Strategic Retreat

Diavolo screamed wildly in fear.

But this area had already become a death zone because of his previous decisions, and now no one would come even if he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The Meat Chunk still pounced on them.

It brandished its tentacles, which flowed with molten lava, and emitted a pungent, yellowish-white sulfurous fumes. Like a demon from a fantasy story, it opened its terrifying, abyss-like maw towards humanity.

This armored vehicle, which is five meters long and weighs nearly eight tons, looks as tiny as a child's model in comparison.

Diavolo could do nothing.

He could only watch helplessly as the armored vehicle he was sheltering was entangled, bound, pulled, and swallowed up by the rapidly approaching Meat Chunk.

He considered running away, but it was too late to outrun the seemingly endless speed of the Meat Chunk.

Even when the King Crimson had just unleashed its high speed and was preparing to jump out of the car with its main body to escape,...

As if sensing Diavolo's intentions, the "Molten Giant Beast" suddenly extended a huge tentacle, which tightly bound the King Crimson with a terrifying speed that was always one step ahead.

"Aaaaaah!!"

Diavolo immediately let out a cry of pain.

Although the Meat Chunk hadn't yet begun to exert its power to entangle and strangle, its tentacles, covered in lava, had only just touched the King Crimson's body when they scorched him, leaving his entire body covered in charred black marks.

When the burns were applied to Diavolo, the pain was so intense that he nearly fainted.

His trendy black see-through bra was still intact, but the large, muscular bulges behind it were burned black and red, making them difficult to discern.

An unprecedented pain surged into Diavolo's brain, causing his already exhausted consciousness to become uncontrollably blurred:

"Hateful."

Am I going to die here?

He closed his eyes in despair and fell into a deep coma.

Before consciousness disappeared

Diavolo faintly heard some strange sounds, as if someone was shouting loudly beside him, but upon closer reflection, it seemed to be a hallucination he had during his near-death experience.

Then, the enormous, all-encompassing shadow overhead vanished, and the dim sunlight, stained with volcanic ash, reappeared before my eyes.

Naples port, naval base.

"Lieutenant General Colt, something terrible has happened!"

I don't know how many times today, but the door to General Colt's office was hurriedly pushed open again.

"I know."

General Colt stood sideways by the window, gazing calmly at the apocalyptic scene outside, a shower of meteors and dark clouds obscuring the sun.

Because of the recent strong earthquake, his usually neat military uniform was now wrinkled, and his gray hair was slightly disheveled.

However, this could not affect General Colt's calm and composed demeanor.

Seeing his subordinate rush in impatiently, he couldn't help but secretly roll his eyes.

With such a huge volcanic eruption, couldn't he see it?

In just a few minutes, the city had been transformed into a fiery inferno.

Volcanic ash blackened half the sky, while lava meteors falling into the city reddened another part of the sky.

However, he remained calm.

Anyway, the naval base is far enough away from Mount Vesuvius. Although some volcanic meteors occasionally hit the vicinity of the base, it is still considered safe for the time being.

The earthquakes that accompanied the volcanic eruption have subsided, and the military-grade, sturdy buildings at the naval base have withstood the test perfectly.

Since this disaster did not pose any real danger, General Colt was happy to use this crisis to demonstrate his composure and leadership in the face of adversity.

"Young man, calm down."

"Pass on my orders: have the lads at the port base return to their posts as soon as possible, board the ships in an orderly manner according to the disaster plan, and evacuate to the aircraft carrier fleet off the coast of Naples in a timely manner."

The naval fleet doesn't need to worry about the impact of earthquakes, and its location is far from the volcano, so it doesn't need to worry about volcanic meteors.

The other subordinates standing in the office nodded in unison, then thoughtfully said to General Colt:

"Lieutenant General Colt."

"We'll handle the evacuation and refuge command. Please proceed with the evacuation!"

"No."

General Colt shook his head with a serious expression:

"The volcano may erupt a second time, and the young men who remain at the port base may still be in danger."

"As a vice admiral, how can I abandon my men and escape first?"

"Don't worry about me, let the soldiers go first!"

"Yes!"

The subordinates stood at attention and saluted, their eyes filled with deep respect as they looked at their superior.

The rest of them were so moved they almost shed tears, except for the young officer who had just entered, whose expression was somewhat strange:

"That... General Colt."

"I'm not reporting on the volcanic eruption, but rather..."

"Our ground team, which we sent to search and investigate the city, appears to have been wiped out in some kind of attack."

"What?"

"Another squad lost. Do terrorists even have that kind of strength? What were you doing?!"

Upon hearing that another ground squad of his men had been lost, General Colt immediately frowned deeply.

Two small teams, each with dozens of men—such casualties were extremely unbelievable for the US Military, which was at its zenith in the 1990s.

"No, not a terrorist."

"According to reports from the reconnaissance helicopters that arrived later, the attack on the ground troops was carried out by..."

The young officer swallowed hard, organized his thoughts, and then reported the absurd news:

"It's a monster that spewed out of a volcano!"

"Volcano Monster??"

General Colt was slightly taken aback.

If he hadn't received professional training, he almost burst out laughing.

"I'm not joking."

The young officer said with a helpless expression:

"That's what the reconnaissance helicopters ahead reported—the monster that landed in the city was nearly forty meters tall, covered in lava that hadn't completely cooled, and looked like a writhing giant octopus."

"They also tried strafing with machine guns and bombarding with missiles, but the monster was completely unaffected."

The Meat Chunk is a stand-in, so ordinary people can't see it.

But now it looks like a fried chicken leg coated in breadcrumbs, its entire body covered in a striking black and red armor formed from solidified lava.

Even ordinary people can now see this abyssal demon, its body emitting sulfurous fumes.

"."

The atmosphere in the office became very tense, with everyone looking at their colleagues as if they were aliens.

General Colt quietly reached for the telephone on the table, considering whether to call the medical team to take him for compulsory psychological treatment.

Trust me!

The young officer sensed the unpleasant look in his superior's eyes, and hurriedly emphasized:

"This is absolutely no joke!"

"Reconnaissance helicopters ahead report that the monster is now in Naples, near the site of the terrorists' plane crash."

As he was speaking, his voice suddenly caught in his throat.

His face turned pale, and his eyes stared blankly out the window as if gazing at something terrifying. "It's... it's right there!"

"Ha?"

Everyone was startled and followed his gaze to look out the window:

In the distance, less than two kilometers from the military base, near a port warehouse, a "small mountain" covered in black and red lava was rapidly hurtling toward them.

Although it was still far away, the hill was just a small lump in the eyes of these officers.

However, by using the houses and buildings it crushed as it moved as a reference point, one can clearly feel how enormous and terrifying this monster was.

Not far in front of the monster, a small black "fly" was flying around in mid-air.

Those were actually US Military attack helicopters.

As it flew forward, it frantically unleashed machine gun fire at the monsters behind it.

The Molten Giant Beast, like a poor third-world child picking up chocolates from behind US Military vehicle, chased after the armed helicopter.

"FFF**k!"

General Colt's voice trembled instantly.

His worldview collapsed instantly, and he seemed somewhat dazed.

However, the monster that was becoming increasingly clear in his field of vision quickly brought him back to his senses:

"Hey, wasn't this monster supposed to be in the city? How did we lure it here?!"

"Go quickly!"

General Colt roared, his face pale:

"Find out which idiot is flying the plane and make him take the monster back to the city right now!!"

"This..." The young officer was taken aback at first, then asked with some concern, "General Colt, shouldn't we send troops to rescue Naples now that such a monster has appeared in the city?"

"Rescue my ass!"

Gazing at the monster that seemed poised to pounce at any moment, General Colt slammed his fist on the table, gritting his teeth.

"Have you been watching too many Hollywood movies? Are you really going to save the world?!"

"Quickly lead your men to retreat, retreat to the sea, the farther away from here the better!"

He roared hysterically for a moment, then, his face flushed, he said:

"Ahem. Um..."

"Prepare the helicopter, let me go first."

I'll start with one update today. The content of the last few days has actually been setting up plot points for later developments, and if the details aren't handled well, it's easy for things to fall apart. It's too easy to create plot holes, ugh _(:з"∠)_