I impersonated God in America

Calabresi held the satellite phone between his shoulder and ear, and spread out a hand-drawn map of the cave with both hands.

The location of the main room, the direction of the three passages, and the radius of the area where the stone snake was coiled were marked on it.

"The target is nearly 20 meters long and is in a stationary position. So far, it has not launched any attacks on any evacuees."

He said this while drawing a circle around the location of the altar with a pencil.

"But it reacted clearly to any movement that came near the rock."

"When the archaeological team was retreating, someone used a shovel to touch a loose stone slab at the bottom of the altar, which instantly locked onto that direction."

He then heard a Defense Ministry official on the other end of the phone asking for the target's vital signs data.

"No."

After thinking for a moment, Calabresi stopped the pencil on the paper.

"Infrared scanning shows that its surface temperature is completely consistent with the surrounding rock walls, and there is no difference in temperature with the stalagmites and stalactites in the cave."

"No heartbeat, no body temperature, no chest rise and fall; the readings returned by the bio-radar mounted on the drone were the same as scanning a stone wall."

"How does it move?"

"I don't know, but it's moving."

“A perfect explanation, sir.”

"I'm glad you understand, sir."

As darkness fell, reinforcements from nearby areas arrived urgently.

The dust kicked up by the helicopter rotor created a grayish-yellow fog outside the cave entrance.

Calabresi pressed one hand to his forehead and held up a walkie-talkie in the other.

"Remember this: you must be alive!"

"Rome wants specimens! Rome wants living specimens!"

On the screen at the temporary command post, four teams entered the passage, carrying eight heavy titanium alloy nets, and deployed them in the side tunnels.

Each net, once deployed, covers an area 12 meters long and 7 meters wide. It is equipped with miniature anchors that surround the net's edge and are driven by compressed air tanks. Upon hitting a target, the net automatically locks to both sides.

Calabresi stayed in the tent watching the live stream.

Although Sardinia has an army unit, he was chosen as a temporary commander due to distance considerations.

The cameras on the three tactical helmets transmit images in real time, while the drone hovers in the air providing an overhead view.

The stone serpent in the main chamber is still coiled around the altar.

It is embraced by three layers, with its head resting on the outermost circle of the body.

puff.

Eight heavy-duty titanium alloy nets were simultaneously deployed from the edges of the platform in three directions.

The compressed air tank pushed the anchor hook, and the netting spread out in the air, covering most of the main room floor.

Click click.

The stone snake wanted to move, but it wasn't fast enough.

The anchor hooks automatically lock upon contact, and the edges of the eight nets interlock, wrapping the snake's body and the altar area it occupies into a silver cocoon.

"Net locked! Lock them all!" the team leader shouted into the channel, his voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement. "Target failed to resist! This guy is now in our grasp!"

"Nice, bro!"

Inside the tent, Calabresi gripped the walkie-talkie tightly.

"Team C! Prepare to secure the snakehead!"

"Its power is less than imagined."

The squad leader lowered his gun and turned to his comrade beside him, saying something.

"Is it really that easy? I feel like I can get a hot plate of spaghetti when I get home."

"Don't let your guard down!"

Calabresi was furious when he heard the soldiers at the front talking and laughing.

"Did you waste your time reading the tactics manual? Maintain a safe distance until the target is confirmed!"

But it's no wonder the soldiers were excited.

You know, this is a supernatural creature!

They felt like they were acting in a movie.

Even now, they still can't believe that the plan has gone so smoothly.

"Captain, this guy's head is pinned under the net."

"I examined this guy's body, and it's probably really made of rock. It's unbelievable..."

puff.

The cocoon, made of webs, twitched for a moment.

The net that had previously covered the snake had now embedded itself in the ground.

But at that moment, it was instantly lifted up by a terrifying force.

The hook groaned under its heavy load as the stone snake raised its body and charged forward.

Holy crap!

Everyone instinctively stepped back, but fortunately they found the net to be sturdier than they had imagined.

[That scared me! I really thought we were doomed.]

【It's alright, it's alright.】

Although nearly half of the network cable had broken, and a significant portion of the snake's body was exposed through the crack.

Fortunately, the net didn't completely break apart; the remaining lines and hooks still held it to the ground.

[Since that's the case, can we call it a day?]

The team leader had just sighed and looked up when he realized that the stone snake had been staring at him without him noticing.

"Attention! The target is..."

He was speaking in the middle of something.

Suddenly, the team leader felt something strange in his body.

My body

It's so heavy!

"Team leader? What's wrong?"

The soldier next to him reached out to help him up.

However, the next second, the soldier's palm just touched the team leader's shoulder and he found that the touch was completely different.

【marble?】

He paused for a second.

He pulled his hand back and looked down at his palm.

But then I discovered that the skin on my palms was also turning gray.

【fxxk】

The scene inside the tent began to become chaotic.

"Group A, report!" Calabresi shouted into the walkie-talkie.

no respond.

"Group C!"

silence.

"All groups! Please reply upon receipt!"

In the drone footage, all twelve soldiers were frozen in place.

"What are they doing?" the technician in the tent whispered. "Has communication been lost?"

Calabresi did not answer.

He stared at the screen, at the expressions on the soldiers' faces.

At some point, the gray color of the soldier's body gradually spread across the screen, completely engulfing his head in just a few moments.

When everyone saw that the soldier's head had completely turned to stone, everyone instinctively stood up.

"Temperature reading!"

The technician's voice began to tremble.

"Reporting, Captain! According to the data, vital signs monitoring for everyone has stopped, and as for body temperature... it's basically the same as the surrounding rocks!"

"What?!"

"what do you mean……"

"That's right, just as you think."

Calabresi suddenly felt as if his worldview was beginning to collapse.

Suddenly, an extremely unscientific idea flashed through my mind.

Could it be petrification?!

Are you kidding me?

Is this still the world he knows?

Are you sure it's not some kind of virus?

Like the evil creatures that often appear in movies.

"Could it be a spicy and crunchy experimental product?"

"Do you think it's similar? Rather than spicy and crispy, I think it's more like..."

Suddenly, everyone turned their attention to the patterns on the mural, and then remembered a mythical being.

【Medusa】

"Notify the Ministry of Defense that this is no longer something we can handle."

Chapter Nineteen Sibyl

Naples, U.S. Army Operations Information Center.

Colonel Colbert watched the video on the screen in front of him about the stone snake awakening.

Colbert still feels that his worldview has been severely eroded by this video.

Previously, the snake-man could be explained by genetic modification, but this time it's real supernatural power.

In addition, the Italian government's response to this incident was not quite what he had imagined.

Why would Italy dare to bypass NATO and choose to blockade the northwest coastline of Sardinia?

This is not like them at all.

"Colonel, it's an encrypted phone line to the White House Situation Room."

Colbert took the headphones.

Meanwhile, in the background, at least a group of people are chattering.

It's just like a wet market.

"The president has watched the replay of the situation in Sardinia."

"The president's suggestion is to inform Italy that we can help them."