241: Chapter 241 Monster Attack, Mech Defense

The moment Bai Ling opened her eyes, Chen Wuwang's right hand was already pressed against the Titanium Alloy Dagger at his waist.

"It moved!"

These three words exploded against the cave walls. Before the echo had even faded, the darkness thirty paces ahead shuddered violently—

It was as if the air in the entire passage had been sucked away for a split second, followed immediately by a rush of foul wind, accompanied by the cracking sound of dislocated joints and the whistling noise of some viscous liquid whipping through the air at high speed.

It's here!

Chen Wuwang's pupils constricted sharply, and his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye automatically switched to dynamic capture mode, instantly stretching his field of vision into slow motion: A black shadow erupted from the cluster of egg sacs on the rock wall to the front left, its four limbs curved like blades, claw tips gleaming with a purplish-gray eerie light, lunging straight toward the center of where the three of them stood.

It was too fast; there was no time to use Divided Soul to confirm who the target was.

He didn't call out to his teammates.

He didn't need to.

His body moved faster than his consciousness—his left hand slammed into the armor access port on his right shoulder, a low "hum" resonated from within his body, and his nano-spirit-silk combat suit activated instantly.

A silver-white stream of energy surged up along his meridians, the armor plates at his shoulder blades unfolding layer by layer like metallic wings, flipping backward. Six diamond-shaped shield modules rapidly assembled, forming a hemispherical energy field three feet in front of him.

"Clang—!"

The instant the sharp claws struck the shield, blinding sparks exploded, and a deafening sound of tearing metal rang throughout the cave, shaking the entire rock stratum.

Gravel flew from beneath Chen Wuwang's feet as he was knocked sliding back three steps, his boot heels plowing two deep furrows into the ground.

The mecha's buffer System ran at full power, and a dull pain shot through his spine, but he gritted his teeth and held his ground, refusing to fall.

"Defense mode, full activation!" he growled, his voice extremely low.

The last shield plate on the shoulder armor finished closing, and the outer alloy layer rippled with a pale blue wave.

A second layer of solid armor slid down from his back, the locking mechanisms engaging precisely on his chest, abdomen, and sides of his arms, emitting a series of "click, click, click" metallic sounds.

The helmet visor automatically rose, covering his mouth and nose, leaving only the Mechanical Prosthetic Eye exposed, constantly refreshing the Yao Beast's movement data.

That thing didn't stop after landing; it twisted its body in place and its tail lashed out violently—

A meat-whip-like organ as thick as a child's arm smashed toward the gap on Chen Wuwang's left side with the force of wind and thunder.

He didn't have time to turn fully, so he could only force the angle of his left arm's shield to take the hit head-on.

"Boom!"

The impact force transmitted through the shield into his body, and the drive shaft of his right arm joint emitted a slight "clunk," as if a gear had jammed on a grain of sand.

The shield value instantly dropped by 12%, and the energy recharge progress bar climbed slowly.

"Hold on... hold on until Xiao Dao draws his sword," he muttered to himself, his knuckles gripping the hilt of the dagger tightly, while his eyes remained locked on the image from his prosthetic eye.

The Yao Beast's third strike came.

Its front claws feinted, its tail raised high, and the knotted muscles pulsed with a bizarre rhythm—Chen Wuwang caught it. In that instant, there was a 0.3-second lag at its spinal connection point, like a breathing gap in its attack cycle.

Now!

He immediately adjusted his center of gravity, pressing his back against the right rock wall to reduce the impact area, while simultaneously activating the built-in Spirit Array shock absorption System.

A layer of rune-inscribed light film, difficult to see with the naked eye, spread from the base of the mecha, rapidly seeping into the rock layer and channeling part of the impact force into the ground.

The tail whip descended, striking squarely on the edge of the shield.

"Bang!"

Sparks splashed, rock debris flew, and the shield value dropped another 8%, but the structure remained intact. The mecha was nailed firmly in place, not retreating even half a step.

The Yao Beast landed and paused slightly.

The two stood in a standoff, less than ten paces apart.

It crouched, its body covered in purplish-gray horny scales, its limbs ending in semi-ossified sharp claws, dragging a long tail covered in suction cups behind it. Its head contour was blurred, like a corroded mask, with only a pair of compound eyes gleaming coldly in the darkness, staring fixedly at Chen Wuwang.

Chen Wuwang didn't move.

The mecha's shield was still fluctuating, and energy consumption had reached 17%. The stiffness in his right arm joint was becoming more and more obvious, and every micro-adjustment was accompanied by a faint frictional noise.

He knew he couldn't keep taking hits passively, but this place was too narrow; counterattacking would expose flaws, and once he lost his balance, it would be fatal.

He slowly looked around.

Thermal imaging showed that the Yao Beast's hiding area hadn't shifted; it was still at the original point.

Its aura was stable, with no signs of weakening—those three strikes just now were merely testing him.

The real killer move hadn't come yet.

He pressed the button for the dagger at his waist with one hand, a slight vibration came from inside the scabbard, and the melee module entered standby mode.

As long as the Yao Beast took another step forward, he could launch a thrust from within his defensive framework.

"You're waiting for me to strike first?" he sneered, "I'm not going to."

The cave quieted down.

Only the low-frequency hum of the shield's operation and the heavy breathing of the Yao Beast were intertwined.

The air grew heavier, and waves of Demonic Qi surged in like tides crashing against the shore, never-ending.

Chen Wuwang could feel his Divine Sense being slightly eroded, but he was prepared; his mental anchor had long been locked onto the Family beacon, remaining undisturbed.

He didn't move.

The Yao Beast didn't move either.

Standoff.

Suddenly, it moved.

Not a lunge, and not a tail sweep.

Instead, it raised its head and opened its mouth—that wasn't a mouth at all, but a spiral ring of flesh tubes, slowly rotating and emitting low-frequency vibrations.

Chen Wuwang's Mechanical Prosthetic Eye immediately sounded an alarm: "Mental frequency intrusion detected—Cthulhu-type whispering fluctuation emerging!"

He immediately closed his external auditory reception, switched to neural direct-link communication mode, and simultaneously recited the Family Head's secret order three times in his mind to reinforce his mental firewall.

"Want to use sound to attack my mind?" he grinned, "You've found the wrong person."

He raised his right hand, his palm aiming at the Yao Beast, and the shield module partially reorganized, forming a small force field focusing array.

"One warning." His voice was as cold as ice, "Take another step closer, and I won't guarantee I can hold back."

The Yao Beast didn't react.

The ring of flesh tubes continued to rotate, the frequency increasing.

Chen Wuwang stopped talking nonsense.

He suddenly stepped forward half a step, the mecha's feet emitting short pulses to forcibly compress the distance, while the leading edge of the shield released an electrostatic magnetic storm—

This was a modified version of an ancient Spirit Array provided by Elder Lin years ago, specifically designed to counter mental pollution.

"Snap!"

With a crisp sound, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the flesh tubes, and the Yao Beast finally let out its first roar, retreating half a step, its eyes flaring with rage.

"Good fellow, know pain now?" Chen Wuwang's lips curled up, "This is just the beginning."

Just as he was about to advance further, he suddenly sensed a vibration beneath his feet.

Looking down, the layer of purplish-gray moss on the ground was wriggling, like the skin of a living thing breathing.

Worse, the signal of that part of the rune array that the shield was channeling into the ground began to scramble.

"Damn, this ground is polluted too?" His heart tightened, and he immediately cut off the Spirit Array connection, switching to independent energy to maintain the shield.

Just in that flash of lightning, the Yao Beast erupted again!

This time it was an all-out charge—its four limbs kicked off the ground, its speed so fast it left afterimages. Its sharp claws went straight for Chen Wuwang's throat, its tail poised to strike, clearly intending to kill with one blow.

Chen Wuwang's pupils constricted; there was no time to reorganize his defensive formation, so he could only fully retract the shield to the front, while using his thrusters to retreat rapidly.

"Clang—!"

Sparks exploded, illuminating the entire cave.

He was slammed against the rock wall by this blow, a piece of his back armor dented, and his right arm joint completely jammed, emitting a "creak" of distress.

The shield value dropped below 60%, and alarm lights flashed frantically at the edge of his vision.

But he was still standing.

The Yao Beast landed and stopped again.

The two sides pulled away from each other again.

Chen Wuwang caught his breath and wiped his face; his fingertips touched the three old scars on his right cheek, which felt slightly hot.

"Not bad," he chuckled, "Strong, and not stupid either. Knowing to pick on my joint weaknesses."

He slowly raised his left arm, which could still move, and the shield redeployed.

"But you forgot," his voice grew colder, "I'm not wearing an ordinary mecha."

"It is a prototype of the 'eye of wuwang'."

He pressed the second button on the dagger, a low resonance came from inside the mecha, and the core temperature slowly rose.

"System on standby," he whispered, "Preparing to switch to melee module."