Chapter 63

"Izak is dead, Ingal and Eller are injured, everyone is here."

In a corner of the Rift, beneath a broken wall, the Homecoming Knights had gathered once again.

After counting the heads, a hint of emotion appeared in the expression of the bearded man, Slan; he hadn't expected such an unfavorable start, having suffered casualties just after entering the Rift, and everyone else was more or less injured.

It wasn't as ridiculous as Ji Jue and the others falling directly from mid-air, but some had fallen straight into a monster's nest, and others had been buried under collapsed buildings after taking only two steps, crawling out covered in dust.

Fortunately, their locations were not far apart, and relying on the resonance between their matrices, they had easily wiped out a few crocodile-like monsters lurking in the mud pits before gathering together again.

Maintaining vigilance, they protected Lou Feng in the center.

At the moment of the Rift's mutation, the experienced Slan had immediately tackled his employer to the ground, and the two had not been separated upon arrival; now, they just looked a bit dusty.

Unlike some unlucky fellows who were hunted down the moment they landed, Lou Feng had ample time to analyze the surrounding situation. Fortunately, the instruments stored in the space opened by the Gate of Eternity had not been damaged during the crossing.

"No, the Ethereal quality frequency is a mess, I can't find any traces of Supreme Good, and the stability index is lower than the safety limit." Lou Feng looked away from the handheld instrument's screen: "However, judging from the data, the Rift is still maintaining an overlap with the present world; as long as we find an opportunity to open the gate again, we can leave this place."

"In other words, we should first establish a safe stronghold?" Slan understood, "I will send people to search the surrounding area later to see if there are any traces of the workshop Master Kong mentioned."

As expected of battle-hardened mercenaries, they had long been prepared for various unexpected situations; even if large equipment could not be transported and was lost, their personal food and emergency supplies were still sufficient. At this moment, without even needing Slan's orders, some were already starting to search the surrounding buildings for a location for a base camp.

"Also, if there's a chance, no, find a chance..." Lou Feng's expression twitched, and he squeezed the words through his teeth: "Find that guy surnamed Ji!"

Not to mention the grudge between the two, just the fact that he might have a backup plan and guidance from Ye Xian was troublesome enough. Among all the entrants, his threat was the top priority!

If they finally found the workshop after all their hard work, only to have it snatched by this dog, then Lou Feng could just find a rope and hang himself.

"Remember, if possible, try not to kill him, understand?" Lou Feng warned cautiously: "That would be a way to answer to Master Ye."

"Understood, BOSS."

Slan smiled slightly, "Don't worry, we are professionals."

Just a kid who didn't even have a matrix; dealing with him wouldn't even require a gun, it would be a piece of cake!

But just at this moment, the person next to him suddenly asked: "Is that guy surnamed Ji you mentioned a young man with a scar on his face?"

"Yes." Lou Feng nodded.

The Homecoming Knight asked again in confusion: "And rides a little motorcycle? Hmm, and his smile is also very annoying?"

"Yes, that's right."

Lou Feng looked up, about to ask: "How do you—"

His words came to an abrupt halt.

He stood frozen on the spot.

As if hearing his call, at the end of the dilapidated street, the roar of an engine sounded, and in the rising dust, that face he would remember even if it turned to ash gradually became clear.

Ji Jue!

He had come.

Right in the stunned gaze of everyone, the Little Cow-Horse galloped and roared, tethering a figure dancing in mid-air, and came whistling toward them!

"Hello! HELLO! Konnichiwa!!!"

Ji Jue waved his arms in ecstasy, as if afraid he wouldn't be seen, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Brother Lou! Long time no see! How are you?

Hahahahahaha—"

And accompanying his words, the engine sound gradually soared again, until, with the violent trembling of the earth, the collapse of walls and ruins, a loud noise suddenly erupted!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!

Half of the ruined building groaned and split from the center, a massive and gruesome monster swam through the ruins, and in its fury, it raised its body, roared, and pursued relentlessly!

"—I’ve missed you all so much!!!!"

Ji Jue accelerated again!

Laughing wildly, he swooped toward them.

"You surnamed Ji, you fucking..."

?C〇

Lou Feng’s vision went black.

He didn't even realize it was the first time in his life he had cursed, and then, he was already grabbed by Slan and hoisted onto his shoulder.

"RUN!!!"

The bearded knight shouted at the top of his lungs, not even caring about the expensive instruments that had just been calibrated or the supplies and provisions scattered on the ground.

Without a second thought, he took the lead and ran wildly!

On the battlefield, even the slightest hesitation or wishful thinking would only lead to death; after witnessing countless endings where people stood dazed amidst the whistling of shells, those who survived would learn the most valuable lesson in life, about what is called decisiveness!

Unfortunately, no matter how decisive, it still couldn't change reality.

Those with two legs, when running, were just not as fast as those with two wheels...

Especially when Ji Jue easily accelerated and waved as he passed them; after the furious glares and the farewell of a hail of bullets, all the Homecoming Knights’ expressions gradually became dull, and they turned their heads stiffly.

Staring at the massive monster already close at hand, feeling the huge black shadow cast upon their faces...

They swallowed their saliva dryly.

The last thing they heard was the monster’s shrill roar:

"ROAR!!!!!"

After some effort, having finally shaken off the trouble following behind their butts, Ji Jue and the others finally stopped in a ruin, catching their breath, covered in dust.

And right under An Ran’s feet, a corpse that kept twitching was still entangled.

In fact, even Ji Jue found it hard to distinguish what this thing actually was.

It looked like an octopus, a hippopotamus, and a cheetah shredded and pieced together with a human; it had been lurking in the darkness and suddenly pounced out when Ji Jue and the others stopped the bike.

Then, before Ji Jue could raise his muzzle, its head was cleanly and neatly blown off by An Ran’s throwing dart.

Along the way, they had seen too many of these things, not just that giant insect like the signature monster in some sci-fi movie, but also rotting butterflies with rotten flesh all over that were larger than ordinary people, spider monsters pieced together from all sorts of messy limbs... and even more, frantic, mutated walking corpses.

He even suspected if he had taken the wrong path and stumbled into the set of some trashy horror movie.

On the ground, that headless, bizarre-shaped body was still struggling constantly, leaking blood and some kind of transparent liquid, and broken flesh buds were constantly growing and changing shape.

"So strange, it clearly has no heartbeat anymore."

An Ran held a sharp dagger in reverse, skillfully slicing through vital points like the heart, groin, and neck; with a smooth, flowing dismemberment, the separated chunks of meat finally stopped moving.

Revealing the eerie structure inside.

Mixed with iron shards, metal, ceramic, and plastic!

After repeated analysis, he said solemnly, "Brother Ji Jue, this is not a human."

"Humans couldn't be like this anyway, right?" Ji Jue’s expression twitched; he had known this ever since it was blown away by the dart.

"I mean it has nothing to do with humans, it's not a human, it's different."

An Ran explained again, and seeing Ji Jue’s confused look, he became even more anxious, but his speech was clumsy, and he didn't know how to explain it; stuttering until the end, he finally found a description that Ji Jue could understand: "They, they weren't turned from humans, they were never humans."

Not turned from humans into monsters.

But, from the very beginning... they weren't human things at all!

In sudden astonishment, Ji Jue fell into silence.

Now hearing An Ran say this, he also pinched his nose and leaned over, took the dagger from Little An, and carefully dissected the corpse’s skull; the brain matter, turned into paste, flowed out from the crack.

But when he endured the nausea and reached in to grope, he froze.

Why did the lymph and nerve plexus parts have faint characteristics of Ethereal quality circuits? It was faint and blurry, and if one didn't specifically investigate with a purpose, it would be impossible to notice.

It was as if the nerves had naturally grown into this shape.

No, conversely, it was almost like... the Ethereal quality circuits had grown into the shape of nerves?

What the hell!

Is this an artificial object that simulates a human?

But it clearly looked just like a living thing, whether it was nerve reflexes or operating mechanisms, and even the dissipated Ethereal quality was exactly the same as a dead person!

Watching the spasms and twitches of the thing on the ground grow weaker, Ji Jue took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, pressed his hand on it, and once again forcibly communicated with it using the Mechanical Descent.

But what rang out in his brain was only a shrill scream so piercing it made his hair stand on end; it wasn't one person, but thousands... endless roars.

Exploding in an instant!

Ji Jue’s vision went black, blood seeped from his mouth and nose in an instant, and he coughed violently.

If he hadn't been unable to make a sound, he would have almost shouted:

This shit is poisonous!

There’s shit! So much shit!

In that instant, he felt as if he had been overestimating himself, biting on a tube to steal gasoline, only to have inserted the other end into a dirty water tank...

If the consciousness of alchemical creations were sometimes like cola, sometimes like sprite, sometimes unruly like strong liquor, and sometimes pure like plain water, then what he had just greedily swallowed was Haizhou herbal tea mixed with canned herring.

The frantic Ethereal quality, viscous to the point of almost forming substance, surged backward toward him, exploded violently in his soul, and after leaving behind a pain more terrible than a hammer to the forehead, it gifted him a psychological shadow he might never forget for the rest of his life.

Mechanical Descent is not a panacea.

He recalled the words of Professor Ye when he used the Ghost-Work Sphere to teach him a lesson: if you rely on it too much, you will suffer sooner or later.

Now, not only had the Ghost-Work Sphere suffered, but he himself had almost suffered the full extent of it.

Ji Jue leaned against the wall, retching.

At least now, he could be sure that these things were definitely not human.

But he just wanted to know...

What the hell did that bastard Mercury do back then?!

How could he create such a batch of insane, unbearable ghost things?

"Shh—"

Just as he wanted to curse, An Ran pressed his shoulder and said softly: "There’s a sound."

Crying.

Coming from the dim distance.

There will be another update tonight.