Chapter 52: Pursuit of the Giant

"This... No way!" Number 5 trembled as he raised a hand to rub his eyes. Yet when he opened them again, Li Chenqiu's cold and detached face remained in his field of vision.

Just then, Li Chenqiu raised his head, and their gazes collided directly.

"You... Don't come any closer! If you take another step, I'll scream!" Number 5 grabbed Number 4's arm, retreating in terror.

"There's no need to be afraid. I kill without torturing; it doesn't hurt." With a single thought from Li Chenqiu, two droplets of blood materialized out of thin air. With a soft whistle, they pierced straight through the centers of both their brows, ending their lives painlessly.

After dispatching the two, Li Chenqiu stepped forward to search their bodies, recovering two flare guns—one belonging to the Underworld faction and the other to the New World.

Having secured what he wanted, Li Chenqiu walked toward the main doors. Just as he was about to kick them open, the heavy doors seemed to possess eyes of their own, swinging outward to the sides with a crisp click.

"Quite perceptive, aren't you?" Li Chenqiu muttered in mild surprise, then stepped just outside the main entrance and fired both flare guns into the air.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!*

The two flares streaking upward into the sky, their red and blue beams steadily intensifying until they cast a dazzling radiance across the gloomy, shadowed firmament.

Li Chenqiu nodded in satisfaction, turned around, and re-entered the palace to await the arrival of others.

He had done this for two reasons, both ultimately serving a single purpose: to confirm whether mirror humans truly existed or not. The accounts of just three people were far too thin to prove anything; he needed a larger sample.

If mirror humans roamed these forested mountains, they would undoubtedly rush over upon seeing the flares.

Even if no mirror humans appeared, the flares were bound to draw in other awakened beings, allowing him to interrogate them one by one.

...

...

Deep within the gloomy, murky forest, a figure darted through the dense canopy like an agile ape.

This person was none other than the middle-aged man from the Safety Bureau trio—He Lu!

At this moment, He Lu's face was as pale as paper, covered in a fine sheen of sweat. His tight tactical uniform had been shredded into ribbons, hanging loosely from his frame.

Although his physical condition was poor, He Lu's eyes lacked no trace of dimness. He stared unwaveringly ahead, dodging the pursuit behind him and searching desperately for a path to survival.

A hundred meters behind him, a fifty-meter-tall humanoid giant was crashing wildly through the forest, fixing its burning, crazed gaze entirely upon He Lu.

The giant's hair was disheveled and matted, its body entirely bare, and its rolling eyes glowed like twin blood-red lanterns, swaying beneath the crimson moon. Severed arms could be seen wedged between its protruding, jagged teeth, lending it a hideous and terrifying visage.

The trees of the forest barely reached the giant's shins. With every stride it took, the timber collapsed forward like dominoes, kicking up billowing clouds of dust.

Surrounding the colossal giant were a dozen or so smaller giants, standing under twenty meters tall, who were also chasing He Lu in a frenzy, gradually forming an enveloping net.

Trailing behind the giants was a group of people moving at a leisurely pace, led by none other than Horse-Face of the Underworld.

"As expected of the Safety Bureau, these people truly possess some genuine skills to escape alive under such circumstances," Horse-Face praised without a hint of reluctance.

Half an hour ago, Horse-Face had arrived in the Nether Realm. To facilitate operations, he used a walkie-talkie to gather over twenty Underworld operatives around him, after which the group discovered an ancient city nestled within the forest.

Driven by curiosity, Horse-Face led his subordinates into the city, where they discovered a key inside a towering tower. However, they were not the only ones to find it—He Lu and Zheng Kang of the Safety Bureau had arrived as well.

A fierce battle immediately erupted between the two factions. Because the tower's floor area was too confined, the Underworld failed to leverage its numerical advantage, and the key was snatched away by the Safety Bureau.

He Lu fled the tower with the key, while Zheng Kang stayed behind to hold off the Underworld crew, buying He Lu time to widen the distance.

Yet the moment He Lu stepped out of the city gates, the buildings within the city collapsed instantly like shifting quicksand.

From the ruins, massive palms broke through the earth as towering giants clawed their way out, charging in the direction He Lu had fled.

Horse-Face's faction and Zheng Kang, still inside the ancient city, were inevitably caught in the fallout. However, the giants' sole target was He Lu, resulting in only a few casualties among Horse-Face's subordinates.

Zheng Kang, on the other hand, was far less fortunate. Bad luck led him to collide directly with the leading giant, which swallowed him whole in a single gulp, leaving his fate entirely unknown.

Eager to acquire the key in He Lu's possession, Horse-Face had led his subordinates in trailing far behind the giants, creating the current situation: the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

"Sir, those giants are likely heading straight for that key. If we manage to secure it ourselves, won't we end up being hunted down as well?" an awakened operative asked nervously.

Horse-Face narrowed his eyes and calmly replied, "When we reach the mountain, there will be a path; when we reach the bridge, the boat will naturally cross. A solution will present itself; it's simply a matter of whether I've noticed it yet. Let me think on this a little longer."

Meanwhile, He Lu's condition was deteriorating rapidly. He felt as though his limbs were falling apart, growing increasingly stiff and unresponsive to his will.

Looking down at the key clutched tightly in his palm, a flicker of inner struggle crossed He Lu's eyes.

The final assessment permitted five participants, and there happened to be five keys corresponding to them. There had to be some connection between the two.

Possessing a key might grant him the qualification to enter the final assessment, along with the chance to acquire a Spirit-Mystic Weapon. He was unwilling to give up this opportunity, yet holding onto it carried the threat of death.

"Damn it!" He Lu cursed through gritted teeth. Just as his fingers loosened around the key, the gloomy forest suddenly illuminated. Red and blue lights intertwined, momentarily banishing the surrounding shadows.

He Lu raised his head, his gaze piercing through the gaps between the leaves to scan the sky. What met his eyes were two points of light as dazzling as twin suns.

"These are... flares from the Underworld and the New World!" He Lu's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the sky. The sheer shock caused his galloping stride to falter momentarily.

Which absolute genius had fired these flares? Didn't they know mirror humans existed in the Nether Realm?

Worse still, there were two of them! Did they want to make sure everyone failed to notice, rushing to make themselves living targets?

It wasn't just He Lu who was dumbfounded; Horse-Face and his group trailing in the rear were equally stunned.

"Huh?" Horse-Face stared blankly at the distant sky. "Flares?"

"Sir, could our people have clashed with the New World faction and are they calling for backup?" someone speculated.

With a grim expression, Horse-Face snapped, "Damn it, are they absolute morons, firing flares in a place like this?!"

"Should we go provide backup then?" the woman standing beside Horse-Face asked cautiously.

"I'm afraid that's no longer up to us."

Horse-Face narrowed his gaze, looking toward the direction where He Lu had fled.