Inverted Space

Zhang Zhengde froze on the spot!

A level-three cleanup operative?!

Hadn't the level-three cleanup operative sent as backup already arrived?

The on-site supervisor fumbled with his tablet and soon found the answer. "There... there's one. Department Three sent someone as temporary backup. His name is Xia Shou. Apparently, he only joined today..."

"Stop telling me useless crap! Just give me his title and anomaly level!" Zhang Zhengde roared.

"He's only a level-one transcendent. His ability's effects haven't been registered, either." The supervisor's voice grew quieter and quieter.

Zhang Zhengde felt as though his head was about to explode.

Was this guy here to help? Wasn't he just coming here to die?

Investigation Department Three... nothing good ever came of anything involving Department Three!

"Fuck!" Zhang Zhengde pulled out his phone and immediately called his superior.

After a few rings, an authoritative male voice answered. "Hello?"

Zhang Zhengde took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and reported as calmly as he could. "Chief, Shangguan Yan sent someone to help. Did you know about this?"

"I'm already aware."

"Does she know what kind of mission we're carrying out?! She actually sent a level-one combat operative who only joined today!

"The Blood Demon House gets more dangerous with every person it devours! Sending someone like that isn't just irresponsible toward her own department member's life! It puts our team members' lives at risk, too!

"Boss, we can't keep letting Shangguan Yan..."

"The deputy director approved this assignment. Are you questioning his judgment?" the man cut in coldly.

"...No, that's not what I meant, but... but..." Zhang Zhengde realized he had overstepped, but his anger had yet to subside.

"Zhengde, I've already spoken to the Tamer about this. Since Shangguan Yan sent her own department member over as cannon fodder, we might as well make use of him.

"As long as we eat him before the house does, even the weakest cannon fodder can help the strong.

"So let him become food for the beasts."

Startled, Zhang Zhengde seemed to realize something. He turned toward the Tamer in the black cloak. The man's face was buried deep in its shadows, but Zhang Zhengde knew perfectly well that the Tamer was smiling at him.

The Tamer took out an apple and bit into it, then said casually, "That man's already gone inside, hasn't he?"

Then he stroked the leopard at his feet, its body wreathed in black flames. "Let's hurry inside, too."

Before him stood the entryway he had seen in his dream. Overhead were mahogany floorboards, potted plants, a shoe cabinet, and a decorative partition. All the furnishings that should have been on the floor were above Xia Shou's head. Meanwhile, the pendant light that should have hung from the ceiling floated just ahead of him on the "floor"-a floor that should have been the ceiling.

This place was inverted. Not just the furniture, but gravity itself.

Yet Xia Shou remained unaffected by the inverted gravity. Neither his shirt nor his trousers showed any tendency to float upward.

The scene gave Xia Shou an indescribable sense of unreality.

He walked over to the pendant light, unscrewed a bulb, and let go. The bulb flew upward like a hydrogen balloon and shattered with a crash. All the glass fragments remained on the floor above him, never falling back down.

"Looks like only things brought in from outside are unaffected by the inverted gravity. Everything originally inside the house follows its gravitational direction."

As Xia Shou spoke, he continued forward along the thickest red line beneath his feet.

Though advancing would inevitably bring greater danger, Xia Shou had no intention of stopping.

Moving forward a hundred meters was the price he had to pay to activate "Death Road." The sooner he paid it, the sooner he would regain his freedom. Delaying would only increase the risk.

Until he finished paying the price for "Death Road," he could not turn back.

If he was unlucky enough to encounter an enemy before then, he would not even have the option of retreating or fleeing.

No matter how he looked at it, completing those hundred meters as soon as possible was the best course of action.

Xia Shou rounded the entryway, and the ceiling beneath his feet began descending in steps. An enormous, even more elaborate chandelier appeared ahead, telling him he had reached the living room.

An overpowering stench of blood hit him. Following its source, Xia Shou looked up and saw a living room in complete disarray. In its center lay a man who had been cut in two, motionless and long dead. His uniform identified him as a Control Bureau combat operative.

To the right of the corpse was a bloody trail left by its dragging. It told Xia Shou how the man had met his end: he had been dragged into the living room after being cut down. This was not where he had originally been killed.

Xia Shou raised his hand. His fingertips were only about a meter from the corpse. The height of this living room, at least, made sense.

At the same time, the shadow beneath his feet began stirring, seemingly ravenous for the corpse overhead.

"Hm? You can eat human corpses, too?" Xia Shou was a little surprised.

He had gained a skill after the shadow devoured the wax figure. He should gain something this time, too.

Xia Shou directed the shadow beneath his feet with his mind. It spread like black sludge, its "appetite" driving it toward the wall. It crept from the ceiling all the way to the floor above, eventually reaching the space beneath the corpse.

The swamp formed by the shadow swallowed both halves of the body, several times faster than before.

At the same time, the same blood-red text as before appeared in Xia Shou's vision.

[Devouring progress: 23%...]

[Devouring progress: 51%...]

[Devouring: 100%]

...

[Devouring complete. You have obtained a remnant-[Physique Enhancement]]

[Description: The remnant's owner possessed greater talent than ordinary people, but ultimately failed to cross the threshold of "metamorphosis."]

[Effect: Grants powerful strength and greatly increases reflex speed, bone strength, and muscle strength.]

[Cost: As this is a remnant, its power can only be used once, lasting just ten minutes.

However, once consumed, the remnant will leave behind some nutrients and provide you with a small amount of buoyancy for a short time.]

[Note: Though a single remnant offers little, sufficient quantities can reduce a skill's negative costs or enhance its positive effects.]

After reading the information, Xia Shou focused

his mind, and the depth markings from the deep sea appeared in his left eye once more.

...1,221 meters.

He was still 79 meters from the red line at 1,300 meters.