Chapter 64: Stalker—Centipede

He turned around, and the Stalker locked eyes with that abnormal creature.

It was a massive centipede.

Its length exceeded 25 meters, width about 3 meters, height between 4 and 4.5 meters.

Apart from the head, it had at least 22 segments, each bearing a pair of sharp, slender appendages.

Though it didn't truly have a hundred legs as the name suggests, the dense 44 "feet" were still enough to make one feel sick.

Its jaws were gaping, its jet‑black double eyes, twice the size of a wok, stared fixedly at the "small" Stalker in the center of the plaza.

No way around it; to humans the Stalker is a giant, but in this centipede's eyes it could only be described as small.

Otherwise, the earlier Zombie Dog and Hunter Alpha would have been helpless; with such a size gap, even the Stalker seemed at an absolute disadvantage.

"Sss~."

The centipede didn't rush to strike the Stalker; instead, from its lofty height it stared down and let out a mocking, hoarse hiss.

As if mocking the Stalker as a little toy.

"Roar———!"

"Ri~ buzz!!"

Feeling mocked, the Stalker let out a defiant roar and immediately pulled the trigger to attack the centipede.

However, the 7.62mm AP-FMJ bullet, which can pierce armor, was not as unstoppable as before.

A barrage of bullets slammed into the centipede's shell and carapace, producing a muffled "pup" sound, seemingly unable to inflict real damage.

The centipede, long accustomed to the rainforest, had no idea what a gun was and had never endured such a dense hail of bullets.

The centipede roared again, "Sss! Sss!", then twisted and jerked its many segments, swiftly climbing to evade the Stalker's attacks.

Clearly, the massive beast was startled.

Moreover, as it ran, the centipede swung its tail segments toward the Stalker.

The "whoosh—!" of slicing through air vanished in an instant.

The "thud—!" of flesh taking a whip‑like blow followed immediately.

Though the centipede was huge, its body was surprisingly agile.

While the Stalker was focused on aiming at the centipede's head, before it could react it was brutally struck by the centipede's body wielded like a whip.

Flung through the air, the Stalker arced in a perfect parabola for over ten meters, finally crashing into a stone tower with a "boom—" sound.

In an instant, dust billowed, and the Stalker was buried beneath the heavy stone tower ruins.

"Roar…" Yet a mournful wail from the ruins indicated the Stalker hadn't been knocked out, only that it needed a moment.

Meanwhile, the giant centipede wasn't faring any better.

Although the AP-FMJ bullet couldn't effectively pierce most of the carapace, the centipede's lower body had a weak spot; the bullet entered unimpeded, rolling inside and amplifying damage.

The plaza was already splattered with a lot of ink‑green blood, and even the bullet wound on the centipede's head dripped a slow stream of ink‑green gore.

"Sss!!" The centipede, never before so wounded, let out another sky‑piercing howl.

Immediately, the centipede twisted its segments and charged toward the stone tower ruins, its momentum seeming to aim to swallow the Stalker whole.

However, the moment the centipede got close, the Stalker suddenly thrust open the rubble pressing on it.

"Roar!" The Stalker, as if fully revived, let out an earth‑shaking roar.

Emerging from the ruins, it first dodged the charging centipede, then quickly put distance between itself and the creature.

At this moment, the Stalker's trench coat on its upper body produced a crisp "click— click" sound.

The coat peeled off automatically, exposing exaggerated muscles to the air, with vein‑like blood vessels still pulsating.

That whip‑like strike from the centipede damaged the ammunition box the Stalker carried on its back.

With its primary weapon out of ammo, the Stalker had to discard the rotary machine gun and actively disengage the apparent coat restraints.

Freed, the Stalker twisted its neck, arms, shoulders, and other joints, producing crisp "clack— clack" sounds.

After adjusting to the unrestrained state, the Stalker's single eye fixed ahead, watching the centipede as it turned its body.

Soon, its gaze locked onto the centipede's head.

"Ha…ha…" The Stalker laughed as if something had occurred to it.

Already quite ugly, that smile made it even uglier.

Afterwards.

Having shed the first restraint, the Stalker's speed and strength each rose by one level.

In terms of strength, against the centipede it was still insufficient, but its speed far outpaced the opponent.

That was enough.

The Stalker used its speed advantage to first dodge the centipede's another charge, then flipped and leapt onto its back.

"Sss!!" The centipede thrashed violently, trying to fling the Stalker off its back.

Unfortunately, before the centipede could act, the Stalker's left hand already covered a bullet hole in the centipede's head.

"Pfft!" With a sound, the Stalker's tentacle passed through the bullet hole, pierced the shell, and entered the centipede's brain.

!!!!

This move by the Stalker made the centipede truly feel the threat of death, causing it to swing its body even more wildly.

"Gulu~! Gulu!" Yet as the tentacle sucked out brain tissue, a nauseating sound echoed.

"Sss… sss…" The centipede's resistance grew weaker.

"Thump!" Soon, the massive centipede's body collapsed heavily onto the plaza, motionless.

Ultimately it lost all ability to resist, forced to succumb to death by the Stalker's feeding.

———————

…

Inside the Command Center.

Seeing the Stalker finally subduing the giant centipede, all the staff secretly breathed a sigh of relief, for the visual impact this centipede brought was truly overwhelming.

The demonic beasts recorded in ancient mythology seem to be no more than this.

But Sui Bian, standing in the Command Center, confirmed that he still wore a solemn expression.

Because the system gave no feedback.

Immediately, he crossed his arms over his chest and, in a calm voice, ordered: "Let the Stalker dissect that centipede."

？

The employee in front, responsible for the Stalker, was stunned, but still nodded in obedience: "Yes, sir."

Having received the latest order, the Stalker began to dissect the centipede in an orderly manner.

Next, the Stalker pinched both hands into the centipede's body segments, then used brute force to tear left and right.

Thus, the centipede's head and body were forced apart.

The order was to completely dissect it, so the Stalker repeatedly performed the above steps.

In less than ten minutes, the giant centipede was dissected by the Stalker into over twenty pieces, truly dead beyond doubt.

This centipede, which seemed to have lived for hundreds of years, never imagined in death it would receive such treatment.

But the system remained silent.

Seeing this, Sui Bian lightly pinched his chin, gazing at the big screen as he observed the city wreckage displayed, pondering for a moment.

His gaze fell on the pyramid and its temple at the city center, and he asked: "How much longer until the two special forces teams arrive?"

"Expected to arrive above the ruins in 45 minutes."

(End of chapter)