Chapter 23 The Giant of Blood

As the four groups of people were facing each other by the lake, discussing countermeasures, the liquid in the "blood lake" began to move without wind… Before long, a vortex appeared in the center of the lake and continued to expand…

"What's going on? Is there something in the lake?" Wu Si Can Xuan looked surprised and turned to Sheng Yu Pian.

Obviously, Sheng Yu Pian had some kind of "listening" ability, and when encountering such unexpected situations, his teammates would mostly ask him first.

"Are you really treating me like a super ear…" Sheng Yu Pian looked embarrassed and replied, "My detection range is limited. It's already a bit of a stretch to listen to conversations more than a hundred meters away. Even if there's something in this lake… I can't hear it through so much liquid."

"Could this be related to the city-wide monster resonance a few minutes ago?" Zui Wo Chang Ran continued.

"Wait!" Sheng Yu Pian's expression changed because at that moment, he finally "heard" something, "Uh… that's not important anymore…"

Two seconds later, a huge humanoid creature emerged from the center of the blood lake vortex. This giant was at least fifteen meters tall, with no skin all over its body. Its surface was covered with muscle textures and oozing blood. It was well-built, with hook-like fingers, and two bulging round eyeballs spinning strangely in their sockets.

Seeing this monster, the twelve players around them involuntarily took a few steps back.

The Qu Ming Nan trio even shouted, "What a huge Blood Ghoul!"

…………

On the other side, in the center of the lockdown zone.

Four Derivative beings from the Origin Organization met here.

From the east, walked a little boy wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, with amber-colored light faintly shining in his eyes.

From the north, walked a tall woman covered in blood. Her torso and limbs were somewhat deformed, and her face had acquired some canine features. These were all signs that "Beast Mimicry Enhancement" had already been activated.

From the west, walked a small figure about the same height as the child, but with the build of an adult and a large squirrel-tail-like beard.

From the south, walked a "light person," whose entire skin was glowing, and therefore wore a light-masking armor.

These four "people" were D1-Long, L2-Xuelan, J1-Kuai Duo, and Y2-Shanyao from Origin.

They arrived almost simultaneously at a crossroads in the center of the lockdown zone.

"You are badly injured," Long said to Xuelan as soon as he spoke.

"It doesn't matter," Xuelan replied, "Even if I die, I will complete the mission."

"Ah…" Kuai Duo sighed, but said nothing.

Shanyao continued, "So… shall we begin?"

"Of course," Long replied, "Everything must proceed according to plan."

As soon as he finished speaking, the four exchanged glances, then turned around and stood at the four corners of the intersection.

…………

At the same time, on top of a building two streets away, Tun Tian Gui Xiao and Shiva were secretly monitoring the scene.

"What are they going to do…" Gui Xiao muttered to himself, looking at the four Derivative beings in the distance.

"I'm actually more curious… what exactly are you trying to do?" Shiva squinted and glanced at Gui Xiao beside him, "Ignoring the points to be gained, and insisting on paying attention to the NPCs…" He paused, "The time I'm wasting with you here is enough for me to get a lot of points."

"They are not NPCs…" Gui Xiao corrected, "They are Derivative beings." His gaze was very focused, "And very strong Derivative beings. Two of them are Level Two, and the other two… I can't even observe them from a data level. This has never happened before."

"Derivative beings, Four Pillars Gods…" Shiva said impatiently, "In the end, they're all just data. This is a game, we are players. No matter how strong the data in the virtual world is, it's just a setting to us." He shook his head, "If you want to waste time here, then go ahead. I'm leaving…" As he spoke, he turned around, "You're free to play the Apex Confrontation as a team survival mode, but I want to focus on the competition."

"Cover your ears!" At that moment, Gui Xiao's expression suddenly changed, and he shouted back.

This sentence was a bit sudden and inexplicable. However, Shiva's reaction in an instant was correct; he did it instinctively…

Buzz—

Boom—

The first sound was a long, buzzing sound; the second was an explosion.

The entire city heard similar sounds.

The sound waves, like a tsunami spreading in all directions, surged out and swept across the city. Creatures outside the lockdown zone felt their eardrums ache and their feet weakened. Inside the lockdown zone… besides the Derivative beings, only Gui Xiao and Shiva were still alive. All the other mutated creatures fell to the ground and died instantly.

Twelve seconds later…

"Ha… ha…" Shiva gasped as he got up from the ground. He didn't even know how he had fallen. "You… you…" He staggered and sat down on the ground again. He looked down and saw that both of his hands were covered in blood. "You actually ambushed…" He didn't say the last word "me" because when he looked closely, Gui Xiao was sitting on the ground like him, with blood seeping from both ears.

"You should sit down for a while," Gui Xiao's expression looked relatively calm, "Inner ear injuries can affect your sense of balance. Even if you try to stand up, you'll fall."

"What… what's going on?" Because he was close and face to face, Shiva could barely hear what the other party was saying. "Did someone launch a surprise attack on us?"

"It's obviously not a player…" Gui Xiao replied while adjusting his breathing, "It seems something big is happening… Huff… Something I've never seen before… Something completely beyond my imagination has arrived…"

…………

Above the crossroads, a spherical spatial rift with a radius of about five meters had been opened. Any side of the sphere showed a scene as deep as a black hole.

After a moment, a stream of silver data slowly descended from it.

The substance looked like mercury, but it quickly condensed into a human form after landing. Its appearance was that of a woman.

Root looked around and said, "Where is Xuelan?"

Long replied, "She sacrificed herself to bear the energy required for the Blast Tunnel."

Root was silent for two seconds. A slight fluctuation appeared on her expression, but it instantly returned to normal, and she raised her voice, "Did you all hear that? Origins!"

Before she finished speaking, hundreds of black shadows swarmed out of the Blast Tunnel and came to… this world.