Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye-Chapter 378: No Risk, No Reward
Faced with the massive artificial monster, Luca did not feel nervous. On the contrary, he was excited, having confirmed that the secret laboratory of Zenith Technology Company was located right here.
However, Quagmire, standing beside Luca, was extremely tense. His strength was not as great as Luca's, and he couldn't fully make out the details of the artificial monster under the purple mist. Nervously, he asked, "Should we strike first?"
Luca slowly shook his head. "We still know too little about this artificial monster. Be ready for battle; we'll look for its weaknesses during the fight!"
Luca had already prepared himself for battle. Quagmire racked his weapon's slide, tracking the monstrosity through his sights, observing the direction of the artificial monster. The enormous creature slowly advanced toward them.
As the distance between them and the monster closed to less than 100 meters, the purple mist surrounding them rapidly dissipated. Before their eyes, a giant pterosaur-like artificial monster was fully revealed.
The giant pterosaur had four wings and three heads. Each head was covered with a dense array of purple eyes. The four wings were adorned with numerous mysterious symbols, all emitting purple light as though the purple mist had been absorbed into these symbols.
The moment Luca saw the full form of the giant pterosaur, he immediately raised the Starseeker. In an instant, a streak of white light shot through the sky, accompanied by a burst of lightning, heading straight for the giant pterosaur.
At the same time, Luca himself dashed toward the monster as fast as he could. His reaction speed was so swift that it startled Quagmire, who was by his side.
However, Quagmire had been through many battles himself. He knew that once his comrade initiated an attack, he had to follow quickly. Gripping his weapon tightly, he too sprinted toward the giant pterosaur.
Despite Quagmire's swift response, he was still left at a considerable distance behind Luca.
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In response to Luca's attack, the giant pterosaur chose to fight head-on. Its four wings flapped rapidly, lifting its massive body into the air. In midair, the pterosaur's three heads unleashed streams of black lightning.
The white light summoned by the Starseeker collided directly with the black lightning, causing a violent explosion. As it blocked the Starseeker's attack, the giant pterosaur also launched a counterattack against Luca, who had approached it.
The mysterious symbols on its four wings flickered constantly, and a large amount of purple mist began to form around the giant pterosaur's body. In an instant, the mist transformed into swirling tornadoes. All of the tornadoes quickly converged on Luca.
Facing the giant pterosaur's retaliation, Luca naturally wasn't about to underestimate it. He used his two weapons to try and drain the energy from the tornadoes, while simultaneously relying on his agility to dodge several of the tornadoes that came perilously close.
Within just a few breaths, Luca closed the distance between himself and the giant pterosaur. Now, they were less than 10 meters apart. At this distance, Luca could even engage the giant pterosaur in close combat using Obsidian.
And that's exactly what he did. Every swing of Obsidian left a deep scratch on the giant pterosaur's body. The creature roared in fury with each blow, but Luca knew that his attacks weren't doing serious damage. Over time, it seemed like the giant pterosaur had fully adapted to Luca's combat rhythm. During the close-quarter battle, the giant pterosaur gradually gained the upper hand.
It continued to dive down from the sky, each attack growing more ferocious. While Luca managed to block every dive, his stamina was rapidly depleting. In less than a minute, Luca had already gone through several rounds of close combat with the giant pterosaur.
At the moment Luca was starting to fall behind in the fight, Quagmire finally arrived. Without hesitation, he activated the weapon in his hands, unleashing a barrage of ammunition. However, none of the bullets managed to harm the giant pterosaur.
In response, the giant pterosaur launched a powerful dive attack, sending Quagmire flying. Its claws slashed through his chest, leaving a gaping wound. Quagmire immediately lost his combat ability.
Luca turned his gaze toward Quagmire, his face full of concern. At this point, the giant pterosaur was very close to Quagmire. If the monster attacked again, Luca wouldn't be able to reach him in time.
Desperate, Luca hurled the Starseeker in Quagmire's direction.
The Starseeker itself possessed immense energy, capable of forming a protective barrier around Quagmire. However, this protection was fragile. Ordinary artificial monsters could easily destroy the Starseeker's barrier, and the giant pterosaur was certainly more than capable of doing the same.
Luca didn't expect his action to guarantee success; he was merely trying to buy some time. However, what happened next took him by surprise.
Despite having already severely injured Quagmire, the giant pterosaur did not press the attack. Instead, it adjusted its trajectory and dove toward Luca once again.
Seeing this, Luca quickly grabbed Obsidian to defend himself. But this time, his defense was ultimately ineffective. The giant pterosaur's dive attack carried tremendous force. When Obsidian collided with the pterosaur's claws, a sharp cracking sound echoed, and Luca felt a surge of intense pain in his hand.
In this situation, Luca was forced to throw Obsidian aside. "The giant pterosaur can channel the power of the purple mist into Obsidian? This artificial monster is fundamentally different from the others!" Luca was stunned. He hadn't expected an artificial monster to possess such power.
While Luca was still in shock, the giant pterosaur once again swooped down from the sky. This time, however, Luca had no intention of defending himself. He wanted to test something.
As the giant pterosaur came closer, just before it was about to strike, it suddenly altered its flying posture. The force of the dive quickly diminished. By the time the giant pterosaur actually struck Luca, its attack's power had been reduced to only a quarter of its original force.
But even though the power had been reduced, Luca still sustained a devastating blow. A gaping wound appeared on his chest.
Both Luca and Quagmire had lost their combat ability. However, Luca did not panic. He had confirmed his suspicion during the battle: the giant pterosaur had no intention of killing them. Its goal was simply to defeat them and capture them alive.
As Luca observed, the giant pterosaur used its massive claws to grab both him and Quagmire.
The giant pterosaur flapped its wings and flew deeper into the canyon. During the flight, Luca closed his eyes. He needed to recover as quickly as possible.
The surrounding purple mist grew denser, and he became more certain that he was getting closer to the secret laboratory of Zenith Technology Company.
After a quarter of an hour, the giant pterosaur began to descend. Eventually, it plunged headfirst into a lake at the heart of the canyon, carrying both Luca and Quagmire with it.
The moment they broke through the surface of the water, Luca realized the lake was merely a barrier. In fact, there was no lake in the canyon at all.
After just a few seconds below the surface, the giant pterosaur threw Luca and Quagmire into a room. Quagmire had already lost consciousness. Although Luca was still conscious, his condition was dire. His vision was blurred, and he could barely make out his surroundings.
He could only vaguely sense that he was in a sealed room, the floor of which appeared to be made of some kind of reinforced magical material.
"It seems Luca isn't all that impressive after all; the report exaggerated his abilities," Luca faintly heard the voice of a middle-aged man. The voice seemed to come from a few meters away.
"Minister, I don't think we should draw conclusions just yet," an elderly voice replied from the same area. "There are still many secrets hidden within Luca."
"You're right, Dr. Smith. So, when will the experiment begin? The headquarters is getting very anxious. All the senior members are eager to know what secrets Luca holds!" The minister spoke with apparent respect toward Dr. Smith, but Luca could detect a hint of impatience in his tone.
"You don't need to worry. I won't take long to unravel all of his secrets. Just leave him to me. I'll make him tell us everything we need to know in the lab," Dr. Smith said confidently.
This was the last conversation Luca heard.
After Dr. Smith finished speaking, Luca felt the door of the room open. His consciousness quickly began to fade, and all he could sense was that he was being moved, as if being hauled away on a cart.
He could feel that Dr. Smith was right next to him, and it seemed like the man was watching him closely. Though Luca felt a slight tension, he didn't show it. He knew that Dr. Smith wouldn't kill him so easily. In fact, he might even be able to gather more information through conversation with the doctor.
