Chapter 708: Progress Surging

Haerman, I intend to go kill a squad of survivors nearby.

That squad, after ambushing us, seems to have been badly wounded by the Arbiter.

The voice was calm.

The man squatting on the ground, trying to assemble the spears into a ranged weapon, spoke softly.

As uncommon squad trialists, the whole team consisted only of the two brothers.

They came from a small battle zone; only four Second-Level individuals could be mustered in the entire Safe Zone.

And only they possessed the Strength type.

Are you looking for death?

He gave a cold sneer.

The middle-aged man hiding by the bedside, on guard, replied in a low voice; the bandaged wound on his right arm slowly seeped blood.

He is the youth's older brother.

They never intended to actively hunt Awakened Ones, but with only the two of them, many squads have targeted them.

The enemy was hiding nearby.

Unless they stay here all the time, the enemy lurking there will definitely find a way to kill them.

Both were poor at communication, and their exchanges were very brief.

The young man, after slinging the two spear-like pieces of equipment on his back, prepared to jump out the window.

The Arbiter was drawn away by a distant sound, giving them about three minutes to act.

Actually, the two did not get along well; even before the Apocalypse, the older brother rarely communicated with him.

Strict, cold, a typical image.

Often, he also liked to mock his younger brother as if he were trash.

If not for him, the youth would have died long ago.

I'm injured.

You draw fire from the front; I'll look for a chance to cooperate with you.

If something goes wrong, don't count on me to save you.

The middle-aged man followed behind him, voicing his thoughts without reservation.

Okay.

The youth carrying the spears had a somewhat grim expression.

He knew his older brother's personality.

Many times, he almost died.

But the other seemed indifferent to his life or death, often seizing the equipment they obtained.

Under the pretense that his strength was greater, he needed better equipment.

Suppressing his dissatisfaction, the youth clenched his fists silently.

Shall I draw the first wave of fire?

If the situation changes, he has no doubt his older brother would abandon him and flee first.

Jumping out the window, he lowered his steps.

Along the wall corner, the two moved in silence toward the Hunter's hiding place.

We must kill with a single blow!

Otherwise, once injured, the consequences would be troublesome.

Holding his breath.

Upon reaching the Hunter's hiding place, the youth's eyes turned fierce; without hesitation, he activated his skill.

Strength Enhancement! Blast Strike!

His right fist suddenly slammed into the closed door; the blackened door shattered with a bang.

The middle-aged man following from behind flashed a look of tension in his eyes.

Unlike what he said, he would look for a suitable opportunity to strike.

The bandage on his right shoulder kept seeping blood.

Idiot.

He cursed quietly.

Wood fragments from the shattered door shot out.

The youth pulled the spear from behind his back with a reverse grip, let out a low shout, his arm muscles bulging, ready to thrust the spear at the moment of aim.

The opponent was already severely wounded.

He had considerable confidence he could instantly kill one.

However.

The imagined scene of the opponent hiding inside to recuperate did not appear.

Click-click-click.

Sharp joints tapped the ground.

Inside the door was a thin, disgusting spider, in the act of plucking a skull from a corpse.

Like holding a skull, the spider's foreleg joints pierced the glaring, wide-open skull.

What the hell is this?!

Everyone was horrified.

In an instant, after realizing something was wrong, a strong sense of danger flooded his mind.

The two people in the room were dead, dead without a sound.

The judgment honed after the Apocalypse let him quickly realize that this spider was absolutely not something he could contend with.

Run!

He turned and ran, having almost exhausted his strength, his face pale with fear.

He also hurled the spear in his hand at the human-faced spider at the same moment, trying to block it.

However, the black spear that shot out struck the spider's delicate limbs like a child's thrown pebble, producing a crisp sound.

The monster was enraged.

Like a ghost's shriek, it instantly shattered his eardrums.

A piercing sound of tearing air howled.

He hastily dodged.

A flash of fear and hesitation crossed his eyes, and he ultimately chose to shout a warning:

"Run!"

"Harman!"

He gave a bitter smile.

He could feel his waist being sliced open by the claws.

It merely grazed him, but those sharp claws nearly cut him in half at the waist.

He heard the footsteps of his brother, who had been hiding nearby after his warning, come to a halt.

He couldn't help but feel a bit regretful.

The other party, indeed, abandoned him without hesitation.

The sound of wind arrived.

Chi-chi-chi

A rapid knocking sound, making one's flesh creep.

He knew that the monster had come after him.

Could he escape?

Pushing his spiritual energy to the limit, the youth clenched the muscles around his wound with a deathly pale face, trying to staunch the bleeding.

Run!

As long as he ran back to the nearby buildings, perhaps there was still hope to survive.

If he could not survive.

Better to die one than to die two.

He ran with great effort.

With his agility attribute erased by the system, he felt his speed was too slow.

Fortunately, the spider behind him seemed to hesitate over whether to take another corpse's head, pausing for a moment after launching two attacks.

There's hope!

His eyes were full of longing for life.

But the trial announcement that suddenly sounded the next second was excruciatingly sharp.

"Inner World Progress: Layer 2!"

On the street, the pervasive black mist instantly roiled.

He saw a newly appeared human-faced spider slowly emerge from the black mist.

Its dense compound eyes stared fixedly at him, blocking his escape route.

His face was ashen.

The youth's lips trembled as the sound from behind came again.

Attacked from both sides, he was doomed.

Clinging to the last shred of unwillingness, he trembled as he lunged in another direction.

That was an empty street.

In the darkness, the whole world seemed to contain only himself.

The brother who had been acting together with him had indeed abandoned him.

Behind him, a high-pitched tearing-air sound came.

Despair was written all over the youth's face.

It's too fast!

Am I going to die?

The next second.

A muffled grunt sounded.

The youth turned his head in astonishment, only to see the brother he thought had fled actually blocking his path from behind.

"Wh... idiot..."

Blood flowed continuously from the corner of his pale mouth.

His chest was pierced.

Harman slightly opened his mouth, giving a bitter smile as he spread his arms to shield him from behind.

The former arrogance in his eyes vanished, replaced by deep reluctance.

The claws were withdrawn, and the spider clutching a head seemed displeased that its attack had been blocked.

After a piercing shriek, the claws thrust again, piercing Harman's spine and hoisting him high.

Feeling life rapidly slipping away, Haerman's eyes showed determination as he suddenly roared:

"Run... ah!!"

"Trash! Don't let me... die in vain!"

Looking at his dazed brother standing still, he instinctively wanted to reach out and push him.

His voice became hoarse and distorted.

The trembling youth looked at his brother hanging midair, his eye sockets instantly reddening.

"No!!"

On the street.

The youth's face was streaked with tears, he who had never cried before now felt his heart trembling.

Crawling and stumbling, he nearly collapsed as he wiped tears with the back of his hand.

Behind him, two human-faced spiders cradling skulls were fighting each other.

One of them was precisely the spider cradling Haerman's skull.

"Flee!"

"Escape from here!!"

Outside the hospital.

Heedless of the still-roaming Arbiter, Zhang Yong dragged a teammate with only half his body left, fleeing wildly outward.

As the Trial Announcement sounded, outside the hospital a large number of rotting-skinned corpses appeared.

Attacked from inside and out, the entire military Awakened Ones were scattered.

With the last escaping teammate, he gasped heavily.

The death toll surged.

In just a few short minutes, the death toll instantly rose to 65%!

He dared not imagine how many more of these monsters existed elsewhere.

Hiding in a basement of a residential building near the hospital.

He couldn't help but feel somewhat desperate.

What to do!?

What should we do?

Are we all going to die here?

Watching the lengthy prohibition-of-departure countdown, each minute and second felt like a pointer to death.

"Secret Realm Announcement:"

"Current death toll: 69%"

"Inner World Progress: 3!"

"Inner World Progress: 5!"