Chapter Sixty-Nine: C4 and Grenades

With the concerted efforts of everyone, the stalled armored train finally regained power. Sacrificing two of its engine cars, it roared and slowly began to move once more. Not far away, the sandworm once again noticed its nemesis—the very train that had left it battered and humiliated. Swinging its massive body around, it lunged toward the armored train once more.

The train, now burdened with a full load of passengers and shielded on all sides by heavy iron plating, was already enormously heavy. With two engines lost, its speed was reduced to a snail’s pace—slower than an ox cart. The sandworm, meanwhile, crashed through several nearby buildings and was closing in, threatening the entire armored convoy. Meng Longwei himself took the driver’s seat, flooring the accelerator, but the train barely crawled along.

Suddenly, the staccato of an anti-aircraft machine gun erupted from a nearby high-rise. Bullets whistled through the air, drawing a line of fire across the ground, then swiftly laced into the sandworm’s body. The gunner’s skill was impressive—the muzzle held low, the dense 12.7mm rounds nearly severed the sandworm in half.

The sandworm heard that unforgettable, hated sound. The intense pain drove it into a frenzy. Though nearly bisected, its formidable regenerative powers healed the wounds in an instant. Abandoning its pursuit of the armored train, it roared and charged toward the source of the gunfire.

Zhao Qiang was the one firing. He understood that if he didn’t seize this opportunity to deal with the sandworm, the consequences would be dire—whether they were ambushed en route or the creature was led to the prison, neither outcome was acceptable. Zhao Qiang was frustrated; all he had was a single anti-aircraft machine gun, barely enough to hurt the sandworm, and a few fragmentation grenades. If he could get one inside the sandworm’s belly and detonate it, it might have some effect, but if it exploded outside, it probably wouldn’t work as well as a Molotov cocktail.

Still, Zhao Qiang’s efforts paid off. The armored train had now escaped, and the sandworm was desperately closing in on his position.

There was no time to linger—the moment the sandworm arrived, the building would almost certainly become a pile of rubble. Seeing his goal achieved, Zhao Qiang slung his gun and turned to run.

“Zhao!” A figure stepped from the shadows, blocking his path.

“Scimitar?” Zhao Qiang instantly recognized him, but there was no time for questions. Without breaking stride, he shouted, “No time, let's go!”

Scimitar didn’t waste words. Grabbing his weapon, he ran after Zhao Qiang, asking as they fled, “Any plan?”

Zhao Qiang replied, “Plan? Hell no! Just run! I nearly shot that thing in half and it’s still coming. First, we need to draw it away!”

The two of them burst from the high-rise just as the sandworm crashed in behind them. In the chaos that followed, the twenty-story building collapsed with a thunderous roar.

A rain of debris chased Zhao Qiang and Scimitar as they sprinted for hundreds of meters, barely making it to safety, where they leaned against a wall, gasping for breath.

“What are you doing here?” Zhao Qiang was still shaken. The collapse had filled the air with choking dust, visibility was near zero, and both men were covered head to toe in a layer of gray-yellow grime.

Scimitar, breathing heavily, replied, “You can’t handle that beast alone. I came to see if I could help.”

“Is that thing finished? It’s been a while and I haven’t seen any movement.” Zhao Qiang pulled out two cigarettes, handing one to Scimitar, lit his own, and took a drag.

Scimitar glanced toward the ruined building and shook his head. “No idea. The visibility is terrible, can’t see a thing.”

Inside the collapsed building, the sandworm rampaged. The supporting walls couldn’t withstand the massive force, snapping and collapsing in succession until the entire structure gave way. The sandworm had no concept of danger; it only knew its greatest enemy was here and it was determined to root it out.

When the building fell, tens of thousands of tons of reinforced concrete crashed down, pinning the sandworm in the basement. It was a long time before it recovered. Half its body had been crushed to pulp, but this mutant creature cared nothing for its lost flesh. With a desperate struggle, it finally broke free from the wreckage.

“Find a way to stick this to the sandworm,” Scimitar said as the ominous noises from behind signaled the creature’s return. He pulled two tightly wrapped, stick-shaped objects from his pack, tossing one to Zhao Qiang.

Zhao Qiang caught it. It was heavy, with a faint scent of ginkgo. “What’s this?” he asked.

Scimitar, fiddling with something, answered offhandedly, “C4.”

Zhao Qiang was stunned. He knew full well what C4 was—a highly efficient explosive, a blend of TNT, semtex, and white phosphorus, capable of being ground into a powder, shaped at will, and molded into any form. Easily smuggled past x-ray machines, it was a favorite among criminal organizations, and its high explosive yield made it popular with the military as well. Wherever it was found, it was more tightly regulated than heroin.

He was holding a full kilo of C4. Though he wasn’t sure of its exact power, from movie experience alone, he knew this little package could easily bring down a two-story house.

There was no time to ask where Scimitar had gotten such a prize—assuming he was ex-military, Zhao Qiang didn’t pursue it. After a quick rundown of precautions, Zhao Qiang pulled out his fragmentation grenades. With a few deft moves, he securely lashed the grenade to the C4.

Zhao Qiang glanced at Scimitar. Without a word, he hefted the anti-aircraft machine gun and stepped out from behind their cover.

The sandworm had just burst from the ruins when gunfire erupted nearby. It had been searching for a target—now, hearing the shots, it flew into a rage, charging without hesitation.

“Hey, over here!” Zhao Qiang shouted, firing as he clenched a crumpled Baisha cigarette between his teeth, looking for all the world like a T-800 from Terminator 2. Spent shells flew everywhere, and the gun’s fierce recoil sent clouds of dust billowing from his clothes.

Zhao Qiang seemed oblivious to the fact that the sandworm’s massive maw—capable of swallowing a heavy truck—was now less than a hundred meters away. He kept firing.

Just as the sandworm was about to crush Zhao Qiang, he flung his gun aside, pulled out the modified C4, yanked the pin from the grenade, and hurled it at the sandworm. The creature, oblivious to such a tiny object, swallowed the explosive whole.

Only then did Zhao Qiang slip past the sandworm, narrowly dodging its deadly charge by the thinnest of margins.