Chapter 15

It's over…… we…… we are all going to die here……

Wang Gongtou's voice was filled with despair; he slumped onto the thick earth-and-stone defensive layer on Black Tortoise's back, trembling all over like chaff in a sieve.

The hellish scene before his eyes completely shattered the psychological defenses of him as an ordinary survivor.

That wasn't a battle; it was a massacre.

Pillar Stone Security's well-equipped, well-trained team was utterly helpless before that monster called the Steel Bone Vulture.

However, Lin Yue beside him was unusually calm.

His gaze was locked firmly on the Steel Bone Vulture carrying out a one-sided massacre, not missing any of its minute movements.

"Old Wang, don't panic!"

Lin Yue's voice wasn't loud,

"It isn't invincible!"

"Not invincible?"

Wang Gongtou almost shouted it out, his voice altered by fear,

"Lin kid, look closely! Even rocket launchers can't scratch it! What do we have to fight it with? Bite it with our teeth?"

"Head-on certainly won't work."

Lin Yue's speech wasn't fast, but it was unusually clear,

"Its defense is nearly perfect. But did you see what it just did?"

Wang Gongtou stared blankly, then instinctively recalled.

"The first thing it did after being hit by the rocket launcher was to preen the feathers on its chest."

A glint flashed in Lin Yue's eyes,

"That is an extremely arrogant instinctive reaction. It believes in its defense, even enjoying the feeling of superiority when attacks land on it yet cause no harm."

So where is its weakness?

Its advantage is the sky.

It is the unmatched speed and force of its dive.

But once it reaches the ground, it loses its greatest reliance.

A bold, even crazy idea suddenly formed in Lin Yue's mind.

"Its weakness is in its feet!"

Lin Yue said firmly,

"We are going to drag that arrogant great bird down from the sky completely!"

"Drag it…… down?"

Wang Gongtou muttered to himself, as if chewing over the possibility of those words.

"Exactly!"

Lin Yue's voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable determination,

"Old Wang, you're an engineer! Tell me, in this place, could we possibly use what we can find to make a setup that could trap its feet?"

"A trap……"

Wang Gongtou slapped his thigh hard; the pain in his back seemed to disappear, his whole body trembling with excitement,

"Right! We can set a trap!"

"Lin kid, your idea…… is absolutely right! We can't match its hardness, but its toughness…… we can!"

His speech grew faster and faster, a feverish flush appearing on his face:

"Steel cable! Here we have plenty of high-strength lifting cable! Pulleys! Load-bearing columns! We can make a massive tripwire trap!"

He grabbed Lin Yue, pointing at two huge warehouse-like structures in the distance, and began explaining with spittle flying:

"We'll use those two warehouses and the surrounding steel framework as anchor points, weaving multiple strands of steel cable into a ground-hugging 'heaven-and-earth net'! Then, using the pulley system's transmission principle, we'll design an instant-tightening trigger mechanism! It loves to dive, right? As soon as its talons touch the ground and hit our main cable, the whole trap will frenetically tighten under its own weight!"

"When the time comes, the trap's tightening force will match the force of its dive! Even if we can't snap its legs, it will be enough to bind it firmly to the ground, turning it into a target that can't take off!"

Hearing Wang Gongtou's violent plan full of engineering beauty, Lin Yue's heart also began to race.

This plan is feasible!

"Good! Let's do it!"

Lin Yue made a swift decision,

"Old Wang, you handle setting the trap—you're the expert, full authority is yours! I'll act as bait, luring it to the spot you designate!"

"That's too dangerous!"

Wang Gongtou immediately objected,

"You saw its speed; if we make a mistake……"

"I have Black Tortoise."

Lin Yue patted the solid shell beneath him, his eyes unwaveringly resolute,

"I believe that even if that great bird is faster, in a short time trying to break through Black Tortoise's Energy Shield is impossible. You just need to tell me to lure that great bird there, and the rest we'll handle."

Wang Gongtou's lips moved; in the end, he could only nod helplessly.

"Good! Let's do it!"

……

A kilometer away, the top floor of a ruined residential building.

Scar-faced Brother Feng slowly lowered the military binoculars in his hand, the corner of his mouth curling into a mocking, amused smile.

"Brother Feng, they seem to be…… discussing something?"

The skinny monkey beside him spoke with a trembling voice,

They wouldn't really want to go head-to-head with that monster, would they? That monster even wiped out Pillar Stone Security in an instant! They're crazy!

Crazy? No, quite the opposite—they're very smart.

In Feng Ge's eyes gleamed the shrewdness and greed of a venomous snake.

Because they know that with that monster's speed they cannot escape at all; they can only go head-to-head, which still offers a slim chance, whereas choosing to flee would mean certain death.

He gazed at the enormous turtle shadow in the distance, and the greed in his heart burned ever hotter.

Let them fight.

Feng Ge licked his chapped lips and hoarsely ordered his subordinates,

The fiercer the fight, the better. Once they've dealt with that bird, even if they don't die, they'll surely be stripped of a layer. By then, this precious turtle, along with all the supplies of Building Materials City, will be ours!

His icy gaze swept over each of his subordinates:

Hide well, and no one moves without my order! Anyone who ruins my plans, I'll personally tear apart and feed to the mutant beast!

Everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter, and they all shrank back into the shadows.

Lin Yue didn't realize it yet, but he had already been marked.

Meanwhile, Lin Yue stood on the broad back of Black Tortoise, watching as the Steel Bone Vulture methodically tore open the chest of the last survivor, then let out a satisfied cry and flapped its wings back up to the highest crane.

Its golden slit pupils, like a deity's, overlooked its domain, enjoying the calm after the slaughter.

It didn't know that a plot against it was quietly unfolding on the ground.

Wang Gongtou had now fully entered his state, standing at the edge of the turtle's back, wielding a steel rod he'd picked up as a baton, loudly issuing orders to Lin Yue and Black Tortoise.

"Black Tortoise, yes, that's the thickest steel cable! Pull it to the load-bearing pillar of Warehouse Three!"

"Lin kid, see that jib? Have Black Tortoise knock it down; we need to use it as a lever to set up the pulley system at that spot!"

The air was filled with the clang of metal and the heavy footsteps of Black Tortoise.

Success or failure hinges on this one move!