sinovels Chapter 986 Is he still a man?
Chapter 986 Is he still a man?
Both creatures bear the power imprint of the Bone Tower, but their ecological niches are very likely to overlap—in this resource-scarce wasteland, when two apex predators meet, there is no possibility of peaceful coexistence.
Lin Qiye made the right bet.
The giant bone-armored worm suddenly let out a sharp screech, its entire body jerked back, and then it shot out like a taut bowstring—but not toward Lin Qiye, but toward the giant rock-armored rhinoceros!
Its mouth, filled with sharp teeth, opened to its fullest extent, like a giant maw leading to an abyss, lunging straight at the throat of the rock rhinoceros.
The rock-armored rhinoceros reacted with astonishing speed. It let out a low growl, and its massive head swung violently, sending its tusk, which had grown back from its broken tooth, sweeping out like a battering ram, striking the bone-armored giant insect's body squarely.
"boom--!!!"
Two terrifying forces collided head-on, unleashing a deafening roar. The shockwave spread outwards like tangible ripples, hurling ashes and rubble several meters high, forming a gray-white curtain. Lin Qiye was also pushed back several meters by the shockwave, but using the force, he pushed off with his feet and leaped to the side—taking advantage of the moment the two giant beasts collided, he quickly circled around to the edge of their blind spot and behind a huge rock on the side.
The collision between the two giant beasts lasted only a moment before they separated.
The rock-armored rhinoceros's fangs left a deep crack in the giant bone-armored beetle's ring armor, from which fluorescent blue liquid seeped. Meanwhile, the giant bone-armored beetle's mouthparts bit a fist-sized notch in the rock-armored rhinoceros's neck carapace, breaking off several of its sharp teeth, which became embedded at the edge of the notch.
In the first round of confrontation, neither side gained an advantage.
But they all became even more ferocious.
The Rock Armored Rhinoceros let out a deafening roar, stomping its four hooves on the ground as its massive body crashed into the Bone Armored Giant Insect like a landslide. The Bone Armored Giant Insect was not to be outdone, its entire body suddenly emerging from the ground—only then did Lin Qiye see just how long it was—its torso, several tens of feet long, coiled around the Rock Armored Rhinoceros like an enraged giant python.
The two colossal beasts were locked in a fierce battle, causing rocks to crumble, the ground to tremble, and fragments of fluorescent blue crystal clusters to scatter and scatter, illuminating the entire area with flickering light and shadow.
During a lull in the two giant beasts' struggle, Lin Qiye suddenly burst out from behind the rocks and sprinted outwards at near-maximum speed along a narrow beast trail at the edge of the mountain. Each step he took precisely landed on the most solid parts of the rock, avoiding any cracks, and he maintained an extremely low center of gravity while moving at high speed, minimizing the chances of attracting the attention of the two giant beasts.
He was gambling that the two giant beasts, engrossed in their battle, wouldn't bother with him, an insignificant human.
He won his bet.
The two giant beasts fought fiercely, completely absorbed in the battle for territory and prey, and did not notice the gray-black figure that was rapidly disappearing along the rock wall.
Lin Qiye sprinted for a distance and finally broke out of the core area affected by the battle between the two giant beasts.
He glanced back—the area behind him was shrouded in a fluorescent blue mist, through which he could vaguely see two enormous black shadows tumbling, colliding, and tearing at each other, emitting terrifying roars. The ground trembled continuously, as if the entire mountain range was shaking from their struggle.
At that moment, he saw a mutilated figure.
The figure wore a tattered, dark gray leather armor, stained with blood and dust. One arm hung limply at an unnatural angle, clearly severed. Her short hair was stuck to her forehead with blood, her face was as pale as paper, her lips were cracked, and her breathing was weak and rapid.
It's a shadow.
She's still alive.
Lin Qiye's figure suddenly stopped.
His gaze fell on the figure huddled in the shadows of the rock wall—Shadow. She was still alive, which truly surprised him. When the four auras faded one after another, he thought she had died like the others from the mutated rock rhinoceros's attack. But she wasn't dead, though she wasn't far from it either.
Her left arm hung limply at an unnatural angle, a deep, bone-revealing wound on her shoulder blade. Dark red blood trickled down her tattered leather armor, pooling in a small puddle on the black rock at her feet. Her breathing was extremely weak, each inhale a hoarse, broken bellows-like sound, clearly indicating severe lung damage. Yet her eyes remained clear. The moment Lin Qiye came into view, a complex light flashed in them—surprise, relief, a glimmer of hope, and a hint of wariness.
She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but only a muffled breathy sound came from her throat, as if her vocal cords were damaged and she could not speak normally. She could only stare intently at Lin Qiye, and the meaning in her eyes was very clear—save me.
Lin Qiye's steps stopped for less than a moment.
His gaze swept quickly over Ying—her injuries were severe, but not immediately fatal; with timely treatment, she should be able to survive. The fact that she escaped the pursuit of the Rock Armored Rhinoceros meant her combat experience and will to survive far surpassed that of ordinary people; if she could be rescued, she might become a useful ally.
But he also saw it—
Deep within the beast path behind the shadowy figure, two enormous black shadows were wrestling and battling, the roaring sounds growing ever closer. The battle between the bone-armored giant worm and the mutated rock-armored rhinoceros was moving in this direction at an astonishing speed. In no more than ten breaths, this area would be covered by the battle zone of the two behemoths.
If he stopped to save her, he would have to carry a seriously wounded man through the gaps in the battle between the two behemoths. Given Ying's current injuries, she couldn't move on her own; he would have to carry her on his back or in his arms, which would reduce his speed by at least 30%, and significantly impair his dodging and reaction abilities. In the pursuit of two mutated behemoths, a 30% speed difference is the dividing line between life and death.
Lin Qiye's gaze lingered on Ying for less than a moment.
Then he withdrew his gaze, his feet not pausing for a moment, and swept past the shadow with even greater speed, disappearing in a flash. His movements were swift and decisive, without hesitation, without looking back, and not even a flicker of emotion in his eyes, as if he had never seen the broken figure huddled in the shadow of the rock wall.
Ying's pupils suddenly contracted.
Her mouth was open, and a short, muffled sound escaped her throat, as if she wanted to shout something but couldn't. The glimmer of hope that had just ignited in her eyes quickly dimmed like a ember being extinguished by cold water in the face of Lin Qiye's unwavering back, replaced by a more complex emotion—astonishment.
She never expected that this man would actually leave like that, without any hesitation!
Is this even a man?