Chapter 61: A Chance Encounter During the Escape

[Beep beep beep! Detection of a high-level quasi-Second Tier mutant threat. Commander is advised to retreat!]
This is an enemy beyond our strength!
Even from a hundred meters away, the giant spider exuded a suffocating and terrifying aura. Taking the X System’s warning into account, Wang Ji made a swift decision and shouted,
“Retreat! All of you fall back immediately and regroup with Haozi’s team!”
After giving the order, Wang Ji grabbed an explosive grenade and, sprinting southward, overtook Lin Zheng and the others, hurling the grenade toward the giant spider from afar.
A violent explosion blasted against the spider’s head, but when the smoke cleared, there was little damage—only some black scorch marks marred its carapace.
The giant spider fixed a cold gaze on Wang Ji. Its massive body shifted, striding over ten meters in a single bound.
Wang Ji’s pupils contracted. He dared not hesitate. He poured all remaining power into his exoskeletal armor, feet pounding the ground as he shot south at full speed.
“Captain!” a soldier cried, making to rush forward in support.
Lin Zheng, face grim, stopped him, casting a worried look at Wang Ji’s rapidly disappearing figure before shaking his head.
“You heard the order. We need to regroup with the others and withdraw to base.”
“But, Captain, he’s alone!”
Gritting his teeth, Lin Zheng turned and headed back the way they’d come.
“Bring the wounded. We’re retreating and regrouping.”
The special operations squad members lowered their heads, helping the wounded as they filed behind Lin Zheng, leaving the hellish battlefield behind.
“The Captain will find a way. I believe in him!”
Never before had Lin Zheng so keenly felt the desire for greater power—the kind that would allow him to do more in moments like this.
“Command, come in! The enemy is too powerful. Captain has drawn it away alone, ordering us to disengage and return to base.”
Lin Zheng’s report crackled through the command channel, making Haozi and Li Chengming jolt.
“Explain! Why did he go alone?” Haozi demanded, hacking off a chunk of a corpse in his anger and kicking it at a giant zombie’s chest before turning and asking again.
“Deputy Zhao, sir! A giant spider appeared—far too powerful for us. Captain drew it away to cover our retreat.”
“Damn it! That bastard!” Haozi swore.
Li Chengming’s heart sank. His armor was battered, rifle discarded, and he clashed with Cao Muhua wielding only his chainsaw sword.
In the channel he barked, “Haozi! Finish this quickly—we’ll think of something!”
“Got it!”
Lin Zheng checked the drone feed and quickly said, “I’ll assist Deputy Zhao! Leave one man for the wounded, the rest support Deputy Li!”
...
[Beep beep beep! Detection of a high-level quasi-Second Tier mutant threat approaching. Commander is advised to retreat!]
The X System’s previously calm tone was now insistent, its mechanical voice almost carrying a rare hint of emotion to Wang Ji’s ears.
“This can’t go on!” Wang Ji glanced back at the giant spider relentlessly pursuing him.

At that moment, his mech was running at 100% efficiency, his speed creeping above 30 kilometers per hour.
“X System, do something! If you don’t, we’re finished!” Wang Ji mentally screamed, pushing his legs to their limit as he hurtled into a dense forest.
[Warning: Armor exceeding safe operational limits. Energy consumption up 30%. Remaining power: 53%.]
The exoskeleton’s voice chimed as Wang Ji’s speed surged to 50 kilometers per hour. He darted through the woods like a phantom, covering several kilometers.
Behind him, the giant spider—Ex—barreled after him, heedless of obstacles, flattening everything in its path like a colossal tank.
Seeing Wang Ji’s burst of speed, Ex shrieked with rage, red light flickering along its form as its own pace suddenly increased.
Two shadows, trailed by roaring wind, sped south.
[Commander, based on current conditions, suggest the following options: 1. Force detonate exoskeleton power core to attack the spider mutant—chance of survival: 7%. 2. Overload exoskeleton to 300% speed—chance of escape: 13%. 3. Deploy bomb traps to impede pursuit—success rate: 3%.]
Wang Ji cursed viciously, gulped a stamina-recovery chocolate, and glanced back at the giant spider now about a hundred meters behind. He ordered the X System to materialize bomb traps.
The X System produced a defensive armor bomb trap: a metal box which, once activated, deployed into a two-meter-high, five-meter-long barrier. When struck with sufficient force, it unleashed a directional blast with armor-piercing shrapnel.
Wang Ji summoned the trap, dropped it, hit the switch, and, without looking back, sprinted onward—though the delay allowed Ex to close the gap to thirty meters.
The bomb trap rapidly deployed, forming a makeshift barricade before the giant spider.
The spider closed in, observed that the wall reached halfway up its legs, and kicked at it.
“Ha! Surrendering, are you? Do you think these toys will—”
Boom!
“Aaaah! I’ll eat you! I’ll devour you!”
The anti-armor trap held Ex in place for a few seconds, leaving blackened scars and shrapnel scratches on its spikes.
Wang Ji sneered, using the opportunity to widen the gap, though he dared not relax.
With intermittent explosions behind him, Wang Ji was chased by the giant spider until nightfall, running who knows how many kilometers.
Eventually, he reached a barren stony ridge. His exoskeleton had already issued several low-power warnings.
The uneven ground slowed Wang Ji considerably, but the giant spider seemed unaffected—its eight long, spiked legs adapted perfectly to the terrain.
Wang Ji glanced enviously at its movement, anxiety gnawing at him.
Suddenly, a spark flashed ahead. Wang Ji’s heart leapt.
“There’s someone there!”
He gritted his teeth and veered sharply, unwilling to drag the spider toward innocents.
“Run! Get out of here!”
He swerved nearly sixty degrees, putting thirty meters between himself and the pursuer.
The situation was critical.
With a roar, Wang Ji pushed his armor to the limit, the joints creaking in protest and alarms blaring.
“Professor, is that the enemy? What an overwhelming presence!” Beside the firelight, a delicate face turned to the elderly man opposite, whispering.

The old man’s abdomen was wrapped in bandages, and his spirit was flagging, but his piercing gaze betrayed his extraordinary nature.
“Xiaowen, I don’t think they’re enemies. Didn’t you hear them shout for us to run? There must be danger.”
Long Qianwen slowly rose. She had just managed to forcibly suppress the turmoil within her, but now, as if provoked, her power surged again.
“No! Something powerful is closing in!” Her keen senses triggered, and blue scales began to ripple across her arms and face.
Professor Li Cong looked at her worriedly. “Xiaowen, are you alright? You’re in no state to fight. Give me a bit more time to study your condition—I think I’m close to a breakthrough.”
Long Qianwen quickly covered the campfire, snuffing out the flames. “Don’t worry, Professor. Hide here—I’ll go check.”
Wang Ji, fuming, vaulted a boulder, narrowly evading a stabbing attack from the giant spider—behind him, the rock shattered, fragments flying everywhere.
The spider, excited, launched a fresh assault, seizing on Wang Ji’s misstep to vent its fury. Several spiked legs hammered down like a battery of machine guns.
“Don’t think I’m easy prey!”
Having been hunted the whole way, Wang Ji’s pent-up anger finally exploded. He would flee no longer!
He activated his chainsaw sword, parrying two spike attacks, landed on another stone, and stood tall, facing the giant spider.
“So, you’re done running? Hahaha! Don’t think I haven’t figured out your plan. But let me tell you—all you lesser races will die! Once I kill you, I’ll return and eat them all!”
Wang Ji entered a deep combat trance. The surging energy within him stilled as he focused entirely on his foe, immune to the spider’s taunts.
He raised the chainsaw sword and, with what seemed a simple overhead swing, struck at the spider.
But the seemingly ordinary attack landed with the force of a giant. The spider reeled, forced to backstep, the stones beneath its feet shattering.
“Roar!”
Ex hadn’t expected Wang Ji to be so formidable. Furious, it retaliated with a flurry of spikes.
Wang Ji’s armored vambrace shattered, but he pressed on like a war god—his gaze locked on the spider, every blow he delivered whistling through the air.
He had entered 300% combat mode.
Under the threat of death, Wang Ji abandoned all restraint, wielding sword, fists, feet—every part of his body became a weapon, raining attacks on the spider.
The exoskeleton could not withstand such intensity; cracks began to appear.
But the wounds on the spider multiplied as well, including its abdomen and head.
“How is this possible? What strength! What a terrifying monster!”
Long Qianwen crouched low, mouth agape in awe.
A hundred meters away, the battlefield had become a death zone—howling winds and shrapnel radiated from the epicenter, the clash of metal echoing as debris flew.
“This man’s strength is fathomless—even greater than the red-haired enchantress!” Long Qianwen struggled to contain the power surging within her; her desire to fight blazed up from her core.
Her eyes shone with fervor as she watched the titanic duel in the darkness.