Tangled Mess

Facing six experts, Endless Summer still had the strength to fight and protect himself.

But Lu Guangqi could arrive at any moment, and with dead weight in tow, he would be in grave danger.

So he decided to cover Wu Zhong's retreat and let Wu Zhong escape on his own.

"I can't hold these guys off for long. Get out of here!"

"Remember, don't go near any doors marked red... except the one Chicken Gizzard leads you to."

"Also, if you see zombies, think of whatever makes you the most irritated and miserable. Fill your heart with resentment."

"If blackbacks come after you, bark at them like a dog."

Wu Zhong was already terrified by the frantic gunfire. Endless Summer's string of instructions left him even more bewildered.

"Huh? Bark like a dog?"

"There are fucking zombies too?"

He was confused and shocked.

But the pursuing Unit 985 personnel's expressions changed. "What? How do you know that?"

As they spoke, the group suddenly clapped their hands together, jointly condensing an enormous Air Shield that filled the corridor.

Bzzzz!

The Air Shield was massive, stretching nearly a hundred meters. It slammed Wu Zhong to the ground and crushed him against it.

Even Endless Summer could not withstand it. He was shoved into the wall, his bones crackling loudly.

The Air Shield was like a tangible giant hand, suppressing them both.

"Plasma Downpour!"

Endless Summer let out a low roar. Several gun ports opened in his purple armor, wildly firing purple plasma missiles.

"Extreme Overload!"

After forcing his opponents back with artillery fire, Endless Summer's entire body trembled violently. His eyes turned crazed as his body instantly became pale purple, nearly transparent and invisible.

He became an afterimage. Boom! Boom! Boom! He smashed through the Air Shield's suppression and sprinted through the corridor at tremendous speed.

He flickered left and right, effortlessly dodging several devastating attacks.

The enormous Air Shield seemed to be a single whole. With one blast and one charge, he finally tore apart the shield, shattering the entire region of solidified air along with it.

"Go!" Endless Summer roared.

Wu Zhong, farther back, was freed from the suppression and instantly sprang up, fleeing at full speed.

He even had a ghost on his shoulder...

The ghost said gloomily, "Turn left..."

Following its directions, Wu Zhong raced with all his strength. The ghost broke open every security door along the way, leading him through twists and turns as they avoided the other garrison units.

Violent tremors occasionally came from one direction, where the sounds of battle were exceptionally fierce.

This is life-threatening for Brother Xia too. I have to get out of here fast...

Wu Zhong muttered to himself inwardly when a blast of air suddenly sent him flying.

Looking back, he saw a tall, skinny young man in a firefighter's uniform catching up to him.

It was the firefighter who had drawn a portrait of Night Wanderer at the hospital in the beginning. Lu Guangqi had introduced him afterward. His name seemed to be Gu Yue.

"Get down!"

Gu Yue glared furiously. With a swish of both arms, he formed a huge Air Shield around each one.

Using the shields as weapons, he sent Wu Zhong flying with a clang, slamming him back-first into the wall.

"Pfft!"

Wu Zhong's chest felt tight with pain. He wanted to fight back, but the Air Shield pinned him firmly in place.

The Air Shield pressed downward as well, forcing Wu Zhong to crouch against the wall.

This was bad. Endless Summer had missed one pursuer and failed to stop him.

Just this one person alone was far beyond anything he could handle.

But Endless Summer had long arranged for Ghost Gizzard to protect Wu Zhong.

Rip!

Chicken Gizzard's ghostly claw shot out. Only when it neared his neck did Gu Yue belatedly sense it. His hairs stood on end as he recoiled in terror.

"Who's there?"

Gu Yue licked the air as if tasting something within it, then seemed to probe for something.

Wu Zhong took the chance to catch his breath and retreat repeatedly.

He could see Chicken Gizzard. The ghost's claws lashed out wildly, distorting the air and nearly touching Gu Yue several times.

Gu Yue clearly could not see it, yet he kept evading the ghost claws through his sense of danger and the movements in the air.

"So powerful..." Wu Zhong was stunned. Only now did he realize that even after Endless Summer had Chicken Gizzard reveal itself, he was still the only one who could see it.

The man and ghost fought fiercely. Wu Zhong could not help and could only retreat and watch.

At the same time, Gu Yue fought while retreating, seemingly intending to lure Ghost Gizzard somewhere.

Wu Zhong saw through it and hurriedly shouted, "Stop fighting, Brother Gizzard! Don't chase him over there."

Although Chicken Gizzard could speak, it seemed none too bright. Wu Zhong could see through such an obvious lure just from having played some games, yet Chicken Gizzard failed to notice it.

Still, Chicken Gizzard clearly possessed intelligence. Hearing the warning, it stopped and did not pursue.

Seeing this, Gu Yue pulled out a grenade and prepared to throw it.

"Fuck!"

Wu Zhong was terrified. That was a grenade.

Explosives were merciless. It might not kill a ghost, but would it not kill him?

"Brother Gizzard!"

Worried about Wu Zhong's safety, Chicken Gizzard pounced on Gu Yue again like lightning.

"Riot Shield Mountain!" Gu Yue's eyes widened in fury. He did not use the grenade after all; he had been luring the ghost close.

Now he suddenly spread his arms, condensing vast amounts of air and blasting it in every direction.

For a moment, he was like the eye of a storm, blooming from the center as layers upon layers of tangible air surged outward.

The two rows of Air Shields closest to Gu Yue rotated and sliced like the blades of a grinding machine, interlocking like gears.

Even from far away, Wu Zhong was blasted into the air and pinned against the wall, unable to come down.

As for Ghost Gizzard, it directly turned incorporeal, standing amid the torrent of interlocking blades as though nothing had touched it.

Chicken Gizzard moved upstream against the torrent, its hand passing through Gu Yue's chest.

Then it materialized again. With a wet stab, its arm solidified inside flesh and blood, piercing straight through Gu Yue's heart.

"Ah!" Wu Zhong cried out, unable to hide his distress.

The ghost killed without the slightest emotional fluctuation, cold-faced and merciless. As a fellow human, Wu Zhong could not help being frightened by the sight.

"Multiversal Moment!"

Yet although Gu Yue's face twisted in pain, he was not quite dead.

Instead, he snapped his fingers, and green energy swirled around his body.

With another wet stab, Chicken Gizzard was struck hard and knocked back. Its body flickered between light and dark, shrinking by a whole size.

Wu Zhong was astonished. This was the first time he had seen the ghost injured.

Looking again at Gu Yue, the grievous wound through his chest did not bring him down. Instead, flesh buds wriggled as it healed before his very eyes.

"It can heal? And it can hurt evil spirits too?"

Wu Zhong was insanely envious of this Multiversal Force. It seemed everyone in the Calamity Realm had it, and every ability was different.

"Hmph! Calamity Realm fiend, come at me!" Gu Yue gently touched his grievous wound and straightened his back.

Ghost Gizzard had been injured, making it even less willing to let him go. It lunged at him again.

Gu Yue snorted and retreated around a corner, arriving before a door. He slammed an Air Shield against it, and the door slowly opened.

Wu Zhong chased after him and his pupils shrank. It was a door marked in red!

"What? Brother Xia said not to go near red doors!"

Wu Zhong had not expected Ghost Gizzard to be so foolish. It had already chased after Gu Yue.

In that instant, Chicken Gizzard saw something inside the red door behind Gu Yue, and the entire ghost froze.

Then it blankly passed through Gu Yue and entered the door.

"This is bad!" Seeing Chicken Gizzard fall into the trap, Wu Zhong hurriedly turned and ran.

But how could he outrun someone from the containment forces? He was caught after only a few steps, seized with one hand.

Wu Zhong felt a ring of air bind his body like shackles, suppressing him tightly.

"It's over..." Wu Zhong sighed. His escape plan had failed.

He was deeply unwilling to accept it. If he had stayed behind and cooperated with Captain Lu and the others, then with his ability, he would not have been traded to ghosts and gods.

But that had been before. After everything that had happened now, he could not explain himself even if he had a hundred mouths. They would surely treat him as a criminal accomplice.

Gu Yue carried him to a recess beside the red door, raised an Air Shield and inserted it, closing the door.

Ghost Gizzard was still inside. Wu Zhong shouted for it to come out quickly.

But there was no response. He could only watch helplessly as the red door shut tight.

"Stop shouting. What was that thing that attacked me just now? Explain yourself honestly." Gu Yue restrained and suppressed him with an Air Shield, interrogating him with sharp eyes.

How was Wu Zhong supposed to know? Ghost Gizzard had been summoned by Endless Summer to escort him out. It was Wu Zhong's first time seeing it too.

"A ghost. It's a ghost. I don't know whether it has anything to do with Mount Lu, but it doesn't have a physical body." He answered honestly, already thinking that he should cooperate properly.

Gu Yue frowned. "A ghost? No physical body... When I unleashed Riot Shield Mountain just now... did it turn incorporeal?"

Wu Zhong nodded. "Yes. It turned incorporeal to dodge your attack, then its arm went through your chest. I saw it clearly... Wow, your wound healed already?"

Gu Yue's chest had already closed. The internal injuries likely had not healed yet, but at least on the surface, his flesh had mostly regrown.

His Multiversal Force was healing-oriented.

"Incorporeal... Hiss, can it make objects incorporeal too?" Gu Yue muttered.

"Uh..." Wu Zhong stayed silent. He did not know.

Before Gu Yue could ask anything else, he suddenly sensed something amiss. His expression changed.

The red door suddenly opened with a wet sound, and a head poked out! It was Chicken Gizzard's dead man's head.

It floated straight through the thick, tightly sealed red door, carrying a Tangled Mess in its hand as it flew out.

Chicken Gizzard was fiddling with the Tangled Mess with its head lowered, as if playing with a Rubik's Cube.

"Damn it..."

The moment Gu Yue caught sight of the dead man's head, he immediately shut his eyes tightly, so he did not see the Tangled Mess.

But he could guess that the Tangled Mess was in the ghost's hands.

As though foreseeing enormous trouble, Gu Yue roared, "Don't look! Close your eyes! Whatever it brought out, do not look at it!"

Wu Zhong froze. Huh? He had already seen it.

Then he asked in horror, "What? I can't look at it? Is this Eternal Thirst Plum?"

Gu Yue did not dare hide it anymore. "No. It's a Tangled Mess, a bundle of chaotically tangled hemp rope that can never be untied."

"The rope cannot be destroyed, and its chaotic knots cannot be untied by any means."

"It possesses mental distortion. It draws in anyone within nearly a meter, making them try to untie it. Beyond that, anyone who looks directly at it will also be drawn in!"

"Those drawn in will focus solely on untying the rope, neglecting food and sleep!"

As he spoke, he kept his eyes shut and retreated swiftly along the wall, trying to widen the distance.

Wu Zhong said in shock, "But I... already saw it."

Gu Yue was suspicious. "What? Nonsense. This object's mental distortion is an absolute property. If you had seen it, you would definitely be struggling madly to untie the Tangled Mess. You couldn't possibly still be here talking nonsense with me."

Wu Zhong tilted his head. He was telling the truth, and this guy would not believe him.

But mental distortion? Seeing it meant he would definitely want to untie the Tangled Mess?

No. Wu Zhong looked at it carefully and felt no particular urge to untie it at all.