Strike the First Blow

by Tai Baiyang

  He decided to take the initiative and fought back as things were not going to work if he stayed here and waited for death. Although he did not know what would happen to the first-ranked Bloodvine Lotus if it handles the Catastrophe Matrix, Zhang Mu had no other alternative to tackle it now. Could it be that he had to fight in close combat with a Catastrophe Matrix that was said to be invincible amongst the mutated animals?

  His Obsidian Beetle dagger would lose its effect once it was beyond the psychic barrier. So now he could only rely on the Bloodvine Lotus in his left arm.

  Just when Zhang Mu was coming up with a plan, the Catastrophe Matrix appeared to get a little impatient as it could not hit Zhang Mu, who was inside the invisible psychic barrier. With a jerk in her belly, it became inflated, and she spat out an enormous spider web layer after layer, wrapping around one-meter range from Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui.

  At the same time, Zhang Mu could sense clearly that his psychic barrier was dissipating rapidly than before. He calculated the time for the barrier to hold on, and there were only three minutes left.

  The spider webs that the Catastrophe Matrix spat was highly corrosive! Now, it was rapidly corroding Zhang Mu’s psychic barrier. After all, the main function of his psychic barrier was to deal with psychic attacks. When dealing with physical assaults and ability attacks, it would steadily weaken the defense of the barrier.

  In the meantime, Yuan Rui wanted to use her life energy to support Zhang Mu as always but was rejected by Zhang Mu this time. Considering that the loss of psychic power was different from a regular injury, for him now, there would not be much effect.

  Zhang Mu tried to look for a flaw under the layers of spider webs. However, after using his psychic power to detact, he only found five gaps that were enough for the vines of his Bloodvine Lotus to pass through.

  There was no choice but to try it first now. At least, it was better than waiting for death.

  After deciding, Zhang Mu summoned the Bloodvine Lotus. Under his control, the five vines penetrated out from the gaps of the spider web and headed straight toward the Catastrophe Matrix’s body to attack.

  Apparently, he had underestimated the power of the Catastrophe Matrix.

  Through the gaps, these five vines were heading towards the Catastrophe Matrix like a snake. However, it quickly sensed the attacks and retracted the six spear-like spider legs, blocking the vines from attacking.

  Although the spider legs could not twist and swirl freely like the Bloodvine Lotus, it crushed every Zhang Mu’s vines in all direction using its agility and strength.

  In the next second, these five vines were pinned to the ground by the six spider legs. Just like five small snakes getting caught by a human, they were squirming on the ground helplessly.

  Zhang Mu was going to exert his power through the Bloodvine Lotus, but he saw something was injected into the spot where the vines of the Bloodvine Lotus was stabbed by the spider legs.

  He recalled the tiny black eggs that were inside Hao Hao’s body and immediately gave up these five vines, using the main body of the Bloodvine Lotus to cut off their connection entirely.

  Sure enough, those vines started to wither rapidly, losing their original color on the ground under the impact that the spider leg had inserted.

  Oh boy! It was always the Bloodvine Lotus that was devouring the other party. He did not expect that there would be a day that it would be consumed instead.

  However, Zhang Mu had no mood to feel sentimental now. The Bloodvine Lotus did not work, and the psychic barrier was about to destroy soon. Zhang Mu felt a little regret that he did not bring Little Black along this time.

  Suddenly, the wall of the factory slammed open with a bang. The Catastrophe Matrix was shocked as it retracted its eight spider legs and went to a side to hide in panic.

  “If you can’t beat them, remember to call people for help! No, call for a beetle!”

  It was Little Black. It came to save me. But with such a far distance away, the range of telepathy should not be enough for it to sense that Zhang Mu was in danger.

  Zhang Mu thought so in his heart as his eye fixed at the area where the wall had broken down.

  In the dust, the enormous figure of Little Black slowly became sharper as the sickle-like claws danced up and down.

  It was really Little Black!

  Chapter 147: Teaming Up For The Fight

  The emergence of the Obsidian Beetle thoroughly provoked the Catastrophe Matrix who was hiding at one corner. But with the second-ranked aura from the Obsidian Beetle, it did not act recklessly and was staring at the Obsidian Beetle, who was walking step by step toward Zhang Mu.

  “Why did you come here?” Zhang Mu asked with some skepticism. After all, the distance between him and the Obsidian Beetle was too far apart so it should not be able to hear Zhang Mu's voice.

  The Obsidian Beetle looked at him with disdain and answered, “If I did not come here, your glass casing would be worn out already, and became food for that fat spider to ingest.”

  Listening to the Obsidian Beetle mocking him, Zhang Mu felt annoyed in his heart. The ability he had gained after the advancement was mainly for defense. If not, he would not fall under such a passive situation when dealing with the enemy.

  “Stop talking nonsense. What happened exactly?” Zhang Mu questioned the Obsidian Beetle in his mind.

  The Obsidian Beetle replied to him indolently, “I smelled a rotten scent in the air that makes me feel sick. At first, I thought it was nothing, but suddenly, I realized that it was the same scent as the little boy that you brought along. So I followed the trail of the scent and flew along with that stupid dog.

  It was so embarrassing to see you in such predicament, ” The chuckles of the Obsidian Beetle echoed inside Zhang Mu’s mind. Zhang Mu automatically shied away from the Obsidian Beetle’s mockery and turned to look at the Catastrophe Matrix with his cold eyes.

  Zhang Mu knew the reason why the Obsidian Beetle could smell the scent now. That rotten odor was coming from the original mutated animal of the Catastrophe Matrix. Not only did the soul of the human was corrupted when devoured by the mutated animal, but the mutated animal was also tainted by the human’s negative emotion simultaneously. In this case, the Obsidian Beetle, which was also a mutated animal, could sniff out the odor that was making it nausea.

  “Help me to remove this spider webs on my psychic barrier first. It is very tough for me to break through from the inside.” Zhang Mu, who realized he was still tied down, told the Obsidian Beetle.

  The Obsidian Beetle quickly summoned a few wind blades to cut the spider webs. At this moment, Zhang Mu did not release the defensive psychic barrier. This way, it would be easier for the wind blades to strike.

  Furthermore, he suspected that the spider webs had a great corrosive nature. If he or Yuan Rui’s body was affected, it was likely that their skin would suffer immense damage.

  Just like that, the psychic barrier was still holding up. Zhang Mu raised his head and looked at the wind blades cutting with great effort at the spider webs that were wrapping them tightly from the outside.

  But at this moment, the Catastrophe Matrix could see that Zhang Mu was thinking of escaping from the spider webs. Moreover, she also saw that her child, Hao Hao, was now stunned and put to one side by Zhang Mu, who was afraid that he would cause trouble. Instantly, her anger started to flare up again. Regardless of the vigor from the Obsidian Beetle, it headed straight to attack the Obsidian Beetle's body.

  Even though the physical instinct of the mutated animal had a strict hierarchy system, creating a moment of hesitation when attacking the Obsidian Beetle, but the madness of its human consciousness was dominating the Catastrophe Matrix. Therefore, it continued to exert 100% of its power, using eight spider legs to stab at the back of the Obsidian Beetle.

  The Obsidian Beetle heard the attack coming behind and turned right away to fight with the Catastrophe Matrix. Just now, the attack had sliced all the way down from the Obsidian
Beetle’s shell to the edge of its back. Since the top was the toughest part, it did not suffer much damage. As for the sides, sparks fly from the spider legs as it drew a few scratches.

  Now the Obsidian Beetle's anger was even stronger than the Catastrophe Matrix. No one managed to injure it until now, but this neither human nor spider in front of its eye, along with the disgusting rotten odor that turned down its appetite, had the nerve to damage its beautiful shell. How could the Obsidian Beetle tolerated such a shameful thing? The Obsidian Beetle gave up using its ability and shoved down the Catastrophe Matrix who almost had the same size. By taking advantage of its body, which was sturdier than the Catastrophe Matrix.

  With the unexpected incident, the Obsidian Beetle no longer controlled and sustained the wind blades. Very soon, they had vanished in the air. Fortunately, they had made a vast contribution as the fibrous spider web had sliced to the point where it was about to break apart.

  Zhang Mu took advantage of this opportunity and used the remaining psychic power to support the crumbling psychic barrier. Meanwhile, he was summoning the Bloodvine Lotus for a full-scale attack. In an instant, he broke through the spider web’s defenses. When the vines touched the spider web, it appeared to suffer extensive damage and shrank a little. But under Zhang Mu’s control, there was no hesitation. Acting quickly, it tore away the spider webs that were wrapping him and threw them to the side.

  Although it had received a little damage, the regeneration ability of the Bloodvine Lotus could not be underestimated. The limbs that were slightly withered was quickly replaced with a new part to wrap around Zhang Mu.

  Zhang Mu observed the battle of the Obsidian Beetle and the Catastrophe Matrix. It was merely a close-range fight between the mutated animal using the most primitive method. The Obsidian Beetle naturally had forgotten to use its wind-type ability in anger. On the other hand, the Catastrophe Matrix was provoked by the Obsidian Beetle and started to show its primitive ferocity and battle instinct. Both parties were tumbling on the ground, neck to neck, and was entangled together. The claws of the Obsidian Beetle and the spider legs of the Catastrophe Matrix, both left a few scratch marks on each other bodies.

  After inspecting carefully, Zhang Mu realized that the Catastrophe Matrix did not seem to use its full force. Although it looked like it was exchanging blows with the Obsidian Beetle, he realized that the Catastrophe Matrix had fallen behind a little.

  After verifying for another minute, he finally confirmed his guess. Hence, he said in his mind to remind the Obsidian Beetle who had the upper hand, “She is protecting her belly, go and attack that part.”

  Hearing Zhang Mu’s voice, the enthusiasm in the Obsidian Beetle’s eye resolved a little. It also felt that this monster was not easy to handle and remembered the reminder from Zhang Mu.

  Every time the claws swang, it deliberately took care of the Catastrophe Matrix’s belly. This time, the Catastrophe Matrix was at a loss as the attacks were getting disorganized. It could only defend itself while the Obsidian Beetle kept on attacking steadily, leaving no chance for it to retaliate. In the end, all eight spider legs were used to protect the swelling belly.

  At this moment, Zhang Mu made his move. The Obsidian Beetle and the Catastrophe Matrix finally separated from each other, so it was the best time to take action!

  He used the vines of the Bloodvine Lotus to prop him up from the ground and to add on speed to himself. In a blink of an eye, he round to the back of the Catastrophe Matrix.

  Currently, the Catastrophe Matrix was concentrating on defending the Obsidian Beetle in front of its eye. Zhang Mu raised his Obsidian Beetle Dagger to the air and cut a big hole on the Catastrophe Matrix’s open back. Yellow pus flowed out from the injury and flow to the ground. Zhang Mu quickly retracted the Obsidian Beetle Dagger from the wound, and there was still a green smoke rising from the dagger. Zhang Mu looked at it with a heartache.

  The blood of this Catastrophe Matrix was poisonous!

  The Catastrophe Matrix screamed from the pain and hid to a narrow space.

  Suddenly, a warning from the Obsidian Beetle could be heard in Zhang Mu’s mind.

  “Quickly retreat!”

  Chapter 148: Delivered in Advance

  Zhang Mu retreated without hesitation as he trusts the judgment of the Obsidian Beetle unconditionally. It must have sensed something and quickly gave a reminder to Zhang Mu. When he was departing, Zhang Mu realized that the Obsidian Beetle, who was fighting with the Catastrophe Matrix a moment ago, was retreating at an alarming speed back to Yuan Rui’s side.

  For the Obsidian Beetle to feel danger, what is going to happen to the Catastrophe Matrix?

  Zhang Mu embraced this question to himself while retreating to the Obsidian Beetle’s side. This time, he finally saw what was happening to the Catastrophe Matrix.

  The Catastrophe Matrix’s belly had a shining light and dark pattern alternating at this moment. The stomach mirrored the movement of the Catastrophe Matrix’s breathing, bulging exaggeratedly every time.

  The human face of the Catastrophe Matrix had a painful expression as it appeared to be struggling.

  Zhang Mu thought of a terrible possibility out of the blue. He turned his head abruptly and basically growled at Yuan Rui, “Yuan Rui, use all of your life energy and infuse into Hao Hao’s body. Hurry up!”

  Although she did not know the reason, Yuan Rui still did it obediently. When both of her hands were put on Hao Hao’s back, that pure white life energy was infused into Hao Hao’s body once again.

  After that, the horrifying situation occurred just like the previous time. Hao Hao’s body was oozing out tiny black eggs again. However, the process for this time was even more difficult.

  Yuan Rui recalled Zhang Mu’s anxious tone and fought back her fear. She poured all of her life energy into Hao Hao’s body until his body no longer oozed out the tiny black eggs.

  Zhang Mu helped the weaken Yuan Rui up and grabbed Hao Hao from the ground. Straightaway, he removed Hao Hao's clothes and shook the now naked body, so that the tiny black eggs that were still attached, would be shaken off completely. Then his expression turned serious as he spoke to the Obsidian Beetle, “Take them out from the entrance that you came in first. While you’re at it, take that stupid dog with your claws too. You should be able to handle the weight of two people and one dog, right?”

  “Uncle, why are we leaving? I saw that the monster was in pain, so now should be the perfect time for you to defeat it.” Until now, Yuan Rui was still confused and did not understand Zhang Mu’s decision.

  Zhang Mu looked at the Catastrophe Matrix with a complicated expression and slowly said, “If I am not wrong, this monster, is now in labor. She is rushing to deliver her children.

  And those are in her belly, including those tiny little black eggs inside Hao Hao’s body.”

  Yuan Rui covered her mouth with a disbelieving look. She asked hesitantly, “Uncle, you are saying that Hao Hao’s mother, had injected these tiny spider eggs inside Hao Hao’s body? How is this possible? That was his mother. Also, she said that it was to protect Hao Hao, so why would she do that?”

  Zhang Mu said with a heavy heart, “Now, it was a downright monster. Hao Hao’s real mother already died in the mouth of this creature. Although it still has the mother’s obsession to influence the monster’s behavior, it could not recognize Hao Hao anymore and treated Hao Hao as a breeding vessel for its child only. Do you understand what I mean?”

  Yuan Rui still had an unbelievable look on her face. That woman’s demeanor looked so pitiful. Previously, the glanced she looked at Hao Hao was full of maternal tenderness.

  Zhang Mu wanted to say something more, but he realized that the black spider eggs that oozed out from Hao Hao’s body were starting to wobble gradually. Zhang Mu quickly let Yuan Rui carried Hao Hao before he put her on the back of the Obsidian Beetle. After that, he urged the Obsidian Beetle to leave immediately.

  The Obsidian Beetle obediently went out from the
hole that it entered earlier. As for Zhang Mu, he was not in a panic to leave. Without Yuan Rui and the others, he was confident that he could escape alone. But just in case, he stood under the big hole that the Obsidian Beetle broke through and watched quietly at the Catastrophe Matrix who was growling in pain now.

  He was curious now. In his past life, he always heard that the Catastrophe Matrix had exceptional destructive power, but he never heard of a Catastrophe Matrix that was able to deliver. Just now, he speculated according to those extraordinary parasitic mutated animal, and the situation now was merely proving his speculation.

  In just a minute, the tiny little black eggs on the ground stopped swaying. The thin walls of the outer layer were like a layer of fragile paper, easy to penetrate.

  Tender, short fuzzy hairs, and several slender spider legs spurted out from the shell-like tiny black eggs. The furry hairs on the spider legs were swaying slightly, probing the outside world.

  At first glanced, it looked like a small little life poking out from the tiny black eggs, which looked cute. But now, what Zhang Mu saw was hundreds of black spider eggs doing the same action.

  Just like that, everything became scary and weird in Zhang Mu’s eye.

  While Zhang Mu was in a daze, a scream coming from the Catastrophe Matrix attracted his gaze.

  This time, hundreds of the tiny black eggs in front of Zhang Mu were nothing at all compared to the black river that was flowing out from the belly of the Catastrophe Matrix. The compact mass on the ground was all of its spider eggs.

  In an instant, the Catastrophe Matrix collapsed as the eight legs could not support its body anymore. It sat at the debris while the towering belly was shriveled down instantly.

  Because the Catastrophe Matrix felt threatened by Zhang Mu and the Obsidian Beetle, it actually delivered those tiny spiders in advance!

  Those black spider eggs were gushing towards Zhang Mu’s direction like a tide. It seems to sense that Zhang Mu was the only living creature here besides their mother, and they needed food and energy now.