Chapter 78: Center × Deeper Center

The underground passage where Su Xiao was located wasn’t wide—only about three meters across, allowing at most four ghoul attackers to rush him at once, which greatly reduced his pressure.

Four ghouls lunged at Su Xiao with snarling claws, but strangely, they didn’t activate their kagune.

There was no time for Su Xiao to ponder this; even without kagune, these ghouls were still dangerous.

Su Xiao gripped Zhanlongshan tightly in both hands and slashed out several white lines.

“Squelch, squelch.”

Several arms were severed; the ghouls before him screamed in succession.

Grip the blade—horizontal slash!

One sweep cut through the throats of all the ghouls before him; blood gushed forth—his timing was perfectly precise.

The four ghouls before him fell, but others instantly filled the gap, giving him no chance to breathe.

Su Xiao’s mind was razor-focused; his long blade immediately lashed out at the new ghoul advancing.

Flesh flew, limbs spun—less than two minutes had passed, and a pile of corpses already lay before Su Xiao.

Seeing this, Su Xiao immediately leapt onto the pile of corpses.

Though the corpse pile was soft and unstable underfoot, if he didn’t stand on it, the ghouls would attack from above.

Standing atop the pile, he held the high ground and gained full advantage.

The sounds of battle and ghoul roars merged into a continuous din within the passage.

Five minutes had passed since the fight began, yet Su Xiao hadn’t seen a single ghoul use a kagune.

These ghouls seemed unable to use kagune—or perhaps they had none at all.

In contrast, these ghouls possessed tremendous strength and high physical defense; Zhanlongshan’s durability dropped by 3 points in mere moments.

Zhanlongshan’s current durability was 28/40; if this battle continued for over two hours, its durability might be depleted entirely.

With no other choice, Su Xiao activated Qinggangyingsuo—he had 253 mana points, enough to sustain Qinggangyingsuo for two hours.

Faint blue arcs spread across Zhanlongshan’s surface, noticeably reducing the power of his strikes against ghoul flesh.

Just as Su Xiao severed a ghoul in half, a ghoul far away leapt into the air and pounced toward him like a tiger.

Su Xiao kicked away the ghoul before him and swung his long blade upward from below.

The ghoul mid-pounce had half its skull sheared off; Su Xiao paid it no further attention.

As he prepared to kill another ghoul before him, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his calf.

He looked down—it was the ghoul whose skull he’d half-sliced, now biting his calf.

Until now, Su Xiao had perceived these ghouls as possessing great strength and tough bodies.

Now he added one more trait: extraordinary resilience.

Su Xiao jerked his leg upward violently; the ghoul biting him lost several rotten teeth.

He stomped down mercilessly on its head; white fluid sprayed out, and the already-split skull crushed beneath his foot.

In that fleeting instant, another ghoul had already rushed to his front.

Su Xiao’s expression changed—too close.

It didn’t faze him; in battle, adaptability was key. He spun Zhanlongshan in his hand, turning the hilt forward.

The hilt slammed hard into the ghoul’s face, sending it staggering back with a shriek.

Su Xiao brought Zhanlongshan down in a direct strike—killing the ghoul.

“Bang.”

A gunshot rang out behind him; a ghoul about to reach Su Xiao was blown straight through the head.

Su Xiao glanced sideways—Yuna gripped a long firearm in both hands: her Quinque, “G.”

He no longer cared about those kagune sacs—if more ghouls appeared, he’d die here.

……

At the previous battlefield, after Su Xiao and Ma Gui had left, several ghouls slowly approached.

“Who’s that newcomer? So strong—he’s almost like the White Death God.”

“Unknown, but we must be careful. When we return, tell the young ones not to leave ‘Center City’ for now.”

These ghouls differed from the primitive ones—they wore normal clothing, though worn and faded, and they spoke human language.

One ghoul, grim-faced, stared at the vast pile of corpses and said:

“These half-evolved beasts—another breach has opened somewhere, or they couldn’t have gotten out.”

“What do we do? The ‘Leader’ isn’t in Center City—she’s fighting the CCG on the surface.”

The ghouls fell silent; eventually, they chose to leave, walking deeper into District 24.

ps: (Please vote—today’s votes are low. Feeling down.)