Chapter 106: Terror

The reinforcement team continued advancing deeper into Zone 24; after the incident at Murayama, everyone realized the danger of this mission.

Su Xiao glanced at the time; they had been traveling for three hours.

Along the way, they encountered two more primitive human ghoul groups, resulting in inevitable battles; the reinforcement team’s numbers dwindled rapidly, leaving only ten members.

The cannon fodder were almost all dead; the remaining investigators had some skill, though not capable of working independently, they could still contribute within the team.

As a result, the reinforcement team’s advance speed noticeably increased.

“Drip~.”

The mini-computer in Su Xiao’s hand beeped; Ma Gui’s location had changed again—this was not the first time.

“White Night, we’ve been down this path before.”

Shinodo Akira sprinted over to Su Xiao, holding a compass and a hand-drawn map.

“Mm, I know.”

Getting lost deep in Zone 24 was routine; the good news was they were getting closer to Ma Gui—about two hours away.

“Roar!”

A deafening beastly roar came from behind the group.

“What’s this one?”

The rear guard, Kuroiwa Iwa, immediately assumed a combat stance, staring into the dark corridor behind them.

“Thud. Boom.”

It sounded as if some colossal entity was slamming against the fleshy walls of the corridor; the entire passage shook.

Su Xiao fixed his gaze on the rear, his expression darkening—he had heard this roar before during his last incursion into Zone 24.

“Boom.”

The deep red fleshy wall ahead shattered, revealing a massive head.

The head was at least three meters thick, resembling a snake’s, but at its center glowed a single blood-red eye.

Su Xiao knew this red eye well—it was the distinctive red eye of a ghoul: black sclera, crimson iris.

“An animal ghoul? Impossible!”

Kuroiwa Iwa stared in shock at the serpent ghoul; CCG had never recorded an animal becoming a ghoul.

“So this is the Blood Eye.”

Su Xiao watched the serpent ghoul—it must be the Blood Eye that Yuna and Ma Gui had mentioned.

The Blood Eye emerged from the broken flesh-wall, its body at least three meters thick, length immeasurable, stretching far down the corridor; conservatively estimated, its length was at least dozens of meters.

Its entire body was covered in dark green-black scales that glowed faintly; deep red patterns could be seen between the scales.

After smashing through the flesh-wall, the Blood Eye flicked its tongue, its single eye the size of a human face locking onto the reinforcement team.

“Am I dreaming?”

Shinodo Akira’s legs trembled; she involuntarily stepped back two paces.

“Shinodo’s right—we must be dreaming, hahaha! How can such a creature exist? My wife’s waiting for me—how could this damn Zone 24 have something like this?”

One middle-aged investigator lost his sanity, dropped his Quink box, and drooled as he grinned foolishly.

“White Night Captain, what do we do?”

Kuroiwa Iwa remained calmer than the others, turning to Su Xiao.

“Retreat slowly—fighting this beast head-on will get us all killed.”

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to flee—they were already locked in.

Su Xiao was certain: if he faced the Blood Eye, he would die in under five minutes.

This monster’s size was simply too immense; its strength and stamina attributes must be astonishingly high.

The Blood Eye’s head swayed left and right, as if deliberating how to devour the humans before it; the scent of human flesh made it salivate.

Su Xiao attempted to use [Basic Probe (Temporary)] on the Blood Eye.

[You used Basic Probe on Elite Creature (Blood Eye). Data obtained.]

Blood Eye (Elite Creature)

HP: 100%

MP: 110

Strength: 30 (maximum in this world)

Agility: 12

Stamina: ???

Intelligence: 11

Charm: 2

Skill 1, Elite Creature (Passive): Strength +10, Agility +5, Stamina +10

Skill 2, Thermal Sensing (Passive): Increases hunting success rate by 60%.

Skill 3, Ancient Creature (Passive): Defense +6, Resistance to status effects +30%.

Skill 4, Frenzied Bite (Active): As a genetically modified organism, the Blood Eye possesses shark-like fangs with bite force exceeding normal biological limits. If hit by Frenzied Bite and HP falls below 80%, a Stamina check is triggered; failure results in instant death.

Skill 5: ???

Skill 6: ???

…

After reading the Blood Eye’s data, Su Xiao sucked in a sharp breath. A strength stat of 30 was unheard of—and a chance of instant death upon being bitten? How terrifying.

As for the line “only triggers if HP is below 80%”—in Su Xiao’s view, that was nonsense. If bitten by that blood-soaked maw, surviving at all was a miracle; expecting to remain above 80% HP was absurd.

“White Night Captain, what do we do?”

Shinodo Akira grabbed Su Xiao’s arm; the once-strong woman was now reduced to pure terror before the Blood Eye.

“All personnel, listen! Escape by any means possible!”

Su Xiao roared and led the reinforcement team in a desperate sprint deeper into Zone 24.

Su Xiao had no intention of fighting the Blood Eye—it was twice his strength, utterly overwhelming.

The ??? in Stamina meant the Blood Eye’s stamina was extremely high; its colossal size likely pushed its Stamina stat to the same 30-point maximum.

When the Blood Eye noticed Su Xiao fleeing with the team, a mocking glint appeared in its single eye—it possessed intelligence, or rather, it was deliberately letting them run, savoring the hunt.

The Blood Eye flicked its tongue, its serpentine body coiling through the corridor; scales scraped against the ground as its massive form moved with shocking speed.

Su Xiao and the others fled for their lives; behind them came a thunderous rumbling.

“White Night Captain, the monster’s catching up!”

One overweight investigator, clearly unfit for running, quickly slowed and fell to the rear.

The Blood Eye’s body twisted, accelerating instantly; its blood-filled maw opened to a ninety-degree angle, revealing a mouth full of dagger-like fangs.

“Squelch.”

The serpent’s jaws snapped shut, swallowing the overweight investigator whole; a severed hand plopped onto the ground.

“Crunch. Crunch.”

A horrifying chewing sound echoed—the Blood Eye, unlike ordinary snakes, did not swallow whole; it chewed first.

Blood seeped from its jaws; its single eye widened as it savored the taste of human flesh.

After tasting human flesh, the Blood Eye accelerated again; its head shot forward like lightning, swallowing another investigator in one bite.

Ghoul investigators had no chance to fight back against the Blood Eye.

If they were in open ground, Su Xiao might have used his speed advantage to stall it—but now, trapped in Zone 24’s underground tunnels, escape was their only option.

After fleeing for a while, three Chalu appeared ahead.

“Split up and run!”

Su Xiao roared and sprinted toward the central passage.

When the Blood Eye saw the Chalu , the mocking look vanished; its body twisted rapidly, instantly catching up to the reinforcement team.

The rear guard, Kuroiwa Iwa, suddenly stopped.

“White Night Captain, I’ll hold it back.”

The veteran investigator realized that reaching the Chalu would take precious time.

Su Xiao’s face darkened; Kuroiwa Iwa’s act was brave, but against this beast, he couldn’t even delay it for a second.

“Boom.”

The Blood Eye surged through the corridor; Kuroiwa Iwa, a Special-Class investigator, was instantly swallowed whole—not even a second of delay.

It wasn’t that Kuroiwa Iwa was foolish—he simply didn’t know the Blood Eye’s data, unaware of just how terrifying this serpent was.

After catching up, the Blood Eye swallowed several investigators, crunching them with a crunching sound; using this brief pause, Su Xiao dashed into the central passage, Shinodo Akira and Suzuya Juzo right behind him.

Shinodo Akira might not be strong, but she ran fast.

The Blood Eye halted before the Chalu , beginning to feast on human flesh.

Only three members of the reinforcement team remained.