104: Chapter 104 Hunting in the Dark
My newborn wings were thin as a cicada's wing, yet incomparably tough. The pale blue patterns on them, formed by the Ice Phoenix Divine Power, seemed to have become even clearer and more vivid.
I slowly flapped them once.
The feeling was completely different.
If my previous flight had been just "treading water" through brute force, now, I felt as if I had merged into the surrounding air.
However, this powerful sensation did not last long.
An intense hunger, originating from the deepest part of my Soul, suddenly engulfed me like the fiercest beast!
Only then did I realize that although Primary Regeneration was powerful, every repair frantically consumed the energy within my body!
My Demonic Power core, which had just recovered a sliver of energy, instantly became bone-dry again after growing this pair of new wings.
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Beside me, Lin Qingzhi also let out a series of weak coughs.
I knew she was hungry too.
She was already suffering from unhealed severe injuries, and her Divine Soul Origin was constantly being eroded. Now, having forcibly burned her Origin to guide me, she was already at the end of her rope.
The two of us were like two ships stranded in a desert, in urgent need of "water" to replenish ourselves.
And in this perilous underground world, the only "water" was... the flesh and blood of other mutated creatures!
We had to take the initiative!
"Wait here for me," I used the vibration of my wings to convey a firm thought to her, "I will be back soon."
Lin Qingzhi looked at me, a flash of worry crossing her dim phoenix eyes.
But she did not stop me.
She knew this was our only choice.
She simply, with great difficulty, took out a thumb-sized "Ice Soul Soul-Snatching Dart" she had previously refined from her Storage Ring and handed it to me.
"Be careful."
A single word, yet it contained a thousand meanings.
I did not stand on ceremony and stored this "lethal weapon," capable of piercing steel plates, into my Storage Space.
Then, flapping my newborn wings, I silently merged into that deep, unknown darkness.
This was the first time since my Rebirth that I was truly... hunting alone!
My Mental Energy, like invisible threads, connected to the "sentinels" I had already controlled.
"Help me find a lone prey with strength around the Elementary Essence Rank."
Soon, a mutated rat lurking in an abandoned ventilation duct hundreds of meters away transmitted back the image it "saw."
It was a lizard, about two meters long, covered in a layer of slimy green skin.
From the corners of its mouth, thick saliva emitting a pungent, acidic odor constantly dripped, corroding small pits into the hard concrete floor.
[Corrosive Liquid Lizard], Elementary Essence Rank.
Known for its powerful corrosive saliva and tough skin, it was an out-and-out little overlord in this sewer.
But right now, in my eyes, it was just a walking... hamburger.
You're the one.
I restrained all my aura and activated my evolved Overclocked Wing Vibration into "silent mode."
Like a top-tier ghost assassin, I silently snuck through the complex pipes toward the prey's location.
Closer.
Even closer.
I could already smell that pungent, acidic stench and the fishy, sweet scent filled with chaotic energy radiating from its body.
The Corrosive Liquid Lizard seemed to be enjoying its dinner—the corpse of an unknown creature that had already been gnawed beyond recognition.
It was eating with great relish, completely unaware of the impending death.
Now!
I shot out like black lightning from the shadows of the pipe above its head!
Without making a single sound!
However, this lizard's vigilance far exceeded my imagination!
Just as I was about to close in, its turbid, soybean-like eyes suddenly turned and precisely locked onto me!
"Hiss—!"
It let out an angry hiss, suddenly opened its big mouth, and a mouthful of thick, dark green acidic saliva shot towards me like a high-pressure water gun!
So fast!
I was startled and immediately performed an incredible Z-shaped twitch in mid-air, narrowly dodging the lethal acid.
"Sizzle—"
The acid splashed onto the pipe wall behind me, instantly corroding a bowl-sized hole in the thick iron plating and emitting plumes of pungent black smoke.
I felt a lingering fear.
If I had been hit, even with my Intermediate Exoskeleton Strength, I would probably have had half my body melted on the spot!
Having missed, the Corrosive Liquid Lizard seemed somewhat surprised.
Its thick, steel-whip-like tail lashed out, sweeping towards me with a whistling gale!
And I had been waiting for this exact moment!
I did not choose to dodge; instead, I advanced rather than retreated, heading straight into the whistling whip shadow and colliding head-on!
"Courting death!"
A trace of human-like... disdain flashed in the lizard's eyes.
In its view, my small frame was no different from an egg in front of its tail, which was capable of shattering rocks.
However, the next second, its poor, unevolved brain was completely overwhelmed by this incomprehensible scene.
"Bang!"
My small body collided fiercely with its massive tail!
The scene I had imagined, of me being smashed into pulp, did not occur.
I just felt as if I had been hit hard by a speeding truck!
A massive, irresistible force came from my tough exoskeleton, shaking my internal organs until they were almost displaced!
"Puff!"
I violently spat out a mouthful of "blood," and the whole Mosquito flew backward like a kite with a broken string, smashing heavily against the distant wall.
"Hiss?"
The Corrosive Liquid Lizard was stunned.
It looked at its tail, which was only slightly numb, and then at the "Little Bug" that was embedded in the wall in the distance, motionless, its turbid eyes filled with confusion.
It seemed unable to understand why this bug was so... hard?
And this was exactly what I wanted!
Just at that fatal moment when it was distracted by confusion—
I moved!
My body, which had appeared to be "dead," suddenly shot out from the depression in the wall!
Overclocked Wing Vibration, limit activation!
Three times the speed of sound!
In this moment, my figure turned into a true... black line of death that surpassed the limits of vision!
The Corrosive Liquid Lizard didn't even have a chance to react!
"Pssh!"
My incomparably hard proboscis, covered in an eerie purple glow, had already carried all my strength and pierced fiercely into its most vulnerable spot... its eye socket, sinking in up to the hilt!
Nerve Paralysis, injected!
"Roar—!!!"
The Corrosive Liquid Lizard let out the most shrill, most painful... final wail of its life.
Its massive body trembled violently, and then, as if all its bones had been pulled out, it collapsed softly to the ground, never making another sound.
I slowly pulled out my proboscis.
Looking at the massive, still slightly twitching corpse before me, my heart, which belonged to a human, was ice cold.
This is... combat.
This is... survival.