Hunter or Prey

The Official Division was astonished by the performance of Zhang Anzai. After all, his actual operation involved keeping a voice call open with the members of the Official Division, using his real body to acquire information directly.

However, the explanation he gave to the Official Division on the surface was that he had activated a Direct Communication Card, which filtered the words of the group and relayed them to him.

Although this saved him from hearing a lot of useless information, there was inevitably a delay.

Yet, under the influence of this handicap, the performance of the player that the Official Division members witnessed was nothing short of spectacular.

"Is his name Fate Controller? No wonder that Ten Evils guy is in such a miserable state..."

"For a newcomer, his reaction time is incredibly fast, and his combat power is not low at all."

"His inheritance is clearly in the manufacturing category, yet it looks like he hasn't even used it... wait, no, look at this dungeon record. He's the player who cleared the Mountain Peddler dungeon last time!"

The Official Division erupted into a clamor. Amidst the sounds of extreme shock and disbelief, the rustling of countless files being flipped could be heard.

The situation was urgent; they had previously only looked at the player panel information for both sides. Only now did they realize that this player named Fate Controller had not appeared in their line of sight for the first time.

"No wonder..." Many members of the Official Division let out a sigh of relief. This at least proved that their standards were still on point; this player hadn't just popped out of thin air, as they had already paid attention to him before.

Thinking of it this way, the fact that they could only provide combat guidance after connecting and couldn't offer other help seemed excusable. Such a strong player was naturally more self-reliant, and even if he was still a newcomer, such a performance was not surprising.

The problem lay in the changes unfolding on the field.

After Mr. Li had finished lamenting his hatred for geniuses, he watched Zhang Anzai's reaction—which was one of laughter rather than fear—and the expression of rage on his face slowly shifted toward calm.

"Genius, my hysterical state just now, it must be very funny to you, right?"

He left behind this cryptic remark, then slowly took a step back.

Zhang Anzai panted heavily, watching his movements with confusion.

"What is he trying to do..."

Between Mr. Li and him stood an autopsy table that Zhang Anzai had knocked askew. Although the iron bed wasn't pushed directly against the wall, the remaining gap was too narrow for adult men of their build to pass through.

To get across, one would have to go around the other side.

The problem was that Mr. Li's gait didn't look at all like he intended to circle around to attack Zhang Anzai.

While one hand pinched the sharp knife, he tugged at the hair of the Elder Mask, and his other hand gripped the meat cleaver, swaying left and right.

His body seemed to drift backward in an erratic manner, and the direction was clearly toward the studio door.

Before leaving, he cast a look at Zhang Anzai that was extremely venomous, yet carried a hint of mockery.

Although his eyes were bloodshot due to the influence of the Burn Victim Mask, his emotions were not hard to discern.

"Click!" As he stepped out, he casually used the meat cleaver to strike the doorframe hard.

Zhang Anzai was shocked to see that the old wooden doorframe actually began to emit gray smoke, and then, "Boom!" it burst into flames.

This ability itself was not strange; although it was absurd, the special masks he crafted possessed such effects.

The Burn Victim Mask could maintain the internal temperature of a burned area in a state of constant combustion. It therefore had the ability to conduct this heat to other places.

The question was why he would do this.

On the side of Zhang Anzai's real body, the voices of the Official Division members coming through the voice call had become significantly more chaotic.

"Is he trying to burn down the studio? But he didn't close the door, and there are no other combustibles near the entrance. That doesn't seem right."

"The problem is why he's running. His emotions were so unstable before; shouldn't he be fighting to the death here?"

The discussions blended together, and Zhang Anzai himself was also pondering the intention behind Mr. Li's actions.

However, the answer to this question was actually not complicated.

"It's simple. It's not just the studio; the entire warehouse is a scene he is very familiar with. Even the state of the outside is more complex, making it more suitable for him to set an ambush."

Upon hearing this prompt, Zhang Anzai turned his head to look at the monitor on the side.

With this thing, plus the walls full of tools, logically speaking, the narrow studio in front of him should have been the most suitable combat environment for himself.

But as the people in the Official Division realized this, he also became aware of the reason why he was forced to go out:

"The main thing is that the one in a hurry to clear the dungeon isn't him, it's [Fate Controller].

The mask made by [Bi Gan] cannot be worn for too long, otherwise, he will be assimilated into a different personality just like him. By the time he is rescued, he will be a real monster."

Zhang Anzai's mind buzzed.

In the monitor, Bi Gan hadn't run far at all. Instead, he had taken off the Burn Victim Mask that was almost fused to his skin and replaced it with the Elder Mask.

Then, with disheveled hair, he stood at the intersection of the corridor and the warehouse, waiting for him to come out in the pitch-black darkness.

As he waited, he seemed to realize something, turned his head toward the monitor, and flashed a provocative smile.

The fact was exactly as it seemed. Although Zhang Anzai had been the one being hunted, in reality, it was also Zhang Anzai who needed to finish off the opponent sooner.

Bi Gan might not have been a genius, but he was definitely not stupid. In a state where his personality had been twisted, he had actually realized this point.

With those few steps backward, he had directly transformed himself from prey into a hunter.

"Sure enough, people from the Ten Evils are never simple."

Some members of the Official Division felt their hearts racing because of the scene before them: "This player is terrifying when he goes crazy... Should I be nicer to the people under my command?"

Zhang Anzai remained quite calm in the face of this situation.

"At least I've tested it out; this guy shouldn't have any special second-phase burst form. He just has the ability to self-heal, making him difficult to kill."

After confirming through the monitor that Bi Gan had not walked away, Zhang Anzai lowered his head to check the condition of his weapons.

He had used that bronze prop sword to hack through flesh, skin, and bone so many times that even metal would have sustained some damage.

Furthermore: "If I'm going to hunt him down in the cramped environment outside, carrying two such long weapons is a bit of a burden..."

With that, he tossed the bronze sword aside, gripped only the Meat-Sawing Blade, and vaulted over the Iron Dissection Bed in front of him in a single motion.

"Hoo!" Upon landing, Zhang Anzai darted forward, decisively rushing out through the door frame that was already completely engulfed in flames.

Because he was fast enough, even though his entire head was covered in fur, it did not catch fire.

The powerful night vision granted to him by the Wolf-Head Mask allowed him to see the situation in the corridor with ease.

After changing his mask, Mr. Li did not seem as aggressive; he looked closer to a normal person, appearing even quite composed.

However, although his physique had changed to resemble that of a hunched old man, his gaze remained unchanged.

Stooped and bent, wearing a leather apron, he stared at Zhang Anzai while gripping his scissors and cleaver, as if looking at a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.