Chapter 659 - Great Earthquake
"Use the water guns, use the water guns!!"
The South Korean commander shouted frantically, his voice hoarse and unpleasant from the dry air underground.
The soldiers holding high-pressure nozzles immediately positioned themselves and aimed them at the Burrower Beneath crawling out of the magma river.
At this moment the commander wished fervently that his soldiers were firefighters. If they were a professional firefighting team, they could have sprayed water a few seconds faster. Every second was precious for Seoul at this moment.
"Keep at it! The bugs are going crazy!"
As the mature Burrower Beneath crawled out of the magma, its juvenile brethren also emitted sharp screams and rushed toward the soldiers. Each soldier stood firm in their position, shooting at the creatures crawling on the walls.
Due to their desperate efforts, more and more juvenile burrowers emerged, overwhelming the defenders. Some soldiers were unable to hold the line and were pounced upon by these creatures. Although the juvenile burrowers were not strong, their lethal tentacles were difficult for human skin to resist.
The creatures that landed on the soldiers directly pierced their bodies with their short tentacles, puncturing their internal organs. Those that landed on faces would forcefully insert their tentacles into the mouth, nose, or eyes, instantly destroying the human brain. The scene was horrifying, with screams and flesh flying everywhere.
Despite witnessing this terrifying scene, every South Korean soldier remained fearless. Whenever someone fell, another soldier quickly took their place, staunchly blocking the Burrowers' strongest attacks.
Meanwhile, the troops with high-pressure water guns finally began spraying water. The pressure was so strong that it could cut through steel like a knife. However, this sharpness was not just a deadly attack for the mature Burrower Beneath. For these creatures, water itself was the most lethal weapon.
As soon as the water hit the Burrower Beneath, it emitted the sharpest and most piercing scream since its appearance. Even the cave seemed to shudder at its agony.
Although the water seemed to be effective against the creature's fear of water, its body quickly deteriorated upon contact. Its skin rotted into a thick slurry, a disgusting sight that brought relief to the soldiers.
"Water is indeed effective, and it's even too effective!"
Seeing the Burrower Beneath so afraid of water, the commander relaxed. The creature wasn't that strong after all, and killing them by exploiting their weaknesses seemed quite easy for humans.
However, even as the creature was being sprayed with water, it endured the pain. Its dozens of tentacles suddenly flew in all directions, burrowing into the walls of the cave. Then, from the creature's tumor-like body, a strange liquid oozed out. These liquids, guided by the tentacles, were injected into the surrounding walls.
Seeing the tentacles of the creature suddenly swell as if something was being ejected from them, especially as the creature's body began to wither, the commander felt something was amiss.
"Quick, increase the power, spray this monster to death!"
At this point, the commander had no other choice but to command loudly.
"Sir, we've already maxed out the power!"
The soldier holding the high-pressure water gun shouted back.
The commander knew that any command at this point would be useless. All he could do was wait anxiously, watching as the water gun sprayed onto the Burrower Beneath. As its insides began to rot and its exterior corroded by the water gun, the creature's movements slowed down. Meanwhile, the juvenile burrowers on the walls began to rush faster.
Finally, the giant Burrower Beneath body stopped moving, standing quietly in the magma river. The juvenile burrowers let out a final scream, seemingly mourning their mother and one by one, they jumped into the crowd, causing chaos in the entire team.
However, there weren't many juvenile burrowers left. After a moment of chaos, the team finally killed all the juvenile creatures. When the final gunshot ceased, everyone looked at each other, their faces showing the relief of surviving such a disaster.
The scene just now was just like a scene from the movie "Alien." These soldiers were in a fierce battle against the Queen and the Facehuggers, but justice ultimately stood with South Korea, and they achieved the final victory.
"We... we've won!! Seoul is saved, South Korea is saved!!" The commander sat on the ground, raising his hands excitedly and shouting.
"We've won!!"
"We did it!!!"
"Hooray, hooray!!"
The soldiers were also excited, shouting loudly, and even these tough soldiers couldn't help but cry.
The cheers gradually died down, and everyone looked at the ground covered with bodies in silence. Human bodies, broken limbs, disfigured bodies torn apart by the bugs, and the strange-colored blood scattered all over the cave. In the battle just now, this unit lost more than half of its troops, so even though it was a victory, it was a pyrrhic one.
But compared to the significance of this victory, these sacrifices seemed worthwhile.
"Take down the soldiers' nameplates. They are all warriors who sacrificed themselves for the country. After this is over, there must be a state funeral. Write down their deeds in textbooks for future generations to know. Send people to extract the cell tissues from the dead bugs for research. We don't know if there are other bugs in this cave, but our situation is already very bad."
"Everyone, take a break for now and leave here immediately. After returning to the surface, let the higher-ups send a new unit to sweep the underground caves here. Make sure to eliminate every single bug and leave no future troubles!"
The commander began to give consecutive orders, and the soldiers, dragging their tired bodies, quickly got busy.
The commander took out a communicator. He didn't know how many meters underground they were now, and the signal here could have been better, making it difficult to communicate with the surface. However, the instruments also recorded the route they took, so they could handle getting lost on the way back.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
Just as the commander finally relaxed, thinking that everything was over, the ground under his feet suddenly began to shake.
"What's going on?"
The violent shaking caused many people to fall to the ground, and chunks of rocks fell from the ceiling. The speed of the ground shaking began to accelerate, almost making it impossible for people to stand up.
“Blub blub blub—”
The nearby magma river also boiled, and cracks appeared in the surrounding rock walls.
"What's happening? Didn't we eliminate the bugs? Could there be other bugs?"
The commander shouted in panic. He suddenly remembered the behavior of the Burrower Beneath before it died, and his heart sank. Thinking about being underground, with such a large tremor suddenly occurring, wasn't this the precursor to an earthquake?!
Could it be that we failed? Is Seoul about to fall?!