Chen Jian didn't spare Du Hu a glance, because he knew the current situation was already quite clear.
This was a trap.
Their objective was to lure his squad into the narrow subway tunnels, then eliminate everyone with the so-called mother entity.
Whether it was pure malice or a desire for the squad's equipment, it didn't matter.
The most important issue now was how to escape the mother entity's pursuit.
According to the map, they were still nearly 800 meters away from the subway exit in a straight line. Even if the smart system had already plotted the shortest route, it would still take at least 5 minutes to reach the exit.
This meant their average speed didn't exceed 100 meters per minute.
Yet, the monster behind them was much faster!
The wider the tunnel, the faster its movement.
In narrow spaces, it could use its tentacles to cling to the walls, forcing its body through like a "can"!
There weren't many choices, either find a narrow enough tunnel to temporarily hide or...
Face the enemy head-on!
At that moment, the squad had pulled a few dozen meters ahead of the mother entity, and the traps Lei Jie had set also proved useful.
"Boom!"
After the violent explosion, over 400 steel balls covered the entire tunnel with a massive conical impact.
The mother entity's movement was momentarily hindered, but it was just a moment.
The steel balls embedded deeply into the chitinous layer of the mother entity's head, but didn't penetrate, nor caused any substantial harm.
On the contrary, the enraged mother entity became even more violent, increasing its speed further.
The shattered concrete whipped up dust and the air was filled with a stench and suffocating dust.
Chen Jian decisively ordered:
"Wear gas masks, activate emergency breathing apparatus!"
"Shen Yue, cover us, Lei Jie, deploy sniper grenades, try to disable its tentacles!"
"Understood!"
"Understood!"
The squad, speeding forward, immediately halted while Shen Yue dived to the ground, roughly aiming and quickly pulling the trigger of his Type 201 general-purpose machine gun.
"Bang bang bang bang—"
Bullets poured out, but the scene of the mother entity's flesh flying and collapsing didn't occur as Chen Jian had hoped.
The 7.62-millimeter bullets might have inflicted some damage when hitting the mother entity, but the extent... was too shallow.
This was expected.
A monster that could support a massive 20-meter body with muscles and bones couldn't be compared to a mere three or four-meter high minion.
The increase in strength from a 5-times body size can't be just five times; it has to be at least two or three times.
"Lei Jie! Quickly!"
Shen Yue shouted loudly.
At that moment, the distance between him and the mother entity was only 30 meters, with the extended tentacles less than ten meters away.
Any more delay would mean he could be pierced by those sharp barbed tentacles.
And at that critical moment, Lei Jie finally set up his sniper grenade.
"Duck!"
He shouted, pulling the trigger.
"Bang!"
The grenade trailed white smoke along the tunnel, then a spark exploded at the end of the tunnel, in the massive maw of the mother entity.
"Boom!"
The flash of fire vanished quickly as the mother entity plunged into frenzied writhing and struggle.
"Effective hit!"
Lei Jie shouted, with Chen Jian immediately turning back to look in the mother entity's direction.
The damage assessment module of his smart goggles promptly activated, but due to the incomplete scan data from the previous night, the modeling was unfinished, and the results were quite vague.
Chen Jian could only discern with the naked eye how much damage the monster sustained from that sniper grenade.
However, what he saw completely overturned his expectations.
If there was smoke without damage, and the monster emerged unscathed, Chen Jian would have found that normal.
If there was damage, but it was rapidly healing, that would be acceptable too.
But neither was the case.
Near the mother entity's mouth, a large hole had indeed been blasted by the sniper grenade, yet the torn muscles seemed self-aware, quickly wriggling and covering the fragile wound in moments.
Lizard.
A word flashed in Chen Jian's mind.
A lizard's tail, after detachment, heals the wound and staunches bleeding in a similar manner.
What this mother entity was doing wasn't just similar, it was exactly the same!
"Keep firing! Prioritize the tentacles!"
"Shen Yue, fall back!"
"Alternate cover retreat!"
Chen Jian ordered again while drawing his LG6 and firing at the mother entity.
With only 5 grenades left in the drum, this was his last stock.
He had to precisely control the firing pace to avoid a firepower gap with Lei Jie, another heavy-weapon user.
Explosions erupted continuously as the squad rapidly moved toward the subway exit.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Each explosion caused the mother entity's movements to stall momentarily.
But after every echo of the explosion, it regained its mobility with astonishing speed.
It was indeed growing weaker, Chen Jian could clearly see that.
But simply weakening was not enough; if they couldn't completely eliminate or shake it off before depleting their grenades, his squad was doomed.
Chen Jian's heart pounded like a drum, with the exit less than fifty meters away according to his goggles.
But his hand held only a single grenade.
"Bang!"
The blue smoke rose as the grenade shot into the mother entity's maw one more time.
Chen Jian decisively tossed his LG6 behind him, turning and sprinting towards the subway exit.
As he passed the waiting Shen Yue, he shouted:
"Retreat!"
"Understood!"
Grabbing his machine gun, Shen Yue performed a standard field maneuver, running frenziedly while He Shuo, further ahead, had already set up the sniper rifle, firing the last two bullets from the magazine.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The high-penetration bullets pierced through the mother entity's entire body, with Chen Jian clearly seeing the sparks where the bullets hit the wall.
This sparked a bold thought in his mind:
If this monster controls its injuries through muscle writhing...
Does that mean any weapon, regardless of caliber, capable of harming it, could wear it down?
Perhaps there'd be a chance to verify this theory later, but not now.
The exit was just ahead.
Chen Jian shouted to Lei Jie who was the first in line:
"Prepare for detonation! Seal the exit!"
Then he quickly ascended the half-collapsed steps, stepping out of the subway station.
In that moment, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
No time for contemplation, Lei Jie had already completed the explosive setup.
The next second.
"Boom!"
The upper part of the subway station entrance completely collapsed, with the heavy, but rusted and weathered concrete crashing down harshly.
After the dust settled, the terrifying vibrations from below seemed to be completely sealed off.
Chen Jian took a few deep breaths, not stopping for a second, as he led the three members to move further away from the entrance.
Just thirty meters onward, a loud bang erupted from below.
"Bang!"
Followed closely by a second, and a third.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The heavy drum-like noise struck terror into Chen Jian as if hitting directly at his heart, turning back to the bulging ground. Before he could decide whether to retreat and hide or fight to the death, a sudden change occurred.
"Boom!"
The ground shattered, dust swirling.
The massive, terrifying mother entity had broken through the surface!