I'm Here To Deliver Heads! (Third Update)

Brother Yong's head, with a bit of flesh attached to the neck, looked as if his head had been violently ripped from his neck while he was alive.

His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying, his expression frozen in that moment, vivid and lifelike.

This sight made not only Shi Wuliao but even Fang Yue feel a bit nauseous.

Damn, did it have to be so realistic? Heads and such are too terrifying.

Niu Niu and the others were also stunned for a moment before steeling themselves to go and investigate.

Fang Yue followed, discovering that further ahead were Brother Yong's torso, hands, and feet, along with a fireless torch.

These severed limbs were scattered at irregular intervals.

It was as if Brother Yong's body had been dismantled piece by piece while he was fleeing, and the force used seemed very peculiar.

Normally, if you wanted to rip off a person's arm with great strength, you would pull out the bones along with it. However, if you twisted the arm off, there were no such marks at the break.

The entire corpse looked like it had been turned into building blocks, with body parts easily detached with a slight movement. Only the head was removed with conventional brute force.

Fang Yue calmly picked up the Soul Fire torch from the ground, lit it, and walked a bit further.

A pungent smell of blood immediately assaulted him. Fang Yue frowned and held the torch forward, his pupils constricting slightly.

Ahead, a pile of human body parts lay scattered like garbage, forming a small hill, with bright red blood flowing on the ground.

Fang Yue's heart sank. After a brief identification, he recognized these people as Brother Yong's teammates.

"It was done by an Anomaly," Fang Yue said in a deep voice, raising the Soul Fire torch high, trying to illuminate everything around him, his vigilance at its peak, his nerves taut.

"It might not have gone far. It's only been an hour since we were supposed to meet Brother Yong's team. That anomaly might still be nearby!"

The other five people heard this and their bodies stiffened simultaneously, with the sound of swallowing echoing one after another.

"Brother Ye, should we retreat?" Shi Wuliao asked cautiously, earning a glare from Fang Yue.

"What are you thinking? The Patrol Team is for this very purpose. Something's happened, and you want to run? If you run, by the rules, we'll all be expelled from the village tomorrow!"

There was one more thing Fang Yue didn't say.

Running now and making noise would likely result in them being discovered and killed by the Anomaly first.

With this thought, Fang Yue even extinguished the Soul Fire torch, telling Niu Niu to put out his fire, and had everyone gather closer to him.

"Th-then what do we do?"

According to the Patrol Team's rules, they couldn't flee. They could only request reinforcements and fight the Anomaly to the death. This was also one of the reasons why the Patrol Team had the best benefits in the entire village, the best equipment, and the right to allocate Lifespan.

They were responsible for the safety of all the villagers!

But Shi Wuliao and the other Players didn't think that way.

What did the villagers' lives have to do with them? Better them than me. The honor of the Patrol Team was all fake; their own lives were real.

If they died, their characters would be deleted, and all their previous efforts would be in vain.

But if they didn't follow the Patrol Team's rules, they would be expelled from the village and sent to the wilderness to fend for themselves.

The wilderness, without the core of the earth, without the Patrol Team, without sheltering eaves.

Rain, cold nights, Anomalies – any one of these could easily take a life.

Not to mention the issues of hunger, keeping warm, and how to solve food problems.

Even Fang Yue wouldn't survive a night in the wilderness; he didn't have the means to resist the [Night Chill Erosion].

As everyone was hesitating about what to do, Niu Niu suddenly took a step forward and shouted, "What are you afraid of? It's just one Anomaly. We Players, Anomalies are monsters. Kill the Anomaly, level up, earn Lifespan! I heard that killing Anomalies also increases Lifespan. Don't you want to earn this extra income?"

His words stunned the others, who quickly shook their heads.

While they might talk big, Brother Yong had already fallen. They didn't want to go to their deaths.

After all, none of them had learned martial arts. Only Niu Niu had an instructor, possessed [Innate Divine Strength], and had combat power.

Moreover, Niu Niu had inside information and probably knew Brother Yong's strength? Did he think he was stronger than Brother Yong? That's why he was so confident?

"Whether we kill the Anomaly or not is another matter, but we need to figure out the situation. It's the rule. Also, we need to send someone to request reinforcements."

Fang Yue's words made Shi Wuliao and the others' eyes light up.

As long as they could get away from here, what was running an errand?

Shi Wuliao was the first to raise his hand.

"Brother Ye, I'll go request reinforcements!"

The others immediately glared at Shi Wuliao; they also wanted to run errands.

Fang Yue suppressed everyone's emotions.

"I have two reinforcement routes now. The first is to ask Captain Chen Mu for help. Chen Fu is nearby, very close. It would take about ten minutes to run there. Chen Mu is also the captain of Ancient Moon Village and is very powerful. When we patrolled past Chen Fu before, I saw it was very quiet inside. At this time, he should be back at his residence resting."

"The second reinforcement route is to go to a further Patrol Team and have them come to our aid. The closest to us originally was Brother Yong's team. Now, it would probably take half an hour to reach the area of another Patrol Team."

"Theoretically, either one would be enough, but our lives are important, so we'll send people for both reinforcement methods. Which one do you choose?"

No matter which route they chose for help, it was actually Fang Yue's test.

He wanted to know if the Anomaly would attack if someone ran around and made noise.

This was the best way to test if the Anomaly was nearby, even if it meant putting his teammates at a disadvantage.

Shi Wuliao didn't overthink it. His eyes darted around, and he raised his hand, saying, "I'll go to Captain Chen's mansion to get Captain Chen to save us!"

"Okay, do you know the way?"

"I do!"

He had just patrolled the area once, and when they passed Captain Chen's mansion, Fang Yue had mentioned it to Shi Wuliao and the others, so he remembered.

"Alright, you go then."

Shi Wuliao froze.

"Huh? I'm just going like this? I don't have a torch."

"Captain Chen's mansion is close. Including the one I just picked up, we only have two torches. I can't give you one, so you'll have to run in the dark. Or, if you were going to ask a distant Patrol Team for help, then we could give you a torch."

Seeing Shi Wuliao hesitate, the others were tempted to speak up, but Shi Wuliao beat them to it.

"Then I'll still go to Captain Chen's mansion. Wait for my good news, Ye Ge!"

Gritting his teeth, Shi Wuliao turned and ran in the direction of Captain Chen's mansion, quickly disappearing from sight and blending into the night.

Fang Yue watched the direction he left. After waiting for a while and hearing no screams of the dead, he felt a little more at ease.

"That route might not have an Anomaly guarding it? But the time is too short to be absolute proof."

There was no other way. The Anomaly might be nearby, and Fang Yue had to be careful.

Others might not know how terrifying Anomalies were, but he did. He had narrowly escaped death at the hands of an Anomaly before.

His gaze shifted, and Fang Yue's eyes landed on Niu Niu and the other three.

"For the other route to get help, who will go?"