Persona

Shen Mo found no bloodstains among those marks, so he did not give them much thought.

Su Ze stepped forward and gently touched the steel plates. After a moment of thought, he said, "These materials look like they all came from the gas station. Some may even have been stripped from vehicles. Why is this place defended so heavily? Could there be something else here that threatens them?"

Leng Shiyi stared at the marks as well, his brows slightly furrowed. "Is it possible that these marks were left by the Mutant Cat we just killed?"

Indeed, given how hard the Mutant Cat's body had been, it was capable of smashing those thick steel plates into their current state.

"Not likely." After warily scanning the surroundings, Cui Yang said, "There aren't any claw marks here. Under normal circumstances, a Mutant Cat wouldn't be stupid enough to ram its head into a wall, would it?"

Moreover, by all logic, the strong scent of living people gathered here should have drawn in the nearby mutant beasts. It was impossible for there to have been no movement until now.

"Why think so much? Let's just climb over the wall and take a look at the second floor. We can grab someone and ask, can't we?" As Yang Xuan spoke, he began surveying the area for an easier place to climb.

At that moment, Su Ze suddenly remembered the room with the curtains. After confirming its location, he pointed in a direction. "Let's go up from here. There must be someone in that room."

"I'll go first." Cui Yang had spent time in the military, after all. Climbing barehanded was child's play to him.

Shen Mo could climb up too, of course, but with his sister here, he could not break character.

Shen Mo, who was determined to always be his sister's little darling, had no idea that his inner thoughts had long exposed his true nature. To keep up appearances, he took out a rope. "Wait, take this up with you. We can climb up the rope in a moment."

[I absolutely can't ruin my good little boy image in my sister's heart. My sister and I are the best in the world.]

Thinking of his persona, Shen Mo suddenly recalled that the system did not seem to require him to maintain the original owner's persona. Wasn't it afraid his identity would be exposed? Though even if it was, he was not afraid.

Remembering how he had been tricked before, Cui Yang silently took the rope, draped it around his neck, and nimbly climbed up like a monkey.

Yang Xuan gave Shen Mo a somewhat disdainful look and followed after him.

In just a few moves, Cui Yang tore open a hole in the protective net large enough for one person to pass through. Just as he was about to crawl inside, he suddenly felt a chill brush across his cheek.

He focused his gaze and saw several strands of hair slowly drifting down through the air.

A Wind Blade had just grazed past him. Startled, Cui Yang reacted at once and, without hesitation, unleashed the Lightning Ability he had just stored up. Purple lightning snakes shot fiercely toward the direction the Wind Blade had come from.

There was a loud bang, followed by the sound of something crashing heavily to the floor.

Cui Yang turned and tossed the rope to Yang Xuan, then planted a foot on the windowsill and flipped into the room.

After catching the rope, Yang Xuan climbed up smoothly as well. He tied the rope to what remained of the protective net, gave it a hard tug to make sure it was secure, and only then tossed it down.

The others climbed up along the rope, and their speed indeed increased considerably.

In the end, Shen Mo still climbed up by his own strength. The other companions seemed to have gone off in pursuit of someone, and he did not want his sister to tire herself out by pulling him up. Otherwise, his goal would have been completely backwards.