On the Verge of Eruption

An Rongru had taken shelter in a security room built from highly defensive dark metal and soft crystal rubber. It could withstand more than fifty tons of weight. The guard mutant naturally did not possess the strength to break through such formidable defenses, but not every part of the security room was equally sturdy. For example, with the energy-depleted supermagnetic lock disabled, the door could only be shut the traditional way—by relying on a single gate latch.

Thus, the security room An Rongru had considered the most defensible place had such a fatal weakness. She had unconsciously overlooked this crucial point. After all, living in this prosperous technological age, she had grown accustomed to every convenience technology brought. Falling into habitual patterns of thought was only natural.

Mu Xiao had miscalculated, and An Rongru had likewise overlooked the most basic thing.

The danger she faced was of her own making. That was why the guard mutant's relentless battering against the security room's defenses brought her such terrifying pressure. Every tremendous boom outside the sturdy metal chamber seemed to strike directly at the line of defense in her heart. Under the immense pressure of panic and helplessness, her mental defenses kept sliding toward collapse.

If she had not still held hope for Mu Xiao, her mental defenses might have crumbled long ago, leaving only despair.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thunderous, muffled impacts shook the night, stirring the entire silent villa district. Even far in the distance, the echoes could be heard clearly.

The guard mutant was not attacking the same spot on the security room. Since it had not discovered the room's fatal weakness, it tested every area with heavy blows. Clearly, after delivering its first all-out strike, it had already realized that the security room possessed tremendous defensive strength and could not be forcibly broken into.

The fragrance emitted by a New Human's bloodline genes was like honey to an ant for mutants. Every cell in their bodies was filled with an instinctive, ravenous craving.

Because mutant genes were unbalanced—unfinished products on the path of evolution—the genes they contained possessed an extreme desire to evolve. New Humans, on the other hand, possessed stable, successful, promising bloodline genes. That was why New Humans were the most ideal evolutionary food for mutants.

Especially since An Rongru was merely a weak New Human, how could the guard mutant possibly let such delicious genetic flesh slip away so easily?

Bang!

Its fist struck like a sledgehammer. The metallic sound was different from before. The mutant's pair of vicious, cone-shaped pupils flashed faintly with blood-red light as it stared at the metal door for a moment. Then it let out a shrill, wanton screech and launched a blur of punches at the door in wild excitement, producing a series of deafening bang bang bang impacts like heavy metal music.

The metal door's slight trembling gradually became more violent, as though the panels could split apart at any moment.

"He'll definitely make it back in time... He definitely will..."

Inside a room on the third floor of the security building, An Rongru's lovely face had gone deathly pale with terror. The more uneasy she felt, the more desperately she wished for Mu Xiao to return quickly.

A minute had passed, yet Mu Xiao still had not returned. Given the short distance, he should have needed no more than thirty seconds to get back. But he had run into some trouble along the way...

"This guard zombie is really intelligent—and not just a little. It actually knows to draw over a whole horde of zombies to delay me. I just hope An Rongru can hold on until I arrive. Otherwise..."

Mu Xiao's thermal motorcycle sped through the darkness, swiftly weaving aside. The laser gun in his hand continuously fired blue beams at the ghostly shadows moving ahead.

The zombies in the dark night were exceptionally agile. No matter which direction he tried to go, their kind blocked Mu Xiao's path. Even the laser beams had difficulty killing them. Moreover, his vision was affected by the darkness, so his accuracy was naturally worse than in daylight. Besides, unless their heads or hearts were blown apart, the zombies were not affected at all. They could still charge and obstruct him as before.

"If I hadn't underestimated the mutant's intelligence and placed all the grenade bombs in useless spots, a few grenades might have been enough to blast open a route by now!"

The worse the situation became, the calmer Mu Xiao grew. To him, An Rongru was only a "pawn" worth nurturing. If her death proved unavoidable, Mu Xiao would not grieve or blame himself. He would only find it a pity that such a beautiful New Human woman had died, costing him his first "human resource."

But if he could save her, he would certainly do everything he could.

"Looks like I can only use this attack ahead of schedule to clear the way!"

Mu Xiao brought the motorcycle to a stop and reached behind his back. A thick cannon barrel appeared in his hand. The Thunderbolt Cannon aimed at the route leading straight to the security room, and he sharply pulled the firing trigger.

The next instant, red particle light gathered at the cannon's muzzle. Arcs of electricity formed patterns of energy, instantly condensing into an immense destructive force. A crimson electrical beam surged from the barrel like a thunderbolt rainbow, tearing through the dense night...

Boom!

Amid the tremendous shockwave, countless flashes of lightning and fire erupted in the depths of the night, as though the darkness itself had been pierced through. More than a dozen zombies were annihilated within the explosive beam of light. At the same time, a stream of evolutionary energy poured into him, and a clear route opened directly ahead of Mu Xiao.

"Now!"

Mu Xiao abruptly accelerated the motorcycle, ignoring the evolutionary energy returning to him. Those zombies only possessed ten genetic resonances, which could no longer satisfy the requirements for his advancement. The other zombies did not have time to fill the gaps, and with Mu Xiao continuously firing laser beams while using telekinesis to hold back some of the charging zombies, he finally broke through the horde's defensive line.

At that moment, enormous echoes continued to come from the security room. The door latch seemed increasingly unstable, as if it were already on the verge of breaking apart.

An Rongru gradually fell into despair, because she knew Mu Xiao could not possibly have taken this long to return.

Unless Mu Xiao had already abandoned her.

"If you really..." Lost in a daze, An Rongru tightly gripped the laser gun Mu Xiao had left her, ready to kill herself at any moment. Only by dying this way could she avoid being cruelly devoured alive.

Suddenly, a deafening bang rang out!

It sounded as though something had shattered apart...

An Rongru heard the sound, and a chill rose from her heart and spread through her entire body, as though even her blood had frozen. Just as all hope left her, she heard another deep roar, followed by a violent crashing sound.

"That's the sound of the motorcycle..." In an instant, life returned to An Rongru's deadened eyes.

Just as the guard mutant broke through the metal door, Mu Xiao returned in time. The motorcycle charged at full speed toward the guard mutant. His telekinesis spread out like a great net, locking down the entrance to the security room, while the laser pistol rapidly fired dense beams toward the doorway. If the guard mutant tried to rush inside, it would inevitably be caught in the telekinetic net and pierced through by laser beams.

If it had been a zombie, it would have charged in without regard for anything to devour its food. Zombies had no intelligence, only instinct. They did not fear pain or injury.

But mutants were different. They possessed intelligence and could feel pain. Too many wounds and excessive blood loss would likewise affect their combat power. Moreover, with a mutant's intelligence, it understood that now that Mu Xiao had appeared, the food inside the security room would not be so easily consumed.

Therefore, just as Mu Xiao had expected, the guard mutant did not recklessly charge into the room through the laser beams. Yet strangely, it did not attack Mu Xiao either.

The guard mutant moved like a phantom, evading Mu Xiao's oncoming motorcycle, then stopped at a distance that was neither too near nor too far—close enough to advance, far enough to retreat. The guard mutant radiated a foul, blood-soaked aura of depravity, desire, and brutality. Its sharp pupils, filled with venomous hatred, revealed a savage gaze that seemed ready to tear flesh apart.

A cold, eerie atmosphere congealed around them. In the night, the guard mutant resembled a vicious ghost, staring fixedly at Mu Xiao, who blocked the doorway with his motorcycle. Yet it did not launch a counterattack.

"Cunning bastard! It wants to stall until that horde of zombies comes to help!"

Mu Xiao saw through the guard mutant's sinister scheme at a glance.

Before long, sounds gradually arose in the distance. Shadowy figures drifted ever closer through the night, and Mu Xiao soon caught sight of zombies with twisted, horrifying faces, undoubtedly confirming his suspicion.

Generally speaking, mutants could communicate with zombies. The two sides had clearly reached some sort of "deal," which was why this group of zombies was helping the guard mutant.

Mu Xiao got out of the vehicle briskly, his calm gaze meeting those terrifying, bloodshot pupils filled with brutality. He set down the Thunderbolt Cannon, which was still charging, stowed the laser pistol in his waist pouch, then drew the high-vibration electromagnetic combat knife strapped to his thigh. With a slight movement of his fingers, rippling electrical resonance spread across the black blade like water.

Using a laser pistol against the Guard Mutant was futile unless one possessed a specific ability that could maximize the weapon's power. Clearly, Mu Xiao could not rely on his own abilities to accurately hit a Guard Mutant capable of high-speed movement. Close combat was the best option.

At the same time, the laser pistol's power could not compare to the satisfying lethality of cutting something down with a single slash.

But if Mu Xiao fought the Guard Mutant, the fifty or sixty zombies before him would have a good chance of rushing into the security hall.

So sometimes, if people wanted to protect their own lives, they had to rely on themselves.

"An Rongru! If you don't want to die, bring the things and get down here!"

His indifferent voice echoed clearly through the cold, silent room, quickly reaching the ears of An Rongru, who was both shocked and delighted. She was shocked because she did not know why Mu Xiao had made such a demand, and delighted because he had returned in time to save her. But there was no time for further thought. She had faith in Mu Xiao, and she had already considered herself his woman. Besides, Mu Xiao had said before that she could not refuse his words.

Therefore, An Rongru quickly picked up the half-bag of grenade bombs Mu Xiao had left for her, along with a combat knife and a laser pistol, then hurried downstairs.

From the moment he stepped out of the vehicle, Mu Xiao's psychic power had spread across the twenty-meter area ahead, detecting the Guard Mutant's number of genetic resonances.

The Guard Mutant had already undergone 25 genetic resonances, rising to around 28 at night. Its ability was unknown, but its body had clearly undergone at least one enhancement. Mu Xiao had only 18 genetic resonances, leaving a considerable gap between them. Even so, he remained confident that he could kill the Guard Mutant despite the difference in level.

Riiip!

Before An Rongru could come down, the horde of zombies ahead let out piercing roars. Every one of them erupted into a frenzy, vicious and bloodthirsty as they launched a ferocious assault. Only the Guard Mutant remained still, its sinister, resentful eyes fixed on Mu Xiao's every movement, clearly intending to exhaust his stamina.

If Mu Xiao revealed any opening, the Guard Mutant would certainly seize the chance to launch a fatal strike.

"Still not down yet?" Mu Xiao frowned as he drew his laser pistol. His telekinesis restrained the zombies' evasive movements, while he fired beams of laser light as swiftly as lightning, picking off the charging zombies one after another. With the zombies attacking head-on and his telekinesis disrupting the field, Mu Xiao's shooting remained steady, greatly improving his accuracy.

If he continued killing them so efficiently, the zombies would sooner or later be wiped out. Clearly, that was not what the Guard Mutant wanted.

Suddenly, a foul gust swept in from Mu Xiao's left, followed by a brutal punch packed with force!

The Guard Mutant could no longer hold back and launched a sneak attack!

Mu Xiao had kept his attention on it all along and immediately sensed its movement. The black, shadowless high-vibration electromagnetic combat knife shifted nimbly, slashing toward that savage fist.

A flash of danger struck the Guard Mutant. Its pupils contracted slightly, as though a sharp current had already sliced across its fist, producing a prickling, numbing illusion. Without hesitation, it immediately withdrew its fist, its body defying physical inertia as it abruptly sprang back beyond Mu Xiao's counterattack range.

If he had not needed to hold this entrance, or if there had been no zombies around, Mu Xiao could have unleashed his telekinesis completely and locked down the Guard Mutant's movements in an instant, seriously wounding it with a single slash.

The problem was that An Rongru had not come down yet. Mu Xiao could not leave the entrance; otherwise, if the Guard Mutant got inside, An Rongru would certainly lose her life. In the worst-case scenario, the Guard Mutant would devour An Rongru's flesh and blood, increasing its genetic resonance count and raising its combat power once more.

That was the sight Mu Xiao least wanted to see.