A Pyrrhic Victory

Qin Luo certainly lived up to his role as the squad's main attacker. His damage output alone matched that of several people.

The sheer recklessness of his assault was terrifying to watch.

Xu Duoduo watched him fight the mutant snake-man. After a barrage of gunfire and explosives proved ineffective, Qin Luo switched to his twin blades.

The human face on this mutant snake-man was enough to drain anyone's sanity. Even the little zombie found it disgusting.

Wang Weihu served as the team's damage-soaking shield. His ability enhanced his strength, and he was incredibly tough, too. One flurry of punches made the mutant snake-man vomit up a torrent of censored gore.

The filthy mess contained plenty of mutant animal and human remains.

Chen Xiaofei's ability enhanced his speed. His job was to draw the enemy's attention, constantly harassing the mutant snake-man and occasionally leaving a wound.

The mutant snake-man grew dizzy from his movements, its massive snake head swaying wildly.

Bai Shu was an excellent shot. Every bullet punched a bloody wound into it, but the snake was too good at dodging, and he could never hit a vital spot.

He kept changing positions at a distance, leaving the snake person with no idea which direction his next shot would come from.

Qin Luo seemed not to have fully adjusted to his ability yet. He rarely used it, but eventually he brought it out.

Xu Duoduo saw him summon lightning with her own eyes. The gloomy weather gave Qin Luo the perfect home-field advantage, and several bursts of blood mist crackling with electricity erupted from the mutant snake-man's body.

But this mutant snake-man was enormous. She didn't even know what level it was.

Even their relentless attacks couldn't kill it. Instead, they drove it into a berserk frenzy, and it sent both Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei flying.

As the fight dragged on, Qin Luo and the others gradually began to lose ground.

Xu Duoduo was frantic.

She watched Chen Xiaofei and Wang Weihu fly backward, blood pouring from their mouths and noses.

Qin Luo was covered in wounds, too.

The mutant snake-man's attacks also carried sonic waves. Its shrieks made their heads ache.

When she saw the mutant snake-man coil around Qin Luo as well, Xu Duoduo couldn't stay put any longer. Her mind buzzed, and she instinctively sprinted toward them. For one brief moment, she thought she heard her own heartbeat.

The many-sided Rubik's cube in her mind was spinning wildly, making her dizzy.

"Xu Duoduo!! Run!"

"Little Class Monitor!"

By the time Xu Duoduo came to her senses, she was already standing in front of the giant snake.

She was so tiny.

She wasn't even enough to fill a gap between its teeth.

It let out a shrill, cackling laugh. "Oh? A zombie wants to join the fun, too? Good, good! Come here, come here! Let me take a bite. Crunchy, chicken-flavored."

Its massive snake body writhed, tightening around Qin Luo. His complexion was turning ugly, and he opened his mouth to curse. "You bastard, I'm your daddy! Say that again, I dare you! Who do you think you're eating? You bastard!"

With a furious roar, he unleashed an enormous blast of lightning that shocked the mutant snake-man from head to tail. Even the two human legs at the tip of its tail were trembling.

Countless little wounds split open across the mutant snake-man's body under the electrical assault, gushing blood. Enraged, it shrieked, "It hurts, it hurts! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!!"

It hurled Qin Luo away, smashing him into the mountainside beside the highway.

"Qin Luo!!"

"Captain Qin!!"

"Little Class Monitor!!"

Xu Duoduo's head and ears were buzzing. The Rubik's Cube Space in her sea of consciousness kept spinning, leaving her dizzy and nauseated.

At that very moment.

A foul-smelling gust swept over her face, and the whole world seemed to slow down.

The mutant snake-man opened its bloody maw. Huge, sharp fangs gleamed right before her, along with its blood-red mouth and pitch-black throat.

Xu Duoduo instinctively raised her hands to shield herself. Then a few words suddenly appeared in her sea of consciousness, and she silently repeated them without thinking.

Space instantly froze and compressed.

Then she saw the mutant snake-man freeze before her for a second, its eyes bulging as it choked out, "N-no, impossible." A second later, it exploded. Its entire enormous snake body burst apart.

Blood and filth drenched Xu Duoduo from head to toe, and chunks of flesh flew everywhere.

The scattered chunks rolled across the ground, still twitching, the snake flesh a vivid, bloody red.

Everything fell silent.

Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei stared, dumbfounded. After a long while, they quietly began to laugh, sprawled on the ground in exhaustion, before letting out an astonished, "Holy shit."

"That was insane. Little Class Monitor, you're a badass!"

"Hahahaha-cough, cough, cough! Oh my god."

Being alive had never felt so good.

Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei couldn't help laughing as they marveled at it.

Xu Duoduo had no idea how long she sat there in a daze. Her head buzzing, she slumped in the bloody muck. Blood had splashed into her eyes, making the whole world seem red.

When she recovered a little awareness, she found a pair of large hands wiping her face, rubbing away the blood before pulling her to her feet.

"Snap out of it. Scared stupid?"

Qin Luo's wounds hurt like hell, but the brute was still the first to get up. Barely keeping himself upright, he walked over and hauled Xu Duoduo up.

He couldn't help it.

The poor little thing was sitting in the bloody filth with a bewildered expression. It hurt to look at her.

Spotting a red mutant core by his feet, Qin Luo picked it up and stuffed it into the little zombie's hands.

Xu Duoduo instinctively reached out with her little paws and clutched the mutant core, still utterly dazed.

Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei were still sprawled on the ground, grimacing in pain. It hurt too much. Even ability users' powerful bodies could feel pain, and however quickly they healed, they still needed time. Still, they were lucky they were ability users.

An ordinary person facing this monster would have ended up as nothing but food.

Bai Shu was the least injured. Only his ears had been hurt by the snake's sonic attacks.

When he drove over and saw the carnage, he was speechless, too.

Wang Weihu and Chen Xiaofei couldn't even get up, and the little zombie was completely dazed.

Their captain, Qin Luo, was badly wounded as well.

Bai Shu sighed.

He moved to help Qin Luo, but Qin Luo waved him off, holding Xu Duoduo as he said, "No need. I can walk. Go help Weihu and Xiaofei."

Bai Shu had no choice but to turn and help Chen Xiaofei. Wang Weihu was still lying on the ground, gasping for breath.

Forcing himself to stay upright, Qin Luo hoisted Xu Duoduo over his shoulder and staggered back to the vehicle, climbing into the back row with her in his arms.

Soon, Chen Xiaofei was helped into the middle row as well. He lay across the seat, sucking air through his teeth. "Hiss, hiss-it hurts like hell!"

Bai Shu was exhausted, too. He slowly helped Wang Weihu back as well.

The vehicle reeked of blood.

"Shit, that thing was seriously vicious. What level was that mutant snake-man? It was damn near impossible to kill."

"I almost thought we'd all die here today."

"Don't jinx it! We had Little Class Monitor, didn't we? God, speaking of which, what happened with her? For a second, I felt like time slowed down."

"I heard that if a spatial ability gets strong enough, you can develop an instant-kill move."

Chen Xiaofei and Wang Weihu chatted on and off, trying to distract themselves. Their bodies hurt so much that sometimes they trembled from the pain.

Bai Shu went back to take a few photos and videos, then returned and quickly drove them away. If they lingered any longer, there was no telling what else might be drawn over.