Mom?

Upon the long table piled with food, a completely naked woman with a swollen belly let out a coy laugh, seeming almost embarrassed that Li Yèlái had seen her naked.

She pressed her legs together to conceal her private parts.

Yet the lavish feast and the seductive naked woman filled everyone with fear.

Starfire, Shadowflow, Detective, and the others were all frozen stiff.

The woman wore a kindly expression as she stroked her belly, seemingly anticipating the little life inside.

Yet in her other hand, she held a young head.

That girl, who should have bloomed like a flower bud, would never see that day.

"Are you here to celebrate my child's birth too?" the woman asked with a smile.

Seeing the vaguely familiar little girl, Li Yèlái felt as though his mind had been struck by a sledgehammer.

Whether it was fear, rage, or guilt, the emotions surged straight into his head.

Being closest to her, he acted decisively. His steel axe carved a perfect arc through the air as it cleaved toward the woman's head!

The next second, Li Yèlái split the food-laden table in half with one swing. Food and bones scattered across the floor.

But the woman had appeared on the ceiling. Though heavily pregnant, she moved with the agility of a spider.

The instant Li Yèlái struck, she dodged the attack and leaped onto the ceiling.

"Don't hurt my child!" The woman's face twisted viciously.

What answered her was a barrage of gunfire!

Every assault team member raised their weapon and opened fire on her.

This monster!

No one had expected a raid targeting a human trafficking ring to turn into a hunt for a monster—or rather, a Suffering One.

"First squad reload! Second squad suppress! Third squad rotate!" The recovered police officer roared, ordering every assault squad into action. They had to keep the bizarre woman under continuous suppression. Having worked with the Disaster Management Department many times, he had extensive experience fighting psychics.

This was how assault teams fought psychics. A psychic's Psychic Barrier could indeed block bullets, but doing so consumed psychic energy.

As long as they kept attacking without pause, they could rapidly drain her psychic energy and eventually kill the target.

But the woman reacted incredibly quickly, scrambling across the ceiling on all fours and instantly slipping beyond the line of fire.

Then she pulled a crimson longsword covered in several eyeballs from the ceiling. It was clearly a Psychic Weapon!

The eyeballs atop it swayed, and the bizarre woman suddenly vanished from everyone's sight.

Seizing the opportunity, the bizarre woman rushed toward the window. Clearly, she intended to escape the room and break out of the encirclement.

But with several handlers and assault teams present, how could they let her have her way?

"Listen to Me—your limbs are stiff!" Cheese immediately activated her ability.

The woman's movement abruptly stalled. She fell from the ceiling and slammed hard into the floor. Instead of fleeing, she quickly covered her stomach, seemingly afraid her child had been hurt.

At the same time, Starfire finally snapped out of his terror. It was his first time witnessing something so bloody and bizarre, and his body had involuntarily stiffened and trembled. Now, he fought to steady his shaking left hand and lit the lighter he had been clutching.

With a sweep of his right hand, the lighter's flame shot out and transformed into a fireball, directly catching up to the woman on the floor. Blazing flames instantly engulfed her! The woman let out a crazed howl from within the inferno!

This was his ability: Flame Dominion from the Zeroing Path.

As long as there was even a tiny spark, he could turn it into a raging blaze capable of devouring skyscrapers!

That was why he always carried a lighter. It was his strongest weapon!

Of course, flames alone could not kill a Suffering One. A psychic's Psychic Barrier could also block flames and ward off the heat.

But... she could not avoid suffocation!

So the bizarre woman forced her way through the hail of bullets and charged out of the flames, only to see a hammer instantly appear before her eyes!

It was Heavy Cavalry!

She had been waiting outside the flames. The instant the woman emerged, she smashed her with her hammer!

The bizarre woman roared and swung her blade, clashing repeatedly with Heavy Cavalry. Their weapons collided furiously, producing piercing shrieks.

Li Yèlái was startled. Heavy Cavalry's hammer could smash through a reinforced door, yet this bizarre woman had blocked it!

"What exactly is she? A psychic?" Li Yèlái looked at the bizarre woman, who had once again been surrounded by flames, and quietly asked Cheese, "Or a Suffering One?"

"She has a Psychic Barrier, so naturally she's a psychic. Judging by her strength, speed, and physical toughness, she's a psychic of the True Martial Path! As for whether she's been twisted, that's hard to say." Cheese's pretty face was grim as she looked at the mysteriously dead masked people and the slender skeletons scattered across the floor.

As an experienced handler, Cheese could vaguely tell this was some kind of ritual.

Why would a human trafficker possess such knowledge?

Could it be the Ashes Church?

Meanwhile, after hearing the dense gunfire, the instructor stationed on the first floor changed expression.

That was not the kind of firepower used against human traffickers. There were enough bullets here to wipe out a trafficker's entire family tree.

"Something happened!"

The instructor thought this as he charged out and leaped upward. He jumped more than three meters high, then stepped through the air, somehow moving again in midair.

This was Sky Stepping, a technique that used a Psychic Barrier as a foothold.

Psychics who mastered this technique could double-jump or even jump repeatedly, gaining the ability to fight in midair.

Now, the instructor could not care about exposing his identity as a psychic. He wanted to directly support the newcomers and officers on the thirteenth floor.

However, just as the instructor rapidly reached the height of the fourth or fifth floor—

His body suddenly swayed, and he crashed straight back to the ground. Fortunately, he adjusted his posture at the last moment and landed safely.

But the instructor's expression grew even uglier.

Because in the fifth-floor corridor, a man in a suit wearing a goat skull mask held a cane. After giving a gentlemanly bow, he said, "Heretic, do not disturb them."

Seeing the suddenly appearing Goat-Headed Man, the instructor narrowed his eyes, his entire body tensing. He had clearly entered a combat stance.

"Heretic? You're from the Ashes Church!" The instructor sneered, but a chill rose in his heart.

He suddenly realized that the invitation he had received this time might have been a trap!

The Ashes Church was an extremist psychic faction that possessed many Forbidden Items.

At the same time, it was an organization every giant city remained wary of. They believed psychics were the new humanity, while ordinary people incapable of becoming psychics were merely remnants of the old era.

Thus, they secretly guided talented ordinary people in every giant city to become psychics.

This increased the number of psychics.

But this reckless, irresponsible behavior brought enormous risks to every giant city.

They used every possible method to lure ordinary people into becoming psychics while ignoring the risk of their twisting. As a result, they created countless Suffering Ones and inflicted unimaginable harm upon the giant cities!

That was why they had been designated a cult! Kill on sight!

Now, the appearance of the Ashes Church had pushed this operation beyond control!

"You really have a death wish! Don't you know handlers nearby are already rushing over? Yet you dare identify yourself?" the instructor said coldly. To appear openly before the authorities, this church member was certainly confident.

"A death wish? No, no, no." The Goat-Headed Man replied calmly, "We merely gave a mother who wished to revive her child a hope. I will witness her success, and you will witness the miracle of life."

"Heh. You make human experimentation sound so noble?" The instructor snorted. With a casual motion, five throwing knives rose into the air on their own. He then drew a longsword. "Come on!"

"The Divine Control Path? Controlling five throwing knives at once is impressive!" the Goat-Headed Man replied softly. "Let us pass the time, then."

Meanwhile, the bizarre woman activated the Crimson Longsword's ability again, disrupting everyone's vision as she launched another charge!

But Cheese stopped her again.

The Crimson Longsword's ability could briefly interfere with vision. It was actually an extremely powerful disruptive ability. If your vision suddenly vanished in the middle of a fight, how could you keep fighting?

Unfortunately, no one gave her the chance to enter melee range.

Whenever Cheese noticed the visual interference, she used her ability to disrupt the woman in turn. As a result, the bizarre woman failed time and again to break through or escape.

Although the bizarre woman was a psychic, she had no talent for combat and no tactical sense. Even with a Psychic Weapon, she was now at the end of her rope and in a miserable state.

She had no chance of escaping or winning.

"Why are you hurting me?" To everyone's surprise, the bizarre woman howled madly. "I'm only doing this for my child! I gave up so much—why are you stopping me?!"

"Harming other people's children for your own child? You call that sacrifice?" Cheese sneered, her words brimming with killing intent.

"What do you know? They promised me! As long as I gave them those people, I could revive my child. I was so close, so close, just a little more!"

Then, instead of fleeing again, she charged straight at Cheese.

She had realized that every time she was about to escape, Cheese's words made her lose the opportunity.

Unless she killed Cheese, she had no chance of getting away.

So she activated her Psychic Weapon again, disrupting everyone's vision as she attempted an assassination.

But flames engulfed her once more.

Within the blaze, she shielded her belly and glared viciously at everyone.

Her eyes were filled with fury and malice.

But no one reacted, and no one felt any pity for her. Not after seeing the corpses strewn everywhere and the children's bones.

This woman had already been sentenced to death.

She no longer had any human rights!

This time, when she rushed out of the flames, she had finally exhausted her strength.

She collapsed to her knees, clutching her belly in agony.

"I was so close... just so close..." Then she blankly looked at Cheese. "Can I give birth to him before I die? Please. The child is innocent."

Innocent? You knew children were innocent too? Everyone sneered.

Cheese's gaze was indifferent. "I've already checked your records. You were never pregnant. Your child died long ago."

Through the assistant on the other end of her earpiece, she had already checked all of the woman's information. After miscarrying years ago, the woman had undergone weekly medical examinations, but she had never been pregnant.

"No, I can feel him. He's right here... He came back..." the woman muttered, clutching her belly.

"It's fake." Cheese said coldly. "There is no such thing as resurrection."

The bizarre woman flew into a rage and raised her longsword, only for Heavy Cavalry to smash her head with one blow.

Her whole body went limp as she fell to the ground, clutching her stomach in agony.

Then she stopped breathing.

After confirming the bizarre woman was dead, the police officer said to everyone, "I'll investigate every person she came into contact with."

Cheese looked at the wrecked room and sighed softly. "What a pity. We couldn't save the children."

Then she prepared to leave. What came next was the Security Bureau's work.

But at that moment—

A low voice suddenly rang out, making everyone shudder.

"Mommy."

Then came the sound of flesh tearing.

Everyone whirled around.

They saw a massive tear open across the bizarre woman's abdomen, yet no blood flowed from it.

Then, as droplets of blood fell one by one—

Everyone's gaze slowly rose, and they saw a strange, small figure on the distant ceiling.

It made a strange sound. "Mommy."

"Mommy."

"Mommy."

Then it turned to look at everyone.

With just one glance, Li Yèlái felt a terrifying chill spread up his spine.

It was a bizarre child with crimson skin and pitch-black eyes.

Its mouth split open at the corners, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

It held the Crimson Longsword in its right hand. In its left, it held the corpse of a person wearing an animal mask, greedily devouring their flesh.

As it consumed the flesh, its body rapidly grew. It changed from a child into a youth.

Then it tossed aside the corpse and looked at everyone.

Its huge mouth full of sharp teeth opened slightly. "Mommy?"

At that moment, boundless terror weighed on everyone's hearts like a mountain.

Even Li Yèlái's heart pounded violently. The danger this monster gave him far surpassed The Skinner!

Every part of his body warned him to stay away from this monster!

But no one moved first, afraid of startling the monster.

Until Starfire suddenly raised his hand, lit his lighter, and tried to unleash flames!

But in the very next instant, Starfire's raised left hand vanished into thin air. Blood gushed from the severed stump.

Only a fraction of a second later did Starfire feel the pain. He fell to his knees in agony, yet he did not dare let out even the slightest cry.

Because the monster stood right in front of him, his arm in its mouth, tilting its head as it watched him.

Starfire did not dare make any movement.

Then the monster walked over to Cheese with the arm still in its mouth.

After spitting out the arm, that bloody mouth made another sound. "Mommy?"

Cold sweat streamed down Cheese's entire body. The pressure this monster gave her was too terrifying. She felt that before she could even use her ability, before she could finish speaking the command, she would be killed!

It was too close, and this monster was far too fast!

This is so suffocating. Am I going to die here? Cheese thought, silently tightening her grip on the dagger hidden in her sleeve.

At least she could still fight to the death. She was not a rookie like Starfire, someone who relied too heavily on his ability.

But her chances of winning were slim... She could only hope the others would seize the opportunity to escape...

Watching the monster draw nearer and slowly open its mouth, Cheese's heartbeat accelerated as she clenched her dagger.

But suddenly, the monster froze. Then it abruptly turned around.

It had sensed prey entering its territory and abandoned the girl before it.

It stared at the newcomer with bloodthirsty greed.

But... it had guessed wrong!

Under the gaze of those Double Pupils, it... was no longer the hunter.

"Mommy!" The monster smiled in delight.

Li Yèlái, who had finally found the opportunity to activate the Xiang Yu Mask, smiled as well. "Are you fucking blind?"