Rose Middle School

"Phew..."

Liu Yuqing climbed out of the RV and shut the door.

She saw Wang Meng and Guo Shuai standing guard beside the vehicle, so she walked over and showed them the scroll in her hand.

Then she repeated Jiangnan's instructions.

"Since it's the boss's orders, there's no time to waste."

Wang Meng clapped his hands.

"Let's split up and look around, then figure out exactly where that red dot is."

"The sooner we find the Signal Tower, the sooner we can open the map."

The three exchanged glances, then looked at the red dot on the scroll, their eyes filled with hope for the future.

What they didn't know was this.

In the area marked by that red dot, a nightmare utterly unlike the sunshine was unfolding.

Meanwhile.

In a valley somewhere on Weird Island.

There was no sunlight here, only thick, heavy clouds and torrents of rain pouring from the sky.

"Rumble!!"

A purple bolt of Mad Thunder tore through the pitch-black Sky Curtain, its deafening boom shaking the air.

Then lightning struck a gigantic sign, long since rusted through.

Crack!

The metal sign split apart in the fiery lightning.

The character "Mei" in "Rose Middle School" was sheared off and crashed into the mud, splashing up a sheet of murky black water.

Only the broken words "Gui Middle School" remained, looking especially eerie in the glare of the lightning.

The rain washed over the ground, gathering the dark-red liquid running downhill from the school into a stream that wound away.

It wasn't muddy red water. It was blood.

At the school gate atop the slope, countless pale bones lay scattered.

Some still had scraps of half-rotted flesh clinging to them. Fragments of black stand-up collar school uniforms and sailor uniforms were strewn through the mud.

It was obvious...

A massacre had just taken place here. The dead hadn't even had time to become mummies before they were picked clean to the bone.

"Bzzz!"

Two blinding beams from the headlights forcibly pierced the rain.

A dark green Humvee, heavily modified and outfitted with Radio Radar and a heavy machine gun, pulled up in front of the abandoned middle school.

The doors opened.

Three men and two women climbed out, clad in matching yellow-green Special Operations Uniforms, carrying katanas and armed to the teeth.

They were the Black Wolf Squad, an Elite Squad dispatched by Cherry Blossom Country.

The middle-aged man leading them was named Ono. His eyes were sinister, and he held a fully equipped M416, his movements sharp and practiced.

Beside him was a cocky young man named Sato, carrying the same gear.

At the back of the team stood Ikeda, a towering man built like a bear.

He carried an alloy heavy shield and an NG-7 general-purpose machine gun, responsible for firepower and defense.

The two remaining women were the cold and beautiful sniper Kujo, who held a TRG-42 Sniper Rifle,

and the petite healer Hoshino, who carried a P90 submachine gun.

The five wore night-vision goggles and warily scanned their surroundings.

After confirming there was no immediate threat, they turned their attention to the abandoned campus before them.

"Ono-kun."

The towering Ikeda removed his rain-blurred tactical helmet and looked at the school, which seemed steeped in death. His voice was heavy.

"This school... it looks like the one where all the teachers and students from our Cherry Blossom Country mysteriously disappeared thirty-three years ago..."

"Rose Middle School."

Ono wiped the rain from his face and nodded gravely.

"That's right, Ikeda-kun."

"Back then, a company from Huaxia Country was contracted to build and name this school."

"Later, the famous 'Rainy Night Disappearance Case' took place. The entire school vanished without a trace overnight."

"I never thought... it would cross over here too."

"Urusai! Shut up!"

Another young man impatiently cut off their reminiscing.

His name was Sato. His Supernatural Ability was the A-Class Storm Herald. Though he was a newcomer, he was the most arrogant member of the squad.

"I hate crappy places like middle schools. They all stink of sour sweat."

Sato snorted and kicked a skull by his feet away.

"Let's hurry up and finish Mr. Muraguchi's mission so we can get the map of the area."

"I'm starving. I just want to get back to base and eat some rice balls."

"Quiet, Sato!"

Kujo, the woman holding the Sniper Rifle, scolded him coldly.

"You bastard, keep your voice down!"

"There are usually monsters guarding Terminal Signal Towers. If that big mouth of yours lures them over, I'll shoot you first!"

"Tch, Kujo, don't drag me down just because you're a coward."

Sato curled his lip in disdain, a tiny whirlwind turning in his palm.

"I'm an A-Class superhuman. I'm not afraid of a bunch of trash monsters!"

"And that guy from Huaxia Country, what's-his-name, 'No Need for More Words'..."

"When I run into him, I'll rip his head off with my own hands and take his S-Class item."

Sato clenched his fist with absolute confidence, as if the man would be no match for him.

Kujo was about to scout the area. Hearing that, she scoffed.

"What an arrogant fool. If you meet that man, he'll kill you in an instant."

While the two argued,

Hoshino, the healer who had been huddled at the back, suddenly raised a trembling hand. Her little face was deathly pale, and her voice quivered.

"E-everyone..."

"I think I hear... chewing nearby."

"Can... can you hear it?"

"Chewing?"

Sato laughed scornfully, looking at her as if she were an idiot.

"Haha, Hoshino, are you so hungry you're imagining things? What chewing could there be out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Right, squad leader? You have C-Class enhanced hearing. If there were a sound, how could you not have noticed?"

Sato turned to Ono, hoping he'd agree.

But...

He didn't get any response.

Ono remained in the rain, holding his gun up in a guarded stance, completely motionless with his back to them.

"Squad leader?"

Confused, Sato reached out and patted Ono on the shoulder.

The touch felt oddly light.

Even... a little prickly.

Thump.

The moment Sato touched him, Ono dropped to his knees, stiff as a pile of blocks coming apart.

Then he toppled into the muddy water.

"Squad leader!!"

Startled, Sato hurriedly crouched to help him up. "Hey! What's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"

But the moment he rolled Ono over, he recoiled several steps in terror and fell flat on his backside!

"Ahhh!!!"

A scream ripped through the rainy night.

"Bastard! What are you screaming about now?!"

Kujo had been watching the school through her scope. The scream made her hand jerk.

But when she turned and saw Ono on the ground, her pupils contracted in shock.

Ono, who had been perfectly fine moments ago, was now nothing but a pale skeleton!

His Combat Suit was completely intact, but all the flesh and organs inside it, in those few short seconds—

had been devoured by something invisible!

"Stay alert!!"

Kujo shouted, her voice breaking.

"There's an invisible monster! Ikeda-kun! Activate your Shield Supernatural Ability!!"

But...

Ikeda, the heavy shield-bearer who should have been first to step forward, stood rooted in place, trembling violently.

Even the heavy shield and machine gun in his hands had hit the ground.

"Ikeda, what are you doing?! Raise your shield!"

Kujo panicked.

Ikeda slowly turned around, revealing a face full of terror and despair.

"R-run..."

"It... it's on me..."

The others stared at him in horror.

The left half of Ikeda's body was disappearing before their very eyes!

Raindrops tapped against his ribs with a "pat-pat" sound.

His flesh was being torn away and devoured in great bites, yet they couldn't see a thing!

It was as if the air itself were feeding!