Chapter 78 - 73: Butcher of the Night

Chapter 78: Chapter 73: Butcher of the Night

9:57 PM. The abandoned industrial zone.

Most of the moonlight was obscured by the clouds, leaving only sparse patches of light scattered across the ruins.

Yin Zhen stepped onto the broken bricks, emitting a faint crunch. The Shadow Servant at her feet stretched its head, looking around in all directions.

She wore a loose black tracksuit with her Fake Certificate tucked into her pocket. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she still wore that grotesque, bloody mask on her face.

When she reached the open clearing in the center of the factory area, Yin Zhen came to a halt. Footsteps. A lot of them!

Taking two long, narrow pig-killing knives from her backpack, Yin Zhen shot a cold glare to her left.

A Blood Clan invader emerged from a collapsed workshop. He wore an orange sanitation worker’s vest and gripped a rusted steel pipe.

A second Blood Clan invader stepped out from behind an abandoned shipping container. He wore a food delivery rider’s uniform with his helmet askew.

A third, a fourth, a fifth... More and more of them appeared, forming a tight circle around the clearing.

They said nothing. They just stared at her, like a pack of starving wild dogs eyeing a piece of meat.

Yin Zhen’s gaze swept across their faces, suddenly pausing on a particular woman.

It was the coach’s wife. The shell belonged to her, but the soul did not.

Yin Zhen tightened her grip on her twin pig-killing knives and silently equipped her Character Card.

The Shadow Servant rose from beneath her feet and stood back-to-back with her. Two identical black blades materialized in its hands.

"Kill her!"

The first Blood Clan member charged forward. Yin Zhen dodged the swinging steel pipe and slashed upward with her Molecular Sharpening enhanced blade, slitting his throat.

Blood sprayed out, splattering onto her mask.

[Killed Blood Clan invader, obtained 100 word count, attribute points x1]

"Has the price dropped because of the high quantity?"

Yin Zhen scoffed. The second had already lunged at her. She raised her foot and kicked him hard in the knee. As the man pitched forward, the Shadow Servant swung its blade from the side, decapitating him.

[Killed Blood Clan invader, obtained 100 word count, attribute points x1]

[Killed Blood Clan invader, obtained 100 word count, attribute points x1]

A third, a fourth...

Yin Zhen’s body weaved through the chaotic battlefield. Her blades traced arcs of light through the air, and with every strike, a head rolled to the ground.

The Shadow Servant’s movements synchronized flawlessly with hers, as if they had rehearsed this thousands of times. When she blocked one, the Shadow Servant finished it off. When the Shadow Servant entangled two, she circled behind to behead them.

The two of them darted through the Blood Clan horde like intertwined streaks of black lightning.

The eleventh!

Yin Zhen severed her opponent’s neck in a single slash. The head flew off, bounced twice on the ground, and rolled right to the feet of the coach’s wife.

Looking at her, Yin Zhen remembered the photo in the coach’s house—she was standing beside her husband, cradling her child, and smiling gently.

The female Blood Clan invader’s eyes were already filled with fear as she looked at Yin Zhen. In the massive square, she was the only one left.

The steel pipe slipped from the woman’s hands and clattered to the ground. She turned and fled.

"Your family is waiting for you!"

A flash of a blade gleamed. The head of the coach’s wife flew into the air, and her body swayed before collapsing to the ground.

[Killed Blood Clan invader, obtained 100 word count, attribute points x1]

Gripping her knives, Yin Zhen stood amidst the sea of headless corpses, blood dripping steadily from her mask.

The Shadow Servant remained by her side, blood dripping from its shadowy blades as well.

"No wonder you dared to come alone. You truly live up to the title of the strongest Player!"

Applause rang out from the ruins. Yin Zhen shot a murderous glare in that direction.

Two figures stood by the collapsed workshop—one muscular, one thin.

"Where is the Black Domain Walker?"

"If you want to see him, follow us."

The two Blood Clan members dashed deeper into the area at breakneck speed, disappearing into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

Even though she knew it was a trap, Yin Zhen chased after them without hesitation, her Shadow Servant following closely behind.

The two Blood Clan members led her deeper and deeper, weaving through the collapsed workshops until they reached an abandoned material yard at the very back of the industrial zone.

Piles of scrap metal formed small mountains. Rusted rebars, deformed steel plates, scrapped machine tools... and unnamed industrial wreckage were stacked on top of one another.

CLICK!

Giant searchlights flicked on from all sides simultaneously—at least eight of them—illuminating the entire junkyard as brightly as day.

The light was so intense that Yin Zhen’s eyes instinctively narrowed. Her shadow was compressed down to her feet, shrinking into a tiny ball. The Shadow Servant hid in the pitiful sliver of shade behind her heels, squirming uneasily.

The very trick she had once used against Sheng Yehan was now being used against her.

Squinting against the glaring light, Yin Zhen looked toward the tallest mountain of metal in the center.

A man sat at the peak. He had an ordinary appearance but exuded an imposing aura as he looked down at her from above.

Quentin Archer!

"I was just worrying about not being able to find a Player, and here you are, delivering yourself right to my doorstep. It is your honor to become a sacrifice for God!"

As soon as his voice faded, a massive industrial pendulum next to him swung fiercely toward Yin Zhen following Quentin’s hand gesture.

...

At the entrance of the abandoned industrial zone, the off-road vehicle Bai Qiang had "borrowed" drifted to a halt.

She stepped out of the car, wearing a mask traced with blue lines and a black windbreaker, gripping an unassuming handgun.

Not long after walking through the half-open gates, Bai Qiang caught the thick scent of blood. Using Shadow Instant Teleportation, she arrived at the square. Her eyes widened at the sight of the corpses littering the clearing.

Twelve bodies, all decapitated.

"Whoa! Where did this butcher come from! My old partner? I just notified her, so how did she get here before me? Such dedication?"

Bai Qiang crouched down and examined the wound on one of the corpses. The cut was clean and sharp, without the slightest hesitation.

"This technique alone is worth five million!"

Bai Qiang stood up and continued walking deeper into the ruins.

...

A few minutes later, Nan Jiamu arrived with her team.

She wore a camouflage Combat Uniform. Following behind her were Trouble, Xian Yu, Ye Se, Signal, and several special agents.

Two armored vehicles parked outside the factory area, their searchlights sweeping across the ruins.

Satellite footage had shown a large number of suspicious individuals gathering here tonight, so Nan Jiamu personally led her team to investigate.

"Captain, look."

The group entered the square and saw the corpses.

Nan Jiamu crouched down to examine the wounds. "Decapitated in a single strike. Clean and efficient. Their Combat Power is quite high."

"Is it my grandma?"

Trouble blurted this out without thinking. Catching the strange looks from everyone around him, he coughed and hastily corrected himself.

"I mean, is it Blossoming Prosperity?"

"There are traces of two people fighting together here. It’s highly likely that Blossoming Prosperity and Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence are acting together."

Nan Jiamu stood up, peered deeper into the ruins, and turned to look at the people behind her.

"You all stay here. I will go in alone."

Before anyone could voice an objection, Nan Jiamu raised her hand to stop them.

"Although I don’t know what Blossoming Prosperity and Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence are up to, this definitely has something to do with the Black Domain Walker and those Blood Clan members. Furthermore, the Black Domain Walker didn’t hack the satellite; instead, he intentionally let us see the anomaly here. It’s highly likely a trap.

"If Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence’s intel is true, the Black Domain Walker and his group only need to kill two more Players to open the gates to our world. I can’t take that risk. Trust me, I don’t die that easily! You all stay here with the special agents. If anything happens, prioritize your own survival above all else."

With that said, Nan Jiamu charged into the darkness alone.