Chapter 13: Blood Moon Tide and the Uncontrolled Observation

The Blood Moon hung in the sky.

Originally just a moon with a strange blood hue, now its glow is as thick as poured fresh blood, dyeing the whole world a dark crimson. The air is sticky and heavy, suffused with a pungent mix of sulfur and rot, making every breath involuntarily rapid.

Around the outer defenses of Shelter No. 7, the searchlight beams struggle to carve limited light through the blood‑colored mist, illuminating faces tense, fearful yet resolute. Behind sandbag fortifications, beside barbed wire, in the ruined shelters, soldiers and awakened ones clutch their weapons, eyes fixed on the blood‑shrouded death zone beyond the line.

Chen Mo's squad is tasked with defending the western B‑7 sector, a relatively open slope that is easy to attack but hard to hold, under immense pressure. Han Qing grips a reinforced blast shield, standing like a reef at the front; Zhang Yang and Li Siwen take the left and right, wielding tactical axes and machetes; Wang Hu and Zhao Lei provide support from behind; Liu Qian hides in a relatively safe shelter, ready to administer the trivial healing at any moment. Chen Mo stands at the formation's center, holding a new tactical axe, his gaze cold as he scans ahead.

Su Yu stands just behind him, her complexion paler than usual. The Blood Moon's light seems to affect her, making her senses unusually sharp, even a bit… restless. Chaotic energy fluctuations, blood‑thirsty roars, the thunderous footfalls of monsters flood her mind, like countless needles stabbing her nerves.

"Five minutes left." Chen Mo's voice is low, breaking the suffocating silence. He can feel a faint tremor in the ground beneath his feet, a sign of a massive horde of monsters gathering.

【Global Announcement: Regional event 'Monster Tide' officially begins! Duration: 6 hours. Happy hunting to all players…】

The cold system alert tone sounds like a starting gun, instantly igniting the flames of hell!

Roar—!!!

Awo—!!!

Sss—!!!

Countless hair‑raising howls erupt from deep within the blood mist, sweeping forward like a tsunami! Immediately, the ground begins to quake violently, as if a thousand armies are charging!

"It's coming! Prepare to meet the enemy!" the shouts of the frontline commanders crackle through makeshift loudspeakers, hoarse and strained.

In the next instant, like a breached dam, countless monsters of varied shapes burst from the blood mist toward the shelter's defenses! Leading the charge are swarms of corrupted dogs and shadow hunter dogs, their scarlet eyes flashing madly in the Blood Moon, like a red tide that instantly engulfs the front rows of ropes and traps.

Open fire!

Hold the line!

The crack of guns, the twang of bowstrings, the hum of energy shots, and the roars of awakened ones mingled with monster shrieks, composing a symphony of death!

B‑7 sector bears the brunt!

"Hold!" Han Qing roars, thrusting the massive blast shield forward, smashing two charging corrupted dogs away, but more monsters hammer the shield like waves, the thudding numbing his arm and forcing him to retreat step by step.

"Kill!" Zhang Yang and Li Siwen, eyes reddened, swing their weapons furiously, the sound of blades biting flesh never ceasing, blood splattering. Wang Hu and Zhao Lei clench their teeth, using shield and weapons to fend off monsters attacking from the flanks.

Chen Mo ignores the fodder, his gaze fixed on larger silhouettes behind the monster tide, emitting stronger energy fluctuations. His tactical axe swings, occasional Energy Shots puncture, killing an LV3 and an LV4 elite monster that try to breach the line.

【Successfully killed LV 4 Frenzied Boar, gained 70 experience points!】

【Successfully killed LV 3 Corroded Beetle, gained 50 experience points!】

【Death Echo triggered! Successfully copied skill: Thick Skin (LV 1 Passive)!】

【Thick Skin (LV 1): Passive skill. Slightly increases physical defense.】

Experience accrues far faster than usual, but Chen Mo feels no joy. The monsters are countless, seemingly endless; the line shudders under their assault like a small boat in a storm, about to capsize. Several sections have already been breached, screams and monster gnawing sounds are chilling.

"Thirty meters to the left front! Three acidic lizards firing together!" Su Yu, suppressing the chaos and sting in her mind, warns loudly, her voice trembling slightly.

Chen Mo's eyes narrow; he lunges forward a step, sweeping his tactical axe to push back the monsters before him, while his left hand lifts and fires consecutive Energy Shots!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three white‑hot beams precisely strike the three newly‑raised acidic lizards, cutting off their sprays; one is even blown clean through the head!

However, just as he finishes the acidic lizards, a strong sense of danger surges!

"Watch out! Above!" Su Yu's warning trembles with unprecedented panic.

Chen Mo looks up sharply and sees, in the blood‑red night sky, dozens of flying monsters with wings over two meters wide, resembling peeled bats, diving down! They emit sharp sound waves, their claws glinting with cold light!

"Raise the shield! Protect the head!" Chen Mo bellows, firing another Energy Shot that blows a diving bat demon skyward.

But the bat demons are too many; the sound‑wave attack leaves heads reeling. One bat demon breaks through the fire net, its claws raking toward Liu Qian at the rear of the formation!

"Ah!" Liu Qian screams, eyes shut.

At the last instant, a figure lunges and throws her down! It's Zhao Lei! He slams his back against the bat demon's claws, his combat suit tearing instantly, leaving deep, bone‑visible blood marks on his back!

"Zhao Lei!" Liu Qian cries, fumbling to activate Weak Healing; white light flickers, barely stopping the bleeding.

The line begins to feel a sudden surge of casualties.

At that moment, Su Yu lets out a painful groan, clutching her head with both hands. A faint violet haze has settled over her eyes; the chaotic energy fluctuations, blood‑thirsty thoughts, and fear of death in her mind amplify countlessfold, crashing against her mental barrier like a flood.

"No… don't…" she murmurs involuntarily, body trembling slightly.

"Su Yu?!" Chen Mo notes her abnormality, his heart sinking.

"Energy… so much… they're crying… roaring…" Su Yu's gaze blurs; she points sharply toward a direction behind the monster tide, voice sharp and strange, "There! That… huge… purple… core! It's controlling them! It's watching me!"

In the direction she points, the monster tide seems driven by an unseen force, its assault suddenly turning more frantic and coordinated, even showing small‑scale cooperation!

Meanwhile, Chen Mo feels a massive, evil will sweep across the battlefield, ultimately settling on Su Yu! It is the 'leader‑level' unit hidden deep within the tide, and it has noticed Su Yu, the special 'Observer'!

"Su Yu! Stay conscious!" Chen Mo tries to awaken her.

But Su Yu seems to fall into a hysteria; she jerks her head up, violet light blazing in her eyes, an invisible psychic shock radiating outward from her!

It's not an attack, more like an unconscious Resonance and interference!

The effect is immediate!

Monsters within a hundred‑meter radius freeze simultaneously, as if disrupted, entering brief chaos; some even begin attacking their own kind indiscriminately!

Yet after that brief chaos comes even crazier retaliation! All monsters sensing this unique wave, especially elite units, cast scarlet gazes toward Su Yu!

Roar!!!

A LV 7 elite the size of a small truck, its body sheathed in heavy bone plates and bearing three twisted horns — the Trampling Giant Rhinoceros — lets out a deafening roar, lowers its head like a runaway locomotive, and charges the B‑7 line toward Su Yu's position! The ground cracks beneath it, and monsters in its path are crushed into mush.

"No! Block it!" Han Qing's face turns ashen; he raises his shield to meet it, but the Trampling Giant Rhinoceros's terrifying force hurls him and his shield straight into the rear shelter, spraying a gush of fresh blood, leaving him unable to rise.

The line is torn open with a massive breach!

"Protect Su Yu!" Chen Mo's eyes blaze; he knows Su Yu's condition is off, but there's no time to investigate! He must stop that giant rhinoceros!

【Bone Armor Technique】! 【Metal Hardening】! 【Thick Skin】! All defensive skills activate instantly! Chen Mo passes the tactical axe to his left hand, clenches his right fist, pushes the newly copied Throwing Mastery passive to its limit, while drawing on the lingering power of Primordial Blood and all his spirit, overloading Energy Shot!

A white‑hot energy beam, several times thicker than usual and almost solid, shoots like a drawn arrow toward the Trampling Giant Rhinoceros's relatively vulnerable eyes!

Boom!

The energy beam hits precisely, exploding a spray of blood! The Trampling Giant Rhinoceros lets out a painful wail, its charge falters slightly, and one eye is blinded!

But this injury isn't enough to stop it! It grew even more ferocious, its remaining eye locked tightly on Chen Mo (or rather on Su Yu behind him), and it surged forward again!

The distance is too short; there's no time to dodge!

Chen Mo's gaze hardened as he was about to employ the freshly copied, still unfamiliar 【Shadow Step】 for extreme evasion and counter‑attack—

A gray figure, like a specter, appeared without warning on the charge path of the trampling giant rhino!

It was "Ying"!

He still wore that gray cloak, his face unseen. Facing the mountain‑sized charging rhino, he simply raised his hand calmly.

There was no dazzling light, no violent energy surge. The space in front of his palm seemed to warp slightly.

The next moment, the unstoppable trampling giant rhino slammed into an invisible, extremely sturdy wall; its massive body halted abruptly, its forward momentum forcibly stopped, emitting a sickening bone‑cracking sound! It howled in agony, its huge head twisted at an unnatural angle, then crashed to the ground, convulsed a few times, and fell still.

One‑shot kill?!

Everyone was stunned by the sudden scene.

"Ying" slowly withdrew his hand; beneath the cloak his gaze seemed to glance at the abnormal Su Yu, whose eyes flickered with violet light, then at the battle‑ready Chen Mo, said nothing, and his figure merged back into the shadows, silently vanishing from the chaotic battlefield.

As if he had never been there.

Chen Mo felt a massive shock. Ying's strength far exceeded his estimate! That was certainly not the level of an LV5! What was his purpose? To save them? Or… for Su Yu?

However, the battlefield allowed no time for contemplation. Though the leader‑level unit was one‑shot by Ying, the monster tide had not ended, and the leaderless monsters continued their frantic assault.

And Su Yu, after unleashing that mental shock, seemed to have exhausted all strength; the violet glow in her eyes faded quickly, her body went limp and fell backward.

Chen Mo's eyes were sharp and his hands swift; he caught her in a grab.

"I… what's wrong with me?" Su Yu weakly opened her eyes, her gaze cleared, yet filled with lingering fear and bewilderment.

"It's okay now." Chen Mo handed her to Liu Qian, who had rushed over, then turned to face the newly surging monster tide, inhaled deeply, and raised his blood‑stained tactical axe.

"Everyone! Reform the formation! The battle is not over!"

The Blood Moon still hung high, the tide kept rolling. Yet the most perilous moment of the B-7 Defense Line was temporarily passed thanks to Ying's strange intervention. However, Su Yu's loss of control and Ying's mystery cast an even more enigmatic shadow over this fight for survival.