Stalemate

"Here it comes!"

Shen Heng shouted.

Wu Cheng watched the Calamity Beast reappear, and the Peregrine Falcon that had long been waiting at his fingertips shot out like an arrow.

Roar!

A piercing screech rang out.

But the screech was quickly cut off by the explosion that followed close behind.

The Peregrine Falcon abruptly exploded against the Calamity Beast's back, turning its piercing screech into a howl of pain.

"Hahaha... try coming downstairs past me again!"

Wu Cheng laughed. After successfully hitting the Calamity Beast, he immediately turned to Shen Heng.

"Shen Heng, where's that damned thing heading now?"

"Twenty-third floor!"

Shen Heng updated the Calamity Beast's position without answering Wu Cheng.

It was not that he did not want to answer Wu Cheng, but that the Calamity Beast had no definite direction at the moment.

Wu Cheng's attack just now seemed to have made it realize that getting down safely would be difficult. It was now rampaging wildly around the twenty-third floor, darting left and right, forward and back, leaving Shen Heng unable to tell where exactly it wanted to go.

But that did not matter. Someone would soon help it make that choice.

With two sets of footsteps landing on the twenty-third floor, Wang Hai and Wei Leyang arrived.

Both sides spotted each other immediately and reacted in turn.

The Calamity Beast quickly ran toward the edge of the wall, while Wang Hai abruptly checked his stride and charged straight toward it.

"Wu Cheng, the other side!"

Shen Heng called out a warning based on what he heard.

"Got it!" Wu Cheng replied.

A piercing screech and a violent explosion erupted in Shen Heng's ears.

From the sounds, Shen Heng could tell that Wu Cheng's attack had missed.

First, this time the Calamity Beast had not continued downward through the attack. Second, there was a delay-a delay between the Calamity Beast moving, Shen Heng calling out a warning, and Wu Cheng taking action!

Although that delay might be brief, it undeniably existed.

Judging by Wu Cheng's last two attacks, did the effect of that delay on him come to roughly three floors, or around ten meters?

Beyond ten meters, the Calamity Beast could easily dodge Wu Cheng's attacks. Within ten meters, Wu Cheng could basically guarantee a hit.

"Twenty-fourth floor!"

"Twenty-third floor!"

"Wu Cheng, left!"

"Wu Cheng, right!"

"Left!"

"Still left!"

Shen Heng kept prompting Wu Cheng to attack based on the Calamity Beast's movements.

Yet the Calamity Beast seemed to have figured out Wu Cheng's situation and consistently maintained a safe distance.

Even having Han Ling and Wu Cheng switch positions did not help. Once the Calamity Beast heard them, it stopped even pretending and simply kept heading for Wu Cheng's side.

The two sides seemed to have become locked in a war of attrition.

Shen Heng kept prompting Wu Cheng to attack to prevent the Calamity Beast from darting downstairs, while the Calamity Beast kept circling between the twenty-third and twenty-sixth floors.

Finally, after the Calamity Beast roared and changed floors yet again, Shen Heng could not hold back a muffled groan.

Since Wu Cheng was farther away, he was fine apart from some pain in his eardrums, but Shen Heng suffered for it. Every roar from the Calamity Beast reverberated through his mind, and his head was now beginning to feel muddled and heavy.

Hearing that muffled groan over his earpiece, Wang Hai finally realized what state Shen Heng was in and ended the pointless chase.

"Captain?" Wei Leyang looked at Wang Hai in confusion.

"This isn't getting us anywhere. Start sealing off the walls on this floor, and work your way up!" Wang Hai said.

"But... we're on the twenty-third floor now. That'll leave five floors upstairs where we can't seal the walls. What if we can't catch up with the Calamity Beast then?" Wei Leyang asked.

"Forget that. We'll deal with what happens later when it happens. If we keep this up, we'll only let the Calamity Beast break through our defenses bit by bit!"

Wang Hai spoke gravely, turning to look at Wei Leyang with a solemn expression.

"Seal them!"

Seeing how serious his captain was, Wei Leyang could only take a deep breath and nod.

He slowly walked over to the wall and pressed his palms together, interlacing his fingers. Then he pushed his palms outward, gradually spreading his fingers as he did so, with spiderweb-like threads passing between his fingertips.

"Ensnaring... net!"

Wei Leyang suddenly flung both hands outward, sending a flurry of threads shooting out.

Accompanied by a series of hissing sounds, countless threads pierced into the ceiling and floor.

In the blink of an eye, a wall of threads over ten meters long took shape with an eerie suddenness.

Repeating the process, Wei Leyang quickly finished sealing off every wall on the twenty-third floor.

Then he headed upstairs with Wang Hai.

This time, the Calamity Beast did not play with them, instead obediently heading upstairs.

The twenty-fourth floor, the twenty-sixth, the twenty-seventh, the twenty-ninth...

Hiss, hiss!

Threads pierced into the walls, and the thirty-second floor was sealed off!

With the task complete, Wei Leyang braced both hands on his knees and began panting heavily.

Damn, I miscalculated a little. I almost couldn't finish sealing seven floors!

Wang Hai glanced at the sweat-drenched Wei Leyang. "All right, leave the rest to me!"

"Including the rooftop, there are still five floors. Captain, can you manage?" Wei Leyang asked doubtfully. They had failed to catch the Calamity Beast across four floors below, let alone five now.

"I can only give it a try!"

As he spoke, Wang Hai slowly stepped onto the stairs leading to the thirty-third floor.

The battlefield was dragged up to the top floors, where it fell into a stalemate.

Wang Hai could not catch the Calamity Beast, Wu Cheng could not hit it, and Han Ling, who could hit it, kept being avoided by it...

Roars rang out incessantly at the top of the building. This time, the Calamity Beast was no longer merely roaring to harass them when it changed floors. It was roaring nonstop.

"What the hell does that thing keep howling for?" Taking advantage of the gap just after the Calamity Beast changed floors, Wu Cheng rubbed his ears, troubled by the noise.

"It probably overheard our conversation downstairs and knows Shen Heng is the one providing information. Since its sonic attacks work on Shen Heng, it wants to keep roaring until he passes out. Once Shen Heng can't provide information, it'll have an easier time getting downstairs!" Wang Hai's voice came through the earpiece.

"Hiss..."

Wu Cheng drew in a small breath of cold air. He turned to glance at Shen Heng and saw his brows tightly knitted, clearly struggling to endure it.

"What do we do, then?"

"How about I lend you my gun?" Han Ling asked.

"Don't joke around. I'm not much good with guns. Even if I knew how to use one, once I coated it with my ability, the barrel would melt. How would I use it then?" Wu Cheng said.

Han Ling smiled, unbothered. She had only been making a casual suggestion anyway.

"Hurry up and think of something. If Shen Heng can't hold on, won't this Calamity Beast get away?" Wu Cheng said again.

Everyone fell silent at his words. Of course they wanted to catch the Calamity Beast too, but wasn't the problem that they really could not find a way?

After a long while, someone's voice finally came through the earpieces.

"How about... we blow up this building?"