novelraw Chapter 333: Vivisection
Chapter 333: Vivisection
Before the white ice floe forcibly frozen by the high-pressure liquid nitrogen could fully stabilize, Lin Jie's figure had already shot out.
The ice beneath his feet couldn't withstand the immense recoil force and shattered into countless ice crystals. These white crystalline powders, rapidly sublimating in the tropical rainforest's high temperature, exploded behind him like a miniature blizzard.
But this recoil force did not rapidly diminish with increasing distance as it would in a normal physical environment.
Because at this moment, the armament on Lin Jie's body had been pushed to its limit state.
An eerie blue dark light flowed across the surface of the trench coat, forcibly sliding away the viscous resistance in the surrounding air caused by high temperature and humidity, as well as the chaotic gravitational field pull created by the Giant Nabau Serpent, the moment it made contact.
Lin Jie didn't feel like he was running.
He felt like a drop of water falling into a searing hot oil pan, or a steel ball sliding at high speed on an absolutely smooth mirror surface, tracing a black zigzag line across the water.
"ROAR—"
Rage burned in the yellow vertical pupils of the ancient behemoth coiled in the center of the river. The red fleshy crest on its head once again erupted with a dazzling red light.
The surrounding space seemed to be violently clenched by an invisible giant hand at this moment.The gravitational field, which had slightly relaxed due to the electric paralysis, contracted once more. A suffocating pressure, even more intense than before, bore down directly upon Lin Jie who was moving at high speed.
This gravitational force was so powerful that the river water along Lin Jie's path sank downwards, forming deep underwater trenches.
If it were an ordinary object, even a piece of steel, it would instantly deform or even shatter under the crushing force of this gravity.
But Lin Jie did not slow down.
At the instant before the gravitational wave was about to touch his body, he violently executed an emergency stop and change of direction to the left.
This was a suicidal maneuver that, under normal physical laws, would absolutely result in broken leg bones or even ruptured internal organs.
But with the frictionless and slip-shift characteristics of [Black Mercury], the kinetic energy of his high-speed motion was not exerted on his bones and muscles. Instead, it was perversely transformed by that force field into a thrust for lateral translation.
Thus.
On the retinas of the giant serpent and his teammates watching from afar, a scene of unbelievable spectacle appeared.
Lin Jie, who had been charging in a straight line, suddenly "split."
At the moment of his emergency stop and directional change, due to his extreme speed and the intense distortion of light by the surrounding gravitational field, an incredibly lifelike black afterimage with a tangible, physical quality was left in place.
That afterimage maintained the posture of a charge.
This was the most deceptive ability of this armament.
The simple reptilian brain of the Nabau Serpent could not comprehend this high-dimensional tactical deception.
Its massive maw viciously snapped towards the "Lin Jie" that remained in place.
"BOOM!"
A deafening roar exploded over the river surface.
The serpent's upper and lower jaws violently collided. The resulting shockwave blasted the river water within a radius of several dozen meters into a sky-high mist.
But it bit nothing.
The black figure dissipated after its teeth closed, leaving only a faint trace of spiritual nature fluctuation flowing between its fangs.
And the real Lin Jie.
Had already used that bizarre directional change to slide to the left flank of the giant serpent.
He was in no hurry to launch an attack. He clearly understood that this mythical creature, which had lived for who knows how many eons, would definitely not have only these few tricks.
Sure enough.
Having missed its strike, the giant serpent became even more frenzied.
Though its body was massive like a train, its agility in the water was astonishingly fast.
Its thick tail, almost the instant it bit empty air, swept across with overwhelming force.
This attack covered an extremely large area, nearly sealing off all of Lin Jie's evasion space.
And accompanying the tail's sweep, the originally vertically downward gravitational field suddenly transformed into chaotic lateral pulling forces, attempting to forcibly drag Lin Jie towards that lethal tail whip.
"Perfect timing."
Lin Jie's gaze was terrifyingly calm.
His entire body sank downwards, both feet landing on a massive piece of driftwood churned up by the serpent's movement.
Using the buoyancy of the driftwood and the force-dissipating properties of the trench coat, he once again left behind a lifelike afterimage in mid-air, poised to leap.
"BANG!"
The serpent's tail viciously shattered the driftwood, and also shattered the afterimage.
A sky full of flying wood splinters and water spray obscured vision.
The behemoth seemed to be growing increasingly anxious and restless. Its keen senses, capable of perceiving the weight of all things, were currently being thrown into disarray by these illusory and real shadows.
It could sense the enemy's presence, but each attack always landed on empty air.
This continuous string of missed attacks drove it into a destructive frenzy.
It began to abandon precise strikes, instead wildly twisting its massive body. Simultaneously, the fleshy crest on its head began to flash irregularly, releasing wave after wave of chaotic gravitational shockwaves in all directions.
The entire river surface completely boiled over.
Countless water columns shot into the sky. Enormous whirlpools formed and shattered on the river surface. The gravitational field became as chaotic as a ball of yarn mauled by a cat.
Lin Jie, at the center of the storm, felt as if he were dancing on the edge of a blade.
Every dodge was a brush with death. Though protected by [Black Mercury], such high-intensity maneuvering was a tremendous drain on his stamina and mental energy.
He had to find the key to breaking the deadlock, and quickly.
He had to find the gap in that absolute defense.
Lin Jie paused briefly behind a protruding reef.
He took a deep breath, then slowly closed his eyes.
Closing one's eyes on a dangerous battlefield was suicidal.
But for Lin Jie, this was to see more clearly.
"[Mental Staircase]."
As he triggered the [Cursebreaker Vambrace], the set of precision gears representing absolute rationality, latent deep within his brain, began to slowly turn.
The world slowed down in his senses.
The myriad droplets of water flying through the air hung suspended. The serpent's movements became slow, frame-by-frame still images. The gravitational ripples in the air transformed into slowly spreading energy curves.
Thought Acceleration.
In this overclocked state, Lin Jie's brain became a high-speed operating difference engine.
He began analyzing the chaotic data surrounding him.
Each roar of the serpent.
Each flash of the fleshy crest.
Each distortion of the gravitational field.
This seemingly patternless, frenzied assault, under the dismantling power of [Mental Staircase], ultimately revealed a certain underlying logic of its biological instincts.
"Found it."
Lin Jie's eyes suddenly snapped open.
Within the depths of his pitch-black pupils, countless streams of flowing data seemed to be reflected.
He discovered that although this giant serpent could manipulate gravity, this ability was not continuous.
Just as a heartbeat has intervals, that fleshy crest on its head, after releasing one high-intensity gravitational pulse, required an extremely brief energy recharge period of approximately only 0.3 seconds.
During these 0.3 seconds, that layer of seemingly impregnable gravity barrier around it would develop a sliver of weakness.
This was the gap.
This was his only opportunity.
Lin Jie pinpointed the timing.
At this moment, the giant serpent had just released a large-scale gravitational shockwave and was in the stiff, transitional phase where old force was spent and new force had yet to be born.
Its massive head was held high, preparing to gather strength for its next devastating strike.
That red fleshy crest was exposed for all to see under the sunlight.
"It's over."
Lin Jie's body moved again.
This time.
He held nothing back.
The eerie blue flowing light on the surface of [Black Mercury] instantly surged, almost enveloping his entire person in a mass of black flame.
He stepped on a piece of floating debris, his body exerting force explosively.
But he did not charge directly at the serpent's head.
Because that height was too great, and there were still over ten meters of distance in between.
He charged towards another piece of driftwood drifting laterally through the air.
Lin Jie's left foot slammed down hard upon it.
Using this borrowed force, he executed an unbelievable double jump in mid-air!
This jump allowed him to completely break free from the shackles of gravity. His entire being transformed into a black giant eagle soaring skyward, directly bypassing the serpent's fang-filled maw and appearing directly above its head.
Now.
The 0.3-second gap had just arrived.
The serpent's gravity barrier experienced an imperceptible attenuation.
Lin Jie seized this moment.
He adjusted his posture in mid-air. His black figure cast a long shadow against the backlit sunlight, perfectly falling upon the serpent's head.
He abandoned drawing his gun. At this distance, the power of firearms was insufficient to penetrate that thick layer of keratin.
His right hand, in a reverse grip, seized the short knife sheathed at his waist.
"Second surgery... commencing."
Lin Jie uttered a low cry.
Utilizing the gravitational acceleration of his descent, he concentrated the full force of his body onto that pale gray knife tip.
The purest, most direct, and most lethal thrust.
"THUD!"
A muffled sound rang out in mid-air.
The short knife aimed for the wound inflicted last time, then plunged deep into the crimson red fleshy crest!
But this was not the end.
This was only the beginning.
Lin Jie's finger pressed the mechanism on the knife's hilt.
The venom sac derived from the Ghost Jellyfish, hidden deep within the hilt, instantly contracted.
High-concentration blue toxin injected into the serpent's cerebral cortex along the blood groove of the blade.
Simultaneously.
The fragment of [Withered Cicada] smelted into the blade was also fully activated.
The law of power representing Extinction surged madly through the wound into that core organ controlling gravity.
To ensure this attack was sufficiently lethal, Lin Jie forcibly pressed the short knife, continuing the injection for over five seconds.
The biological energy circuit preparing to release the next gravitational wave subsequently snapped.
"CREAK— SNAP!"
An intangible sound of something breaking echoed from deep within the serpent's brain.
The ancient behemoth suddenly stiffened.
It felt it.
It felt the gravitational authority that had always flowed within its bloodline, allowing it to dominate this rainforest, rapidly departing from it.
The gravity it could freely manipulate vanished.
Replacing it was an unprecedented sense of heaviness.
It was the unbearable weight brought by its own massive physical body.
"SCREEE—!!"
A cry of utmost misery erupted from the depths of its throat.
That sound contained only the agony of impending death.
With the collapse of the gravitational field, the behemoth, having lost its levitation ability, could no longer support its colossal hundred-meter-long body.
It toppled backwards.
Lin Jie had already withdrawn the short knife as it fell, using the recoil to propel himself backwards, landing steadily on a distant ice floe.
He coldly observed everything.
"RUMBLE—!!!"
Accompanied by an earth-shattering roar, the serpent's massive body crashed heavily into the turbid river water.
Colossal waves surged tens of meters high. The massive shockwave uprooted the mangrove forests on both banks. Countless fish and shrimp were stunned dead, floating on the water's surface.
The rushing river even experienced a brief interruption in its flow due to the immense impact.
Turbid muddy water, golden blood, and white water mist interwove at this moment, forming a magnificent tableau titled "Downfall."
That mythical creature which once dominated these waters was now convulsing weakly in the water.
Neurotoxin was rapidly stealing its senses. The power of [Withered Cicada] was extinguishing its spiritual nature.
Its massive body was slowly sinking into the dark riverbed, leaving behind only a stretch of water stained golden.
Lin Jie stood on the ice floe, letting the splashing water droplets soak his trench coat.
He deeply exhaled a breath of turbid air, feeling all his muscles ache from the earlier overloaded exertion.
But he did not let his guard down.
In this rainforest, death did not signify an end.
Sometimes, it was merely the beginning of another feast.
"Over?"
Not far away on the water surface, Julian poked his head out while clinging to a piece of wood, his face etched with shock.
"Mhm." Lin Jie nodded, wiping the [Silencer] stained with golden blood on the hem of his coat.
"It's over."
"At least... this hurdle is cleared."
He lifted his head, looking towards the end of the river.
The dense fog there seemed to have thinned somewhat, faintly revealing the outline of distant jungle.
Everyone instinctively believed this heart-stopping hunt had drawn to a close.
However, for such a supernatural lifeform that had survived deep within the rainforests of Borneo for centuries or even longer, death was never something as clean and decisive as a light being extinguished.
Lin Jie stood at the edge of the violently undulating ice floe, trying to stabilize his footing amidst the vortex and chaotic currents caused by the massive corpse.
Just as he prepared to turn and leave, a death warning originating from the depths of his soul stabbed fiercely into the back of his skull.
It was the instinctive shudder [White Vulture's Mark] issued when facing extreme danger.
The serpent's corpse, which had already gone limp on the water surface, suddenly underwent an extremely bizarre spasm. This spasm was not the unconscious twitching of nerve endings after death, but a frenzied counterattack mustering the last vestiges of its remaining life force, solely to drag its enemy down into hell alongside it.
"SPLASH—!!!"
The water surface exploded.
The drooping, ferocious head snapped backwards, its yellow vertical pupils locking dead onto that tiny black shadow standing behind it.
It opened its maw, lined with barbs and filled with sharp bone spines even deep within its throat.