Chapter 46: The Mutated Three-Headed Sky-Rending Beast

Pigs, wolves, felines, cattle, sheep… as expected, these types of beasts make up the majority. Jiang Chen’s gaze swept over the horde, observing closely.

So far, Jarvis’s performance had been flawless. Whether it was the blanket fire of the rocket grenades or the pinpoint strikes of the mech squads, not a single mistake had been made—every monster intercepted perfectly three kilometers from the base.

Three kilometers—a line of life and death that not a single beast had been able to cross. Yet Jiang Chen knew this was only the beginning. For a large city-base, a beast tide of half a million was considered minor, easily dispatched. But for his own small base, repelling it would not be so simple.

Unless, of course, he adopted a decapitation tactic: a raid to slay all the lord-level and higher monsters commanding the horde. Without their leaders, these beasts—drawn from so many different species—would inevitably fall into disarray, each fighting for itself, and after suffering enough losses, would scatter.

But if he did so, the overall number of beasts would not diminish by much. Should Jiang Chen wish to expand in the future, he would have to live in constant fear of a new beast tide erupting from the eastern jungles. It would be better to face them head-on, reducing the horde to a number low enough for safety.

In time, he might even dispatch the mech legions into the depths of the jungle to eradicate the beasts entirely. Only then would the base’s long-term security be assured.

As for the high-level monsters…

Jiang Chen glanced into the distance, pointing at a towering creature. “Jarvis, can satellite surveillance get a clear image of that wolf?”

“Let me check…” Jarvis’s voice sounded, and a floating image quickly appeared above the comms bracelet, displaying a giant, three-headed wolf of strange and monstrous appearance. “Judging from the image, this should be a lord-level ‘Howling Sky Beast’. Its size places it at the higher end of the lord class. As for the three heads, that must be a mutation.”

“Mutant Howling Sky Beast?” Jiang Chen nodded, accepting Jarvis’s analysis.

In the old era, such mutants—freaks with two or three heads—were exceedingly rare, perhaps only appearing once in a century. But after the Great Nirvana, perhaps owing to the mysterious influence of cosmic energies, the probability of mutation among beasts had surged dramatically.

Though still uncommon, with so many monsters on Earth, it was inevitable that a few specimens would mutate quite thoroughly. Luo Feng had once hunted a ‘Two-Headed Blackstripe Serpent’—another such case.

The three-headed Howling Sky Beast before him was mutated even more severely than the Blackstripe Serpent, and as a high lord-level monster, its value was likely little less than that of a weaker king-class beast.

Yet mere monetary worth was not enough to spark Jiang Chen’s interest. Since the base had become operational, several production lines ran at full capacity, generating daily profits easily rivaling the value of a king-class monster’s corpse.

What truly intrigued him was the research potential of this three-headed Howling Sky Beast. The genes of such mutants differed greatly from those of common monsters; they were of significant scientific interest. Though he had not yet set his sights on developing bio-weapons or biochemical arms, Jiang Chen was already pursuing research in these fields. Certain unique genetic samples would greatly aid his understanding.

“It’s just too large,” Jiang Chen muttered to himself. “The spatial ring can’t hold it—the corpse will be troublesome to bring back intact from the battlefield…”

He didn’t act immediately, but instead instructed Jarvis, “Jarvis, let that three-headed Howling Sky Beast come a little closer. I want its corpse.”

“Yes, Master. Attack patterns have been adjusted.” Jarvis swiftly made the change, leaving a path open for the beast.

As a high-level lord, the mutant Howling Sky Beast sensed that something was amiss. The battlefield was riven with rocket and bullet fire, yet nothing was landing anywhere near it. Clearly, there was a problem. Still, this offensive was a coordinated charge by the jungle’s vast beast horde. With several monsters of its own rank—and some even stronger—driving the advance, the Howling Sky Beast was reluctant to lose face before its peers.

After a brief hesitation, it rallied its subordinates and charged toward the base.

As the distance closed to just a few kilometers, Jarvis, piloting the mechs, continued to pick off the lesser monsters surrounding the three-headed beast, thinning its escort.

By the time they broke the three-kilometer line, over half the tens of thousands of beast soldiers and beast generals around the Howling Sky Beast had been wiped out.

“Leave the rest to me,” Jiang Chen told Jarvis, stepping onto his shield and shooting forward at high speed toward the Howling Sky Beast.

Though he lacked a weapon crafted specifically for telekinesis, simply flying atop his shield and channeling his mindforce allowed him to accelerate far faster than flying by counteracting gravity with his internal micro planet alone.

In mere seconds, he had crossed the nearly three-kilometer gap.

Whoosh—

Three flying knives shot out at once. The three-headed Howling Sky Beast had no chance to react before all three heads were pierced through. As the blades passed through the skulls, Jiang Chen twisted them with a thought, thoroughly shredding the beast’s brains.

Even in death, the Howling Sky Beast never realized it was under attack from Jiang Chen—its eyes still frozen in the savage fury of its charge toward the base.

“Lord-level… too weak,” Jiang Chen thought with a hint of regret, using his telekinesis to lift the corpse and turn back toward the base.

The body was simply too massive to fit into his spatial ring; he had no choice but to carry it back openly.

Killing the three-headed Howling Sky Beast had been effortless for Jiang Chen. What he failed to notice, however, was that the entire episode had played out before the eyes of a group of high-level monsters lurking at the rear of the horde.

Scattered among the beasts were dozens of lord-class monsters. More than half witnessed Jiang Chen’s effortless slaying of the three-headed Howling Sky Beast. Instantly, they realized they faced a foe far beyond their ability to overcome and began to contemplate retreat.

Though the hatred between beast and man ran deep, monsters nonetheless felt fear. When confronted with a power they could not hope to rival, flight was not uncommon. Should a lord-class beast encounter a human of planetary rank, it would nearly always flee if given the chance, never throwing its life away in vain.

But before these lord-level monsters could act, a voice suddenly reverberated in their minds: “Continue the assault. Any who retreat will die—and their entire species need not exist!”

That voice sent a chill through every lord-level monster. It belonged to the undisputed king of the jungle in which they made their lair—the one existence they dared not defy.

Hearing this command, the lords issued low growls, urging their underlings to redouble the attack.

Perhaps, if enough cannon fodder was sacrificed, the enemy’s strength would be depleted… and they might yet prevail?

Such thoughts flickered through the minds of more than one lord.