Chapter 103: Scaly Beast!

The gunfire was intense, but after no more than two seconds, the Second Team vanished from the thermal imaging display.

Tan Ziyan still had not caught a glimpse of the opponent; he immediately realized the problem and ordered, "Abandon thermal imaging! Everyone, maintain vigilance within visual range and protect the First Team!"

The First Team, responsible for attacking the car, did not stop, and since the three squads were the closest, if the opponent truly valued the person inside the car, they would not go off to attack the squads further away.

Tan Ziyan's prediction was accurate; once they abandoned the aid of thermal imaging, someone soon spotted the enemy.

"That—is that a lizard? A Komodo dragon? A cold-blooded animal! Seven o'clock direction, First Team, watch out!"

Someone quickly reported the position; there was no need for further words, as all gun barrels shifted and fired blindly.

There was no need to see, either; as long as the bullets were dense enough, no matter how fast the enemy was, they would be shredded if they appeared within that range.

However, there was one thing they still hadn't grasped: sometimes, bullets simply cannot penetrate everyone.

After Tan Ziyan saw the "Lizard Man" appear, the bullets did indeed hit, but they only slowed the opponent down and sparked, adding a touch of scenery to the night rain.

"What kind of ghost thing is that?" Even Tan Ziyan had never seen such an animal—no, such a person—no, "Everyone, cover the First Team's retreat!"

If bullets couldn't penetrate, leaving his men in that position was no different from sending them to their deaths.

"It's too late, Captain, you guys go!"

One person hurriedly reported: "Target characteristics: human-like, long tail, skin resembles a lizard, possesses camouflage attributes, bullets cannot penetrate skin but can leave marks, dynamic compound eyes..."

Another continued: "Limbs are super long, has sharp claws, can... cough, cough, cough, can tear through human bodies, break bones... comrade, goodbye..."

The last one: "Armor-piercing bullets can penetrate, daggers cannot wound, blood is poisonous, ah... sharp teeth, cough, cough, saliva is highly toxic, Squad No. 1, cough, cough, goodbye..."

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Tan Ziyan cursed twice, "Everyone, hold off on Target No. 1, focus all fire on Target No. 2! Observer, report target position."

"Received!"

The Special Action Team currently had no snipers, but everyone's marksmanship was top-tier; sniping at this distance was not a difficult task—at the end of the day, it was just hitting a moving target.

There was no shortage of observers, and in times of necessity, every squad would have one member take on this role.

If the equipment failed, they would make up for it with their field of vision; within the encirclement of less than a hundred meters, the driver Lizard Man's position was exposed, and speed could no longer be his advantage.

Plus, his body temperature was rising with his movements, so even if he used camouflage, he would soon be discovered.

Bullets drew lines of fire through the dark curtain, quickly weaving into a web; the fireworks of the night were quite beautiful.

The barrage soon wounded the Lizard Man, and emerald-green blood sprayed out, emitting puffs of white smoke upon hitting the ground.

The two team members beside Tan Ziyan, however, did not fire a single shot; they kept their eyes fixed on the jeep, not letting the true target escape.

The spray fire turned into precision shots; the combatants no longer wasted ammunition, and although they had plenty, their firing method changed to follow the target.

This point did not even require an explicit order from Tan Ziyan.

However, this kind of damage was merely skin-deep to that lizard, and the team was still suffering casualties.

If this continued, their side would only be wiped out squad by squad, and there was already movement at the nearby base.

Tan Ziyan pressed his walkie-talkie, "Cease fire, lure the enemy into the trap."

After saying this, he stood up—his figure having almost merged with the mountain rocks—tossed aside the black rock-like rain tarp on his body, and charged out with long strides.

"Captain!"

A comrade nearby tried to stop him, but it was a step too late, so they could only immediately open the walkie-talkie, "Everyone, execute the order!"

The "Black Lizard" Miao Yuantian's sharp claws were about to pierce the body of the soldier in his hands when the eyeballs in his eyes, which were almost side-by-side with his ears, suddenly turned backward in a bizarre fashion; the next second, his head moved and was smashed violently to the side.

The soldier in his hands had already lost an arm, but in the nick of time, he was thrown away; he landed with a muffled grunt, but did not linger, pulling out the handgun tucked into his leg.

"Captain, I'll provide cover!" The disabled soldier didn't even treat the bleeding from his severed arm; his muzzle followed the two people locked in fierce combat, his gaze trembling slightly.

Tan Ziyan's heavy fist smashed the yellow-green-skinned Lizard Man to the side, not giving the opponent a moment to breathe, and immediately followed up with a set of short-blade combat techniques, every strike aiming for vital points.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

The Lizard Man, having dropped the soldier, took two slashes; the skin that had previously been impenetrable to blades was now vulnerable, as the bullets had already created wounds, and these two strikes were cunningly aimed at the openings.

"You scaly beast!"

Tan Ziyan swung more than a dozen times, every strike aimed at the wounds, and combined with the contrast in strength and build, he gained the upper hand in a short time.

The Lizard Man clearly had plenty of combat experience, too; realizing that being continuously attacked at the wounds was a major disadvantage, he risked taking a slash and swiped a claw at Tan Ziyan's face.

Tan Ziyan rolled on the ground to retreat, and the Lizard Man also backed off, gaining a moment to breathe.

Yet in those less than ten seconds, the Lizard Man's emerald eyeballs rotated, and a layer of green light seemed to flash across his skin.

Tan Ziyan watched as the wounds caused by the bullets instantly healed—no, a more accurate description would be that they instantly vanished.

"Are you a mutant, too?"

The initial shock had already faded; he had seen mutants and animals before, but he hadn't expected that the Sky Viper had already gained the ability to make people mutate—or perhaps, was it a coincidental mutation?

If it were the former, Tan Ziyan would have to apologize to Xing Tianyang when he returned; it was his own short-sightedness that had not placed enough importance on this experiment.

"Hiss!"

But the Lizard Man seemed to have lost the ability to use human language, and when he opened his mouth, he could only emit monosyllabic sounds like a true lizard. At the same time, Tan Ziyan also saw the forked tongue in his mouth, as well as the sharp fangs.

Rather than a mutant, this person was closer to an animal.

Neither side hesitated any longer; Tan Ziyan held a poison-tipped Military Dagger in one hand and a Handgun in the other, attacking directly.

When facing a monster, there was no need to talk about martial virtue, otherwise, the only one who would lose their life was himself.

The Lizard Man's physique, excluding the tail, was actually only about 1.6 meters; after several head-on contacts, his strength was not even a match for Tan Ziyan's, but his speed and agility far exceeded his.

After several chases yielded no obvious results, Tan Ziyan changed his strategy; he was in no rush to catch up to the opponent, but instead followed his position, firing his gun from afar and swinging his blade when close.

As long as he could inflict damage, he could latch onto the wounds and attack continuously; he didn't believe the opponent could have infinite stamina and healing.

In less than five minutes, both sides had consumed a massive amount of stamina; the Lizard Man suddenly retreated several meters, opened his mouth to hiss wildly, and his chest and abdomen heaved violently—clearly, he also felt that Tan Ziyan was a handful.

Just at this moment, the sound of vehicles starting up finally came from the direction of the base; his reinforcements had arrived.

But he hadn't been happy for even two seconds when his expression suddenly changed, and the eyeballs on both sides of his head looked viciously at Tan Ziyan simultaneously.

He had seen through Tan Ziyan's strategy—no, to be precise, it was the Black Gluttonous Beast "linked" to him that had seen through it.

These people are trying to lure the people in the station out, make them lose their cover, and ambush them.

Tan Ziyan took the opportunity to change the magazine, and this action took almost only one second; the movement was so fast it left an afterimage, the speed of the Special Operations Team.

Of course, the conclusion that these people were the Special Operations Team had already been guessed by his "linker" several minutes ago; when she saw Tan Ziyan, the Black Glutton Miao Cuihua issued an order to retreat and simultaneously used the radio to request reinforcements from another station.

Just as the Chinese military attaches great importance to the Sky Viper, they do not dare to be the slightest bit careless when facing the Special Operations Team.

The operation time was set for tonight precisely because they were certain the Haicheng Barrier would not dispatch this team, but now it seems they miscalculated.