Into the Belly

Earth Dragons were large Exotic Beasts and generally territorial. In theory, there should only be one in any given area.

But there weren't just two here—not to mention the first one, only a few hundred meters away. This was already the third. And they didn't seem to like sleeping; they weren't hibernating at all!

Had he stumbled upon several Earth Dragons fighting over hibernation territory?

Many questions flashed through Chen Chong's mind, but only for an instant. He didn't have any more time to think.

The Earth Dragon burst from the ground in front of him. Its long body swayed in the air before it lowered its head. It fixed its hideous maw on Chen Chong, then lunged!

Chen Chong was ready. Watching the Earth Dragon's movements, he dove to the side and dodged its bite.

Its enormous head slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash. The flying dirt nearly buried Chen Chong, while the impact sent him rolling twice. He sprang to his feet and took off, quickly putting distance between them.

Seeing the Earth Dragon turn and attack the nearby security squad, Chen Chong quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

At least this one wasn't fixated on me. I just have to run faster than them.

The squad members had more weapons training and combat experience than Chen Chong and the others, but they couldn't match the three elite fighters in physical conditioning. They had followed two different paths.

The security squad was scattered in an instant, but the members farther away quickly raised their guns and began firing back.

Muzzle flashes spat fire. Bullets tore into the Earth Dragon, bursting into sprays of flesh. Even its massive body began to twitch, and its movements grew noticeably slower.

Earth Dragons were extremely hard to kill. They had to be completely severed to die for good. Even if only a tenth of the body remained, it could revive as long as that section was intact across its width.

But by the same token, every part of its body was equally vulnerable to injury. The security officers only needed to pour specially made explosive rounds into its huge body to inflict serious damage.

Still, though the Earth Dragon wasn't very intelligent, it wasn't a sitting duck. After trembling under the gunfire for a while, it slammed and swept its body, sending the two nearest squad members flying.

The others were startled and scattered, spreading out before regrouping in twos and threes to return fire.

The Earth Dragon gave chase for a while, but to little effect. Apparently realizing it couldn't catch all those little bugs, it suddenly reared up, then slammed into the ground and disappeared.

"Damn it, it burrowed underground!"

One squad member had barely finished shouting when a wave of dirt surged toward him, then burst open.

He cried out in alarm, which turned to a scream—and the scream cut off halfway through.

The Earth Dragon's hideous maw had him lifted into the air. Its wormlike head contracted and expanded, and the man's lower half twitched helplessly.

Crimson blood poured down the Earth Dragon's body like a waterfall.

"Shit!"

The squad members cursed and unleashed a furious hail of bullets, but the Earth Dragon retreated underground again and began racing through the soil.

Chen Chong crouched in the distance, watching the Earth Dragon begin its hunt.

That was what made Exotic Beasts terrifying. Even a well-trained combat squad was helpless if one got close. Ordinary firearms had limited effect. To deal with an Exotic Beast properly, they needed either heavy firepower or someone who had reached the next realm.

Chen Chong only watched. He had no intention of getting involved. Instead, he assessed his chances of escaping.

They were some distance from the base. If he tried to run openly, Liu Xun could easily finish off the Earth Dragon and then come after him.

And if they spotted him, they could report it over the radio at any moment. If they moved to block him in time, he probably wouldn't get far.

His best chance was to slip away in the chaos without being noticed right away.

If Liu Xun's group got caught up fighting, maybe he could... huh?

Chen Chong's eyes narrowed.

The fight at Liu Xun's position wasn't over, but he stopped swinging his blade and ran straight toward the security squad.

Behind him, a huge Earth Dragon pursued him closely. But halfway there, the beast abruptly turned and came charging at Chen Chong instead!

Chen Chong frowned. After taking so many slashes, it wasn't going after Liu Xun for revenge. It had to come for him? Did it hate that ultrasonic frequency so much?

He leaped up and took a step toward Liu Xun.

Rat-tat-tat—

A small wave of dirt kicked up from the muddy ground in front of him as a string of bullets tore past.

If he'd taken one more step, he would have been hit.

Chen Chong stopped abruptly and looked up to see Liu Xun lower his gun and say coldly,

"Get lost! Come any closer and I'll shoot you first."

Chen Chong's gaze turned icy.

Liu Xun had done it on purpose. He wanted Chen Chong to risk his life holding off this Earth Dragon while he rescued his own squad and dealt with the other one first.

But Chen Chong had no gun or blade—only a meat-cutting knife. He had no idea how he could face a monster like this.

As the Earth Dragon lunged at him, Chen Chong glanced at the flashing blade over there, then sprang away in the opposite direction.

Liu Xun caught a glimpse of Chen Chong's speed from the corner of his eye and raised an eyebrow.

"He's fast. He should be able to hold out a little longer."

Still, once the Earth Dragon had its sights on him, he wouldn't last long without Liu Xun's help. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too useless.

Give Liu Xun another two minutes and he could hunt down that huge beast on his own. But his squad would probably suffer heavy casualties.

So he'd chosen to "switch fronts" and save his men.

As for Chen Chong's fate? He didn't care. A fighter's life couldn't compare to a security officer's.

Chen Chong ran for a while, feeling the foul wind behind him grow closer. He wasn't slow, but on the soft, uneven black mud, there was no way he could outrun the Earth Dragon.

At last, he felt a gust of wind rush up behind him. He dove forward and dodged the Earth Dragon's slam.

He flipped back to his feet, facing the Exotic Beast, and drew his dagger. His gaze grew calm.

There was no escaping. He could only try to fight.

The Earth Dragon saw Chen Chong stand still. It slowly raised its body, then slammed down again!

Chen Chong dodged to the side and slashed his dagger along the Earth Dragon's head, opening a gash tens of centimeters long. Yellow slime and red flesh drooped from the wound.

He'd managed to land a hit, but compared to the Earth Dragon's enormous body, the gash was insignificant.

Chen Chong began darting around the Earth Dragon, pushing his Combat Technique's nimble footwork to the limit.

It was like dancing on the edge of a blade. One wrong move and he'd end up in the Earth Dragon's belly. But he had no other choice. His fists and feet were useless; all he could do was use his short dagger to bleed it out.

He had no idea how long it would take this little toothpick to bleed a giant Earth Dragon dry.

Suddenly, Chen Chong sensed something was off about the Earth Dragon's reactions. He glanced back when he had a moment and saw Peng Wei and Pei Li had arrived. They were stabbing the Earth Dragon's rear half with their daggers.

"Hang in there!" Pei Li shouted at him.

Chen Chong's eyes flickered.

That part of the Earth Dragon wasn't as dangerous as its head, but it was hardly safe. He'd never expected the two who'd been hiding to come help him.

The three of them took positions at its head and tail, working together to fight the Earth Dragon.

Even a body more than twenty meters long gradually began to react to the countless dagger slashes.

Then the Earth Dragon suddenly shuddered.

It reared up, then plunged into the ground with astonishing speed, like a diver.

Sand and gravel flew as it bored a pit several meters across. With a single flick of its tail, it vanished inside, leaving behind only a deep, ominous hole.

The ground began to tremble, and waves of dirt rolled across it. All three struggled to keep their footing.

Alarm bells rang in Chen Chong's mind. He dodged the waves of dirt again and again, but underground the Earth Dragon moved even faster than it did on the surface.

He suddenly felt a tremor under his feet and tried to jump away, but the Earth Dragon burst from the ground beneath him in an instant.

Its maw snapped shut around his chest and lifted him high into the air!

"Chen Chong!" Pei Li and Peng Wei shouted.

Chen Chong felt a slow, crushing pressure against his body. The maw and its sharp teeth were contracting around him.

It doesn't hurt that much?

He understood at once. Devour Form had helped him withstand the first bite. The huge beast could barely bite through him.

But the worm's constricting force was immense. If it kept tightening its maw, he'd suffocate even if it didn't bite him to death.

Chen Chong forced his racing heart to settle. He calmed down and darted his gaze around, spotting a broken tooth.

He'd kicked it off earlier.

An idea struck him. He yanked out his dagger and drove it hard into the tooth's root.

The Earth Dragon's movements stuttered, and its grip loosened.

It worked!

Chen Chong's eyes lit up. A flash of red gleamed and vanished.

Second Form: Gluttony.

His blood surged like a river, and his muscles erupted with strength!

Power flooded his body. His hand became a blur as he stabbed furiously around the broken tooth's root, striking the weak point with lightning speed.

The Earth Dragon's maw squirmed uncontrollably and loosened slightly.

Chen Chong immediately began to slide down.

He held his breath, gripped the dagger with both hands, then threw all his strength into a thrust!

Outside, Liu Xun had just finished cutting the Earth Dragon into several sections. He turned to look.

Pei Li and Peng Wei were stabbing frantically beneath the Earth Dragon, but Chen Chong was nowhere to be seen on the raised upper half of its body.

He'd held on for just the right amount of time.

Liu Xun relaxed. He flicked his long blade and was about to go over when he suddenly stopped.

Something about the Earth Dragon's movements seemed strange.

The Earth Dragon was twitching more and more violently. Peng Wei, still stabbing wildly with his dagger, sensed something was wrong and looked up at Pei Li.

"Let's go! He's done for. We have to move before it turns on us!"

Pei Li drove her dagger deep into the Earth Dragon's flesh and bit her lip.

That idiot. He wouldn't even do it when she told him to.

Now look at him. He'd died without ever knowing what a woman felt like.

Pei Li took one last look at the convulsing Earth Dragon and was about to give up on the rescue when the corner of her eye caught a glint of cold steel.

She looked up in surprise and saw the tip of a dagger protruding from beneath the Earth Dragon's head.

The dagger looked familiar. It seemed exactly like the one in her hand.

And exactly like the one Chen Chong had been holding.