"ROOOAAARR!!"
The monstrous howl echoed through the howling wind outside and slammed back into the building, so loud and manic that it sent chills down Huan Tian and Lin Qingqing's spines.
There was wild joy in that roar—desperation turning into ecstasy, survival wrestled from the edge of death.
The gale outside the 37-story tower was strong enough to sweep a man into the sky, but Luo Mai's half-ton body and monstrous arms made him nearly impervious to it.
He clung to the shattered edge of the building, howling in triumph.
From his anchored right arm, thick cords of mutated muscle began to squirm, splitting and growing before their eyes into wriggling tendrils that clung to the outer wall like suction-cupped parasites, desperately stabilizing his body against the furious wind.
Worse, the muscles in his massive right arm began forcibly contracting, hauling his gigantic form upward—inch by inch—back toward the thirty-seventh floor.
"He can't come back up!" Lin Qingqing's face drained of color.
But she looked around and saw no way to stop the monster from climbing.
"Then I'll just send you back down myself!"
Reloading swiftly, Huan Tian stepped to the broken edge of the shattered glass wall.
The raging wind slammed against his body like a hammer, but he stood like a pillar—unmoved, unshaken.
He raised the Desert Eagle. The muzzle locked onto Luo Mai's hideous head below.
Luo Mai let out another earth-shaking roar, but this time his right arm couldn't shield his head.
For the first time, the madness in his only remaining eye was tinged with something else—fear.
"AARRGHH!!"
"Yell all you want. Just die already."
Huan Tian pulled the trigger again and again. Bullets tore through Luo Mai's face like a storm.
All the monster could do was lower his head to protect that last remaining eyeball—
But the price was steep. Nightmare-infused rounds exploded against his skull, ripping flesh and bone. His grotesque head had become a living target, forced to endure one brutal round after another.
Then—click.
A sharp, hollow clack rang in Huan Tian's ear.
"Damn it. Out of ammo? Now?!"
His expression darkened instantly. That had been his last full magazine.
Now he had only four bullets left.
"How many rounds do you have left?" he asked.
"Just seven!" Lin Qingqing called back urgently.
The sudden silence from above seemed to awaken something in Luo Mai.
Despite the shredded flesh still hanging grotesquely from his face, he looked up at Huan Tian—
And grinned.
A bloodthirsty grin, wide and wet with madness.
Right before Huan Tian's eyes, Luo Mai's muscles continued to contract, steadily pulling his massive body back up to the thirty-seventh floor.
"Hrrrgh… hrrrgh… hrrrgh…"
The guttural noise came from deep within his bullet-torn throat. It wasn't just breathing—it was mockery.
Mockery that sounded like the screech of a vengeful ghost beneath the roaring wind.
Huan Tian's gaze turned icy, his eyes glinting like steel.
He slowly reached toward his waist.
"…Looks like I'll have to waste that again."
Luo Mai's ashen pupils burned with contempt—until something unexpected appeared in Huan Tian's hand: a small plastic bag.
Without hesitation, Huan Tian jammed it into the gap between Luo Mai's mutated right wrist and the floor tiles.
It was the Nightmare Crystal he had recovered from a Tier-2 Bone-Spike Zombie.
Luo Mai suddenly seemed to understand. A thunderous, rage-fueled roar tore from his throat, louder than the shrieking wind outside the tower. It was a howl of terror wrapped in fury.
He began violently contracting the muscles in his right arm, frantically trying to pull himself back up to the 37th floor.
But Huan Tian had already dragged Lin Qingqing behind the couch, calmly raising his gun, his sights locked on the exposed crystal.
"Die, monster."
Bang!
The Desert Eagle spat a searing blue flame—
The Nightmare bullet struck the crystal dead center.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the entire reception room. Shards of shattered bone and chunks of flesh sprayed in every direction. Blood coated the walls, floor, and ceiling in a dark, oily black.
Nearby, several massive panes of tempered glass exploded simultaneously, their fragments sucked away by the roaring wind like confetti in a storm. The violent updraft nearly tore everything in the room into the sky.
"Ahhh!"
Lin Qingqing screamed as her body was almost lifted off the ground—
But Huan Tian reached out and pinned her tightly against his chest, shielding her with his body.
Even Luo Mai's enhanced arm couldn't withstand such a blast. The hand and fingers remained embedded in the floor, but most of the wrist was obliterated—muscle and bone alike, shredded in an instant.
Only a small strip of flesh—perhaps one-fifth of his massive forearm—still clung to his body, desperately anchoring it to the building.
The four deadly claws at his fingertips remained firmly buried in the tile, but that sliver of muscle couldn't possibly hold the half-ton weight of his mutated body.
Under the crushing pull of gravity and wind, the tendons stretched... tore... and finally—
SNAP.
A sickening pop filled the air as the last connection ruptured.
"ROAAAARRRR—!"
The wind swallowed Luo Mai's final scream as his monstrous body vanished from sight.
Only the severed arm remained—its claws still clutching the floor like some grotesque trophy.
Moments later, a deep thud echoed from far below.
[Ding! Killed Tier-3 Power-Type Mutated Zombie: 1. Demon Hunt Points Gained: 100. Total Demon Hunt Points: 307]
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Warning lights pulsed red above their heads.
A reinforced safety door began lowering from the ceiling, sealing off the shattered reception room. The howling wind was finally cut off, replaced by a tense, suffocating silence.
"Hah… hah…"
Huan Tian collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. For the first time, he let himself relax.
Then—suddenly—
A warm body flung itself into his arms.
"I was so scared! I thought we were going to die…"
Lin Qingqing sobbed uncontrollably against his chest, trembling from head to toe.
Huan Tian waited until her breathing calmed, then gently pulled her away and stood up, preparing to deal with what remained of Luo Mai's mutated hand.
But the instant he rose—
A sudden, venomous gaze locked onto him from somewhere nearby.
"Who's there?"
Huan Tian jerked his head up—his razor-sharp gaze locking eyes for the first time with the mastermind behind it all!
The figure had been hiding just beyond the hallway's corner, clearly not expecting to be discovered. For a brief moment, he froze in shock—then turned and bolted without hesitation.
"You won't escape!"
Huan Tian shot forward like a cannonball. As he holstered the Desert Eagle, a long, white bone blade dragged behind him like a ghost of death itself.
Right now, he was the very embodiment of a killing god, with only one thought in his mind:
Kill. Find that thing and destroy it—monster or man!
"Huan Tian!"
Lin Qingqing instinctively chased after him, but her stats were far inferior to his. All she could do was watch helplessly as the gap between them widened. Still, she pushed herself, refusing to give up.
By now, Huan Tian was completely consumed by rage. This shadowy figure had schemed against him again and again—
The severed, bloodied arm. The Tier-2 zombie Liang Jing. Even Luo Mai being lured to the 37th floor—very likely, it was all orchestrated by this one person.
With someone like that still alive, Huan Tian could never sleep peacefully.
But as the chase continued, his expression grew darker. The figure was fast—blindingly so. Even with all 12 points of Agility activated, Huan Tian could only barely keep up. The person wore a loose, flowing cloak, making it impossible to tell whether they were male or female.
He drew his Desert Eagle, but the final two bullets missed.
"Damn it, should've taken the rest of the ammo from Lin Qingqing!"
"Wait… Lin Qingqing!"
He snapped around—she was nowhere to be seen.
That moment of hesitation cost him. The shadowy figure disappeared around a corner, vanishing from sight.
"Huan Tian—wait for me!"
A breathless voice called out from behind. Lin Qingqing finally caught up, her chest heaving. The moment she saw him again, she exhaled in visible relief. When he vanished just moments ago, it had felt like her whole world was collapsing.
"I tried… really… I couldn't keep up with you…"
She didn't say anything more, only gasped for air. But in her eyes—burning with dependence and admiration—was a fire so intense, Huan Tian couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze.
"Alright, you thought I was gonna leave you behind, huh?"
Her cheeks flushed red.
"…Mhm. I did."
"Silly girl. You'd do just fine on your own, even without me."
"It's not the same. I can deal with zombies… but I don't know how to fight those Six-Legged Black Widows."
The mention of that name brought a heaviness to Huan Tian's eyes as well.
They may have taken down the brute mutant zombie today, but the shadowy mastermind and those monstrous black widows were still threats looming large.
And the scent that marked them for tracking? No clue when that would fade.
The good news: the black widows hadn't shown up.
Maybe they were all dead—or maybe they were too scared to return.
Either way, they were safe… for now.
"Tch. One problem after another…" Huan Tian took a deep breath and slapped both sides of his head.
Lin Qingqing, acting out of habit, walked to the corner where the figure had disappeared, scanning for clues.
Suddenly, the corner of her eye caught something on the floor—drops of crimson red.
"Huan Tian, come look—this is… blood!"