Chapter 109: My Time Is Running Out

Su Xiao and the other entered the underground passage and began searching for ghouls.

Strange as it was, when Su Xiao didn’t want to encounter ghouls, they often appeared before him—but now not a single one could be seen.

After five minutes of fruitless searching, Su Xiao caught a faint scent of blood.

Ma Gui nodded Shiyi , and the two slowly approached the corner ahead; not far along, they heard gnawing sounds.

“Crunch, crunch~.”

A ghoul weighing at least three hundred jin was crouched over a corpse, devouring it ravenously—he was an ordinary ghoul.

Three hundred jin’s strength was weak, roughly between B-rank and A-rank.

“Ma Gui, this one’s good—plenty of meat.”

Ma Gui nodded.

“But we need a sturdy rope.”

The three-hundred-jin ghoul, startled by their conversation, looked at them blankly; in his hand he clutched a severed leg, already gnawed to bloody pulp, exposing white, bony shards.

“White, the Reaper.”

Upon recognizing Su Xiao and Ma Gui, the three-hundred-jin ghoul collapsed to the ground, trembling like a leaf.

If the three-hundred-jin had dropped the Can leg and wiped the blood from his face, he might have looked pitiful—but as he was now, he resembled a deranged serial killer who devoured his victim’s corpse.

Ma Gui and Su Xiao charged forward; neither used weapons—they needed him alive.

“Help!”

The three-hundred-jin let out a piercing scream.

Su Xiao kicked the ghoul’s bloated belly; the ghoul rolled several times, and Ma Gui stepped in, striking his nape with full force.

The ghoul’s body went limp; under the combined efforts of Su Xiao and Ma Gui, even without weapons, he had no chance to resist.

With bait secured, the two carried the three-hundred-jin toward Central City.

As for why they carried him—he weighed more than three hundred jin, and he might wake up at any moment; carrying him alone was risky.

……

In the center of the underground city stood a vertical shaft over ten meters in diameter, its depth unseen, pitch-black inside—as if leading to the earth’s core.

The shaft’s inner walls were steel, covered in lush, green moss, smooth and damp.

On the moss, clear handprints and footprints were visible—those primitive types must have climbed up from here.

On either side of the shaft’s mouth were two semicircular covers; they were thick, and when closed together, they sealed the shaft completely.

Now the covers were wide open; on one, a jagged breach, still stained with blood, marred its surface.

The primitives had broken a hole through the cover, burst out of the shaft, and then fully opened both covers.

Logically, primitives shouldn’t possess such intelligence—but last time Su Xiao ventured deep into District 24, he’d seen a primitive resembling a leader; that one had intelligence and could command others.

Now Su Xiao hid near the shaft’s mouth, while several primitives wandered nearby.

“That Ma Gui is too slow.”

No sooner had he spoken than an explosion echoed from afar.

“Boom!”

A pillar of fire shot skyward, accompanied by thick, rolling smoke.

All primitives in Central City turned toward the explosion, roaring as they sprinted toward it.

Seconds later, Su Xiao emerged from hiding and sprinted toward the shaft’s edge.

He tried lifting one cover to close it.

“Click-daa.”

A sharp metallic screech rang out; Su Xiao’s face flushed red.

“Ma Gui, I swear to god, this thing weighs at least eight or nine hundred jin.”

With his 15-point Strength stat, Su Xiao roared and lifted the cover, shoving with all his might.

“Creak… Boom.”

One semicircular cover closed; Su Xiao was already drenched in sweat.

He glanced at the other cover and cursed silently—he should’ve gone to lure the primitives himself.

“Click-daa.”

Su Xiao lifted the second cover; fortunately, thick bearings connected the cover to the shaft’s rim—otherwise, his strength alone couldn’t have lifted the metal lid.

“Boom.”

Both covers were now sealed; the one-meter-wide breach on their surface stood out starkly.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Su Xiao ran back to his hiding spot, dragged out the three-hundred-jin, and held a rope in hand.

He tightly bound the three-hundred-jin, then, like fishing, kicked him through the breach in the cover and tied one end of the rope to the cover.

That wasn’t all—Su Xiao took off his backpack, heavy with what Ma Gui had just given him.

From the pack he pulled out several silver metal tubes, each about ten centimeters long, fist-thick, with suction devices on one end.

Su Xiao attached the silver tubes to the cover; his task was done. He quickly left the cover and climbed to a nearby high point.

Upon reaching the high point, Su Xiao found Ma Gui already waiting—this was their prearranged rendezvous.

“You said these covers were made of special alloy, each weighing only three hundred jin—but this thing weighs at least eight hundred, maybe more.”

Su Xiao stared intently at Ma Gui, making the latter slightly startled.

“Not over three hundred jin? The Bureau’s intel I received…”

Here Ma Gui fell silent.

Su Xiao also fell silent; he had a hunch—perhaps CCG had already begun abandoning Ma Gui? But such a powerful asset—could CCG really let him die on this mission?

“Looks like you don’t get along well with CCG’s upper echelons. At your current state, you couldn’t lift those two covers—conservatively, they weigh eight hundred jin. They sent me here as a contingency—you fail, I step in…”

Ma Gui gave a light laugh; for some reason, Su Xiao felt Ma Gui’s emotions had become richer, no longer the same emotionless mask.

“My time is running out.”

Ma Gui spoke a cryptic phrase, as if acknowledging CCG might abandon him.

“Bai Ye, you killed a ghoul named Jin Muyan before, didn’t you? The one-eyed, white-haired ghoul.”

“Yes. During the battle in District 11 against Bronze Tree.”

“Is that so? After this mission ends, I’ll tell you a secret. Help me with one thing—I’ll explain details later.”

Ma Gui’s current words and actions made one wonder if he intended to defect from CCG.

“Don’t rush to refuse. I noticed long ago you’re different from other investigators—you don’t serve CCG. I don’t know your goal, but we can cooperate. I’ll pay you.”

Su Xiao’s eyes lit up—shocking secrets might soon unfold before him; the more hidden the truth, the more World Source he could gain. He was deeply intrigued by Ma Gui’s secret.

“Let’s talk when we return to the surface. It’s too early now.”

Su Xiao wasn’t blinded by the offer—Ma Gui’s trustworthiness remained unproven.

After the explosion, all primitives in Central City gathered near the blast site; once they realized nothing was there, they gradually dispersed.

Central City had become their territory—they patrolled it.

“Did you hit him too hard? Why hasn’t the three-hundred-jin woken up?”

Su Xiao looked helplessly at the sealed cover.

“He’ll wake soon—he’s got too much fat, hard to gauge the force.”

The two crouched on the high point near the shaft, waiting for the three-hundred-jin to awaken.

Half an hour later, faint cries for help drifted from within the shaft.

“Anyone there? Help!”

“Which bastard investigator hung me here? So dark! Help~~!”

The cries grew louder; the primitives in Central City perked up their ears. This sudden sound from the shaft seemed to trigger their primal rage—they surged forward like a tide.

“Are you sure these primitives won’t enter the shaft? I feel these ‘beasts’ are fully enraged—they’ll tear the three-hundred-jin apart.”

“Certain. Primitives never enter the shaft—I tested it before.”

Since Ma Gui said so, Su Xiao didn’t press further.

“Help! Someone! Help!!”

“White Reaper, I’ll ************ you!”

After the initial fear passed, the three-hundred-jin began hurling curses—undoubtedly a good thing; hundreds of primitives were drawn in.

“Big brothers, I call you big brothers—kill me! This is too painful!”

The three-hundred-jin began begging.

One primitive crouched on the cover, cautiously leaning its head toward the breach, not daring to cross the line; upon seeing the three-hundred-jin, it let out a roar.

“Roar.”

“Roar… roar…”

More roars echoed; a large group of primitives paced anxiously on the cover, eager to kill the three-hundred-jin but afraid to enter the shaft—as if fearing something.

The moment was ripe. Su Xiao pulled out an explosive trigger.

The metal tubes he’d attached to the cover were bombs—he’d carried them, so the trigger had to remain in his hands.

PS: (Please vote for recommendations—Fei Wen is about to go premium; the recent recommendation numbers have me nervous. Give me some confidence.)