Chapter 158 Must Not Let Him Succeed

Chapter 158: He Must Not Succeed

In an instant, a hellish scene burst into view.

Fang Ran immediately covered his mouth and nose, nearly retching.

The lake surface was like a rippling red blanket, thick blood spreading everywhere, with numerous dismembered monster parts floating about, emitting a suffocating stench of blood.

The white hover car was split in two—one half plunged upside down into the water, the other half pushed to the shore, still burning with flames.

The lakeshore grass was scorched black and uneven, littered with large craters blasted open by energy. The corpses of mutated monsters were piled up like a mountain, with blood-sucking mutated leeches squirming on them.

The sentinels at the center were confronting over a dozen mutated crocodiles.

These crocodiles were five to six meters long, with more than ten sharp bony spikes on their backs. Their scales were as thick as armor, reflecting a metallic sheen under the sunlight and the lake water.

Although their bodies appeared bulky, their movements were surprisingly swift.

Fang Ran saw a sentinel fail to dodge in time. Seizing the opportunity, a giant crocodile bit down, and worm-like tentacles instantly shot out from its mouth, tightly entangling the person. After a few rolls, the sentinel was nearly dragged into the lake—the entire process lasted only about ten seconds...

Fortunately, the other sentinels swarmed in, but by the time the person was rescued, they were covered in blood and motionless...

The reality of the battlefield was this brutal.

"Another S-grade mutated Devourcroc," Lu Wenchuan said with a furrowed brow. "We just took care of two—how did so many suddenly appear?"

Chen Yang pointed in another direction. "There seem to be more over there."

On the other side of the lake, over a dozen crocodiles were floating just below the water's surface, only their rows of bony spikes exposed.

Behind them followed a large group of mutated creatures, some of them swaying their tails, their triangular heads raised above the blood-red water...

Fang Ran recognized them at a glance—these were the same mutated giant lizards that had attacked him earlier, and there were many of them.

The sense of foreboding in his heart grew stronger and stronger.

Who was summoning these creatures?

Could it be Wen Qi?

This person had vanished without a trace by the time Chen Yang and the others arrived.

Fang Ran scanned the surroundings but did not spot Wen Qi anywhere.

If Wen Qi's words were to be believed, he could be hiding anywhere in these woods, or he could be disguised as anyone...

The sentinels at the center had now noticed their presence.

The atmosphere at the lakeside was already tense. Many people, upon seeing the giant beast reappear, showed expressions of fear and alertness, with some even preparing for battle.

Seeing this, Lu Wenshan beside them immediately shouted, "Everyone, stay calm!"

"This giant beast is now..."

But before he could finish, two mutated giant crocodiles suddenly burst from the water, moving swiftly like arrows shot from a bow, charging toward the crowd on the shore.

In that direction stood not only sentinels but also a group of drenched guides hiding behind them.

Seeing this, Fang Ran couldn't help but cry out, "Oh no!"

The giant beast beneath him seemed to hear his voice. It suddenly moved, diving forward and accelerating toward that direction.

The speed was so fast that Fang Ran was thrown backward. Fortunately, he managed to grab hold of the beast's fur in time and could only press himself flat against its back.

The next moment.

"Boom!"

The giant beast landed with a thud.

Fang Ran, lying on its back, shook violently from the impact, his body aching from the hard fur.

He looked up and was stunned.

It had... pinned one of the mutated Devourcroc's heads under its foot!

The upper half of the Devourcroc was completely sunken into the ground, its tail still twisting and struggling.

The giant beast roared angrily and spewed a burst of flames toward the ground.

A strong smell of burning quickly spread, and within seconds, the Devourcroc stopped moving.

The other Devourcroc, seeing this, hurriedly scrambled on all fours and, along with the large group of mutated giant lizards behind it, quickly retreated into the lake.

Lu Wenchuan and Chen Yang landed beside the giant beast at this moment. "Guide Fang Ran, are you alright?"

Fang Ran shook his head, patted the fur on the beast's shoulder, and said to it, "Fu... put me down."

Just then, several figures emerged from the crowd.

Lu Wenshan, along with Lu Tang and Lu Wenbai, quickly approached. Lu Tang looked up at Fang Ran on the giant beast's back, her expression tense.

"Fang Ran, how... how are you... so close to this...?"

The giant beast immediately turned its head, staring at them, baring its teeth, and emitting low, warning growls from its throat.

Seeing this, Fang Ran quickly soothed it by stroking its fur. "It's okay... it's actually... very obedient."

Obedient?

Lu Tang was stunned. "Fang Ran, are you serious?"

You didn't see how this thing... tore monsters apart earlier. Even though she had seen many things, the memory of that scene still filled her with fear.

Fang Ran smiled awkwardly. "Don’t worry, it won’t cause any more trouble."

......

With the giant beast's deterrence, the mutated creatures in the lake no longer dared to come ashore easily.

The sentinels at the center could now focus on dealing with the land-based mutated creatures, and the tide of the battle quickly turned.

Fang Ran tried several times to communicate and get the giant beast to put him down, but it refused to listen. Every time he mentioned it, the beast would grow angry, so Fang Ran had no choice but to stay on its back.

Thinking this wasn’t a solution, he began coaxing it to help deal with the mutated creatures.

Unexpectedly... it was quite obedient.

A peculiar scene unfolded on the battlefield:

A giant beast, carrying a guide on its back, flying around everywhere.

It basically hit whatever it targeted, leaving the other Sentinels completely dumbfounded and unable to comprehend what was happening.

A few Sentinels on the scene also released their Spiritual Bodies to assist in the battle, but they couldn't hold a candle to Fu Zhangzhou's Spiritual Body.

However, although the giant beast was special—a fully physical form—its strength was still no match for Fu Zhangzhou's own abilities.

Fang Ran grew restless again.

Where exactly had Wen Qi hidden the Sentinel's body?

For now, they could only hope that Fu Zhangzhou would get his memories back soon.

Some time later, the monsters on the shore had mostly been dealt with.

Nearly everyone was exhausted. Lu Wenshan and several other S-class Sentinels gathered everyone to discuss their next steps. "Let's start by taking roll call."

"There's no signal here. We should consider leaving this forest first and then contact the center."

"What about the missing people?" someone asked.

"We'll have to evacuate first and wait for reinforcements to come in and conduct a search."

Since Chen Yang and his group of Sentinels descended, no other reinforcements had arrived. This indicated that the passage down had changed, or the fighting in Zone 5 was even fiercer than here.

Many Sentinels and Guides on the scene were injured, and the monsters in the lake were still lying in wait. Staying here any longer was certainly not a good option.

After some discussion, they decided to split into two groups.

The first group of Sentinels would evacuate with all the Guides, while the second group would stay behind to prevent any sudden changes from the lake monsters.

Lu Wenshan looked hesitantly at Fang Ran on the giant beast's back. "Guide Fang Ran, you..."

Fang Ran shook his head. "Don't worry about me. I'm staying with it."

"It's a strong fighter and can remain here to handle any surprises. Once the Guides are a safe distance away, we'll pull out."

He had a strong feeling that Fu Zhangzhou's body had to be nearby.

No matter what, he couldn’t let Wen Qi succeed.