"Sir, it's just ahead," the soldiers who had returned from reconnaissance reported in a low voice.
Derrick raised his hand to stop the troops, signaling the artillery to take cover, and the firearms to stand guard on the high ground.
They lay prone behind a rocky ridge, their binoculars pointed at the valley below.
At first, everything was still, and the mountain wind swept across the gravel slope, stirring up a wisp of dust.
Suddenly the ground began to tremble slightly.
The rock strata on the left rose silently, as if a giant beast was writhing beneath its skin, and then the grayish-white giant worm burst forth from the ground—it slowly arched its body out of the ground, its thirty-foot-long body covered in keratinous scales, the mucus on its surface glistening in the sunlight. This thing had no head-like structure; at the front was a ring of serrated mouthparts, and several tentacles hung down below, slowly patting the ground, as if sensing the vibrations.
Derrick held his breath and stared intently at the monster through his binoculars.
"It's not an illusion…" he said softly.
The giant insect seemed to sense the movement, its mouthparts opening and closing slightly, emitting a low-frequency buzzing sound. It did not move immediately, but slowly turned towards the Ausser Army, as if it were "listening" to them.
"Artillery, prepare!" Derrick ordered in a deep voice. "Aim at the ten o'clock position, use high-explosive shells!"
Boom! Boom!
Two cannon shots tore through the valley, and the shells flew in an arc, landing precisely on the giant worm's flank.
The explosion sent plumes of smoke and dust billowing into the sky, with debris flying everywhere.
In the firelight, the giant insect's body was thrown to one side, a section of its skin burst open, and a large amount of milky white mucus flowed out, with a pungent smell.
The soldiers let out excited growls: "Hit!"
But after the smoke cleared, the monster was still wriggling.
It did not retreat, but slowly adjusted its direction, aiming its mandibles at the artillery position. Then, it suddenly exerted its strength, its entire body arching up like a snake, and burrowed into the ground at an astonishing speed, disappearing in an instant.
"It ran away?" an officer asked.
Derrick squinted, his hand on the hilt of his sword: "No... it's down there."
Before the words were even finished, the ground began to shake violently.
Ten paces in front of the artillery position, the soil suddenly exploded—a giant worm burst out from directly below, its mouthparts aimed straight at the cannon barrel!
"Scatter!" Derrick roared.
The gunners scrambled away from their positions, while the giant worm snapped its jaws shut on a howitzer.
Its hideous mouthparts seemed to be chewing, but it quickly spat them out. The wooden gun carriage had been chewed up, leaving only the metal gun barrel!
The giant insect swung its body, hurling the cannon barrel at the rock wall with a loud bang.
Derrick drew his sword, his voice cold and stern: "All units, take aim!"
The soldiers quickly formed a line, their guns all pointed at the enormous object that was slowly rising.
"put!"
With Derrick's order, the Ausser Army Firearms fired in unison, flint sparks flew, and gunshots rang out like thunder. Dozens of lead bullets immediately swarmed towards the giant worm.
The hail of bullets pounded against its grayish-white body, producing dull crackling sounds like raindrops hitting old tree bark. Milky-white sap splattered everywhere with each impact, some spraying out as a fine mist, others flowing like slurry down the wounds.
The giant insect's mouthparts suddenly opened, emitting a low, almost silent groan, as if the entire mountain was groaning. Its limbs convulsed violently, and its body arched as if struck by an invisible hammer.
Ausser Army When the soldiers saw it "bleeding," they thought the attack had been successful, and their morale soared.
"Load! Keep firing!" the officers shouted.
The second salvo followed immediately, the barrage of bullets becoming denser, more mucus bursting open, several scales on its back being torn open, revealing the dark red muscle tissue underneath, and the giant insect's movements seemed to slow down for a moment.
But after this brief pause, the giant worm suddenly accelerated.
It neither retreated nor fled, but instead arched its body with astonishing power, sweeping across like a giant python, its front port device heading straight for the firearm queue.
"Scatter! Scatter!" Derrick roared, brandishing his sword.
The soldiers retreated in panic, and several who were slower were struck by the tentacles and sent flying like straws. An engineer was grazed by the edge of the muzzle, and his shoulder armor and half of his shoulder were torn off. He fainted before his screams could even finish.
The giant insect's massive body landed, causing the ground to tremble slightly. It slowly turned around, aimed its mandibles at the remaining Cannon, and suddenly spat out a thick liquid that seemed to contain strong acid. The metal cannon barrel hissed and corroded, quickly turning black and deforming.
Derrick stood on high ground, his brow furrowed. He could see clearly that although the bullet had wounded the skin, it couldn't penetrate the thick layer of keratin to reach the internal organs. The mucus seemed more like bodily fluids or protective secretions than blood, as he had initially thought.
The monster reacted to pain, but was not fatally wounded.
Derrick stared at the slowly wriggling giant worm, his mind racing with thoughts.
"Damn it, we can't break through it or kill it, so we can only lure it into the pit."
He quickly gave the order: "Execute Plan Two. Artillerymen, with your remaining guns, retreat. Firearms will provide alternating cover. Engineer teams, return to the designated demolition points immediately and prepare for detonation."
The Ausser Army began an orderly retreat, with the firearms splitting into two groups and taking turns firing at the giant worm's upper body as they retreated. The lead bullets struck the cuticle, splashing up patches of slime.
The giant insect was indeed enraged. It opened its mouthparts wide and chased after the insect, its speed no slower than a human running.
But just as it was about to approach the firearm team, it suddenly stopped. Instead of continuing the pursuit, it slowly turned around and hovered in place for a moment in a strangely alert posture before suddenly burrowing into the ground and disappearing.
"It retreated?" the adjutant asked in a low voice.
Derrick shook his head, gritted his teeth, and ordered, "Lure it one more time. Firearm, get close and shoot it, make it feel pain."
A group of soldiers gritted their teeth and charged out, rushing to within thirty paces of the giant worm's burrowing point. They fired three shots at close range, the lead bullets hitting the base of its tentacles that had just emerged from the ground. Milky white sap sprayed out, and the giant worm trembled violently, letting out a low roar before bursting out of the ground again and charging straight at them.
The Ausser Army used the same tactic again, fighting and retreating. The giant insect chased for hundreds of meters, and just as it was about to enter the pre-set "collapsed valley" blasting zone, it stopped again and slowly retreated back underground.
"This big bug has learned its lesson," a soldier said, his face pale.
Over the next two hours, the Ausser Army repeatedly used tactics to lure the enemy:
Firearm moved to the flank and fired a volley of bullets at close range into its back wound.
The sappers threw Molotov cocktails; the flames licked the sticky surface of the bottles, emitting a pungent, acrid smell.
On another occasion, Derrick personally ordered the burning of abandoned ammunition boxes to create a violent explosion, simulating an artillery barrage.
Each time, the giant insect was provoked to burst out of the ground, but after a period of pursuit, it retreated at the crucial moment.
Until the fourth time.
When the burning ammunition box exploded with a deafening roar, the flames reflecting off the rock face, the giant worm finally went into a full-blown rage.
It burst forth from the ground like a gray-white mountain range, rampaging and relentlessly pursuing the rearguard of the firearms, its speed nearly twice as fast as before.
"It's coming!" the lookout shouted.
Standing on the high slope, Derrick calmly gave the order as he watched the massive shadow hurtling towards him like a living mountain: "Everyone evacuate the collapsed valley. Engineers, prepare to detonate."