Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 93 Not a God
Because of his experience in organizing search and rescue operations in secret realms, Dong Jie was appointed as the commander of this unit. Although the unit was only the size of an armored battalion, there were not many regular regimental-level units in the Haiqu Refugee Center at present, so he didn't have much to complain about as the regimental commander.

After Chen Ming noticed the unusual activity in the distance, he immediately reported it to him.

Now, he stands atop the turret of the command vehicle, his brow furrowed beneath his helmet, his fingers unconsciously tracing the edge of the hatch. The distant gloom seems oblivious to his team, and the question of how to proceed becomes a difficult one.

For the alien species, going to reality is not without its costs. It's hard to say whether the third-tier creatures they killed before could do it, but this behemoth in front of them definitely can.

Is it the monster that the commander-in-chief was talking about that was about to appear?
Should they retreat quietly, or fight back with all their might?
"The calculation results are in: the height is at least 300 meters, and the length is unknown."

Three hundred meters, fifth-order variant.

It wasn't even the level that the commander-in-chief wanted to deal with with nuclear weapons; heavy artillery could still inflict effective damage on it.

However, effective damage and kill are not the same thing, and heavy artillery and tank guns are not the same thing. The only heavy artillery in our team is two 155mm self-propelled howitzers.

Every team and every survivor is precious; there can be no more unnecessary casualties. Dong Jie exhaled and made up his mind. He said to the messenger beside him, "Notify all units to evacuate immediately. We'll go out first to report to the commander-in-chief."

The messengers in the military are mostly wind-type ability users who have mastered the best wind-sounding technique. Dong Jie has been slowly passing on his knowledge to them these past two days, hoping that they can directly serve as commanders of a unit.

But it was clear that this would take time. As the messenger spoke, the entire convoy began to get busy. However, in the next moment, a black light suddenly pierced through the sky and shot straight into the headless corpse of the third-tier alien species.

No, that wasn't a beam of light, it was a tentacle! The tentacle coiled around the corpse, violently throwing the excavator that was working on it aside. The nearly twenty-meter-long beast was lifted up by the tentacle in a completely illogical manner and flew into the shadows.

Then, it appeared.

At first glance, it is an absolute height that surpasses all battlefield experience; it is a moving mountain, brutally towering over the horizon.

It was a terrifying beast that looked like a sea urchin, but instead of spikes, it was surrounded by countless tentacles that were dancing wildly, and these tentacles were wrapped with countless alien species of different sizes.

Not only mutants, but also humans! Upon closer inspection, it appears that the remains of survivors are hanging there!

Its enormous body blotted out a large part of the sky, and the shadow it cast instantly enveloped the entire army.

"God..."

Chen Ming, standing at the corner of the group, gasped, his voice catching in his throat.

"Quick, get in the car!"

He pulled his equally stunned teammate along with the man he had picked up, and the group climbed into the tank together. However, the tank's armor, which was strong enough to withstand machine gun fire, offered them no sense of security at this moment.

"Target confirmed! 300-meter-class mutant! All personnel in combat readiness! Open fire! Open fire!!"

The messenger's roar ripped through the silence. Several wind-type ability users repeated the command several times, igniting the nerve endings of this steel torrent. The instincts trained to the bone dispelled fear and hesitation at this moment.

Then, the iron-cast behemoth let out a deafening roar at the indescribable monster.

Twenty Type 96A main battle tanks spewed out scorching flames, their automatic loaders running at full speed, unleashing a barrage of ammunition at the behemoth at a rate of eight rounds per minute. At the same time, larger-caliber howitzers were also aimed at the target.

Rumble——!
Faced with such a colossal beast, the accuracy of the artillery fire was no longer important. Deafening explosions rang out one after another, and orange-red fireballs exploded one after another on the beast's mountain-like body.

Armor-piercing shells, high-explosive shells, bunker-buster shells, and many more multi-purpose shells, like a hail of steel, accompanied by the howl of death, covered the massive body of the behemoth.

Squeak—!! A sharp buzzing sound came from the giant beast's body. Its already frenzied tentacles began to lash the ground incessantly, making a series of booming sounds. The ground beneath their feet seemed to have become a fragile drumhead. A combat vehicle was struck by a tentacle, and the entire vehicle instantly turned into a lump of scrap metal.

"Spread out!! Spread out!! Maximum spacing! Dodge maneuvers!!"

The shouts of the wind-type ability users echoed across the battlefield, but the effect was not significant. The behemoth was simply too large, and in the blink of an eye, several more chariots were destroyed.

However, the remaining warriors were no longer afraid.

Sacrifice is inevitable, but the enemy can be defeated!
It's in pain! It's roaring! This means it's injured!

You will get hurt, and you will be killed!
The earth trembled again as high-explosive shells fired from the 155mm howitzer exploded into bursts of orange-red fireballs and thick smoke on its massive body. Another round of iron rain fell, with a dozen man-portable missiles also joining in, trailing long contrails. Although no immediate results were achieved, the continuous, high-intensity explosive impact was like countless heavy iron hammers continuously striking the base of the mountain.

The severed tentacles were thrown away by the explosion, further enraging the fifth-tier mutant. Suddenly, a crack appeared on its indescribable body, from which more than a dozen real, pitch-black rays poured out, scattering across the battlefield. Several tanks were destroyed on the spot, and one ray hit Dong Jie's command vehicle directly.

The wilderness trembled violently, leaving a crater ten meters wide. For a moment, the battlefield seemed to quiet down.

"Commander...!"

"Keep fighting!! Keep fighting!!"

The voice of the wind-type ability user rang out once again, and the battalion commander of the armored battalion immediately took over command.

"That's not enough, we need to fight more!"

Chen Ming's eyes reddened, and he threw away another portable launcher.

"It's only at the fifth rank, not some damn god. Try this!"

He picked up another launcher, this one with a smaller caliber, but only one was carried on the entire vehicle. It was a 100mm man-portable thermobaric bomb that had just been deployed to the troops before the apocalypse.

"Wait!"

The burly man called out to Chen Ming, and under his ferocious gaze, the man placed his hand on the transmitter.

"My power! Attack! Attack the opening!"

The behemoth released that beam of light and seemed to have fallen into a slump; the rift had closed, but the twitching of its tentacles continued unabated.

"Xiao Wu, do you dare to go forward!"

"What's there to be afraid of!" The young man surnamed Wu's eyes were also bloodshot. The scene of Dong Jie drinking a bowl of wine with them was still vivid in his mind. He roared and stepped on the gas.

"laugh--!!"

A plume of white smoke appeared once more, shooting upwards from the ground and striking the spot where the crack had just opened.

At first, nothing seemed to happen; the thermobaric bomb seemed to have penetrated directly into the beast's body. But then, a bright flame burst into flames, and the intense heat drew a thin line across the beast's body!
"squeak!!!"

That sharp screech came again, and a tentacle lashed out, instantly knocking Chen Ming and the rest of the passengers unconscious.

(End of this chapter)