The third floor of the supermarket was the clothing area, well-stocked with all kinds of coats and underwear. It provided both various cabinets as cover and ready-to-use weapons—scattered metal hangers of all shapes and sizes.
The trouble was that the entire third floor had been turned into a complete mess. All the mirrors had been shattered, leaving people with either nowhere to step or a floor covered in broken glass.
Upon seeing the mutant from a distance, not only did Xue Kai gasp, but Ye Mian also frowned slightly.
Though it still maintained a human shape, it stood over three meters tall, reaching all the way to the ceiling. Its arms were significantly longer than those of an ordinary human, and beneath its bluish-white, steel-like skin were bulging, rock-hard muscles.
Tumors grew on its head, neck, and various other parts of its body. As it moved, those tumors throbbed from the inside out, as if something were trying to burst through the skin.
[Middle-grade Mutant, Danger Rating: A, Weakness: Heart]
The heart?
Ye Mian shifted her gaze upward, her frown deepening. Even though Lu Ning was over 1.7 meters tall, she would likely have to jump to reach its heart.
Unless they could trip it and pin it down for a while.
While she was weighing the difficulty of both methods, Lu Ning spoke in a low voice.
“It’s not slow on level ground, but it struggles with stairs. That’s why it has stayed on the third floor, trying to find a breakthrough from above to leave.”
“Also, its hands are much more flexible than you’d imagine. If a single punch misses, it counterattacks instantly. Furthermore, it belongs to the strength-type; its entire body is as hard as an iron wall. It would be difficult to win even with a sneak attack.”
After speaking, Lu Ning turned to look at Ye Mian. “How do you plan to assist me?”
Though she was asking, there was no hint of expectation in Lu Ning’s eyes. Instead, she seemed to be suggesting that it wasn’t too late to regret and retreat.
Ignoring the dissuasive look in her eyes, Ye Mian mused, “So its primary means of attack rely entirely on its hands?”
“…Yes.”
Surprised that Ye Mian could remain so calm at this moment, a flash of astonishment crossed Lu Ning’s expression.
Ye Mian had no time to worry about Lu Ning’s thoughts; a very rough plan quickly took shape in her mind. “That’s perfect. Xue Kai and I will each handle one hand. You wait for the right moment to launch a sneak attack.”
Xue Kai, suddenly called by name, was a bit dazed. “Huh? Me?”
“Yes,” Ye Mian took a step forward, officially stepping onto the third floor. “And remember to hit its heart.”
“Wait—” Lu Ning instinctively reached out to stop her, but she was a step too late. As that familiar roar echoed, her eyes and face instantly turned cold.
They had been discovered.
Seeing Ye Mian charge right in, Xue Kai also hurriedly stumbled along. Seeing the mutant roaring and rushing toward them from the other end of the floor, he activated his skill without a second thought.
Ye Mian looked back at him and raised an eyebrow when she saw four walls appear out of thin air, with a faint white light like a barrier over his head.
It seemed there was no need to worry about him at all.
“I’ll take the left, you take the right.”
“…Okay!”
Hearing that response—which carried an echo—Ye Mian veered to the left, observing the mutant’s movements and speed as it approached.
Just as Lu Ning had said, its lower limbs were less flexible than its hands, and its body was as rigid as a robot, with slight, subtle lags in its movements.
It seemed provoked by Ye Mian’s leisurely, stroll-like pace. It ignored Xue Kai, who was using his “Fortress” every few steps, and swung its clenched fist toward Ye Mian.
Holding her breath and waiting for her chance, Lu Ning saw Ye Mian freeze as if paralyzed by fear. She didn’t dodge, nor did she show signs of using any defensive skill. Lu Ning instinctively closed her eyes, unable to watch.
But the expected sound of a violent impact never came. Instead, there was a deathly silence.
?
When Lu Ning opened her eyes, she was stunned—the mutant’s massive fist was right in front of Ye Mian, but it was stopped by something invisible. No matter how much force it applied, it couldn’t move forward even a single millimeter.
“ROAR—!” Unwilling to give up, the mutant swung another punch. The fierce wind from the strike caused the wall tiles behind Ye Mian to crack, yet she remained standing unharmed.
Punch after punch, even as Ye Mian began walking toward it, those fists simply could not touch her.
What kind of skill is this? Invincibility?
Lu Ning snapped out of it and turned to Xue Kai, who was also frozen in place, having forgotten to use his skill. “Hey, back her up!”
“Ah, oh! Okay!”
Xue Kai quickly began running to the right, making as much noise as possible to draw the mutant’s attention.
“Aaoooh—” Frustrated by Ye Mian, the “hard bone” it couldn’t chew, the mutant immediately vented its rage on the new target, roaring and switching focus to Xue Kai.
In the blink of an eye, the mutant’s iron fist was right before Xue Kai’s eyes. Fortunately, he was timid by nature and didn’t dare look at the mutant. Instead, he closed his eyes and activated “Fortress” frantically, preventing himself from being paralyzed by the terrifying speed.
With a loud BOOM, although the punch didn’t hit the wall directly, the force still pushed Xue Kai and his barrier back a considerable distance.
The repeated failure of its attacks sent the mutant into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Ye Mian kept tossing metal hangers to maintain her presence. The mutant roared in fury, swinging wild punches at both of them and occasionally smashing the floor and walls, causing the entire floor to shake.
The chance is here!
Lu Ning used the chaos to slip into the now even messier third floor, creeping toward the mutant. Remembering Ye Mian’s instruction to hit the heart, she grabbed a sturdy metal pole.
However, despite her best efforts to move quietly, the movement still caused a faint, uncontrollable hum.
The mutant’s hearing surpassed that of a normal human. For a moment, it seemed to sense something, and its head slowly turned toward Lu Ning.
Its eyeballs had been consumed by the mutation, leaving only a layer of cloudy, transparent material; it was clearly blind.
Nevertheless, the gaze made Lu Ning’s breath hitch, and a cold sweat broke out on her back.
If she were exposed at such a critical moment, Ye Mian and Xue Kai’s life-risking efforts would be in vain.
CLANG—
What?
The sudden sound of an impact startled Lu Ning. She peeked out cautiously and was shocked by what she saw. Seizing the opportunity, she moved forward under cover until she was within ten meters of the mutant.
On the other side, though Xue Kai was uninjured behind his barrier, his head was ringing from the force of the punches. Realizing the pressure had vanished, he waited a moment before dropping the barrier and creeping forward while looking toward Ye Mian.
The sight left him speechless. “Holy…”
Ye Mian was no longer satisfied with just being a distraction. She had pulled out her machete and begun counterattacking to provoke the mutant.
While her attacks were completely harmless to the mutant’s hardened body, they successfully fueled its rage. Both fists began swinging at her and her surroundings, causing the floor around her to cave in.
Ye Mian didn’t panic at all. She used the momentum to jump away, heading straight for the mutant’s legs.
“So cool…” Xue Kai’s jaw dropped. Then, with newfound determination, he kicked the fallen cabinets nearby. Seeing that the mutant didn’t care about him, he picked up an iron ornament and threw it. “Come at me!”
But the next second, his bravado vanished, and he could only shiver inside his “Fortress.”
The mutant, perhaps sensing something, suddenly moved toward Xue Kai, dodging Ye Mian’s approach.
At the same time, it shoved cabinets aside to block Ye Mian’s path and threw piles of clothes and hangers onto Xue Kai’s barrier, seemingly intent on burying him since it couldn’t hit him.
It was finally starting to use its brain.
However, this also gave Lu Ning, who had been lying in wait, the perfect opening.
Seeing a figure leap up into the air, Ye Mian rolled with force into the pile of cabinets on the floor, making extra noise to help cover the sound.
But plans change. As the unexpected occurred, Lu Ning was suspended in mid-air with no way to retreat. She could only watch as a bluish-white arm suddenly erupted from one of the mutant’s tumors and struck her with a vicious punch.
BOOM!!!
Seeing Lu Ning fall heavily like a broken kite, Ye Mian frowned, both surprised and unsurprised.
Is this the strength of a middle-grade mutant?
Not only could it suppress its rage to think, but it could also trigger a defensive mechanism while attacking, perfectly blocking a flawless sneak attack.
Then I have to use my trump card.
As the mutant, finally having found a “soft target” it could easily crush, walked toward where Lu Ning had fallen, Ye Mian lay down and kicked off. Using the slippery clothes on the floor, she slid to the mutant’s feet in one breath.
She raised her machete and struck its toes with all her might.
Though [Insight] listed the heart as the weakness, the fact that it preferred attacking with its hands and was wary of anyone getting close suggested that its lower limbs were also a weak point.
Even a slight pain was enough to make the supposedly invincible mutant fly into a rage again and counterattack instinctively.
As Ye Mian expected, after a pained howl, the mutant kicked out violently, trying to swat the annoying “fly” away.
But it forgot one thing—it was too tall, and its balance was much worse than it thought.
When it concentrated its strength into its lower limbs to kick forward, its heavy upper body was pulled backward by inertia.
Whoosh— However, it did have a brain. Just before its entire body could topple backward, it jerked its torso forward, correcting its balance just in time.
“Perfect!”
Ye Mian had been waiting for that downward-bending motion. She rolled up her sleeves and shook both hands upward with force. Instantly, a large amount of nearly transparent powder dispersed into the air.
The mutant, which still possessed its sense of smell, hesitated for a second. It instinctively swung its fist to swat away the strange powder entering its nostrils, but it was too late.
“HA—CHOO—!”
With an earth-shattering sneeze, the entire third floor shook. Cabinets and clothes flew everywhere. Fortunately, no strange fluids were sprayed out with it.
Ye Mian stepped aside and turned to check on Lu Ning, thinking that if she could still fight, she’d call her; if not, she’d grab her and flee.
Instead of finding Lu Ning, she heard a loud CRACK.
“Hmm?” Ye Mian snapped her head back toward the mutant.
It looked as though it had suffered a heavy blow. Its rugged face grew even more distorted. Its mouth was wide open, but it seemed to have lost its voice. Cloudy saliva mixed with dark blood dripped from the corners of its mouth.
With another CRACK, a bloody object flew out, splattering across the floor.
At the moment the mutant crashed to the ground, Ye Mian looked through the gap in its chest and saw a slender but powerful fist.