Foster Father, what are you doing

"Creak, creak, creak!!!!!"

The surrounding noise was exceptionally chaotic; it was the sound of the Midnight Mass's joints and bones grinding violently against each other.

This also meant that their speed was increasing, and their level of brutality was countless times greater than that of a zombie.

Wu Hen ran with all his might. At this moment, he focused entirely on his auditory sense, relying on his reflexes to dodge the attacks of the Midnight Mass surrounding him!

When they opened their mouths, their jaws would emit a distinct clicking sound from their bones.

When they leaped and pounced, their eight limbs would crackle like firecrackers.

Therefore, even if a Midnight Mass appeared in Wu Hen's blind spot, he could still react!

The halo of light had only a tiny bit left. Like a skilled football player, Wu Hen fought his way through the heavy encirclement of the Midnight Mass to the gate switch!

"Click!"

Grabbing the heavy gate lever, Wu Hen shoved it to the other side.

"Clang-clack~ clang-clack~~ clang-clack~~~~~"

The scorching old train finally started!

Seeing the wheels accelerating, Wu Hen immediately ran toward the tracks!

Two Midnight Mass blocked Wu Hen's path, raising their sharp front claws, intending to pierce his neck!

The moment they raised their claws, Wu Hen heard the sound of their movements. He immediately performed a sliding tackle, passing through the gap between the two Midnight Mass's slowly descending claws!

The moving train was right in front of him!

Wu Hen stood up and ran alongside the train for a short distance before immediately leaping onto the coupling between the carriages.

Just as he jumped onto the train, a claw suddenly reached out from the bottom of the carriage and grabbed his ankle!

Wu Hen was horrified. He leaned over to look and discovered a fully thawed Midnight Mass clinging upside down to the bottom of the train!

Its body was flat, and its claws were pressed tightly against the carriage chassis. Although the train was moving on the tracks, the gap between the chassis and the tracks was just enough that it wouldn't be crushed.

His auditory sense was indeed powerful now; he didn't have to worry about sneak attacks from his blind spots.

But if a Midnight Mass had been frozen to the bottom of the train from the very beginning and hadn't made a single sound until now, Wu Hen wouldn't have had time to react to such a close-range ambush, even if he had heard it the instant it moved!!

This was the end!

Wu Hen could already feel the Midnight Mass's claws beginning to exert force, capable of tearing his leg off in an instant.

"Xiao Hen, catch!"

At the moment his life hung by a thread, Wu Hen heard the voice of Su Li.

He looked up to see a tactical light, no larger than a small flashlight, tracing a parabolic arc through the air.

Wu Hen understood immediately and hurriedly reached out his right hand to catch it.

However, the Midnight Mass clinging to the bottom of the train had already exerted its strength. Even though there was still a sliver of light outside, it did not crawl out, choosing instead to drag itself deeper into the undercarriage of the train.

It was this very tug that made it impossible for him to reach the tossed tactical light...

Watching the life-saving light about to slip through his fingers, Wu Hen wished his arm could stretch out like Luffy's.

A bizarre thing happened.

A phantom image appeared over his right palm. The phantom, resembling a miniature black dragon, darted out from his wrist.

The Black Void Shadow precisely snatched the tactical light and, in the blink of an eye, retreated back into Wu Hen's right arm!

Wu Hen barely had time to react before the tactical light was already in the palm of his hand.

Was it the Black Lightning Foster Father?

There was no time to think. Wu Hen turned the tactical light toward the bottom of the carriage. The bright circle of light instantly pinned the Midnight Mass, allowing Wu Hen to clearly see this ugly, hideous, and vicious evil spirit!

The mechanical axles on both sides of the train were spinning faster and faster. The pitch-black chassis and the tracks formed a tiny space. In this cramped area, a small Midnight Mass was crouched, one of its front claws firmly gripping Wu Hen's ankle, its pair of ghostly red eyes radiating hatred for a healthy, living body!

"You camper, you're f***ing disgusting!"

Wu Hen cursed in his heart and, taking advantage of the Midnight Mass being locked in place by the light source, yanked his foot free.

"Xiao Hen, come up quickly!" Su Li appeared above Wu Hen. She was on top of the carriage, reaching a hand out toward him.

Wu Hen grabbed Su Li's hand and climbed onto the roof of the carriage.

They were still three carriages away from the safe carriage filled with fluorescent light. It was impossible to run along the tracks or move through the inside of the carriages.

The faint, lingering halo of the Total Solar Eclipse was the final glimmer of hope for Wu Hen and Su Li's survival. The Midnight Mass hunting around the train possessed speed and strength no less than that of tigers or leopards!

Wu Hen also knew they couldn't go through the carriages; the carriages had roofs, meaning the final halo of the eclipse would be rendered useless, and several Midnight Mass had already crawled into those three dilapidated carriages.

They had no choice but to walk along the top of the moving train.

"Bang!!"

"Bang!!!"

Su Li fired two consecutive shots, knocking the Midnight Mass that had climbed onto the carriage roof down.

The two successfully ran past the first carriage, but on the sides of the second carriage, a group of Midnight Mass was crouched, waiting specifically for Wu Hen and Su Li to approach.

"You lock onto them, I'll take the shot!" Su Li did not hesitate, leaping directly onto the second carriage.

Wu Hen followed immediately. He focused entirely on his auditory sense; whenever he heard the sudden, heavy cracking of bones, he knew it was a Midnight Mass launching a fierce assault, and he would lock onto it instantly with his light source!

"Aunt, watch your feet."

As Wu Hen called out the warning, the tactical light in his hand locked onto the Midnight Mass beneath Su Li's feet.

"Bang!" Su Li fired a clean, decisive shot.

The Midnight Mass had just begun its pouncing motion when it was sent flying off the train by the bullet.

"Behind you."

Wu Hen spun around, his tactical light acting like a laser beam, illuminating the body of a Midnight Mass already mid-leap in the air.

Su Li turned at the same time, her hands raising steadily and swiftly toward the direction of the beam.

"Bang!"

The shot was masterful, striking the airborne Midnight Mass directly.

Hit by the bullet, the creature tumbled beneath the train and was crushed by the steel wheels!

Having eliminated the threat behind them, Wu Hen and Su Li turned back with high synchronization, moving forward in a crisscross tactical formation.

"Left side."

"Bang!" The bullet whistled through the air.

"Front."

"Bang!" Su Li's amber pupils barely shifted.

"Behind, lower side."

"Bang! Bang!" Two Midnight Mass were sent flying simultaneously!

The sky was as dark as ink.

A moving train sped through the gloom.

On top of the carriages, a single remaining light source flickered at a high frequency. As it flashed, it was as if an old slide projector were playing beneath the Total Solar Eclipse, displaying one after another the hideous, terrifying forms and ugly expressions of the monsters...

"This is the last carriage!"

Wu Hen and Su Li leaped over the carriage connector; they were only 25 meters away from the safe zone.

The last glimmer of light in the sky vanished, marking a true midnight at midday!

On both sides of the tracks, dozens of Midnight Mass creatures glowed with scarlet eyes. Their skeletons emitted violent cracking sounds; without the Heavenly Radiance, they had finally entered their strongest form!

"Clang!"

A Midnight Mass leaped up, jumping directly from the side of the tracks onto the roof of the train. When its powerful claws slammed down onto the carriage roof, the metal buckled inward!

The other Midnight Mass followed suit, their movement speed so fast that the tactical lights could barely lock onto them.

"We can't escape it after all." Su Li glanced at the imposing and brutal Midnight Mass ahead, her judgment already made.

Twenty-five meters, yet it was no different from passing through the lair of the Midnight Mass. Wu Hen also knew that he was doomed this time.

Aunt... A trace of unwillingness stirred in Wu Hen's heart.

"Take this and go back to your world!" Suddenly, Su Li took an object that looked like ghostly jade from her satchel and shoved it into Wu Hen's hand!

Wu Hen stared at the item, stunned.

Yuan You!!

It was actually a complete Yuan You!!

The special radiance emitted by the Yuan You enveloped them both, and the surrounding Midnight Mass seemed to fall into a momentary state of freezing.

But after the freeze, the light released from the eyes of the Midnight Mass was scorching hot; they had fallen into an even more frantic and famished state.

"Crush it, and your soul will return to your world," Su Li said.

Wu Hen finally realized that this was the way for a soul to leave the Otherworld Desolate Dust!

"There's only one, what about you?" Wu Hen asked hurriedly.

"I don't belong there..." Su Li shook her head.

Wu Hen looked at this weathered yet beautiful face, unable to express his feelings in words for a moment.

This was the real world. If Su Li couldn't crush a Yuan You like he could to return to the human realm, then what she would suffer next would be the most tragic torture by evil spirits!!

Her body, her soul—everything would be completely annihilated!

He couldn't accept it. From the bottom of his heart, Wu Hen could not accept it.

Even though they had spent only a short time together, Su Li had already made Wu Hen feel the genuine affection of family.

"Xiao Hen..."

"You don't need to say anything. I will stay with you until the end," Wu Hen said with unwavering resolve.

"No, Wu Hen, your... your hand..." Su Li's eyes were wide with astonishment, her gaze fixed firmly on Wu Hen's right hand.

My hand??

Wu Hen had no idea what Su Li was trying to say, but when he turned his head, he was shocked to discover that the Yuan You he had been holding just a moment ago was gone!!

What the hell!

A thousand horses galloped through Wu Hen's heart!!

Where did my Yuan You go???

Su Li looked even more incredulous. Just a moment ago, she had witnessed with her own eyes as Wu Hen's right hand moved like a living creature and devoured the life-saving Yuan You she had just handed him!!

She remembered that when she rescued Wu Hen from the sacrifice, she had noticed his right arm seemed to be infected by some kind of substance!

"Foster Father, what are you doing~~" Wu Hen was on the verge of tears.

Just when he was feeling heroic, facing life and death, and emotions were running high, he had to pull this stunt on him!

"Run!!"

Su Li remained clear-headed. She absolutely could not accept Wu Hen being destroyed by the Midnight Mass.

Wu Hen was forced to charge forward as well.

But bad news followed one after another.

Su Li fired several shots in succession, clearing out the Midnight Mass closest to them, only to realize her firearm was out of ammo!

"I'm out of ammo. I'll draw them away, you keep running!" Without a second thought, Su Li attempted to run in the opposite direction.

Wu Hen was quick-witted; he grabbed Su Li and yanked her back.

"Aunt, the situation has changed!" Wu Hen said, holding up his right hand.

"You must live..." Su Li was about to snap, but she suddenly saw a black firearm appearing on Wu Hen's right hand!

This black firearm was identical in shape to her own Origin Mech Pistol—the very one she had given to Wu Hen earlier.

However, the material was completely different. The high-precision black granular substance radiated like ball lightning, giving the firearm a miraculous, glowing, and mysterious aura!

So, when Wu Hen's right hand was 'eating' the pistol last night, it was... actually eating it? This thought flashed through Su Li's mind.

"Get down!"

Wu Hen suddenly heard a piercing sound of danger and shoved Su Li down beneath him.