Frost Cicadas, the White Cocoon!

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Hurried footsteps came from downstairs...

Two figures scrambled up, stumbling over themselves.

It was Xiao Liu and Old Yang.

Both were covered in snow and gasping for breath.

"Chen Mo!"

Old Yang spotted Chen Mo standing by the elevator as soon as he made it upstairs.

He braced himself against the stairs, panting heavily, his lips trembling.

"S-something terrible happened!"

"Outside..."

"Outside, it's full of... full of Snow Corpses! Zhang Tao, the one we buried, h-he came back to life too!"

Snow Corpses?

Chen Mo remembered the man who had frozen to death beside the dirt slope.

"Where are Captain Lin and Su Qian?"

Xiao Liu chimed in, his voice thick with tears.

"The Snow Corpses came so fast that by the time Captain Lin sensed them, it was already too late."

"They aren't that strong individually. Even ordinary people can kill them."

"Captain Lin's holding them off outside with the others... but there's no end to them! More and more keep coming!"

"He sent me and Old Yang in to hurry you along. Five minutes-we have to leave by then."

Neither man spoke quietly. The ordinary people all turned to look, despair written across their faces.

"Roar!"

Nearby, the Six-Armed Weird let out another agonized roar, disrupting Xiao Ya's attacks.

Xiao Ya had dealt the Six-Armed Weird another devastating blow. One mangled arm hung at its side, twisted out of shape.

Its only two remaining arms flailed wildly.

For a moment, it actually forced Xiao Ya back, leaving her no choice but to defend herself.

Leave?

Or stay?

The Six-Armed Weird was already badly wounded. Its defeat was only a matter of time.

But time was exactly what they lacked most!

"Knife, take the others and grab clothes! As much as you can carry!"

"Xiao Liu, you and Old Yang carry Big Niu out!"

"Xiao Ya! Hold it off! We'll leave once we've got the supplies!"

Chen Mo issued his orders almost immediately.

Now it was a race against time!

His voice snapped everyone out of their stupor.

"Hurry! Get fucking moving!"

Brother Dao smashed through the glass of a Feather Emperor winter clothing store with his steel pipe.

He charged inside with the five or six people who remained.

Without even checking sizes, they scooped down jackets and padded coats off the racks into their arms.

Clutching bundles of clothes, they rushed downstairs.

Meanwhile, Old Yang and Xiao Liu had reached Big Niu.

Big Niu had automatically reverted from his transformed state. He was covered in blood, his sternum caved in. Whether he was alive or dead was anyone's guess.

Old Yang and Xiao Liu each supported one side of him and staggered toward the elevator.

Chen Mo picked up the battered burlap sack Big Niu had dropped.

I can't accept this.

All that sacrifice, and all we get is a few lousy padded coats.

That peak level-two Weird must have plenty of good stuff on it.

Those Mechanical Arms alone would probably be enough for another upgrade to Red Hare Two.

That last Coup de Grâce had exhausted all of Chen Mo's transcendent power.

The Surgical Knife in his hand had also lost a huge chunk of its blade.

It would probably be useless soon.

At that moment, Chen Mo felt utterly helpless and unwilling to give up.

Ever since awakening, he had craved strength every waking moment.

Hunting Weirds and obtaining wondrous items was the path he had chosen-the most dangerous, but also the fastest.

Now, the grievously wounded Six-Armed Weird could fall at any moment.

If I leave now...

I'll never get another chance like this.

Donkey was also torn.

It could clearly sense the peak level-two energy its opponent could no longer conceal.

If it ate the Six-Armed Weird's head, it might even break through to level three. At the very least, it would reach the peak of level two.

But the terrifying energy fluctuations slumbering on the third floor left Red Hare barely able to breathe.

It, too, was weighing its options. Should I gamble or not?

As though it had made up its mind, Donkey stepped forward and sent its voice into Chen Mo's mind.

"Kid, once they've all cleared out, do you have the guts to pull off something big?"

"I'll risk making a move. We finish this fast, then catch up with the convoy."

"As long as there's nobody else around, we kill this big-headed brat and everything's ours."

Chen Mo said nothing. He stared fixedly at the Six-Armed Weird, which looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Within minutes, only Chen Mo, Red Hare, and Xiao Ya, who was keeping the Six-Armed Weird occupied, remained on the second floor.

Bang!

Xiao Ya slammed a whipping kick into one of the Six-Armed Weird's Mechanical Arms.

Using the force of its push, she shot backward more than ten meters.

She ran toward the stairwell where Chen Mo stood.

"Go! We're out of time!"

Seeing Chen Mo standing motionless, Xiao Ya shouted anxiously.

Chen Mo and Donkey exchanged a glance. Both saw the greed and madness burning in the other's eyes!

"Go ahead! I'll cover the retreat!"

Chen Mo roared at Xiao Ya as she ran toward him.

At that moment, he and Red Hare had reached a startling agreement.

Brother Dao and the others, already on the first floor, faltered and glanced back, their faces filled with disbelief.

Could that three-fingered thing really be that kindhearted?

A maturity far beyond her years flickered across Xiao Ya's face.

As she brushed past him, her plastic red lips parted slightly.

"Careful you don't get burned playing with fire."

With that, she vanished in a flash at the bottom of the stairs.

Chen Mo wasted no words. He tossed the battered burlap sack over to Red Hare's feet and headed for the stairs to the third floor.

This was the unspoken understanding the two had developed over their time together.

Donkey rose onto its hind legs and loosened up its body.

It slowly approached the miserable Weird, now down to just two arms.

"Kid, keep watch. Until it wakes up, leave everything to me."

Chen Mo reached the third floor, and a chill pierced him to the bone.

Then he saw a sight he would never forget.

The walls, ceiling, and floor of the entire level-even the shelves and merchandise-were covered in a thin layer of frost.

Countless snow-white cicadas, glowing faintly, clung densely to the frost.

Each cicada was only the size of a thumb, with wings of translucent ice crystals. They remained completely still, like dead things.

Frost Cicadas.

A species unique to Prosper City.

At the very center of the third floor stood an enormous cocoon radiating an icy aura.

Its surface was also covered in ice crystals, and it pulsed faintly like a heart.

An extreme chill spread from the cocoon into every corner of the third floor.

What... is that thing?

Level three? Level four? Or... even higher?

While Chen Mo was pondering this, a tremendous crash came from downstairs.

Boom!

A surge of dark gray Weird power seeped up through the ceiling.

The sounds of clashing metal rang out again and again.

Clearly, the grievously wounded Six-Armed Weird was no match for Red Hare.

And at that very instant, something happened.

The black Weird power followed the rising currents of cold air and slipped into the enormous White Ice Cocoon.

The cocoon shifted, its pulsing growing stronger.

Bzzzz-

The next second, everything changed.

On the walls and ceiling, the wings of thousands upon thousands of motionless Frost Cicadas began vibrating silently at an incredibly high frequency!

Their glow suddenly intensified.

One Frost Cicada took flight.

Then came a second...

A third...

Thousands upon thousands of Frost Cicadas rose into the air.

Streams of white air formed out of nowhere, driving the surrounding temperature down yet another notch.

Chen Mo stared fixedly at the powerfully pulsing cocoon.

Rip!

The enormous White Ice Cocoon shuddered violently!

The cocoon... split open.