Had Xing Yue spared even a glance behind her, she would have seen the Mirror Image suddenly vanish.
He had returned to the mirror shard, reverting to his state as an ability, becoming a part of that dazzling radiance.
The mother Pipa Toad’s eyes were pierced by the white light. Its primal instincts urged its lumbering body to flee, yet it was pinned in place by an invisible force, unable to move a muscle.
S-rank.
The survival instincts of a lone mutant were pathetic and fragile before the suppression of an S-rank ability.
It lowered its head submissively, allowing the sharp shard to plunge into its abdomen. Its eyes, once filled with malice, were now clouded with a mix of fervor and reverence.
It was the inevitable byproduct of a hierarchy dictated by strength.
The overwhelming pressure of the ability first rippled across the entire top floor. Not far away, the other mother Pipa Toad was also affected; it loosened its tongue and dropped Xing Yue to the ground.
The corner of the shard had only shallowly entered the toad’s body, yet a sensation of extreme compression instantly filled the mutant’s interior. A pocket of space from another world was momentarily released, the pressure detonating its crowded internal organs.
As the light faded, blood erupted from the wound, and the mother toad’s carcass slumped lifelessly to the side.
Drenched in blood, Xin Ye stood frozen. The heat in his body gradually receded. He hadn't realized how dire his physical condition was until the adrenaline faded; once it did, he finally collapsed.
The expected impact of his head hitting the floor never came. The Mirror Image tore himself free from the shard just in time to catch Xin Ye, letting the boy lean against him.
Propped up by the Mirror Image, Xin Ye’s first words were a strained question: "How are Xing Yue and Lian Muyun?"
"Can't you spare a little concern for yourself?" The Mirror Image was frustrated enough to want to push him away, but he answered nonetheless. "I’ve already checked Lian Muyun’s injuries. As for Xing Yue... she just killed the other mother toad on her own."
"The other one?" Xin Ye’s expression went blank for a second. He quickly urged the Mirror Image to help him over to check the situation.
After Xing Yue had been dropped, her Unbroken Threads continued to burrow deep into the mutant’s body. The silver-purple filaments wrapped themselves tightly around the toad’s heart, inside and out, and then—they constricted.
The result was self-evident.
Xin Ye had the Mirror Image settle him against a vending machine before sending him to help Xing Yue.
Seeing the toad’s corpse on the other side and Xin Ye standing safely before her, Xing Yue felt tears escape her eyes again. "I’m glad you’re okay. I’m sorry... I couldn't get back to find you."
Xin Ye couldn't stand seeing people cry. He reached up to wipe her tears, but the blood on his hands accidentally smeared beneath the girl’s eyes. "Don't cry. I’m alive."
One crisis was resolved, but someone had left another in its wake.
The Mirror Image briefed Xin Ye on the situation downstairs. The buzzing of insects was still growing louder, though the temporary S-rank suppression from the mirror shard had slowed its escalation. Xin Ye leaned on the Mirror Image as they walked to the railing and looked down.
The toad hatchlings hidden throughout the building couldn't resist the temptation and were converging on the first floor. They leaped and lashed out with their tongues, doing everything they could to devour the wood-boring beetles that formed the "black whirlwind." However, Xin Ye’s focus wasn't on the hatchlings; he was more concerned with why the insects had gathered in the first place.
Forgetting his own injuries again, he started, "Let’s go, we need to get down—"
"Don't go down. I’ll do it." The Mirror Image pressed a hand onto Xin Ye’s shoulder. "The mothers are dead. Those things down there aren't a threat to me. You stay here and help Xing Yue tend to the wounds on her face."
The sharp pain in his ribs robbed Xin Ye of the power to argue. He could only nod. "Then I’m counting on you."
The Mirror Image turned to leave but was caught by the sleeve. "Wait. Don't rush down yet. Look again."
"The center of that whirlwind... is there red in it?"
***
Leng Xianye had been hiding in a small room on the fourth floor for a long time.
Initially, his assigned route was also to explore downward from the roof. However, unlike Lian Muyun, he had reached the top floor via the internal service stairs.
Arriving ahead of his teammates, Leng Xianye chose to explore the eastern corridor—the side opposite the amusement park. Unfortunately, he encountered a mother Pipa Toad right at the start, and in the ensuing flight, his multi-function watch was snatched away by its tongue.
The chase spanned most of the top floor, even shattering the glass of the observation deck. When Leng Xianye passed the amusement park entrance again, he ran straight into Lian Muyun, who was fleeing from within.
And right behind Lian Muyun was another mother toad, hot on his heels.
Lian Muyun: "What a coincidence, Brother Leng."
Leng Xianye: "..."
Double the high-level mutants, double the joy of the chase.
A coincidence like this was better left unexperienced.
Leng Xianye knew that human stamina was no match for a mutant’s. Meaningless exhaustion would only decrease his chances of survival. Thus, at a bend in the corridor, he shoved Lian Muyun behind him. "Keep running. Don't stop."
As he spoke, he came to a halt. A massive sphere of black energy manifested in mid-air, forcibly bringing both toads to a stop.
He intended to overextend his ability to create an escape window for Lian Muyun.
Having known him for so long, Lian Muyun knew exactly what his childhood friend was planning. His face fell instantly. "You can't!"
"If you don't run now, it’ll be too late." Leng Xianye’s hand, controlling the energy, dipped slightly before he forced it back up. "This is wasteful. It’s irrational."
The mother toad in front croaked impatiently. It tried to break through the energy sphere to reach the human behind it, only for the skin on its forelimbs to be swallowed whole, exposing the raw flesh beneath.
Seeing his ability work, Leng Xianye felt a flicker of relief.
At least it was effective.
The volume of energy he needed to maintain was too great. Because his own capacity was insufficient, the center of the "Black Box" was no longer pure black but streaked with impurities. Still, he was confident he could hold out until Lian Muyun escaped.
However, before Leng Xianye could even catch his breath, he was yanked backward.
The connection between the ability and the user snapped. Some of the dissipated energy did not return to Leng Xianye but instead clung to the body of one of the Pipa Toads.
Lian Muyun had originally intended to follow Leng Xianye’s lead, escape, and find the other teammates to come back for him. But when he saw the impurities in the energy, he changed his mind.
Both Xing Yue and Yi Ting had told him that losing control of an ability was extremely dangerous.
Leng Xianye’s ability was unique, and his family background was deep. If it came down to their relative value, Leng Xianye was undoubtedly the one more worth protecting.
Setting those reasons aside, Leng Xianye was his best friend since childhood. Therefore, he would much rather be the one injured than see it happen to Leng.
*Sigh, if only I were S-rank. I could hand-craft a nuke; why would I be afraid of these crappy mutants?*
"Buddy, let’s swap," Lian Muyun said. The moment the protection of the black energy vanished, he activated his ability, propping a cannon on his shoulder and firing a shot at the two mutants. "If you don't run now, it’ll be too late, okay?"
The exact same words Leng Xianye had used.
Lian Muyun’s injured left hand was still shaking.
Leng Xianye was stunned by that pull. When the person standing in front became Lian Muyun, all his logic and composure felt like nonsense.
But that was merely the judgment his brain made after being flooded with panic.
In the end, he fled, while Lian Muyun was ensnared by the toad’s tongue around his left wrist and dragged back.
Leng Xianye killed many toad hatchlings along the way before finally hiding on the fourth floor. He discovered that after manipulating such a massive sphere of energy, his body temperature began to skyrocket. Unlike a normal fever, however, he remained perfectly lucid despite being unable to walk.
He even felt as though his intellect was undergoing a second evolution.
Eventually, beyond the abnormal temperature, Leng Xianye felt a pain that permeated his entire body, as if something were trying to tear him apart from the inside.
To distract himself, he could only close his eyes and listen to the sounds outside. At first, there was silence, but after a while, the buzzing of wings, the sound of doors opening in adjacent rooms, the croaking of hatchlings, and other noises emerged.
Leng Xianye had no way of knowing what was happening outside or how much time had passed. He could only pray his condition would improve, though it seemed to be steadily worsening.
He bit down on his sleeve, drew the dagger from his leg strap, and stabbed his own thigh.
There was no relief.
Just as he was about to give up and force himself to stand through the pain and fever to push the door open, a clear wave swept through his mind.
Leng Xianye could feel that it was a high-level ability fluctuation from another person. Instinct told him it was a form of pressure used to intimidate or suppress an opponent, yet it felt incredibly soothing to him.
The fluctuations within him were guided and calmed. The heat receded, and Leng Xianye opened his eyes.
He felt as though his ability had leveled up.
Once his symptoms eased, he immediately pushed the door open, only to see the whirlwind of wood-boring beetles and the mutant hatchlings jumping down.
The sight was so hideous it made his eyes ache.
Leng Xianye suppressed his discomfort and leaned over the railing to look down, searching for the cause of the whirlwind. He saw Tang Qiuqiu standing on the first floor.
The cat-eared youth looked terrible, as if he had lost his soul. Before him lay a pile of white bones and a massive pool of blood. A swarm of toads, their faces smeared with gore, had surrounded him, ready to pounce at any moment.
He rushed downstairs, activating "Black Box" to swallow the toads and save Tang Qiuqiu before they could leap at the boy’s face.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the black energy, Tang Qiuqiu finally snapped out of it. He joined Leng Xianye in clearing out the mutants. The two were highly efficient; in short order, seventy to eighty percent of the hatchlings gathered on the first floor were eliminated. The rest, seeing the gruesome fate of their kin, fled elsewhere.
Leng Xianye glanced up at the black whirlwind and bombarded Tang Qiuqiu with questions: "What is that thing? Do you have news of Lian Muyun? How are Xin Ye and the others?"
Normally, Tang Qiuqiu would have been overwhelmed by so many questions, but he was unnervingly calm now—though it was the kind of calm bought by a bucket of ice water.
"Instructor Jian used her ability to trigger the appetite of the wood-boring beetles in the underground warehouse. She wanted to increase the difficulty for our team. Number 237 is dead," he said, pointing to the skeleton. "He was... eaten clean by the swarm."
"Number 237 took my watch. Wait for me."
Expressionless, he reached into the pocket of the jacket draped over the bloody bones, retrieved his multi-function watch, and put it on. After checking the messages from Xin Ye and Xing Yue, he replied to each and then asked about Lian Muyun’s status for Leng Xianye.
Learning that everyone was safe for now, Leng Xianye and Tang Qiuqiu breathed a collective sigh of relief.
This mission was finally entering its final stage. They had all made it through.
Tang Qiuqiu asked, "The toad hatchlings were supposed to eat these bugs, but now that we’ve killed the hatchlings, what do we do about the bugs?"
Just then, the Mirror Image, having retrieved the grappling hook from Lian Muyun’s waist, rappelled down. He greeted Tang Qiuqiu and Leng Xianye and joined the discussion. "Actually, it wouldn't be a problem to report this level of mess to headquarters and let them send a cleanup crew. But from a scoring perspective, we’ll definitely get more points if we clean it up ourselves."
"Easy," Leng Xianye said with a wooden face, conjuring a sphere of energy. "Leave it to me."
After using "Black Box" to swallow several mutants just now, Leng Xianye didn't feel his usual exhaustion. Instead, he felt a sense of eager anticipation, a desire to release even more energy.
He extended his right index finger. The evolved black energy gathered at his fingertip in a spherical shape, growing larger and larger... until it swallowed the entire whirlwind whole.
Specks of light flickered within the darkness, like a miniature universe he had created.
***
**Glossary**
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 寻老师 | Teacher Xun | Refers to Xun Yin, a mentor figure or system entity. |
| 不断丝 | Unbroken Threads | Xing Yue's ability; silver-purple filaments that are nearly indestructible. |
| 蛀木虫 | Wood-boring beetles | Also known as woodworms; used as a biological hazard in the mall. |
| 黑盒 | Black Box | Leng Xianye's ability; a void-like energy that consumes matter. |
| 二百三十七号 | Number 237 | A candidate/trainee who was killed during the mission. |
| 简指导员 | Instructor Jian | Refers to Jian Weiwei, the person overseeing the test. |
