Chapter 20

Sitting in the front seat of the black SUV, the young man in the worn cotton robe turned his head and asked anxiously:

"Boss, should we chase after them now?"

The middle-aged man with a fierce demeanor and an old scar by his right eye smiled and shook his head:

"Don’t rush. Based on their firepower and the experience they’ve shown, they should be able to hold out for a while. Besides, the Black Swamp Iron Snake’s size means its straight-line speed can’t compare to a jeep.

"If we arrive too early, we might be attacked by both sides, which would be too dangerous.

"Besides, we need to take this opportunity to make some preparations. Jishun, stop the car!"

"Yes, boss." The driver was the middle-aged man wrapped in animal fur.

The black SUV immediately stopped. The middle-aged man with the fierce demeanor, carrying the "Heavy Rain" submachine gun, got out of the car and walked to the trunk.

Then, he took off his wrinkled black overcoat and handed it along with the weapon to his companion on the left motorcycle.

After doing this, the middle-aged man opened the trunk, bent down, and reached out with both hands to grip something.

His face turned red, the veins on his forehead bulged, and his knees bent even more, as if he had used a lot of strength.

He stepped back step by step, lifting a battered square wooden box, large enough to fit a person.

With a thud, the wooden box was placed on the ground.

As it was opened, the contents inside were revealed.

It was a dark iron item, resembling armor but with many metal bones.

"Yud, Jishun, help me." The middle-aged man turned to the young man in the worn cotton robe and the middle-aged man who had been driving.

Yud and Jishun came over, one on each side, and lifted the item inside the wooden box without much effort.

As gravity took hold, the item quickly unfolded, revealing its complete form:

Its appearance was very close to a human shape, with a metal helmet equipped with a crystal visor. Below the helmet were several pieces of armor connected together, protecting important pipes and circuits.

Under this armor was a large, dark iron, and exceptionally sturdy backpack. Surrounding this power backpack, there extended various metal bones similar to the cervical, thoracic, radius, humerus, ulna, scaphoid, femur, patella, tibia, and fibula, all with joints and metal clips, and densely packed with sensors.

Among these, the thoracic vertebrae were connected to heavy armor, and each arm was equipped with a grenade launcher and an electromagnetic weapon.

This was a military exoskeleton device, which had always been in short supply. Even in major forces, only the elite of the elite could be equipped with it, making it a true heavy weapon.

Not only could it reflect human movements smoothly through a complex and precise sensor system, allowing the wearer to far exceed human limits in strength, speed, and balance, but it also had a thermal weapon system, precise aiming system, auxiliary combat system, comprehensive early warning system, anti-toxic filtration system, and bulletproof armor for critical areas.

Additionally, just as the invention of thermal weapons reduced the physical demands of combat, the exoskeleton device could greatly reduce the wearer's consumption, allowing them to sustain combat for long periods.

With this equipment, one person could easily take on a team armed with only light weapons.

—Relying on superhuman speed and a comprehensive early warning system, the parts of the wearer not protected by bulletproof armor were not easy to hit.

The middle-aged man walked over and, with the help of Yud and Jishun, put on the military exoskeleton device, fastening the metal clips on each part one by one.

Finally, he adjusted the crystal visor on the metal helmet and activated the device.

Once the integrated system passed the self-check, the middle-aged man laughed:

"The battery is down to 30%, but it can still last for over two hours... that’s enough."

As he spoke, his hands, covered in dark iron auxiliary bones, easily picked up his "Heavy Rain" submachine gun, as if it were a toy with no weight at all.

...

"What do we do?" Long Yuehong nearly suffocated upon hearing the term "Black Swamp Iron Snake."

In this situation, with no experience, he could only seek answers from Jiang Baimian and Bai Chen.

—He had clearly seen that Shang Jianyao’s assault rifle’s long burst had not caused any damage to the giant snake, only slightly damaging the outer scales.

Combining this with his previous knowledge, he suspected that the "United 202" large-caliber pistol and Bai Chen’s "Orange" rifle, which could be used as a sniper rifle, would also not be able to penetrate the Black Swamp Iron Snake’s thick, multi-layered scales unless they hit an unprotected vital area.

As for whether the grenade launcher would be effective, Long Yuehong couldn’t be sure, but he thought it wouldn’t, as the main killing power of grenades comes from the explosion and shrapnel, not armor-piercing.

Jiang Baimian glanced through the rearview mirror:

"Let’s have a race.

"This thing isn’t good at this, and it will get tired, but the jeep won’t. As long as the high-performance battery, engine, and tires hold up, we can keep going until morning."

As Jiang Baimian spoke, Bai Chen didn’t slow down the car much, just taking it out of the extreme state to prevent the jeep’s parts from malfunctioning.

Clearly, she also agreed with racing the Black Swamp Iron Snake and didn’t want to engage in a direct confrontation.

The jeep sped along, occasionally hitting rocks and tree stumps, giving the sensation of almost flying.

If not for Bai Chen’s excellent driving skills and experience with off-road racing, the jeep would have flipped over and rolled several times, unable to move.

The giant Black Swamp Iron Snake seemed to be enraged, using the sparse trees and overgrown grass to chase Shang Jianyao and the others, both in the air and on the ground, refusing to give up.

Its speed definitely couldn’t match the jeep at full throttle, but due to the terrain, Bai Chen couldn’t keep the jeep at high speed all the time and had to slow down frequently to avoid obstacles or mud pits. Thus, although the distance between them was increasing, the Black Swamp Iron Snake was never completely left behind.

During this process, the Black Swamp Iron Snake twice opened its mouth to spray venom and toxic mist, but due to the distance, it didn’t affect the gray-green jeep.

After the second attempt, the giant snake seemed to have learned and stopped trying to attack from a distance, focusing on chasing them.

A few minutes later, Bai Chen suddenly hit the brakes and turned the steering wheel.

With a screech, the gray-green jeep came to a stop sideways.

Long Yuehong and Shang Jianyao, who had already fastened their seat belts during the high-speed drive, were not thrown out but were pulled back by the inertia.

Before they could recover, Bai Chen said in a low voice:

"The terrain ahead has changed!"

Jiang Baimian also noticed the problem:

Ahead was a dark, seemingly endless mud pit, with deformed trees growing sparsely, and no hard road suitable for vehicles in the middle.

It was as if the great swamp had expanded at some point, swallowing the original route.

Whether looking left or right, there was no boundary in sight, and it was unknown how long it would take to find a way around, or if this area had already been surrounded by the great swamp, leaving only the original route to escape.

Just as Bai Chen was considering whether to suggest continuing the race and adding a "circle" to the plan, Jiang Baimian shouted:

"Shang Jianyao, get a metal rod from the trunk.

"Bai Chen, use the jeep’s hood as a support point and get ready to snipe the Black Swamp Iron Snake’s eyes."

No one questioned her; in this split second, everyone chose to trust the team leader and follow her orders.

Shang Jianyao immediately unbuckled his seat belt, leaned back, grabbed a metal rod, and handed it to Jiang Baimian, who had already gotten out of the car.

—They had seen this item before and had been a bit puzzled as to why the team leader didn’t bring a tent but instead brought this strange thing.

Bai Chen, holding the "Orange" rifle, came to the hood of the sideways jeep, set up the weapon, and peered through the scope.

Jiang Baimian, after taking the metal rod with her left hand, started to warm up on the spot.

The giant snake, covered in layers of black scales, rapidly approached.

The surrounding air seemed to be tainted with a foul smell.

Seeing the terrifying Black Swamp Iron Snake about to enter the range where it could spray toxic mist, Jiang Baimian, holding the metal rod in her left hand, took two quick steps forward.

Her body suddenly stopped, and she threw the metal rod at the Black Swamp Iron Snake.

At the same time, a bright, glaring, thick electric arc appeared between her left hand and the metal rod!

The arc grew longer, wrapping around the metal rod, making a sizzling sound.

In an instant, the metal rod turned into a thick, silver-white electric light, piercing the sky and landing on the body of the Black Swamp Iron Snake, like a punishment from the heavens.

The Black Swamp Iron Snake sensed the danger, but this attack was not fatal, so it only bent its body to avoid the head.

Bang!

The metal rod, wrapped in countless silver-white arcs, hit the long, thick body of the Black Swamp Iron Snake.

Without a doubt, with Jiang Baimian’s strength, the metal rod could not possibly pierce through the thick, multi-layered scales, but the terrifying electric arcs it carried exploded!

In the sizzling sound, the silver-white light illuminated the surrounding gray-black mud, and countless currents instantly spread to every corner of the Black Swamp Iron Snake’s body at a speed that could not be stopped.

The giant, strange snake suddenly stiffened, paralyzed on the spot.

Although she didn’t know what would happen, Bai Chen, who was already prepared, didn’t hesitate. She slightly adjusted the direction of the gun and firmly pulled the trigger of the "Orange" rifle.

Bang!

A golden bullet shot out, heading straight for the cold, dark yellow left eye of the Black Swamp Iron Snake.

The Black Swamp Iron Snake sensed the fatal danger in advance but, being in an electric shock state, could only watch helplessly, unable to try to avoid it.

Puff! The bullet penetrated the cold eye with a vertical pupil, drilling into its brain and rolling around wildly.

The electric light quickly faded, and the Black Swamp Iron Snake’s open mouth emitted a sound that was hard to describe, not typical of a snake.

Its body suddenly collapsed, rolling wildly on the spot, knocking down several trees.

Soon, the giant snake stopped moving, losing all signs of life.

Jiang Baimian turned her head to look at the bewildered Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong, and smiled, rubbing her left arm with her right hand:

"Electric eel-type bio-limb, you’re worth it."

...

Not far from Shang Jianyao and the others, the middle-aged man in the military exoskeleton device and his companions heard the gunshots, the strange sounds, and the slight tremors of the earth and the sound of trees falling.

The middle-aged man’s face lit up:

"They are in the most intense and brutal stage.

"Let’s go, now!"

PS: Please give me a recommendation!