Chapter 1267 The Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Unaware of the Oriole Behind (Part 2)
During the battle between humans and crocodiles, Zhuang Rui had kept a portion of his attention on observing the giant python inside the castle. He noticed that the python seemed ready to pounce several times, but ultimately only observed the battlefield from behind the city wall and did not make a move.
But now that both sides have fought to the point of exhaustion, and the giant python's old adversary, the prehistoric crocodile, has already died, the giant python finally revealed its sharp teeth, preparing to enjoy the crocodile's delicious flesh.
Before that, the giant python needed to kill those few small, reptile-like creatures that could threaten its life and death. Judging from the direction the giant python was moving, its target was the few people still alive in the room.
After emerging from the castle, the giant python didn't attack the people on the shore directly. Instead, it dived into the lake from another direction. Seeing this, Zhuang Rui remembered that African pythons are amphibious all-rounders. ...
While Laugh and David were grilling crocodile meat, Markram had a few other survivors join him in prying open the prehistoric monster's mouth, and then propped a submachine gun inside the crocodile's jaws.
"Damn, these things have huge teeth. Okay, let's each get a few..."
Markram struggled mightily to pry a tooth out of the crocodile's mouth. This cone-shaped tooth was sixty centimeters long, as thick as a child's arm, and had an exceptionally sharp tip. If this thing had pierced his body, there would have been no chance of survival.
Markram was neither a collector nor a paleontologist. The reason he wanted to take these teeth back was simply to commemorate his past feat of killing a giant crocodile, albeit one accomplished under his command.
Ralph, who was grilling crocodile meat, turned around and laughed, "Ram, I want two. I'll hang these in my room from now on, haha, even Satan won't dare to enter..."
Ralph lost both his parents at a young age, and his older brother, who depended on him for survival, was a frequent visitor to prison. As the saying goes, poor children learn to be independent early, and Ralph did have some good cooking skills. In just over ten minutes, the crocodile meat he prepared was already emitting an enticing aroma.
"No problem, Ralph, how about this one?"
Markram turned around with a smile, about to toss the crocodile tooth he had just pulled out to Ralph, but when he turned around, he froze.
A triangular snake head, the size of a millstone, slowly emerged from behind Ralph. Its enormous mouth was open, revealing two slightly curved fangs, making it look exceptionally ferocious. "Damn it... have we come to Satan's territory?"
The reason for choosing to have a barbecue by the lake is twofold: firstly, it's close to the crocodile carcass, making it easier to remove the meat and clean it; secondly, the crocodile emerged from the lake.
As the saying goes, "two tigers cannot share one mountain." With such a monster around, it's likely that no other large creatures can survive in the water. They can do whatever they want in the crocodile's territory without any worries.
Markram's idea was good, but killing the water tyrant didn't mean there were no other threats. Did he not consider why such a complete castle could exist not far from this giant crocodile?
"Ralph, run forward, run fast, there's a monster behind you..."
Markram shouted as he reached for the submachine gun that was stuck in the crocodile's mouth. It had taken five or six people to lift the crocodile's upper jaw and put it in, but now he couldn't pull it out.
"A monster? What monster?"
Ralph's reaction was somewhat slow. Wasn't the monster already in his hands? What other monster could there be?
Just as Ralph looked at Markram in confusion, a nauseating stench suddenly reached his nose. When Ralph turned around, a foul-smelling liquid was suddenly sprayed onto his face.
The liquid poured down on Ralph's face like a bucket of water, instantly enveloping him.
"Ouch, it hurts so much! My eyes, I can't see..."
Ralph, who was sprayed with the liquid, felt his vision go black. His eyes and face felt as if they had been corroded by sulfuric acid, and he was in excruciating pain. He dropped the crocodile meat from his fingers and scratched his face hard with his hands.
When Ralph's hands touched the liquid on his face, a chilling scene unfolded: all the skin that came into contact with the liquid began to rot rapidly.
At this moment, Ralph seemed to have lost all feeling of pain, tearing pieces of flesh from his face. The sight of bare bones, accompanied by Ralph's screams, sent a chill down the spines of the people in the warm sunlight.
This sudden turn of events left everyone dumbfounded, staring blankly at Ralph, who had almost turned into a skeleton in the blink of an eye. Apart from Markram, who was still struggling with the submachine gun in the giant crocodile's mouth, David was the quickest to react.
Just as his brother let out his first scream, David didn't even look back. He scrambled and crawled towards the forest on the right. His agility and speed were so great that even Markram, who had received special training, felt inferior to him.
David's actions surprised the giant python, which was about to attack him second. This man's reaction speed was even faster than its own.
Looking at the five or six people on the left and the one person on the right, the giant python quickly made a judgment. After slightly retracting its raised neck, it shot out like a spring and swallowed the person from head to toe in the blink of an eye.
Snakes typically hunt prey by ambush, and the most basic requirements are speed, ruthlessness, and accuracy.
Despite its enormous size, the python lived up to this reputation, with both of its attacks being fatal. While Ralph was still howling on the ground, it had already killed the second man.
While the python's size wasn't as exaggerated as that of a prehistoric crocodile, it could still easily swallow twenty or thirty people without bulging its belly. Its belly wouldn't even make a sound as the person slid down its throat into its acidic digestive system.
"Shoot, shoot, fire, kill it!"
Markram ignored the gun in the crocodile's mouth and turned to run back. About twenty meters behind him were all the supplies he had brought for this operation, including enough ammunition and guns.
The appearance of the giant crocodile had already numbed the nerves of these thugs. Upon hearing Markram's order, the remaining five men picked up their submachine guns and began firing at the giant python.
"Da da da, da da..."
The python moved much faster than the prehistoric crocodile, but under the dense barrage of bullets, a lot of ammunition still hit its body.
"Snap, clang..."
To the despair of the shooters, the bullets, though they ripped open the giant python's scales, did not cause any real damage to its body, not even a drop of blood was shed.
The python did not stop its movements because of the shooting. It suddenly appeared between the two thugs with lightning speed. Its huge body contracted inward like a lasso, and at the same time, its tail swept away one of the thugs standing next to it.
As the giant python's body contracted, almost instantly, the two people trapped inside were squeezed like pieces of paper. With a barely perceptible sound of bones breaking, blood gushed from all the acupoints on their bodies.
"Run...run!"
The series of mishaps finally broke these men, whose hands were stained with blood. Apart from Markram, the remaining two men collapsed at this moment, threw away their submachine guns, and ran in the opposite direction.
No matter how fast they moved, they couldn't outrun a giant jungle python that was over thirty meters long.
After releasing the two people who had been strangled, the giant python sprang up and caught up with one of them. Its long fangs pierced his waist, and the python's head lifted up, raising the man into the air.
With a flick of its tongue, the man screaming in agony crashed heavily onto the bluestone slab from a height of more than ten meters. After twitching a few times, he fell silent.
The team member who had reached the edge of the jungle thought he had escaped, but suddenly felt a tightness around his waist. A "thin" tail, as thick as his waist, wrapped around him and threw him backward. While still in the air, the man was bleeding from all seven orifices and had been strangled to death by the giant python.
In less than two minutes, six of the original eight survivors had died. Apart from Markram, who had already loaded the grenade launcher and aimed it at the giant python, only David, who had just run into the jungle at a speed that far exceeded the world record for 100 meters, remained.
The series of provocations had driven Markram somewhat irrational. Holding a package full of grenades and solid explosives in one hand and a rifle grenade mounted on the nose of an automatic rifle in the other, he shouted defiantly at the giant python, "Come on, come on, I'm not afraid of you!" "Come on..."
Just as Markram was about to pull the trigger of the grenade, he suddenly felt a chill on his chest. Looking down, he saw a dark, blood-stained blade piercing through his entire chest.
Before Markram could lose consciousness, his body rapidly approached the giant python. This creature was not one to mince words; it was determined to devour this person who dared to provoke it alive.
Just as the giant python bit into Markram's lower body, its tail was pulled out of his body, which suddenly brought Markram, whose mind was already somewhat confused, back to his senses.
"Let's die together!"
Seeing that his lower body was already inside the snake's mouth, Markram's face revealed a ruthless look.
Chapter 1268 When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.
Markram, who dared to kidnap wealthy and political figures from around the world in the United States, was a desperate criminal. Such a person not only disregards the lives of others, but also doesn't value his own life that much.
As his mind cleared, Markram knew he was truly going to meet Marx. Although he still regretted not having spent the billions of dollars he had deposited in a Swiss bank, Markram knew what he had to do. At this moment, half of Markram's body had been swallowed by the giant python, which was still sliding deeper into his mouth. Apart from his arms and head, the only things sticking out were the package in his left hand and the grenade already loaded in his right hand.
Markram's face hardened. He had imagined dying in a hail of bullets or being arrested by the police and killed in an electric chair, but he never dreamed that he would die in the mouth of a python.
Years of rigorous, grueling training allowed Markram to unleash unimaginable power in the final moments of his life, even after a giant python pierced his chest.
"Die, let's die together..."
With a mournful howl like a vengeful ghost, Markram forcefully shoved the backpack he was holding in his left hand into the giant python's mouth, and slid it down the python's throat along with his body.
This package contained not only a large amount of solid explosives, but also more than twenty tactical mines, intended for use as perimeter defenses when encamped in the forest.
These tactical mines are extremely sensitive and will explode upon violent impact, so they have always been carried in a package by a designated person.
After stuffing the package in his left hand into the python's mouth, Markram was already on the verge of death, but his immense resentment towards the python made him forcefully stuff in the grenade as well, a sinister smile appearing on his face.
Markram no longer had the strength to make a sound. As he bled, his strength gradually disappeared. Just before he lost consciousness, Markram's index finger, which was on the grenade trigger, pulled it down hard.
A rifle grenade is essentially a grenade launcher attached to the front of a specialized submachine gun. It is fired using blank cartridges from the submachine gun. For example, China's Type 81 fully automatic rifle can be equipped with a grenade launcher.
This weapon is easy for a single soldier to carry, but its power is so-so. It could probably only penetrate the metal armor of a Japanese tank from World War II. However, in jungle warfare, this weapon is much more effective than bombs, which is why many armed groups like to carry it.
"Bang!"
A muffled gunshot rang out from the giant python's mouth. The python, which had been lowering its head slightly and was about to raise its head to swallow Markram whole, suddenly paused in mid-air.
The pause was extremely brief, lasting less than a second. Immediately afterward, the giant python's enormous head suddenly shot into the sky, carrying its massive body, and flew more than twenty meters high.
The python's scales shimmered with a dark golden hue in the sunlight, making it look extremely majestic, like a dragon emerging from the water. If it had four claws, it would resemble a giant dragon from ancient Chinese legends.
Just as the giant python's head reached its highest point, a blinding light suddenly emanated from its mouth, followed by a deafening explosion that nearly caused Peng Fei to fall from the tree.
Where the python's head had been, a burst of fire erupted, and the enormous shockwave rippled across the nearby lake, causing many fish that had been devouring the crocodile's flesh to float belly-up.
Even Zhuang Rui, several kilometers away, could feel the tree beneath him tremble, and the gorillas that were foraging for food were terrified and let out sharp cries.
"They died together?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned. He hadn't expected that the final, out-of-control development would result in the complete annihilation of the armed force and the mutual destruction of the two prehistoric monsters.
Zhuang Rui originally thought that the giant crocodile alone could easily take down the team, because that big guy was almost impeccable in both offense and defense.
However, there are reasons why humans can dominate this planet. Even if we went back to the age of dinosaurs, with the power of modern weapons, those dinosaurs would probably only be animals in zoos for people to watch and visit.
Thanks to the selfless sacrifice of Markram and Lambert, the two prehistoric monsters were finally defeated. Of course, the price they paid was the annihilation of their entire army... no, there was one survivor, their spiritual leader... David.
The moment the giant python appeared, David rushed into the jungle, and in order to run faster and conform to the principles of aerodynamics, he even threw away the gun in his hand.
As it turns out, safety must always come first when navigating the world. Although David's fighting skills were terrible, his two near-death experiences perfectly illustrated this point.
After witnessing Markram's horrific scene, David collapsed to the ground, sweat pouring down his body. He nervously turned his head, fearing another monster might appear. ...
Seeing that things had ended this way, Zhuang Rui was shocked, but also felt a little surprised.
Although the giant python had not shown any malice towards Zhuang Rui before, Zhuang Rui truly felt no sense of security when facing this prehistoric creature, as evidenced by the fact that he only dared to huddle under the city wall last night.
Moreover, the pile of white bones beneath the castle proves that this giant python is not inhuman; if it gets too hungry, it might even attack Zhuang Rui and Peng Fei.
So now that the giant python is dead, Zhuang Rui's wish has been fulfilled. He has no interest in keeping such an uncontrollable creature on "Xuanrui Island," as that would only make him uncomfortable.
Previously, due to the presence of the giant python and crocodile, Zhuang Rui had lost interest in the objects in the castle, but what just happened has changed everything.
Without the threat of these two prehistoric monsters, King Kong's gorilla group is practically at the top of the jungle food chain, provided, of course, that there are no monsters like these two deep in the forest.
This fierce struggle ended up benefiting Zhuang Rui, which he found somewhat unbelievable. "My luck is just so good, someone even brings me a pillow when I'm sleepy..."
Zhuang Rui slid down from the tree and ran towards the castle. He wanted to claim the spoils of victory, but he still tossed a message to King Kong from afar: "King Kong, you stay here with them today. Don't go to the castle..."
The scene at the castle was too bloody, and Zhuang Rui was afraid it would frighten the gorillas. If the gorilla population panicked, it would be very detrimental to his previous plans.
"Huh? What's Peng Fei doing?"
Zhuang Rui's pace as he ran through the jungle suddenly slowed down, because he saw that Peng Fei, who had been staying behind the castle, had somehow circled around to the spot of the sole survivor.
"You deserve to die, you actually abandoned your brothers..."
David, who was sitting on the ground panting heavily, suddenly heard a sinister voice in his ear. David, who was already extremely nervous, jumped up from the ground.