Chapter 66: Giant Snake

As Wang Zhi was deep in thought, a sudden scream came through the radio!

“Run! There’s a monster! Ah!”

The scream was followed by a horrifying cry, and then the transmission cut out.

Wang Zhi’s heart trembled—his earlier sense of danger had been right.

Turning around, not far behind, a massive python was wriggling toward them on the ground.

Wang Zhi saw that the giant snake was about thirty meters long, and its body was as thick as a person’s waist.

“What the hell!? What is that thing?” The fat man shouted in shock.

Over a hundred survivors, panic-stricken, began to flee aimlessly.

The snake then opened its gaping mouth and swallowed one of the soldiers whole.

“Everyone, shoot!” came Wei Zheng’s voice over the radio.

Wang Zhi quickly pulled out his rifle and fired at the giant snake in the distance.

However, the effect was disheartening for everyone. The bullets hit the snake’s body but had no apparent effect; they merely dented the outer layer and didn’t penetrate its flesh at all.

“Damn it, why is it so big? Did it mutate from eating zombies?” Wang Zhi muttered while staring at the snake.

“We can’t beat it, let’s just run! Forget about the others!” The fat man rushed up to Wang Zhi and grabbed him, urging him to flee.

“This is impossible to fight, Wang Zhi, run!” Su Mu Ying said as she grabbed Liu Li’s hand and ran ahead.

Damn it! Wang Zhi clenched his teeth and stared at the snake as it slithered closer, feeling the sting of frustration. The people they had risked their lives to save were now being slaughtered by this massive snake!

“Everyone, retreat at full speed! The rest, follow us and do what you can to survive!” Wang Zhi shouted to the survivors behind him, then turned and sprinted toward the evacuation point.

Just as Su Mu Ying had said, this battle was unwinnable. The giant snake had high defense, and the bullets were ineffective. Even if they got close, they couldn’t possibly take it down with small daggers. The snake’s body could easily coil around and strangle someone to death.

Wang Zhi ran for ten minutes at full speed, but many of the survivors lagged behind, unable to keep up with his pace.

Since Wei Zheng’s team was at the back, the snake had already devoured two of them. One, who had been injured by a grenade, was beyond saving. By the time they managed to escape, only four soldiers from Wei Zheng’s team survived. Only about thirty or so survivors made it, most of them men. The snake had already eaten nearly a hundred people and seemed to be satisfied, disappearing from sight.

Wang Zhi and the others found a wider area to rest and waited for the survivors who had fallen behind to catch up. Old He launched a flare to signal those who had been separated to find their way to them.

Boom! A red smoke rose into the sky.

After launching the flare, the group waited for ten minutes. As the time passed, they immediately prepared to leave.

The outside world was far too dangerous—just one giant snake had already claimed so many lives.

For Wei Zheng, the loss was heavy—they had sacrificed six brothers, and as for supplies, they had been abandoned at the site of the incident. This mission had ended with the loss of six men and nothing else.

For Wang Zhi, it felt like a narrow escape. The remaining survivors weren’t even worth the training cost for his team.

After ten minutes, another ten survivors made their way over. Those who hadn’t arrived were likely doomed, and Wang Zhi didn’t intend to wait any longer.

Now, there were fewer than forty survivors left, and the rest seemed to have been killed by the giant snake.

Wang Zhi looked at these survivors, feeling the heat in his face. He had promised to protect them, yet here he was, fleeing faster than anyone else.

Seeing Wei Zheng standing grimly beside him, Wang Zhi didn’t approach. He knew Wei Zheng was probably harboring resentment and might even want to kill him to alleviate his anger.

However, as it turned out, Wang Zhi was overthinking. Their relationship wasn’t as close as he had assumed. They were just a temporary alliance, and returning empty-handed was the only thing that mattered.

“Mu Ying, please keep an eye on the people from the Dawn Tower. I’m worried they might ambush us,” Wang Zhi whispered to Su Mu Ying as he came up beside her.

“Tch, did you really need to remind me?” Su Mu Ying shot him a sideways glance.

In fact, both groups were maintaining distance from one another, each watching the other with suspicion, all keeping a wary eye on the movements of the other.

Along the way, the giant snake didn’t pursue them. Only a few zombies straggled in the wilderness. Compared to the massive snake, they were no threat. After three hours, Wang Zhi, leading the survivors, finally reached the entrance.

When the iron gates closed behind them, Wang Zhi let out a long sigh of relief. The journey had been tense, walking on eggshells, fearing that another massive mutated beast might appear at any moment.

“I say, Team Leader Wang, next time let’s stay on the edge, okay? We can’t keep running out like this!” The fat man gasped for breath, clearly exhausted.

It was obvious the fat man had been recovering from injuries sustained during his time at the Dawn Tower, and his stamina was no longer what it used to be. Although he was now all muscle and no longer the fat man he once was, he still couldn’t keep up with Wang Zhi and the others. As for the other survivors, they were empty-handed, carrying nothing, but even they couldn’t keep up with Wang Zhi’s pace. Everyone was so tired, they were hunched over, lacking even the strength to straighten their backs.

On the way, Wang Zhi pondered how he should explain to Jie Xi and the Dawn Tower. He would probably have to thank his luck that at least four of Wei Zheng’s people survived. Otherwise, if there were no witnesses, his explanation might be doubted.

Once inside the Dawn Tower, Wang Zhi and the others quickly passed the security check. After handing over the survivors to the mission hall staff, the rest were sent back to their quarters, and Wang Zhi remained behind with Liu Li to visit Jie Xi.

He had to clear things up with her first, as the first collaboration with the Dawn Tower had ended in failure.

Arriving at the guards’ headquarters, Wang Zhi knocked on the door and was ushered into Jie Xi’s room.

“What’s the rush?” Jie Xi asked, sipping a steaming cup of coffee.

“This mission… went awry,” Wang Zhi lowered his head and said.

“My people came back with just four. Over a hundred were supposed to return, but only thirty-nine made it back. I knew something went wrong the moment you entered the medical room,” Jie Xi replied.

Wang Zhi’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect Wei Zheng to be one of Jie Xi’s people.

“Sorry, Captain Jie Xi, I… I…”

Before Wang Zhi could finish, Jie Xi raised her hand to stop him.

“Now, tell me what happened,” Jie Xi asked coldly.

“It… it was a giant python.”

“A python? How big?”

“About thirty meters long, with a girth of around half a meter.”

“Did you kill it?”

“Our bullets had no effect! To avoid further unnecessary casualties, we had no choice but to retreat,” Wang Zhi answered honestly, still looking down.

“However, before encountering the snake, no one had sacrificed themselves. The mission at the camp was very successful!” Wang Zhi raised his head when Jie Xi didn’t respond, trying to explain further.

“Interesting. I’d like to see this for myself,” Jie Xi smirked.