Gamers Are Fierce

"You are quite impressive."

After its hood was removed, the Resentful Demon's voice became even more hoarse and rough, like rusty iron sheets grinding against each other, filled with an uncomfortable metallic texture.

"Unfortunately, this is as far as you go."

In response, Li Ang fired a grenade.

BANG!

The grenade shot out, tracing an arc in the air.

Before it even neared the Resentful Demon, everyone's vision blurred. The Green Flame Whip that had been slithering on the ground suddenly shot upwards. Its tip burrowed into the ceiling, while its mid-section precisely and effortlessly pierced the grenade.

BOOM!

The grenade detonated prematurely. A strong blast wave surged in the confined space, tossing rocks and raising dust.

So fast...

Wu Mu's heart gave a violent lurch. Even with his eyesight, he had completely failed to see the Green Flame Whip's trajectory.

If the Resentful Demon had used such moves during the chase, it's unlikely he, Ash, and Chu Yin would have lasted until the player claiming to be the "Nightmare of Yin City" arrived.

"It's useless."

The Resentful Demon, shrouded in columns of flame, said in a low voice, "You have no idea..."

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

As a terrible listener, Li Ang had no intention of letting the Resentful Demon speak. He pulled two machine guns from his inventory, firing left and right into the hollow circle Miss Chai indicated with her arms.

The gunfire, dense as firecrackers, drowned out the Resentful Demon's voice. It remained unfazed (a skeleton can't show expressions anyway). Its Green Flame Whip automatically retracted, quickly coiling into a dense Flame Shield.

All the machine gun bullets struck the shield. They were first slightly impeded, then corroded and melted by the flames, dripping onto the ground in puddles.

"It's useless."

The Resentful Demon, hidden behind the shield, heard the gunfire die down and continued, "You..."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Li Ang held a shotgun in one hand and a pistol in the other, continuously shooting at the Flame Shield without showing any signs of haste; in fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

Ever since he raided a gun shop and its warehouse during a script mission, Li Ang no longer had to worry about ammunition. If he slowed his pace and pulled out various types of weapons, he could easily spend hours here wearing down the Resentful Demon.

The fifth barrier contraction was about to end, and soon the sixth one would begin.

Once the sixth barrier contraction finished, players could take their rewards and leave the deathmatch task. This also meant the Ball Technique confining players would disappear, allowing members of the Mobile Detachment to come over and capture them directly.

As long as he stalled for time, the Resentful Demon, with its air of "I know the inside story, I have a plan," would surely lose patience and make the first move. Therefore, Li Ang was in no hurry. He even considered sitting down for a rest while continuing to fire.

The sound of gunfire echoed endlessly, one volley after another. Ash also promptly took a grenade launcher from her inventory and relentlessly bombarded the Flame Shield.

What irritated the Resentful Demon most was Chu Yin starting to sing again. It was one of those songs the Mobile Detachment's analysis team had specially 'composed' for her.

But this time, since no one went forward to engage the Resentful Demon, the song Chu Yin sang inflicted a debuff on the enemy.

"Trash, trash, pure trash! As a human, I advise you to be kind! Die for grandpa! Sorry to meet you this way. It's my QQ pet's birthday today, can you kowtow to it? I'll waste you within three days, scatter half your ashes, and mix the other half with rice."

These nonsensical words, paired with an unsettling and cringeworthy a cappella rap melody, sounded like an unholy dirge, like an evil magician's malevolent incantation.

Even though Wu Mu, as a player, had physiological functions and a Sanity Value far exceeding ordinary people, hearing Chu Yin's rap chant still made him dizzy and nauseous. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.

If an ordinary person were in this abandoned subway station, they'd probably lose all their Sanity and faint outright before the song even finished...

And as Chu Yin's demonic voice bombarded it, the Resentful Demon even began to manifest physical debuffs:

A pitch-black cloud materialized above its head, and foul-smelling black mud oozed from the ground beneath its feet.

When this mud was scorched by the green flames, the steaming, acrid stench assaulted human physiological limits.

To draw a comparison, imagine the smell of socks from someone with severe athlete's foot, left to stew in a plastic bag for an entire hot summer day, then magnified tenfold. That was the precise aroma around the Resentful Demon.

Ash, having partnered with Chu Yin before, skillfully retrieved a small bubble toy from her inventory. She blew a giant bubble towards Chu Yin, enveloping her. Then, Ash took out several gas masks, donned one herself, and tossed the rest to the other players.

Evidently, the Mobile Detachment frequently put its operatives through combat drills, and this wasn't the first time Ash had witnessed such an... unseemly display from Chu Yin.

Chu Yin's role as support in the Mobile Detachment was well-justified. The black mud summoned by her skill didn't simply vanish when the skill ended. Instead, it had to be collected by professionals in specialized hazmat suits for incineration or for research teams to study.

As a skeleton, the Resentful Demon only felt its physical structure slightly weaken and grew somewhat irritable under the debuff's corrosion. It wasn't overwhelmed by the stench. However, the same could not be said for Gulu Lugu, cradled in its arms.

This corpulent green caterpillar, now just a head, also possessed a respiratory system spanning its body. The malevolent stench seeped into the pores on its skin, causing its body to shiver uncontrollably as it spewed viscous slime from its mouth.

Seeing her skill take effect, a flash of glee crossed Chu Yin's face, and she increased the volume of her erratic rap.

However, just then, Gulu Lugu twisted its body. The corpulent caterpillar's form suddenly swelled severalfold, like a slime, completely engulfing the Resentful Demon's skeletal waist and abdomen. It continued to expand, intertwining with and encasing the Resentful Demon's skeleton.

A few breaths later, the Resentful Demon and Gulu Lugu merged into a single entity. It still retained its original skeleton, but a layer of gel-like insectoid 'exoskeleton' now coated its bones. What should have been Gulu Lugu's head materialized above the Resentful Demon's brow bone.

They had fused.

"Sigh..."

A sound blending the Resentful Demon's hoarse voice with Gulu Lugu's insectile shriek emerged as it lamented, "I had intended to save this move for the Demon Prison. A pity."

It gazed down, its eyes flickering with faint flames as they swept indifferently over the area.

Gulu Lugu's psychic abilities, amplified by the Resentful Demon's abundant demonic power, erupted with far greater potency than before. This caused Chu Yin's eyes to fly wide, her body to stiffen, and her singing to cease abruptly.

CRACK!

Statue-like, Chu Yin dropped the microphone. Ash and Wu Mu were also frozen...

Li Ang felt a wave of stiffness wash over him, as if he were thrust back to that night, months ago, when he first encountered the human-faced cat.

The Resentful Demon flicked its wrist, and the long whip shot out. The green flames entwining it flared violently, sweeping horizontally towards Li Ang, who was at the forefront.