They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 315 Spinal Gu
Zhang Qi stepped forward a few steps, and under the wary gazes of the crowd, he actually stretched out his finger and picked up a piece of the peeled-off fragment from the edge of the giant cicada shell. He rubbed it gently between his fingertips, and the powder fell off in a flurry.

"Judging from the degree of weathering of the outer shell and the rate of decomposition of the organic matter attached to it, this thing molted at least three months ago."

Upon hearing this assessment, Mark, who had been on edge, visibly relaxed, and the muscles in his shoulders eased slightly.

Three months is a considerable amount of time for a creature like the Devouring Beast, which has a very wide migration range; it should have already left this area by then.

He immediately issued instructions through his headset, ordering the Dust People squad waiting in the rear to enter the warehouse and begin moving the precious alloys and materials.

He then turned and walked out of the warehouse, preparing to put on his heavy protective gear to deal with any emergencies.

Zhang Qi stayed where he was and began directing the dust people to move materials, because their transportation capacity was limited and every inch of space had to be used wisely.

Using the information in his mind, he quickly identified which rare metals were the core components for upgrading the "Dawn" series and which were the key materials for constructing new energy pipelines, and pointed them out to the dust people who came to carry them.

Only by raising the overall combat strength of the Hunters to a new level and forging this last armed force of humanity into an invincible sword, will they be qualified to explore the places on this planet that truly preserve the highest technological achievements of the old world, such as those dormant military-industrial complexes or cutting-edge research institutes buried by time.

Just as the moving work was proceeding in an orderly manner, several sporadic but sharp gunshots suddenly rang out from the depths of the passage at the other end of the warehouse, followed by screams and commotion from the crowd. The fear contained in those sounds spread rapidly like a virus.

"Attention all units! Unidentified creature detected! Abandon secondary supplies and immediately retreat towards the transport vehicle! Repeat, retreat immediately!"

Mark's order came through the communicator, decisive and urgent, without the slightest hesitation.

Zhang Qi's eyes sharpened instantly, and he tried to activate [Observation Method] again.

In an instant, the world before my eyes lost its color and form, transforming into a deep ocean composed of life energy.

Those dust people who carried supplies had life essence like steadily burning candle flames, and around them, many smaller specks of light swam.

A mortal struggling to drag a supply crate seemed to catch a glimpse of something, his face drained of color, and he let out a terrified scream.

As his emotions surged, the life essence within him, like a candle flame, flickered and expanded violently, as if a torch had been lit in the boundless darkness, bright and dazzling.

Almost simultaneously, those tiny, hungry specks of light, like sharks that have smelled blood, surged madly toward the most unstable "torch".

I see……

Zhang Qi suddenly understood. In the world of "Under One Person", all schools of martial arts emphasize "emptiness and stillness". Only with a calm mind can one perfectly control the innate Qi.

However, the life essence of this world will be violently agitated according to the emotions of living beings.

This precisely explains why he was able to better utilize the "intentional power" of the armor world.

Moreover, the Devouring Beasts, at least these lower-level individuals, do not rely on sight or hearing to detect enemies, but rather on sensing fluctuations in the life essence.

The more volatile one's emotions are, the more intense the fluctuations in the life essence become, and the more likely one is to become their primary target.

As his thoughts raced, Zhang Qi's movements did not falter in the slightest. He steadily adjusted his breathing, calming the fluctuations of his life essence, like a reef merging into darkness, undisturbed.

He raised his assault rifle, the muzzle steadily pointing at the source of the riot.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three gunshots rang out in quick succession, muffled yet powerful, in the dark passageway.

By the light of the gunshot, Zhang Qi finally saw the true appearance of those monsters.

The main body of that thing was actually a section of human spine, with insect-like mouthparts and tentacles extending from the top, and several pairs of segmented, pointed legs below. It moved as swiftly as a ghost, crawling rapidly across the walls and ceiling.

Spinal Gu...

The name instantly popped into Zhang Qi's mind.

This is a monster formed from the human spine after the life essence of humans has been drained.

He speculated that this might be because the spine contains a large number of complex nerve systems, which makes it such a strange existence at the bottom of the mana ecosystem.

"Don't panic! Stay calm and slowly back away!"

While continuing to fire accurately at the target, repelling one spine beast after another that lunged at the Dust People, Zhang Qi shouted in a deep voice.

Erica, who was standing next to him, was completely stunned.

In this near-total darkness, the spine beasts moved so fast they were just afterimages, yet Zhang Qi's bullets seemed to have eyes, hitting their targets with pinpoint accuracy. His marksmanship was simply divine.

Despite the turmoil in her mind, her professional instincts as a hunter allowed her to react quickly. She raised her gun and began providing cover fire for Zhang Qi, the crisp sound of gunfire mingling with Zhang Qi's steady bursts. But just moments later, she found herself in a dilemma.

A spine beast had broken through the barrage of fire and was now tightly embracing the face of a commoner.

If she fired, the bullet would pierce the spine beast and inevitably shatter the head of the mortal. She had killed countless Devouring Beasts, but her gun had never been pointed at one of her own kind…

Just as Erica hesitated, Zhang Qi made his move.

He slung the rifle over his back, stepped forward, and carefully controlled the fluctuations of the life essence within his body.

Just as he guessed, these things that act solely on instinct are located based on the essence of life.

In other words, as long as you control your own life essence and keep yourself in a state of stillness, you will not be noticed by these things.

Zhang Qi silently approached the controlled mortal, reached out his right hand, and grabbed the still writhing spine beast.

The moment he grabbed the monster, a faint electric current surged from his palm and precisely entered the monster's nervous system.

According to his previous research, this thing relies on the nervous system to function, meaning that an electric current can paralyze it.

The spineless beast twitched twice, then its entire body stiffened, and it ceased struggling helplessly.

Erica, who witnessed this scene, opened her mouth so wide it could almost fit an egg.

This disgusting monster... you can actually catch it with your bare hands?
Ignoring Erica's surprise, Zhang Qi casually took out a specially made small glass sample tube from his tactical backpack and inserted it into the tube.

Only after doing all this did he reorganize the terrified Dust People and continue the evacuation.

As soon as everyone retreated into the main passage, they saw Mark piloting the "Dawn-Modified" and fiercely battling several enormous serpentine Devouring Beasts.

The high-frequency chainsaw sword slashed at the monster's bone-armored body, sending up a string of dazzling sparks.

Even large-caliber machine gun bullets can only tear through the skin and flesh, but these injuries are not fatal and are healing rapidly under the surge of life essence.

What a terrifying monster...

Upon seeing this, Zhang Qi sighed, but that was all he did.

After all, he had seen even more powerful creatures before...

He has more powerful weapon blueprints, but the Lighthouse's current manufacturing capabilities are insufficient to produce them.

Meanwhile, Mark realized that his wounded weapon could not inflict fatal damage, so he began to use the mobility of his machine to engage in close combat, buying time for the main force behind him to retreat.

Zhang Qi quickly grasped the situation. He raised his rifle again and calmly cleared away the scattered spine beasts that were surging in from all directions, trying to harass the rear of the main force.

His unerring marksmanship once again drew the attention of the surrounding hunters.

Under the cover of the hunters' firepower, the situation stabilized, and the team began to withdraw in an orderly manner.

But before he had gone far, Zhang Qi suddenly stopped and looked up at the ventilation duct above the passage.

In his inner vision, there lurked a massive energy source, its strength only slightly weaker than the one that had fought Mark.

In other words, there is a second high-level Devouring Beast here!
And in the instant the thought flashed through his mind...

"boom--!"

The metal ceiling overhead was violently torn apart as if it were made of paper, and a huge, ferocious black shadow descended from the sky.

This sudden turn of events startled everyone, and the evacuation team instantly came to a standstill.

Only Mo Cheng and Donnie, the two most experienced veterans, reacted. They instinctively raised their guns and aimed, but the next second their faces showed despair.

Too close. At this distance, the monster could tear them to shreds before they could pull the trigger.

At this critical moment, the life essence within Zhang Qi's body was mobilized in an unprecedented way. A circle of bluish-white lightning arcs suddenly exploded around his body, making him look like a thunder god descending to earth.

His figure blurred into a streak of light in the flash of lightning, followed by a kick.

To everyone's horror, he delivered a powerful kick with the force of a thunderbolt, slamming it into the chest of the giant Devouring Beast and sending it flying...

(End of this chapter)