40: Chapter 40 Violent Clearance, Tearing Apart the Beasts

"It's high-purity titanium alloy raw ore! It's all top-grade!"

Ye Qingyu looked like a pervert who had just laid eyes on a peerless treasure; her eyes lit up as she shrieked and lunged forward.

She pulled a specially made vibration pickaxe from her backpack and began to frantically strike at a massive piece of ore on the rock wall.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The crisp sound of metal striking metal echoed continuously throughout the vast cavern.

Su Chen looked at the walls filled with precious resources, and a satisfied smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

With this titanium alloy, his train and team's armaments would once again experience a qualitative leap.

"Combat team, spread out and stay alert."

"Qingyu, hurry up and mine it. Collect as much as you can."

However, just as Su Chen's voice faded.

A chilling, ear-piercing scraping sound, like nails scratching against a chalkboard, suddenly erupted from several pitch-black tunnels deep within the cavern.

"Rustle... rustle rustle..."

The sound was faint at first, but within seconds, it swelled into a deafening, terrifying roar akin to a tsunami!

"What is that sound?!"

Chu Qingxue instantly tightened her grip on her ice crystal longsword, frost covering her beautiful face.

Lin Momo was so frightened she hid directly behind Su Chen, her small hand clutching tightly to the corner of his clothes.

"Train Master... the radar shows... dense life signs are approaching us at high speed!"

A combat team girl holding a portable detector reported loudly, her voice trembling.

"Prepare for combat!"

Su Chen's eyes instantly turned as cold as blades, and a terrifying murderous aura radiated from his body.

"Click-clack—"

Ten combat team girls immediately formed a semicircular defensive formation, raising their Black Iron-grade repeating hand crossbows and aiming the bolts at the pitch-black tunnels.

"Rustle rustle..."

The scraping sound grew louder and louder, as if something was crawling frantically along the rock walls.

Finally, aided by the glow of the high-intensity flashlights.

Everyone saw the terrifying monsters emerging from the darkness.

They were countless giant ants, the size of small cars, their bodies covered in a layer of thick metal armor!

The compound eyes of these ants flickered with a bloodthirsty red light.

Their massive black mandibles, resembling hydraulic shears, snapped open and shut as they crawled, easily biting the rocks blocking their path into powder.

[Warning! Encountered special colonial mutant creature: Iron-Eating Giant Ants!]

[Grade: Black Iron Top-Tier (Extremely large quantity)!]

[Trait: Mutated from years of consuming metal ore. The shell has astonishing defensive power, making it extremely difficult for ordinary firearms to penetrate. Its mandibles have terrifying bite force, capable of easily snapping ordinary steel.]

[Weakness: Fears high-frequency vibration and extreme heat.]

"Hiss..."

Looking at the swarm of Iron-Eating Giant Ants surging in like a black tide from all directions, instantly sealing off their retreat.

Even the combat team girls, who were used to life and death, couldn't help but gasp.

The number was simply too massive, dense and packed, enough to make anyone's scalp tingle; it was enough to trigger trypophobia.

"Open fire!"

Chu Qingxue did not hesitate for a second and immediately gave the order to attack.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!"

Ten Black Iron-grade repeating hand crossbows instantly erupted with a dense sound of air being pierced.

Dozens of refined steel bolts quenched in paralytic toxin, like a small metal storm, slammed into the first wave of giant ants.

However.

A scene that induced despair unfolded.

"Ding ding dang dang!"

Those sharp crossbow bolts, capable of piercing the skulls of ordinary Ghouls, struck the metal shells of the Iron-Eating Giant Ants.

They only managed to spark a series of dazzling flashes.

Then they were listlessly deflected and fell to the ground.

Not even a white mark was left behind!

The Black Iron Top-Tier physical defense, combined with their specially metalized shells, turned these ordinary physical attacks into a complete joke.

"It's useless! Their shell hardness is too high!"

Ye Qingyu, carrying her heavy backpack, retreated into the middle of the group, shouting with a pale face.

"Hiss-gah—!"

The swarm of Iron-Eating Giant Ants, having been attacked, was instantly enraged.

They emitted ear-piercing hisses, and like out-of-control heavy armored vehicles, they moved their thick, jointed limbs and charged frantically toward the crowd.

"Damn it, a bunch of crawling iron turtles, how dare you act arrogant in front of me!"

Zhang Man roared, her wild eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit.

"Steel Body! Activate!"

Accompanied by a wild, feminine shout.

A cold, silver-gray metallic luster instantly spread across Zhang Man's originally fair and alluring skin.

Her already explosive figure expanded a size, filled with an extreme, violent beauty that made one's blood boil.

She gripped the heavy [guillotine battleaxe] with both hands, and like a crazed lioness, she didn't retreat but advanced, charging straight into the black tide of ants!

"Die!"

Zhang Man leaped high, the giant axe in her hands whistling through the air as she hacked fiercely into the head of a lead giant ant.

"Clang!"

A deafening roar.

Under Zhang Man's terrifying, repeatedly strengthened brute force.

The giant ant's hard metal shell finally couldn't withstand it; a huge crack was forcibly split open, and green bodily fluids sprayed out like a fountain.

But before Zhang Man could pull out her axe.

Several other surrounding Iron-Eating Giant Ants had already viciously pounced on her.

"Snap!"

The two giant ants' terrifying mandibles, like hydraulic shears, bit down hard on Zhang Man's thighs from the left and right.

"Ah!"

Zhang Man let out a pained grunt.

Although she was protected by [Steel Body] and her legs weren't instantly bitten off.

Her originally tight and sturdy black tactical pants were torn to shreds in an instant.

Revealing the thighs underneath that shimmered with a metallic luster, yet still couldn't hide their perfect, slender curves.

The giant ants' terrifying bite force created intense friction against Zhang Man's metalized skin.

A series of blinding sparks flashed continuously on Zhang Man's thighs, a shocking sight to behold.

Even as strong as Zhang Man was, under the siege of such a massive number of monsters with astonishing bite force, she was instantly plunged into a perilous, life-threatening situation.

"Sister Man!"

Lin Momo exclaimed, so anxious that tears were about to fall, and she prepared to release a high-frequency sonic blast regardless of the consequences.

Chu Qingxue's face was also like ice, her ice crystal longsword already condensing extreme cold, ready to unleash a large-scale freezing attack.

"Back off!"

Just then.

Su Chen, who had been standing in the back observing coldly, suddenly let out a cold shout like thunder.

This voice contained an unquestionable, domineering pressure that forcibly interrupted the casting wind-up of Chu Qingxue and Lin Momo.

Su Chen slowly holstered the top-tier bronze shotgun back into the holster on his back.

He twisted his neck and stretched his long, well-defined fingers.

In his deep, cold eyes, a terrifying, violent light flickered.

Ever since he absorbed the terrifying attribute feedback from the maxed-out loyalty of the three women, Chu Qingxue, Zhang Man, and Lin Momo.

Su Chen had never truly tested this body of his in actual combat without holding back.

To see exactly what kind of shocking, terrifying realm he had reached.

"Just a bunch of bugs that only know how to eat rocks."

A bloodthirsty sneer tugged at the corners of Su Chen's lips.

"Perfect, I'll use your shells, which are claimed to be harder than steel, to break in my fists."

"Back off!"

Su Chen's voice wasn't loud, but in the underground cavern echoing with ear-piercing scraping sounds, it was like a thunderclap, carrying an unquestionable, domineering majesty.

Chu Qingxue's finger, which had already condensed deep blue ice crystals and was emitting lethal cold, stopped abruptly in mid-air.

She obediently retracted the ability within her body, like the most obedient maid, and quickly led the other combat team girls to a relatively safe corner.

"Train Master, the bite force of these iron beetles is too insane, don't let them bite you!"

Zhang Man, at this moment, borrowing Su Chen's momentum, kicked away a giant ant attempting to ambush her and, dragging her long, beautiful leg—where the pants were torn and revealed a large expanse of metallic-colored skin—panted and retreated behind Su Chen.

Her eyes sparkled with fanatical worship.

Because she knew that when this peerless overlord decided to enter the fray himself, what would follow would be a one-sided, bloody massacre!

Su Chen didn't even draw the [Thunderfire Roarer] shotgun from his back.

He just twisted his neck slightly, emitting a scalp-tingling sound of cracking bones.

In his deep, cold eyes, an extreme, fanatical frenzy known as violence burned.

Ever since he absorbed the terrifying attribute feedback from the maxed-out loyalty of the three women, Chu Qingxue, Zhang Man, and Lin Momo.

Su Chen felt that his body was like a long-suppressed active volcano, in urgent need of an outlet to vent!

"Hum—!"

A dazzling purple lightning flash instantly exploded beneath Su Chen's feet!

Bronze high-tier movement skill, [Thunderclap Step]!

Under the terrifying augmentation of his 16-point Agility attribute, this top-tier displacement skill erupted with an insane speed that was impossible for the naked eye to track!

Ye Qingyu only felt a flash of purple light before her eyes, and a gust of wind, mixed with a strong scent of male hormones, rushed toward her.

The next second.

Su Chen's tall, upright figure was already like a humanoid armor-piercing shell fired from a cannon, slamming directly into the dense, black-tide-like swarm of Iron-Eating Giant Ants!

"Hiss-gah—!"

An elite Iron-Eating Giant Ant, the size of a small car, waved its terrifying black mandibles—like hydraulic shears—and snapped fiercely toward Su Chen's waist.

If this snap landed, even an armored vehicle would be cut in half!

However, facing this fatal blow.

Su Chen not only didn't dodge, but instead let out a wild, violent laugh.

He twisted his waist sharply, and the muscles on his right arm instantly bulged, veins protruding like coiled dragons, even stretching the sleeves of his specially made black tactical suit to the point of bursting!

A terrifying, pure brute force derived from the [Monarchs Halo] feedback, transcending human limits, gathered without reservation into his right fist.

"Shatter!"

Su Chen let out a roar like an ancient beast, his right fist, carrying a shrill sonic boom that tore through the air, struck first despite being launched later, slamming fiercely into the center of the elite giant ant's head armor!

"Bang—!!!"

A dull, heavy thud, like a sledgehammer hitting rotten leather, exploded throughout the vast cavern.

Under the horrified gazes of all the girls in the back.

That metal shell, which even Zhang Man's full-force hacking and the Black Iron-grade repeating hand crossbows couldn't leave a single mark on.

Under this seemingly unadorned physical punch from Su Chen, it actually caved in terrifically, as if it were a toy made of paper!

"Crack crack!"

A dense sound of bones shattering followed.

The elite giant ant didn't even have time to shriek; the brain matter and green fluids inside its head, under that terrifying force of recoil, sprayed out instantly from the gaps in its compound eyes like a crushed tomato!

One punch!

He used only one punch of pure physical strength!

This Iron-Eating Giant Ant, with defense comparable to a Black Iron Top-Tier mini-boss, was killed instantly with a headshot on the spot!

"Hiss..."

Ye Qingyu, watching from the back, gasped, her legs feeling weak.

She swallowed with difficulty; her eyes, usually filled with arrogance and wisdom, were now filled with deep awe and disbelief.

"Is this... is this still the kind of power a carbon-based lifeform can possess?"

"Even the highest-intensity hydraulic press couldn't smash an Iron-Eating Ant's shell like this with one punch!"

"His muscle density right now is definitely higher than this bag of titanium alloy I'm carrying!"

Ye Qingyu muttered to herself, completely conquered by Su Chen's savage, god-like aesthetic of violence.

At this moment, Su Chen was like a hungry tiger charging into a flock of sheep.

In this narrow and monster-dense underground cavern, he completely abandoned all defense, letting the giant ants' mandibles spark against his black tactical suit.

He only needed to attack!

His punches were like the wind, carrying the thunderous momentum to destroy everything.

His kicks were like whips; every strike could send a giant ant weighing several hundred catties flying like a soccer ball, smashing heavily against the rock wall and into a puddle of meat paste.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The cavern echoed continuously with the teeth-grinding sound of metal shattering and the shrill screams of the monsters.

Every time Su Chen moved, he left a purple lightning afterimage in his wake.

Those Iron-Eating Giant Ants, arrogant and terrifying to ordinary survivor teams, were like fragile glass objects in front of Su Chen, ruthlessly torn apart in droves.

In this one-sided massacre.

Su Chen's expensive black tactical suit was splattered with green bodily fluids.

His handsome, cold face was even stained with a few drops of monster blood, and combined with his brutal movements, like a Shura from hell, he exuded a lethal charm that made women's hearts race and was impossible to resist.

Chu Qingxue and Zhang Man, standing in the back, watched the man who was slaughtering his way through the monster horde like an invincible god of war.

In their eyes, there was not a trace of fear, but rather a fanatical, extreme infatuation and worship.