Predicament

"Could this be the scythe known as a Sealed Item?"

A thought flashed through Suren's mind, and he immediately realized something.

In the Memory Fragment he had extracted, the Mutated Monster had clearly been wary of that scythe. That meant the scythe-shaped object was definitely no ordinary item, and it very likely possessed curse-related properties.

Moreover, judging by its appearance, it completely matched the description of Hypnos's Night Black Scythe given earlier by the gang's higher-ups.

Thinking back, the person who had attacked the gang headquarters was said to have fled near Green Street and was suspected of hiding in the underground pipes. Suren immediately concluded that the scythe in the monster's memory was very likely that very item!

"So that guy actually came here? The scythe is here, so did he die, or did he escape?"

Suren felt that the man had most likely died as well.

That place was the monster's lair. The chances of a living person entering it and surviving were slim.

Although he had obtained some unexpected information from the Memory Fragment of the monster's corpse, it did not change Suren's current situation in the slightest.

Regardless of whether the scythe was a Sealed Item or possessed some incredible use, it was deep in the sewer and could not solve his immediate crisis.

Moreover, although Suren now had some "sewer layout maps" in his mind, the monster's consciousness differed greatly from a human's. Even if these pipes looked familiar to him now, that was all they were. Aside from the Tube Building exit, he could not think of a better escape route.

But at this moment, monsters surged out from the depths of the Underground Chamber like a tide, blocking the subway tunnel completely. The only exit had become a dead end.

Not far away, the gunfire from the Steam Party's men had gradually grown sparse.

The greater the commotion, the more Mutated Monsters it naturally attracted.

Fortunately, their firepower was formidable, and they had drawn most of the monsters' attention away from Suren and Kai. Otherwise, the monsters could have torn the two of them apart in an instant.

That "Red Hair," Kuntu, was still holding on. His fiery spells set blazing flames roaring everywhere, and the area-of-effect magic scorched the monsters until they released ear-piercing shrieks.

However, like gunmen, Magic Casters had high damage but obvious weaknesses.

Once enemies closed in, their melee abilities were poor.

Besides, even though Kuntu used semi-mechanical spellcasting, there were still gaps between his spells.

The densely packed monsters surged forward during those gaps and tore into him with bite after bite.

As fewer and fewer of the gang members around him remained alive, that man's death was already within expectation.

On the other hand, Suren and Kai were in a bad situation as well.

Fighting as they retreated, the two of them were forced into a culvert that seemed to have been built beside the tunnel to drain water away from passing trains.

The advantage was that they only had to deal with the monsters in front of them instead of being attacked from all sides.

The disadvantage was that more and more monsters were gathering outside, making it increasingly difficult for them to break out.

"This is bad. There are too many monsters, and we're injured. We probably won't be able to fight our way out. We can only wait for reinforcements."

However, there was also an element of self-comfort in Kai's words.

That fully armed group from the Steam Party had been wiped out here. Even if Green Street's reinforcements received the news and rushed over, they might not be able to get in and rescue them.

Unless one of the gang's officers came personally.

But the two of them might not be able to hold out until then.

Thinking of this, Kai mechanically swung his blade while cursing furiously, "Damn it, how can there be such a huge group of Mutated Monsters in the city's sewers!"

This was what puzzled Suren as well.

The Dark Spiritual Energy outside the city was dense, so monsters were nothing unusual. But within Old Lindun, the conditions for mutation were limited, and people regularly cleared them out. Why were there so many monsters in the sewers?

The density of monsters in these sewers was definitely abnormal.

Moreover, under the All-Seeing Eye's appraisal, they were all Mutated Monsters that had mutated due to special environmental factors.

It was as if the Mutated Monsters in the sewers had undergone uncontrolled mutations for some reason, awakening all sorts of strange abilities.

There were the wall-crawling monsters with long mouthparts from earlier, the hulking monsters shaped like mountains of flesh, the tall monsters with long arms and legs, and the corrosive monsters capable of spraying acid.

These monsters possessed ranged attacks, forcing Suren and Kai back step by step.

"."

Suren did not answer Kai's curses. His index fingers were already numb from repeatedly pulling the triggers with both hands.

There were simply too many monsters. Even without deliberately aiming, he could hit them at random.

Yet despite killing so many, new monsters continued to surge forward endlessly.

"I'm going to use explosives to collapse the entrance, Captain! Watch out!"

"Got it!"

During a gap while changing magazines, Suren took the opportunity to throw out a grenade. It blasted a group of monsters away and temporarily eased the pressure.

He felt that there might be some problem with the sewers, but now was not the time to think about it.

Fortunately, Kai was a melee-class fighter. Otherwise, no matter how good Suren's shooting was, he would have been swallowed by the monster tide after firing only a few shots.

Looking again, Kai's condition was growing worse from the continued high-intensity battle, and he was having increasing difficulty holding the monsters off. Without hesitation, Suren decisively chose to use a directional explosive to collapse part of the tunnel.

This would narrow the exit and reduce the monsters' attack space.

But it also meant that they would no longer be able to get out.

With a bang, the rubble fell and precisely blocked most of the entrance.

Kai seized the opportunity as well, using his blade to cut through several huge rocks overhead and seal the last remaining gap. The two of them collapsed there.

Beyond the rocks, they could hear the monsters constantly digging at the rubble with a rustling sound.

Those sharp-toothed monsters dug very quickly. The rubble probably would not hold for long.

Suren and Kai seized the precious respite to bandage their wounds and reload their ammunition.

At this critical moment between life and death, Suren no longer held anything back. He took out the remaining Alchemical Bullets and loaded them into the cylinder of Three-Headed Ghost.

Kai was not used to firearms, so he stuffed several grenades onto himself instead.

The acid sprayed by the monsters and the wounds licked by their mouthparts left the two of them looking battered and miserable. Fortunately, after cleaning their wounds and injecting Healing Potions, they were not seriously affected.

After finishing all this, they had perhaps a few minutes left to rest.

Kai looked at Suren and sighed. "Brother, I'm afraid we won't make it past this hurdle today."

Having lived in the underworld since childhood, Kai had long been prepared to end up as a corpse in the street. He sounded quite calm as he said this.

He had expected to see at least a trace of fear on Suren's face, but the man merely continued loading his ammunition with an utterly calm expression, showing not the slightest bit of fear or panic.

Kai thought of the scene where they had killed the Steam Party's men earlier. Even now, he still felt as though he had been dreaming.

The two of them had actually killed thirty of the others?!

Heh, it was worth it.

Unable to understand why Suren was so calm, Kai asked doubtfully, "You're not even nervous right now?"

Suren did not elaborate. "I was born with a somewhat cold personality."

A look of understanding appeared on Kai's face. "Oh."

Perhaps because he felt they were about to die, Kai suddenly became much more talkative.

"Suren, I didn't expect you to know Gun-Fu."

"Yeah. I've always practiced my shooting."

"That's the famous Three-Headed Ghost?"

The two of them had forged a bond through hardship. Since they did not even know whether they would survive, Suren felt there was no need to hide it. After all, the gun was far too recognizable.

He nodded indifferently. "Yeah."

Hearing this answer, Kai looked at Suren's bald head and smoky eye makeup, as if he had guessed something. He suddenly became interested.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked with an expression full of malicious amusement, "Could it be that you're Iron Head Ivan's son?"

"."

Suren's eyelid twitched as he listened. He had no idea how Kai's train of thought had led him there.

Kai guessed that it definitely was not true, but he was making light of their desperate situation and joked, "Don't worry, I'll keep your secret."

Suren explained, "No. I killed him."

"You actually killed Ivan?"

Kai's eyes filled with disbelief. This was an even more explosive piece of news than learning that Suren was Ivan's illegitimate son.

Ivan was a veteran assassin of the Crow Gang. He was an even more troublesome profession holder than Steel Gorilla Sith from earlier, and he was not someone an ordinary person could kill.

But after thinking about the combat strength Suren had displayed earlier, Kai guessed that the man had plenty of secrets.

A young Firearm Expert who also knew Gun-Fu definitely had an extraordinary background.

But many people in the gang had secrets in their past. He did not press further and said seriously, "If we get out alive, I'll keep your secret."

"Yeah."

Suren said no more.

He had already exposed some of his trump cards today. Continuing to conceal them would only seem unnecessary.

Actually, when he thought about it carefully, he had only one secret that truly could not be exposed: the identity of the original owner of his body.

As for the rest...

Neither of his two S-Rank Talents had any outwardly visible characteristics. As long as he did not reveal them, no one else would know;

His "Abomination Puppeteer" profession could be passed off as that of an ordinary puppeteer;

As for his shooting, in a gang where armed fights were as common as eating, it would inevitably be exposed sooner or later.

Although they had not known each other for very long, Suren felt that Captain Kai was worthy of some trust.

Besides, Kai had saved his life before.