Chapter 123 – Decisive Battle
Pangpang was only shoulder-high to her, but it was a cube. Carrying it was no different than carrying a bear.
There was no way Tu Ran could do it with her own strength.
The mechanical arms and legs she had equipped shared a significant portion of the weight.
Tu Ran hadn’t expected the first time she used this exoskeleton would be to carry a pig, not to fight on the battlefield.
She was feeling very aggrieved.
Even with the exoskeleton, she struggled to run, her face turning red from the effort.
Pangpang, lying on her back, wagged its long feathered tail, “This is the first time Pangpang has been carried, Pangpang is so happy.”
Tu Ran no longer had the energy to speak.
She quickly stepped in the direction Pangpang indicated.
A sudden wind inexplicably swept through the dense forest, blowing Tu Ran several steps forward.
Feeling strange, Tu Ran slowly turned her head to look.
Countless leaves fell from the treetops, the giant leaves descending like high-altitude falling objects.
Other than that, there was nothing.
Tu Ran thought she must be overthinking it.
As she turned around, an eerie creature suddenly appeared in her sight.
Its body was like a roe deer but three to four times larger.
Standing there, it seemed about a meter taller than her.
Its paws were similar to a tiger’s, thick and sharp, with glistening claws already extended.
What terrified Tu Ran the most was its face.
A human face.
Another human face.
The giant two-headed monster she encountered before also had human faces.
But the giant two-headed monster also had human upper limbs, which made its horror level somewhat bearable.
But this creature in front of her only had a human face, with other parts appearing to be stitched together from various animal limbs.
The human face was also bizarre, with a long nose and mouth that looked similar to a roe deer’s face in profile, deathly pale and lifeless.
Even the corpse in a horror movie that had been dead for a hundred years didn’t look this ghastly.
“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!”
Pangpang became agitated first, flapping its wings frantically.
“It’s a Pao Xiao! It’s a Pao Xiao! Boss, run quickly, it eats meat! It’ll gnaw us down to the bones!”
Tu Ran’s balance was thrown off by its flapping wings, causing her to sway and her vision to blur.
Since there was no way to escape, Tu Ran decided to throw the fat pig off her back.
“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!”
“Boss! Don’t leave Pangpang behind!”
“Shut up!” Tu Ran glared at it fiercely.
Pangpang immediately stopped its incessant chirping.
“Find a place to hide first, I’ll handle this.”
“Chirp.”
“Alright.”
Pangpang actually rolled away.
Its leg was injured, so it couldn’t run or fly.
Given the current situation, the two-legged beast couldn’t carry it to a safe place either.
So it had no choice but to roll away like a ball.
Tu Ran didn’t bother with how it left; her attention was entirely focused on the “Pao Xiao” ten meters away.
What should she do?
Leave Pangpang and escape?
That seemed unethical, and she might not outrun this creature anyway.
Fight head-on?
Could she defeat it?
With its huge size and ferocious appearance, it was like a tiger-level beast.
While Tu Ran was assessing the Pao Xiao, it was also tilting its head, evaluating its prey.
It extended its blood-red tongue and licked its cheek.
“A human, huh? I’ve heard they taste delicious, especially the lungs in the chest cavity, tender and juicy. Finally, I get to try one today, hahaha.”
The Pao Xiao hummed lowly, its ghostly green eyes staring menacingly at Tu Ran.
Tu Ran understood its words.
So, humans had already fallen victim to this alien species?
She couldn’t help but grip her machine gun tighter.
The Pao Xiao could wait no longer.
The two-legged beast in front of it emitted an enticing aroma, and it couldn’t restrain its urge to devour her.
It also wanted to taste the flavor of human lungs.
It kicked off powerfully, pouncing towards Tu Ran.
Its jumping ability was astonishing.
The ten-meter distance was covered in a single leap, closing in more than halfway.
Tu Ran didn’t hesitate, lifting her machine gun and firing at it while quickly retreating to increase the distance.
Bullets penetrated its smooth skin and flesh, bouncing back as if hitting a trampoline they couldn’t pierce.
Tu Ran expected this.
After dealing with so many different types of aliens, she had rarely encountered ones that could be easily killed by bullets.
Of course, except for that flock of pheasant monsters.
Those creatures probably lived in groups because they were so weak.
The Pao Xiao was already charging at her, its claws, larger than Tu Ran’s head, reaching for her.
Tu Ran sidestepped, persistently aiming her machine gun at its eyes.
Eyes were almost always the weak spot of any species.
No matter how invulnerable they were, the eyes were always the most fragile.
She fired a carpet of bullets.
Even though the Pao Xiao dodged swiftly, three to five bullets hit their mark.
Two streams of blood immediately flowed from its eyes.
Tu Ran felt a surge of joy.
However, her happiness was short-lived as the Pao Xiao’s claws swiped accurately towards her.
With quick reflexes, Tu Ran rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike.
A deep claw mark appeared where she had just been standing.
Had she been a moment slower, her head would have been crushed.
The Pao Xiao’s next strike was already on its way.
Tu Ran kept retreating, dodging left and right with agility.
Why could it still pinpoint her position so precisely even though its eyes were useless?
Could it be that it didn’t rely on its eyes to locate prey?!
As she pondered this, Pangpang’s chirping voice came from a distance.
“Boss! Its eyes are in its armpits!”
Tu Ran immediately looked at the Pao Xiao’s forelegs and indeed saw something round and eye-like on the inside of its legs.
Tu Ran: “…”
Biodiversity sure was diverse, but this was ridiculous!
In such a hidden spot, she couldn’t shoot it from the outside.
She would have to shoot from below.
Which meant she needed to make it jump.
Tu Ran glanced at a nearby tree and got an idea.
She put down her machine gun and switched to a long knife.
The Pao Xiao, enraged from repeatedly missing her, saw her climbing the tree and immediately pounced, claws digging into the tree as it chased her.
Using both hands and feet, Tu Ran climbed higher. When she judged the distance to be right, she looked back and saw the Pao Xiao clinging to the tree after her.
As it raised its claws to strike, Tu Ran suddenly let go and jumped to the side.
The Pao Xiao followed, leaping down after her.
Tu Ran landed first, drew her pistol, and fired two shots at the exposed eye.
The first bullet went straight into its eye.
Its body shook violently, and the second bullet missed.
Tu Ran wanted to fire again, but the Pao Xiao had already landed.
It was furious, letting out a howl to the sky.
“Despicable human!!”
