Chapter 76: Chief: Should I Run Away?

A short, shrill crackling sound rang out as a searing bio-plasma projectile bounced through the dark crypt.

The glowing ball of electricity illuminated nearly half the crypt.

Malgiet urgently controlled the surrounding Plague Zombies, which converged into a grotesque wall of flesh.

But the instant the bio-plasma collided with it, the air filled with the stench of burning rot.

In an instant, the flesh wall formed by the Plague Zombies was shattered, and the surging ball of electric energy surged toward Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun was not the least bit surprised.

In the Tyranids, Executioners are equivalent to Dreadnoughts among the Astartes.

And the Screamer Killer is the largest and most terrifying subspecies among Executioners.

They possess four sharp, lethal claws and can concentrate their infamous incandescent bio-plasma in their esophagus.

This bio-plasma scrapes against the ridges inside their esophagus, roaring out with a piercing, low hum.

Even a Dreadnought, if struck by this, would be killed or severely wounded.

A typical Dreadnought requires at least a Terminator squad to reliably hunt such a monster.

A mere group of Plague Zombies is nothing but chopped meat to a Screamer Killer.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yun grabbed Malgiet and pulled a Dimensional Ring from his chest, attaching it to the wall.

He dragged Malgiet into the Dimensional Ring.

The searing plasma arrived the next second and exploded; blinding arcs of electricity howled around them, the intense heat melting the steel of the cast wall into molten iron that dripped to the floor.

Yet amid the molten iron and splattered plasma, Zhou Yun and Malgiet were gone.

The surrounding Plague Zombies let out piercing, shrill roars; their flesh swelled further, growing stronger.

Plague Zombies armed with various weapons twisted their mutated bodies and charged toward the Screamer Killer.

The Screamer Killer violently shook its four blades; static sparks crackled, and searing plasma arcs wrapped around them.

The Screamer Killer can not only release bio-plasma through its esophagus—it can also generate searing arcs through electrostatic fields on its blades.

The blades swung like light, the arcs flashing like whips; in an instant, they carved a circle of piled, charred corpses from the encirclement of Plague Zombies.

It swung its four blades while searching for Zhou Yun and Malgiet’s trail.

Its acute biological senses faintly sensed that Zhou Yun and Malgiet might have hidden inside the pipes within the walls.

It twisted its massive head, following its senses to locate the two within the wall, and began charging another searing bio-plasma blast in its mouth.

The beast intended to blast straight through the wall and roast them into charcoal.

Yet Zhou Yun’s figure suddenly flickered, appearing atop the Screamer Killer.

Leveraging his knowledge of Tyranid biology, Zhou Yun swung his fist, clad in superhuman gloves, and smashed it into the “bald” spot on the Screamer Killer’s head, unshielded by chitin.

But the Screamer Killer displayed flexibility impossible for its size, twisting its body sharply so Zhou Yun’s fist struck its thick back carapace instead.

A series of sharp cracks echoed across the carapace; cracks split open across the monster’s heavy armor.

Yet thanks to the Tyranid hive’s perfectly engineered biological carapace, it withstood Zhou Yun’s punch outright.

The Screamer Killer shook its body, dodging away from Zhou Yun’s fist in a flash.

Zhou Yun flickered again, vanishing beside the Screamer Killer.

But the Screamer Killer’s agility was extreme, its reaction speed beyond reason.

It instantly located Zhou Yun’s position after his teleport, its seven-meter-tall frame appearing before him in an instant.

Its razor-sharp claws descended simultaneously from four directions at a speed no human could match.

The Screamer Killer’s genetic hunting instincts told it the hunt for this tiny creature had succeeded.

Even the Gene Thief Chief, hiding in the shadows with extreme caution, nearly believed he had won.

Ding—

A clear sound rang out.

In the Gene Thief Chief’s stunned gaze from the darkness,

Zhou Yun raised the hand holding the toy-like short sword and, with a non-human posture, speed, and strength, blocked one of the Screamer Killer’s claws.

He then effortlessly deflected it, and simultaneously blocked the other three claws.

The Screamer Killer’s four razor blades swung again at high speed, leaving afterimages in the air.

Yet Zhou Yun moved with ease; the hand holding the famed blade, Lightning Blade, seemed to move on its own, effortlessly blocking every one of the Screamer Killer’s attacks.

The blades of the Screamer Killer, forged by the Leviathan Hive Fleet through countless genetic iterations—balanced, lethal, and swift—

And the famed blade, Lightning Blade, a toy sold in twenty-second-century department stores for children aged nine and up—

Collided in the dark crypt, seemingly evenly matched.

This sight sent a chill through the Gene Thief Chief, hidden in the shadows.

The Screamer Killer was the pinnacle of Tyranid Executioner design.

All four of its limbs had evolved into pure blades, completely abandoning all Tyranid ranged biological weapons.

The instinctive swordsmanship embedded in its genes was something few lifeforms could master even after centuries of training.

Yet now, this human—unmodified, merely an ordinary body—

Was holding his own against the Screamer Killer with a blade that had no edge and looked like a child’s toy.

The Gene Thief Chief even began to suspect the hive mind’s gene sequence data might have been a cut version.

In reality, if it had been an Executioner equipped with Tyranid ranged biological weapons or another Tyranid behemoth,

Zhou Yun would not have fought so easily.

But the Screamer Killer, aside from its bio-plasma blast—which required charging time and was lethally potent—

Had nearly all its abilities focused by the hive on close-range blade combat.

And Zhou Yun’s Lightning Blade, as long as it had power, was immune to such melee combat.

At point-blank range, the Screamer Killer struggled to find an opening to release its bio-plasma.

The Gene Thief Chief did not know any of this.

Watching Zhou Yun trade blows with the Screamer Killer, its vigilance surged.

This guy looks dangerous. It suddenly entertained the idea of slipping away quietly.

If not for the fact that its side still seemed to hold the advantage, the Gene Thief Chief might have already fled.

It silently shifted its massive body through the shadows, crouching soundlessly behind Zhou Yun.

The Gene Thief Chief sought an opportunity—

Such intense blade combat drained immense energy.

It would strike at the moment when Zhou Yun and the Screamer Killer were locked in their fiercest exchange, least able to defend against ambush.

Now!!

The Gene Thief Chief lunged violently from the darkness, its four claws striking toward Zhou Yun.

“Behind you,” came the voice of the winged figure in Bai Guang.

Zhou Yun turned his head calmly, looking toward the Gene Thief Chief who had ambushed him.

There might be another chapter soon—I’m almost done writing (in the new folder).

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(End of Chapter)