Earth's Light

A Flying Flame Beetle's left wing was torn off at the root, fluorescent green fluid splattering everywhere.

The beast spiraled crookedly downward.

"Not bad, Chao!"

Grandma Wang could not see the battle outside clearly, but judging by Meng Chao's vigorous three-shot burst, she could tell at once. "You're not much worse than your grandpa was when he was alive!"

The corner of Meng Chao's mouth twitched.

He had originally aimed for the center of its mouthparts.

That was the Black Beetle race's greatest weakness.

A three-round burst should have blown the beast apart outright.

But Grandma Wang's chatter had thrown him off.

"You really are my own dear grandma." Meng Chao did not know whether to laugh or cry.

A notification popped up in his vision:

Severely wounded Flying Flame Beetle, Contribution Points +1.1, Ordinary Level "Basic Gunmanship" proficiency increased by 0.8%, reaching 25%

How stingy—only one Contribution Point.

Still, it felt pretty good. He had become more familiar with firearms, and the feel for guns from his previous life was gradually returning.

Meng Chao gathered his focus, unleashed his firepower, and the more he fired, the smoother it became.

As the Strange Fire shone, notifications surged wildly:

Killed Flame Black Beetle, congratulations on completing your first kill and contributing to the defense of civilization, Contribution Points +10, proficiency increased by 8%, reaching 53%

Killed Flame Black Beetle, Contribution Points +1.9, proficiency +0.9%, reaching 55%

Killed Flying Flame Beetle, Contribution Points +3, proficiency +2.5%, reaching 58%

Meng Chao whistled and entered the zone completely.

The rhythmic, rising and falling gunfire made even Meng Yishan's skin crawl.

He was busy with work and rarely paid attention to his son's studies. He had never known high school students these days were such crack shots.

"I was injured last year and can't really train martial arts anymore, so I just practiced more gunmanship instead," Meng Chao explained when he had a moment.

"Mm." Meng Yishan nodded, a little heartbroken.

With the efforts of the father and son, along with the other shooters in the residential complex, the monsters' offensive was temporarily held back.

Only one Flying Flame Beetle landed on an apartment building. Waving its sharp mouthparts, it stabbed them into the outer-wall armor like a can opener and tore frantically.

It had only ripped away half a piece of armor before crossfire riddled it like a beehive.

The dense bullets ignited the flammable mucus inside its body, turning the beast into a fireball that plunged downward.

Cheers erupted from quite a few firing ports.

Meng Yishan also let out a breath and smiled.

But Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and continued searching for the mysterious monster that had appeared in the nightmare flashback.

Suddenly, in the blood mist-shrouded night sky, he saw a gigantic Black Beetle with vivid markings floating silently.

Whoosh!

Its wings spread open. They were not transparent at all, but pale gold, with two deep Ghost Eye markings upon them.

The Ghost Eye Golden Wings stretched more than ten meters long. Each beat scattered rippling golden dust, like fiercely burning golden flames.

"That's it—the evolved form of the Flying Flame Beetle, the Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle!" Meng Chao's pupils abruptly contracted as a terrifying name surfaced from the depths of his memory.

"What is that?"

At the firing ports, and in the fortresses and trenches behind the square, the residents' faces changed drastically.

They had never seen such a bizarre Flying Flame Beetle.

Those chilling Ghost Eyes made one's scalp prickle after a single glance.

"A super beast."

Li Dayong, captain of Tianfu Garden's Joint Defense squad, went deathly pale and squeezed out two words through clenched teeth.

Humans were divided into ordinary people and Transcendents.

Monsters, too, were divided into ordinary monsters and super beasts.

Ordinary monsters were merely enhanced versions of wild beasts.

A little larger, a little faster, with sharper claws and fangs, thick hides and tough flesh, cunning and savage.

Ordinary people could defeat them with Thermal Weapons and military organization, so long as they did not fear sacrifice.

But super beasts were an entirely different matter.

Who would have thought Tianfu Garden's luck could be so terrible? No monster incidents for half a year, and when one finally came, it was a super beast.

And it was a newly evolved, inscrutable unknown super beast. Its weaknesses, how to fight it, even its methods of attack—nothing was known.

"Concentrate all firepower and take down that super beast!"

Li Dayong gave the order, grabbed his communicator, and called out, "Tianfu Garden has discovered an unknown super beast! I repeat, Tianfu Garden has discovered an unknown flying carapaced super beast! Requesting Transcendent support!"

Unfortunately, the mist had descended and Spiritual Energy was surging wildly, causing severe interference. The communications channel contained only static.

Monsters were invading all across the city. No one knew whether the Transcendents fighting fierce battles elsewhere had heard Tianfu Garden's call for aid.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!

The appearance of a super beast made the residents stop begrudging their bullets. More than a hundred streams of fire instantly blanketed the sky.

The Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle flapped its wings, whipping up a golden whirlwind and evading the first concentrated barrage.

Then it spread its four-petaled mouthparts, revealing a cavernous bloody maw, and sprayed scarlet fireballs toward the ground.

The fireballs were like napalm bombs, and flames quickly spread across the surfaces of the buildings.

Though they could not burn through the armor for the moment, the flames and thick smoke severely interfered with the shooters behind the firing ports.

The other Flying Flame Beetles seized the chance to break through the fire net, landing on the buildings and waving their mouthparts to destroy the exterior walls.

And that was not all.

The powder shed from the Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle's wings also stimulated the ordinary Black Beetles that could not fly.

Many Flame Black Beetles were clearly being electrocuted until blue smoke poured from them, but after being tainted by the golden powder, they seemed to have been injected with stimulants and actually regained some of their ferocity.

The black tide surged once more. Several high-voltage electric towers and automated battle fortresses were knocked down, and the defensive line was hanging by a thread.

"Bayonet Squad, prepare!"

Facing the menacing insect tide, Joint Defense captain Li Dayong tore open his Camouflage Uniform in one motion, exposing a lean, powerful body crisscrossed with scars.

He leaped onto an Infantry Fighting Vehicle and shouted, "Residents of Tianfu Garden, I've called for support. The military and Transcendents will arrive soon, but before they get here, let these beasts have a taste of what we're made of!"

"Charge!"

"Slaughter these beasts!"

"Show them what Earthlings are made of!"

The Bayonet Squad roared until their voices were ragged.

Perhaps these residents were merely ordinary people.

By day, they were unremarkable workers, white-collar employees, cooks, teachers, couriers, and delivery riders, doing ordinary, dull, tedious jobs.

But on every night when the mist descended and monsters emerged.

Dragon City had no city walls. They were the city walls; they were the warriors; they were the blades and shields; they were the last line of defense between their wives, children, parents, and the monsters.

The Black Beetle swarm was one hundred meters away from the residents.

"Dragon City will triumph."

Li Dayong drew his war blade.

"Dragon City will triumph!"

A sea of flashing blades gleamed.

The Black Beetle swarm was eighty meters away from the residents.

"Humanity will triumph."

Li Dayong took out a pen-shaped injector and stabbed it into his heart.

"Humanity will triumph!"

All the residents of the Bayonet Squad took out the adrenaline-extracted Burning Potions and injected them into their hearts.

Amid sharp intakes of breath, their muscles swelled at a visible rate.

Thick veins, like ferocious dragons baring their fangs and claws, coiled across their incomparably muscular bodies.

The Black Beetle swarm was sixty meters away from them.

"Earth will triumph."

Li Dayong lifted his head and glanced toward the horizon.

The night sky was shrouded in thick fog, without even half a star in sight.

Yet he could clearly see the distant Homeworld beyond The Other Shore of the Starry Sea, blue as a sparkling sapphire, gazing back at them.

"Earth will triumph!"

The warriors raised their war blades one after another, letting the savage beasts of this foreign land see the light of Earth Civilization.

The Black Beetle swarm was only thirty meters away from the residents.

The humans could already see the monsters' sharpness and savagery clearly.

Just then.

A distinctly different string of gunshots rang out from the residential building behind them.

The Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle's body lurched, erupting with a huge cloud of golden dust. It had actually been hit!

"What?"

Both Li Dayong and the residents were greatly shocked.

The super beast's fireballs had ignited the building exteriors. Though the armor was not afraid of burning, the smoke and flames had reduced visibility to almost zero. Who had fired that shot so accurately?

"Someone hit the super beast. The bullet seemed to have come from our direction. I never thought there was such an expert in our unit."

In Room 704, Meng Yishan shouted, "A Chao, hurry and take your mom, your sister, and Grandma Wang with you and run! I can hold this beast back!"

"Dad, you can't do it alone. Let Old Mom and the others run first; the two of us will hold this place." Meng Chao gritted his teeth.

"Quit babbling! Don't get in my way here! This is a super beast, not something you can handle!" Meng Yishan said urgently.

"I know... what this beast is!"

Meng Chao lowered his voice. His eyes were ice-cold, filled with killing intent as they stared through the scope, through the smoke and flames, locking firmly onto the Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle.

It was this beast.

In the memories of his previous life, it was this beast that had massacred so many Tianfu Garden residents.

It had even severely injured Old Mom, causing his younger sister to embark upon the road of darkness.

"This time, I won't let you have your way."

Meng Chao pulled the trigger again.

The instant the Armor-Piercing Bullet howled forth, the muscles in his arm and shoulder twitched by reflex, offsetting the recoil and making the trajectory more precise and stable.

Engraved with runes and imbued with an armor-piercing effect, the Armor-Piercing Bullet shot forward faster than an ordinary Bullet under the coil and propulsion of Spiritual Energy, tearing through smoke and flames as it stabbed straight at the Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle's right wing.

The Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle violently flapped its wings and narrowly evaded it.

Yet the Bullet tore off nearly half a wing, even leaving the Ghost Eye marking on its right side incomplete, as though its face had been ruined.

The Ghost Eye Golden Winged Flame Beetle flew into a rage, letting out a shrill Screech, screech! as it searched for the source of the attack.

Meng Chao cursed.

That thing flew too fast. With Ordinary Level "Basic Gunmanship," it was simply impossible to kill it.

"The super beast is enraged—run!" Meng Yishan roared.

"Run?"

Meng Chao's face twisted savagely. Was he supposed to flee in panic and let the nightmare become reality?

Absolutely not!