Chapter 266: Storming the Research Institute, Defeating the Aggregated Stitching Monster

Giant tree forest

A tree person over two meters tall, with several small bright red flowers growing on its head, watched the video on the communication bracelet, and a taboo color unconsciously appeared on its face.

"Whoosh—!"

"Fortunately I really discovered the relevant clues, not intending to kill and loot; otherwise..."

The tree person furtively glanced at the intelligent bronze robot behind him and the ten first-rank skeleton monsters, feeling a sudden pang of fear in its heart.

Since the two groups in the video possess such great second- and third-rank supernatural strength,

then the unit behind him likely also harbors many second-rank or even third-rank undead creatures, hidden within that airship.

If he makes any abnormal move, that airship will likely spew forth numerous undead beings that will chop him to pieces.

Even though he possesses second-rank supernatural strength, he could not possibly match so many undead creatures.

While feeling apprehensive, the tree person's heart also grew a hint of longing.

Su Hao merely sent out three squads to verify the intelligence's accuracy, yet he already wields such formidable power; just how terrifying must his main force be within his territory?

If he could join Su Hao's domain, the tree person's situation would improve greatly.

Although he possesses second-rank supernatural strength, he himself does not enjoy fighting and prefers tending flowers and plants; if he could receive a powerful being's protection, his life would be much more leisurely.

But soon after, he felt somewhat disappointed.

To gain a powerful one's patronage, he must demonstrate sufficient worth; otherwise, why would they protect him? Just because he's good at gardening? If not for the ominous curse's influence, that ability would actually be quite decent.

However, over ninety percent of the world's land is now affected by the ominous curse.

Plants grown on these lands, even supernatural ones, will contract the ominous curse.

If a plant infected by the unknown curse lacks special means to remove the curse, consuming it will likely also infect the eater.

Even if no major abnormality appears at first, over years the accumulated curse within the body will increase, eventually turning the person into a monster.

Precisely for this reason, the tree person feels that his greatest skill has lost its value, and since his combat ability is not outstanding either, he feels quite disappointed.

"Ah, I don't want to think so much—first bring them over, finish the mission, then talk."

The tree person sighed, quickened his pace, led the bronze robots, entered a ruin, and arrived before a dilapidated research institute.

The research institute's exterior is ancient yet intact, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding ruins.

Its walls are covered with vines and moss, appearing full of life; even the doors and windows remain undamaged, merely coated in dust, obscuring the interior.

The tree person pointed at the nearby stele and said, "I saw information about the Stitching Monster on this stele; I suspect it is now inside this research institute."

Following the tree person's pointing direction, the intelligent bronze robot saw that stele.

The stele itself is merely made of ordinary bluish stone, and upon it is a passage written in fresh blood.

【In the flesh-and-blood research experiment, we tried a new biological promoter.】

【The intention was to accelerate cell division to speed wound healing, but one day an unknown accident occurred, causing the fusion of biological flesh within the institute, ultimately forming a huge monster.】

【I named it the Aggregated Stitching Monster…】

Beside the stele lies a skeleton only 1.23 meters tall, whose skull occupies nearly half its body.

Obviously, the inscription on the stele was left by this skeleton's application.

What is recorded above is definitely the Aggregated Stitching Monster.

However, this Aggregated Stitching Monster inside the research institute is a product of an experimental accident, and the intelligent bronze robot does not know whether such a creature meets Su Hao's requirements.

But since we've come this far, not going in to take a look would be inexcusable.

Immediately he waved his hand, and the ten first-rank skeleton monsters behind him marched toward the gate, launching a fierce attack.

However, since the research institute can withstand a third-rank Aggregated Stitching Monster, relying solely on these first-rank supernatural skeleton monsters obviously cannot break open this gate.

Such a result, the intelligent bronze robot naturally anticipated; he did this precisely to verify his hypothesis.

If those ten first-rank skeleton monsters could, after a frenzied smashing, break open this gate, then the Aggregated Stitching Monster inside the institute is likely not the kind they are seeking.

"The research institute's gate shows no obvious damage; a second-rank supernatural being has a 98.72% chance of failing to break it open, while the geometric stitching monster inside has a 72.65% probability of reaching supernatural grade three."

After the intelligent bronze robot performed a simple analysis of the institute's gate, it arrived at this conclusion.

Subsequently, his eyes flashed blue light, transmitting this information to another intelligent bronze robot aboard the mechanical transport ship, ordering it to bring the army over.

If first-rank supernatural skeleton monsters cannot breach this gate, what about third-rank pallid skeleton warriors, pallid bone dragons, and dark bone dragons? At the same time, the hatch of the mechanical transport ship that landed nearby opened automatically; another intelligent bronze robot mounted on a dark bone dragon led the undead legion toward the ruins.

Not long after, in the tree person's astonished gaze, thousands of undead troops turned into a white torrent, surged through the shattered ruins, and arrived before the institute's gate.

Tree person:?!?!

No, what's going on? In those two videos, those four-armed skeleton monsters were only a few dozen, right?

How did hundreds suddenly appear? This is overly cautious—sending out just one could obliterate me…

Fortunately, I harbor no ill intent; otherwise I'd truly be dead beyond revival…

The tree person wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead, feeling relieved, and his yearning to join Su Hao's domain grew a bit stronger.

The two intelligent bronze robots ignored the tree person's thoughts; they stood behind the undead army, lightly waved their hands, and commanded:

"Break open this gate, enter the research institute, and exterminate every living thing inside!"

The next moment.

Three pallid skeleton warriors wielding energy laser swords stepped forward, approached the institute's gate, brandished their four energy laser swords, and slashed down at the gate.

This gate, which no amount of attack from first-rank skeleton monsters could leave a mark on,

under the mighty strength of the third-rank pallid skeleton warriors and the sharp energy laser sword strikes, soon appeared deep gashes several centimeters deep.

Although the gate is extraordinarily sturdy, nearly a meter thick, under the full-force assault of the third-rank pallid skeleton warriors it was sliced into fragments in an instant.

Immediately afterward.

Three bone dragons flew up into the sky, overlooking the ground to monitor every corner of the institute; should any living creature emerge, they would launch a fierce attack. On the ground, hundreds of first-rank skeleton monsters entered the institute from beside those three pallid skeleton warriors tasked with breaching the door.

The institute's interior fell into darkness, save for a faint beam of light seeping through the doorway, giving this deep space a modicum of brightness.

The tree person's gaze, aided by that faint light, dimly perceived some chaotic scenes.

Overturned tables and chairs were scattered messily in every corner, as if they were traces left when people fled in panic when disaster struck suddenly.

Near the gate, a large amount of rotting clothing was piled up, clearly belonging to the institute's researchers.

When the disaster struck, they desperately tried to flee this dangerous place, but the gate was tightly sealed, trapping them inside.

However, what puzzled the treeman was that, despite the clothing scattered everywhere, no corpses were found at the entrance.

It was as if something had devoured them, leaving only empty silence and scattered clothing.

The entire research institute was empty; even after hundreds of First Rank skeleton monsters had finished exploring the first floor, they saw no living creatures, not even anything that looked like a supernatural item.

After receiving this report, the intelligent bronze robot, following a simple analysis, dispatched a hundred pale skeleton warriors and thirty pale skeleton mages to scatter across the first floor.

The First Rank skeleton monsters then went up to the second floor to explore, with similar results: no living creatures at all, no supernatural items found, only a few scattered tattered garments.

The third and fourth floors were the same, appearing like an ordinary research institute with nothing of value at all.

Thus, only the basement remained unexplored; whether this trip was wasted would depend on whether the Stitching Monster's presence could be found down there.

Subsequently, an intelligent bronze robot, accompanied by twenty pale skeleton warriors and all the pale skeleton mages, withdrew to a position about five hundred meters from the institute.

The advantage of this is that, on one hand, it ensures that no unforeseen mishap will lead to the total annihilation of the army.

On the other hand, pulling the skeleton mages back a bit gives them more space to unleash their attacks.

If the monster inside the institute manages to break out, it will be greeted by hundreds of magical attacks.

The remaining pale skeleton warriors were mixed among the First Rank skeleton monsters as they approached the basement entrance.

The basement door was made of the same material as the institute's main gate, but it was thicker.

Under the slashing of three pale skeleton warriors wielding personnel laser swords, it took a while before this door, over two meters thick, was finally broken open.

A strong smell of blood gushed out from the shattered door, instantly filling the entire first floor of the institute.

Eventually, the blood-red mist flowed out from the first-floor gate and spread several hundred meters away, enveloping the entire institute.

「Hiss—! 」

「What a terrifying aura—could the Stitching Monster inside this institute possibly be a Supernatural Grade Third Tier monster…？」

Feeling the powerful aura emanating from these blood-red mists, the treeman involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air, a look of shock appearing on his face.

Although he possessed the strength of a Supernatural Second Rank, his actual combat ability was somewhat inferior to many other Supernatural Second Rank beings.

The only praiseworthy aspect is its relatively strong defense and regenerative ability, with no obvious weak points.

But even with strong survivability, against a Supernatural Grade Third Tier monster it wouldn't be enough; killing him would likely take only a few strikes.

However, he soon calmed down.

He had no way to deal with this unknown monster; the enemy could easily kill him, and if he were alone in this situation, he could only think of fleeing as fast as possible.

But now it's different; while he cannot handle a Third Tier monster himself, with Su Hao's great army beside him, the outcome is uncertain.

Leaving other matters aside, just the three Bone Dragons hovering in the air are likely Supernatural Grade Third Tier beings as well.

Even if the monster in the institute truly is a Supernatural Grade Third Tier, having three Bone Dragons to hold the line seems nothing to fear.

Nevertheless, he still greatly underestimated the strength of this undead army.

「Roar! 」

A strange, deep, angry roar echoed from the institute's basement.

Soon after, a series of low, booming thuds and the sound of shattering bones reached the treeman's ears; he knew this was the commotion caused by First Rank skeleton monsters being slain.

「Boss, the skeleton monsters don't seem to be a match for that creature; should we send in the Bone Dragons to help? 」

「Don't be afraid. 」

The intelligent bronze robot shook its head, replied to the treeman, and then waited silently in place.

About a minute later, his eyes suddenly flashed with a blue light, and he immediately gave the order: 「At one o'clock direction, distance 825 meters, unleash bone spikes with full force! 」

As soon as his words fell, the soul fire within the skulls of the surrounding pale skeleton mages burned more intensely, the flames instantly rising by four centimeters.

They simultaneously raised their staffs; a black light shrouded the tops of the staffs, but in the next instant, that black light vanished.

Pfft-pfft-pfft—! Soon after, the sound of some sharp instrument drilling out of the ground and piercing flesh could be heard continuously from within the institute.

Accompanying this piercing sound was also a mournful howl.

But soon, that sound disappeared, replaced only by faint footsteps.

「Gurgle—! 」

After a while, seeing that the institute had fallen completely silent, the treeman swallowed nervously and formed a bold guess.

Could that Supernatural Grade Third Tier Stitching Monster really have just died like that? Could these skeleton mages also possess Supernatural Grade Third Tier combat power? This… this can't be right……

Even if the Bone Dragons' Supernatural Grade had reached its limit, after all, there are only a few of them.

But if the skeleton mages were also Supernatural Grade Third Tier, that would be hard to believe—there are two or three hundred of them!

If a single squad sent out on a mission already has two or three hundred Third Tier skeleton mages, what does that mean? In Su Hao's territory, there would likely have to be an army of over ten thousand Third Tier undead beings—this is too exaggerated……

If one could join such a force, there would be no need to worry about problems at all, right?

No, this opportunity is rare; I will definitely strive for it and try to join Su Hao's domain.

The treeman's gaze was firm as he pondered what worth he had to offer.

At the same time, from within the institute's main gate, a pale skeleton warrior emerged, carrying a huge mass of flesh.

(End of chapter)