Chapter 461: Banban Li

Guan Zhong's entire right arm was numbed by the shock, his wrist bones emitting a "crack" of unbearable strain.

But he stubbornly withstood the impact, his right hand clutching the gun in a death grip, looking as if he would never let go even in death.

The next instant, his index finger frantically pulled the trigger, emptying an entire magazine.

The first bullet shot into the monster's left eye, churning the lens into pulp, dark green fluid spraying out.

The second bullet followed close behind, tearing away the optic nerve; the monster's eyeball burst instantly, letting out a shrill howl.

The third, fourth, fifth... bullets pierced the monster's cranial cavity one after another with dull "puff" sounds, as if beating a water-filled skin sack.

When the last bullet whistled out, the monster's back of the head completely exploded, brain matter mixed with bone fragments spraying radially, like a large bowl of brain flower stirred with seasoning.

Guan Zhong, breathing heavily, pulled out the handgun sunken deep into the eyeball; a few strands of viscous optic nerve still hung on the barrel.

The monster's body convulsed violently twice before crashing to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust mixed with blood mist.

Gong Qi walked out from behind the monster, looking at Guan Zhong with a half-smile, lightly spitting out three words: "No need to thank me."

Hou Wendong's legs went weak, and he slid down the wall to sit on the ground.

He stared blankly at the monster's corpse right before him; that ferocious single eye still glared at him, unwilling to close even in death.

The bliss of survival surged like a tide — it seemed he wouldn't have to queue at the Incineration Plant, nor lie in the Hospital ICU anymore.

"This life of mine, lately really is..." he smiled bitterly, touching his chest, where the scar from the last ambush still remained.

He didn't know whether to sum it up as bad luck or good luck.

Bad luck because he always got caught up in inexplicable dangers; good luck because every time, at the critical moment, he would be saved by a kind-hearted stranger.

In just a few short days, his Hou Wendong's list of benefactors had happily gained two new names.

Everyone is the protagonist of their own fate.

Especially between life and death, on a stage dyed red by blood, everyone will authentically restore their truest face.

"Blood is the most honest mirror; it reflects a person's nature — ferocity, cowardice, cunning, stupidity — all laid bare!"

The Special Commissioner sat on the Presidium, indifferently overlooking the grand stage woven with lives in the Campus.

This was the most spectacular performance he had seen since coming to the Lower City.

But when his gaze swept past the Live Broadcast's Monitoring Screen, he suddenly felt all this clamor pale in comparison.

That was the true center of the stage.

In the picture, Scientist Zuo Bai stood frozen in the center of the lens, and behind him actually stood two identical 【Masks】 shoulder to shoulder.

They were symmetrical like mirror images, wearing identical smiles down to the slightest detail, even the frequency of their lip movements exactly the same; the pupils behind their gold-rimmed glasses flickered with the same evil light.

Suddenly, the two 【Masks'】 arms twisted inhumanly, twisting into a bone blade entwined with spiral black patterns.

The blade tip pierced through Zuo Bai's back, then lifted his whole body into midair, like a specimen pinned in a Laboratory.

In the blink of an eye, countless bone spikes burst out from inside Zuo Bai's body.

Lower abdomen, eye sockets, throat, ribs — every piece of flesh and blood sprouted ferocious white bones, like a holy flower suddenly blooming from inside out.

Then, Zuo Bai's body began to swell like a malfunctioning inflatable Doll; his skin gradually turned transparent, revealing the surging black fluid beneath — not biological tissue, but countless shadows disguised as Ink.

Pong——

Zuo Bai's chest and abdominal cavity exploded into pulp.

Countless ink fluids splattered in all directions, then silently fell into the Sewage, burrowing into one of the 【Masks'】 bodies.

The other 【Mask】 slowly pulled his arm out of Zuo Bai's shattered body; as his arm withdrew, the blooming bone flower retracted back, carrying some blood as it burrowed into his palm.

Leaving only a still-beating heart in his palm!

That was clearly a half-mechanical heart, its surface densely covered with nerve-like circuits, each circuit flowing with liquid metal like mercury.

Most horrifying was that a miniature Crystal Yuan was connected at the heart's aorta, flashing red light frantically.

Zuo Bai's whole body had only the head and legs left; the middle half was gone, barely connected by a section of spine crawling with silver Nano Worms.

A normal person suffering this trauma would have died over and over long ago.

But Zuo Bai could still slowly turn his neck, his cervical vertebrae emitting a "click-click" of jammed gears.

Two black holes where eyeballs used to be stared straight at the 【Mask】 before him; his jawbone opened and closed mechanically, a damaged, static-laced noise coming from his throat:

"Didn't expect I'd lose here. I admit, 【Mask】, you made me feel a long-lost sense of frustration. This round I lost, but..."

Both 【Masks'】 faces simultaneously showed an interested smile:

"Worthy of a Scientist, even reconstructing yourself. But since you know you lost, just obediently hand over the 【Black Core】."

In Zuo Bai's two black holes, a ghostly blue light suddenly emerged, like a monitor restarting in the Midnight:

"You'll get nothing from me. And we'll meet again soon. When that time comes, I guarantee I'll take you apart piece by piece, because I've already seen your true face; in my eyes you have no more secrets!"

Zuo Bai paused; clearly beaten so badly his corpse couldn't be pieced together, yet looking as if he had won, he proudly raised his head and announced in advance:

"【Mask】, I'm already eagerly looking forward to that day's arrival."

Both 【Masks】 lowered their heads simultaneously; a pair of pitch-black lightless eyes met Zuo Bai's face, a pair of blood-red Magatama gazed at the heart in hand, smiling eerily:

"What a coincidence, I'm also very much looking forward to our reunion. By the way, I've already obtained the... 'Banban Li' I wanted from you!"

What Zuo Bai couldn't see was that on the 【Mask】's pair of blood-red Magatama, a line of eerie Prompt Box Subtitles was slowly emerging.

【You are peeking at a fresh heart!】

【From this heart, you have peeked at an ability that has Not Dissipated.】

【.....】

He only felt his heart stop beating, his Nao Hai receiving no electrical Signal; his consciousness Link was severed, the blue light in both pupils instantly turning red.

The 【Mask】's fingertips gently tightened; that half-mechanical heart collapsed into Quick Sand in his palm, sprinkling down through his fingers.

Zuo Bai's head lost support and suddenly drooped; at the same time, intense red light burst from his eye sockets, in an Instant illuminating the entire shaft as bright as day.

The 【Mask】 merely unhurriedly shook off the Quick Sand from his fingertips, his gaze faintly sweeping past Feng Yuhuai, looking toward the shadowy figure in the Pipe.....

End of Chapter