Players, Please Board the Train

The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. Although the Mutant was injured, its combat power wasn’t diminished. On the contrary, fighting with all their strength while hungry and fatigued made it difficult to gather energy for another round. Mounting the same battle a second time would be extremely challenging, especially now that they had lost items and sustained injuries.

If the Mutant escaped, all their previous efforts would be wasted!

They couldn’t let the Mutant escape like this—they had to make one final attempt!

”Panda Impact!” Shen Xin, holding up a metal cabinet door, leaped down from the building and collided with the Mutant that had launched itself from the ground!

”Boom!”

Two consecutive loud crashes echoed as Shen Xin was sent flying into the building while the Mutant smashed into the ground!

”Chirp chirp chirp chirp!” Wu Qiuyi emitted a high-pitched cry, drawing the Mutant’s attention back from the pit. This time she didn’t stop, continuously producing sounds as she charged toward Xu Huo, her gaze firm and determined.

Xu Huo’s eyes remained fixed on the rampaging Mutant. The range limit of the crimson sword’s attack was fifty meters horizontally and twenty meters vertically—this height could also be considered as width. While Wu Qiuyi had the resolve for self-sacrifice, his sword couldn’t slash through two targets simultaneously.

The crimson sword could only cut through the first object its blade energy contacted, which was why he had cleared the main street of Dolls earlier. With Wu Qiuyi blocking the path now, striking would be useless.

The main street’s width, excluding potted plants on both sides, was only about ten meters wide. The Mutant was less than fifteen meters away from him. Quickly calculating in his mind, he swung his sword horizontally and shouted ahead, ”Get down!”The moment Wu Qiuyi threw herself to the ground, a semi-transparent film spread horizontally through the air. Unlike a normal slashing plane, it formed a rectangle over a meter wide, connected at one end to the sword and the other to the Mutant’s body, resembling a taut blanket.

”Shhh!” Blood seeped from the Mutant’s waist and abdomen, slowly forming a red line that encircled its body. Then, starting from that red line, the Mutant’s upper torso gradually slid sideways, its intestines and organs splitting apart along with its body as it was cleanly severed in two!

Wu Qiuyi, who had curled up on the ground, lifted her head just in time to be struck by the Mutant’s severed hand. She cried out in alarm, frantically kicking away the Mutant’s lower body that was toppling toward her. Seeing the gruesome contents spilled across the ground, she knelt and dry-heaved.

Xu Huo quickly strode over, kicked the Mutant’s upper torso farther away, and pulled her up. He called out to Gu Yu, who was helping Shen Xin up not far away, ”Be careful! Head to the gas station!”

The four of them split into two groups and entered different shops. Ke Liang and Shen Yi remained on the rooftop. All six waited motionless for several minutes until Xu Huo threw another Doll toward the adjacent street. When no second Mutant appeared after its cries ended, they finally relaxed.

”It seems the Mutants in the Pit Cage haven’t escaped,” Wu Qiuyi said with a smile. ”Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry for my earlier attitude.”

Xu Huo shook his head to indicate it didn’t matter. ”The bus is unusable now. We need to head to the gas station.”

Wu Qiuyi wasn’t injured, but Shen Xin, who had collided head-on with the Mutant, was seriously wounded. Ke Liang and Shen Yi also had injuries of varying severity. When Wu Qiuyi thought about going out to help, she instinctively paused upon opening the door and turned back to ask Xu Huo, ”Is it safe to go out now?”

”For safety’s sake, no more than two people should be active in public areas simultaneously,” Xu Huo said, concerned that Gu Yu’s bullets might not be reliable.

Wu Qiuyi nodded and went over to Gu Yu’s side.

Shen Xin had injured her ribs and leg. Even after drinking two healing potions, she still couldn’t stand or walk. Gu Yu had to cushion her back with some clothes and lean her against the wall.

”I still have some healing potions here,” Wu Qiuyi said, taking out her only bottle.

”Thank you, but it’s not necessary,” Shen Xin said while hissing in pain. ”Drinking more won’t help anyway.”

”Stop talking,” Gu Yu pressed on her shoulder and reached for the healing potion herself. ”If she doesn’t need it, I’ll take it. My face got scratched up, and I don’t know if it’ll leave scars.”

Watching her unceremoniously gulp down half the bottle, Wu Qiuyi smiled and said, ”Even in a life-and-death struggle, you still care about your appearance.”

”What others do is their business, but as long as I have breath in me, I must maintain my beauty,” Gu Yu declared, raising her chin. ”I want to die looking pretty too!”

A hint of envy appeared in Wu Qiuyi’s eyes.

”Cheer up,” Shen Xin looked at her. ”We just killed a Mutant! A Mutant that can tear cars apart with its bare hands! This is definitely something worth bragging about in new player circles.”

”Absolutely,” Gu Yu said cheerfully. ”When I get back, I’m going to spread the word everywhere—this lady has fought Mutants directly! Not only did I take one down, but I came out unscathed too. Let’s see who dares look down on female players now!”

Wu Qiuyi couldn’t help but laugh. ”Speaking of which, Shen Xin is really amazing. That Panda Impact move of yours is truly impressive.”

”Yeah,” Gu Yu said curiously. ”Are you a panda keeper?”

Having gone through a life-and-death battle together, Shen Xin was less guarded than before. ”My brother and I both are. He takes care of monkeys, and I care for pandas.”

Gu Yu gave a thumbs-up. ”You’re much more impressive than your brother.”

Shen Xin felt both shy and a little proud at the praise. ”Please don’t let my brother hear that.”

”Already heard it,” Shen Yi’s voice came from the rooftop.

The three women looked at each other and laughed. Just as they were enjoying the moment, the clock inside the shop suddenly chimed. The mechanical electronic voice made them tense up reflexively, but they quickly relaxed again.

”Why so nervous? There’s no danger.”

Up on the rooftop, Xu Huo, who had been asking about Lin Pei and Wang Chaoqing’s whereabouts, also stopped to listen to the riddle announcement.

Seeing his tense expression, Shen Yi said, ”The Mutants are all contained, and riddle time is safe. You don’t need to worry...”

Before he could finish speaking, an abnormal impact sound came from extremely close range. The three men’s expressions changed instantly, and Xu Huo immediately jumped down from the building.

Gu Yu and Wu Qiuyi had just reached the doorway supporting Shen Xin between them when they saw him. Gu Yu asked first, ”Why did you come down?”

”There was a sound downstairs just now.”

”Probably something fell over,” Wu Qiuyi said uncertainly. The previous fight had wrecked many areas, so objects tipping over was normal.

”Don’t be so paranoid,” Gu Yu said. ”If we’re this jumpy, how are we going to find the gate switch later?”

”Mr. Xu, you’re too serious,” Shen Xin said with a playful smile.

Wang Chaoqing had run off first, and Lin Pei, who should have been with them, had also disappeared midway. With these two not showing themselves, the town couldn’t be considered safe.

”Are you hungry? Have a biscuit...” Wu Qiuyi reached for her food supplies but realized her small bag was still in the shop. Just as she turned to retrieve it, in that split second, a hand pierced through her abdomen! The fingers twisted and dragged her toward the shop interior!

”Mutant!” Shen Xin, who had been looking at her, screamed in alarm.

Xu Huo, still several meters away, instantly launched himself into the shop. He grabbed Wu Qiuyi’s shoulder and kicked forward at the Mutant that had appeared!