Furious and Savage

But before the two shadows could hit the ground,

a piercing scream rang out from the street.

"No... don't..."

The cry was cut off by the sound of impact.

Boom!!!

The concrete road cracked and collapsed like a spiderweb, sending dust billowing into the sky.

Xia Xuan and the others instinctively bent over and shielded their heads as gravel and dust pelted them.

Amid the dust cloud, all they could hear was one muffled impact after another.

Thud, thud, thud...

Like a heavy hammer pounding the ground again and again.

"What... what's that sound?" one team member asked, his voice trembling.

Zou Yue's face was pale. Through gaps in the swirling dust, she could just make out a mass of crimson light flickering at its center.

Within the light, two figures seemed to be entangled.

"Just now..." she murmured dazedly. "Was that monster right in front of us when it got hit?"

Her words left the others stunned.

Zhou Ming's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

He clearly remembered Uncle Wang fleeing south in a panic. And the spot where that mass of red light and shadow had just fallen...

was right in the middle of the southern street.

"It... it really does look that way," one team member said, swallowing hard.

Xia Xuan didn't respond.

His attention was fixed on the monsters around them.

After the red light struck the ground, the Human-Faced Spiders that had been swarming toward the building suddenly froze, as if someone had pressed pause.

They stopped in unison, their eight legs rigidly supporting their bodies. Every compound eye turned toward the center of the dust cloud, and they didn't move.

"Go," Xia Xuan said in a low voice.

He tugged at Zhou Ming, who was still dazed, and glanced toward a nearby alley.

Zou Yue and the other three team members immediately understood and hurried after them.

No one mentioned whether Uncle Wang was alive or dead.

Just as they were about to turn into the alley, the dust in the middle of the street began to clear.

Xia Xuan instinctively glanced back.

Then he froze in place.

Seeing him stop, Zou Yue followed his gaze.

One look was enough to leave her stunned, too.

In the middle of the street was a huge crater, more than five meters in diameter.

The concrete at the bottom had been completely pulverized, exposing the soil and pipes beneath it.

And at the center of the crater...

a figure was straddling a gigantic, multicolored monster.

Its eight thick spider legs were still twitching slightly, but its head had been smashed deep into the ground, leaving only its shattered carapace visible at the back of its skull.

The person astride it wore a black hoodie, the hood pulled low, and a mask covering his face.

His fists fell like a downpour. Every punch landed on the monster's head, sending out a visible ripple.

The ground shook with each blow.

Thud! Thud! Thud!!!

The final punch landed.

The monster's head exploded completely, spraying green liquid and fragments of carapace in every direction.

The man in black stopped punching.

He panted heavily as the crimson glow around him gradually faded.

But the blood-red hue in his eyes hadn't completely disappeared.

He bent down, plunged his hand into the mangled flesh of the monster's head, and fumbled around for a few seconds before pulling out an object radiating a gentle blue light.

The man in black glanced down at the blue orb, then slipped it into the tactical pouch at his waist.

Only after finishing did he slowly raise his head.

His gaze swept over Xia Xuan and the others on the side of the street.

Zhou Ming stared blankly at the figure.

For some reason... he felt the figure was strangely familiar.

As if he'd seen him somewhere before.

But before he could think it over, the man in black looked away.

He stood up, grabbed one of the monster's forelegs, and dragged its massive corpse as he turned to leave.

"W-wait!"

Xia Xuan's voice suddenly rang out.

He didn't even realize that his voice was trembling slightly.

The man in black stopped, holding the monster's corpse, and slowly turned around.

The blood-red hue in his eyes had yet to fade completely. When that gaze swept over him, Xia Xuan felt his scalp prickle.

An indescribable pressure seemed to crush the air itself.

Still, Xia Xuan steeled himself and spoke. "There are... things hidden in some of the cities here that even conventional weapons can't deal with."

The man in black said nothing. He simply watched him in silence.

"The Federation will soon launch the City Relocation Plan within the Abyssal Void," Xia Xuan said quickly. "They'll gather the survivors in a few relatively safe areas. You... should keep an eye out for that."

Listening to him, Jiang Ran furrowed his brow slightly beneath his hood, looking thoughtful.

Then he nodded to show he understood, turned around, and hurried off, dragging the Mother Spider's corpse into the shadows at the far end of the street.

Only after the figure had disappeared completely

did Xia Xuan and the others let out a collective breath.

When the man in black had looked their way, they'd held their breath without even realizing it.

"Go!" Xia Xuan barked.

Only then did the others snap out of it. They hurried into the alley and fled.

Half an hour later.

Inside a commercial building three kilometers from the edge of the High-Tech District,

Xia Xuan's team took a short break.

One team member leaned against the window, checking the magazine of his rifle, when he suddenly asked in a low voice, "Captain Xia, was that... a person?"

Nobody answered.

Zou Yue was silent for a moment before replying, "He should be. He saved us once."

"But..." The team member opened his mouth, then couldn't think of what to say.

He'd fallen from more than twenty stories without a scratch.

He'd smashed the head of a monster that size with his bare hands.

A crimson glow had surrounded him.

None of that seemed possible for a human being.

Yet it had all happened right before their eyes.

Silence spread through the room.

Everything that had happened...

had undoubtedly led them to one possibility...

There might be a way to become superhuman here—or perhaps in this world.

Their materialist beliefs began to waver.

"Captain Xia," another team member suddenly said, breaking the silence. "Should we report this?"

Xia Xuan didn't answer right away.

He opened a bottle of water, took a sip, and gazed out at the gray sky.

Strictly speaking,

that man in black had saved them twice.

The first time, on the rooftop, he'd come to their rescue.

The second time, just now, he'd drawn all the monsters away.

And Xia Xuan didn't know what attitude the Federation took toward beings like him.

If they reported it now, he couldn't tell whether that would be good or bad for the mysterious man.

"I didn't see anything just now," Zou Yue suddenly said quietly. "I only saw two monsters fighting each other."

The others froze, then understood what she meant.

Xia Xuan set down his water bottle and spoke calmly. "When we get back, check the surveillance footage in this area. If it's still there, erase it first."

"If we need to later... we can report it then."

Everyone nodded.

Just then, Zhou Ming, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his head.

His eyes widened slightly, as though he'd just remembered something.

That figure... the way he walked...

He suddenly remembered Teacher Jiang's back as he'd stood up to pour him a glass of water in the counseling room.

No... no way, right?

Zhou Ming shook his head, trying to banish the absurd thought.

Teacher Jiang was just a school counselor. How could he be someone like that...?

But...

He lowered his head and looked at his hands, still trembling slightly.

He'd seen that hoodie before.

Meanwhile,

after dragging the Mother Spider's corpse through several streets,

Jiang Ran finally found an office building that seemed relatively intact.

He slipped sideways through the shattered glass doors into the lobby, dragged the corpse to the stairwell, and checked that there was no movement on the floors above or below. Only then did he set the body down for the moment, lean against the wall, and pant heavily.

The weakness that came after the Buddha's Wrathful Vajra state ended now swept over him like a tide.

His limbs and body ached with exhaustion, and his qi and blood were nearly depleted.

After his breathing had steadied somewhat, he took out the blue orb.

Jiang Ran pulled it out and held it in his palm.

"Activate."

The orb suddenly brightened, turning into countless blue specks of light that surged into the space between his brows.

[Congratulations, you have obtained the Heavenly Net Pouch]

[Heavenly Net Pouch: Refined from the natal silk gland of the ancient Human-Faced Spider Mother. It contains a seventy-five-square-meter Sumeru space that can store nonliving objects, which may be put in and taken out at will with a thought.]

The moment the voice sounded, Jiang Ran's eyes lit up.

He opened his palm. A pale blue pouch, about the size of his palm, rested quietly in it.

Faint cloud patterns seemed to flow across the pouch's surface. It felt soft and cool to the touch.

Jiang Ran focused his thoughts and tried to put a piece of rubble beside him inside.

The pouch's opening parted slightly, and the rubble vanished without a sound.

With another thought, the rubble appeared in his hand again.

"It worked!"

A rush of excitement welled up inside Jiang Ran.

With this, his future operations would be much easier.

Food, water, equipment, monster materials...

He could carry everything with him without adding to his load.

He immediately put all the items in his waist pouch, including the Bagua Copper Coin, into it.

At last, he looked at the enormous corpse of the Mother Spider on the ground.

He placed his hand above it.

The next moment, the Mother Spider's corpse vanished without a sound.

"Seventy-five cubic meters... more than enough."

He tucked the Heavenly Net Pouch close to his body, leaned against the wall, and finally relaxed.

Exhaustion washed over him like a tide.

Jiang Ran closed his eyes in that position and drifted into a light sleep.

The Blood-Qi Circulation Method slowly ran on its own inside his body, repairing the damage caused by overexertion.

When he opened his eyes again,

his phone screen showed 9:07 a.m.

The weakness had disappeared.

His qi and blood had recovered to about eighty percent, enough to make him feel almost fully restored.

Jiang Ran stood up and stretched his limbs.

Then he walked over to the window and pulled back one corner of the curtain.

The street was still empty, but several faint, indistinct howls could be heard in the distance.

Jiang Ran didn't hurry to leave. Instead, he took out his phone and opened Mouhu.

The internet was still working.

A post pinned to the top of the homepage was the very one Xia Xuan had mentioned to him early that morning.

[Federation Announcement: The Abyssal Void City Relocation Plan Is Underway; Safe Zones in All Cities Announced (Ongoing Updates)]

The poster's ID was "Return Void Affairs Coordination Center," and its verification badge was a golden shield.

Jiang Ran opened the post.

It was long.

"To all Return Void Explorers:

"Preliminary investigations have confirmed that danger levels vary greatly across regions of the Abyssal Void. Some areas contain creatures or phenomena that pose threats far beyond the ordinary.

"To ensure the survival of all citizens and improve the efficiency of resource gathering, the Federation is launching the City Relocation Plan, effective immediately."

"The designated Safe Zones in each city are listed below. All explorers are advised to make their way to the Safe Zone in their city as soon as possible.

"Armed personnel will be stationed inside the Safe Zones to provide basic shelter, resource exchanges, and information-sharing services."

"Please note: Safe Zones are not absolutely safe, but the threat level there is significantly lower than in surrounding areas. During relocation, avoid high-risk areas..."