A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

With the fierce battle over, the drug warehouse lay in ruins, its walls riddled with holes.

Sunlight streamed through the massive gashes, casting round pools of light across the warehouse floor.

Blue Pigeon stood in a pool of blood, gazing down at Li Wei’s corpse in thought.

’Come to think of it, how did the commander know Li Wei was a player?’ he wondered. ’Did someone see the exact moment he entered a dungeon?’

Being spotted vanishing into thin air to enter a dungeon was the easiest way for a player to expose their identity.

Li Wei had most likely slipped up during that exact process, accidentally leaking the secret.

Of course, it was also possible that the Hero Association had deployed a new player detection device, but Ke Mingqing didn’t have the luxury to consider that possibility right now.

Blue Pigeon glanced to the side, watching the C Rank super-human species bodyguard—Wavy Hair—tangled in a fierce fight with Top Hero.

”Bro, since you’re done over there, hurry up and help me out!” Top Hero sprinted across a corner of the warehouse, flinging his phantom top. It whipped up waves of flaming mist, making him look like a dancer twirling with fire.

Over a dozen meters opposite him, the fat man stood rooted to the spot. His brown hair continuously elongated, transforming into hedgehog-like spikes that jutted outward to deflect the top.Every so often, those hardened, lengthened strands of hair would weave into a giant sphere, shielding the man completely inside.

Because of this, Top Hero had absolutely no chance of breaking his opponent’s defense.

Ke Mingqing held his breath, staring at Wavy Hair through his mask. It didn’t take long for him to figure out the man’s combat pattern.

He deduced that Wavy Hair’s defenses were at their weakest whenever he controlled his hair to attack. Seizing that exact second, Blue Pigeon raised his right hand, aimed his index finger at the enemy, and fired a pitch-black bolt of lightning.

The sequence of movements was discreet and calm, as casual as a child tossing a rock into the grass. But to the fat Wavy Hair in the distance, it was a sudden, explosive strike, like a venomous Snake lunging from the underbrush.

Wavy Hair shuddered and snapped his head around.

In that instant, the lightning bolt streaking across the distance reflected in his pupils.

Immediately after, thousands of hardened hairs retracted at once, trying to intercept the incoming bolt. But it was too late. A split second later, the lightning bolt pierced straight through Wavy Hair’s head.

With a sudden pop, his head instantly exploded into a mist of blood.

Top Hero froze. Resting one hand on his hip, he looked at Blue Pigeon in the distance. ”Fuck, that’s way too gory!”

”Home run.”

Blue Pigeon gave him a thumbs up while glancing at the super-human species panel that triggered a Pop-up in front of him.

[Detected that the player has killed a C-Rank Superhuman. Rewarded with 500 Experience Points.]

[Weekly Quest 2 Progress: Kill 1/2 super-human species.]

”It’s been this long, and they still haven’t dealt with Rocket Maniac outside?” Blue Pigeon asked, hearing the rumbling explosions of rocket launchers outside the warehouse.

”It’s fine. We’ll just fight our way out of the warehouse,” Top Hero said. ”Those guys outside are probably pissing their pants right now.”

The two exchanged a look and nodded. They immediately navigated past rows of metal machinery and arrived at the main entrance.

At this moment, the group of bodyguards and Rocket Maniac had their backs turned to them.

The bodyguards were hiding behind cover, their attention entirely focused on the Invisible Giant and the endless stream of shadow soldiers. They completely failed to notice Top Hero and Blue Pigeon.

Blue Pigeon and Top Hero shared another glance, held their breath, and lunged forward at almost the exact same time.

Top Hero shot out, his white cape fluttering in the wind. He flung his phantom top, knocking out over a dozen armed bodyguards in just two seconds, sparing their lives.

Meanwhile, Blue Pigeon ambushed from directly behind, stabbing at the wildly firing Rocket Maniac with his Lightning Knife Hand. However, when the pitch-black lightning struck the man’s back, it felt like it had hit a metal wall and couldn’t advance any further.

”Your skin sure is thick,” Blue Pigeon remarked, raising an eyebrow.

”What the hell?”

Rocket Maniac’s face twitched. He whipped his head around, his bloodshot eyes meeting Blue Pigeon’s gaze.

At that exact moment, Shadow Woman controlled her shadow soldiers to rush in from afar, while Top Hero swept his Blazing Fire top in from the flank.

Rocket Maniac didn’t have time to deal with Blue Pigeon behind him. Convinced that his attacker couldn’t breach his metallic outer shell anyway, he let out a sneer. ”Even if I let you get close, you can’t hurt me, you bug.”

He transformed his cybernetic arms into machine guns and fired wildly at Top Hero and Shadow Woman, not even bothering to spare Blue Pigeon another glance.

”Come on, that’s no excuse to ignore me,” Blue Pigeon said.

As he spoke, a gloomy-looking little paper figurine suddenly appeared in his left palm. This was the ”Philosopher” Hegel, and it was the first time Blue Pigeon was utilizing this philosopher’s power.

Rocket Maniac smirked dismissively, the muzzle flashes of his machine guns illuminating his deranged and hideous face.

”You’re really not going to look back?” Blue Pigeon shrugged.

”Master-Slave Dialectic,” the little paper figurine mumbled.

The moment the words fell, a faint, almost invisible black light coated the bodies of both Blue Pigeon and Rocket Maniac.

[Master-Slave Dialectic (Can only be used on a target if you have at least two attributes lower than theirs; for 1.5 seconds, causes a random attribute of yours and the target’s to undergo a Reversal)]

[Following an assessment, the player’s three attributes are all lower than the opponent’s. The skill conditions have been met.]

[Hint: The Strength attribute of the player and the B Rank super-human species ’Rocket Maniac’ has briefly undergone Reversal. Rocket Maniac’s Strength attribute changed to: D+ Rank; your Strength attribute changed to: B Rank.]

”What’s going on? What did you do, you bastard!”

Rocket Maniac’s expression abruptly changed. He felt as if his strength had been completely drained in that instant, every cell in his body verging on depletion. Conversely, Blue Pigeon raised his eyebrows. He felt like a giant with boundless power surging through his body, as though he contained an inexhaustible ocean.

”Is there a need to be so dramatic? We just swapped physical stats, but your face looks like you just went impotent.” Blue Pigeon smirked. Even as he mocked the man, he raised his hand again. This time, pitch-black lightning practically cloaked his entire figure, making him look like a descending demon god beneath the sunlight.

He didn’t use his knife-hand. He had only used it earlier to focus his power into a single point and break through the opponent’s defense. But things were different now. His strength was far above his opponent’s.

Blue Pigeon clenched his fingers into a fist, tightened his posture for momentum, and ruthlessly smashed a punch into Rocket Maniac’s back!

He struck the exact same spot, but the outcome was completely different. The very next second, his lightning-clad fist punched straight through Rocket Maniac’s back. Blood gushed out like a waterfall, mixed with lacerated wires and shattered machine parts.

”Still feeling manic?”

Blue Pigeon shook his head and triggered a diffusion of pitch-black lightning within the man’s body. It incinerated every blood vessel and organ, completely and utterly ending Rocket Maniac’s life.

Master-Slave Dialectic only lasted 1.5 seconds. Fortunately, Blue Pigeon had used that fleeting window to end the battle. Top Hero was dumbfounded. One second he was jumping around dodging Rocket Maniac’s machine gun fire, and the next, he saw his bro obliterate the guy with a single punch. It was simply inconceivable.

”Was this guy always this strong?” the Invisible Giant teenager asked, staring blankly at Blue Pigeon with his hands resting behind his head.

”Human potential is limitless in times of crisis,” Shadow Woman typed on her phone, turning the screen around to show them.

”Did you see that! That’s my Bro right there!” Top Hero ran over, kicked Rocket Maniac’s body over, and slung an arm around Blue Pigeon’s shoulders. At the same time, a notification box slowly produced a Pop-up before Blue Pigeon’s eyes.

[Congratulations. Detected that you have slain a B Rank super-human species for the first time. You have received the first-kill reward: 3,000 superhuman coins, a C Rank Equipment Box, and 2,000 Experience Points.]

”Holy shit, I just remembered this is my first time killing a B Rank super-human species.” Ke Mingqing widened his eyes slightly at the first-kill reward. [The player’s current level progress is: LV.10 (4,600/5,000 Experience Points)]

[The player’s current superhuman coin balance is: 7,500.]

[Weekly Quest 2 completed: Kill two super-human species. (Reward: 1 Item Roulette usage opportunity)]

Immediately following that, a slightly comical notification panel triggered a Pop-up.

[Weekly Quest 1 completed: Run 3,000 meters. (Reward: 1 Attribute Point)]

”Awesome.” Blue Pigeon stretched lazily. ”Staying fit is everyone’s responsibility.”

He pulled up his attribute panel and casually allocated the one Attribute Point he had just obtained from the weekly quest.

[Congratulations, your ’Agility’ attribute has increased from D++ Rank to C Rank.]

[Player ’Ke Mingqing’s current attributes are as follows: Strength: D+; Agility: C; Spirit: D]

”By the way, what about the magical girl Ember?” Blue Pigeon closed the series of panels and turned to ask. ”Do you guys have any news from their end?” ”They’re already done. It seems they’re rushing over here from another drug cartel hideout,” Shadow Woman typed on her phone, suddenly stopping mid-sentence.

She placed one hand on her hip, raised her head, and looked toward a different corner of the sky.

Following her gaze, Blue Pigeon turned his head and saw a girl in a gothic dress holding an umbrella.

Ember hovered in midair beneath her pitch-black umbrella. Beside her was a girl in a miko outfit holding a folding fan, and a blonde girl in a Christmas dress.

”I see. So Blue Pigeon is Senior Ember’s older brother?” Sakurahime asked Ember, waving her folding fan.

”Senior is extremely protective of her brother. I’d advise you not to ask too many questions, lest you draw her ire,” Little Red Riding Hood mumbled quietly and expressionlessly, covering her mouth.

Ember didn’t say a word. She merely stared quietly at Blue Pigeon for a moment before flying off without a sound under her umbrella. Little Red Riding Hood and Sakurahime closely followed.

As the three members of the magical girl squad departed, a notification panel slowly surfaced at the bottom of Blue Pigeon’s vision.

[Main Quest 2 (Stage 2) completed. Please open the Quest Panel to view and claim your rewards.]

”Wrap it up,” Blue Pigeon said, shrugging.

”Perfect teamwork.” Top Hero whistled, his dreadlocks swaying in the hot afternoon wind.

Shadow Woman stretched lazily. Without a word, she shed the shadows covering her body, revealing her true face and lovely curves. The short-haired woman lowered her eyes, unzipped her black bodysuit, and took out a bag of chocolate candies. She opened the packaging and quietly began to eat. Then, with a tap of her foot on the ground, her shadow soldiers rose up and used ropes to tie up the unconscious bodyguards, loading them into the back of a truck one by one.

”Our Shadow Woman is the only one getting actual work done,” Blue Pigeon praised.

Shadow Woman shared her bag of chocolate candies with him. Blue Pigeon reached in, took one, and awkwardly slipped it through his bird beak and into his mouth.

”I thought you couldn’t eat while wearing that bird beak,” Shadow Woman said.

”I used to wonder the exact same thing about Rain Crow,” Blue Pigeon replied, glancing around. ”Anyway, good job today, brothers. We didn’t embarrass ourselves.” ”Could you not talk like that? You sound like you think you’re the boss,” the Invisible Giant teenager mocked, walking past slowly with his arms resting behind his head.

”Am I not the boss?”

Blue Pigeon wasn’t offended. He ruffled the kid’s hair and walked away. ”If you have a problem with it, go tell the commander to change our team name to ’Invisible Giant Squad’.” Invisible Giant glared at his back, dark lines appearing on his forehead.

”That’s how it is, little brat.” Top Hero mimicked Blue Pigeon and reached out a hand, but Invisible Giant slapped it away. Frustrated, Top Hero demanded:

”Hey, Bro, is this racism?”

The Invisible Giant teenager flipped him the middle finger and climbed into the truck first. ”I just discriminate against all of you equally.”

Shadow Woman tossed another piece of chocolate into her mouth.

The four chatted and joked as they piled into the truck. A moment later, the truck slowly started up and drove toward the Hero Company under the sunlight.