Monster Tide

Lu Yuanming watched the endless stream of meteors falling from the sky and listened to the countless monsters howling around them. He turned to Charlie, Peter, and Tang Zhean and said, "Go! Now! We're heading back to the base!"

Naturally, no one objected. The situation was truly bizarre. After they had killed more than a hundred monsters during the day, there had been very few left in the area, so they had decided to camp for the night in this damaged hotel.

But now, everything had suddenly changed. Who knew how many monsters had appeared nearby? In these circumstances, Lu Yuanming would never risk the lives of the people around him. Their best option was to fall back to the base's defensive positions.

In all the days since, construction around the bank base had never stopped. This was especially true after Lu Yuanming had exchanged Colorless Light Particles for enough tools and large metalworking machines. Aside from planting potatoes, the organization's biggest task was building up the base. The most important defenses were at the top of the priority list. Within the defensive perimeter, they might not be able to take on a hundred foes at once, but at least they wouldn't be ambushed and surrounded by monsters—a world of difference from being out in the wild.

Only Tang Zhean seemed hesitant to speak. But everyone else followed Lu Yuanming's instructions, quickly packing up their camping gear and readying their weapons. At Lu Yuanming's command, they followed him down toward the main street.

But they had gone down only two floors when people who had just died and fallen into this world began appearing in the stairwell. And not just one or two—more than a dozen had appeared inside the building.

They shouted and chattered loudly. Some were panicking, some were still caught up in the scene of their deaths in the Material World, and others immediately crowded around Lu Yuanming's group when they saw them.

These people had only just fallen from the Material World and knew nothing about the world after death. Many of them still wondered if they were really dead. This kind of commotion and chaos was also the surest way to attract monsters. It was just like when Lu Yuanming had first fallen from the Material World. Before he had even decided whether to take the newcomers with him, the building he was in had already been flooded with monsters.

The newly arrived monsters were skinless humanoids. Their bodies were covered in grotesque red muscle, and they had no human eyes, noses, or ears. Their faces were blank, save for a huge, hideous mouth that took up a third of each face. The mouths were full of needle-sharp teeth. They were taller than ordinary people, and their hands and feet looked less like human limbs than animal claws.

The monsters pounced out of the darkness. One of the newly fallen people was seized at once, screaming as the creature dragged them into the shadows. The survivors could only hear the crunching sounds of chewing and the tearing of bones. In an instant, seven or eight people had been killed. The monsters were numerous, pouncing endlessly from the darkness. Everyone alive in the building was plunged into terror, and that terror only sparked more chaos, making the monsters' hunt even easier.

As the chaos spread toward Lu Yuanming's group, his soldiers opened fire before he could say a word. Monsters or civilians—it made no difference. Anyone who dared approach was shot.

Lu Yuanming stared, stunned, at the civilians who had been killed. Then he turned to Tang Zhean.

Tang Zhean understood Lu Yuanming's thoughts almost instantly. He hurried to his side and said quietly, "They're different from us... The US police aren't obliged to protect civilians, and the military is even less so. Besides, we're not the US Government's army. Right now, keeping ourselves alive matters more."

"...I know," Lu Yuanming said gravely.

He did know. But it still hurt.

Tang Zhean patted his arm. "Relax. This isn't your fault. No one expected the first collapse to happen so soon."

Lu Yuanming stopped without a word. The others stopped with him, keeping their weapons trained on the darkness. At the slightest movement, they would unleash a hail of bullets, without caring whether the sound came from a monster or a person.

"Hold this position! Charlie, you're in command here. Assign each gun a direction to cover. Don't have everyone open fire just because they hear something. And... protect the civilians whenever you can, as long as you've confirmed they're harmless..."

As Lu Yuanming spoke, light shimmered across his body. A gold-and-red suit of Full Body Armor appeared over him, covering him from head to toe. He held a Fine Steel Spear in his left hand and a Semi-automatic Rifle in his right. Then he accelerated and charged straight into the darkness.

The others cried out in alarm. Charlie and Peter even tried to stop Lu Yuanming, but they had barely raised their hands before he disappeared into the darkness of the stairwell. Everyone turned to look at Charlie.

Charlie was anxious and furious, but it was too late to do anything. He could only shout, "Groups of three! Each group hold one direction and form a ring-shaped defensive formation... Let the civilians in!"

Meanwhile, Lu Yuanming charged alone into the darkness. He immediately sensed danger approaching. Data and information began appearing on the fully sealed visor. Though it covered his whole face, it looked to him like a translucent field of infrared vision, complete with indicators for living beings like those in a shooting game. In a brief instant, he spotted six monsters and eight civilians fleeing for their lives.

Armor: Steel!

That was the name of his gold-and-red Full Body Armor.

It wasn't an ordinary suit of armor. It was a supernatural piece of protective equipment that had absorbed Xu.

The armor had several features. First, it dispersed automatically when not in use and could be donned with a single thought, much like nanotech armor.

Second, it was almost weightless, yet offered tremendous protection. The armor also healed itself over time, so Lu Yuanming never had to worry about scratches or holes in it.

Third, the armor had electronic features, such as infrared vision and the ability to automatically mark enemies and civilians.

So even in the pitch-black darkness, Lu Yuanming could see everything clearly, and the monsters lurking in hiding had nowhere to escape. He charged into the dark and began to slaughter them.

His two-and-a-half-meter frame was packed with explosive power. He moved far faster than an ordinary person and had far quicker reflexes. In the blink of an eye, he reached the side of a Skinless Monster. As it tried to lie in wait for an ambush, Lu Yuanming's spear shot into its chest from the side, pinning it to the wall.

With a thrust and a drag, he killed the Skinless Monster outright. He didn't waste so much as a second. He pulled back the spear, flicked the creature's black blood from it, and charged toward another monster.

The civilians who had just fallen into the darkness ran about in panic, shouting as they fled. Then they saw a towering figure in gold-and-red armor charging toward them. He thrust out his spear, and the monster that had been chasing them didn't last a second before the weapon pierced its head and killed it instantly. Before the civilians could shout again, the armored man roared, "Stay calm! Don't make a sound! Run to the hall up ahead. Don't crash into the formation or block the firing lanes!"

Without waiting for them to respond, the armored man darted into the darkness again.

In just a few minutes, Lu Yuanming killed more than ten Skinless Monsters in the dark and rescued more than ten civilians. From the hall behind him, where Charlie and the others had set up their defenses, came a steady barrage of gunfire. Monsters had evidently appeared there, too.

Lu Yuanming immediately started back to help, but the next second he came to an abrupt halt. A gigantic claw dropped from the ceiling and smashed through the stairway he had been about to step onto, blocking his way back.

A gigantic Skinless Monster at least nine meters tall appeared before him. At the same time, ordinary Skinless Monsters came rushing out of the surrounding darkness. Within seconds, five ordinary Skinless Monsters and one Super Giant Skinless Monster had surrounded Lu Yuanming. At the giant monster's roar, the others all pounced.

The Semi-automatic Rifle in Lu Yuanming's hand began firing. At the same time, he thrust the Fine Steel Spear in his other hand toward the Super Giant Skinless Monster. The enormous creature swung a palm at him.

In an instant, Lu Yuanming's Sense of Time slowed everything down again. He watched as his spear drove forward and met the Super Giant Skinless Monster's palm. The tip pierced its skin and ran right through its hand. Yet the gigantic palm didn't even flinch. It kept coming down toward him...

With a muffled bang, Lu Yuanming was sent flying. He slammed into the wall and burst straight through it, flying out of the building. A second muffled bang sounded as he hit the street.

The street was packed with monsters: Skinless Monsters, creatures resembling Man-wolves, a hulking, bloated Stitched Monster made from masses of human corpses, and the Super Giant Man-faced Dog he had searched for so long without finding.

The monsters were slaughtering the people who had fallen onto the street. Who knew how many dozens or hundreds had become bait in their jaws? Blood, wreckage, flesh, and bones covered the ground...

Lu Yuanming stood up. Armor: Steel was completely unharmed, and his body was almost entirely unharmed as well. He held the spear in one hand and the Semi-automatic Rifle in the other. The blow that had sent him flying from the building and the fall from nearly ten meters had both been absorbed almost entirely by Armor: Steel.

But hundreds of monsters were glaring at him, and the Super Giant Skinless Monster had just jumped down from the building.

"...What a haul."

Lu Yuanming murmured, then looked at the ten Colorless Light Particles still floating around him. He pinched three of them, hesitated briefly, then let one go. He kept hold of the other two and absorbed them.

A faint glow immediately appeared around Lu Yuanming, spreading over his entire body like flames.

The next second, Lu Yuanming stamped his foot and charged straight at the nearest monster.