Factory District.
A black streak tore through the factory roof like a thunderbolt, vanishing into the churning fog.
A moment later, a crawling shadow emerged from the gaping hole, spiraling upward in pursuit.
A dark red maw pulsed at the centipedeâs headâthen countless shadowy tendrils burst forth, lashing toward Han Meng from all directions!
Han Mengâs black trench coat was drenched in blood. Frowning at the colossal shadow closing in, he raised his gun and fired relentlessly. Deconstructive bullets rained down, shredding the oncoming tendrils.
He could feel his mental energy draining rapidly, even as
[Tribunal]
expanded to its limits.
This wasnât Han Mengâs first time fighting above his weight class. Compared to the red-paper monster, this shadow centipede was less dauntingânot because it was weaker, but because the paper creature had been far more insidious.
Judgmentâs power continued tearing through the shadows as Han Meng weaved through them, climbing higher.
Yet when he passed a certain altitude, the massive shadow halted its pursuit, retreating back into the ravaged steel factory.
"It refuses to leave the factoryâŠ"
Han Meng hovered midair, deep in thought.
The prolonged battle had nearly leveled the entire facility. As District Threeâs chief enforcer, Han Meng couldnât afford such losses, which was why heâd been trying to lure the mother creature away from the start.
But no matter which direction he took, once he crossed an invisible boundary, the entity would abandon the chase and return to the factoryâas if it had fully claimed the place as its nest.
This made Han Mengâs task even harder. To end District Threeâs crisis, he
had
to kill the mother.
Yet with hundreds of centipedes swarming the cramped factory, defeating a fifth-tier creature as a fourth-tier was nearly impossible. That was why their stalemate had dragged on for so long.
Just as Han Meng pondered his next moveâ
The centipedes inside the factory suddenly froze.
Their heads snapped toward a single direction in the fog, their crimson maws convulsingâwhether in terror or excitement, it was impossible to tell.
Han Meng followed their gaze but saw only endless mist.
Before he could process this, the mother centipede at the factoryâs core let out a shrill screech and plunged into the ground, vanishing into the depths.
The remaining shadows surged after it, converging toward a massive pit like a black tide caught in a whirlpool.
Han Meng didnât hesitate. He streaked after them.
Inside the factory, the centipedes that had once attacked him on sight now ignored him completely, single-mindedly tunneling underground.
Following their trail, Han Meng stopped at a corner of the workshop. Before him yawned a crater several meters wide, its edges stained ashen gray, as if corroded by something.
"A Gray Realm convergence point?"
Han Mengâs frown deepened.
To his knowledge, even when convergences occurred in the Aurora Domain, they rarely lasted more than half an hour before sealing naturally. Yet this one had persisted for
hours
.
As the centipedes disappeared, Han Mengâs vigilance only grew.
As long as this rift remained open, calamities could keep emergingâif not centipedes, then something worse. And something about this convergence felt
wrong
.
After a brief hesitation, resolve flashed in his eyes. He leaped into the pit, vanishing into the gray abyss below.
---
"So⊠fragrantâŠ"
The blazing warehouse resembled a scorching furnace. Countless curled shadows burned silently within, while a charred figureâlimbs like burnt matchsticksâcrawled atop one, ravenously tearing into its flesh.
[Audience Expectation +1]
[Audience Expectation +1]
[âŠ]
With each shadow Chen Ling consumed, the crimson eyes in the void grew brighter.
Dozens of centipedes perished in the flames, their flesh becoming his feast, their essence absorbed into the abyssâleaving only hollow husks curled obediently on the ground.
Time blurred.
Chen Lingâs eyes had long burned away.
His charred hands groped blindly at the roasted chicken before him, failing to grasp even a sliver of meat. Stumbling through the darkness, he collapsed after a single stepâhis left leg crumbling to ash.
The fall shattered his right arm, chest, and shoulder. He lay stiffly in the flames, a desiccated corpse awaiting death.
"Am I⊠dying�"
Even
[Blood Robe]
couldnât sustain him in this inferno indefinitely. Like the centipedes, his life force neared its end.
Oxygen dwindled rapidly. Suffocation clawed at his throat. He still tried to crawl toward the remaining chickens, but after endless struggling, could only twitch weakly.
Finally, he went stillâas if accepting his fate.
The crimson eyes watched silently from the flames. The fire, having devoured the last air, sputtered out, leaving only faint embers flickering near the door.
[Detected loss of actor connection. Performance interrupted.]
[Audience Expectation -50]
[Current Expectation: 28]
Charred text flashed across the carcass-strewn floor. Thenâ
A sinister red light unfurled beneath Chen Lingâs body, weaving into a staircase that stretched into the voidâs depths.
High above the warehouse, a vermilion star glimmered.
Torrents of mental energy erupted from Chen Lingâs corpse!
It was as if heâd shattered a barrierâhis aura skyrocketed, finally settling on the second step of that distorted divine path before fading into nothingnessâŠ
Thenâ
In the darkness, the charcoal husk twitched.
Flesh regenerated over blackened bones. Light returned to scorched eyes. Something was
hatching
from this withered shell.
Fingers curled.
Eyelids peeled back, revealing hollow, eerie pupils.
He rose slowly, his crimson opera robe pristine.
A moment later, a chilling laugh echoed through the silent warehouse.