Chapter 24

"What did he say?"

"He refused and said he's really cool."

"Damn... Did he notice something?"

"That's unclear."

The two voices fell silent simultaneously.

This was an abandoned building, filled with corpses. The black blood had dried, leaving a shocking sight on the walls and floor.

The two men stood on a beam above.

One man held a ball of ghost fire in his hand.

The other man wore a gray rhinoceros mask.

After a moment, the man holding the ghost fire said, "Guess, this kid isn't falling for it. Why don't we just give up?"

"Give up? Ghost Flame, do you think the reward we just got was for nothing?" the man with the gray rhinoceros mask said.

Ghost Flame thought for a moment and said, "I've used ghost fire to catch many people, but no one has ever said they were cool—his brain must be messed up."

"Then we have to kill him even more," Guess said in a deep voice. "While he's only seventeen and hasn't fully grown, I want him to taste true despair before he dies."

"Your puppet said he can defeat the guy on Corpse Mountain, and you can't beat that guy," Ghost Flame said.

"But no one has ever dealt with two powerful beings with over 10 points of soul power at the same time—not even Xiao Baihong was spared by us," Guess said.

"The boss can."

"We're not provoking the boss; we just want to kill this kid."

"Then... should we take him out?"

"Let's go. I have ways to find him, after all—"

Guess looked down.

On the ground, all the corpses raised their heads, opened their gray eyes, and looked up at him.

"Where there are corpses, that's my domain," Guess said viciously.

...

Wu Xiaode glanced at the time.

Two minutes.

A battle of this intensity had erupted in just two minutes.

"Lan, you're really strong," he said, staring at Xia Huilan.

"Not really, I'm just an ordinary person. Xia Ni was meant for self-defense; I can't reveal it unless it's absolutely necessary, or—," Xia Huilan didn't finish.

Wu Xiaode nodded slightly.

Yes.

This combat robot was too astonishing. Once exposed, the whole world would be in an uproar.

Then, Xia Huilan would have nowhere to hide.

And she was just an ordinary person.

"Lan, is it because you created such a powerful robot that those people are making things difficult for you?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"No," Xia Huilan shook her head. "This is just the 92024 model. The truly terrifying one is the 92025..."

"Why didn't you bring the 92025 model?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"It's not complete yet," Xia Huilan said.

Before Wu Xiaode could ask, she explained, "It's groundbreaking, but I didn't have time to do more. The higher-ups were eager for me to hand over the results, even though they weren't complete—those fools don't understand what I'm doing, but they want to claim the credit."

"It's strange, why can't they wait?" Wu Xiaode said.

"Because if they wait any longer, the results will belong to me, not them," Xia Huilan said with a mocking tone.

"It seems the competition in the scientific community is intense too," Wu Xiaode remarked.

Xia Huilan said, "When there are no results, everyone is just a person. Once groundbreaking results appear... we are as ruthless as nature."

Neither of them continued speaking.

Because the battle ahead had taken a new turn.

The monster approached again.

It had no wounds.

Xia Ni said softly, "Battle conclusion:"

"The current monster shares all the characteristics of intermediate monsters in other data."

"—No soul power, unable to harm intermediate monsters."

"Battle decision complete."

"Current strategy: delay time."

"Xia Huilan, Wu Xiaode, please run in opposite directions. I will buy you some time."

Wu Xiaode glanced at the monster.

Its body was enormous, and it clearly had many powers it hadn't used yet.

Otherwise, why would this passage be full of bones?

If he encountered such a monster alone, he wouldn't use his five points of soul power to fight it.

The best choice was to run.

Run out of this underground passage, completely away from its territory.

At this moment,

Wu Xiaode finally understood the message in the S-Class Club announcement:

"Given the increasing number of deaths among professionals, the only recognized principle of action is: survival."

"—Don't have any illusions, this is a revival of darkness and fear."

Wu Xiaode no longer hesitated, picked up Xia Huilan, and said,

"Let's go, Lan!"

Xia Huilan didn't resist, wrapping her arms around his neck.

—Run!

Wu Xiaode took a step and sprinted toward the other end of the dark passage.

As he moved, a "rustling" sound came from the ceiling above.

Wu Xiaode was startled.

It turned out a monster had already silently arrived above their position.

If they had continued to stand there, he might have been able to hold on, but Xia Huilan wouldn't have been able to withstand the monster's attack!

Wu Xiaode gritted his teeth and sped up.

However, the "rustling" sound from the ceiling became more urgent and frequent.

Its speed was even faster than Wu Xiaode's, and it was about to catch up!

"Xia Ni, return to defense."

Xia Huilan said urgently.

Rustle—

The ceiling suddenly broke open, and another man-headed snake monster dove down, lunging at Wu Xiaode.

It was too late!

If it were just Wu Xiaode, he could have turned into a crow and flown away, but now with Xia Huilan, he had only one choice.

"Lan, hide behind me!"

He spun Xia Huilan behind him and turned to face the man-headed snake monster.

The floating Book of the Dead suddenly displayed two lines of icy text:

"You have exhausted 5 points of soul power, barely using the Iron Wire Fist Secret Technique:"

"—Iron Hand Blocking the River!"

Wu Xiaode took a deep breath, and golden light suddenly appeared around his wrists, forming rings that spun continuously.

The man-headed snake monster's scales trembled, and it hovered in mid-air, spitting out a beam of white light from a distance.

—It can spit light!

Wu Xiaode's skin crawled.

This reminded him of the Death Pit and the giant cyclops's red beam.

"Ah—Die!"

Wu Xiaode roared like thunder, raised his hands, and slammed them forward in a powerful strike.

An incredible scene unfolded.

The spinning golden rings on his hands suddenly disappeared.

Boom!

The air trembled.

The white light spewed by the snake monster was hit by something and flew back at an even faster speed.

The air along its path screamed as if being torn apart.

The white light pierced through the snake monster's open mouth, exiting from the back of its head and vanishing.

A deafening boom echoed from deep in the tunnel.

Xia Ni suddenly appeared and said softly, "Confirmed, the weak point of this monster is its head."

"Understood."

Wu Xiaode felt his arms weak and his body drained.

This Iron Hand Blocking the River technique not only used up his five points of soul power but also exhausted his mental and physical strength.

It was too much of a stretch.

For such a secret technique, using over 10 points of soul power would be necessary to unleash its true power!

—But there was no other choice just now.

Behind Xia Ni, the man-headed snake monster was charging again.

Wu Xiaode stood his ground, his face filled with killing intent, and roared, "Come on, stop using these trash moves. If you have the guts, come and fight me properly!"

He then assumed the starting stance of Iron Hand Blocking the River again.

The man-headed snake monster slowed down, its eyes showing caution.

It glanced at the corpses on the ground, flicking its tongue, seemingly considering how to deal with Wu Xiaode.

—It had seen what happened just now.

"Raven, quickly!"

Wu Xiaode shouted.

The Raven Spirit called out, circling the dead snake monster's body.

Points of light entered its wings and were then passed to Wu Xiaode.

The Book of the Dead displayed a line of icy text:

"You have gained excessive soul power."

"Thanks to the Raven of Death's soul power absorption, your soul power limit has been further broken."

"Current soul power: 6/6."

"Your soul power has reached 6 points, so your physical strength has been slightly enhanced."

Wu Xiaode's hands were no longer numb.

"Why so much soul power?" Wu Xiaode asked quietly, staring at the monster.

The raven flew back and landed on his shoulder, saying, "That guy was fierce. If you hadn't reflected its attack and hit it in the mouth, it probably wouldn't have been killed, so the soul power gain was substantial."

Wu Xiaode suddenly frowned.

The man-headed monster was trying to advance again.

"Xia Ni, can you escape with someone?"

"The place is too narrow. For safety, I can take one person," Xia Ni said softly.

"Take Lan. I can fly and catch up from behind," Wu Xiaode said.

"Okay."

Xia Ni stepped forward, hugged Xia Huilan, and a burst of light shot from her back.

In an instant, the world turned into a blur as they sped away.

Xia Ni's speed was very fast, and they were out of the battle zone in just a few seconds.

"Wait, what about Wu Xiaode?"

Xia Huilan couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry, he's behind. Now that we know he can transform into a bird, we have 5427 more strategies," Xia Ni said softly.

Xia Huilan was stunned.

Little Wu can turn into a bird?

She couldn't help but look back.

A black bird was flapping its wings, flying quickly behind them.

Occasionally, it would stop, transform back into human form, and briefly engage the man-headed snake monster.

Once it forced the monster back, Little Wu would immediately transform back into a bird and fly toward them.

Xia Huilan bit her lip, her eyes flickering.

"Sister, your heart is beating too fast," Xia Ni whispered.

"This won't do. I thought I could help without using soul power..." Xia Huilan said.

Xia Ni's eyes lit up.

"Sister, you're allowing me to use soul power?" she asked hopefully.

"Use it," Xia Huilan said through gritted teeth.

Xia Ni, holding Xia Huilan, made a sharp turn in mid-air and flew back.

At this moment, Wu Xiaode had just thrown a punch at the monster.

Both the man and the monster were pushed back a bit.

Suddenly,

A bolt of lightning streaked past the monster's side.

Xia Ni, holding Xia Huilan in one arm, appeared a few hundred meters away, her other hand glowing with continuous lightning.

The monster's body twitched uncontrollably.

"Xiao Wu," Xia Ni smiled.

Wu Xiaode had already transformed into a crow and flown up, instantly turning back into himself and delivering a powerful hammer strike to the monster's head.

Bang!

The monster's skull cracked, and its brain splattered.

Two monsters down!