Chapter 211: Morgan Dean Goes Offline
Morgan Dean’s legs gave way from sheer terror. He collapsed to the ground, his voice trembling. "N-no..."
"AGH!"
The agonizing shriek of the Superpower User who had been snatched up tore through the sky above the battlefield, but it was abruptly cut short. In mid-air, a dozen bats swarmed him, draining him dry in an instant.
THUD!
With a heavy, muffled crash, a shriveled corpse plummeted straight down, landing just a short distance in front of Morgan. It was a gruesome sight.
RAT-TAT-TAT!
RAT-TAT-TAT!
The deafening roar of countless heavy machine guns suddenly erupted. The leading soldier bellowed his orders. "Focus your fire! Shoot these beasts down!"
The soldiers immediately concentrated their firepower on this small swarm of Second Order bats, unleashing a dense rain of bullets into the sky.
RAT-TAT-TAT!
The torrent of heavy machine gun fire swept through the air, but it failed to wipe out all the Second Order bats. Three or four of them slipped through the barrage and dive-bombed downward, fresh blood still dripping from their jaws, their crimson eyes gleaming with malice.
"Fuck! Haven’t these beasts killed enough?" a soldier guarding the military truck cursed. Just as he raised his rifle to take another shot, he saw Morgan scrambling around like a headless chicken.
Clutching his head with both hands, Morgan wailed, "Stay away! Don’t come near me!" In his blind panic, he stomped heavily on Cola’s paw.
Cola was already trembling with fear. Stomped on, the dog let out a pitiful whimper.
It was a small breed to begin with, and after starving for so long, its spine jutted out sharply. Its fur was a matted, frizzy mess. Even when it activated its superpower to grow larger, it only weighed around a hundred pounds, noticeably more fragile than a typical mutated hound. Although terrified, it still desperately unleashed localized wind cyclones to attack the incoming bats.
"Can you get a fucking grip?!"
The soldier next to him stumbled after being rammed by Morgan. Just as the man regained his balance, he saw a bat diving straight toward Morgan. The coward was making such a huge commotion that he had painted a massive target on his own back.
The soldier instinctively raised his gun to shoot, but he never expected another bat to flank him from behind and sink its fangs into his neck.
"Ugh!"
With a muffled groan, the soldier was yanked off the ground and dragged up into the swarm of bats.
"Old Man Lee!"
His squadmate roared, firing his weapon wildly, but the bullets only met empty air. He could only watch helplessly as Old Man Lee was engulfed by the bats, his screams fading almost instantly.
"It’s all this coward’s fault!" Someone glared furiously at Morgan. "If he hadn’t been darting around blindly, would Old Man Lee have gotten caught?"
Morgan didn’t dare utter a word in response. He just focused on burrowing his way into the cluster of soldiers. Just as he ducked behind a piece of cover, he caught sight of two or three bats locking onto him. The sound of their flapping wings was drawing closer.
His soul nearly left his body in fright. Out of pure instinct, he spawned a small cluster of vines, weaving them into a crude, flimsy protective dome that barely covered his body.
Seeing this, Cola tried to huddle against his feet. But the vine dome was so small and fragile that it swayed violently the moment a bat rammed into it. Morgan’s heart leaped into his throat.
Seeing that the bats were about to break through the vines, a sudden, wicked thought flashed through his mind. He forcefully grabbed Cola by the scruff of the neck, pulled out the short knife sheathed at his waist with his other hand, and viciously stabbed the dog in the hind leg!
YELP!
Cola trembled like a leaf in agony, fresh blood instantly dyeing its fur crimson.
Taking advantage of the dog’s shock, Morgan shoved it forward and roared, "Go! Lure them away!"
In pain, Cola instinctively ran off to avoid the blade in its master’s hand. Sure enough, the bats were drawn by the scent of blood. They changed direction and lunged toward the dog.
Cola had already suffered several scratches from the bats, and this stab wound made it nearly impossible to stand. It could only drag its injured leg, limping forward while glancing back at Morgan from time to time. Its eyes were filled with grievance and confusion, letting out weak whimpers that were as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
"Holy shit! How inhuman can this guy be? Using his dog as a meat shield?" a survivor clinging to the window inside the military truck exclaimed, having witnessed the entire scene.
"He’s worse than an animal!" another survivor sneered. "That dog is all skin and bones, and he still stabbed it. What a heartless bastard!"
The soldiers guarding the area all wore grim expressions. A young soldier gritted his teeth and said, "Should we save the dog? It looks too pitiful."
"We don’t have time! The bats aren’t cleared out yet. We can barely protect ourselves!" another Superpower User spoke in a deep voice, his tone laced with helplessness.
Hiding behind his vine dome, Morgan let out a sigh of relief as he watched the bats chase after Cola. He muttered under his breath, "Don’t blame me. Blame your own bad luck!"
Barely had the words left his mouth when a dark shadow cast over him. The vine dome took a violent hit and shattered into broken twigs.
He looked up, only to see a Second Order bat—noticeably larger than the rest—staring down at him with crimson eyes. Blood was dripping from its jaws.
Morgan’s legs turned to jelly, and he nearly collapsed. "N-no... I don’t taste good! Go find someone else!"
The bat didn’t care about his pleading. With a flap of its wings, it swooped down. Terrified, Morgan turned and bolted, plowing into several soldiers in his blind panic.
"Watch out!" the soldiers cried out in alarm.
The Second Order bat’s claws slashed fiercely at Morgan’s back. However, Morgan was so obsessed with running for his life that he completely ignored the danger behind him.
"Cola!" Morgan tried calling for the little dog, clinging to a final thread of hope that Cola would come and save him.
In that hair-raising moment, a sharp bark suddenly echoed from afar. Cola, who was already heavily injured, came charging straight at the Second Order bat.
"What’s wrong with this dog? It’s still trying to save him?" someone looked on in sheer astonishment.
Morgan, on the other hand, froze in place. Staring at the charging Cola, a trace of panic surfaced in his heart. He never expected this scrawny dog he had abandoned would actually turn back to rescue him.
The bat was knocked off balance by Cola’s tackle. Clearly caught off guard, it turned to the dog and let out a threatening hiss.
Even though Cola was weak and terrified, the dog didn’t back down. It stood squarely in front of Morgan, a low, warning growl rumbling in its throat. However, its legs were still trembling uncontrollably, and blood continued to seep from its wound.
Staring at Cola’s back, then at the approaching Second Order bat, Morgan began to calculate. "Should I make a run for it now?"
But he realized that if the dog died, who would act as his meat shield the next time he ran into bats?
During his hesitation, the bat lunged once more. Cola leaped up, using its body to block the attack, and tangled with the creature. Based on its size, this Second Order bat was evidently on the verge of advancing; it was a full size larger than the dog. Cola’s tragic yelps rang out again.
"You beast! Go to hell!" the young soldier roared as he pulled the trigger.
This man was Lucas Miller. His marksmanship was incredibly precise. A few bullets grazed the bat’s wings, forcing it to lose focus and temporarily halt its assault on Cola.
Yet, Morgan took advantage of this opening to scramble backward frantically. His eyes darted away, not daring to look at Cola. He mumbled, "It has nothing to do with me... It decided to block the attack itself..."
As he spoke, he crawled under the military truck, hiding himself completely.
In the chaos, another Second Order bat locked onto Morgan beneath the truck. He was huddled there, too terrified to move a muscle, but his superpower’s aura was incredibly conspicuous.
The bat dove straight under the chassis. Morgan’s soul practically left his body, and his cries for help warped into a shrill squeal. "Save me! Save me! Lucas! Captain Miller!"
But no one had the time to care about him. The soldiers were fighting desperately to hold off the bat swarm; they had no breathing room to look after anyone else.
The moment his pleas fell from his lips, his agonizing screams echoed from under the truck. Immediately after, he was dragged out and pulled high into the sky, instantly swarmed by bats. Within seconds, not even a scrap of bone remained of him.