A Monster Pieced Together

Arriving at the towering iron fence, Su Ziyu slipped through a hole on the western side. He glanced back at the gap and the bent wire above it, then continued inward thoughtfully.

The main gate stood open. Half of the iron gate was missing, while the other half had been riddled with heavy machine-gun fire, its surface covered in bullet holes. As Su Ziyu approached the entrance, he noticed a long, thin trail of blood on the floor. Through the All-Seeing True Eye, he saw fragments of what had once happened here.

The terrified expression of an armed soldier, bullets spraying wildly, and the eerie, silver-bell laughter of a girl. The final image showed that armed soldier standing amid the corpses of his companions, his face filled with despair as he lay on the ground and reached for a radio. Then a pale hand pinned him down. With a crack, the soldier's wrist and joints were completely torn apart. Blood filled the entire scene before it collapsed.

This was one of the All-Seeing True Eye's abilities: it could briefly rewind and reveal some events from within the past ten minutes.

However, what had happened here had clearly been more than ten minutes ago. Su Ziyu could only see a few blurry images.

"Did it escape?"

Su Ziyu silently raised his guard. The hand in his pocket lightly pressed the Dread Demon Eye. Having left its berserk state, the Dread Demon Eye had shrunk back to the size of a palm. Its feathers scratched Su Ziyu's palm, reminding its master that it was ready to fight at any moment.

Ahead lay a pitch-black corridor. The ceiling bulbs flickered on and off. Su Ziyu steadied himself and walked to the end. The elevator had been completely ruined, and taking it at a time like this would have been even more dangerous. He opened his pocket slightly, then headed up the stairs.

After passing the corner on the second floor, Su Ziyu stood in the dark, long corridor. Every room was tightly shut, with not a trace of light visible inside.

Whoosh!

A chill wind suddenly swept in from behind. Su Ziyu had long been prepared with his panoramic vision. He turned lightly, and the black shadow missed its pounce, vanishing into the corridor again as swiftly as a rat.

"A little rat?"

Su Ziyu patted the shoulder dirtied by dust while dodging earlier and smiled faintly.

As though nothing had happened, he took another step forward. At that moment, a pair of eyes appeared in the shadow-filled ceiling behind him!

Found you!

Su Ziyu spun around at once and raised his hand, tossing out a tiny shadow. The Dread Demon Eye stretched itself out in midair and clung to the ceiling like an octopus.

Then came the sound of metal clashing against metal. The Dread Demon Eye tore off the vent cover, and amid a low scream, the rivet-like teeth beneath its feathers were stained with blood.

With a bang, the vent cover was torn open, and the Dread Demon Eye squeezed inside as well. Driven by bloodlust, its body radiated bloody energy and instantly swelled to the size of two soccer balls. Its eyeball split open down the middle, extending countless hair-thin tentacles that lashed wildly, causing the entire ventilation duct to collapse.

Rubble and iron bars fell piece by piece. Among them was a figure curled up to the extreme. As it fell, it stretched its body to its fullest in midair, ultimately reaching over two meters in length. It was hard to imagine how such a body had hidden inside such a narrow vent.

Then it actually stepped on the falling debris and lunged at Su Ziyu in midair.

Before the black shadow could touch Su Ziyu, a scarlet light suddenly filled its vision. Within the blood-red scene appeared one lashless, pupil-less eye after another!

In that instant, [Crimson Purgatory] activated!

The black shadow seemed to have witnessed something horrifying. Under overwhelming fear, its body trembled slightly before it lost its balance and crashed to the floor. At the same time, the Dread Demon Eye moved. Its countless tentacles stabbed down with repeated bangs, pinning the black shadow firmly to the ground.

Without its high-speed movements, Su Ziyu was finally able to see the black shadow's true form.

And he finally understood where the guards defending this S-Rank Containment Facility had been taken...

It was a human—no, perhaps creature was the more fitting term. It looked like a monster stitched together from countless pieces of human skin. Every joint bent in reverse, and its left and right sides were extremely asymmetrical. One eye was normal, while the other had grown near its temple. One was large and one was small, making it look utterly bizarre.

Its left and right hands were reversed as well, one wrist turned inward and the other outward. This sense of disharmony did not seem naturally formed. Instead, it looked like the product of someone's twisted sense of amusement.

Its skin bore signs of being patched together in many places. Dense, thick black threads could be seen at the seams, and the skin changed color from one patch to the next. It looked like a monster pieced together from many different creatures and humans, like the strange creation of some master tailor—only far more chilling.

Su Ziyu watched quietly, without showing much surprise.

He knew this stitched monster was not the person he was looking for. Toys like this, on the other hand, were exactly what that person loved making most.

Su Ziyu pinched his chin and looked thoughtfully toward the third floor.

However, the stitched monster seemed unwilling to be captured by Su Ziyu. It continued struggling desperately, growling from its throat. As its strength increased, its body gradually shrank. Its feet pressed against its back, its head wedged between its legs, as though it wanted to break free with this movement.

Seeing that it was still unwilling to behave, the Dread Demon Eye let out a childish cry, and its swaying tentacles launched another sweeping assault.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

They crashed down like a torrential storm. The tentacles flung up rubble and punched out hole after hole, some even piercing through to the ceiling of the first floor.

The stitched monster finally no longer had the strength to resist. Not a single intact spot could be found on its body, and its head, like a worn burlap sack, was riddled with holes. Brain matter and all kinds of unidentified fluids flowed across the floor.

The tentacles stopped, and Su Ziyu heard an angry panting sound.

"Have you finally decided to show yourself?"

The corners of Su Ziyu's mouth lifted slightly, making him look exactly like a hunter waiting for prey to appear.

"My toy! Pay for my toy!"

A girl-like voice filled with anger suddenly rang out.

At the same time, the ceiling of the third floor seemed to twist under some kind of telekinetic force. Invisible spirituality swept through like a gale, and wherever it passed, the ceiling caved in completely before flying out at all sorts of bizarre angles.

Boom!

At last, the ceiling fell apart like scattered fragments. At the same time, a black shadow shot through the dust toward Su Ziyu at incredible speed!