Chapter 67 The Sound of Horns in the Candy Store
The green liquid transformed into a rain of droplets, all of which fell on the soldiers at the front.
Screams of agony immediately erupted.
The high-quality combat uniforms offered no protection at all. The liquid corroded through them, creating large holes and emitting faint black smoke. Many soldiers hurriedly tore off their clothes, only to find in horror that the areas splashed by the liquid were rapidly corroding their flesh!
Some of the most severely affected soldiers could no longer stand, leaving some parts of the body such as the white bones visible. In just a moment, these soldiers lost their lives, turning into a mess of unrecognizable bones and decayed flesh!
William knew that they were called the Purple Cloud War Ants for a reason. They possessed strict discipline and division of labor that other monsters lacked, along with advanced combat techniques.
Though only at first-level evolved creatures, these Purple Cloud War Ants could easily defeat many higher-level mutated beings when gathered in large numbers.
In his previous life, there had been a terrifying record of over a million Purple Cloud War Ants wiping out a sizable death zone, turning it into a true hell. It wasn't until much later that survivors discovered the death zone was devoid of any life.
The investigation results shocked humanity. The strongest lord in that death zone was a seventh-level mutant creature, destroyed by a million first-level Purple Cloud War Ants.
The phenomenon of many Purple Cloud War Ants being able to kill an elephant also applied to the apocalypse to some extent.
Another powerful aspect of these Purple Cloud War Ants was the differentiation in abilities during their evolution. For example, the Purple Cloud War Ants at the back spitting acid were Magic Ants responsible for long-range attacks.
The acid they sprayed had a corrosive power that was many times stronger than aqua regia. Humans contaminated by it had no chance of survival unless they had special abilities or professions or were above six stars in strength.
The War Ants charging at the soldiers in the front were called Blade Ants. They had much stronger and sharper blade-like legs, harder shells, and faster speed than their counterparts.
Besides these two types of Purple Cloud War Ants, there was another type called Needle Ants.
They had several black bone spurs on their flanks that could be launched with strength comparable to crossbows. These spurs flew silently, making them very stealthy and hard to defend against.
After being shot, the Needle Ants would quickly replenish them, regrowing these weapons within a week to fully restore their combat capabilities.
After the Magic Ants' attack ended, they lay down again, and Blade Ants immediately came to protect them in the center. These Magic Ants were rare and more fragile than their counterparts, making them a priority for protection.
After this wave of attacks, at least twenty soldiers lost their lives, and many more were injured and temporarily lost their combat effectiveness. If the corroded areas were not treated in time, most of them would be left disabled. The sudden monster attack disrupted the army's offensive momentum, causing chaos in the entire unit.
This was understandable. The army during peacetime had not fought a war in a long time. The soldiers had never killed anyone, and this armed force stationed in the city was just a regular unit, primarily defensive. They had never fought a real battle.
Now, suddenly facing a real deadly crisis against these non-human monsters, their performance was actually quite good.
Taking advantage of the human chaos, the Blade Ants charged in, their blade-like legs flashing coldly in the sunset. Owen and the other commanders knew they couldn't let these creatures break into the ranks, or defeat would be inevitable! Those blade legs could cut through the hard exterior of cars while running!
"Use the 85 guns!" Owen ordered.
At Owen's command, two military vehicles arrived, each with a W85 heavy machine gun mounted on top. Four gunners loaded the bullets and opened fire on the war ants in front of them.
A metal storm immediately swept through the Purple Cloud War Ants. These weapons, capable of firing 80 rounds per minute, almost instantly turned the tide of the battle. The Purple Cloud War Ants were indeed strong, but their numbers were too few.
Over a hundred of them were not enough to use their numerical advantage to destroy everything in their path. Even the Blade Ants, with their superior defense, couldn't withstand three rounds from the W85.
One by one, the Purple Cloud War Ants were torn to pieces by the bullet storm. The Blade Ants that had almost reached the front lines were reduced to disgusting, fluid-filled remains.
However, victory was never easy. Just as the entire unit advanced another 20 feet, dozens of slender black shadows suddenly flew out from the chaotic ant swarm, using the dim light of dusk to strike the two military vehicles. The four gunners caught off guard, were pierced through and thrown off the cars by the immense force.
The powerful firepower abruptly ceased. The soldiers were stunned, but the ants seemed to have anticipated this attack and charged again with renewed ferocity.
The soldiers tried their best. If they had more time to train in the apocalypse, their combat effectiveness would have been far greater than what was seen now.
But they had never experienced such brutal combat and knew nothing about these monsters, making it impossible to prevent and accurately respond.
So, when they lost the cover of the heavy machine guns, the Purple Cloud War Ants broke into their ranks, causing a huge psychological shock.
After several attacks, the number of Purple Cloud War Ants was now less than half, with fewer than forty remaining, including the magic ants and Needle Ants that had already used their acid and bone spurs.
Only about twenty of them charged into the soldiers' ranks. But even with only twenty first-level monsters, they caused severe casualties among the soldiers in just a few seconds, significantly thinning their ranks.
William watched, his left hand still able to move, gripping the Edge of the Moon tightly, weighing whether to help.
Being part of a special group, these soldiers were much slower to understand and adapt to the apocalypse than ordinary people. But this didn't stop them from being one of the few groups that William respected in the early days of the apocalypse. If possible, he was willing to lend a hand.
But after watching for a moment, he relaxed. He noticed something was off.
Beyond the bloody battlefield, his gaze fell on the commander who was still standing in the vehicle. William's expression turned cold. With a cold snort, William no longer hesitated. He darted out from behind the newsstand, sticking close to the tall buildings as he quickly moved toward The shore of Moon Lake.
He didn't notice that after he had run about 700 feet, Owen also spotted him, squinting at his retreating figure before looking away.
The place where the Purple Cloud War Ants and soldiers were fighting was not far from the shore of Moon Lake. William turned a corner and saw the small but scenic artificial lake.
He was about to look for the candy store by the lake but found it wasn't as easy as he expected. Not far ahead, a dozen Purple Cloud War Ants were staring at him menacingly. They were the Magic Ants and Needle Ants that had retreated earlier, along with four Blade Ants protecting them.
Behind these War Ants, several corpses suddenly flew out of a small shop, and gunfire erupted from inside.
Then, William heard the sound of a horn that made his face change dramatically.
On the lake's surface, the huge black hole suddenly expanded several times at the sound of the horn, and a massive shadow slowly emerged from it!
