John rolled to side and dodged the Mother Poptop's charge.

"Woah!" Lenny, who was behind John, clumsy jumped away from the charge. He was still handcuffed so his movements was somewhat awkward since he didn't had his his hands to offer him balance.

*Bang, bang, bang*

After he finished rolling, John gave the beast a triple shot.

*Roarrrrrrrrrrr!!!!*

It was ineffective. The energy bullets only left some charred marks on the Mother Poptop's body.

John's mouth gaped open, [How the hell I'm going to deal with this... This monster!?]

The beast swang its large arms toward John. The claws in the hands almost cut him in half if it wasn't for him unconsciously evading the attack.

He jumped backward to create some distance. But it was to no avail. The monster charged once again and fiercely attacked.

The Mother Poptop's attacks never stopped. John was getting exhausted from all the evasive motions that he had to continuously do. The onslaught was neverending.

"Hey!!!" Lenny shouted, "Give me the key for the handcuffs!!"

John dodged the creature's claws once again and took the moment between its attacks to reach for the key in his Inventory and then he threw toward Lenny.

Lenny jumped high in the air and caught the key. With a couple of swift movements he opened the handcuffs. He happily smiled.

He looked at John who was having difficulty to keep dodging and then took his Tungsten Sniper Rifle from his own Inventory.

*Bang*

The recoil made the sniper jump a little, but Lenny skillfully returned it to normal and aimed again. The bulled just scratch the side of the creature's body.

*Bang*

*Roarrrr!!!*

This time the bullet pierced deep into the body of the Mother Poptop.

John looked with a surprise face at Lenny.

The creature turned around and focused its red, and filled with anger eyes, at Lenny.

*Bang...*

The sniper rifle shot again and this time it pierced the right eye of the creature.

*Roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!*

The Poptop started to swing its arms everywhere while slowly retreating.

*Cling*

The bulled case hit the floor as Lenny prepared to shoot again, "This thing won't go down easily" He grimly said, "I only have one more bullet!" He shouted to John.

John who was almost relieved that the monster was about to die, froze when he heard Lenny, [Fuck...] He cursed in his mind, [What to do, what to do? Think, think] John's mind raced as he tried to come up with something to help them get out of this predicament.

[Right!] He suddenly thought of something, "Lenny! When I throw something at the beast you have to make sure to hit the thing!" John shouted to Lenny.

Lenny confusedly looked at John, but he still got ready to fire. He fixed his aim and focused on the scope.

John reached for the Inventory, while the beast was occupied wailing in pain, and took a red and oval stone. It was a Core Fragment. He threw the Core Fragment in the direction of the monster and started to run away.

Lenny focused at the stone he was seeing through the scope. Time seemed to slow down for him. This usually happen when he was too focused in something. This is what allowed him to became one of the best shooters of the universe.

*Bang*

The bullet left the muzzle and went directly toward the Core Fragment.

*BOOOOOOOOM*

The whole mine shook with the explosion that came from the Core Fragment that was hit by the bullet. The explosion sent a huge amount of dust and debris into the air, covering the entire dome in a cloud of dust.

John was sent flying since he was very close to the explosion. He hit the wall of the dome and sprayed a mouthful of blood.

Lenny left better off. He was 30 meters away from the explosion, so he was only hit by the shockwave. He looked at the cloud of dust in the distance, [Damn, that small thing really can make some damage] He thought.

*...roar...*

Lenny's expression changed when he heard the faint roar, [How!? That thing still alive!?]

When the dust cloud settled down Lenny was able to see that the Mother Poptop was only alive because of its huge vitality. Almost half of its body was blown away. It was a matter of time for it to die.

Lenny walked over John, "Hey are you okay?" Lenny asked the bloodied figure of John.

"*Cough* Somehow..." John weakly stood up and started coughing blood.

"Well..." Lenny looked at the blocked tunnel, "What do we do now?"

"Let rest for a while..." John fell on the ground and closed his eyes.

"Alright then..." Lenny shrugged his shoulders. He sat down and started to clean his weapons.

John rested for little before he stood up and walked toward the blocked tunnel.

He took the Matter Manipulator and pointed at the tunnel. He watched as the light slowly encompassed the entire debris on the way.

When it finished John's face changed. His PIPS sent him the notice that to mine his way out he would need to use almost 3000 UE. That would mean that he would have stay almost 10 days in the dome. If he alternate with using a pickaxe, that are lying everywhere in the floor, and the Matter Manipulator maybe we could get out in about 6 to 7 days.

John helplessly stared at the tunnel than proceeded to look at his Inventory. At least he had enough food and water to survive for a month.

"How about it?" Lenny approached from behind.

"It is possible to open the path, but it is going to take a few days, about 6 to 7"

"Damn. That fucker would have already left and being very far from here" Lenny started to curse.

"Protector" John heard S.A.I.L's voice coming from his PIPS, "I'm detecting a radio signal coming from deeper into the mine"

"Hm?" John looked at the tunnel that the Mother Poptop had appeared.