Leaving

"What is he trying to do?" Meng Chengfei landed on a rock, dodging a strike, then looked toward Xu Ye.

Even in the midst of battle, he spared some attention to watch Xu Ye.

Xu Ye's movements were bizarre, allowing him to dodge attack after attack.

But that was useless.

Meng Chengfei took a deep breath.

The enemy possessed powerful mental strength and was skilled in illusions, making him a perfect counter to Meng Chengfei's abilities.

He checked the time. Reinforcements from the Eighth Squad were still more than twenty minutes away.

Then he looked into the distance.

Layers of green energy membranes, like a complete eggshell, were about to seal this place off from the outside world.

Once the old man's domain fully formed, everyone would be trapped like fish in a barrel.

What exactly was Xu Ye trying to do?

Meng Chengfei couldn't understand.

And recklessly closing in like that was practically suicide.

"Never mind what he's doing. Right now, we just need to trust him!"

Zheng Chengdong growled, bracing the large black gun with both hands and firing fiercely in Xu Ye's direction.

The terrifying bullets streaked like light, shattering a finger outright, but a second later, it regenerated.

In a battle like this, action had to outpace thought!

To Meng Chengfei, that was extremely dangerous. He believed in a steady, methodical approach: analyzing the enemy's intelligence, then devising professional, targeted measures.

But surprises always happened.

Take this time, for instance. What they had thought was an ordinary pollution incident had now involved a level-three Aberrant.

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Meng Chengfei had already moved above Xu Ye. His hands, clad in silver metal plates, seized a finger about to strike Xu Ye. Veins bulged at his temples as he snapped it by sheer force.

"Kid Xu, jump!" Zheng Chengdong shouted from afar.

The ground rumbled beneath them.

At this moment, Xu Ye's senses were heightened to their limit. His heart pounded, every muscle tensed, and adrenaline surged through his body.

In his previous life, his physical condition had left him almost unable to exercise. He had never experienced anything like this.

Above him, someone had cleared the obstacles from his path.

He only needed to evade the attacks below.

Jump!

Xu Ye arched like a cat, his limbs seemingly fitted with springs. As his figure flickered, a toe pierced through him.

But that was only an afterimage.

His body was already in midair.

The old man saw him. A bone spike suddenly sprouted from the first knuckle of an index finger sweeping over Xu Ye's head.

The spike grew as it swept through the air. In barely a blink, it was over ten meters long, its tip as sharp as an assault knife.

Everyone's heart leaped into their throat.

He was airborne, with nothing to push off and nowhere to dodge. Still rising, at this speed, Xu Ye looked more likely to "catch" the attack with his own body.

Unless something unexpected happened, he would be impaled.

The people at the foot of the hill fell silent.

The old man's remaining attacks held them more than fifty meters away.

Whoosh!

At the critical instant, a tentacle extended from Xu Ye's right arm and wrapped around the bone spike. Using its momentum, he flung himself away.

Higher!

He landed on a tentacle and fired three shots straight into it.

Bang, bang, bang!

The tentacle snapped.

Zhou Ye, who had been caught in its coils, fell to the ground.

Mild pollution could be cleansed. He could still be saved.

Xu Ye glanced at him, leaped down, and rolled across the ground, dodging a barrage of attacks.

He was fast, and with covering fire from behind, he rushed through in an instant.

Ten meters!

The old man opened his mouth, letting out a strange, throaty chuckle. He abandoned some of his outward attacks, drawing dozens of tentacles back toward Xu Ye. They formed a sphere, trying to enclose him.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Alice shouted.

Xu Ye looked up and immediately sensed trouble.

Against a monster of this level, he was clearly far too inexperienced. If the enemy hadn't been immobilized by his ongoing aberration, he would probably have killed Xu Ye instantly.

This insane world!

He gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and charged.

Eight meters!

The closest attack behind him was ten meters away. The gust bearing down on him pressed his linen clothes tight against his back.

Xu Ye charged again.

Five meters!

The attack behind him was three meters away. Its sharp edge had already pierced his clothes, and he felt blood seep from his back.

Three meters!

The attack behind him had reached his skin. Its icy touch seemed ready to freeze his soul.

Several more bone spikes shot out of the ground.

Xu Ye stamped down hard with his right foot and jumped again. The crimson moon hung in the sky, he hung in midair, and hope shone in his eyes.

The old man instinctively looked up.

Now!

At that instant, eerie golden ripples appeared in Xu Ye's deep, dark eyes.

Soul-Seizing, activate!

Known as a divine sequence, 9-003 did far more than seize souls. This sequence talent also possessed some illusion capabilities.

Meng Chengfei's [Demon Eye] couldn't affect the old-man Aberrant, but the unique properties and high rank of [Soul-Seizing] allowed it to forcibly tug at his soul. Xu Ye had also seen a photo of the man's grandson, and immediately recreated the boy's image in his mind.

This was also the guidance his heart had given Xu Ye during its simulation just moments earlier.

If I can't defeat him, I'll make him remember his past and regain his senses.

Even if it's only for an instant!

At that moment, an image appeared in the crazed old man's mind: a little boy of four or five, with a bowl cut, slightly dark skin, and rosy cheeks. Holding a pinwheel in one hand and an orange in the other, he chased after him, calling, "Grandpa!"

"Grandpa, have an orange. Niuniu has more. You eat it, Grandpa."

Those utterly ordinary words brought every movement of the aberrated old man to an instant halt.

The fingertip already pressed against Xu Ye's back couldn't pierce him, no matter what.

It was as though all his strength had been drained away.

Countless attacks froze in midair.

Even the domain in the distance failed to close completely.

The confused, fragmented, yet warm and happy images in his mind flashed past like a slideshow playing far too fast.

The old man stared blankly and reached out to grasp them, but caught only a mass of foam.

"Roar!"

A shrill, tearing cry came from within his body. His fingers began to retract, and the bone spikes withdrew into their knuckles.

Even the old man's collapsed face became much more normal.

He stood there in a daze. The change had taken only an instant.

His aged, clouded eyes swept blankly around him. Finally, he picked up the Missing Person Notice that had drifted to the ground at some point, turned, and left, disappearing into the vast moonlit night.

"We're saved."

Only after the old man disappeared did Xu Ye drop onto his backside. When he tried to stand again, he found his legs had gone weak.

This encounter had been more terrifying than any Aberrant he had faced before.

Whether it was the Stray Dog Aberrant or that "Li Kang."

"Hmph! Running away? Come back if you've got the guts! I'll tear you apart! Bleh, bleh, bleh!"

Alice retreated into Xu Ye's mind, making a face with a soft pink paw and sticking out a tiny pink tongue, shamelessly taunting him.

Meanwhile, Xu Ye's heart stopped beating and began to writhe instead.