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After pondering silently for a few seconds, Bianbian finally gathered her courage and said, “Uncle, could you help Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan drive away the bad guys?”
Waiting anxiously for a response, Bianbian waited a while longer. She felt as though the room had grown even colder. Pulling her blanket tighter around herself, she couldn’t help but wonder if her request had put the uncle in a difficult position.
“If I grow up, I’ll definitely be able to protect Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan.” The little girl clenched her fists, wishing she could grow up immediately.
Suddenly, Bianbian sensed a strange change.
—The temperature was rising.
Just moments ago, the cold had made her wrap herself tightly in her small blanket; yet in an instant, the chilling air surrounding her vanished, restoring the normal summer warmth.
Wrapped tightly in her quilt and wearing a jacket, Bianbian felt the temperature shift so rapidly that beads of sweat formed on her back. Overheated, she quickly shed both the quilt and her jacket.
She heard voices from outside—
“…Impossible!”
“Who’s there!”
“Who’s there? Hiding sneakily in the shadows! If you’ve got guts, show yourself openly!”
There were more sounds of monsters. Though these noises blended together and should have been indistinct, Bianbian could somehow clearly distinguish every word spoken by the people.
After hearing the bad guy’s words, Bianbian’s eyes lit up. Had the invisible uncle come to help?
He definitely had.
Otherwise, the bad guys wouldn’t say that.
The little girl scrambled up in a panic, placed her teddy bear on the bed, and then carefully crept to the windowsill, straining to see as much of the situation below as possible.
This time, she successfully spotted Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan.
After clearly seeing their current state, Bianbian bit her lip hard, struggling to hold back her tears, and finally managed not to cry.
The two zombies were in almost entirely different conditions compared to before; if they weren’t zombies, given the fatal injuries they had sustained, they would have died countless times already.
Ability users possess thoughts and will dodge when facing danger; although they looked utterly disheveled, they were far better off than the two zombies.
However, out of the more than twenty ability users from Feilong who had gone all out, fewer than five remained—a truly devastating outcome. In fact, with their lineup—two high-tier Rank B members and the rest being Rank C and D—they should have easily been sufficient to hunt down just two zombies.
However, a horde of ordinary zombies had appeared.
Furthermore, the plight of Luo and Feng alerted the other ability users to the presence of a hidden “mantis stalking the cicada” on the scene; this unseen assailant had launched a surprise attack, severely injuring two B-rank powerhouses and tipping the scales of victory directly in favor of the zombies.
Yet, just when the severely wounded Luo Yesheng and Feng Leijie should have been rendered immobile, dooming the encirclement to total failure and forcing everyone to flee for their lives by whatever means they could, no one knew what abilities they had employed to suddenly regain their mobility.
Although their faces were deathly pale, as if they might collapse at any moment, their movements and demeanor indicated that their combat prowess remained intact.
Thus, the scales of victory should tip in favor of the ability users.
For Feng Leijie, as long as he obtained tier-three or tier-four crystal cores and advanced to Rank A, the deaths of his subordinates were inconsequential.
Having reached a desperate situation, it was only natural to unleash one’s ultimate techniques. Luo Yesheng’s goal had never been the crystal cores; he simply sought an exhilarating battle, and he had already found one.
However, the fight had been unfair from the very beginning. Ambushed and severely wounded, his objective shifted: if before he sought only combat, now he was determined to hunt down whoever had ambushed him.
Raging fury burned within his chest, igniting the blood flowing through his veins; no one could remain calm after nearly losing their life to a surprise attack.
Therefore, even if Luo Yesheng could drag his severely injured body away, he would not leave—instead, he would guard against ambushers, first join forces with Feng Leijie to kill the level-four zombie, and then hunt down the ambusher.
What he never expected was that both his and Feng Leijie’s attacks on the severely injured Level-4 zombie missed completely.
Then, amidst Feng Leijie’s furious shout, the latter’s body suddenly froze for half a second before being swept backward by an invisible torrent of air roaring like a storm. The sound of air tearing apart echoed sharply as he was hurled into the horde of zombies, scattering even the ordinary undead around him with such force that their collisions produced dull, heart-stopping thuds.
That sound drowned out the zombies’ shrieks, reverberating across the sky above Jinxin Community.
Dead silence, a stillness as profound as death itself; even the zombies’ roars seemed to pause for an instant.
Feng Leijie crashed down, carving out a small clearing within a one-meter radius. His body lay twisted on the ground, convulsing and twitching, while a vast pool of blood soaked outward from beneath him.
His gaze, nearly vacant, stared up at the sky. He could no longer maintain his ice skill; the temperature surged abruptly. A gurgling sound escaped his throat as if he tried to speak, yet not a single word came out. And then… the ordinary zombies, previously pushed back by the gusts of wind, pounced upon him.
Until his final breath faded, Feng Leijie’s lusterless eyes remained filled with disbelief, unable to accept that he had died just like that.
No one could see the tall figure standing in the middle of the street. The Magician glanced at the horde of zombies gnawing on Feng Leijie nearby, then lowered his gaze to inspect his own right hand.
He arched an eyebrow, withdrew his sight, and slowly turned his dark eyes toward Luo Yesheng.
A child-rearing game, projected through NR equipment, felt as real as a genuine world… The Magician stepped closer to Luo Yesheng, his black leather boots crushing shards of glass beneath them with a fragile crunch.
That sound allowed Luo Yesheng to pinpoint the ambusher’s location. In that instant, attack was not what surged into his mind; instead, every subconscious instinct raced wildly through his brain like needles pricking him, ultimately coalescing into a single word—Run!
Without hesitation, Luo Yesheng rushed into his car at top speed. Although several zombies were clinging to the side of his vehicle, it was precisely their presence that had kept his car from being totaled in the earlier battle.
As for the few remaining members of Feilong, he could neither control nor assist them. Slamming his foot on the accelerator, Luo Yesheng plowed through the zombies blocking his path. The engine roared as his car shot away from the street like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Slamming the accelerator wildly, Luo Yesheng’s nerves were stretched to their breaking point.
Is it an invisibility ability?
Their attacks are ineffective against him, yet he can take out Feng Leijie in a single move… Even if Feng Leijie was already severely injured, then again, didn’t both he and Feng Leijie at their peak fall for the same trick?
So… could this ability user with invisibility powers be an A-rank?
Is invisibility the special ability he gained after awakening his powers?
Why would a top-tier powerhouse of A-rank, possessing such a special ability, suddenly attack them?
Were those two high-level zombies his target? Did he and Feng Leijie steal something from him, prompting him to strike them down ruthlessly?
A thought suddenly flashed through Luo Yesheng’s mind: before setting out, Feng Leijie had mentioned that they found the corpse of a Level 3 zombie beast here and deduced that a high-level ability user must have passed by, killing the creature.
Could it be this person?
One thought after another tangled and churned, turning the tables to relentlessly assault Luo Yesheng’s mind. This mental onslaught made him overlook the pain from his wounds, yet he remained acutely aware of his physical condition. Regardless of the situation, he knew he needed to find a safe place where he could finally allow himself to faint without worry.
　　……
“Run!”
Luo Yesheng’s flight sent a clear signal to the remaining members of the Flying Dragon squad. No one dared to linger over the crystal shards anymore; everyone immediately employed their escape techniques. After all, hadn’t Feng Leijie died without even laying eyes on the enemy? With Luo Yesheng also fleeing, did they really intend to stay behind and become food for the zombies?
As the ability users fled, the zombie horde naturally gave chase. Some, unable to find their bearings, charged straight toward the Magician’s direction.
Even though he knew full well that these disgusting creatures could not touch him, the chill on the Magician’s face deepened further. Without making any visible move, the several zombies charging at him exploded with a loud bang.
The Magician frowned in disgust and stepped back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lu Yu and Zhu Yuan, two zombies, glaring at each other. They were clad in tattered rags, dripping with dark bluish-black fluids; some wounds were so large that their discolored internal organs were visible.
He should be grateful that he couldn’t smell anything.
Expressionless, the Magician averted his gaze and raised his hand to switch the scene to the living room.
The clean, bright living room eased his tension, and he sat down on the sofa.
After a full thirty seconds, a message from the system appeared before him: [Congratulations, Bianbian is safe.]
Perhaps deeming the statement too dry, the system paused for a few moments before adding: [Please keep it up.]
The magician lifted his eyelids slightly, his cool gaze sweeping over the two lines of text before he smiled faintly. “Is this really just a game?”
Damn it.
If the System had body hair, every single strand would be standing on end right now.
[Of course!] it replied with absolute certainty.
The Magician’s lips curved halfway, but he said nothing.
Was that a smile… perhaps?
Struggling to ignore the Magician’s smile—a grin so unsettling it made even the system’s virtual scalp crawl—it stated: [Although the ability users who harbored ill intentions toward Bianbian have been dealt with, Lu Yu and Zhu Yuan remain ticking time bombs in her life. As a loving father, you would never allow Bianbian to be placed in danger where zombies could harm her.]
[Wounds can heal, and games can be relogged, but there is only one Bianbian. Once she is gone, she is gone forever. Please, Father, protect Bianbian at all costs.]
At these words, the Magician seemed to snort. Just as the System wasn’t sure if it had misperceived, Bianbian emerged from the bedroom.
“Uncle, are you still there?”
The system observed carefully: the man sitting on the sofa, dark and imposing like a shadow of doom, showed a subtle shift in expression upon seeing Bianbian.
It knew that no male could resist Bianbian!
“Thank you, Uncle, for helping Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan drive away the bad guys.” Bianbian turned toward the window, believing Bo Shu couldn’t see her there. Her small face was filled with childlike sincerity. “Bianbian is still too little now, but when I grow up, if Uncle ever needs me to do something, I will definitely do it.”
The magician leaned casually against the sofa, its plain fabric making his complexion appear even paler. He looked at Bianbian and suddenly let out a low chuckle.
“How long has it been since I heard such innocent words?” His tone carried a hint of mockery, yet was intertwined with a peculiar tenderness.
Beside him, the little girl’s voice, unable to conceal her worry and disappointment, remained barely above a whisper—meant only for herself, not intended for him to hear.
“Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan are injured.”
She worried they might get hurt and felt disheartened that she couldn’t help.
She had already asked the invisible uncle to help Grandpa drive away the bad guys. Even though she was still young, Bianbian understood that she couldn’t keep asking others for help forever.
Besides…
Standing on a small stool and peering out the window, she looked down at the two heavily wounded zombies sitting on the ground below. They faced each other from a distance, mutually wary, yet neither willing to leave this place.
Grandpa and Uncle Zhu Yuan are both monsters, and monsters cannot be cured.
Bianbian had always been perfectly clear about this.
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First update is here! Three updates again today, mwah~