Welcoming the Birth of Fear

Auntie Zhang moved like a ghost, appearing instantly at Huo Lei's side. With a light wave of her hand, blood vessels erupted across his skin, immediately sprouting Blood Fruit.

Old Sun stepped forward, and roots burst from the ground around Huo Lei, burrowing into his body to draw nutrients, from which thorny vines began to grow.

Mother smiled and exhaled a wisp of green smoke. It transformed into several spectral figures in mid-air that lunged at Huo Lei, drilling directly into his mouth and nose.

White smoke flashed in Huo Lei's eyes as his head began to swell rapidly like a balloon. Clusters of blood vessels and vines erupted from his body, bearing fruit and leaves in a grotesque display.

Seeming surprised that Li Fan would strike so ruthlessly, a look of confusion appeared on Huo Lei's face as he stammered:

"Why? I know you of the Cleaning Association also have designs on Gu City!"

"The Anomaly Bureau is far more powerful than they appear. They have quietly thwarted my schemes several times, including one involving a powerful anomaly from the Gutuo Kingdom!"

"If I hadn't manufactured anomaly events to distract them, this plan might have already failed."

"If we join forces, we can surely crush the Anomaly Bureau! Cooperation benefits us both!"

Clusters of Blood Fruit and sharp vines grew all over Huo Lei. His body withered and fell apart, his expanding head tearing through the face he had stitched together.

Even so, he continued his earnest persuasion.

Seeing that Li Fan remained unmoved, Huo Lei finally gave up. His distorted, swollen body looked up and laughed wildly:

"Is it arrogance? How laughable, the Collector is nothing more than this! But even without you, my plan will succeed. Thank you for giving me enough time; the mental energy from those idiots is already sufficient!"

"Pop!" With a dull thud, Huo Lei's head, swollen to its limit, exploded into a spray of blood.

His withered body did not fall, however. It remained standing, covered in vibrant Blood Fruit and thorny vines. Flowers bloomed upon those vines, creating a bizarre, eerie beauty atop his headless neck.

The members of the Cleaning Association did not lower their guard. The opponent was, after all, the Third Chef of the Unity Society; he could not be killed so easily.

The ground shook violently, and a roar like a beast's laughter echoed from beneath:

"Ridiculous, comical, naive! The Collector of the Cleaning Association is nothing more than this. Thank you for giving me the time to complete my final amalgamation!"

Huo Lei's headless corpse was suddenly dragged into the ground by something and vanished!

A hole just large enough for a person appeared where he had been standing.

The next instant, another violent tremor struck, causing cracks to spread across the ground beneath their feet.

Old Sun lunged to the hole and peered down, shouting:

"It's the Unity Society's Amalgam! It's down there! It's fucking huge, everyone stand firm!"

As he spoke, another tremor hit. The floor they stood on cracked and buckled, with several holes opening up.

This was no solid ground, but a floor of brick and stone.

Through the gaps, one could see a dark abyss below.

Fortunately, the ground had long been permeated by dense, tangled plant roots. Like reinforced glass, they held the shattered floor together, preventing it from collapsing entirely.

The Amalgam below seemed to lose patience. Another violent impact struck, and the entire floor of the side chamber where Li Fan and the others stood was ripped away, sending them plummeting!

As the floor fell rapidly, the Gardener, Old Sun, immediately spread his arms and flung out vines for the others to grab.

At the same time, layers of spore-like vines bloomed behind Old Sun like a giant parachute, carrying them slowly downward.

Naturally, Old Sun did not offer a vine to the Collector.

Such a minor fall was of no consequence to the Collector; to try and curry favor here would be an insult.

Li Fan stood on the falling debris, feeling a flicker of joy when he saw Old Sun's vines, only to realize everyone else had a parachute while he did not.

Cursing Old Sun in his heart, Li Fan reached into the void with an expressionless face, grabbed the chain of the Tiger Pillar God, and yanked it out.

Tiger Pillar God, possess!

Power from the Tiger Pillar God surged through his body. However, the twenty or thirty-meter drop had already reached its end. With no time to adjust, Li Fan could only land on his feet.

He gritted his teeth hard.

His heels throbbed with pain!

If not for the Tiger Pillar God, his legs would surely have shattered.

Old Sun, having just landed with his vine parachute, cast a look of reverence at Li Fan.

As expected of the Collector, he landed perfectly upright as if nothing had happened. It was fortunate he hadn't made the redundant move of offering him a vine.

Otherwise, he would surely have been seen as looking down on the Collector.

"This Huo Lei is quite interesting..." Mother looked into the darkness ahead and smiled slightly.

Everyone looked forward in unison.

The area beneath the original subway platform had been completely hollowed out, transformed into a massive space the size of several football fields!

The original subway platform now served as a high, vaulted ceiling!

In the center of this underground space stood a ruined earthen platform resembling a palace.

The entire platform was a deep, fresh red, but as it met the air, it began to fade rapidly, turning mottled and eerie.

On either side of the platform stood two tall bronze altars.

One of them depicted a scene of a sacrificial pillar used for execution.

At the top of the bronze pillar stood a fierce tiger, with two giant pythons coiled around its shaft, while a ferocious giant crocodile with the paws of two bears sat at the base.

On another bronze altar stood a statue with the head of a snake and the body of a human.

Her body appeared to be a Snake Nest, with countless snakes slithering out from within, while her lower half consisted of numerous spider legs.

These were the Tiger Pillar God and the Snake Concubine!

The bronze hanging coffins, twisted thickets, mountain-like piles of black Shell Currency, and shattered jade figures that had originally been suspended above had all fallen, landing between the earthen platform and the altars.

A powerful, anomalous psychic radiation pulsed outward from the bronze hanging coffins.

In the darkness ahead, illuminated by the dim light cast down from the dome, a massive, ghastly white monster, dozens of meters long and three to four meters in diameter, was coiled there.

The monster's body was entirely composed of human skeletons fused and bonded together.

There were fresh corpses, presumably the missing people.

There were also yellowed, withered bones, seemingly fused from a graveyard.

This was a Tai Sui far more massive and hideous than the one before.

At its tail end lay the headless corpse of Huo Lei.

From beginning to end, the Huo Lei they had seen was merely a part of this giant Tai Sui's tail.

It was like a lure.

Among the group, Old Sun was the most shocked; staring at the massive underground space before him, he asked loudly:

"You... how did you solve the problem of water seepage in the underground rock strata?"

The members of the Cleaning Association could not help but cast sidelong glances at Old Sun.

Wu Qian's voice came from above, filled with anxiety:

"Li Fan! Where are you? Are you hurt? Did any of the subway construction workers get injured?"

The members of the Dissection Department, who had been at the edge of the platform, had not fallen with the others; they were now lying at the edge of the platform, which had turned into a cliff, anxiously shining their flashlights to search for Li Fan.

Suddenly, the glare of an emergency light swept across the giant Tai Sui, and shouts immediately erupted:

"What is this thing!?"

"Tai Sui! It's a Tai Sui! Call for backup!"

"Li Fan, get up here!"

"Open fire! Cover Section Chief Li!"

Panicked gunfire rang out, the muzzle flashes illuminating the dim underground as bullets tore toward the giant Tai Sui.

The bullets struck the Tai Sui, but they simply sank into its mass without any reaction.

The Tai Sui shuddered violently, hundreds of limbs moving in unison. Its massive body twisted with disproportionate agility, revealing a human face stitched together from human limbs that bore a striking resemblance to Huo Lei, and it spoke chillingly:

"Welcome the birth of fear."

As soon as the words fell, a violent surge of anomalous psychic radiation pulsed out from the bronze hanging coffins, sweeping across the entire underground space!

On the platform above, the members of the Dissection Department let out a chorus of screams, engulfed by a massive, deep-seated terror; their ears and noses bled, and they collapsed into unconsciousness!