Chapter 91

Chapter 91

The leader yelled as he charged ahead: "Everyone, charge with me!"

Some members followed right away, some hesitated briefly before joining, and others glanced back toward town, gritted their teeth, and charged forward, facing a monster identical to Ren Feng's.

Because the monster was so tall, their powers couldn’t even reach its head at first; at best, they only reached somewhere below its chest. But they had to fight anyway!

The monster looked almost human in build. It grabbed a lamppost and yanked it out effortlessly, without even pausing. The pole looked like a cigarette between its fingers.

It swung the pole at the squad.

—

"Thud—thud—thud—"

The townsfolk gathered in the square, ready for action, when the ground suddenly began shaking rhythmically. People glanced around in confused panic.

The sound of flapping wings mixed with ominous bird cries, echoing everywhere.

Everyone turned to look up at the sky. A dead calm wind blew.

These were non-mutated birds that had hidden in the woods. They’d been observed before, viewed as survivors, like humans, and left alone.

They lived in the woods on the outskirts. Their chirping during farmwork added life and cheer. Over time, they’d sometimes fly to the fields and watch curiously. Sometimes a whole family of three would appear, a joyful sight.

But now they all flew out of the forest, screeching loudly, a dark mass flying through town toward the distance.

Wu Meilin looked toward the forest: "Kang Haiqing, take a team of supers to check it out."

Kang Haiqing mobilized his team at once. People were on edge. An old man worriedly looked toward the fields and, while everyone was distracted, slipped away from the square and ran out of town.

Though Kang Haiqing and his team had left the town and saw nothing unusual yet, the ground shook more violently. He led them toward the woods.

Trouble kept coming.

A car swerved erratically into view at the town entrance, clearly in panic. Guards recognized it as a town vehicle and rushed forward, but it didn’t stop, driving straight past. They only saw a bloodied driver shouting: "It’s coming… it’s here…"

The car screeched to a halt at the square, tires smoking from friction, drawing everyone’s attention again. The door opened, and a blood-soaked man got out—it was the leader from earlier.

Screams of terror rose from the crowd.

The leader collapsed to his knees, looking up at Wu Meilin rushing toward him. Tears streaked through the blood on his face.

He grabbed Wu Meilin’s outstretched hand: "They’re dead, all dead…"

Wu Meilin looked grief-stricken: "What exactly happened?"

The leader recalled what had happened earlier. Now wasn’t the time for sorrow. He gripped Wu Meilin’s hand tightly: "The monster is coming, run! Run!"

Wang Lingqi, who had been waiting at the town entrance to provide immediate treatment, ran over and began healing the man’s wounds. The man kept saying: "Run, a huge monster, we can’t win, we can’t win…"

Wang Lingqi glanced nervously at Wu Meilin while urgently treating the man.

Wu Meilin frowned, pondering the situation, when she heard the crowd behind her gasp again. She turned around and saw flames rising behind the town, along with flashes of lightning and thunder.

Clearly, there was trouble in this direction too. Hu Yue had earlier said they also faced a huge monster on their side. They were responsible for the north, and now Liang Tian had returned from the east saying the same thing.

Plus, now behind the town—three directions.

Were the monsters advancing toward them from all sides?

Wu Meilin: "Lin Ling, take some people to check it out."

Lin Ling also set out with her team. Wu Meilin looked at the ordinary humans in the square: "Get to the shelter! Xiao Bo, you arrange it."

The shelter had been prepared since they settled in this town. Fortunately, with the supers, digging an underground bunker wasn’t too difficult, and reinforcement measures had been taken over the days.

The earthquake grew increasingly intense. The flames outside the town almost reached the sky, and large swathes of trees in the forest fell. Strangely, the sunset tonight was lingering, refusing to set. Under the blood-red sky, people entered the shelter with anxiety and unease. Almost everyone paused at the last step into the darkness, turning back for one final look outside.

Su He, head lowered and wearing a mask, blended into the crowd and also wanted to enter the shelter. He had no intention of staying outside—let the supers fight.

Xiao Bo’s sharp eyes noticed him.

In principle, Su He should have stayed outside since he was a healing super.

But staying outside was dangerous. His gaze lingered on Su He’s eyes. How tragic it would be if such beautiful eyes lost their vitality.

No one knew about the flutter he felt when he first saw Su He. But he was his aunt’s deputy, a man, and one more than a decade older than him. He called him Uncle Xiao.

"I want to stay outside."

Xiao Bo looked at Hu Xue, who had run up to him. The woman spoke with determination: "I’ve been at the health station all this time. Even though I don’t have superpowers, I can still help with first aid."

Xiao Bo felt ashamed and could only say, "Thank you," followed by, "Protect yourself."

Hu Xue turned and ran off with her first aid kit.

When Xiao Bo looked back, Su He had already entered the shelter. In the end, he didn’t call Su He out. Let him be selfish this once—he would fight the monsters with his life on the line.

Once everyone had entered the shelter, Xiao Bo closed the heavy iron door.

—

Lin Ling led a team out of the town, rushing toward the burning forest. When they arrived, her widened pupils silently conveyed her shock. How could there be so many monsters?

There was no time to think—almost immediately, they engaged in combat. But even so, some monsters slipped through the gaps and continued toward the town.

And not just one.

Kang Haiqing glanced back: "Lao Wu! Send me over!"

Lao Wu also looked at the monsters rushing past and used his wind superpower to send Kang Haiqing over. But in that moment of distraction, he was struck by a monster mid-air and thrown to the ground, spitting blood.

Kang Haiqing landed in front of the rushing monsters, rolling upon impact. He knelt on one knee, slamming his palm heavily on the ground. A wall of sand and earth emerged out of thin air, seven or eight stories high, blocking the monsters outside the wall.

The young man gritted his teeth. With him here, he would never allow a single monster to cross the line!

Lin Ling and her team fought fiercely behind the wall, their eyes red with battle fury.

Wu Meilin: "You, go find Zhang Chuanshan and the others and bring them back. You few, go west to find Han Nuo and his team. If their situation is stable, have one person return to inform me. The rest, go to Kang Haiqing’s location."

Xiao Bo: "What about the town?"

Wu Meilin: "I’ll hold the town."

Everyone sprang into action. Wu Meilin looked toward the west—perhaps that was their only path to survival.

—

The monster swung its hand, and Gao Qiang was sent flying from just a graze by its finger. A pink tentacle coiled around him and brought him back, gently placing him down.

Gao Qiang glanced at the spot where the monster's finger had struck him; it was already swollen.

Even an optimist like him felt a sense of despair at this moment—the difference in strength was too vast, making the fight hopeless. Moreover, there were so many other monsters. Even though Hu Yue had brought several more people, they couldn't even handle the other monsters, let alone this behemoth.

But his discouragement lasted only a second—despair isn't an option now.

Besides, Xiao Xue was in the town, and he absolutely would not allow this giant to get through.

Gao Qiang tightened his grip on his knife and made to charge again when a tentacle wrapped around his wrist. He looked down at the baby octopus at his feet.

Those large, jet-black eyes were intent and focused, staring at the monster.

Ren Feng killed one monster but was then slammed by another. He looked at the baby octopus: "What's wrong? If you're not feeling well, just crawl into my pocket—"

He cut himself off. The baby octopus was gradually expanding in size, and its color turned black. His gaze rose higher and higher, and soon the situation caught the others' attention.

Hu Yue: "Ren Feng!"

She cried out and moved to attack this octopus monster.

Ren Feng understood her intention and quickly said, "It's baby octopus! It's baby octopus!"

Hu Yue was baffled, staring at the giant octopus nearly the size of the humanoid monster. This was baby octopus?

Several nearby Superhumans also heard Ren Feng's shout. Everyone knew there was a baby octopus in their team, but no one expected it could transform like this. For a moment, they weren't sure if it had fully turned monster and was about to attack humans, or if it was still on their side.

The tentacle wrapped around Gao Qiang's wrist loosened, and then that same tentacle lashed toward the humanoid monster with a sound like a thunderclap.

Seeing it attack the monster, everyone let out a sigh of relief and felt a surge of hope. With it on their side, they might be able to win.

Chen Zui maneuvered his tentacles toward the monster. The tentacle he whipped out struck the monster, knocking it sideways. As its sweep lashed out, it also killed several monsters flying mid-air.

Ren Feng stared at baby octopus. Its form and Chen Zui's octopus form... why did they look identical?

But the monster didn't give him time to think.

Chen Zui tangled with the giant monster, while the other taskers fought the smaller ones.

Humans shouted, monsters shrieked.

Time bled away with each life lost.

——

Sweat dripped from Kang Haiqing's face. Maintaining such a large-scale earth wall for nearly half an hour was already pushed him to his limit. But he knew that if the wall collapsed, the monsters outside would rush in.

He gulped for air heavily. He had to hold on, he could hold on, he must hold on!

His clothes were completely soaked with sweat. The giant monster, similar to the one near Ren Feng, had reached the earth wall. Lin Ling materialized in front of the monster. Fear was in her eyes, but she still came.

She stood before the monster in nothing but flesh and blood.

The constant fighting had left her covered in blood—both monster blood and her own. She waved her hand at the monster, and what looked like spider silk appeared, innumerable strands shooting toward the monster and wrapping around its hand.

Lin Ling tightened the silk, trying to use it—sharper than any sword—to sever the monster's hand. But no matter how hard she tried, the silk couldn't even break the monster's skin.

The monster raised its hand, and Lin Ling was instead hoisted by the silk, her body flung uncontrollably. Everything happened in a flash. By the time she thought to break the silk, she was already being slammed into the earth wall by the monster.

"Pfft—"

The moment she hit the wall, Lin Ling spat out a mouthful of blood. She could clearly feel the bones in her back breaking, and everything from the waist down went instantly numb.

In that instant, many scenes flashed through her mind. She had prepared for death since the first day this world turned like this. Making it this far was a gift!

Her bloody eyes widened, blazing with madness and triumph. She gave up on breaking the silk and released more strands—this time, red as if dyed by her blood.

The monster flung her again, and once more she was slammed into the earth wall.

"Lin Ling!" a teammate shouted.

Lin Ling stared fiercely at the monster: "Die!"

"Crash!"

The earth wall was shattered, and all the sand and soil shot backward like a dense hail of bullets. Kang Haiqing was thrown backward by the impact and buried under the sand.

Streaks of crimson seemed to bloom into the sand.

Lin Ling lay on the ground, her body twitching occasionally. Her eyes remained fixed on the monster. The monster's arm was cut by her silk, and she smiled.

If it could be injured, it wasn't invincible.

There was still hope for humanity.

The monster continued forward. Lin Ling, with her last bit of strength and her final breath, still controlled the silk, struggling to halt its advance.

The sand and soil rained down like a torrent into the burning forest, even temporarily dampening the flames somewhat.

They fell into the fields, destroying all the rice crops.

The old man who had sneaked out earlier was struck in the leg and lay in the field, covered in dust, sobbing over his ruined crops: "Don't break it, don't break it... the rice was due to be harvested, it would have been ready the day after tomorrow..."

He curled his arms around a few stalks of rice: "If the rice ripens, everyone could've eaten..."

——

Not far east of the town, Chen Zui intercepted the giant monster. He was now fully in his octopus form, his tentacles wrapping around the monster's arm, pulling down hard while inching toward its neck, simultaneously releasing a corrosive black fluid.

The monster's other hand grabbed one of his tentacles, as if to rip it clean off.

They struggled against each other, neither gaining ground for the moment.

Chen Zui's advantage was his many tentacles. He tried to wrap as many as possible around the monster and release the corrosive black fluid.

The black fluid could indeed corrode the monster's skin, though much more slowly than when corroding ordinary objects or monsters.

The monster's advantage lay in its greater strength. Howling in pain from the corrosion, it grew more ferocious. A bulging fleshy ball on its head rolled down to the arm gripping the tentacle. The ball slowly disappeared as if absorbed, and then its strength greatly increased, actually managing to tear off part of the tentacle.

Chen Zui writhed in pain, his other tentacles twisting.

But he still did not let go.

——

The team heading west discovered a corpse, but this was only the beginning. Soon, they found others' bodies—some so mutilated they were hardly recognizable.

They quickly counted the numbers. The squad that had come here in the morning—all dead.

Ahead lay dense white fog.

"Retreat."

The leader gave the order. They gathered all the corpses and began their return journey.

——

Thick, lengthy tentacles wrapped around the monster, releasing a corrosive black fluid. On Ren Feng's side, Baby Octopus was also engaged in a life-and-death battle with the monster.

Over an hour had passed. Although they had managed to halt the monster's advance, Baby Octopus was covered in wounds, and the monster, eaten away and in tatters, looked even more grotesque.

Hu Yue controlled the wind to lift herself up and then dropped back down, bracing her hands on the ground as she was gasping heavily, so exhausted her heart felt like it was pounding out of her chest.

Everyone was on the verge of collapse; the ground was covered in monster corpses.

A scorpion monster took the chance to swing its stinger toward Hu Yue. Suddenly, Gao Qiang appeared beside her. The stinger struck him but failed to pierce his defense. He grabbed the scorpion's tail and slammed it heavily to the ground, though his own body staggered from the effort.

A car pulled up.

It had come from the town to call them back. The driver, upon seeing the two massive monsters locked in combat, froze, baffled by what he saw.

Monsters never attacked each other.

"Everyone, get in the car! Retreat!"

Some were utterly exhausted, others severely wounded. At the call, many climbed into the car. Wang Lingqi was already inside and immediately began treating the wounded.

Ren Feng rushed toward Baby Octopus.

Hu Yue also shouted, "Baby Octopus! Come back!"

Gao Qiang was about to yell when he spotted Ren Feng. "Ren Feng!"

Tentacles interlaced through the monster's fingers, tightening abruptly and causing the digits to snap upward and droop brokenly. Hearing the shouts, Chen Zui looked back at them and waved one tentacle, as if to say, "Go on without me."

But Hu Yue and Gao Qiang refused to leave, instead rushing toward him. In their eyes, Baby Octopus was their teammate—they couldn't abandon him.

A tentacle suddenly swung toward them, first reaching Ren Feng, pushing him back gently with controlled force and speed, then moving to Gao Qiang and Hu Yue, continuing to push them back.

Ren Feng stared fixedly at Baby Octopus. Was he planning to stay behind?

Zhang Chuanshan, limping badly and gritting his teeth, made his way to them. He grabbed Ren Feng with one hand and Gao Qiang with the other, stepping in front of Hu Yue.

"Go first!"

"If you go over there, you'll just be a liability. He'd have to protect you!"

Without another word, he pulled them toward the car. "If we leave, it'll be easier for him to get away too."

He spoke the truth.

But Ren Feng couldn't just abandon Baby Octopus like that!

He couldn't do it!

He shook off Zhang Chuanshan's grip, but Zhang Chuanshan seized him again. "Do you want to get him killed? Get everyone killed?"

The words were harsh, even morally manipulative, but they were meant to persuade him to leave.

Zhang Chuanshan added, "He wants you to leave too."

Ren Feng looked at Baby Octopus and finally stopped resisting.

Gao Qiang patted his shoulder resignedly. "Let's go for now."

Ren Feng clenched his teeth, turned, and got into the car. It sped back to town, giving everyone a brief moment to catch their breath.

——

No one knew where Su He had run off to, but even if he had stayed, it likely wouldn't have made a difference. Wu Meilin had finally seen her nephew for who he was. She spotted the enormous monster and headed toward the rear of the town when she heard footsteps behind her. Turning, she saw Hu Xue.

"I'll go with you."

"Stay here and wait for everyone to return so you can provide treatment."

Wu Meilin stopped her. Hu Xue had no superpower to protect herself, and it was too dangerous outside. She placed a hand on Hu Xue's shoulder, leaving no room for refusal. "I leave the town to you."

Then she turned and hurried toward the back of the town.

Hu Xue remained in the square. The sound of chaos echoed everywhere. The crimson sunset sank below the horizon, but this was no comfort—after dark, it would be even harder for humans to move around.

The streetlights turned on at their scheduled time, illuminating the path home in the deepening darkness.

Hu Xue turned. A shadowy figure appeared on the road leading to the town entrance. She narrowed her eyes.

It was Li Yi.

He hadn't hidden in the shelter, nor had he joined the other Superhumans.

Now he appeared suddenly...

Her instincts screamed. Hu Xue stepped back, then turned and ran.

Li Yi smirked and, with a wave of his hand, flung a fireball toward Hu Xue. He cackled wildly.

The fireball struck Hu Xue. She immediately shrugged off her lab coat and threw it aside. Aside from her neck blistering badly, she was unharmed.

She ducked into a nearby alley, ignoring the blister on her neck, ran into a courtyard, and hurried upstairs.

Li Yi, missing a leg, couldn't chase after Hu Xue.

He looked at the white coat burning to ashes on the ground and poked at it with his crutch.

She was quick.

But—

He glanced around, taking in the town that had been painstakingly restored, this place everyone called home and placed their hopes in.

Madness gradually filled his eyes.

I'll burn it all down. Then let's see where she can run.

He raised both hands, indiscriminately throwing fireballs in every direction, cackling wildly.

So what if he’d awakened a superpower? With one leg missing, he couldn’t even catch one woman. He looked toward the enormous monster, terror in his eyes. Even if everyone here was wiped out, they still wouldn't be able to defeat it.

Where can he run with that one leg?

Just die here, all of you!

Burn it all down!

Anyway, he'd already had Su He!

Anyway, Li Shou was already dead!

"Hahahaha—"

He threw away his crutch and, within seconds, stumbled and fell to the ground.

Flames burst out everywhere.

Hu Xue ran to the second floor of a house facing the street, pushed open the window, and stared in shock for a moment upon seeing the burning building opposite.

Her eyes shifted, spotting Li Yi sitting on the ground, throwing fireballs.

She frowned.

Drew the gun tucked behind her waist, aimed, and squeezed the trigger cleanly.

As Hu Yue and the others drove into the town entrance, they heard a gunshot.

Li Yi's raised hand dropped, a bullet hole piercing through his head at the temple.

Thinking of Hu Xue, he used his last ounce of strength to throw a fireball in the direction the bullet came from.

Then, with eyes wide open, his body tilted, and he was gone.

The fireball crashed into the room where Hu Xue was hiding, and it burst into flames instantly.

Ren Feng jumped out of the car, using his water superpower to control and extinguish the flames. When Gao Qiang and the others saw the enormous monster at the rear of the town, they were stunned.

There's another one?

Wu Meilin ran out of the town and saw Kang Haiqing lying on the ground, battered and bloody. Without stopping, she moved to a spot not far from the monster. Even in the darkness, the moonlight allowed the monster's shadow to still be visible on the ground.

She halted, focused, and her own shadow on the ground began to move, merging with the monster's shadow, taking control of its advancing steps and its swinging hands.

Gao Qiang and the others rushed over. Seeing that Wu Meilin had the monster restrained, they unleashed a furious attack on it.

To the east, Chen Zui was still locked in a life-and-death battle with another monster.