Green-Scaled Snake Demon

The cracks in the giant egg beside Shen Ye suddenly burst open.

The crack immediately caught his attention.

Eggshell fragments scattered everywhere.

A head emerged first.

It did indeed have a human face.

But the skin on that face was a ghastly grayish white.

Its narrow eyes had no ordinary pupils, only yellow surrounding thin, vertical snake pupils.

The most horrifying part was its hair.

No, that wasn't hair. It was a mass of living little green snakes.

Every snake writhed, constantly flicking its tongue.

A Green-Scaled Snake Demon.

Shen Ye had seen this kind of aberration before.

Judging by its aura, it seemed to be only first-tier, with strength equivalent to a ninth-rank human Sequencer.

These aberrations had human torsos and snake tails, their lower halves covered in green scales.

Shen Ye had once seen law enforcers shoot them. Either the bullets failed to penetrate their scales, or the bullet wounds healed rapidly.

Clearly, human firearms seemed to have little effect on them.

Green-Scaled Snake Demons were also extremely fast and could spit highly corrosive venom.

Once opened wide, their seemingly small mouths could swallow an adult whole.

He didn't hesitate.

As soon as Shen Ye got a clear look at the snake demon, he struck.

Ghost Head's Hardened Edge effect activated instantly.

The black blade seemed to gain an even deeper sheen, with faint dark-red patterns flowing along its edge.

The ghost head on the guard opened its tightly shut eyes, revealing a bloodthirsty red glow.

At the same time, an urge to slaughter surged from the hilt into his palm, trying to invade his mind.

But Shen Ye's emotions remained utterly unshaken.

A threadlike glimmer of black light flashed before him.

Shhk!

The head covered in green snakes rolled off its neck, and green blood gushed from the stump.

As the blade passed through its neck, it felt as effortless to him as slicing tofu.

The half of the snake demon's body protruding from the shell jerked violently. Its grayish-white arms flailed a few times before going completely limp.

The little snakes coiled atop its head struggled briefly, then died along with it.

Just then, a notification appeared in his mind.

[Slaughter points: +78]

It had happened so quickly that no one noticed the commotion.

Shen Ye looked at Ghost Head in his hand and smiled in satisfaction.

Trading with Lin Wanqiu had clearly been the right decision.

Then he instinctively looked toward the windows. That area was almost entirely filled with white giant eggs, already beginning to crack, completely ruling out his plan to jump out through a window.

Soon, more screams rang out from every direction.

One, two, three.

At least seven or eight Green-Scaled Snake Demons emerged from various corners of the supermarket.

They dragged their thick snake tails across the floor with wet scraping sounds.

Their yellow snake eyes locked onto every living person, long forked tongues slipping in and out between their lips, as though anticipating a feast.

"Everyone, get over here!"

Song Lei's roar rang throughout the second floor.

He tore off his shirt, already stretched taut by his muscles, exposing his rapidly expanding body.

Something seemed to writhe beneath his skin, and his bones cracked and popped.

White fur sprouted wildly from his skin. His fingers twisted and elongated, sharp black claws piercing out of his fingertips.

His height abruptly shot up to over two meters.

When Song Lei raised his head again, his original face was gone, replaced by a wolf's head. Primal bloodlust radiated from his amber eyes.

He opened his wolf jaws, revealing two rows of stark white fangs, and roared.

Ninth-rank Beastman sequence, skill one: Wolf Transformation.

Wolf Transformation: Transformed the Sequencer into a werewolf, greatly enhancing explosive power, speed, and recovery. Its sharp claws and fangs could easily tear prey apart.

"Brother!"

Song Shiya's voice came from beneath her mask, her clear tone now tinged with worry.

"Stay behind me!" Transformed into a white wolf, Song Lei's voice had become rough and deep as he kept his sister firmly protected behind him.

A Green-Scaled Snake Demon lunged at them first.

Rather than retreating, Song Lei advanced, his wolf claws tearing through the air to meet it.

His claws struck the snake demon's chest with the scrape of metal against metal.

Clearly, those green scales offered exceptionally strong protection.

But Song Lei possessed tremendous strength. The sheer force of his blow sent the snake demon flying, knocking over an entire row of shelves.

Shen Ye wasn't standing idle either. He instinctively headed toward the windows, intending to jump out.

But the way to the windows was also packed with those bizarre giant eggs, all showing signs of hatching.

Clearly, escaping through a window wasn't an option.

Seeing this, he tightened the hiking backpack on his back and fought his way toward the stairs, blade in hand.

Another snake demon blocked his path.

This one had already emerged completely from its shell.

Its lower half was a snake tail over three meters long, twisting across the floor.

It opened its mouth, revealing two rows of closely packed, pointed teeth, and sprayed a stream of dark-green venom from deep within its throat.

Shen Ye reacted swiftly, dodging sideways.

The venom skimmed past his shoulder and splashed onto the shelves behind him.

With a sizzle, a fist-sized hole corroded through a crossbar of the metal shelving, sending up billows of acrid white smoke.

It's incredibly corrosive.

Shen Ye didn't give it a chance to spit again.

He pushed off the floor and shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, sweeping Ghost Head upward.

The Hardened Edge effect was still active.

The blade cut precisely into the snake demon's neck, where its scale protection was weakest-the only place left uncovered by scales.

Once again, a snake demon's head flew into the air.

[Slaughter points: +69]

But the battle was far from over.

More and more Green-Scaled Snake Demons surged in from every direction, at least twenty of them.

They closed in like a tide, turning the entire second floor into an enormous slaughterhouse.

Screams rose one after another. Those who failed to escape were caught in snake tails and dragged into the darkness, followed by the chilling sounds of chewing and shattering bones.

With Song Lei in front and Shen Ye at the rear, they steadily cut down the approaching snake demons while slowly moving toward the entrance on the first floor.

Behind them, Steward Huang stumbled and fell in his panic, scattering the supplies in his arms across the floor. Before he could get up, a snake demon was already in front of him.

Before he could make a sound, it grabbed him and stuffed him whole into its mouth...

Song Shiya followed in the middle, carrying supplies, her round, almond-shaped eyes above her black mask constantly alert.

The group fought their way to the stairs. Treading over green slime and mangled flesh, they finally made it down to the first floor.

Everyone was startled by the strength Shen Ye had displayed.

Before they could ask him about it, however,

the sight on the first floor made them freeze for a moment.

More than a dozen bodies lay strewn across the floor.

Some had been corroded beyond recognition by venom, their entire faces melted into indistinct masses of bloody flesh.

Others had been crushed out of shape by snake tails, their chests caved in and their eyes bulging from their sockets.

Still others had only half their bodies left. Everything above the waist was missing, leaving only a jagged tear.

Rice, flour, cooking oil, and other food scattered across the floor had mixed with blood and green slime, forming puddles of sludge of an indescribable color.

Even Song Shiya, who had seen all sorts of corpses and injuries before the apocalypse, couldn't help dry-heaving.

Shen Ye's gaze swept quickly over the bodies strewn across the floor.

Then it settled on the corpse of a man in a suit and dress shoes.

A car key lay beside the corpse's trouser pocket.

Without breaking stride, Shen Ye bent down as he passed, scooped up the key, and slipped it into his pocket.