"Uh, God..."
Hampton's eyes widened as he felt an object piercing deep into his skull from the outside. Something called life was rapidly fading away.
The flying creature looming over him stretched out its limbs, embracing his head. But this embrace was no blessing; it came at the cost of his life.
"Oh God, oh God..." Hampton muttered.
Meanwhile, the fierce gleam in Jia Yan's compound eyes continued to flicker. Human skulls were incredibly hard!
Jia Yan utilized the inertia of his forward movement combined with the sharpness of his forefoot blades to mercilessly stab into Hampton's skull. At that moment, his determination grew even stronger.
His right foot pierced into Hampton's head, stirring it directly.
"Ah!" Hampton screamed in agony. With his brain tissues directly damaged, there was only one outcome for a human: death.
The flame of life in Hampton's eyes quickly faded. This formidable star-spangled banner powerhouse, who had roamed within the borders of China for so long, met his end then and there.
Perhaps such a powerhouse had other legendary tales and even the potential to rank among the top ten in the world. But now that he was dead, there was no future left.
Jia Yan felt cold inside. This was the second time he had killed a human since he had killed Yu Jia and his son. However, there was no sentiment or excitement this time.
He had long realized that he and humans were two different species now. Whether he wanted to kill or save humans was solely his preference, and nobody could change that.
If he killed, then so be it, just like killing beetles and bats.
In the next moment, a strange light flickered once again in Jia Yan's compound eyes.
Seeing his companion fatally stabbed in the head by the metallic flying creature, James, the star-spangled banner man below, knew his comrade was beyond saving.
He immediately pulled the trigger of his gun.
Bang!
In that instant, Jia Yan pushed himself forcefully with his six legs, swiftly moving away from Hampton's head.
The bullet struck!
Clang!
The metallic exoskeleton on Jia Yan's left side emitted a loud sound. It had been hit!
Jia Yan was surprised. The bullet felt like an unimaginable heavy blow to his abdomen. If one had to compare it to a person's punch, perhaps only the "Superman" in the star-spangled banner movies could deliver such a blow.
Fortunately, the bullet hit the left edge of his abdomen. Jia Yan instantly felt a tremendous force pushing him away. His body flew towards the left and smashed forcefully into the rocky wall of the cave, shattering numerous stones!
His abdomen was twisted by the force of the bullet!
Fortunately, the metal exoskeleton had a limit protection mechanism. When the degree of distortion reached a certain point, it automatically stopped twisting to prevent further damage.
Otherwise, his abdomen might have been twisted off completely, as the weapon James was using was specifically for super mutants and something Jia Yan couldn't resist right now!
Jia Yan crashed into the wall but didn't have time to inspect his injuries. He immediately flew off, utilizing his maximum speed!
As he flew, a barrage of bullets struck the spot where he had been moments ago, leaving a deep dent in the cave wall!
James, the foreign young man below, was incredibly skilled. He had managed to hit Jia Yan several times despite his swift movements!
Reaching a huge stalactite behind the cave, Jia Yan took a moment to inspect his abdominal injuries. To his surprise, he didn't feel any significant damage. It seemed that his coagulant defense hadn't been compromised.
However, upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but be astonished. The metal of his exoskeleton hadn't been pierced by the bullets as he had expected. Instead, they left faint marks and simply grazed over his abdomen without causing significant damage!
What Jia Yan didn't know was that the strongest military-grade steel in the world belonged to a certain type of special ship steel produced in Russia. That steel had a yield strength of 1175 MPa, which could withstand even missile strikes without being easily penetrated!
Of course, military-grade steel couldn't be judged solely based on strength. For instance, naval vessels required durability, magnetic reaction, toughness, corrosion resistance, and so on. Simply looking at strength was meaningless.
But perhaps many people didn't know that the latest special steel produced by the star-spangled banner country had already surpassed or even exceeded Russia's special steel.
Even when hit by the special weapons of super mutants, Jia Yan's exoskeleton showed no significant damage!
It seemed that it could even withstand close-range gunfire from assault rifles!
The average thickness of the metal exoskeleton Jia Yan wore was around 5 millimeters, with some crucial parts even thicker.
He hadn't expected the metal to be as tough as the two assassins had claimed. Their boasting was not exaggerated at all!
Looks like I really need to compensate these two in the future, otherwise I won't feel at ease.
"Monster!"
James, with golden eyes, stared at Jia Yan below, his face showing a shocked expression.
This was the first time he had used a special weapon for super mutants and missed a shot on a creature. Or perhaps, his marksmanship was accurate enough, as even though Jia Yan was flying fast, both bullets still hit, albeit only one causing him to crash into the rock wall!
This scene reminded James of something, and then his face changed!
He had also seen the mosquito picture that was circulating wildly on the Chinese internet.
That mosquito, on the same night of that great battle, was shot by himself but remained unharmed!
And now, the more he looked at this creature covered in metal armor, the more it resembled that mosquito!
"It's really you!"
James couldn't believe it.
Originally thought to be an occasional monster, it now appeared fully armored before him. Moreover, the creature seemed to possess a highly developed combat awareness. This series of eerie information made James wonder if there was a mysterious and powerful force behind all nations and individuals, subtly controlling everything with a giant hand.
The unknown always instilled fear in people.
However, he didn't expect that there was no conspiracy behind the creature, nor any mysterious power. It was just a mosquito reincarnated as a human!
Perhaps reincarnation itself should be more mysterious!
But James didn't need to think so much now. At this moment, all he wanted was to escape!
Even his greatest reliance, the super mutant's firearm, couldn't inflict much damage on the flying creature. If he didn't escape now, he'd be a fool!
He retreated towards the underground world outside the cave!
Although there was a huge army of giant bats there, there was still some resistance, unlike facing this flying creature clad in metal armor, where he saw no chance of victory!
The golden eyes of this man showed a slight change, slowly reverting back to green.
This was a sign of the super mutant's ability fading.
He wanted to escape, but would Jia Yan let him?
He wasn't that kind!
Buzz! —
Jia Yan flew out again from behind the stalactite.
Bang!
James, fleeing in panic, fired a bullet!
But the accuracy of this shot was off by a lot!
Jia Yan slightly veered to avoid the bullet easily.
At the same time, Jia Yan noticed James's arm twisting strangely!
It turned out that the special weapon of the super mutant was a handgun with a recoil exceeding that of the Desert Eagle's large caliber pistol. It could only be used when the super mutant state was activated.
In normal circumstances, when the secretion of adrenaline in the super mutant's body wasn't so intense, and without powerful computational ability, using this firearm would not only hurt oneself but also make it difficult to hit the enemy!
But now, James didn't care about that!
Not shooting meant death!
Bang!
He raised his injured arm again and fired a bullet at Jia Yan!
Jia Yan had grasped something about this person, so under the flicker of light in his compound eyes, he unexpectedly accelerated without dodging!
And that bullet missed by a mile!
James now, without having once hit Jia Yan flying at high speed, lacked the demeanor and combat power he had before.
The distance between them was instantly shortened!
James's face changed drastically.
This flying creature's combat intelligence was too high! He knew he was close to deactivating his super mutant state, but the creature shouldn't know. If he had shot, the creature should have hesitated or avoided slightly. Instead, the creature seemed to see through his lack of shooting accuracy, and instead of dodging, it charged straight at him!
"Damn it!" James drew out a combat dagger stuck in his belt with his uninjured arm!
He stood firm, no longer trying to escape.
After all, there was no point in escaping, so he might as well fight with a dagger!
This super mutant, having lost most of his combat power after being tormented by the giant bat army, encountered a creature like Jia Yan, and could only rely on luck.
But there was no such thing as good luck in all of this because it was their loss of combat power that caused Jia Yan to intercept them!
If these people had been at the peak of their combat power, Jia Yan wouldn't have been so foolish as to confront them face-to-face.
"Die!"
Jia Yan's body, with a series of afterimages, rushed into James's embrace!
At the same time, this young super mutant from the United States also raised the dagger in his hand, its blade gleaming, and chopped at the flying figure rushing towards him!
Clang!
The dagger struck Jia Yan's back, against that hard metal armor, leaving only a faint trace.
Puff!
Jia Yan's pair of foot blade slices plunged deeply into James's heart!