"What was that thing just now? Itâs fast, quite large, can move along the ceiling, and hide its tracks... could it be some special kind of zombie?"
Although the unidentified object that had just sped overhead didnât attack him, Wang Zhifan was still a bit startled. He realized he might have become a bit careless due to the convenience brought by the Chapter of Obscurity, losing the cautious attitude he usually maintained in the dungeon.
"I was getting carried away just now... I must adjust my attitude; the difficulty of this Great Catastrophe dungeon is very high. Although with the help of the Chapter of Obscurity, I donât have to deal with various small zombie monsters, the threat posed by boss-level zombies to me is no different than to other players. I must constantly pay attention to my surroundings."
Reflecting on his negligence and carelessness, Wang Zhifan then reined in his almost shopping-like mentality from earlier, focusing most of his attention on observing the surroundings, using only a small part of his energy to pick the remaining goods.
Fortunately, he was almost done gathering all the supplies he needed and only needed a final look around before he could leave this supermarket.
About two minutes later, the now exceedingly cautious Wang Zhifan completed his supply-gathering task in this supermarket, ready to exit the aisle, head back to the supermarketâs main entrance, and leave the place.
But just as he reached the end of the aisle where he was, at the edge of the passage leading directly to the supermarketâs entrance, he suddenly noticed some movement among the zombies around the supermarketâs automatic anti-theft door ahead.
It wasnât some drastic change, but Wang Zhifan noticed that the zombies near the automatic anti-theft door ahead suddenly let out slight, low growls toward the nearby air. Several zombies even quickened their originally shuffling steps, beginning to pace back and forth in a small area as if they simultaneously noticed something in the air and were searching for it.
"Somethingâs happening."
Having raised his alertness to the highest level, Wang Zhifan did not ignore this unusual behavior of the zombies ahead and immediately realized something, quietly retracing his steps to hide among the shelves behind him.
Then, he quietly moved to the passage on the side of the shelves near the wall, crouching and hiding behind a pillar there.
This spot was currently quite concealed because the area was even dimmer in light, and several zombies were wandering around the pillar, making it hard to spot the hiding Wang Zhifan from outside.
Crouching and hiding in the shadow behind the pillar, Wang Zhifan then swept his gaze across the few zombies wandering around, carefully observing some shelves near the front supermarket entrance. Soon, he noticed some anomalies in the dim light from that area.
He first heard some faint sounds that didnât seem to be made by zombies, like the cautious rustling of merchandise on the shelves. Then he directly saw a can of salted fish on the edge of the shelf move into the air from nowhere, levitating for a second before disappearing completely, as if suddenly vanishing into the void.
"Sure enough, an invisible Assassin player was here looking for food."
Upon discovering these phenomena, Wang Zhifan immediately concluded in his mind. He had suspected an invisible player might have entered when he noticed the zombies near the automatic anti-theft door acting strangely. Now, this observation virtually confirmed it: an invisible Assassin player had indeed picked up the can of salted fish and stored it in their personal space.
"I hope this person doesnât linger here too long, or exposing my immunity to zombie attacks could be troublesome."
Wang Zhifan was well aware of the significant convenience the Chapter of Obscurity pendant afforded him in this dungeon, so to be safe, it was best not to let others discover this situation. Otherwise, who knows what could happen next; even if he wasnât afraid of others scheming against him, he didnât want unnecessary troubles.
But while Wang Zhifan was simultaneously hiding behind the pillar and observing covertly, speculating about the Assassin playerâs current position, he noticed the Assassinâs act of taking the shelfâs goods had drawn more zombiesâ attention.
Unlike when Wang Zhifan casually picked things off the shelves and the surrounding zombies ignored him, once the invisible Assassin player took a few items from the shelves, the zombies, which were already slightly agitated, quickly gathered near where the player had appeared, each emitting low growls and continuously turning around, seeking his tracks.
Clearly, these low-intelligence beings sensed an intruder through scent, noise, or other clues but couldnât precisely determine the intruderâs current position.
"That Assassin player likely needs to leave here quickly; otherwise, taking a few more things could easily expose him, leading to a potential attack from all the zombies in this supermarket."
Seeing this, Wang Zhifan conjectured that things were beginning to progress as he hoped: that Assassin player, provided he wasnât the stubborn type, should soon cautiously escape this place.
However, what happened next was even more dangerous than Wang Zhifan anticipated.
A grotesque, elongated form suddenly appeared on the ceiling above the shelf of salted fish cans in front.
It resembled a bizarre humanoid figure with exceptionally long limbs and neck. It clung upside down on the ceiling of the supermarket like a gecko, appearing immediately above the shelf of salted fish cans.
Then it rapidly detached its one-meter-long neck from the ceiling above, its head with long black hair dangling downward, swaying like a snakeâs head in the air around the salted fish can shelf, its black hair swinging along with its movements.
"Thatâs the creature that suddenly darted over my head earlier! Itâs truly horrifying in appearance..."
At this moment, Wang Zhifan, peering at the ceiling location ahead, recognized that the grotesque humanoid hanging upside down and dangling its head must be the unknown entity that had almost startled him.
That creature could be some special zombie, or perhaps something even more difficult to deal with. Itâs now focused on the Assassin player who went invisible to grab resources in this supermarket, trying hard to confirm his position.
As time passed second by second, Wang Zhifan saw that the creatures gathered near the salted fish can shelf showed no signs of further attack for now, so he guessed that the Assassin player had likely left.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, the grotesque humanoid hanging upside down from the supermarket ceiling extended its previously one-meter-long neck nearly tenfold, lunging like lightning toward an aisle between shelves nearby!