Howard Smith.
One of the key participants in the Red Nut Gray Hole instance, his experiences spanned multiple stages of this cavern's history. It wasn't until the Research Base was established that he went missing after being imprisoned by Fulen, his final fate unknown.
Gao Hai had considered that such a unique individual wouldn't die easily, but he really hadn't expected to meet him at a time like this.
It appeared that he still possessed human rationality, but through the power of his Blessing, Gao Hai could sense that the entity before him was no longer completely human. Instead, he was an existence in a state somewhere between a human and an anomaly.
It was unclear if this state could persist for long. Under the perception of Gao Hai's Blessing, the malicious side belonging to the anomaly within this man had a very high presence and showed a faint trend of growth. His human side, conversely, did not appear powerful. The powers of the two were in a delicate balance, likely to tip to the other side at any moment. However, at least for now, within his perception, the man before him still possessed his self and reason.
"You were previously..."
"I was locked in D4 the whole time. Those black stones you saw rolling out when that door opened were likely what my corpse turned into. As for my current state, to be honest, I'm not sure either, but I don't think it can last much longer. Don't worry, when I'm about to truly turn into that kind of thing, I'll jump straight down."
Truly blunt enough.
Seeing Howard speak such words without the slightest hesitation, Gao Hai didn't know what to say. He fell silent for a brief moment, then decisively made a judgment, choosing to trust this former firefighter.
"Do you know how to kill Fulen?"
Gao Hai looked at him and asked directly.
"Although I'd really like to give a direct guarantee, I'm not certain about the success rate of the method I thought of. In short, I think you'd better find a way to get back to that idiot Shegera's office. You guys have no way to deal with the current Fulen, so you can only look for other breakthrough methods."
Howard didn't waste words and put forward his idea very crisply.
"Do you mean using the identity of 'General Shegera' to issue orders to Fulen? But directly ordering him to undergo mitosis might not work. However, perhaps I can find a way to issue a command to Fulen that 'the Fulen who is an anomaly would do, but the Fulen who is human cannot accept.' That might just split this guy apart."
Gao Hai's brain began to turn. Howard had merely stated his idea, and Gao Hai quickly realized what Howard wanted to convey.
Fulen, who was struggling to stay alive and refused to die, was equivalent to holding both 'Human' and 'Anomaly' identities. Currently, the opponent was using fusion to only reveal his 'Anomaly' identity, thereby ensuring he would absolutely not be killed by Hedal. But this also caused his cognition and actions to be dominated by the anomalous side, becoming no different from those monstrosities in the instance.
However, this state was merely a camouflage. It was certain that Fulen had a way to split again at any time, allowing his 'Human' side to surface once more.
Therefore, he had to find a way to create signs of division in this guy.
Anomalies only abide by rules. As long as a scenario conforms to the rules, they will do anything. But humans will not; humans have tendencies in their choices and things they cannot endure no matter what. So when the behavioral logic of the two sides cannot reconcile, perhaps it will cause this bastard thing to show his true colors.
"The office is over there. Good luck. I'll take these people out. After all, saving people is my specialty. If I'm still lucid by then, I'll come over to see if I can help you."
After Howard pointed out the office's location to Gao Hai, he turned and walked toward the direction where those few Players were.
Gao Hai simply nodded slightly at this, then explained the situation here to Maki through the mental link.
{ Find the office to issue orders to that thing? It feels like a very dangerous idea. This place has already turned into such a dangerous state; can't we try throwing that Fulen directly into the void below? }
{ That's not a good idea. We have absolutely no idea where this darkness leads, and anomalies obviously can't suffer from falling damage or death. If he just falls endlessly for a lifetime, I'd be trapped here to die along with him. Alright, you guys be careful and stay safe. I'm going. }
Maki had long since noticed the anomalous entities active on those rock fragments. Thinking of Gao Hai having to pass through the layers of encirclement by these things to find the office, she couldn't help but speak with some worry. However, her ideas clearly had no way to deal with the current situation, so Gao Hai set off immediately while communicating with her.
{ ...Alright, but Hai-kun, please be incredibly careful. }
{ I will. Don't worry, what kind of scenes haven't I seen before? }
Leaving behind such a teasing remark, Gao Hai leaped fiercely, landing directly on another rock fragment that was five or six meters long and wide. He then accelerated into a charge, setting off toward Shegera's office, which had collapsed by more than half but still had lights shining within.
Under the massive enhancement of Xusheng's Blessing, the dangerous and rugged terrain before him couldn't stop Gao Hai's movements at all. On the contrary, his running, jumping, and traversing were quite relaxed and comfortable. If not for those wandering monstrosities, this operation could even be described as a field trip.
If only those ghostly things weren't there...
"Please... take me away..."
A tourist emitting low cries, their body constantly swelling, reached out a hand toward Gao Hai.
"Heart... where is it..."
An explorer with several stalactites piercing their body whispered, charging directly at Gao Hai with astonishing speed.
"Please show... your ticket..."
A staff member, whose whole body was edematous and shriveled, howled while pouncing forward, brushing past Gao Hai's side dangerously close.
"No, are you guys anomalies or zombies? Running and jumping like this, have I arrived in Harran?"
Unable to resist throwing out a quip, Gao Hai lowered his head to dodge an anomaly's pounce, rolling on the spot to pass under a railing. He then leaped up violently, grabbing a protruding rock to scramble upwards, avoiding an arm that was almost completely snapped stretching out from the rock.
Immediately after, he kicked off the rock, flipped backward, and reached out to grab a rebar protruding diagonally from a concrete wall within another rock fragment. Borrowing the momentum on the rebar, he spun around twice and leaped out like he was flying, covering a height of seven or eight meters. He grabbed another rock, climbed up to a flat surface, and then rolled violently to dodge an explorer pouncing head-on.
Andres's disappearance meant the anomalies affiliated with the Red Nut Gray Hole had basically lost the power of their killing rules, becoming merely monsters with strength and speed far exceeding humans. However, Gao Hai felt that the aggression of these things had actually become higher, chasing him with complete madness.
A whistling sound came crashing down from above at this moment. It was a lavishly decorated office building splitting down the middle, with half of the building toppling toward Gao Hai. He could even see the past residual images of Werbo and Pedi inside, talking about planning the scenic area's infrastructure.
Rumble—
Amidst the explosive noise, a massive amount of building debris covered the area. Gao Hai could only accelerate his charge, dodging one anomaly after another that rushed out mixed within the fragments. Disregarding the wounds cut on his body by the gravel and shattered glass, he sped up even further, sprinting wildly.
This is bad.
Amidst heavy breathing, Gao Hai's gaze looked toward a floating, shattered platform ahead.
The distance was too far; he probably couldn't jump across.
A bloody figure chased up from the side, reaching out and grabbing Gao Hai. Under the immense force, Gao Hai was violently flung aside, slamming hard against the rock wall on one side, directly denting the stone structure.
That thing came forward again, only to have its arms and abdomen sliced open by the swing of Gao Hai's Blood Scissors. It fell to the ground, twisting its body, still wanting to get up and chase.
"Hoo—" Gao Hai took a deep breath, suppressing the chest tightness caused by the impact. He accelerated toward the front again, jumped, and relying on physical capabilities exceeding human limits, leaped a distance of over 12 meters, reaching out for the rock wall ahead.
He missed.
Was it really just that little bit short?
Crack!
The Blood Scissors stabbed violently forward, piercing the rock wall. Gao Hai leaped again, grabbing the wall and climbing upward with force. He climbed over this section of rock wall, more than ten meters long, and arrived at the top of this building fragment.
"Hah... hah..."
Panting, he calmed his breathing.
Gao Hai stood up on the rubble-filled platform, looking in the direction of the office which was still some distance away. Then, he realized his position was covered by a shadow.
Turning his head, he saw the giant bronze statue of the first park director, Auston, plummeting at high speed from diagonally behind, smashing the floating shattered platforms into crumbs one by one.
"I really don't think I've seen this scene before..."
Turn and run.
But it was already too late to avoid it.
The heavy bronze statue, falling at a speed of over 70 meters per second, slammed viciously into Gao Hai from the side. It sent him flying, crashing through a rock fragment not far away, smashing through a wall floating in mid-air, and finally rolling into a shattered park that was only a third of its original size.
"Cough, ugh..."
Gao Hai was still alive, and even had the strength to struggle and crawl up.
Quite a few bones in his body were probably broken, but it seemed he could still continue to move.
Reaching out to wipe away the filthy blood flowing from his nose, and dragging his broken left leg, Gao Hai took a deep breath and climbed up from the ground. Then, he saw a group of cheerful, chatting tourists not far away, walking straight toward him.
"We finally have time to visit the Red Nut Gray Hole today."
"But we don't seem to have a tour guide. It would be great if we had one."
"Isn't that one over there? Hello, handsome, can you be our tour guide?"
One by one, the pale-faced tourists smiled and surrounded Gao Hai just like that, an intense coldness covering him. Without a doubt, what he was encountering right now was an extremely dangerous situation that had to be evaded. But with a broken leg, multiple broken ribs, and blood churning within his chest cavity, Gao Hai clearly no longer had that ability.
Do I have to restart again?
Even though I've already reached this step.
"Rescue operation start!"
A Rescue Team member descending from the sky reached out and grabbed Gao Hai's shoulder, then rose from the ground, pulling Gao Hai upward.
Wearing a rescue suit, Kaguya tugged hard on the safety rope, forcibly pulling both Gao Hai and the Rescue Team member up.
"You really know how to push yourself."
Saying this, Kaguya walked up to the battered Gao Hai. She took off the badge she was wearing and affixed it to Gao Hai's clothes. The Rescue Team suit immediately emerged rapidly, and Gao Hai's injuries began to heal at an extremely fast speed.
"Miss Shinomiya, why are you here?"
Gao Hai, who hadn't expected to see Kaguya, was somewhat surprised. He then noticed that Kaguya's clothes were also torn in multiple places; her journey here had likely not been smooth either, and she only lacked wounds because she was wearing the badge.
"I just guessed what might happen. This is completely different from when the Shirakawa Apartments collapsed; the number of anomalies is simply too high, and the surrounding situation is constantly changing. Trying to safely arrive at a certain area is very unrealistic; you must have a helper."
There was no expression on Kaguya Shinomiya's face, only obscure points of light seeming to flash within her gaze.
"My athletic ability is stronger than both Maki-san and Fujiwara-san."
She said seriously to Gao Hai.
"My neural reflexes and athletic quality were already far stronger than ordinary people. After receiving the Twilight-level enhancement, they have reached the limits of the human body."
"Neither Maki-san nor Fujiwara-san can keep up with you at a time like this, but I can. So they continued to observe and track Fulen's situation, while I came to find you."
"In short, I am the only person currently capable of helping you. So, if the two of us act together, we should be able to arrive at the place you want to go faster."
Kaguya listed her reasons earnestly, her dark red pupils gazing tightly at Gao Hai, waiting for his answer.
"That's wonderful. Let's go, partner. There's no time to waste now."
Without even a second of hesitation, Gao Hai climbed up from the ground, reached out to pat Kaguya's shoulder, and then quickly began to run forward.
"Okay!"
Stepping out just as quickly, Kaguya followed by Gao Hai's side in the next moment. One tall and one short, the two ran forward simultaneously, jumped, and landed on another rock platform. Following Gao Hai, she watched as he swung the Blood Scissors to sever the head of a fat tourist pouncing from the front.
Kaguya followed up immediately. Holding the scalpel, she slashed horizontally, cutting a tourist coming towards her and a security guard charging at Gao Hai open from the abdomen, bisecting them at the waist and instantly stopping the movement of these two anomalies.
In the next moment, the two continued running forward.
Kaguya jumped first, grabbing a safety rope swinging in mid-air. She swung forcefully forward, then swung back towards Gao Hai.
Bloated figures emerged above and below the safety rope, crawling towards Kaguya while emitting indistinguishable low moans. Gao Hai jumped immediately after, also grabbing the rope. Borrowing the momentum of the rope's swing, the two leaped again, landing effortlessly on another rock platform. The bloated figures, unable to keep up with Gao Hai and Kaguya's speed, fell straight off the rope and dropped into the endless dark void.
It was right ahead.
Gao Hai raised his head, looking at the office. The distance had shortened to about 30 meters, separated by a dozen or so staggered platforms.
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