Chapter 210: The Cobra King!
A Terrifying Transformation
The shadow continued to expand and twist, like a ferocious, clawing beast trying to escape its cage. The old dog whimpered, its body trembling violently, clearly in immense pain.
Under the moonlight, the scene was utterly bizarre—enough to frighten anyone who saw it to death.
After ten seconds, with a final mournful cry, the old dog collapsed onto the ground. The shadow slowly writhed, forming an oval, serpentine head. Beneath the head was a massive hood and a body thicker than a grown man's arm.
It slowly slithered out of the shadow, a colossal creature at nearly seven meters long. Its surface was covered in densely packed, pitch-black scales that reflected a sinister gleam in the moonlight.
From its appearance, it was clearly a Cobra King, the undisputed monarch of snakes.
A few caged rabbits nearby sensed its presence. Their fur stood on end, their bodies went rigid, and they actually fainted from fright.
The snake king twisted its thick body, gliding through the town as if inspecting its own territory. It paused as it passed the tavern, its crimson eyes flashing with an eerie light, seemingly contemplating something. Ultimately, it didn't linger. It crossed the street and slipped through a half-open window into a wooden house. Its head reared up, staring intently at the sleeping tavern owner on the bed.
The old man had been very happy tonight, having drunk seven bottles of beer. In his drunken stupor, he failed to notice the terrifying monster that had invaded his room.
The snake king slithered from the bed frame under the blanket. Its thick body coiled around the old man. Its mouth opened to a one-hundred-and-twenty-degree angle, and from its writhing gums, two blood-red fangs popped out.
A reddish liquid seeped from the fangs, looking like flowing blood.
At that moment, the old man suddenly woke up. Seeing the giant snake head and the blood-red fangs right in front of him, he was utterly stunned. He neither screamed nor struggled, frozen stiff like a goose paralyzed by immense fear.
The snake head slowly descended, biting gently into his rigid neck. The fangs pierced the flesh, and the red liquid flowed through an artery to various parts of his body. The old man opened his mouth in a silent scream, his body shaking violently as if seized by a fit.
He wanted to cry for help but couldn't make a sound. His body was tightly bound by the snake, rendering him immobile.
After a few seconds, the old man stopped struggling. The color in his eyes vanished, replaced by a dense blackness. The snake king's eyes, however, showed a human-like emotion. Upon closer inspection, one could faintly perceive the image of the old man wailing.
Time ticked by. After an unknown duration, the darkness in the old man's eyes faded, and his breathing returned to a steady pace.
The snake king uncoiled from the old man's body. Its head rose high, staring intently toward the tavern.
"Cultists?"
A hoarse voice echoed through the room. The snake king's lips curled upward, revealing a human-like sneer. The "trash" team led by a rich boy actually dared to dream of eliminating the followers of the Lord of Hell.
"Pathetic humans. It's been a long time since I've tasted them."
"Fat, tender flesh. Delicious souls."
"What a pity."
The snake king sighed, seemingly with regret, but ultimately crashed through the wooden door and vanished into the dark, lightless Swamp Forest. Soon after it left, an intricately designed "hummingbird" drone took flight, heading toward the forest.
A New Deal
In the second-floor bedroom of the tavern.
The seven FBI agents and Luke's trio gathered, looking solemn as they watched the feed from the hummingbird drone.
The Cobra King moved through the forest at incredible speed. After two hours, it stopped near a waterfall, and its thick body submerged into the stream. The video ended there.
Luke shut off the screen, his gaze sweeping over the people in the room. He shrugged.
"Nelson, call your boss. I'm quitting. I'm out."
Nelson gave a forced smile. "Mr. Shaw, you can't do this. You already agreed."
"You're right, I did agree to help, but your boss's original words were 'cultists who worship a demon,' not a damn Cobra King."
"Do you know how big this thing is? 7.8 meters! Thicker than my thigh! It's venomous, uses magic, and speaks English..."
Luke spread his hands. "I strongly suspect he's a demon in disguise."
Nelson was deeply rattled. The thought of that pitch-black Cobra King slithering under the eaves made his skin crawl. Damn it, where did this thing come from? The intelligence never mentioned it.
August said solemnly, "There's a black magic spell that allows the caster to turn into a venomous snake, but the resulting creature is never this large."
Zatanna added, "It's a Wicked Soul Sacrifice, a forbidden black magic. A living person is soaked in a blood pool mixed with the blood of various creatures. After three days, they drink snake blood, have the souls of 13 cobras injected into them, and then a secret incantation is cast. Their body mutates, shedding its human form and transforming into a Cobra King. The process is excruciatingly painful, but if successful, they gain extraordinary strength and magical power."
August looked at Zatanna in surprise.
"Are you a sorceress, too?"
Zatanna nodded and continued, "Cobra Kings created by the Wicked Soul Sacrifice are usually between 2.5 and 4 meters. The fact that this one is so enormous suggests that demon blood was likely added to the blood pool."
The survival expert, Bill, whispered, "That snake king doesn't just have advantages in size and speed; its defense is also extraordinary. Did you notice that when it scraped against a rock while slithering through a crack, its scales didn't flake off? Instead, the rock crumbled. Only a body hardened to an extreme degree can cause that. This means ordinary bullets will be useless against it. We'll need heavy weaponry to fight it."
Silence fell over the room again. Luke said semi-jokingly,
"Call your boss. Tell him to get a nuclear missile and drop it on the waterfall. Boom! Clean, simple, and done with."
Nelson said helplessly, "Stop joking, Mr. Shaw. I know you can find a way. Please, help us. We truly cannot afford to fail again."
With the election only a month away, this operation was likely Jack Harvey's last chance. If Harvey went down, Nelson, as his confidant, wouldn't have an easy time either.
"Easy for you to say," Luke said, sitting back in his chair, playing with his dagger, his face expressionless.
"All of you are skilled and arrogant, looking down on everyone. Why would you need my help?"
The mocking words echoed unpleasantly in the room. The agents exchanged glances. Nelson was the first to speak.
"Mr. Shaw, I've heard your name. Your abilities are unquestionable. If you agree to help, I will follow your command unconditionally from now until the end of the mission."
"Really?"
Nelson nodded emphatically.
Luke looked at the others. "What about the rest of you?"
August sighed. "I'm willing, too, provided you don't order me to commit suicide."
Bill smiled. "I'm very interested in that hummingbird scout drone. Give me one, and I'll listen to you."
"Dream on," Luke scoffed. He then turned his attention to the plant metahuman, Roy, who immediately replied, "Emily is the chairwoman of the Metahuman Association; I'll follow her lead."
That was a non-committal answer.
Five of the seven agents had agreed, leaving only the assassin Vima and Becky Beckman.
Luke smiled. "What are your two thoughts?"
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