Chapter 719: Chapter 75: Maelon
The world before his eyes shifted from darkness to light, countless rays of light transforming, swimming rapidly forward in the inky black water.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when Su Changxing smelled the stench, the odor of rotting corpses mixed with leather and a scent like rotten eggs.
With a sound, Su Changxing crawled out of the mirror.
"Still the same place as before."
He observed his surroundings, a bone leg appeared beside him, the bone of the Source of Plague, its body crushed under the ruins, its flesh gnawed by some unknown creature.
It seemed many days had passed.
He pondered, feeling something was very wrong.
"Would Maelon and his men really seal this place because of the plague? Normally, they would dig it up and clean it instead."
Su Changxing felt something was off, he couldn’t even sense any activity nearby, it was an empty expanse, filled with dead silence.
Something’s not right.
He frowned slightly, using his hands to slowly uncover the ruins, the rusty gears in his body made him sluggish, but his strength hadn’t diminished.
In a few moves, he opened a hole atop the ruins and crawled into the specimen shop of the Black Dog Gang.
Two corpses, already rotten and stinking, lay on the ground, one of them was the woman who looked after the shop, not dead from the plague but with multiple holes in her body, shot through by bullets, bleeding to death.
"No one is managing these bodies, which means..."
Su Changxing turned his head to look out onto the street, his expression grew heavy.
The street was a mess, littered with bones, a few stray dogs scavenging among them, gnawing on the carcasses.
"What happened?"
He had been gone for a while, it seemed something major had occurred.
Su Changxing limped out of the shop but saw no one, only bodies everywhere, crushed steam vehicles, and broken tracks above the city.
Woof woof~
The stray dogs quickly spotted him, forming a pack as they surrounded him, their eyes greedy.
Who wouldn’t crave fresh meat, the rotten flesh on the ground was only fit for dogs.
These stray dogs seemed also infected by the plague, their bodies rotting, exposing white bones on their backs.
Yet, they seemed to have undergone some mutation from the plague, which hadn’t killed them.
And then.
One of the stray dogs couldn’t contain itself, snarling as it lunged at Su Changxing.
Su Changxing wasn’t accommodating, drawing his firearm and firing, piercing its body.
The stray dog’s body was blown open by the bullet, a large hole appearing, and collapsed to the ground.
The other stray dogs seemed provoked, snarling as they rushed at Su Changxing from the left and right, their movements swift.
Bang bang~
A few crisp gunshots rang out, and they all fell to the ground, hit by bullets.
Su Changxing put away his firearm, stepping over their bodies, making his way towards the Black Dog Gang’s headquarters to see if anyone was still alive.
He walked a street, the sound of metal clashing with the ground came from ahead.
He crouched slightly, peering sideways, spotting a completely white Rune Warrior patrolling the street, surveying its surroundings as if on a patrol.
The Rune Warrior took a few steps forward, suddenly stopping to look in Su Changxing’s direction, "Anomalies detected, commencing investigation."
It then turned and started walking straight towards Su Changxing’s position.
Heavy footsteps approached, echoing right in his ear.
"No anomalies, departing."
Seeing the empty street, the Rune Warrior hesitated not, turning to leave.
Such anomalies were frequent, sometimes stray dogs, rats might dart out, so it wasn’t unusual.
At this moment, Su Changxing crouched by the second-floor window, completely concealing his presence, feeling the Rune Warrior leaving bit by bit.
This thing appearing brazenly on the street was too ridiculous.
"Massacre?"
Su Changxing frowned.
He then turned and, choosing another direction, circled towards the Black Dog Gang’s headquarters, but encountered another Rune Warrior on the next street.
Going around and around, he encountered three or four more Rune Warriors, arriving near the Black Dog Gang’s headquarters, seeing the building half-destroyed.
The surroundings piled high with bodies, most cleaved in two, clearly the handiwork of Rune Warriors.
Su Changxing didn’t linger, turning to head towards the port, curious about the situation on the ships there.
Though his movements weren’t fast, they were extremely stealthy, the Rune Warrior standing at the main entrance failed to notice any anomalies.
Leaving East City, the scene was much the same, only without any Rune Warriors; this area seemed outside their focus.
Su Changxing reached the riverbank, hearing cries from ahead.
A Rune Warrior was chasing a few people along the riverbank, slicing the slowest man, a middle-aged one, in half with a swift strike.
The others, seeing this, ran even faster, with two jumping into the river, yet shot dead by the Rune Warrior.
The remaining two ran towards Su Changxing, shouting when they saw him lingering nearby, "Run! This thing is inexplicably here."
Su Changxing unfolded his Domain, chains of darkness binding the Rune Warrior, slowing it drastically, moving to its side, aiming at its chest, pulling the trigger.
All seven bullets struck the Rune Warrior’s chest, sparking fiercely, the snow-white breastplate shattering completely.
"Critical attack received, core section damaged."
With one hand, Su Changxing wielded a slender scythe, deflecting the incoming blade, sparks flying.
In a backhanded move, he fired again, the bullet fully penetrating the Rune Warrior’s body.
The Rune Warrior’s actions halted, freezing in place, blazing white light refracting from its body.
Boom~
A violent explosion.
Su Changxing was blasted away from the explosion, landing heavily on the ground, sliding dozens of meters.
The two escaping people sat on the ground, panting heavily, faces full of shock, never having imagined someone could wreck this mechanical creature bare-handed.
Su Changxing got up nonchalantly, surveying the pile of debris and fragments the Rune Warrior left behind.
This Rune Warrior was somewhat weaker than the first one he had encountered, seemingly not the same model, its arm weapon a single barrel, incapable of continuous fire.
"Heretic?" The two stared dumbstruck at Su Changxing, not daring to move, their bodies trembling, feeling they had escaped the wolf’s lair only to enter the tiger’s den.
The two, a half-gray-haired man in blue clothes and a young woman in a veil, seemed to be father and daughter.
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