Chapter 64

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

In a corner of the Rift Realm, under 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, as they had suffered casualties just after entering the Rift Realm, and the others all had more or less injuries.

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

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

Maintaining vigilance, they protected Lou Feng in the center.

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

Unlike some unlucky bastards 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 spiritual quality frequency is a mess; I can't find any traces of the 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 Realm 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 that Master Kong mentioned."

As a battle-hardened mercenary, he had long been prepared for various unexpected situations; even if large equipment couldn't be transported and was lost, the food and emergency supplies on their persons were still sufficient. At this moment, even without Slan's orders, some people had already begun to search the surrounding buildings for a location to set up camp.

"Also, if there's a chance—no, find a chance..." Lou Feng's expression twitched, and he squeezed the words out 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 on him 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 the fruit picked 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 way, we can at least give an account 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 male with a scar on his face?"

"Yes." Lou Feng nodded.

The Homecoming Knight asked again in confusion: "And he rides a small motorcycle? Hmm, and he's also very annoying when he smiles?"

"Yes, that's right."

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

The words stopped abruptly.

He froze on the spot.

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

Ji Jue!

He had come.

Right in the stunned gaze of everyone, Little Niu Ma roared as it sped along, tethering a figure dancing in mid-air, 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?

Hahahaha—"

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

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

Half of the derelict building cracked from the center with a wail, and the massive, ferocious monster swam through the ruins, raising its body in fury, roaring loudly, in hot pursuit!

"—I've missed you guys 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 used profanity, 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 they had just finished calibrating or the supplies and provisions scattered on the ground.

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

On the battlefield, even a hint of hesitation or wishful thinking would only bring death; after witnessing countless endings where people remained dazed amidst the roar of shells, those who survived would learn the most valuable lesson in life, regarding so-called decisiveness!

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

Those on two legs, when running, just weren't as fast as those on two wheels...

Especially when Ji Jue easily accelerated and waved as he passed them; after the furious, hate-filled gazes 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 that was already close at hand, feeling the huge black shadow cast upon their faces...

They swallowed dryly.

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

"ROAR!!!!!"

After some effort, having finally shaken off the trouble following at their heels, 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 difficult to distinguish what this thing actually was.

It looked like an octopus, a hippopotamus, and a cheetah had been shredded and pieced together with a human; it had lurked in the darkness and suddenly pounced out while 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 knife.

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

He even suspected that he had taken the wrong path and broken into the set of some horror B-movie.

On the ground, that headless, strangely shaped body was still struggling constantly, leaking blood and some kind of transparent liquid, and broken granulation tissue kept growing and changing shape.

"How 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 the fluid dismemberment, the separated pieces of flesh finally stopped moving.

It revealed the eerie structure inside.

Mixed with iron, 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 it ever since it was headshot by the throwing knife.

"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 tongue was not nimble, and he didn't know how to explain; stuttering to the end, he finally found a way to describe it that Ji Jue could understand: "They are not turned from humans; they were never humans to begin with."

They didn't turn from humans into monsters.

Rather, from the very beginning... they weren't the kind of thing called humans!

In the sudden astonishment, Ji Jue fell silent.

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

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

Why did the lymph and nerve plexus parts have faint characteristics of spiritual quality circuits? It was faint and blurry; if one didn't specifically set out to investigate, it would be impossible to detect.

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

No, conversely, it was simply as if... the spiritual quality circuits had grown into the shape of nerves?

What the hell!

Was this an artificial object simulating a human?

But it clearly looked just like a living thing; whether it was nerve reflexes or operating mechanisms, even the dissipated spiritual quality was exactly the same as that of 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 onto it, and once again forcibly communicated with it using Mechanical Deus Ex Machina.

But all that rang in his mind was a shrill scream so piercing it made his hair stand on end—not one person, but thousands... endless roars.

Exploding in an instant!

Ji Jue's vision went black, and the blood in his mouth and nose seeped out in an instant, causing him to cough 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, trying to steal gasoline by biting a tube, only to have the other end inserted into a sewage tank...

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

The frenzied spiritual quality, viscous to the point of almost forming substance, rolled back toward him, exploding suddenly in his soul; after leaving behind a pain even 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 Deus Ex Machina was not a panacea.

He recalled the words of Professor Ye when he had used the Ghost Work Ball to teach him a lesson: if one relied on it too much, one would suffer sooner or later.

Now, it wasn't just the Ghost Work Ball that had suffered; he had almost finished suffering the consequences himself.

Ji Jue leaned against the wall, retching.

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

But he just wanted to know...

What on earth did that dog Mercury do back then?!

How could he have created such a batch of crazy, unbearable ghosts?

"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.