The monster raised its thick arm and brought it down like swatting a fly. The sheer force of the blow compressed the air, making it hard to breathe, and a stench of rot filled the air.
Xiao Han reacted instantly, sliding aside like a slippery eel. He dodged by a hair's breadth. The gust of wind from the strike ruffled his hair. The monster's hand slammed into the ground with a deafening crash, leaving a dent in the floor. A cloud of dust billowed up. Xiao Han held his breath and squinted to keep the dust out of his eyes.
He drew his Twin Eagles and opened fire. The bullets tore into the monster's rotting flesh, splattering foul-smelling pus.
[You dealt 57 damage to Test Subject 002!]
[You have entered combat. Based on your level, you have obtained the following information.]
---
**Test Subject 002**
Level: 42
Class: [Low-Level Biological Aberration] (Endurance to HP conversion ratio: 1:100)
Attributes: Strength 65, Agility 20, Endurance 60 (90), Intelligence 1, Mysticism ?, Charisma ?, Luck ?
Qi: 0
Energy Level: ?
HP: 1854/7800 (Continuous decay)
Status: Severe Decay – Defence -25, Endurance -30, Severe sensory degradation
Perks: Low-Level Aberrant Body Enhancement (Strength +5, Endurance +10)
Intermediate Tough Life (Additional HP from Endurance conversion, ratio 1:30)
??, ??...
Skills: Silent Step Lv12, Heavy Strike Lv8, Charge Lv5, ??, ??...
---
Class level caps were not all ten. Some high-end and special classes had higher caps. [Biological Aberration] was one such special type.
Xiao Han fired both guns continuously. Large-calibre armour-piercing rounds tore into Test Subject 002, leaving bullet holes behind. The gunshots echoed far into the distance.
"I've made too much noise. I need to finish this quickly." Xiao Han's heart sank. Fortunately, Test Subject 002 was in poor condition. If it had been at full health, he would have turned and run immediately.
Test Subject 002 seemed to feel no pain. It lowered its head and charged forward, like a steam locomotive thundering towards him. Xiao Han's heart clenched involuntarily.
He holstered his guns and drew his blade. The folding combat knife slammed into the monster's skull with a loud clang, sinking into the bone. Pus splattered everywhere. Xiao Han took the full brunt of the charge, barely managing to raise his arms in defence. It felt like being hit head-on by a charging rhinoceros. He stumbled backwards, crashing into two workbenches. His arms ached, and his chest felt heavy and tight.
A new status effect appeared on his interface: Contusion.
The blade was lodged in Test Subject 002's skull. Thick yellow-white pus oozed from the wound. The monster opened its mouth wide, as if roaring, but its decayed vocal cords could only produce a hoarse rasp. Its fists swung out with tremendous force, kicking up dust and wind, but its trajectory was clear to Xiao Han. With Agility at 48, he was more than twice as agile as the monster. That charge had clearly been a skill, not something it could use repeatedly. Xiao Han had also taken the chance to test whether the creature had a weak spot. The answer was clear: this monster was truly brainless. Even with its skull split, it kept moving.
Xiao Han dodged past the fists and quickly circled behind Test Subject 002. He activated his electrothermal cutting gloves and pressed them against the creature's back. The gloves flared with a brilliant blue-white heat, dazzling in the darkness. The intense heat rapidly burned through the monster's rotting flesh, and the stench of burnt tissue filled the air.
His hands sank into a mass of viscous organs. He stirred them roughly, sending up clouds of white smoke. The monster flailed its arms, but Xiao Han evaded every swing with narrow margins.
The electrothermal cutting gloves dealt sustained damage. In just ten seconds, they had dealt over eight hundred points of damage, nearly burning straight through the creature's body. The gloves flickered a few times, then went dark—their energy was depleted. The high-energy batteries only powered the gloves for a few minutes. Su Li had already used them extensively in combat, leaving only a trace of energy, which Xiao Han had just exhausted.
He quickly retreated, using his agility to stay mobile. This creature was like a low-level beast, devoid of intelligence. Despite its formidable stats, Xiao Han could easily handle it with hit-and-run tactics. The only dangerous move was its charge.
Using the terrain and obstacles to his advantage, Xiao Han whittled it down, shot by shot, until Test Subject 002 finally collapsed.
The monster staggered in a drunken circle before crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. It lay still, pus slowly seeping from the bullet holes covering its body.
[You have killed Test Subject 002 (Lv42). You have earned 32,000 experience.]
[You have killed a target 10 levels above you. Additional 280% experience bonus. Total experience value: 89,600. Your personal contribution rate: 23.7%.]
[You have received an additional 21,235 (23.7%) experience points.]
The rustling sounds had grown louder without him noticing, as if they were right beside him, surrounding him in stereo. From the gaps in the hollow metal floor beneath his feet, segmented limbs began to emerge, densely packed.
Xiao Han's face suddenly twisted in alarm. He broke into a sprint, racing back the way he came.
In the distance, loud crashes against metal echoed, accompanied by beast-like roars, gradually moving in his direction.
Everything indicated that killing this monster had triggered some kind of event.
Xiao Han had killed Test Subject 002. The diary had mentioned that the last test subject was 008. There were likely several more monsters like 002, perhaps even stronger, lurking somewhere in the base. He had already obtained what he came for. If he did not flee now, was he supposed to stay for the holidays?
Surrounded by various sounds, Xiao Han ran as fast as he could. Fortunately, he made it out without incident, quickly climbing back up the rock face to the surface.
Sunlight fell on him, and his taut nerves gradually relaxed. The atmosphere of the abandoned base had been too eerie. The ever-present sense of danger had kept him on edge like walking a tightrope. Only now could he finally catch his breath.
Tucked away in his coat were the three vials of Phironia serum, an unexpected prize. Xiao Han was not sure how valuable they were, but this was not the time to inspect his loot. The various factions in the Somar Desert would soon notice something unusual here.
With that thought, Xiao Han immediately drove away.
An hour after he left, convoys of vehicles arrived one after another at the Phironia entrance. They gathered around the hole, their leaders quickly notifying their backers, while armed personnel eyed each other warily.
Their backers all gave the same order: explore it first.
The armed factions called a temporary truce and sent teams into the base. The oppressive darkness and eerie silence were slightly diluted by the presence of so many people.
"There are desert carrion beetles on the lower level."
"Tell the people above to send down the flamethrowers."
Someone wielded a cone-shaped flamethrower and, through the hollow metal floor, torched the swarms of beetles, producing shrill, piercing screeches. The smell of roasted insect flesh mixed with the base's stench of decay, creating a nauseating odour.
Desert carrion beetles ranged from forty to eighty centimetres in length, resembling centipedes with armoured shells. Their heads bore antennae and countless red compound eyes, and their pincers could snap human bones for feeding.
The abandoned base was home to thousands of desert carrion beetles. They soon counterattacked, swarming up to the upper levels and surging in from both ends of the corridors. The mercenary squads formed a temporary alliance, setting up defensive positions and repelling the beetle tides with flamethrowers and gunfire.
Just as the situation stabilised, the beetles suddenly parted. Several massive, rotting figures charged out, moving silently. They shrugged off fire and bullets, sending mercenaries flying and breaking through the defensive line.
The mercenaries were horrified.
"What the hell are these things? They're disgusting!"
"Fill the gap!"
"Damn it, the beetles are pouring in!"
"Kill the monsters first... wait, there are three more!"
"Requesting fire support. I repeat, requesting fire support!"
The gunfire raged for a long time before finally falling silent.
The ground was littered with charred beetle corpses and spent shell casings. The test subjects had been riddled with bullets. The mercenaries had suffered heavy losses, but at least the battle was over.
Gordon kicked one of the test subject corpses. "These look like biological experiment subjects," he muttered.
After securing the area, the groups searched the base from top to bottom, blasting open sealed rooms. However, there was little to find. Most of the rooms contained only rusted experimental equipment. Still, some paper logs and base journals were recovered.
The most valuable finds were the dried serum residue in the experimental pod containers and the test subject corpses. The backers behind these mercenaries would want these items—perhaps they could be sent to specialised biochemical labs to recreate the serum's effects. But judging by the deformities of the test subjects, the agent was clearly still imperfect.
When the mercenaries finally reached the large laboratory Xiao Han had visited, they stopped short. A fresh test subject corpse (002) lay there, with wounds that looked recent.
"Someone got here first!"
Gordon spotted the empty case that had once held three vials of Phironia serum. Dust on the case showed signs of disturbance. His eyes flickered.