[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-player-reboot":3,"chapter-player-reboot-player-reboot-chapter-38":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Player Reboot",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2272003,4438,"Chapter 38: Spider","player-reboot-chapter-38",38,"\u003Cp>Spider monsters rained down like a storm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng stepped forward, his mantis-arm bone blades striking in rapid succession, slaughtering each spider monster that drew near.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stamped the ground, leapt into the air, and kicked hard against the roof of a display electric car, soaring to the second floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corridor was blocked front and back by spider monsters; all he heard were the scratching sounds of legs and the clicking of mouthparts and chelicerae.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A cold wind swept from behind his head; Li Cheng sidestepped a spider monster’s ambush, stepped forward, and crushed it underfoot. Green, foul-smelling fluid sprayed everywhere, splattering like pulp onto an expensive Armani jacket nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another spider monster lunged at him; he extended ant-like bristles from his arm skin, gripped the monster’s head with one hand, slammed it against the metal railing, and ground it forward, scraping it flat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cut through the crowd, reached the center of the corridor, leapt over the railing, plunged into midair, and drove his bone blade into the side of the escalator to reach the third floor. He repeated the maneuver to reach the fourth and fifth floors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most spiders in nature spin silk webs, but a few defy convention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, the jumping spider specializes in stealth, pursuit, and leaping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three-lobed flower spider changes its color to match its environment, searching branch by branch, leaf by leaf, flower by flower to hunt and devour pests.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wolf spider is a top predator for its size: some specialize in burrowing, like the cave wolf spider and Barrow’s wolf spider; others are dedicated hunters, like the bear spider; still others can walk on water, like the water wolf spider and the small wolf spider.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With active hunting ability, there is no need to weave sticky webs and wait for prey to stumble in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ink-Splatter Spider is no different. As a top predator, its nest’s uppermost webbing is not sticky at all—it resembles a steel mesh, firm underfoot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>We meet again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Ink-Splatter Spider raised its abdomen; its colors flowed slowly, activating its corruption ability once more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng snapped his eyes shut, lifting his shoulder slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The long-horned rhinoceros beetle resting on his shoulder received the command, immediately flung open its elytra, and took flight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This newly hatched rhinoceros beetle, having absorbed two insect-lord blood ambers, possessed explosive power and agility far surpassing all other species in its order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In midair, it executed a spinning aerial maneuver, easily dodging the smaller spider monsters, then slammed headfirst into the Ink-Splatter Spider’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like the human brain or surveillance cameras, the long-horned rhinoceros beetle had no resistance to the Ink-Splatter Spider’s corruption ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In its perception, the Ink-Splatter Spider did not exist—only empty air lay ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Li Cheng did not order it to attack the Ink-Splatter Spider directly, but instructed it to collide with the wounded, silk-wrapped patch on the monster’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The long-horned rhinoceros beetle is native to Guadeloupe and Dominica in Latin America, living in trees and feeding on tender leaves, fruit, and tree sap.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During evolution, males developed exaggerated horn-like projections and exceptionally strong, clawed, spined legs to win mating competitions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, the beetle’s horns and legs were tangled in the silk, firmly anchored, impossible to shake loose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mystical connection with the beetle allowed Li Cheng to sense its position; he opened his eyes slightly, his gaze unfocused, no longer seeing or thinking of the Ink-Splatter Spider—his mind held only one thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Attack in that direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He bent his thighs, tensed his muscles, and with a powerful stomp, shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, landing at the entrance of the cinema on the sixth floor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the real world, the cinema was screening the latest Marvel film.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The exterior wall bore a standard, clichéd giant poster—half-body portraits of countless unnamed superheroes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beneath the poster, stylish men and women, wearing 3D glasses, laughed and chatted as they entered the corridor, searching for theaters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng landed among them; in his blurred vision, he saw no trace of the Ink-Splatter Spider.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relying on instinct, he slashed with his bone blade, tearing the giant poster to shreds—not knowing if he had struck his target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The position changed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mystical sense suddenly began to fade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng leapt over the railing, falling from the sixth floor to the third, landing in front of a toy store; his two bone blades swept like guillotines, slicing through shelves and families buying toys, cutting them cleanly in half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Objects damaged in the Shadow Realm regenerated rapidly; Li Cheng, like a runaway train, charged wildly through the mall, destroying everything, chasing an invisible target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thud!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Cheng was flung backward; blood suddenly gushed from his left ribcage, a wound deep enough to expose bone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had he not just absorbed the long-horned rhinoceros beetle’s genes, growing lightweight carapace armor to enhance defense, this blow would have killed him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>————\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the subway platform, Yuan Zhixia slowly exhaled, gripping a modified handheld radio tightly. One step ahead lay the train car.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The doors began closing slowly; she did not step forward, but at the very last second before they sealed, she tossed the handheld radio and her phone into the train.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The train started, accelerating away from the platform. The electronic display showed the next train arriving in at least four minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you doing? Why aren’t you leaving?” Yang Ling asked anxiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The thunderous sounds of battle drifted faintly from the mall direction, echoing through the tunnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I want to be selfish for once.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Zhixia spoke without turning, yanked open her backpack zipper, pulled out the damaged but still flyable drone, detached the green laser pointer from her pistol’s underbarrel, and taped it beneath the drone’s movable camera.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Jiaying stood frozen for a moment, bit her lip, then followed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They reached the underground parking lot; Yuan Zhixia suddenly frowned and turned to Ye Jiaying. “Did you hear a sound?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What sound?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Never mind. Maybe I imagined it. Here, you handle the drone. I’ve programmed it to automatically detect and track the most prominent heat source—that big spider.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Zhixia tossed the drone remote to Ye Jiaying, then crouched and pulled out a series of tools from her backpack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smoke grenades using white phosphorus as the smoke agent;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A disguised Pepsi can filled with magnesium flash powder;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And finally, a single Molotov cocktail;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know if this will work against the corruption ability. So we’ll rely on the radio and phone as backups.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Zhixia pulled back the slide of her Glock, checked the chamber, and continued speaking to herself: “The subway takes six minutes to reach Pujiang Police Station. If we get there, outside the Shadow Realm, the phone—once it regains signal—will automatically dial the police using my pre-written emergency program, transmitting my pre-entered geographic coordinates: this mall. The handheld radio is the backup alarm option.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gratitude repaid, vengeance exacted. That Mr. Dazai saved me twice—once at school, once on the highway. I can’t leave him here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Zhixia stood, gripping her pistol with both hands, her small frame radiating fierce will and resolve, her gaze cold and steady: “So I’ll offer help within my means.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Jiaying took a deep breath. She didn’t fully understand the situation, nor why “Dazai” had suddenly turned back, nor why Yuan Zhixia had stayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as her eyes swept over Yang Ling’s face on the spider monster beside her, she couldn’t walk away either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Jiaying gripped the drone remote, flicked the joystick, and the drone rose slowly, flying down the corridor into the mall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remote’s screen immediately displayed the mall’s interior—Li Cheng, like a madman, slashing at empty air one moment, dodging the next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spider monsters in the nest, sensing the drone as an outsider, leapt toward it en masse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ye Jiaying manipulated the joystick, guiding the drone to drift left and right, barely avoiding their attacks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the pre-set heat-tracking program automatically adjusted the drone’s orientation, locking its camera onto the strongest heat source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The laser pointer taped beneath the camera projected a green beam, illuminating that direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1364,"2026-06-19T22:31:22.154Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","07064cb3cec89c4aaf37a1c3d8a4ca7901817a7437532b88080fc1f3ae8cfffc","player-reboot-chapter-39","player-reboot-chapter-37",612,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fplayer-reboot-cover.jpg"]