The Decisive Battle

Fatty barely reached her shoulder, but he was a solid cube of flesh. Carrying him on her back was like hauling a bear.

There was no way she could manage it on her own strength. The mechanical arms and legs of the exoskeleton bore the brunt of the weight.

Tu Ran never imagined her first time using this exoskeleton would be to lug around a pig, not fight on a battlefield. The frustration nearly choked her.

Even with the exoskeleton, running was a struggle; her face flushed bright red.

Fatty, sprawled on her back, wagged the long feathers on his tail. "Fatty's never been carried before. Fatty is so happy."

Tu Ran had no breath left to speak.

She hurried in the direction Fatty had pointed.

A strange wind suddenly rose in the dense forest, sweeping past her from behind and pushing her forward several steps. She felt a chill of unease and slowly turned to look.

Countless leaves fell from the treetops, huge blades plummeting like objects dropped from a great height.

Beyond that, there was nothing.

Tu Ran told herself she was overthinking it.

She turned back around, and a monstrous creature suddenly appeared in her vision.

Its body resembled a roe deer's, but three or four times larger. Standing there, it looked a meter taller than her. Its claws were like a tiger's—thick, sharp, with talons already bared.

But what terrified Tu Ran most was its face.

A human face.

Another human face.

The giant two-headed monster she'd encountered before had also worn a human face. Yet that one had humanoid upper limbs, so the horror was somewhat tolerable.

This thing, though, was nothing but a human face stretched over a patchwork of animal limbs.

That face was eerie too—nose and mouth elongated, the profile resembling a roe deer's, pale and lifeless. It looked like a corpse that had been dead a hundred years in a horror film.

"Squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk, squawk!"

Fatty grew agitated first, flapping his wings desperately. "It's a Paoxiao! A Paoxiao! Boss, run, run! It eats meat! It'll gnaw us down to the bone!"

His flapping wings threw Tu Ran off balance, swaying left and right, her vision blurring.

Since there was no escaping anyway, Tu Ran tossed Fatty off her back.

"Squawk, squawk, squawk!" Boss! Don't throw Fatty away!

"Shut up!" Tu Ran shot him a fierce glare.

Fatty immediately stopped his frantic screeching.

"Go find somewhere to hide. I'll handle this."

"Squawk." Okay.

Fatty actually rolled away.

His leg was injured, so he couldn't run or fly. Given the situation, the two-legged beast couldn't carry him somewhere safe either. So he could only roll like a ball.

Tu Ran didn't bother watching how he left; her attention was fixed on the Paoxiao ten meters away.

What should she do?

Abandon Fatty and run? That would be unscrupulous, and she wasn't sure she could outrun this thing anyway.

Fight head-on? Could she even win? With a build that massive and a face that savage, it was a tiger-class beast.

While Tu Ran sized up the Paoxiao, it tilted its head and sized up its prey in return.

It extended a blood-red tongue to lick its cheek. "A human, huh. Tsk, I've heard you lot are delicious—especially the lungs in your chest, tender and juicy. I've finally run into one today, hahaha."

It let out a low rumble, its murky green eyes fixed on Tu Ran with menace.

Tu Ran understood every word.

So humans had already fallen into this monster's jaws?

She tightened her grip on the machine gun.

The Paoxiao grew impatient.

The two-legged beast before it exuded an enticing aroma; it couldn't resist the urge to devour her whole. It wanted to taste human lungs too.

It kicked off with its hind legs and lunged at Tu Ran.

Its leaping power was astonishing—a single bound closed over half the ten-meter gap.

Tu Ran wasted no time. She raised the machine gun and opened fire while retreating quickly to keep her distance.

The bullets struck its sleek hide and bounced right off, as if hitting an unbreakable, springy trampoline.

Tu Ran had expected as much.

In all the alien creatures she'd fought, few could be killed by bullets alone—except, of course, that flock of wild chicken monsters. They lived in groups, probably because they had nothing else going for them.

The Paoxiao closed in fast, its claws, each bigger than her head, swiping at her.

Tu Ran dodged to the side, stubbornly aiming the gun at its eyes.

Eyes were nearly every species' weak spot. No matter how impenetrable they were elsewhere, their eyes were the most vulnerable point.

A dense spray of bullets swept across like a carpet.

Even though the Paoxiao dodged with lightning speed, three or five rounds hit their mark.

Two streams of blood immediately trickled from its eye sockets.

Tu Ran's heart leaped with joy.

But her elation didn't last long. The Paoxiao's claw came swiping at her with pinpoint accuracy.

Quick as a flash, Tu Ran rolled aside, narrowly dodging the blow.

A deep paw print slammed into the ground where she'd stood. If she'd been a step slower, her skull would have been smashed open.

The Paoxiao's next strike was already mid-swing.

Tu Ran retreated steadily, weaving left and right with nimble steps.

Why could it still track her position so precisely even with its eyes blinded? Was it not relying on sight to locate prey?

Before she could puzzle it out, Fatty's frantic chirping came from afar.

"Boss! Its eyes are in its armpits!"

Tu Ran immediately glanced at the Paoxiao's foreleg and, sure enough, saw a round, eye-like thing on the inner side of the limb.

Tu Ran was speechless.

Species diversity aside, this was ridiculous!

Hidden in such a concealed spot, she couldn't shoot it from outside. She'd have to fire from beneath it.

Which meant she needed to make it jump.

Tu Ran glanced at the tree beside her and got an idea.

She set down the machine gun and switched to a long blade.

The Paoxiao was already furious from missing her repeatedly. When it saw her suddenly climb up the tree, it didn't think twice—it slapped both claws into the trunk and chased after her.

Tu Ran scrambled upward hand over foot, and when she judged the height was right, she glanced back. Sure enough, the Paoxiao was clinging to the tree right behind her.

Just as it raised a claw to strike, Tu Ran suddenly let go and leaped to the side.

The Paoxiao followed, pouncing down after her.

Tu Ran hit the ground first, drew her pistol, aimed at its exposed eye, and fired two shots—

Bang, bang!

The first bullet buried itself in the eye. The creature convulsed violently, sending the second shot wide.

Tu Ran wanted to fire once more, but the Paoxiao had already landed.

It was beyond enraged, throwing its head back with a long, piercing howl.

"Despicable human!!"