The two women opened their mouths wide, ready to fight back, but the scythe sliced across their waists, and the sudden black figure appeared before them.
The horror was indescribable. Zhong Rongrong’s mouth hung open as she felt the world spin; she couldn’t even let out a scream, unable to comprehend what was happening or why the corridor before her seemed to be rotating. It was only when she abruptly saw her own lower half standing in place, blood spurting out, that she jolted awake—she had been cut in half at the waist, and her upper body was falling, which was why the corridor appeared to be flipping.
As her upper body crashed heavily onto the corridor floor, Zhong Rongrong’s eyes bulged wide, her consciousness blurring. Many sights seemed to race away from her, her awareness plunging into a bottomless abyss, swallowed by boundless darkness, until finally, nothing remained.
Qi Mengyu let out a piercing scream, her voice cutting through the dark night sky. The scythe had swept across her and Zhong Rongrong’s waists, instantly severing Zhong Rongrong in two, her upper body collapsing. Qi Mengyu, witnessing this, screamed in terror, then suddenly grabbed the corridor railing beside her, leaped over it, and jumped from the forty-fourth-floor corridor.
The black figure seemed to feel a flicker of surprise. The scythe had cut through both women’s waists, but only one had died. The other, though grazed by the blade, hadn’t perished and instead had jumped.
The building had forty-four floors, with fourteen above water. Qi Mengyu had essentially jumped from the fourteenth floor, a height of nearly forty meters, plummeting like a cannonball.
With a loud crash, Qi Mengyu slammed heavily into the water below, sending up a massive splash.
Below the building, Su Li and Gong Xiao led the group in a full-scale counterattack, completely dominating the fight. Though roars and screams of monsters occasionally rang out, Qi Mengyu’s scream from the rooftop was especially piercing, echoing through the night sky and drawing the attention of many.
This included those fighting at the base of the building, as well as those inside handling logistics.
Hearing the scream from above, Su Li’s heart tightened. He immediately looked up and, through the raging storm, saw a figure falling from above.
He saw clearly—it was Qi Mengyu.
Something had gone wrong on the rooftop?
Knowing this was bad, he said nothing, spun around, and activated “Spider Walk,” instantly charging up to the thirty-first-floor corridor, then racing toward the stairs at its end.
He didn’t check on Qi Mengyu’s condition because he knew she wouldn’t die.
Others might not know, but he was aware that Qi Mengyu’s unique ability after advancing to Level 5 was “Liquid Body.” Her body could temporarily turn into a liquid state, like a human-shaped stream of water, rendering her immune to all physical attacks. Not even a fall from forty meters would kill her; even if a blade split her in two while she was in this state, she wouldn’t die.
Su Li reacted fastest, charging upward in an instant. Ding Longyun quickly followed, rushing toward where Qi Mengyu had fallen.
Qi Mengyu struggled to surface from the water and saw Ding Longyun approaching. She shouted hoarsely, “Quick, go up! Sister Rong is in trouble!”
Hearing this, Ding Longyun’s heart sank. Without asking for details, he turned and dashed toward the building, his heart pounding wildly.
He knew Qi Mengyu had the special ability of “Liquid Body,” making her nearly invincible in that state. But Zhong Rongrong didn’t. She had mostly enhanced her tongue, allowing her to identify various tastes and move it with snake-like flexibility. Her ability was also tongue-related; under its control, her tongue could extend over a meter and even split into forks. She could freely use her tongue for attacks, its surface covered in barbs that could strip away large chunks of flesh with a single lick.
But no matter how powerful her attacks, she lacked Qi Mengyu’s near-immortal liquid body. If Qi Mengyu, with her liquid form, was so terrified she jumped, what about Zhong Rongrong?
Ding Longyun’s heart raced with panic as he sprinted up the stairs, his chest thumping uncontrollably.
The figure, resembling the Grim Reaper, had sliced through Zhong Rongrong and Qi Mengyu with one swing. Zhong Rongrong was cut in half, but Qi Mengyu had leaped over the railing and jumped.
It paused in surprise, then seemed to understand why Qi Mengyu hadn’t died. The black tentacles draped around it stirred without wind. Sensing no living people left on this floor, it too flipped over the railing.
But instead of jumping into the water like Qi Mengyu, it landed on the forty-third floor. Its black tentacles shot out, grabbing the window ledge of the corridor there, breaking the glass, and slipping inside.
The forty-third floor was mainly used for storing supplies, including the meat from several sea cows they had recently harvested. Besides that, two people were there—both weak, one a Level 1 and the other a Level 2 ability user. Both were over fifty, previously responsible for cleaning the building. Su Li had assigned them lighter duties, managing supplies on this floor.
Now, they stood at the corridor, peering out at the situation outside, murmuring to each other with worried expressions, anxious about the battle below.
Qi Mengyu’s sudden jump and sharp scream had startled them. They exchanged glances, unsure of what was happening.
The younger of the two leaned out, looking upward.
Suddenly, he saw a black shadow and several snake-like black tentacles reaching in.
“Ah!” He gasped, instinctively stepping back.
The Grim Reaper-like figure silently broke through the window, the scythe in its right hand swinging out in an instant.
Without a sound, the man was split from head to toe by the scythe before he could even cry out. The twisted face on the scythe seemed to writhe in excitement, its large mouth moving, sucking the blood from the man’s body.
The other man, over fifty, was terrified. He turned to flee but found his legs too weak to move. His body tensed with fear, he opened his mouth and let out a desperate, hopeless scream.
The scream abruptly stopped. His head flew off, blood spraying, and tumbled out of an open window, falling through the air.
Watching the headless body collapse backward, the figure flipped out of the corridor again, using its black tentacles to descend to the forty-second floor.
Meanwhile, Su Li kept activating “Spider Walk.” In his “Demon Muscle” state, his speed increased like lightning as he charged up the stairs at an unimaginable pace. In no time, he had climbed from the thirty-first floor to the thirty-eighth, then heard the scream from the forty-third floor.
His heart sank. He knew the two older men stationed on the forty-third floor were likely doomed.
The forty-second floor was mainly where Xu Haishui, Luo Jun, Yan Fang, Bai Wenwei, Zhou Li, Tao Yuezhi, and some of the women originally from here lived. Now, Xu Haishui, Luo Jun, and Bai Wenwei were downstairs fighting the high-level undead, leaving Yan Fang, Zhou Li, and Tao Yuezhi on the forty-second floor.
“Four more floors…” Su Li thought silently. His muscles bulged again as he instantly entered the more powerful second form of “Demon Muscle,” burning energy at four times the rate. Given his current state after the previous battle, he could only sustain this for less than three minutes. He wouldn’t use this form unless absolutely necessary.
He knew that if he didn’t reach the forty-second floor before the enemy did, Yan Fang, Zhou Li, and Tao Yuezhi would be in danger. Yan Fang, in particular, was crucial—he had recently built several solar water purifiers and was invaluable. Such a key figure couldn’t be lost.
After killing the two on the forty-third floor, the humanoid shadow sensed no one else there and flipped over the railing again, descending to the forty-second floor. Its black tentacles grabbed the corridor ledge, and it slipped inside.
It sensed many human presences on this floor. The twisted face on the scythe in its right hand contorted with excitement, its large mouth splitting open as if in silent laughter.
On the corridor, Yan Fang, Zhou Li, Tao Yuezhi, and about seven or eight others had gathered, watching the battle below. After Qi Mengyu’s scream and the one from above, they realized something was wrong and were rushing toward the end of the corridor, trying to escape down the stairs.
As the humanoid shadow entered the forty-second-floor corridor, Yan Fang and Zhou Li had already reached the stairwell at the end, attempting to flee downward.
The shadow flickered, raising its scythe. From a few meters away, it was a matter of an instant—the scythe lifted, ready to cut down the two slowest runners from behind.
At that critical moment, a sharp cry rang out. From among the fleeing women, a figure suddenly burst forward, charging straight at the raised scythe.
In this most dangerous moment, Su Li, in his second form of “Demon Muscle” and using “Spider Walk,” finally reached the forty-second floor.
“Get down now!” Su Li roared, his right hand wielding the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword, which slammed heavily into the incoming scythe.