Mercenary Black Mamba

He could barely understand the creature's thoughts. The mind of an existence, which was unlike a human, made its noticeable mark. Blacky had exuded an overpowering force and a farce of strength. On the other hand, Ocelot's aura was filled with arrogance and malice. The mind that he could finally grasp was filled with despair and endless rage.

"Ahmad, full speed ahead. Once the battle commences, take the professors to a safe hiding place. The opponent isn't human. The safety of the VIPs is your responsibility."

"Yes, I understand."

Ahmad raised the radio.

"Master's orders. Guard all sides. Move back and hide once the battle commences. Our job is to protect the professors. Over!"

"Go!"

Black Mamba took out his specialized MP5SD3 from his backpack and assembled it. He checked his Kukri and Vajra, then secured the backpack strings tightly. The Boss-saurus' jaw tendon he shoved between his back and the backpack was a reliable shield for his back. He agonized over the Rakshasa's absence.

"Did the monster appear?" Professor Orifice asked without a hint of fear on his face.

"I smell blood. I can't tell what's happening because we're too far. I believe it's an unconfirmed animal(UMA)."

"Really? Olala, it's an unconfirmed animal, then? This is exciting. Giz, that b*stard. He'll be so disappointed. He once published a paper about how ghosts and monsters are none other than an error of the human brain, you see. It's not a lie but a mistake. Shernion, you need to take photos of this. Giz is about the same age as Alain Delon. It'll be a sight to see his handsome old face frown. Kehehehe!" Professor Orifice shouted in excitement.

Black Mamba snorted in astonishment. He looked about as excited as a lover who received a call from their partner on Christmas Eve. It was said that cats raised among tigers regarded themselves as tigers, and Professor Orifice was behaving the same way.

"The opponent isn't human. If you act out of the blue, there will be trouble. The world isn't everything as it seems. There's a saying that curiosity killed the cat."

"A creature that is non-existent in this world? That's scary. So what! I'm not a cat."

Professor Shernion smiled and attached a telephoto lens with a 15x zoom ratio to the camera. His face was full of expectation and curiosity.

Ugh, I'd rather not talk.

Black Mamba was at a loss for words.

"Yes, what else? There's nothing to life but a good solid blow. There's a real monstrous friend here, so what's the worry? Will the philanthropist who cared for a dying man truly ignore his friends in danger?"

Professor Orifice kept talking about the one lucky hit of his life. The two immature middle-aged men fearlessly continued their conversation as though they believed Black Mamba to be their trustworthy guard. Either that or they didn't understand the graveness of the situation.

"Anyway, you can't distract me from the fight."

"Oh, come on. I'm someone who crawled my way through the Indochina forests in my youth."

"Ha! Right."

Black Mamba grabbed the back of his neck. He had a feeling that his life would get much more tiresome with Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion in it.

The sun rose high in the sky. The ground sizzled as light reflected off the crystal rocks onto the sand. There were sparse bushes and grass all over while flies hovered around. It meant that there was water nearby.

There was a flipside to the Ennedi Plateau. There were no flies or mosquitoes. Since there was no water within several kilometers on both sides, flies and mosquitoes had no opportunity to breed.

Bang Bang—

The MP5 started spewing fire.

Keegh—

A hyena jumped out from a pile of grass. It spun once in its place and collapsed.

It seems like I was too nervous.

Black Mamba felt awkward. He'd killed an innocent animal. He was on edge because of his friends who couldn't fight. Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion started arguing over the possibility of hyenas living in Ennedi or if they had crossed the desert by coincidence. They really were fearless people.

The Jeep crossed the dunes. The musty smell of water washed over them. Blue light shined through the red sandstone rocks. It was the Serir lakes. He heard there were seven small lakes to the east and six small lakes to the west, with Lake Teli located in the center. However, he couldn't see them because the dunes blocked his view.

The Jeep drove around an enormous pyramid-shaped dune. The color blue filled their view.

"Ola! It's the lake!" Professor Shernion shouted as he narrowed his eyes.

A blue lake spread before them. Like a fan, there were long lakes to the right and left of the large lake. Professor Shernion immediately picked up his camera.

"Stop!"

The car stopped 400 meters before the lake. He could smell the lingering scent of blood. It was strong enough to knock out his sense of smell. Black Mamba's expression grew dark. He didn't have the freedom to enjoy the sight of water glistening under the strong sunlight.

The silent lake overflowing with killing intent seemed like it would explode any moment. The killing intent didn't belong to a zombie. There had already been bloodshed. The reeds and acacia trees that surrounded the lake were destroyed and uprooted.

He could see two objects floating in the lake. He utilized his eyesight. The lake's scenery zoomed into focus before him as though he had used a zoom lens. They were the heads of camels. There were no bodies, just their heads floating around.

Black Mamba turned to the long lake located next to the main lake. There was the perpetrator.

Do chimpanzees like water?

Black Mamba tilted his head. Monkeys lived in Ennedi too. They were the Cape baboons and Savanna baboons. Chimpanzees were primates that lived in forests. The figure submerged in the water was large compared to a chimpanzee. Its straight black hair, thick shoulder muscles, thick arms, and built body resembled a chimpanzee. However, it wasn't one. Despite its angular features, its eyes were narrow, and clearly, it was black and white like a human. Its small mouth didn't stick out, and its sharp nose resembled a human.

"Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa, it's the monster. It's at the bottom left side of Lake Teli," Ahmad's voice wavered as he watched the monster through his binoculars.

"I am looking."

Black Mamba sounded calm. The chimpanzee-looking monster was larger than a silverback gorilla. From what he could tell from its exposed upper body, it was 240 centimeters tall and weighed around 300 to 350 kilograms.

The monster slowly turned its body.

"So it is a chimera?" Black Mamba muttered.

Its back was scaly like an alligator. It was the genetically engineered creature he had heard from Bonipas. Moreover, the creature carried human genomes.

"Damn b*stards, I'll crush you all," Black Mamba said through gritted teeth.

The monster's background worried him more than the monster itself. The reason why he broke up the Vodou religion was because of the zombies. Those who trampled on the dignity of humans were those who had given up on being human.

The U.S. was the only country with enough funds and bioengineering technology to create a chimera. It had to be a part of the MK Ultra project that the CIA was operating. France had dissolved the Arago Project, but it was rumored that the U.S. resumed their biological experiments somewhere in the Mojave Desert.

How far could human greed and malice go? Human greed had ultimately placed another human on the operation bed as an experiment subject. The U.S. had been outraged by the massacre of Jews but remained silent about the biological experiments executed by Japan. There were even rumors about unit 731's research papers being handed over to the U.S. The Yankee b*stards preached about human rights in other countries but conducted biological experiments of their own. He was the epitome of the Korean saying, "Romantic men are illicit men."

"Let me see."

Professor Orifice took over Ahmad's binoculars.

"Ho, what is that? It's a chimera."

Professor Orifice took a deep breath. A chimpanzee with an exposed upper body and a lower body submerged in water, no, a komodo filled his viewfinder. Professor Orifice's synapses activated, recalling the humanoid UMA's in his memories, such as the Yeti, Bigfoot, and chupacabra.

"Amazing. Shernion, take pictures!"

Professor Shernion raised his camera.

Click—

Click—

The camera shutter clicked away.

Damn, it noticed!

Black Mamba clicked his tongue. The monster's ears flinched before it turned its body around. Its fiery red eyes filled the camera lens. Those were eyes filled with bloodthirst and resentment.

"Woah!"

Surprised, Professor Shernion dropped his camera. The monster opened its mouth.

Guoooo—

A low and heavy howling played like an orchestra testing the strings collectively at once. The air rippled like water.

Bang—

A strong explosion rang. It went beyond 200 decibels. The pressure wave hit Professor Shernion and Professor Orifice. Their surrounding air heated up. It was similar to the shockwave produced by a cannon shell at close range.

"Ugh!"

Professor Orifice dropped the binoculars and wrapped his arms around his head. His intestines twisted, and his head blanked out as though he'd been knocked over by a hammer. Drool dripped down the corner of Professor Shernion's mouth. Even Ahmad's face lost its color.

Whoosh—

The ground shook.

"No, ELF[1]?!"

Black Mamba's mouth hung open. The creature's ELF attack had a different mechanism compared to blacky's ELF attack. Blacky would either release the resonance waves in a straight line to shake the water molecules of a living organism or suck in the air between two-layered frequency lines to pierce a hole through a target.

That b*stard pushed out compressed air with sound waves. At very high pressure, air rose rapidly in temperature. It created a ball of air that would burst after reaching a critical point, and the heat and pressure waves would then strike the target.

The monster's ELF attack mechanism was similar to the way snapping shrimps attacked their targets. The snapping shrimps knocked their pincers simultaneously to produce high-pressure and high-speed cavitation bubbles. A large sound and impact rang once the air bubbles burst. A creature larger than a snapping shrimp could be knocked out.

While it lacked in comparison to blacky's ELF attack, the fact that it could target someone 400 meters away without falling apart was more important.

"Is the world about to get messed up? Why are strange things popping up here and there?"

Although it was a weak ELF attack, it had done damage to his friends. The monster opened its mouth once more. He could clearly see the air vibrating violently.

"Guooo-"

"Om-"

The moment the monster tried to attack, a powerful growl erupted from Black Mamba's mouth. The ELF attack, which Black Mamba imitated and spat out, landed right on the monster's air bubble.

Bang—

It burst.

Whoosh—

A small whirlwind broke out at the point where Black Mamba and the monster's attacks met. Dense sand flew everywhere.

The lower belly of the raging monster expanded quickly.

Guooooo—

Another frequency attack rang as its lower belly fell back in. Black Mamba, whose inner eye was activated, could see the exact trajectory of the compressed air.

"Om…"

Bang—

Whoosh—

The air bubble exploded, and sand swirled up. It was a never-before-seen contest of frequency attacks and sound sniping.

"Woah…"

Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion, who had recovered from their shock, looked on with their mouths wide open.

"Shernion, did you see that?"

"I did. Professor Mussolini would probably hit the ground in regret for missing this adventure."

The two were excited by the unbelievable exchanges between a monster and a monster-like human. The immature middle-aged men were truly unstoppable.

"Wait, that b*stard's really angry. Hurry, take a picture. Ah!" Professor Orifice shouted.

Kuagh—

The monster, which primitive instincts were running at full force, ran out of the water. It wasn't a chimpanzee. A long and thick tail stuck out between its legs.

The monster sprinted fast, despite its large body. A cloud of dust followed its trail. The distance was reduced by the time they exclaimed.

"Huh, it's faster than a cheetah."

Whoosh—

Black Mamba, who had been sitting in the Jeep's front seat, hurled his body out. He spun once in the air and bounced off the floor, extending his body in flight like a high-tension spring. The distance between the monster and himself was reduced immediately.

The firing of a machine gun broke out in the air.

Tatata—

His three-tap firing sequence commenced. The monster was hampered by the continuous hits to its head and chest.

Kegh—

After suffering three rounds of the three-tap firing sequence, the monster flinched back. Sensing danger, the monster started moving in zig-zags to avoid the bullets. It behaved similarly to a rattlesnake.

"Is it smart, or is that just instincts?"

The gun spewed bullets without rest. The monster tried its best, but the bullets never missed its body. It couldn't avoid the god-level sniping paired with dimensional sight at close range. The monster collapsed after receiving 30 bullet hits.

"Wow!" Professor Orifice and Professor Shernion exclaimed.

"Ahmad, pull back the car and hide in the shade!" his shout resounded.

Ahmad turned the car around and shoved it deep between several sandstone pillars. Without delay, Jamal followed him to hide his car. There was always a reason behind Sir Ddu-bai-buru-pa's orders.

Black Mamba frowned and swapped out his magazine. The monster's life force hadn't come to an end yet. Its undefeatable shell was not affected by several rounds of bullets.

The monster on the floor twisted its body around. The monster's skin rippled like waves. The embedded bullets fell out of its body. Parabellum bullets had weak penetrative force. That b*stard wasn't something that could be done in by an MP5.

"It really is a biological weapon. Damn Yankee b*stards, should I test out my billion's water armor then? Ugh!"

Black Mamba leaped. The sand under his feet shot up like a geyser and a metal stick the width of his arm swept past the spot where he was standing. It was an attack that would have broken his legs into pieces had he not sensed it. There was another b*stard.

Black Mamba, who had shot up into the air, instinctively bashed his machine gun down on the new opponent's head. Black Mamba's strength, combined with gravity, was enough to separate the metal stick into half.

Crack—

However, instead of the monster's head, the MP5 broke. Fragments of the machine gun scattered everywhere.

[1] Extremely-low frequency.