Corrosion

The creature was curled up so tightly that its head was buried deep within its own body. How were they supposed to find its mouth?

And even if they did, how could they shove a bomb inside?

Force its jaws open?

Impossible.

Even machine guns couldn't scratch it.

Then they'd have to find a way to draw its attention.

Someone tried kicking it in the back—no reaction. Then they tried hacking at it with a knife.

Still no reaction.

The monster didn't budge an inch, as if it were dead.

Liu Quanye even picked up some food from the ground and placed it near where the head should be, trying to lure it out.

The creature still didn't respond.

"Could it be dead?" Liu Quanye looked at Tu Ran.

Tu Ran stepped out from behind the crowd.

She weighed the knife in her hand, adjusting her grip until it felt right.

Eyes fixed on the monster, she broke into a sprint. When she was an arm's length away, she bent her knees, pushed off the ground, and launched herself into the air.

Gripping the blade with both hands, she channeled all her strength into a downward thrust, aiming for the wound the laser gun had burned into its back.

*Superhuman Strength!*

Tu Ran chanted silently in her mind.

The razor-sharp blade sank cleanly into the creature's flesh.

Tu Ran controlled her force, not driving the knife all the way in, leaving more than half of it sticking out.

That way, it wouldn't look too suspicious.

The monster jolted, leaping up in pain.

Its massive body was like a moving hill, dragging Tu Ran along as it lurched into the air.

At some point, the creature had grown big enough to rival a small mountain.

It shook its body, spinning in place, trying to throw her off.

Tu Ran kept her grip on the hilt, refusing to let go.

The searing agony in its back finally forced the monster to open its mouth.

It roared at the sky, beating its chest in fury like an enraged gorilla.

This was the chance they'd been waiting for.

All the Pioneers sprang into action.

They pulled out their bombs, yanked the safety pins, and hurled them straight into its gaping maw.

At the same time, they shouted for Tu Ran to get out of there fast.

Tu Ran released the knife immediately and leaped off the creature.

"Come on, hurry!" Min Tao yelled.

He was already crouched behind a row of overturned tables.

The other Pioneers had found their own cover as well.

Tu Ran sprinted over and dove behind the tables, squeezing in next to Min Tao.

Now all they had to do was wait for the bombs to detonate inside its stomach and blow the thing apart from the inside out.

Everyone silently counted in their heads.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

The time for the bombs to explode had long passed.

But there was no sound from inside the creature's belly.

"What's going on?" Tu Ran poked her head out from behind the table.

The monster was swallowing a table that lay in front of it.

It snapped the table into strips with ease, chewing them up like dried beef jerky, savoring every bite.

Its body was growing at a terrifying speed.

"Why didn't they explode?"

The second-generation Pioneers inside the meeting room stared at the scene in disbelief.

"I don't know? This isn't what the instructors taught us. Aren't the insides of these mutants supposed to be weaker than the outside?"

"Uh... maybe it's not a mutant at all?"

"Oh, come on, close enough!"

Many Pioneers on the field also peered out from behind cover, stunned to see the creature tearing through tables completely unscathed.

"What do we do now?" Min Tao looked at Tu Ran, his expression grim. "At this rate, even the Executive Department's heavy mechs might not be able to take it down."

Tu Ran's jaw tightened as she stared at the creature's ever-expanding body.

The bombs didn't explode. Why?

If one failed, that could be a dud. But when its mouth opened just now, seventeen or eighteen bombs had been thrown in, each with a different function, and none of them detonated.

Could it be that something inside its body could disable all the bombs in an instant?

Tu Ran stood up.

She had to see what was going on in its mouth.

"Who has a long blade? Lend me one."

Her own knife was still stuck in the creature's back.

"Catch."

A Pioneer tossed her his sword.

It was heavier than hers and longer too—just what she needed for what she was about to do.

Tu Ran gripped the hilt and sprinted toward the monster.

Her target was its head.

The creature was already six or seven meters tall now, too high to jump onto directly.

Using the half-buried knife still lodged in its back as a foothold, she made two leaps and landed on its shoulder.

Her movements alerted the beast. It dropped the table leg it was gnawing and raised a hand to swat at the human on its shoulder.

Tu Ran was nimble, dodging left and right with practiced ease.

After all, she'd done plenty of this kind of thing inside the Threshold.

The monster grew furious.

Its movements became more frantic, slapping at its own shoulder with loud smacks.

But it couldn't hit her.

The watching Pioneers held their breath, terrified by her sheer audacity.

Tu Ran kept waiting for her opening.

A chance to sink the blade into any part of its face—an eye, its mouth, anything. But she was stuck at its back, and that wasn't easy to pull off.

Finally, the creature, unable to land a single hit, fumed with rage, threw its head back, and roared at the sky, pounding its chest to vent.

Tu Ran's eyes sharpened.

Its head was tilted upward, exposing its throat.

This was the moment.

She gripped the sword with both hands and drove it straight down the creature's gullet.

Because the monster's head was enormous, its throat lay deep inside, and the blade wasn't long enough—Tu Ran had to shove her entire arm in after it.

The creature clamped its jaws shut in a panic.

Tu Ran didn't linger. She yanked the sword out in a flash.

The instant it was free, her eyes went wide.

"Holy shit!"

Gasps rippled through the meeting room.

The Federation's A5-grade cold weapon, famed for cutting through iron like mud—the pinnacle of melee craftsmanship—had melted away in less than a second?!

And that was just from being stuck in its throat. Judging by that, the corrosive power of the gastric acid in its stomach was unimaginable.

The moment she saw the blade dissolve, Tu Ran tossed it aside without hesitation and drew the dagger from her belt.

She aimed for the monster's eye, which it hadn't yet lowered, and plunged it in deep.

The creature thrashed its head in agony, but Tu Ran clung to its ear, refusing to let go. She stabbed three more times, then went for the other eye.

Time was short, so she twisted the blade around inside the socket, bit open a bomb's safety pin with her teeth, and stuffed it in.

Her movements were so fluid that the onlookers couldn't help but wonder if she'd done this kind of thing before.

Tu Ran jumped off the creature, tumbled a few rolls across the floor, and scrambled behind a table.

"Boom!"

This time, the bomb finally went off.

Half the monster's head was blown to pieces.

Brain matter mixed with blood splattered everywhere. The Pioneers who hadn't taken cover in time got drenched, and even the cameras suspended high above got splashed.

The feed on the monitors blurred halfway across the screen, though it was still barely watchable.

It turned out the creature's blood was highly corrosive too—the combat suits couldn't withstand it at all.

The Pioneers who'd been splashed scrambled to tear off their clothes as fast as they could.

Even so, some still had patches of skin eaten away.