"If the transformed entity truly hides itself after metamorphosis, perhaps you could use the meme detection equipment to locate its hiding place," Chen Jing said.
"How do we find it?" the Hunters immediately asked.
"You need to disperse the meme detection equipment across various corners and then connect all the devices. In this way, you can form a high-intensity ’scanning net’, and the precision of the detection results will increase geometrically. As soon as you detect an abnormal meme frequency in the area, you can immediately pinpoint the location of the transformed entity’s main body!" The technician beside Chen Jing replied on his behalf.
"Huh?" A Hunter looked baffled, "What does that mean? I don’t understand... Even if the detection precision is improved, we don’t know what the meme frequency of the transformed entity after metamorphosis is. How do we lock onto it?"
"The largest source of meme reaction at the bottom of the pit is the giant shell shed by the entity. According to Captain Cheng’s statement, the meme reaction of the shell is gradually weakening. Although the weakening rate is slow, if we increase the detection precision, we can still capture this weakening sign. But the transformed entity after metamorphosis—its meme reaction won’t weaken over time. Once we detect a meme reaction within this ’scanning net’ that shows no sign of weakening, we can basically determine that something is hiding there!" The technician spoke rapidly.
The meme detection devices carried by the assault team’s Hunters have an effective range of only fifty meters. Even with the addition of the ’echo beacon’ to extend the detection distance, the detection radius of a single device is only two hundred meters. It’s absolutely impossible to cover the entire pit bottom with just the few devices on hand.
"It’s enough." Cheng Ming looked around and pointed in several directions, signaling the Hunters in the team to disperse and install the detectors. But as Batu Khan was also about to leave, Cheng Ming placed his hand on his shoulder.
Batu Khan was somewhat surprised to discover that this young man, who did not appear particularly strong, could easily suppress him with one hand, causing a slight stir of astonishment in his heart.
It’s no wonder the young lady of the Bai Family chose this person as the deputy leader of the second batch of Hunters and handed over the command of the assault team to him.
This guy has something.
No, it should be said he has a lot... Especially when they saw the entity’s shell, the qualities he displayed were no less than those of the elite Hunters Batu Khan had seen.
"You stay here," Cheng Ming said to Batu Khan. "The signal amplifier on you is the core that connects all the detectors, so you must be at the center. Moreover, you are also the most powerful fire unit in the team. If one direction is attacked by the entity, your position will also be convenient for support."
"Captain Cheng is right," Chen Jing also said over the communication channel, with a tone carrying a hint of praise.
However, just as a Hunter walked no more than thirty meters away, an anomaly suddenly occurred!
Some kind of white object suddenly burst out from beneath his feet, swiftly cutting through his pants leg, then cutting into his calf, sliding like a slippery eel, and in a flash, burrowed into the Hunter’s body!
Before anyone could react, the Hunter had already turned around and raised his submachine gun at the others.
"Watch out!!"
Batu Khan shouted, immediately lying down on the ground, crossing his hands forward, using the Gatling Gun mounted on his arms as a shield to protect his head and face.
However, upon noticing his actions, the opponent immediately aimed the gun at the others—in a rapid succession of short bursts, several Hunters fell one after another, even the one who was assigned a direction opposite to "him" and nearly a hundred meters away also got shot and fell.
Each shot hit right in the center of the forehead—ordinarily, the effective range of this kind of submachine gun is generally within fifty meters. Beyond fifty meters, the power and dispersion precision would greatly diminish... Yet the bullets shot in his hand were as accurate as if small guidance devices were mounted on the warheads.
Or to use terms that shooting game players are very familiar with: aimbot, headlock, and add a ’magic bullet.’
Besides Cheng Ming and Batu Khan, who timely dropped to the ground, the only Hunter still standing was the one attacked by the white object.
"Transformed entity! Die!" Batu Khan stood up, his arms’ Gatling Guns already locked on the target, and as the barrels spun and the ammo belts whirled, a dense bullet barrage instantly covered the Hunter!
Just when everyone thought the transformed entity was about to be turned into mincemeat—or rather, the Hunter parasitized by the entity was about to be turned into mincemeat—it suddenly raised a hand, and all the bullets aimed at it stopped in mid-air, less than a meter away.
"Isn’t this the classic scene from ’The Matrix’?!" Watching the ’live broadcast,’ Ya Qiaoxi couldn’t help but exclaim softly.
The next second, all these bullets flew back, hitting Batu Khan’s body.
After a bout of convulsions, the robust Tatar man’s eyes widened, falling backward with a face full of disbelief.
The signal amplifier he was carrying also got pierced by the bullets.
In the command room, Chen Jing looked at the words "Signal Lost" on the black screen, and, somewhat angrily, punched the table.
...
...
At the pit bottom.
"You’re still alive?" The Hunter who was parasitized looked at Cheng Ming, leisurely getting up from the ground, with a slightly odd expression, "Really surprising."
"There are always surprises in this world," Cheng Ming stared at the other and said.
"Exactly, I encountered a highly unexpected individual not long ago. Unfortunately, I failed to possess it and almost got eliminated by it," the other seemed to develop some interest in Cheng Ming and did not continue his attack. Instead, he chatted with Cheng Ming, "Since I couldn’t successfully possess it, I had to take another path... I imprinted a segment of my meme into this guy’s meme..."
Pointing upwards at the giant shell, the other continued, "Using it as sustenance, with that special individual’s meme as a blueprint, to recast myself a new entity."
As soon as the words fell, a bloody mark slowly emerged between the brows of the Hunter, extending upwards and downwards, passing through the crown and throat... A few seconds later, the Hunter’s body split open like a cocoon, and a stark naked young man stepped out of the cocoon.
At this instant, Cheng Ming found he regained control over his body, and just as he intended to say something, the mysterious young woman unexpectedly appeared in front of him, addressing the ’young man’ not far away: "You shouldn’t have turned into that form. Such poor mimicry only makes me feel angry and sick... you’re doomed."