The hidden room was tiny, so cramped it was stifling. It was impossible for all four of them to enter at once, so Xin Ye and Leng Xianye went in first to take a look.
Though Xin Ye had seen all manner of corpses and various ways to die, he couldn't help but let out a small hiss of breath at the sight of such a jarring scene.
It was the skeleton of a man, roughly 1.8 meters tall. It lay wedged between the walls, taking up half the room. The interior of the bones had been stuffed full of decaying muscle tissue and internal organs; the surface had turned a brownish-black, dappled with sickly green spots.
Because there was no skin to contain them, the viscera from the abdominal area had spilled across the floor. The parts within the chest fared slightly better, where a thin membrane clung to the inside of the ribs, forming a fragile enclosure.
Lian Muyun poked his head in over Leng Xianye’s shoulder, only to immediately recoil and gag.
Xing Yue stood on her tiptoes to peer inside. Compared to the previous curious onlooker, she was significantly more composed. "Something looks wrong."
"Those bones... they look too clean. It doesn't look like the organs and the skeleton grew together naturally," Leng Xianye said, stepping aside to give Xing Yue a better view.
"I don't see a single scrap of clothing. To be honest, I can't immediately confirm if this is the person from the Eighth Division," Xin Ye said, suppressing the urge to leave out of sheer disgust. "The mutants were too purposeful in pushing us here. I suspect a high-intelligence mutant is pulling the strings. The relationship between that mutant and this corpse is likely the reason it’s commanding ordinary mutants to attack ability users."
Having recovered slightly, Lian Muyun stood to the side, wondering how his teammates could still think so rationally.
Leng Xianye asked, "Is there a high-intelligence mutant in this place?"
Xin Ye nodded. "Yes. Tang Qiuqiu and I saw a white lion on the second floor. But because Qiuqiu said it didn't harbor any malice, I stayed my hand for the time being."
"Where is Tang Qiuqiu now?"
Leng Xianye was clearly dissatisfied with Xin Ye's decision and wanted to ask Tang Qiuqiu personally what he meant by a mutant having "no malice." Only then did he realize Tang Qiuqiu was no longer with the group.
Xing Yue tried to initiate a voice call, but the other side still didn't pick up.
"We need to find him," Xin Ye said, starting to fret again. He wanted to grab a biscuit, but his hands were covered in filthy blood. "The worst thing to do when a teammate is in trouble is to sit around guessing. It's better to just ask him directly."
However, just as he intended to step outside, the mummified mutants, which had been quiet for some time, rioted once more.
One withered body after another lunged forward like a tide of black and yellow. Their behavior this time was even more direct; they swarmed forward, biting at Xin Ye’s legs to drag him back into the room. Seeing this, Leng Xianye immediately reached out to pull him back, only to have his hand swatted away by Xin Ye.
Nearby, Lian Muyun had already assumed a stance to use his ability, but he froze upon seeing this.
Xin Ye allowed the mutants to drag him back into the room, mouthing a silent command to Leng Xianye:
*Go to the second floor and find Tang Qiuqiu.*
Xing Yue tried to pull Xin Ye out with her Unbreakable Silk, but Leng Xianye grabbed her wrist.
"Let's go."
The mutants ignored the three people fleeing toward the upper floors, focusing entirely on trapping Xin Ye inside the hidden room.
The stone wall began to move again—the mutants were shoving it shut. Lacking the capacity for thought, they didn't care about their companions; several mutant cats and dogs were nearly crushed flat in the closing gap, yet they remained single-mindedly focused on completing their task.
Finally, the room fell into total darkness.
Xin Ye didn't dare lean against the wall. With nothing to grip, he could only clutch the mirror shard in his hand.
"I won't die anyway, right?" Xin Ye waited for the next development, listening to his heartbeat grow louder in the silence.
【See? Without me guiding you, you're back to gambling with your life?】 Xun Yin had been holding back for a long time, typing away in his mind, and finally couldn't resist chiming in.
"How can you call it gambling? This is called rational analysis."
Xin Ye heard a faint sound to his left, and his suspicions were largely confirmed. "When I saw that skeleton stuffed with meat, I realized the bones and the organs didn't belong to the same person. If one part belongs to that unlucky fellow from the Eighth Division, then who does the other part belong to in this story?"
"...Bones that clean. Do you think they might belong to that 'kind soul' who died years ago?"
At one end of the room, the sound of a stone being pushed out and hitting the floor echoed. A sliver of light returned to Xin Ye's vision.
The White Lion stepped slowly out of a side passage. It carried a candle in its mouth, its posture still elegant, though it was covered in many long, deep bloody gashes compared to twenty minutes ago.
Xin Ye recognized at a glance that the wounds were caused by Tang Qiuqiu. He chuckled and asked Xun Yin in his mind, "What exactly does this lion want? Is it coming for me? Look how angry it made Qiuqiu."
Though there was a smile on his face, his hand drifted toward the gun holstered at his waist.
【It wants to resurrect that employee,】 Xun Yin replied. Hearing that Xin Ye didn't seem to take the lion seriously, the system also inexplicably relaxed. 【After all these years, only a skeleton remains of that man. One of the abilities the White Lion acquired is 'Physical Stasis.' It wants to find the flesh and blood of others to fill the frame, then combine it with its own ability to resurrect its benefactor.】
【Unfortunately, the lion's intellectual evolution isn't quite there yet. Resurrection is never that simple.】
【In short, it targeted the body of that Eighth Division member last time, and now it’s set its sights on you. Because your ability, 'Mirror Self,' can create a brand-new body, and you're the lowest-ranked person here.】
【Now the White Lion is preparing to kill you to restuff the skeleton. It’s at the tail end of B-rank. Do you think you can take it?】
Xin Ye: "Hmm... I should be able to, right?"
He watched as the lion arched its back, its pale blue eyes actually flushing red with killing intent. He simply tossed his gun lightly in his hand.
"Even though everyone still seems to think I'm weak."
***
Five minutes earlier.
Tang Qiuqiu leaped from the ground in cat form, shifting back into human form just as he was about to land on the lion's head. His front claws dug fiercely into the White Lion's back while his feet kicked hard against its neck.
In terms of combat experience, humans ultimately far surpassed mutants—especially mutants that had evolved in specialized directions.
By now, the White Lion had already taken many hits from Tang Qiuqiu’s claws. Its mane was mostly torn away, unable to hide the wounds covering its body. It let out a miserable cry and collapsed, its strength spent.
However, Tang Qiuqiu had no intention of letting the lion go just to find a way to open the door.
Thanks to Xin Ye, the entire team had the good habit of carrying daggers. He held the blade, gesturing over the White Lion's limbs. "I'll just cripple you. That way, you won't be able to come out and cause trouble for our team again."
He hadn't studied anatomy, so he was prepared to be sprayed with red before he struck. But in reality, after several stabs, not a single drop of lion blood touched his hands, let alone his face.
"Is it because of the mutation ability...?"
Tang Qiuqiu used the dagger to pull a wound open, looking at the cross-section. He understood.
The blood flowing from the vessels seemed to have no forward momentum; it stopped simply due to surface tension, not a single extra drop spilling out.
"A physical state nearing stasis? No wonder it still looks so well-preserved on the outside."
Though the other small albino animals had fled far away during the fight, they were inevitably caught in the crossfire. Several were already dead.
Tang Qiuqiu patted the lion's head. "See? You weren't good to them at all. All that talk about saving them was just a front to deceive me. Not like my Captain. He must be so worried right now, thinking I'm being bullied by you lot."
In the end, to be safe, Tang Qiuqiu slit the White Lion's throat before standing up to leave the room.
The silver in his eyes had not faded; instead, it seemed to be intensifying. The mutants outside the door seemed to have received an order to withdraw. Logically, Tang Qiuqiu should have only needed a bit of strength to push it open, but when he did, it didn't feel like he was using force at all.
It was as easy as tearing a sheet of paper.
He was completely oblivious to the signs that his ability was spiraling out of control.
Returning to the corridor, Tang Qiuqiu’s expression reverted to his previous timid and nervous state. He hurried toward the stairwell, wanting to go down and regroup with his teammates.
"Everyone is on the basement floor, right? I'm coming... I actually hung up on Sister Xing Yue. I should apologize properly to everyone when I get back..."
His attention was entirely on the path ahead, so he naturally didn't notice the movement in the room behind him. Of course, a defeated foe rarely catches the victor's eye again.
However, this was exactly why many slimy loaches are able to slip into the sewers and escape.
The body that Tang Qiuqiu believed had lost all signs of life repaired its own damage within a mere thirty seconds. Cells that had maintained a state of peak condition but had long ceased physiological activity suddenly restarted and functioned, allowing the White Lion to replenish its blood flow. It climbed back up from the floor.
It licked the corpses of the small dead animals, smearing its saliva over their wounds. Those small animals actually opened their eyes slowly, letting out low cries.
Seeing the small animals return to life, the White Lion gave a slight, seemingly relieved nod. It walked to a corner, dug out a secret passage, and resolutely headed downward.
For some reason, Tang Qiuqiu’s steps were unsteady. He took a nasty spill on the stairs leading to the first floor, scraping his face in several places.
But he didn't dare stop for a second. He scrambled up and continued running down, though his legs were shaking more and more.
In the first-floor corridor, using the enhanced vision from his ability, he saw three figures running toward him from a great distance. His first reaction was joy, but unease quickly surged—
Those three were Leng Xianye, Lian Muyun, and Xing Yue. Where was Xin Ye?
Could it be that the White Lion's plan had... Impossible! Hadn't it just died by his hand?!
The moment they drew close, Leng Xianye’s first instinct was to grab Tang Qiuqiu by the collar. Xing Yue couldn't stop him, but fortunately, Lian Muyun was quick, stepping in to block him.
Without giving Leng Xianye a chance to get angry, Lian Muyun pulled Tang Qiuqiu to his side.
"Don't say anything else. We have to save the Captain first."
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
不断丝 | Unbreakable Silk | Xing Yue's ability; threads that are extremely durable.
镜中我 | Mirror Self | Xin Ye's ability; allows him to create a mirror image/duplicate.
凝固躯体状态 | Physical Stasis | The White Lion's ability to keep its body (or others) in a fixed, non-decaying state.
黑盒 | Black Box | Leng Xianye's ability; used for devouring or trapping targets.
