No Way Out

Heaven and Earth Society?

Lu Ce leaned against the window, listening to the shouts in the distance, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

He had just been talking with Xie Antong about organizations and factions, and one had already appeared?

And something was off here. Wasn't the Heaven and Earth Society an organization from the Ming and Qing dynasties? Commonly known as the Hongmen? How could it suddenly pop up in this day and age?

Lu Ce keenly sensed that this definitely had something to do with Chosen Paradise. It might even be an organization directly targeting Chosen Paradise.

After that astonishing roar, the other party did not stop and continued shouting:

"Sun and moon revolve, cycles repeat."

"The Chosen descend, and the world becomes one!"

"The world belongs to the Heaven and Earth Society!"

Lu Ce:...

Hearing that voice, Lu Ce knew his earlier guess had been right. This was definitely an organization founded with Chosen Paradise as its goal.

"Sun and moon revolve..."

The man seemed to have lost his mind, roaring nonstop and repeating the same words. Lu Ce was already getting bored of listening.

Along with the roars came the screams of students and the sounds of things being smashed.

Walls collapsed, while desks and chairs flew through the air. Who knew how many people had been injured.

Lu Ce's senses were among the sharpest of all humans. From the sounds alone, he could tell that the other party was probably directly below him. The teaching area on the floor beneath had already descended into chaos.

But Lu Ce had no intention of getting involved in something like this.

He was merely puzzled as to why the school had let someone like that in.

The guy wasn't here anyway. Better leave. There was nothing to discuss...

Boom!

Just as Lu Ce was thinking that, an explosion suddenly rang out. The corridor floor outside the classroom was smashed open by an enormous hammer, sending bricks and stones flying as dust billowed everywhere.

The next second, a hulking figure in tattered clothes, with unnaturally swollen muscles and standing over six feet three inches tall, leaped up through the blasted floor.

Standing amid the dust, the man slightly raised his head and met eyes with Lu Ce, who was leaning out the window.

;The two stared wide-eyed at each other (⊙?⊙)(0?0).

Lu Ce:...

Damn, his luck was really terrible. They had actually locked eyes right after he said he probably would not run into him.

Lu Ce immediately looked away, jumped down from the window, and accurately found his seat amid the chaotic classroom.

That single glance had already allowed him to remember the man's general appearance and physical traits.

His muscles had swollen to the point of tearing. They were clearly far beyond what a normal human body should possess. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked as though he had completely lost his sanity.

He wore a school uniform, now full of holes and stretched taut by his bulging muscles, with even more damage from all the smashing.

He was also holding a massive hammer. The hammerhead alone was over thirty centimeters in diameter. Lu Ce had no idea what metal it was made from, but an ordinary person would either die or be crippled from a single blow.

Lu Ce roughly understood the situation—this person was a student at the school, and definitely a player!

He just did not know what had caused him to become like this.

"Is he here? What is that thing!?" Xie Antong shouted as she watched Lu Ce jump back inside.

"Probably a player. I don't know why he's gone berserk, but he seems to be promoting some kind of organization," Lu Ce replied.

"Let's go!"

Xie Antong did not waste any words. She grabbed Lu Ce and ran toward the door.

After two games, she had seen far too much. She knew perfectly well how great a threat powerful players now posed to ordinary people.

By then, several connected classrooms in the eastern wing had already become a complete mess. All the students were running outside, more excited than afraid.

The moment they stepped out, they saw the giant standing there blankly.

"Holy shit! Liu Peng?!"

Someone among the students recognized him and seemed to know him well.

With a look of astonishment, he walked over to the dull-eyed giant who had already lost his mind.

"You joined the game, right? How did you end up like this?"

"Damn, that's cool."

Liu Peng did not even look at him. With a casual swing of his arm, the student who had approached was sent flying like a plastic bag, slapped seven or eight meters away!

By the time he hit the ground, he was already unconscious.

The crowd immediately scattered in fear, and a wide open space was instantly cleared in the middle of the classroom area.

"Sun and moon revolve, cycles repeat..."

The other party did not even glance at the crowd. It just kept shouting slogans loudly into the air, the noise making everyone's eardrums ache.

It swung the gigantic hammer in its hand and, with a boom, smashed the classroom wall before it to pieces.

For some reason, Lu Ce could not help thinking, Eighty, eighty...

The giant did not give chase. In the dozens of seconds that followed, almost everyone had already fled. Then, the giant suddenly turned its head, its scarlet eyes looking toward the crowd.

—And met Lu Ce's gaze!

Lu Ce: I'll ** your **!

Why the fuck do you keep making eye contact with me?! Can't you look at someone else?!

Lu Ce looked away, already having formed a rough judgment of the other party's strength deep down.

—Far inferior to mine.

Suddenly, the other party's eyes widened as it stared at Lu Ce, then charged straight toward him, its enormous body stirring up a howling gale.

The crowd was instantly alarmed and hurriedly scattered. Lu Ce and Xie Antong followed the crowd, rapidly retreating.

The giant stopped in place and suddenly swung its massive hammer, bringing it crashing toward the crowd with a howling wind.

Lu Ce raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling that this seemed to be aimed at him.

Almost instinctively, he slowed by two steps, deciding to try taking the blow on his shoulder and see how many Pain points it would give him.

"Get out of the way!"

Beside him, Xie Antong tugged hard on his arm, using her own strength to help pull him out of the attack's path.

"What are you doing? Run! Are your reactions really that slow?"

Lu Ce looked at the girl with mild surprise, then looked at the giant charging at them once more.

One look was enough. This was the one he had been looking for.

He could now be eighty percent certain that this thing had its sights set on him.

If he stayed mixed in with the crowd, not only would he cause needless casualties, but it would also be easy for others to notice that the creature had singled him out from among everyone present.

After a brief thought, Lu Ce looked toward the dispersing crowd and Xie Antong, who was urging him to leave.

"Thanks."

Then he shoved her into the crowd while deliberately stumbling underfoot, breaking away from the others.

A lone individual was highly conspicuous. The crazed giant came after him, and one chasing while the other fled, they left the crowd behind and arrived at the relatively open landing by the corner of the floor.

With his back against the wall at the corner, Lu Ce calmly turned around and looked at the heavily panting creature before him.

There was nowhere left to retreat!