Ashen God
Chapter 198 - 197 Revenge Goddess Parasite

Chapter 198: Chapter 197 Revenge Goddess Parasite

Through the wound on the Tracker, lethal enough to kill a human, one could vaguely see the cervical spine behind its trachea also seemed damaged, marked by additional scratches and cracks. Yet, these were quickly covered by a dense mass of tiny tentacles.

While such damage would indeed be fatal for humans, for Tracker, a biological weapon injected with the T-virus, it was almost equivalent to no damage at all. Coupled with the strong regenerative capability brought by the Revenge Goddess Parasite, the wounds caused by the rocket explosion were soon to heal.

Although the injury wasn’t substantial, Zhang Yanhang had at least successfully impaired part of the Tracker’s field of vision. Seizing the moment, he loaded a special magazine filled with ant acid bullets into his M4A1 rifle.

Incidentally, due to the proximity, not only did the Tracker, the user, suffer from the rocket launcher’s explosion, but Zhang Yanhang, the ’innocent bystander’ standing by, also took some damage. Fortunately, only a few metal fragments flew toward his location.

Moreover, these metal fragments were all blocked by the energy shield. Compared to the force of the Tracker’s punches, the impact of these metal shards was much weaker— even when several metal fragments and a relatively large metal sheet hit the shield, it only reduced a few dozen points of shield value.

After replacing the ant acid magazine, Zhang Yanhang immediately aimed at the Tracker’s heart and pulled the trigger of the M4A1 rifle.

Tap-tap-tap—

Numerous ant acid bullets were fired at the metal controller embedded in the Tracker’s chest, which had three purposes. One was to embed into the Tracker’s chest like a breastplate, protecting its exposed heart.

The second purpose was to maintain the Tracker’s heart, allowing it to perform with greater strength, while the third was to restrict the Tracker somewhat.

Apart from the metal restrictor built into the chest part, there was also a thick pipe connected to the back of the restrictor, extending up over the shoulder and connecting to the back. This pipe not only supplied power but also transported some nutrients to maintain the Tracker’s heart.

Zhang Yanhang wasn’t sure if this pipe counted as part of the metal restrictors. He only remembered from the skill description that breaking the restrictor would force the Tracker into its Second Tier Stage. For good measure, he decided to destroy both parts.

Ant acid bullets pitted the metal restrictor at the Tracker’s chest, and while the bullets themselves didn’t penetrate the shell, the protective membranes filled with ant acid inside the bullets also shattered upon impact.

Drops of concentrated ant acid, like molds produced by rotting food, instantly corroded small black holes upon contact with the metal restrictor.

In just a second, a large dose of concentrated ant acid had completely corroded the metal restrictor, about the size of an adult’s head, reducing it to a soft mush.

Even refined crimson iron of blue quality couldn’t withstand the corrosion of concentrated ant acid, let alone this metal restrictor made from ordinary steel alloy.

After swiftly corroding through the metal restrictor, the remaining ant acid continued downward, directly targeting the massive heart protected behind the metal restrictor.

Even a First Tier Two Stars Licker has a sense of pain, so it goes without saying that a Tracker of Second Tier Second Star, a high-ranking Tyrant, would too.

After experiencing the pain from his heart, the Tracker roared and tore apart the upper half of his restraint clothes. His muscle fibers surged rapidly, crazily swelling and proliferating, and even his bones stretched forcibly after a strange cracking sound, which caused his height to increase from two and a half meters to two meters eighty in a short time.

Part of the abilities of the Revenge Goddess Parasite was unleashed, and the Tracker’s neck and eye socket areas, which had previously been torn by metal fragments, each grew a long red tentacle. Simultaneously, his hands, which previously bore some resemblance to human palms, completely transformed into the Tyrant’s characteristic large deadly claws in the second form.

Seeing this, Zhang Yanhang suddenly understood why the Tracker hadn’t charged with the classic combination of Charge and Death Claw previously.

It must have been because the Tracker hadn’t grown claws yet, but now, having smoothly transitioned to the second form and grown claws, he was probably about to taste the ’wonderful flavor’ of the Death Claw Skill again, and this time an enhanced version of it.

For this Tracker’s Death Claw Skill was far more powerful than that of other monsters.

The T-001 Prototype Tyrant’s Death Claw could only cause 100 points of armor penetration damage, ignoring defensive power, while the Tracker’s Death Claw Skill could inflict 200 points of armor penetration damage, and adding another 145% of regular damage, by then, the total damage dealt by the Death Claw might be comparable to an anti-tank armor-piercing rocket.

Adhering to the philosophy of strangling the enemy in the cradle, Zhang Yanhang had also tried to damage the Tracker during its transformation, but the damage inflicted wasn’t as fast as its recovery rate. "I didn’t expect that in addition to the Magical Girl’s transformation, which can’t be interrupted, even the Tracker’s transformation is quite hard to interrupt."

Zhang Yanhang felt that it was mainly because the Tracker’s transformation was too fast; it only took two or three seconds to complete. Otherwise, he would have liked to try whether other attack methods could interrupt this transformation process.

Unfortunately, the Tracker had already completed the transformation, so if Zhang Yanhang wanted to try other methods of attack, he would have to wait until the Tracker’s next transformation, which would be the start of the Third Stage.

After the Tracker initiated the Second Tier Stage, Zhang Yanhang checked its attribute list again and found that its Life Value Limit had increased to 875 points, up 275 points from the original 600 points.

Moreover, it wasn’t just an increase in the Life Value Limit that occurred; Zhang Yanhang also discovered that the Tracker’s Life Value had fully recovered post-transformation, exactly as described in the Skill Effect.

Besides, Zhang Yanhang noticed a plethora of new skills related to tentacles on the Tracker.

Even now, the Tracker had begun to use these tentacle-related abilities to attack Zhang Yanhang, with two thin blood-red tentacles tightly entangling his Energy Shield covering his body.

By the way, he had already switched the shape of the Energy Shield to an eggshell shape, so there was no shameful scene involving tentacle play.

"I’m not some Magical Girl, can we have less of this useless attacking behavior?"

Zhang Yanhang said as he pulled an AT-4 rocket launcher from his waist bag.

The moment he aimed the AT-4 at the chest of the Tracker and pulled the trigger, Zhang Yanhang suddenly realized he seemed to have always had an inexplicable connection with tentacles.

The sharp tongues of First-Tier-Two-Star Lickers could be considered mutated tentacles, and the tongues of the First-Tier-Three-Star Gamma Type Hunter further intensified the déjà vu of tentacles, with not only the appearance of mucus but also a penchant for binding, so they were only a step away from becoming full tentacles.

Now, he was experiencing real tentacles with the Tracker. To be honest, being bound by tentacles was rather disgusting, even if it was just the energy shield and not Zhang Yanhang’s own body, but it was still somewhat revolting; fortunately, he was about to put an end to the Tracker’s binding behavior.

"Experience the joy of a larger caliber!" Zhang Yanhang’s current AT-4 rocket launcher had a caliber of 84mm, whereas the Tracker’s PF-89 type anti-tank rocket launcher had a caliber of just 80mm, 4mm smaller than his.

Besides the slight difference in caliber, the munitions they loaded were completely different; Zhang Yanhang’s AT-4 rocket launcher was loaded with high-explosive armor-piercing bullets, while the PF-89 type anti-tank rocket launcher had armor-piercing bullets.

Armor-piercing and piercing seem to differ by only one character, but the principles were completely different. Armor-piercing bullets worked by forcibly entering the armor and causing damage with a high-temperature metal jet, while piercing bullets relied on their own kinetic energy and material strength to forcefully penetrate the enemy’s armor.

Even their structures differed; the former was a hollow-point bullet while the latter was a solid bullet.

At such close range, when firing the high-explosive armor-piercing bullet, the Tracker, being engrossed in attacking Zhang Yanhang with tentacles, had no chance to dodge and was hit directly in the heart.

Perhaps because the high-explosive armor-piercing bullet enjoyed the attack power bonus from the Gun Master, it penetrated the Tracker’s chest unimpeded.

At the moment it entered the Tracker’s chest, the high-explosive component of the bullet activated, causing an explosion immediately upon contact.

A large number of metal fragments, accompanied by surging flames, blasted a massive cavity directly through the Tracker’s chest, scattering bones, flesh, and heart; all that was left in the chest cavity was an empty hole with an unobstructed view.

The Tracker emotionlessly looked down at his own chest, and in that moment of looking down, a semi-transparent, energy-based high-explosive armor-piercing bullet composed of energy suddenly appeared inside the empty chest cavity.

This energy-based high-explosive armor-piercing bullet had barely had time to make contact with the target, but it immediately simulated a massive explosion similar to the one that had just occurred inside the chest cavity.

Boom!

The already hollowed-out chest cavity of the Tracker was completely blown apart by this explosion, and the sturdy torso below the chest cavity fell to the ground with a thump, while the shoulders above, along with the neck and head, were thrown far away by the impact of the explosion.

The two blood-red slender tentacles that had been tightly wrapped around Zhang Yanhang’s energy shield were also directly blown apart in this explosion. The two severed tentacles, lacking any support, slowly slid off Zhang Yanhang’s energy shield and fell to the ground.

Zhang Yanhang was quite pleased with this outcome. He successfully "broke" (physically) the Tracker’s binding behavior and incidentally blew the Tracker’s body into two pieces.

"Didn’t expect to trigger the extra attack effect of the talent? Lucky, the first rocket already brought the Tracker into the third stage, but it seems like the damage overflowed a bit. Even if the extra attack effect wasn’t triggered, it would have still been enough to advance the Tracker to the third stage."

Indeed, that sudden high-explosive armor-piercing bullet that appeared inside the Tracker’s chest cavity was an additional attack effect triggered by Zhang Yanhang’s Talent "Power of Swallowing Sheep." This extra attack mimicked the attack he issued to generate a physical damage attack composed of energy.

Or rather, it simulated an attack identical to the one that just happened, although it was composed of energy, it did not cause energy damage but physical damage instead.

Based on Zhang Yanhang’s experiments, this energy-simulated damage changed depending on what it was mimicking. If it was physical damage, it simply mimicked physical damage. If it was energy damage, it would also mimic energy damage.

Basically, the specific form was similar to just now; he had triggered the extra attack when firing the high-explosive armor-piercing bullet, so it created an energy-based high-explosive armor-piercing bullet and simulated the explosive damage inflicted on the enemy.

And if Zhang Yanhang had inflicted damage on the enemy using melee, it would have simulated a fist composed of energy hitting the enemy’s body.

Overall, the process was quite intelligent. Whatever he attacked, it simulated the same thing, and moreover, there was no energy cost, although the extra attack was composed of energy, Zhang Yanhang didn’t need to provide the energy himself.

Zhang Yanhang surmised that the principle behind this extra attack might involve absorbing energy from the surroundings to generate this attack.

Zhang Yanhang threw away the disposable launcher and took out a new AT-4 rocket launcher from his waist bag, which, unlike the Tyrant’s PF-89 type anti-tank rocket launcher, did not require manual loading. Although the Tyrant’s launcher could be reused and required manual loading, Zhang Yanhang’s AT-4 was a disposable launcher, and the munitions were sealed inside during manufacturing. Each launcher could only be used once, so its advantage was that it didn’t require loading and thus was easier to fire.

Even though the Tyrant had been blown into two pieces, thanks to the strong life force imparted by the T-virus infection and the super-speed regeneration ability provided by the Revenge Goddess Parasite, the Tyrant was still alive and well.

Even after the tentacles on its neck and around its eyes were blown apart, the Tracker sprouted even more blood-red tentacles from the severed chest cavity, and these newly born thin red tentacles immediately rushed towards Zhang Yanhang’s feet.

Despite the distance of several meters separating them, these tentacles reached Zhang Yanhang in the blink of an eye.