YM778.TV Chapter 40
Translator: 549690339
Night fell, and the temperature dropped.
The abyssal monsters became significantly more active.
For example, the Shallow Abyss Merfolk not only became less afraid of fire, but they also moved with greater agility, their force agility rising from three to four points.
Fortunately, they still dared not come into contact with flames and did not approach the refuge too closely.
Otherwise, the steam mechas at the refuge would have faced another fierce battle.
This environment was clearly not suitable for searching for survivors.
Jiang Chen gave up the operation and hurried back.
When he arrived at the refuge, the steam mechas stationed at the entrance quickly surrounded him.
“Lord Tian Qi!”
The tone of the pilots was very respectful.
Regardless of whether this self-proclaimed “Tian Qi” was an outsider as he claimed to be, or a somewhat special Transcendent…
His actions that day were certainly not false.
All the pilots present had been rescued by his own hands.
Feeling grateful, they naturally did not question anything.
“Thank you for guarding the refuge.”
Jiang Chen said, looking at the various mechas in front of him.
“You can now rest inside the refuge like everyone else,” he said.
“Leave the task of fending off the monsters to me.”
The pilots fell silent.
A ten-meter-tall steam mecha stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and bowed its body.
“Lord Tian Qi, we have already rested in turns during the day, and we are not tired now,” one pilot said.
“The fuel reserves in the bomb shelter and the school warehouse are sufficient to keep the mecha’s power furnaces running for a long time…”
“Please let us stay outside to help you fend off the monsters.”
There were a total of thirty-seven steam mechas that Jiang Chen had brought back.
Among them, there were only six ten-meter-high medium-scale steam mechas, but under the control of experienced pilots, they easily crushed many abyssal monsters and protected the refuge’s safety during the day.
Had this inflated their egos?
On the contrary, these pilots were acutely aware of the strength of the abyssal monsters.
Even the past steam armies would struggle against the endless horde of abyssal monsters, let alone the few dozen steam mechas they had left.
No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like taking on an impossible challenge, with certain death as the only outcome.
But it was precisely because of this that they could not rest easy, like the helpless students, hiding inside the refuge.
Nor could they stand by and watch “Lord Tian Qi” fight the Endless Abyss alone.
If this was the end…
Let them face death with their mechas.
“I can handle it alone, your strength is too weak to be of any help,” Jiang Chen said bluntly.
Yet not a single mecha wavered; they all stood their ground in silence.
After a moment, he shook his head.
“Fine, if you don’t want to go in, then stay outside,” he conceded.
The abyssal monsters at night become frenzied, and even more powerful beings will appear.
Jiang Chen planned to take the opportunity on the first night to expand his armor and grow, accumulating attributes in order to combat the future powerful abyssal monsters.
At this moment, these steam mecha pilots, not willing to hide in the refuge and wanting to help him share the burden of the monsters, would inevitably affect his plan.
But the impact was not significant—
How could a mere thirty-seven steam mechas stop the frenzied monsters of the night?
As time passed, the Shallow Abyss Merfolk passing by the school became more and more frantic, their fear of fire gradually diminishing.
Some of the Shallow Abyss Merfolk even ran past the fire line at a distance of only one or two meters, plunging back into the darkness.
Until a certain moment.
They completely lost their fear of fire.
Hundreds of deformed fish-men surged out of the night, crossing the fire line and storming into the area at the entrance to the refuge!
Steam mechas, without any hesitation, picked up their weapons and attacked the deformed fish-men approaching them.
However, something strange happened.
The fish-men did not initiate an attack on the steam mechas, and even when they were attacked and sent flying away, they did not retaliate, quickly getting up and rushing back out.
They skimmed past the steam mechas, once again jumping over the fire line, and charged back into the darkness.
It seemed as if there was something, far more fearsome than fire, that they were afraid of.
Standing high allowed one to see afar.
A medium-scale steam mecha observed a vague shadow emerging in the distant darkness, and on closer inspection, its breath caught.
A giant soft-bodied creature, resembling enormous jellyfish, floated in midair, slowly approaching from the direction of the coast.
From its underside dangled inky black tendrils that reached down and touched the ground.
When the black tendrils made contact with the deformed fish-men on the ground, they rapidly turned into fluid, burrowing into them through eyes, mouths, and other orifices.
In merely an instant, the fish-men seemed to be completely filled with the black fluid, their bodies swelling several times over, and they moved slowly like puppets.
With the approach of the soft-bodied creature, one could see in the streets and ruins below, huge figures began to emerge.
Deformed fish-men, Shallow Abyss Giants…
And even steam mechas that were completely filled with the black fluid!
Protruding from their heads were tendrils that connected them to the soft-bodied creature in the sky.
The sight caused a shiver that stemmed from the soul in the pilots.
“What is that thing!!?”
The external scanning device provided an answer.
[Decaying Parent Body]
[Attributes: Strength 4, Agility 4, Defense 30, Enigmatism 30.]
[Traits: A corrupted life form mutated by an ancient deity, not only nearly indestructible itself but also has the ability to corrupt and inhabit other things.
The things it inhabits will gain strength far beyond their life before corruption.]
[Weakness: Fire.]
[Assessment: An invincible foe.]
This was the creature with the highest Enigmatism attribute Jiang Chen had ever seen.
Even with force agility attributes worse than the Shallow Abyss Merfolk, it didn’t affect its power in the slightest.
The attributes of the Shallow Abyss Merfolk, once corrupted and inhabited, shot up to the level of the Shallow Abyss Giants!
The corrupted and inhabited cargo steam mechas also completely broke away from the awkward situation of having 1 point in agility, skyrocketing to 10 points in agility and greatly increasing in strength as well.
Just a cargo mecha, and its attributes were already catching up to a medium-scale steam mecha!
Not to mention the already powerful Shallow Abyss Giants.
With their force agility attributes boosted by more than double, they were completely suppressing the medium-scale steam mechas.
Most importantly…
The numer of hosts controlled by this Decaying Parent Body was simply too many; even Jiang Chen couldn’t determine an exact number when he looked over.
This was undoubtedly the most mysterious creature Jiang Chen had encountered so far!
If it were an ordinary rookie mecha pilot, most likely they would have turned tail and run.
But the pilots at the entrance to the refuge couldn’t see these data.
Although they felt a shiver in their hearts, they still controlled their steam mechas, each picking up a weapon.
Machine guns, flamethrowers, chainsaw blades, metal drill bits…
Resolved to face death, they went forth to confront the end!