When he fled Jiang City, Chen Ye had heard the rumors.
Anomalies cannot be killed. Only Sequence Beyonders can contend with them.
Sequence Beyonders are humanity’s last hope.
People in the convoy had talked about it along the way. He had never expected a Sequence Beyonder to be traveling among them.
The giant from the convoy, already an outlier at over two meters tall, had transformed. He now stood over three meters, a devilish titan of iron muscle and raw power.
If this wasn’t a Sequence Beyonder, Chen Ye couldn’t imagine what else it could be.
The supermarket’s food section instantly became a battlefield.
It was only now that Chen Ye understood the giant’s earlier, paralyzing fear of the White-Dress Scissor Lady.
The muscular giant roared and punched the Scissor Lady. Chen Ye had no doubt that such a blow could turn an ordinary person into a spray of blood.
Yet the gaunt White-Dress Scissor Lady caught it easily with one hand. Her strength defied understanding.
She squeezed his fist as if kneading dough.
It was a total, humiliating domination.
Chen Ye watched, dumbfounded.
Even this… isn’t enough?
The titan grimaced in pain, his massive frame bending under the Anomaly’s crushing grip. Her laughter was a sinister, grating sound.
Chen Ye did not know what possessed him. He raised his Hand Crossbow and fired.
Thwack!
The bolt flew true, aiming straight for the face hidden behind her curtain of black hair.
The bolt lodged firmly behind her hair but did nothing.
Slowly, the Scissor Lady turned her head. Through the veil of hair, Chen Ye felt a gaze of pure malevolence lock onto him. A shiver racked his entire body.
“Go to hell!!”
The giant drove his other fist into her face, forcing the bolt deeper in.
A system notification flashed across Chen Ye’s vision.
[You attacked the Anomaly: White-Dress Scissor Lady. You obtained Slaughter Points +200]
He had no time to process the reward. Under Chen Ye’s horrified gaze, the titan’s desperate strike did nothing.
The Scissor Lady didn’t even flinch.
A slight movement of her slender arm sent the giant flying through rows of shelves.
This is an Anomaly.
A Sequence Beyonder, hailed as a miracle for humanity, was merely a rag doll before her. In just a few months, Anomalies had driven humans from their cities, turning them into wanderers who lived on the run. They were the cause of this disaster.
“Bitch! I’m going to tear you apart!”
With a furious bellow, the massive figure erupted from the debris. A faint, bloody aura swirled around his skin as he charged again. His vitality was terrifying; even that throw hadn’t slowed him down.
He’s tough, Chen Ye thought, impressed despite the horror. But he’s an idiot.
The titan clearly couldn’t win, yet he kept attacking.
Fine. You fight. I run.
Chen Ye had never considered running away shameful. Even someone as powerful as Old Demon Han fled fast when facing a stronger enemy. He would leave while the big oaf fought the Scissor Lady. Once he reached sunlight, Anomalies would not dare follow.
He shouldered his backpack and sprinted.
“Lady Moon, shine on the coffin bed; little brother waits for candy, crying his heart out…”
Something cold and unyielding clamped around his ankle.
He looked down to find the pale child staring up at him with an eerie smile.
“I want candy, I want candy!”
Chen Ye’s legs felt like lead. He stumbled, his momentum dying.
It’s over.
The thought screamed in his mind.
Then, his eyes landed on the floor. Amidst the chaos of the fight, bags of candy had spilled from the shelves.
Desperate, he grabbed a handful.
“Candy! Here! Take the candy!”
The Weeping Paper Effigy paused, seemingly surprised that he really had candy. It appeared unwilling to take it, yet some rule seemed to compel it.
The pale fingers released Chen Ye’s ankle to snatch the sweets.
The moment he was free, Chen Ye bolted for the exit.
Survivors screamed around him. He glanced back and saw the Weeping Paper Effigy unwrapping the candy. In the distance, the giant was knocked away again, only to rise and charge the Scissor Lady once more, like an unkillable cartoon cockroach.
Sequence Beyonders were hardly useless. The man was strong—or perhaps the White-Dress Scissor Lady was simply too strong.
His sense of danger eased a little. For the moment, at least, he was safe.
He looked around, grabbed two large packages from the fallen shelves, and hurried away.
Behind him, the eerie laughter of the Scissor Lady mixed with the enraged roars of the titan.
He didn’t stop until he burst through the supermarket doors and into the sunlight.
The warmth hitting his skin felt like a resurrection.
Inside, the screams continued.
“Save me! I don’t want to die!”
“No! Don’t come over!”
Anomalies lurked all around. As survivors fled, shadowy figures dragged many back into the dark. The crowds had drawn Anomalies from across Apricot Blossom Town.
Sunlight kept them from coming out. The Anomalies in pursuit clawed and gestured at Chen Ye from the dark, but he could not make out their forms.
Chen Ye gasped, feeling as though his lungs might burst. Sweat soaked his hair and plastered it to his face. He sat heavily in the tricycle’s cargo bed and dropped the two packages into it. His old bicycle could never have carried all this.
“Chen Ye! Why are you sitting on our vehicle? Get down!”
A shrill, unfriendly voice cut through his exhaustion.
Chen Ye turned his head.
Jiajia and Qiangzi stood nearby with two bundles. Seeing a side door, Chen Ye guessed they had entered the supermarket that way and come out safely. Lucky them. Still, from now on, those supplies would be his.
“Chen Ye, what do you think you’re doing? Trying to steal our vehicle?” Jiajia screeched, her face twisted in indignation. “I’m telling you, don’t think we’re afraid of you! Get off my tricycle right now, and I’ll pretend this never happened.”
Chen Ye didn’t speak. He simply raised his Hand Crossbow and pulled back the string.
“Brother Ye, let us talk! Let us talk!” Qiangzi said, beginning to panic.
“Qiangzi, why are you so spineless? I don’t believe he can do anything to us!” Jiajia said.
Thwip!
The bolt cut through the air.
It bypassed Jiajia entirely, burying itself deep in Qiangzi’s throat. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Qiangzi’s eyes bulged. He dropped his bundle, hands flying to his neck, gurgling as he stared at Chen Ye in disbelief.
Blood sprayed across Jiajia’s face.
Jiajia stood frozen, trembling all over and not daring to move. A few drops of liquid appeared on the ground.
“You… you…”
The apocalypse had come only a few months ago. Many people still had not fully adjusted to its rules of survival.
Jiajia was one of them.
Chen Ye had killed Qiangzi first because the muscular trainer posed the greater threat. Cowardly as he was, if driven to fight for his life, the outcome would be uncertain.
A notification flashed.
[You shot and killed your enemy. You obtained Slaughter Points +1000.]
Chen Ye paused in surprise, then hurried to reload his crossbow.
“Chen Ye… you… don’t…”
He was just about to raise his crossbow.
“Ah!~~~”
Jiajia shrieked, spun around, and ran blindly back toward the supermarket’s side door. The terror of the man in front of her outweighed the terror of the monsters behind her.
Thwip!
The bolt struck the wall, then fell to the ground.
She disappeared into the shadows of the side entrance.
“Ah~~!”
Before Chen Ye could react, she screamed again.
“Chen Ye! Save me! Save me!”
Jiajia stumbled back, tears and snot streaming down her face. Her arrogance was gone, her reasonably pretty face pale with terror.
Behind her, a figure in tattered rags stood just inside the threshold.
Just before she reached the sunlight, the ragged figure seized her hair and began dragging her back into the dark.
“Chen Ye, I was wrong! I beg you, save me!”
“I don’t want to die yet!”
“Please! I am still useful! I want to live! I don’t want to die!”
“Chen Ye~~~ I… I have children at home! I can’t die!”
“Chen Ye! You heartless bastard!”
Her pleas turned to screams as the figure slowly, inexorably dragged her back into the darkness.
Chen Ye watched impassively, backing away slightly to ensure he stayed fully in the sun. Her begging moved him as much as the wind.
Only when she vanished completely, leaving nothing but drag marks on the dusty floor, did Chen Ye realize he was soaked in cold sweat.
He put the two bundles into the cargo bed.
Other survivors who had escaped were scattered around the parking lot, witnessing the scene. But no one said a word. No one stepped forward to demand justice.
They hastily loaded supplies onto their vehicles and fled. No one paid the pair any attention.
Chen Ye stood on the pedals of his tricycle and pushed off.
Before leaving, he made sure to pick up the pair’s two bundles and throw them into the cargo bed.