Players, Please Board the Train

”Originally, with this riddle in hand, I could have left the dungeon quickly. It’s just a shame that no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find the item mentioned in the riddle. In the end, you got the advantage.”

”But whoever opens the door is fine. Since it’s an item, if I kill you, that thing will still belong to me.”

”Living in your current state is worse than death anyway. Let me send you on your way!”

As the words fell, a flying arrow shot down from above, aiming straight for Xu Huo’s head!

”Be careful!” Gu Yu exclaimed in alarm. Xu Huo, who had been pinning the injured Mutant on the suspension bridge, suddenly flipped over, using it as a shield in front of him. When the flying arrow pierced through the Mutant’s skull and emerged, he raised his hand to catch it, perfectly wedging it between his palm bones!

Kicking away the Mutant’s corpse and jumping up, Xu Huo pulled the arrow from his palm, swung his arm for momentum, and directly hurled it toward Lin Pei ahead. As the arrow flew out, he himself rapidly followed up with astonishing speed!

Lin Pei frowned and retreated, concentrating his mind to make the flying arrow change direction and attack Xu Huo again!

But this time, Xu Huo picked up the crimson sword, deflected the flying arrow while kicking both feet into Lin Pei’s chest, forcing him back several meters. Just as he was about to raise his sword for a thrust, Lin Pei swiftly grabbed Shen Xin nearby and used her as a shield!

Xu Huo’s movement paused, but Shen Xin instead stabbed a knife backward into Lin Pei’s abdomen, shouting with hatred: ”Die!”

In pain, Lin Pei threw Shen Xin toward Gu Yu and the others coming up from behind while recalling the flying arrow with a hand gesture. None of the players here were his match, but the mutated Xu Huo was clearly much stronger than before. Only by killing him would Lin Pei have a chance to survive!However, Xu Huo, facing him directly, seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. He turned and slashed through the air, cleanly cutting the already close flying arrow in two!

”Clang! Clang!”

The fragments of the flying arrow fell down, hitting the iron plates of the suspension bridge before dropping into the Mutant horde below, provoking the creatures into another frenzy. Several Mutants, unable to reach the suspension bridge, began climbing the grille, attempting to leap onto the bridge from higher positions!

”Go! We need to go now!” Ke Liang, seeing this, pulled Gu Yu and Shen Xin forward while saying to Gu Yu: ”We’re powerless to help anymore. Survival is what matters most!”

Gu Yu glanced back one more time at Xu Huo confronting Lin Pei, gritted her teeth, and increased her speed!

Although there were several meters of distance on either side of the suspension bridge, the Mutants’ actions were still terrifying. Though they acted on instinct, with such massive numbers, there was no guarantee some wouldn’t retain a certain level of intelligence!

Gu Yu and the others were almost out of sight. Realizing he couldn’t afford to keep engaging with Xu Huo any longer, Lin Pei pulled the dagger from his abdomen, threw out his Spring Rope to latch onto the steel cable and swing into the air, then grabbed a healing potion and hastily poured it into his mouth!

But Xu Huo exploded with power from his feet, denting the steel plate as he used the force to leap up and grab Lin Pei’s ankle!

The sword in his hand fell downward. At this moment, half of Xu Huo’s face had turned bluish-black, with his lips and teeth showing signs of the same transformation. He opened his mouth and bit toward Lin Pei’s calf!

”Let go! Let go!” Lin Pei, holding onto the rope with one hand, took out a small knife with the other and bent down to stab at Xu Huo’s hand. But seeing that Xu Huo remained expressionless even as two bloody holes appeared on his arm, Lin Pei realized this person wasn’t quite right mentally. Panicking, he roared: ”Only Mutants eat people! Are you still human?”

Xu Huo’s movements suddenly froze. Seizing the opportunity, Lin Pei kicked him away!

Landing back on the suspension bridge, Xu Huo’s face twitched violently. After teetering on the line between rationality and madness, he abandoned killing Lin Pei and turned back toward Decibel Town!

Just as he stepped through the wall gate, the pulley chain suddenly snapped, causing the suspended gate to begin falling. Lin Pei, inside the gate, watched as Mutants flooded into Decibel Town from the narrow passage, shouting: ”Xu Huo! Just die in Decibel Town and keep Wu Qiuyi company!”

Xu Huo didn’t pause his steps, quickly jumping into the small truck’s driver seat and starting the vehicle. After kicking away Mutants appearing at the windows, he slammed on the accelerator!

The truck surged forward violently, but numerous Mutants still managed to jump into the truck bed. Turning the steering wheel to shake off Mutants clawing at the back of his seat, he heard pounding sounds and looked back toward the wall direction—a flashlight fallen on the ground happened to be shining toward the gate. In the flickering light and shadows, continuous streams of Mutants were running out from under the descending gate. Many of them still wore clothing fragments, both men and women among them!

Xu Huo suddenly understood what the game background meant about mourning guests suffering frenzied retaliation from security and residents!

In Decibel Town, everyone injured by Mutants eventually mutated into half-human, half-monster creatures. But these monsters weren’t killed—they were locked behind the wall gates. Maybe for experiments, maybe intentionally done. In any case, the East Gate wasn’t an exit from the town, but an openly obvious trap!

After Master Nise’s death, there was no one left in charge of the town. If the East Gate were opened, it would inevitably lead to a massacre. With such large numbers of Mutants hiding behind the massive wall gates, for a town that had lost its value, rather than spending effort to exterminate them all, it was better to seal the place off.

He had found it somewhat strange earlier—there were only four Mutants in the town, not difficult to kill, yet the townspeople chose to relocate, leaving these Mutants behind. So this was the real reason!

There was no grave for Master Nise in the town, and his residence had been intact previously, indicating someone had taken his body away. Why take his body?

There were too many possibilities.

That short Mutant might have been Master Nise’s granddaughter, but it was clearly more powerful than other Mutants. Was this individual variation or an experimental result?

Master Nise must have tried many methods in his attempt to save his granddaughter, possibly experimenting on others and even on himself. If he truly obtained a method for perfect evolution, would he have tried it on himself?

He didn’t want the Stellar Corporation to know about this method—did that mean the method was still hidden somewhere in the town?

Xu Huo convulsed violently. In the rearview mirror, the bluish-black veins on his face were spreading toward the right side. Losing control, he grabbed a Mutant stuck in the window barking wildly at him, snapped its neck with one hand, then kicked both it and the car door it was stuck in flying out!

Watching the Mutant crash against a tree, its abdominal cavity bursting open from the dented car door and dying, he paused. His left hand pressed against the other car door and clenched forcefully—a palm print immediately appeared on the steel-made door panel!

Frenzied evolution!

Whether it was hearing, vision, strength, speed, or thinking—everything about Xu Huo was undergoing frenzied evolution in a short time. The biological hunting instinct made him crave energy even more intensely during this frenzied evolution. This instinct combined with hunting ability would completely turn him into an inhuman monster!

Punching himself hard in the face, Xu Huo suppressed the impulse to go out and tear into Mutants with his teeth. He floored the accelerator, charging into the town with continuously climbing Mutants piling into the truck bed!

The Gas Station soon appeared in view. He crashed into it with the vehicle, the front end crumpling upon impact. Using his tremendous strength to counteract the inertia that would have thrown him forward, he leaped out through the front window, jumped up to grab the gas station canopy’s steel frame, kicked two feet to create a large hole in it, then grabbed his piano wire to swing upward while lighting his Lighter!