Urgency

Lu Ren: "..."

Xiang Yang: "..."

"You bastard, you did that on purpose, didn't you?!"

After furiously cursing, Lu Ren took advantage of the Armored Eagle Woman still struggling wildly to pull the longsword deeply embedded in her throat free.

He lunged forward. Just as he picked up the dagger and was about to turn around, a fierce gust of wind suddenly came from behind him. Lu Ren did not dare look back and immediately rolled sideways again.

"Ding, you dodged the Armored Eagle Woman's pounce at the critical moment. Agility proficiency +30."

Fuck, if that had hit him, his physical resilience definitely would not have withstood her passionate "embrace."

He did not pause. Rising to his feet, he stepped forward, pushed off the ground, twisted his body and waist, and pressed the button by his thumb on the dagger's handle, successfully activating it.

Buzz!

With a soft electromagnetic hum, the blade glowed faintly blue, looking rather strange.

Facing the Armored Eagle Woman's claws, Lu Ren's dagger met them without hesitation.

Sshk!

With a soft sound, the Armored Eagle Woman's clawed hand, covered in hard armor plating, was easily severed. Five broken fingers scattered in every direction.

It was as effortless as cutting tofu.

If not for the contamination energy, with technology far more advanced than that of the real world, they might have found a way to deal with the interdimensional passage.

Was that why they had opened the spatial passage in the first place?

But apparently, they had not expected the contamination energy to seep into the entire world, mutating ninety percent of all life on the planet.

If it had happened thirty or forty years earlier, Lu Ren might have witnessed a city filled with monsters.

A true monster paradise.

Then, in order to evolve again, after discovering that humans were gradually dwindling and nearing extinction, they began slaughtering one another. Through survival of the fittest, Contaminated Creatures rapidly became scarce—and the scarcer they were, the stronger they became.

As thoughts raced through his mind, Lu Ren flicked his dagger upward and viciously slashed at the Armored Eagle Woman's neck.

With one slash, a head flew high into the air, then fell to the ground and rolled several times.

The Armored Eagle Woman's tall body swayed and staggered back a few steps before collapsing to the ground with a boom, never moving again.

Lu Ren lowered his hand and dropped onto the ground, gasping for breath.

"Ding, you killed the Armored Eagle Woman. You have gained a faint insight into daggers."

"Ding, you killed the Armored Eagle Woman. Your Agility proficiency has increased..."

Xiang Yang walked over to Lu Ren with a hand over her chest, her face full of shock. "Uncle, that intense sequence of moves just now was really fast and powerful. I never thought dual swords could be used in so many ways. Is this the kung fu you were talking about?!"

After sorting through the System Prompt Sounds in his head, Lu Ren shot Xiang Yang a sidelong glance. To outsiders, it might have seemed as though he had moved without the slightest hesitation while fighting the Armored Eagle Woman, his actions clean and decisive—defend, counterattack, without a hint of delay.

But the danger involved was something outsiders could never know. One slight mistake, and Lu Ren would have been torn into several pieces by the Armored Eagle Woman's claws.

It had to be said that the enormous boost Basic Swordsmanship had given Lu Ren was what had allowed him to gain the means to survive in this Otherworld Wasteland.

Once he got back, he absolutely had to find a way to learn Yan Zhenghua's swordsmanship.

He handed the dagger to Xiang Yang. She froze. "You don't want it?"

Lu Ren said, "I prefer longswords. I can't use daggers well. Holding one would only get in my way."

If his dagger skill had been Basic Short Weapon Mastery, he would never have given it to Xiang Yang. Although a prompt had appeared just now, a person's energy was limited.

After resting briefly, the two finally stepped into the elevator. With their identities authorized, the elevator, which had not operated for decades, started up again. As its doors opened and closed, it made teeth-grinding mechanical scraping sounds—"ka ka ka."

They sounded exceptionally piercing in the silent, shadowy Testing Center base.

Lu Ren glanced at the numerous chips and nicks on the blades of his twin swords. After another one or two high-intensity battles, they would probably be completely ruined. After all, they were only limbs taken from a Contaminated Creature.

He could not help looking at Xiang Yang. He opened his mouth, then finally let out a long sigh.

Hearing it, Xiang Yang turned back in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Actually, I really don't want to go down there," Lu Ren sighed.

Xiang Yang looked pitiful. "Didn't we agree that once this is over, I'll give you my dagger?"

Lu Ren said, "I agreed too impulsively back then. I got a chill."

Lu Ren muttered under his breath. As the alloy doors opened, he stepped in first. Tilting his head to look at Xiang Yang, who was still standing where she was, he frowned.

"What are you standing there for? Get in here."

Xiang Yang's little face immediately bloomed into a smile as she walked into the elevator.

"I knew you were all bark and no bite!"

Lu Ren curled his lip. He was definitely not going in because the System had determined that high-intensity battles could earn him more proficiency points.

Over the past two days, as his proficiency increased, his mastery of the sword had risen as well. It could be said that he was now stronger than when he had first entered, whether in physical fitness or Basic Swordsmanship.

As his proficiency increased, his strength would only grow greater.

That was where Lu Ren found the confidence to go in.

Without a sharp blade in hand, how could he move forward?

Once authorization was confirmed, the elevator slowly descended, stopping only when it reached the third level's high-energy particle testing area.

Qingxu's voice suddenly sounded. "Commanders, the creatures within the interdimensional passage seem to have sensed signs of your biological activity. The previously stable passage has begun fluctuating. The unknown entities on the other side have made a move, and the passage is starting to expand. If you wish to close it, please do so quickly."

Lu Ren's heart sank slightly. He asked in a deep voice, "How long?"

Qingxu said, "Within seven minutes. After seven minutes, the spatial energy fluctuations will reach their peak and expand the spatial passage. At that point, the entire Testing Center base will be drawn over, and those massive unknown entities will come through as well."

Xiang Yang stiffened slightly, muttering, "No, we can't let those things come over. If they really do, we'll be completely finished."

I'll die here too!

Lu Ren made a decision at once. "Qingxu, how do we close the interdimensional passage?"

"Restart the high-energy particle accelerator and create a collision. The preheating mechanism requires two minutes. Therefore, you only have five minutes to restart the high-energy particle accelerator. There are two Contaminated Creatures wandering along the shortest route in this area. Based on detected signs of biological activity, both are stronger than the ones the two commanders encountered."

Lu Ren's brows drew tightly together. "Any good news?"

"The good news is that the high-energy particle accelerator is ninety-one percent intact and can perform one forced particle acceleration. However, afterward, the accelerator's pipes will rupture, causing a massive explosion throughout the entire third area."

"What great news." Lu Ren sounded helpless. "Do you have anything else to add?"