Death

"Beep. Mutant detected: ???"

The red-clothed girl floating in midair hung her head low, as if she were asleep.

An obsidian-like necklace hung from her neck, resting against her chest.

Her long hair covered her entire face, the strands hanging by her shoulders moving without wind.

Her exposed skin was deathly pale, completely bloodless.

Lin An's body stiffened, and he stopped breathing.

He did not dare move, afraid of waking her.

Would that help?

Lin An laughed bitterly to himself.

The noise from him kicking down the door had definitely not been quiet.

Though he did not know why the Mutant before him had shown no reaction, Lin An did not believe she had failed to notice him.

Eye of Judgment provided no information. It could only confirm that she was not human, but a Mutant.

If Eye of Judgment could not provide any information, it could only mean that the being before him was overwhelmingly stronger than him, preventing his Mental Strength detection from breaking through her own barrier.

Floating in the air, walking through the sky without relying on external force.

The Mutant before him was...

At least at the Second Order Peak... perhaps even Third Order!

Lin An felt a little desperate.

This was the greatest crisis he had faced since his rebirth.

As for the obsidian embedded in the little girl's necklace, it was highly likely to be the key missing piece of the Glove.

Obtaining it would complete Skull Crusher's Hand.

But he did not dare act rashly now.

What use was completing the equipment if he died?

What should he do?

Lin An's thoughts raced as he struggled to remain rational.

Before he could make a choice.

The little girl before him suddenly raised her head.

Her delicate features were as adorable as a doll's, and she looked no older than seven or eight.

But her eyes were deathly white, filled with venomous indifference.

"Boom!"

An incomparably powerful Mental Shock, solid as substance, blasted into Lin An's body.

As if struck by a train, he was instantly hurled into the wall.

The wall cracked, exposing the bricks and steel reinforcement inside.

Lin An tasted sweetness in his mouth as blood spilled out.

His chest caved in as though it had been smashed inward by a heavy hammer.

Three...

At least three ribs were broken, and his left hand had suffered a comminuted fracture.

His blood and energy churned violently.

Lin An laughed bitterly to himself.

Too strong. The Mutant before him was simply not something he could fight.

That strike had nearly shaken him to death. He could feel that his internal organs were already bleeding.

If he had not activated Strength Burst and boosted his Physique.

That strike would have killed him instantly.

Too strong...

Lin An, who was practically invincible among First Order beings, had no ability to fight back against the red-clothed girl, a suspected Third Order Mutant.

Run!

Without the slightest hesitation.

Lin An instantly took a Potion from the Doomsday Ring and bit it open in one gulp.

"Beep. Strength +1, Physique +1, Agility +1."

"Beep. Explosive Power increased by 50%, Endurance and Impact Resistance increased by 30%, Attack Speed increased by 20%."

His blood surged, and his strength rose once more.

Lin An's Strength Attribute had now reached 23.4.

Combined with the Potion's 10% boost and the 10% Explosive Power increase provided by the Spirit Energy Plant, he could now deal damage exceeding 28.08 Strength at most.

But it was still useless against the little girl, a suspected Third Order Mutant.

Because the minimum attribute value of a Third Order Mutant was 40 points!

With no thought of resisting, Lin An forced himself upright and activated Absolute Stillness Rotation, fleeing to the right like an arrow released from its bow.

He moved so quickly that the air around his body compressed, creating a faint Air Burst.

Behind him, the red-clothed girl floating in midair seemed to have no reaction.

After releasing the Mental Shock, she merely returned to calm.

Ten meters!

Lin An moved so quickly he became an afterimage. There was a floor-to-ceiling window used for lighting at the stairwell on the Third Floor.

If he rushed through it, he could escape the building.

Faster, even faster!

Lin An desperately drove the power within him, trying to push his speed to its limit.

He could only pray that the red-clothed girl had no interest in him and would not chase him out of the building.

Otherwise, he could not think of any hope of survival.

He fled wildly.

From the corner of his eye, Lin An saw the number of the room on his right.

303.

That was the room where Wen Ya's Mother was.

Before Lin An could form any thoughts, another mental fluctuation came from behind him.

"Buzz!"

The transparent yet tangible Mental Shock struck again, turning into an invisible shockwave that blasted into his back.

"Pfft!"

Blood sprayed from his mouth.

Lin An felt pain throughout his body, the flesh on his back mangled and bloody.

His vision darkened, and the force hurled him out of the building like a cannonball.

In midair, Lin An barely gathered his focus and protected his head.

Outside the inpatient building, a Zombie stared blankly at the floor-to-ceiling window on the Third Floor.

There was movement from a living creature there, drawing its attention.

"Boom!"

Before it could react, a black shadow shot out at terrifying speed and slammed into its body.

Dust billowed, and the hard concrete ground was blasted into a Deep Pit.

Dizzy and disoriented, Lin An struggled to climb out of the pit.

Beneath him was a Zombie crushed into Blood Mud.

It was around one in the afternoon. Warm sunlight drove away the cold air.

Yet it could not dispel the chill in Lin An's heart.

From the shattered floor-to-ceiling window on the Third Floor of the inpatient building, the red-clothed girl slowly floated out.

Her deathly white pupils locked firmly onto Lin An in the Deep Pit.

Seeing this, Lin An gave a bitter smile. Since the red-clothed girl had chased him outside.

It seemed that today would be where he met his end.

No wonder the Zombie Doctor had wanted to lure him to 307.

A suspected Third Order Mutant—an Army Group of a thousand people would be wiped out here.

But no matter how hard Lin An thought, he could not understand it. There had clearly been no Mutant here in his Previous Life.

Why was it different for him?

He had already encountered two Mutants in the hospital alone, not even counting the possible unknown creature in the Underground Parking Lot.

Even if his rebirth had disrupted the original course of events, it should not have caused such a drastic change, should it?

He had thought himself cautious enough.

In his expectations, even if the Zombie Doctor wanted to lure him into danger in room 307, it would at most be a First Order threat.

After all, the team that had obtained Skull Crusher's Hand in his Previous Life had not been particularly strong. They had only managed to force their way in by sacrificing most of the ordinary people and using firearms.

If there had also been a suspected Third Order Mutant here at the time.

No, even if it had only been Second Order.

Those people could never have brought the Glove back.

After all, a team of over a thousand attacking this place with modern weapons would definitely have drawn the red-clothed girl's attention amid the thunder of Hand Grenades and gunfire.

Even if they had not gone to room 307.

He was truly unwilling to accept this.

His broken ribs had pierced his lungs, and Lin An began coughing.

Bloody foam spilled from the corners of his mouth with every breath. His injuries were now extremely severe.

If he were not an Awakened with high Physique repairing his organs, an ordinary person would have died long ago.

Having lost too much blood, his limbs gradually turned cold.

With such injuries, he could not even run in the short term.

Lin An stared fixedly at the red-clothed girl slowly floating toward him, his eyes dim and lifeless.

If she launched one more Mental Shock, he would surely die.

The red-clothed girl slowly raised her right hand, her childish face expressionless.

Waves of mental fluctuations condensed, about to blast toward him in an instant.

An intense aura of death enveloped Lin An. He could not resist.

Like memories flashing before death, scenes rapidly flickered through Lin An's mind.

Tang Wan's cold and indifferent family of three inside the Safe House.

An Xia, helplessly clinging to him.

An JingTian, painfully roaring as he underwent Zombification.

Wen Ya, hugging her blanket and trembling, her eyes red-rimmed.

Zhang Tie laughing heartily as he proudly introduced his younger sister.

An Xia, Jing Tian.

I'm sorry. I may never be able to go back and see you again.

Lin An gave a bitter smile. He had never expected that even after being reborn, he would still fail to change anything.

The Mental Shock arrived in an instant, like Death's scythe cutting toward Lin An's head.

Darkness. Deathly silence.