Chapter 666: Annoyingly Persistent (8/10, Autumn Subscription)

Undoubtedly.

That attack style—lying hidden in the floor, suddenly surging up to strike—may be crude as a predation method, but it's undeniably a genuine predation concept!

"What exactly is the origin of this 【Nuomian Gui】, this Catastrophe-level anomaly?"

Fang Yue frowned in confusion.

But he quickly realized a problem.

That is… this is a Phoenix Organization base; it's not especially surprising that there are mutated or powerful anomalies nearby.

"Damn it! The Yi Shi Ting!"

"This anomaly is too persistent—its territory extends this far! Most of our people are dead or wounded because of it!"

"Look! There's a secret passage!"

"It must be a hidden door left by Elder Rat! We haven't seen Ye Niu Niu anywhere else—he must've chased after the passage! Let's follow quickly!"

Faint sounds drifted down from above; Fang Yue's expression darkened.

The traces he'd left along the way were still far too obvious.

Not only was he not a Hunter and didn't know how to conceal his movements or leave no trace,

but the urgency of the moment—needing to race every second to catch up to Elder Rat—left Fang Yue no time to overthink.

Rushing forward along the passage, Fang Yue leapt over the half-body and glanced back.

The corpse looked horrific—a massive, fat hand, like that of a shut-in, pressed against half its face, gnawing at it.

For some reason, Fang Yue felt the corpse emitted a strange, appetizing aroma.

His pitch-black eyes, which had already stopped bleeding, suddenly gushed black blood, sliding down his temples.

"How could I—?!"

His heart lurched; a wave of horror flashed through Fang Yue.

Fortunately, the feeling came fast and faded just as quickly.

By the time Fang Yue stepped past the corpse and his feet touched the ground, the sensation was gone.

Yet the lingering tremor of dread still left him chilled.

He pressed his hand over his right eye, now stained pitch-black, and opened his status page.

On the status bar, that nearly transparent condition seemed slightly more distinct.

Still unreadable, but it filled Fang Yue with a deep, visceral unease.

"... Anomaly Spirit Root… forget it, just get the job done first!"

Given Fang Yue's limited knowledge, he truly had no idea what was happening to his body—he'd have to wait until Chunuan City and ask Miss Big if there were any 【Curse-Dispelling Masters】 or renowned 【Physicians】 who specialized in anomaly curses.

He continued channeling black energy into his feet, pushing the Shadow Step to its limit, and crashed recklessly through the passage.

Along the way, Fang Yue noticed many corpses already littering the path—it wasn't truly a one-way corridor.

After advancing further, there was a staircase descending, turning toward another direction, like the vertical structure of a modern high-rise building.

Only this one was built inside the mountain.

Meanwhile, the secret passage contained various rooms—storage, research, rest—and the living facilities were surprisingly decent.

Clearly, within the Phoenix Organization, researchers had always held high status and enjoyed excellent treatment.

If only the Phoenix Organization hadn't been so extreme, sourcing all its materials through human experimentation,

its experimental rigor, precision, and forward-thinking might have made it a model organization in Qing Guo's public eye.

Too bad… they refused the righteous path and chose the twisted one—or rather, their funding from 【Medicinal People】 trade and their experimental research were all things that could never be made public.

Fang Yue strongly despised the Phoenix Organization's inhumane experiments, but he had to admit: their research power was truly formidable.

Like Chen Qing—he hadn't even been with the Phoenix Organization long, yet his theoretical and practical abilities had skyrocketed, far surpassing the "newbies" like him who were stumbling in the dark.

Fang Yue had never denied the Phoenix Organization's strength; it was just that this strength had become his own problem.

Feeling the familiar layout, for the first time in a long while, Fang Yue's mind began to think.

Along the way, he'd seen nothing but research rooms—no live-subject chambers. It seemed live subjects were transported here from some other base.

And Elder Rat had already run a long distance ahead of him!

Fang Yue had once raced against Elder Rat—he was nearly equal in speed, but Elder Rat had superior endurance.

No wonder—he really was Elder Rat; his escape skills were truly exceptional.

Perhaps due to his improved Comprehension, Fang Yue felt he'd recently become slightly sharper.

Could Comprehension be like six walnuts, reviving one's intelligence like a second youth?

But upon closer thought, Fang Yue realized he wasn't truly smarter—he just thought more clearly.

Though he didn't know why the Phoenix Organization had designed this path—forward, then down, then turning back—one thing he could be certain of was:

"I can reach the bottom faster than Elder Rat!"

Standing in the middle of the corridor,

he clenched his fist, inner energy and black energy spiraling wildly around it.

"Break—!!"

He slammed his fist into the ground.

Boom!!

The ground trembled violently, cracking open a hole; Fang Yue plunged straight down to the next level.

Whether due to Dongliu Mountain's structure or deliberate design to compress spatial efficiency,

Fang Yue's punch had just saved him an entire level of running.

Next… second punch!

Boom!!

Amid the swirling dust, before the others who were still alive could even understand what had happened, the floor tiles of the Phoenix Organization's secret passage were punched through by Fang Yue blow after blow, and people dropped straight down, layer by layer!

"When it comes to speed, Rat Seat, can you really be faster than my free-fall?"

Amid cold laughter, Fang Yue hammered the ground even more vigorously.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!!

The sound of hammering the ground was unceasing, and quite a few 【Zhangzui Xiaoshou】 severed limbs were smashed out — it seemed they had started to get used to hiding inside various floor tiles and walls to ambush and prey, and Fang Yue had hammered them out.

The entire mountain seemed on the verge of collapse, with frequent small tremors.

When the bandit leaders who had been chasing from behind arrived at the first hole Fang Yue had hammered out, they stared in bewilderment — beneath the hole, like nesting dolls, was one hole after another, going straight down to the deepest, very bottom of the secret passage!

And at that lowest position, Ye Niu Niu was maintaining the posture of hammering the ground, and amid the swirling dust, slowly raised her head and smiled, showing her teeth.

"Long time no see, Lord Rat Seat."

Standing opposite Fang Yue was, unmistakably, Lord Rat Seat, who had just finished the full run and was about to head for the exit, only to have his path blocked by Fang Yue dropping from the sky!

His expression was somewhat flustered, his pupils contracted, his heart filled with terror.

Among the Twelve Seats, he was the best at hiding and the most afraid of death.

Whether it was Lightness Skill or all manner of life-preserving methods, he had prepared the most of any of them.

But today, it seemed he had met his nemesis.

"You're a haunting spirit… what exactly do you want!"

(End of chapter)