses, their movements resembling those of small insects, as they scurried across the moist swamp. Chu Hengkong bent his knees and crouched, transforming his tentacles into long whips and lashing out, severing ten of them in half with a single blow. But after the first blow, he knew things were not going well; the mud bodies offered almost no feedback.
As expected, the scattered mud gathered together again, and the light spot swayed for only a moment before stabilizing. Simple attacks were ineffective against these things.
Chu Hengkong decisively retracted his attack, leaping to his feet and sprinting out of the settlement. This time, he avoided the rooftops; while that would have been safer, the mud monsters might have damaged the houses and injured innocent residents. The mud glow corpses also turned and chased him. These creatures were clearly being controlled. The mastermind behind this was so furious that he wasn't afraid to expose his power in the settlement.
Chu Hengkong carefully maintained his distance. After a dozen seconds, he ran out of the settlement and circled along the wooden fence that served as the boundary. Hitting and stabbing would be ineffective, the charging bracelet would be useless, and firing water bombs into the mud wasn't an option either... He really had no other options at the moment, but he still had Ji Huaisu. He would find a chance to disperse them all, then quickly reunite with Ji Huaisu.
【Dong】
A deep, resonant sound echoed in his head, as if a scepter had struck his heart, the echo echoing endlessly in his mind. Chu Hengkong suddenly stopped running, the inexplicable resonant sound causing his thoughts to freeze. Only a cold command echoed in his mind.
stop.
Stop. Halt. The bright spot of light grows larger in my vision. I shouldn't move. I obey his command. I'm about to be touched by the light. You can't handle so many "glimmers." Pause for a moment. Light. The light is converging...
no!
The flowing mud knocked Chu Hengkong to his knees. He rolled his eyes stiffly, watching the mud glowing corpses crawl up his legs like poisonous insects. An indescribable sense of emptiness suddenly overwhelmed him. Heat drained from his body, and his mind flashed back through past experiences. Memories replayed rapidly like a slideshow, but the key moments were blurry. No matter how he tried to recall them, he could only see a glaring light. Meanwhile, the glowing corpse grew brighter and brighter...
Chu Hengkong realized he was being "gnawed" and was about to lose something that could never be taken away. He desperately screamed in his head to drown out the damned accent. He kicked stiffly, throwing the mud glow corpse away, but his body still couldn't move.
It would take at least a second, perhaps even longer, before he could move. Chu Hengkong stretched out his numb hand. The swamp before him surged like waves, a blinding light surging outwards, accompanied by a vast mass of mud. Mud and decay gathered by the light, solidifying into a crude form, transforming into a foul, monstrous monster over ten meters tall!
Its height surpassed all the houses in the settlement, and with just one step forward, it smashed the wooden houses to pieces. The screams of the residents in the settlement were endless. The giant monster ignored the panicked civilians, raised its dazzlingly bright palm, and punched Chu Hengkong with great force.
This was the true killer move. Everything that had happened before was just a prelude to force him to distance himself and fight alone. That heavy sound and the sudden appearance of the giant creature were the fatal blow. Chu Hengkong's heart sank. He couldn't move or defend himself. He could only withstand the blows and see if his strength could withstand a blow that could shatter a house. But if this thing also had that strange "erosion" ability, if it could also gnaw at memories...
His vision completely engulfed by the light, he mentally prepared for the worst. But for a moment, Chu Hengkong thought he was mistaking himself for an illusion. He saw a dense shadow within the light. Dark as night, gloomy as thick clouds, the shadow powerfully overwhelmed the spot of light, forming a massive weapon that obscured his vision!
He wasn't mistaken. It was a weapon, a greatsword forged from shadows. Its length surpassed that of a human, its thickness nearly as thick as a shield. Shadows seethed at the edge of the blade, fierce as dark flames. The swordsman, wielding it, stood before him, her hood falling from her swift movements, her hair swaying like golden light. She raised the greatsword with both hands, swirling her body as if to carve her strength into it.
The next moment, Ji Huaisu swung the giant sword, and the thick shadow tore through the strong light, and the sword wind was as ferocious as a roar!
Mud scatters, its massive form crumbling. The sword strike cleaves the giant's hand and half its body, the cut smooth as a mirror. The shadow slashes the light within the monster's body, shattering the surrounding twenty glowing mud corpses before they can even approach. The frenzied slashing blow is like a tyrant's decree, leaving not a single ray of light unharmed.
Chu Hengkong was stunned, his eyes fixed on the sword, and for a moment he even forgot to think. Then the giant sword dissipated like smoke in the girl's hand. Ji Huaisu turned around, squatted down, and patted his shoulder vigorously: "Hey! Are you hurt?"
Control of his body was restored at this moment. Chu Hengkong took a deep breath and said, "...I owe you one."
"What debts are owed? We're all brothers." Ji Huaisu supported him with his arm as he stood up, looking around warily. No new mud glow corpses appeared. The mastermind behind the attack had probably given up. The people of the swamp stood in the mess, staring at them blankly.
"It's good that you're not seriously injured. Granny Sangjia is fine too." Ji Huaisu quietly put on his hood. "Let's retreat now..."
"……ah?"
Chu Hengkong doubted his ears. He turned his head and saw the other person smiling awkwardly. It wasn't the kind of awkwardness that comes from being rude, but the kind of embarrassment a child gets when their parents catch them in a horrible mess. Then he noticed that everyone in the swamp was staring at Ji Huaisu, their pupils constricted and their faces contorted. The dullness on their faces turned to panic, and from panic to terror.
“Oh my god, the Knight of Disaster is coming!” “God’s enemy!” “We can’t live here anymore, everyone, run away! Run away!!” “Great wizard, save me!!” “She’s going to eat people!!!”
Screams pierced the settlement, and men, women, and children fled screaming. If the glowing mud corpse was a messenger of fear, then Ji Huaisu was the monarch of fear. These people's behavior couldn't be described as seeing a ghost; it was simply seeing the King of Hell.
Chu Hengkong was stunned for a moment: "What on earth did you do in the swamp?"
"That's right, that's about being chivalrous and righteous..." Ji Huaisu whispered, "You know there are a lot of charlatans and villains in places like this, right? Then as a law enforcement officer, it's only natural for me to give them the punishment they deserve..."
"Just tell me how many you killed." Chu Hengkong said.
“…It’s a bit much.”
Chu Hengkong stared at her with sidelong eyes, and the blonde girl's voice became smaller and smaller.
"It's just a little bit more..."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
