Chapter 46: 46: Giant Macrophage Dog
The crimson gaze already revealed they weren\'t human, and at this point, there was no concern about startling the creatures further. Zhu Xiong was shouting at his teammates behind the truck.
Then, with a plop, everyone instinctively summoned their Angel Envoys, those on the rooftops jumping down to surround the convoy.
Gan Xinglei, Guo Gang, and Zhao Yimin\'s Angel Envoy corpses landed at the rear, guarding against any creatures that might approach from behind.
The other corpses, under control, moved to the front end of the truck, closely following the tall Four-armed Corpse.
"Boss, what do we do?"
Xia Ning poked her head out, nervously watching the crimson eyes in the fog ahead. The eerie scene frightened her, unlike facing the corpses directly.
"Here they come."
As he spoke, the crimson eyes in the fog moved, and one by one, creatures emerged from within.
One, two, three... a total of seven creatures, lining up with the tallest one leaping onto the truck roof ahead, the crimson gaze overlooking Su Han\'s convoy emitting a dangerous light.
"Big dog?"
Zhu Xiong was shocked as the creature revealed it\'s form, his heart sinking even more.
The monster in front of them looked somewhat like a giant dog, shoulder height about 1.3 to 1.4 meters and about 2.5 meters in length, muscles bulging, plates defined as if its skin had been peeled away, revealing a dark red hue.
Its spine was twisted, arching like a dorsal fin, with bone spurs protruding from the spine and sticking out of the body, making it particularly ferocious-looking.
However, the most terrifying aspect was its interlocking fangs, its enormous maw divided into three sections like a budding flower, with tiny teeth lining each split lip, drooling foul saliva, resembling a hellish hound.
"Lur~"
A deep growling sound came, and the seven creatures\' gaze turned even more dangerous. Suddenly, the leading creature leapt down, charging straight for Su Han\'s windshield.
The remaining six ran on the spot, charging towards the Angel Envoys at high speed.
"Underestimating us, huh?"
At the thought, Su Han\'s Four-armed Corpse had already lunged forward, its knife arcing through the air, chopping directly towards the creature.
The creature in mid-air seemed instinctively alert, violently twisting its body, halting its charge, barely dodging the blade.
However, a red gash had already appeared on its shoulder, with blood spurting out.
"Roar"
The painful roar set off the prelude to the battle, the fierce Giant Macrophage Dog crashing into the many Angel Envoys\' corpses. The Envoys mostly held Pu knives, swinging to strike, but the wide-open maw caught the blade instead.
"Clang"
The blade was directly bitten, the sharp edge cutting the tear, but the Giant Macrophage Dog did not relent, instead forcefully ramming into the corpse.
At this collision, many corpses were almost knocked over, only the Rot Skin Rat and Old Zhu\'s First-level Intermediate corpses escaped the brunt.
Knocked down, the corpses, in their humanoid forms, suffered a disadvantage, unable to pull out their knives, they resorted to direct hand-to-hand combat.
With beast-like biting and scratching, the Giant Macrophage Dog clearly had the upper hand, continuously aiming for the corpses\' necks. If not for the corpses pushing back hard, their necks would have likely been snapped.
"Not good!"
Seeing the situation ahead, how could Gan Xinglei still defend the rear? He yelled, "Go up and help."
The three defending corpses charged forward, directly slashing at the three entangled Giant Macrophage Dogs. The thick necks were split open, blood spraying out, which finally made the dogs release their grip.
The Four-armed Corpse charged towards the Giant Macrophage Dog leader. The leader tried to dodge, buying time, but the Four-armed Corpse wouldn\'t give up.
The Pu knife in its hand was thrown like a javelin. The Giant Macrophage Dog wanted to dodge, but with the truck on its left and the river on its right, it had little room to maneuver. Before it could move, it was pinned to the ground by the Pu knife, whimpering.
The Four-armed Corpse turned and charged at the other creatures, as the remaining six monsters were fiercely fighting the Rot Skin Rat and eight other Angel Envoys.
Although they were slightly fewer in number, their burst of strength was definitely superior to that of the corpses, requiring two corpses to hold back one.
Fortunately, Gan Xinglei, Zhu Xiong, and Yan Meiyu coordinated well, jointly killing off two, and the remaining four were effectively cornered.
"Don\'t be too harsh."
Su Han\'s command suddenly came, and the Four-armed Corpse stepped into the fray, grabbing the struggling Giant Macrophage Dog. With a snap, it broke its spine, beating it half to death.
With only three left, everyone seized the opportunity. The Envoys rushed up, holding and biting, literally breaking their bones.
The battle ended, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Han and Zhu Xiong were the first to get out of the car. Zhu Xiong wanted to go forward and check on the Giant Macrophage Dogs.
"Be careful, they are more ferocious than the corpses."
"I know." Zhu Xiong responded with a heavy nod, indicating his understanding as he swung a steel pipe at each one, finding four that reacted.
"My goodness, their vitality is really not weak."
Zhu Xiong lamented as he knew if it were just two or three people alone, they would likely struggle to fight even one, which was only about a meter and a half smaller than a tiger.
"Su Han, there are four still breathing."
Su Han focused intently on one of them, and the monster\'s name appeared: Giant Macrophage Dog.
"Those without a Contract, four people come out and kill them."
Su Han signaled to Gan Xinglei and Yan Meiyu, both of whom nodded in understanding, "Start with the front vehicle, Bai Xiao\'e, Zhou Qishan... you four make the Contract first, using this weapon."
The weapon was a machete used by the corpses, thick and sharp. Joy flashed in the eyes of the four, who hastily nodded, "Thank you, Sister Yan, thank you, boss."
"Old Zhu, let\'s check ahead."
Su Han pointed to a truck ahead, Zhu Xiong understood that they did not need to watch over the Contracting process, so he said, "Let\'s go, I reckon something has happened."
The two stepped over the body of the Giant Macrophage Dog; the closer they got to its massive body, the more terrifying it seemed—not a dog, but more like the size of a tiger.
"With a mouth like that, even a tiger would leave behind a few pounds of meat."
He speculated, "I think it\'s a wild dog that mutated, but Su Han, if wild dogs can turn into this, then what about the zoo?"
Thinking of the zoo animals, Zhu Xiong shuddered.
"I fear the situation there isn\'t good either, but it\'s not necessarily a complete transformation."
Through their journey, he had noticed the corpses of ordinary cats and dogs by the roadside, devoured completely by monsters, clearly indicating that mutation wasn\'t absolute.
The two men reached the front vehicle. As they approached the driver\'s door, which was open, a foul smell wafted out. Half of a body, gnawed down to the bone, dangled from the stepping board.
The half of the body sticking out of the car door was eaten away, leaving only a bloody spine and a few ribs. The lower half was stuck under the steering wheel, and the Giant Macrophage Dog could not reach it, leaving it relatively intact but already rotting.
Zhu Xiong spat on the ground and cursed, "Those damned beastly monsters."
"Been dead for over ten days now, let\'s get it out first and let the corpses handle it."
Zhu Xiong nodded, summoned his own corpse to drag the half-body out, and pulled it to the side of the road where the odor dissipated somewhat.
Zhu Xiong, unconcerned about the lingering smell, climbed into the truck to take a look and said, "The key is still here, we can start it. Do we want this vehicle? It can carry more than my other two."
"Can it be driven?"
Zhu Xiong grinned and joked, "If it couldn\'t be driven, would you have traffic management arrest me?"
"...."
Got it, forcing it to work, huh? Very criminal.
Zhu Xiong\'s suggestion met no objection from Su Han, though driving it might be problematic since the vehicle\'s view, turning radius, and braking distance were different. But in these end-times, those weren\'t really issues—as long as you don\'t crash into a wall, scratches and scrapes were nobody\'s concern.
So, he brought over the experienced driver Zhao Yimin, and just let him drive the truck alone.
Zhu Xiong checked the vehicle\'s container. It was empty, apparently ready to pick up cargo in the morning only for the fog to set in and leave monsters mutated and stranded here.
Nothing was found in the cabin or the trailer except for an ornament hanging from the rearview mirror, bearing a family portrait.
Chauffeurs often away from home, keeping a memento was the best way to endure the loneliness.
Zhu Xiong knew what it was, but aside from sighing, there was nothing else he could do—the person was already dead, and whether their family was still alive was unknown.
He hurriedly buried the bone remains and the ornament, and finally, the Contracts were completed, taking slightly longer than the corpse\'s.
"How do you feel?"
"Boss Su Han"
Su Han approached the four individuals, and they quickly greeted him, not daring to be prideful even though they had made the Contract, aware of their own capabilities.
"Contracting was a bit painful, but the power fed back is strong," Xiao\'e responded in a weak voice to Su Han\'s question, and the other three nodded, "Right, it\'s like the blood vessels are bursting."
Su Han raised an eyebrow, was it painful during Fusion?
He suddenly asked, "How strong are they?"