Chapter 296: Eat My Inferno Fist (7/10, Autumn Subscription)

The smoke exhaled by Yan Nan gradually thickened, covering his entire body, and his figure slowly vanished.

"Turns out I really can't get along with you. I'm going down to handle the trouble; keep an eye on the Weirdness Index—call me if it fluctuates."

"Mm."

Yan Nan's figure slowly disappeared, while the ancient-dress man's long hair stirred without wind, growing longer like octopus tentacles, reaching down toward the lower floors, moving between the tall buildings.

Tonight, many people died.

Because the Weirdness Index had steadily risen to a critical threshold.

Those with bad luck who were still lingering in the game, if they perished, would die synchronously in reality!

Just this one night, who knows how many people this city will lose!

This is already the result of them rushing over to suppress the Weirdness Index and patch the leaks—otherwise the consequences would've been far worse!

But so many deaths inevitably drew attention.

Without exception, in the coming days, rumors will spread like wildfire among the populace.

Chaos is about to arrive!

But it's still far from the day of that promise…

"I must protect this city!"

A flash of sharp light flickered and vanished in the ancient-dress man's eyes.

Another world—or rather… the game.

Its influence is determined by the Weirdness Index.

When the Weirdness Index is high, the game's influence seeps into reality.

When the Weirdness Index is low, the game's influence causes only minor feedback—or none at all.

Their night shift, repairing the leaks and suppressing the Weirdness Index, indirectly saved countless players who would've died in the game.

Without them, the game's death feedback would manifest synchronously in reality—and then… this city would descend into chaos!

In a certain sense, these two could be called heroes protecting humanity.

But the ancient-dress man didn't think so—he believed his 【Lian Shou Hui】 were humanity's true heroes!

Individual power is ultimately limited; alliances, teams—these are humanity's only path forward.

He had climbed high enough within 【Lian Shou Hui】 to learn some of its deepest secrets.

"As long as we hold out until that date, the 【Cheating Entity】 will awaken and save this world!"

…

Inside the game.

"Tail, don't be afraid—it's me!"

The figure stepping out of the darkness was none other than Fang Yue.

His face was pale, blood dripped from his shoulder, but in his left hand he clutched tightly a writhing black shadow!

"I caught it—your shadow. But the 【Shadow Devourer】 ate the shadows of those two—they're now…"

Fang Yue's voice suddenly stopped.

Because he had just seen the two people lying dead on the ground.

Tail let out a bitter laugh: "They… are already dead."

"But we're still alive."

Fang Yue walked to Tail's side, grabbed her with one hand, controlled the black shadow with the other, and forcibly shoved the shadow onto her body.

But in reality, the instant the two touched, the black shadow was sucked away—as if pulled by some invisible force—struggling and twisting as it was dragged back onto Tail's body, flowing like water down to her feet.

Her shadow had returned!

That sense of wholeness and familiarity brought Tail an inexplicable feeling of safety.

"Ye Ge!!"

Tail gripped Fang Yue's hand tightly; he smiled faintly, then quickly turned serious.

"We need to get out of here fast—it's coming after us!"

Gathering Liao Moran and Hai Ming's Fluorescent Beads and that special small cloth bag, Fang Yue led Tail away in haste, heading straight for the original Bronze Room.

Minutes after Fang Yue and Tail left, a five-clawed dragon-shaped black shadow arrived before the corpses of Hai Ming and Liao Moran.

It sniffed the bodies, opened its mouth, swallowed them whole, then oriented itself and chased after Fang Yue's escape route.

…

"What?! The exit is in the Bronze Room—and the key item is the Fluorescent Bead we're holding?!"

Tail gasped at Fang Yue's words.

"That's right! After we split up, I explored every remaining room. The dark room we entered earlier is called the Si Ying Shi—it's where shadows are stripped and stored as feed."

"The room closest to the Si Ying Shi is where the 【Shadow Devourer】 rests! I entered and startled it, fled to another room—a crude study. There was a mural on the wall depicting the layout of the Huanggui Yiji—I finally understood the connection between the Fluorescent Beads and the Bronze Room!"

"Then the 【Shadow Devourer】 chased me—I ran again, but it wouldn't stop."

"In the fight, it used 【shadows】 to attack me—I recognized your shadow, and after paying a price, I captured it. But before I could rescue Hai Ming and Liao Moran's shadows, the 【Shadow Devourer】 had already devoured them."

Tail now understood how Fang Yue got his shoulder wound.

"Is the 【Shadow Devourer】 that strong? Even you can't beat it?"

"You've seen my recovery ability, right? Look at my shoulder wound—any sign of healing?"

Tail examined closely: Fang Yue's shoulder wound bled freely, with no hint of healing.

"You… are you okay?"

"Minor wound. Let's escape first, then talk about anything else!"

It wasn't a minor wound—but Fang Yue had no choice.

Even if he worried himself sick, he couldn't heal a wound that even Night's Breath couldn't fix.

They could only return to Mo Cun and have An Shenyi or Ni Dongmei take a look and see what they could do.

The two ran swiftly; the Bronze Room ahead was now within reach.

Without a moment's hesitation, they dashed into the Bronze Room.

"Then what? Where do we put the Fluorescent Bead to open the exit door?" Tail asked as she ran.

"At the bottom of Hushui!" Fang Yue replied succinctly. Suddenly, his eyelid twitched—he spun around sharply.

A massive black shadow had already reached the entrance of the Bronze Room. It glanced at them once, then charged inside.

"Tail!"

"What?"

"Jump!"

Grabbing Tail's hand, Fang Yue leaped upward with her.

With a splash, they plunged into the bottom of Hushui.

"Roar!!"

Behind them, the Shadow Devourer let out a deafening roar.

In the shockwave, the water of Hushui split apart to either side—revealing the lakebed outright.

Fang Yue and Tail, who had just been descending, lost the water's buoyancy and fell straight down.

Fang Yue assumed a stable stance and landed firmly; the Shadow Devourer was already charging toward him.

"Tail! Take the Fluorescent Bead and shine it on the center of the lakebed. There are four recesses only the Fluorescent Bead can reveal—place it there, and the exit will open!"

"Got it!"

Tail instinctively caught it, then froze: "What about you?"

"I'll hold it off!"

Fang Yue snarled and charged at the Shadow Devourer.

"Eat my Fire Fist!!"

The Fire Fist Heart Method ignited, his Drive and Disperse values surging.

(End of Chapter)