novelraw Chapter 149: Low-Risk Tier 10!
Chapter 149: Low-Risk Tier 10!
The Fissure-body’s corpse lay quietly on the concrete floor.
Su Zhan extended his bone claws, placing his five fingers on the corpse.
A wisp of pale mist seeped from the corpse’s seven orifices.
As if pulled by an invisible force, it wound around Su Zhan’s arm and slid through the gaps between his scales.
Su Zhan closed his eyes and focused.
He could feel that mist rushing through his blood vessels, the essence being transported into every limb and bone.
Three seconds later, the corpse began to weather away.
First the skin cracked, then the muscle fibers tore inch by inch, and finally even the bones crumbled into powder.
A gust of cold wind blew past, leaving only a puddle of black blood on the ground.
Su Zhan opened his eyes; the golden vertical slit in his pupils grew even clearer.His power had increased.
He checked the mechanical watch he’d picked up from the corpse—an entire day had passed.
Within this area that hadn’t been marked by Aberrants, he had hunted down every Fissure-body.
Even within the Mist, no more Fissure-bodies appeared.
Had they sensed the danger?
Su Zhan felt the surging power inside him.
Low-Risk Tier 10!
He had easily broken through two small stages in a single day.
But the cultivation level of these mist creatures was very low.
Over that day, the highest-level creature Su Zhan had encountered was only Low-Risk Tier 9.
And it was only at the early stage of Low-Risk Tier 9.
Moreover, there was only one creature of that level.
Most of the others were around Low-Risk Tier 7.
Su Zhan’s ability to absorb life essence from mist creature corpses had an efficiency curve:
If the creature was below his own tier, he absorbed less; if equal, he absorbed a normal amount; if higher, he absorbed more.
So advancing to Low-Risk Tier 10 from these levels was feasible.
Su Zhan roughly estimated he had killed over a hundred Fissure-bodies.
Only now, after all the Fissure-bodies in this region had been wiped out,
did Su Zhan stop his slaughter.
However, a new problem had arisen.
He could erase the Fissure-body corpses, but he couldn’t wipe away all this black blood scattered on the ground!
The traces of fighting weren’t a huge issue, because there wasn’t that much, and this area had already been heavily damaged by the Fissure-bodies—so a little more damage to obscure signs of combat wouldn’t attract attention.
But the scene in this area now…
was easy to describe.
Crumbling walls and piles of debris, the ground stained with black blood.
Su Zhan pinched the bridge of his nose in resignation.
Overall, though, these problems were manageable.
He began his cleanup.
From the wrecked residential houses he found alcohol and similar materials,
and sprayed them across a wide area.
Of course, that alone wasn’t nearly enough.
To burn the whole area down, he needed something highly flammable.
That substance was easy to find.
Gasoline!
What? You say gasoline is only found at gas stations?
Su Zhan pointed out—the insides of cars have fuel, don’t they?
He sliced open several private cars with his claws, found containers, and siphoned off gasoline.
Only then did Su Zhan’s cleanup operation truly begin.
Throughout the district,
one building after another caught fire—streets and alleys alike weren’t spared.
Su Zhan specifically targeted spots stained with black blood.
The flames would vaporize the blood, leaving no trace.
Once the gasoline lines were laid,
a single spark fell.
Flames licked across the ground, turning the black blood into a pungent smoke.
The gasoline ignited.
Orange-red waves of fire exploded outward, racing along the routes he had carefully set.
Flames climbed walls and licked every bloodstain.
The black blood boiled violently under the high heat and finally rose as trails of black smoke and dissipated.
The concrete turned white from the heat; every trace of biological matter was completely erased.
Su Zhan stood at the edge of the fire, watching the blaze spread.
One abandoned building after another was set alight.
The firelight reflected in the golden vertical slit beneath his mask.
Heat lifted the hem of his clothes.
Those stains of black blood were disappearing from the world in the most thorough way.
Su Zhan turned and walked away.
Behind him, the whole block collapsed in flames.
Everything that should or shouldn’t have been there would turn to ash before the Mist cleared.
…
The twelve-person purge squad was now down to six.
The burly team leader dragged his left leg, pierced by bone spikes, and limped as he forced open the iron door of a hardware store.
In the alley behind him, three Fissure-bodies were feasting on the rookie wearing metal gauntlets.
Five minutes earlier that kid had tried to buy them time with his life.
They had fallen for the trap.
When the Mist rolled in across the eastern suburbs, the so-called “isolated Aberrants” were nothing more than bait.
With the Mist’s arrival,
the positions of hunter and prey had completely reversed.
The female deputy was curled up in the drainage pipe under the overpass. She clutched the wound on her right side; her electric knife had long since run out of charge.
Outside the pipe came the sticky sound of crawling—Fissure-bodies.
Communications were cut off.
Electronic devices had failed.
They didn’t even know whether the other squads were still alive.
Most deadly of all, the monsters could smell residual Life Soul energy—the usual hiding techniques were useless.
Blondie crouched beneath the chassis of a tanker truck.
His tactical suit was stained with oil. His modified pistol had only two bullets left.
Three hundred meters away, glass shattered in a convenience store.
He saw Fatty’s trademark spiked shield tossed onto the street, dozens of bone spikes still writhing in it.
This wasn’t a tactical retreat; it was an utter rout.
As Fissure-bodies multiplied,
the burly team leader issued orders: Run! Split up and run! Staying together now only makes you a bigger target—everyone’s spiritual power is almost exhausted. Only by scattering can we have one last chance to survive!
“Boom!”
The hardware store’s shutter was ripped off completely.
The burly leader slammed his shotgun up and spotted not Fissure-bodies at the doorway,
but a black-robed figure wearing a mask.
On the mask’s pale background, two exaggerated tear streaks were painted in blood.
“Found one.”
An electronic-sounding voice came from beneath the mourning mask.
The leader pulled the trigger.
Click.
No bullets.
Six mantis-like bony forelimbs suddenly burst from beneath the black robe, pinning his arms and shoulders to the wall and impaling him.
Blood streamed down the shelves.
The leader stared hard as the figure threw back its robe,
revealing a mutated torso.
They understood, yet could do nothing to change the fact.
Fissure-bodies were merely appetizers—the ones truly responsible for “cleaning up” were these masked Aberrants.
…
The female deputy tensed all at once in the drainage pipe.
A figure blocked the light at the pipe’s entrance.
It wore a “Smiling Buddha” mask; its exposed belly split open into a mouth filled with spiral razor teeth.
“Hide-and-seek is over.”
A thunderous laugh rumbled from beneath the mask, and the fat-laden neck showed no sign of turning.
The female deputy slowly raised her head to see a hulking man about two and a half meters tall blocking the way.
Three different bone-cleaver knives hung from his waist.
She hurled a dagger.
Sssk.
The blade plunged into his belly, with not even a drop of blood.
The Smiling Buddha mask plucked the dagger out with sausage-like fingers; the fat at the wound surged and the flesh healed instantly.
His three cleavers were used for dismembering, skinning, and stripping bone respectively.
The Smiling Buddha mask drew out a serrated cleaver. “Let’s play a little…”
…
On top of the tanker, Blondie heard a faint click.
He looked up and saw a one-eyed-mask Aberrant hanging upside down outside the chassis, the single eye hole in the mask glowing red.
“The Council’s young master.”
The one-eyed mask cocked its head. “Your head is valuable.”
Blondie grinned and raised his pistol with its two remaining bullets. “You know who my dad is?”
“Of course.”
The one-eyed mask reached out and pressed a hand against the barrel. “That’s why alive capture fetches a higher price…”
Bang!
The first shot tore through the masked Aberrant’s palm.
The second left a crack across the mask.
Blondie seized the chance, rolled out from under the truck, and sprinted toward the distant flare of fire.
That area was on fire.
No matter what, he had to get out of this zone immediately.
This place had become a lethal trap woven by Aberrants.