Welcome to Ability Store

Chapter 345: Chapter 345: Strategic Withdrawal

"What’s wrong?" Liuli saw Chen Xuan in a daze and walked over to ask.

"Nothing..." Chen Xuan waved his hand, "Is everything resolved?"

"Yes." She bent over, picked up a piece of the living body from the ground, and easily crushed it between her fingers, "I have to say, this trait is quite mysterious, it can compare with our peculiar objects."

"Wow... so he turns out to be the notorious Blood and Flesh Butcher." Wang Baihu muttered in awe as he looked at the fusion of flesh and machinery on the ground.

"Brother Niao, keep your voice down!" Little Pigeon pinched his waist hard.

"I was just marveling at his abilities, didn’t mean anything else..."

"Indeed," Jiang Siqi agreed in a low voice, "Wanderers are too strong... It feels like they’re in another dimension. We struggled so hard to deal with one nano-living body, yet they can handle one by themselves..."

"Not all Wanderers are at that level..." Wang Baihu shook his head repeatedly, "Or rather, Wanderers who can shake the institution’s core are few and far between. People like them are anomalies across the globe."

Even though they deliberately lowered their voices, Chen Xuan, who had unleashed his Heart Method, heard everything clearly.

Only Honglian walked up openly, looking seriously at Chen Xuan, "I thought your specialty was the Floating Light Sword. This ability... is it legitimate?"

"Of course, it’s just an ability," he replied earnestly, "whether it’s good or bad depends on how it’s used."

"No side effects?"

"Haven’t noticed any so far."

Honglian nodded, "That’s good, but if you notice anything off, you must abandon it resolutely. Most people can’t get rid of the abilities they acquire, but Shixin can, which is a blessing for us."

"Anything off?" Chen Xuan asked, surprised, "Why do you say that?"

"Some agents in the institution can seize others’ abilities, which is usually seen as a method to neutralize Wanderers. I once read a record stating a headquarters agent encountered problems after performing this technique on a Wanderer, feeling like they were possessed by some evil spirit, eventually dying from full-body necrosis," Honglian explained.

"Because of this, the institution issued notices requiring agents with seizure abilities to use the technique only when accompanied by a supervisor, and stay in an isolation room for observation post-procedure to prevent tragedies. You’ve been to different worlds, so you should understand the ability rules vary... some abilities inherently contain evil."

"I remember now." Chen Xuan feigned realization as he replied.

Just then, a heavy impact sounded from the ground.

His expression suddenly changed, he turned to look at Liuli, who frowned and nodded confirmation, "That thing is here!"

"What thing?" Honglian asked, perplexed.

"Hide first, then talk!" Chen Xuan had no time to explain, immediately raised his voice and gestured to the other four, "Why are you still standing there? Come over now!"

"Where to hide?" Liuli asked, "These buildings can’t withstand a single stomp from that thing!"

Chen Xuan scanned around and quickly locked onto a mall not far to the right front, "Over there!"

Such malls usually come with a matching underground parking lot, and domestic underground structures must serve some civil defense function, ensuring absolute structural strength.

If it could stomp through a "steel fortress" made purely of shear walls, it shouldn’t be roaming freely in the city—its weight alone would sink it into the ground.

"Run!"

With Chen Xuan’s shout, the group sprinted, covering the two hundred meters in less than half a minute. As they rushed into the mall, a second roar had already come—unlike the first, this time everyone felt the ground shaking, as if the source was just beside them!

Wang Baihu glanced back, instantly feeling goosebumps spread all over his body.

"My goodness..."

He saw a huge cube made of steel frames, gears, and pipes emerge from behind a building, landing on the street where they had been!

The cube was endless to the eye, its top piercing the sky, concealed in the yellow sandy wind.

It was definitely no man-made object.

Because its appearance was far from beautiful or tidy... instead, it was riddled with uncoordinated ugliness, with seemingly useless parts attached to its surface, like tumors on a steel body.

This only amplified its terror.

"There’s an elevator... but there’s no power!" Jiang Siqi exclaimed in panic.

"Just jump in!" Chen Xuan summoned the Thousand Thoughts Sword and slashed the elevator door, leading the jump into the elevator shaft.

There was nearly a ten-meter drop.

Moreover, the steel cables for the suspended counterweight were nowhere to be seen.

He manifested about ten Thousand Thoughts Swords at once, sticking them into the shaft walls at various angles—these unsharpened wide swords with rear grips became "monkey bars," allowing those who followed to use them to slow down.

When everyone had escaped into the B2 parking garage, the third impact followed.

It was almost as if it was right above their heads!

With this thunderous crash, dust fell from the ceiling, and the rusty fan ducts swayed alongside.

Everyone instinctively held their breath, not daring to breathe.

Chen Xuan’s fingers were already on his glasses.

If the parking garage collapsed, he would only be able to teleport himself and Honglian back.

The silence seemed to last for an eternity.

About ten minutes later, they finally heard the thud of something heavy falling, but the source had left, seeming to come from very far away.

"Whew..." The Red Lotus Team collectively sighed in relief.

"What was that thing just now?" Wang Baihu asked, still fearful, "Its size was too exaggerated!"

"A quadruped monster, I mentioned it before bringing you here." Chen Xuan shrugged.

"What?" The former was stunned, "There are three more iron feet comparable to a pillar under the sky? That means the body above those legs must be enormous?"

"I don’t know about that."

"I thought the quadruped monster would look more like a mechanical dinosaur..." Jiang Siqi wiped the sweat from her forehead, "This thing completely surpassed my imagination."

"Is it really a nano-living body?" Honglian asked.

"I can’t think of any other possibility. And it’s not just large..." Chen Xuan shuddered at the thought of the giant eyeball that had once descended, "In any case, we should avoid it if we can, trying not to engage."

"Encountering it twice in a row shouldn’t be a coincidence." Liuli patted the dust off her shoulder, "Was it attracted by the sounds of our fight?"

"That would be too much. The city is so big, does it come every time there’s movement?"

"Maybe... the whole city is its territory?" Liuli speculated wildly.

Chen Xuan’s heart skipped a beat.

This hypothesis was frightening... A massive beast roaming the city, never leaving, what chance did any other survivors have?

If this city truly was a dead city, searching further would mean little.

"Oh no!" Little Pigeon suddenly shouted.

Everyone’s nerves instantly tensed to the breaking point, Chen Xuan immediately activated the Divine Eye Technique, and Liuli drew her sword!

But there wasn’t a hint of movement around.

"What’s wrong?" Honglian asked while staying alert.

"Gone... It’s gone!" Little Pigeon stammered.

"What’s gone?"

"Guagua... our dragon is gone!"

It was only then that everyone realized, a figure was indeed missing from the team.

"Damn it!" Wang Baihu slapped his forehead, "I completely forgot about it, focused only on counting people!"

It was the thought echoing in everyone’s mind.

During the desperate sprint earlier, everyone only cared if their teammates were left behind, while Guagua... it wasn’t even counted in the lineup.

"It’s not your fault." Honglian patted his shoulder, "It’s the first time we’ve moved with a dragon, so it’s normal to be neglectful."

"It wouldn’t have been killed by that monster, would it?" Little Pigeon worried.

"No, that guy’s really smart." Chen Xuan reassured, "Maybe it’s waiting for us on the upper level right now."