The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 230 The Slaughterhouse (8)

Only Qian Rujin found the tune somewhat familiar. He thought about it carefully for a few seconds, and couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly. Apart from Su Ninglong, that little brat who was bolder than a ghost, who else would dare to wander outside at a time like this?

He had tried to go out and investigate, but after only glancing out the window a few times, he almost lost his composure and had to retreat back inside for the time being.

And she was even humming a song outside.

This time period was probably deliberately set aside by the Mystic Spirits, with the aim of keeping hunters in the contaminated area for an extended period.

Even if no distortion occurs now, the longer one stays, the deeper the impact will be.

Su Ninglong walked through the corridor and pushed open the door to the assembly room.

Only two red lights glowed dimly in the vast space, casting large shadows.

In the area shrouded in red light, several grotesque human heads were displayed, each tightly wrapped in a vacuum compression bag and neatly arranged on a long table.

According to Song Hu and his group, the "goods" packed today would be collected tonight. But what would come at this hour?
Su Ninglong stood on the edge of darkness, the Guixu Umbrella spinning silently in her hand.

The little bamboo shoot peeked out from her collar and nestled against her neck, its brows furrowed tightly.

"Don't worry, if there's a real danger to my life, I'll use Tai Xu."

Xiaosun nodded, but her cheeks remained tense as she cautiously looked around.

Under the red light, a figure in black robes slowly emerged. Then came a second, a third... and the number continued to increase.

Withered, bony fingers reached out and gently stroked the vacuum-sealed heads.

The head inside the bag contorted in even greater agony, but its screams were completely muffled, and not a single sound could be heard.

As those faces grew increasingly ferocious, the Star Hunters in the lounge, who had just devoured the "meat" and were controlled by their work badges, seemed to sense something and began to groan in pain.

Xuanxi was sitting on the edge of the bed, resting with his eyes closed.

Hearing intermittent groans coming from the other beds, he opened his eyes, groped his way to the wall in the dark, and pressed the switch.

The red light suddenly shone on the faces of the other pig-headed men, instantly intensifying their pain. They began to howl loudly, making a hoarse "grunt" sound from their throats.

Hyun Hee immediately turned off the lights.

As darkness returned, the pig-headed men's breathing gradually calmed down.

He pursed his lips.

It looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight.

Such misfortunes that happen to Charlie and Lian Xinyi alone are something that usually only happens to them.

Xuanxi gently rubbed his temples, tore off a piece of paper, and briefly wrote down what had just happened.

He activated his supernatural ability, and a faint sphere of light appeared beside him.

After dropping the note, the orb of light silently disappeared into the darkness. He sat back on the edge of the bed, listening to the suppressed growls of the pig-headed men around him, and suddenly understood Charlie and Lian Xinyi's usual interactions—it was indeed not easy to grow into a reasonably upright and optimistic person amidst such luck.

However, he is the one who is suffering now.

He sighed softly, "Sigh..."

In the adjacent lounge number 50, Tong Zi and the others had just brought back an ordinary pig-headed man and dumped him on Su Ninglong's empty bed.

Since these people didn't do anything further, the pig-headed man brazenly started snoring, just like a pig wrapped in a cocoon, with snoring coming in waves.

Tong Zi's lips twitched. Just as she was about to find something to gag it, a faint light suddenly appeared in the darkness. It was a note from Xuan Xi.

The eagle's bone is closest to the door, so quickly turn on the light.

Tong Zi picked up the note and read it, a look of worry on her face: "I wonder how Su Ninglong is doing."

They originally planned to conduct experiments only indoors, but after the break bell rang, they also ventured out to explore.

The result was similar to that of Qian Rujin; the presence outside the window caused their SAN values ​​to plummet after only a moment of staring.

Song Hu and Ying Gu are firsthand witnesses.

Relying on the presence of "stability-maintaining backers" like Lian Xinyi and Charlie in their ranks, they held out outside the door for nearly a minute.

Even with the mental impact shared among the five people, the average SAN value plummeted from 90 to 80, alarming the support team at the rear, who immediately used the strongest sanity stabilization measures on Charlie and Lian Xinyi.

Fortunately, they did not force their way in and quickly retreated to this temporary "safe zone".

Because they had experienced it firsthand, they understood all too well how terrifying those things outside the window were.

Zhao Piku, however, spoke with ease: "The method she cultivates already has a high resistance to mystical spirits, so there's no need to worry too much."

Tong Zi nodded: "If she really couldn't handle it, she should have retreated here just now."

“Didn’t you hear the singing outside too…” Song Hu wasn’t too worried, but rather a little helpless. “In this godforsaken place, she’d dare to hum that kind of tune. Only she would do that.”

Only Suninglong would do something like deliberately increasing the risk of losing SAN (Sanity Security).

No sooner had the words been spoken than a piercing noise came from outside, and the people inside immediately fell silent.

"Eagle Bone." Tong Zi called out the name in a low voice, and Eagle Bone immediately understood and turned off the light.

There were no footsteps making room checks, only a heavy, dragging sound, like metal being pulled, approaching from afar. Everyone held their breath, waiting silently, unable to help but visualize what was outside the door.

Could it be a monster covered in metal and topped with a rotting pig's head?
Or was it not a physical entity at all, but simply dragging a huge metal weapon along?

Various speculations churned in the darkness.

The creaking sound didn't stop; it continued to approach, but then went straight past room number 50.

Just as the people inside breathed a sigh of relief, Eagle Bone, who had been intently listening by the door, suddenly pressed a button and turned on the light. Almost simultaneously, the dragging sound stopped abruptly.

The creaking sound stopped at the door of lounge number 50.

Eagle Bone quickly moved away from the door, flipped over and leaped onto the bed board, silently sitting in the corresponding bed position.

"Boom!"

A heavy blunt object slammed into the door, shaking the entire lounge as if striking everyone's heart.

"Thump! Thump..."

The thin door began to deform under the continuous heavy blows, and it looked like it was about to collapse.

Song Hu quickly removed the "Dawn Divider" sacred artifact from his wrist and tossed a ring to Piku and Tong Zi respectively. The two caught them in unison and immediately put them on.

The eagle bone cannot be worn. His life is bound to Song Hu, as confirmed during previous training sessions. If he is amplified, the effect will be distributed among the five members of the team, meaning each person will only receive one-fifth of the enhancement.

This ring was originally intended to conserve spiritual energy and focus on enhancing personal skills.

Once the burden is shared, not only will the consumption of spiritual energy increase dramatically, but the mental strain will also rise sharply.

Therefore, Song Hu could only use the limited boost on the two strongest members of the team.

This was also the choice that best served her interests. Just before the door was completely destroyed, Tong Zi suddenly opened it and then instantly retreated back to her bed.

The towering pig-headed man carried a stained iron hammer, his body almost filling the entire doorway. His eyes glowed with an ominous red light as he slowly scanned the dormitory, finally locking onto the pig-headed man who was bound like a dumpling and still snoring.

It picked up the hammer, ducked into the break room, and easily lifted its sleeping "kindred spirit" with one hand.

Its colossal form cast a heavy shadow, creating an almost tangible sense of oppression.

Zhao Piku unconsciously tensed his leg muscles, while Tong Zi silently gripped "Star Eclipse".

Everyone's gaze quickly swept over the prominent "Supervisor" sign on its chest badge; apart from that, there was no other information.

The overseer picked up the pig-headed man, slowly turned around and walked towards the door. Right in front of Tong Zi and the others, it deftly swung the iron hammer and smashed it down.

With a muffled thud, the pig-headed man's head shattered like a ripe watermelon, splattering blood and fragments everywhere, creating an extremely gruesome scene.

The four people in the lounge had no expression on their faces, as if they were indifferent.

In reality, they were not at peace: This pig-headed idiot, why did he have to put on this show here? Was he afraid that their SAN value was too stable?
Logically speaking, having experienced so many contaminated areas, they should have become numb to the tragic deaths of others.

But watching the pig's head being smashed to pieces by the overseer like a watermelon sent shivers down everyone's spines.

It was as if that hammer blow had struck them on the head.

It must be because they all look so similar now, that must be it. Their faces were somewhat ferocious, yet they remained silent.

The overseer dragged the limp, headless corpse away.

Just as Ying Gu was about to get up and close the door, Song Hu suddenly whispered, "Freeze!"

Eagle Bone was instantly pinned to the spot by an invisible force, unable to move.

He did not doubt his teammates' judgment.

Sure enough, there was another noise outside the door, and this time, an even more bizarre monster appeared.

It had a head of messy long hair, and the upper half of its face was still a complete pig's head, but the lower half of its face was just bare white bones, with bits of rotten flesh hanging on the skeleton.

It tilted its head, and its neck began to slowly stretch out, longer and longer, until it finally stopped in front of Tong Zi, and spoke through its half-rotten mouth:

"Your work badge wasn't worn properly, so half of your performance bonus will be deducted. Staying up so late, everyone will have another 10 points deducted."

"None of you are good employees..."

The monster's ferocity increased dramatically. Tong Zi coughed lightly, and the team sprang into action instantly.

Without hesitation, Song Hu shouted at the monster, "Suppress!" "Bind!"

The two incantations were uttered in quick succession, both techniques learned from Su Ninglong.

At that moment, he couldn't help but feel grateful to Su Ninglong, his "all-around teammate".

Immediately afterwards, he swiftly cast the "Gao" spell on Zhaopiku, causing layers of protective armor to overlap and gleam faintly.

At the same moment, Eagle Bone threw several bubble-shaped time bombs at the monster, which silently adhered to its body.

The monster had extremely high resistance; the spell could only bind it for less than a second. But that one second was enough for Zhaopiku and Tong Zi to make their move.

Zhaopiku clasped his hands together and suddenly pulled them apart, sparks flying as he flung a high-voltage ball of electricity directly at the monster.

Meanwhile, Tong Zi's "Star Eclipse" silently pressed against the monster's outstretched neck.

With a very soft "hiss" sound, the monster's head fell off.

Eagle Bone kicked the still convulsing body out of the door and quickly closed the already deformed door.

The countdown ended, and a muffled explosion followed, the shockwave carrying a foul stench seeping in through the cracks in the door.

At Zhaopiku's feet, the rotting pig's head was still not quite dead; its mouth was still opening and closing, emitting silent gasps.

Tong Zi squatted down and deftly removed its jaw, or more accurately, removed its already loose jawbone, without much effort at all.

"Isn't it a bit too weak?" Zhaopiku asked in a low voice, looking at the motionless wreckage on the ground.

Song Hu shook his head: "It's not weak to me. Word magic can only bind it for one second."

The effectiveness of the Word of Power is directly related to the strength of the opponent. The words "suppress" and "bind" are the same, but they can only control the opponent for one second, which is enough to show that this monster is not simple.

“It’s also possible that we’ve become stronger.” Zhaopiku stroked his chin, a hint of smugness in his voice.

The group was slightly taken aback; it wasn't impossible.

Their team has gone through many rounds of practice and coordination; although small in number, their teamwork is extremely smooth.

"That pig-headed man just said he'd deduct half of your performance bonus. Do you still have 200 in 'salary'?"

"Who cares if it deducts or not? Am I really supposed to just obediently wait for it to 'reform' me?" Tong Zi sneered, kicking the hideous half-rotten head out of the corridor. "Get some rest. Tomorrow we must figure out the layout of the entire slaughterhouse and find the true form of the Filthy Banquet Spirit."

Song Hu said gravely, “If we can’t find it, we’ll have a hard time leaving. Su Ninglong said we entered this place through two layers of spatial walls. What I’m most worried about is that the secret spirit isn’t actually inside, but outside.”

Everyone's expression darkened.

There were no other pig-headed men outside, only that mysterious "security guard".

If the security guards were indeed the disguised spirit of the Filthy Banquet, then it's no wonder that they haven't been able to eliminate it. There are simply too few people with the ability to traverse spatial barriers on their own.

“Don’t worry, even if the Filthy Spirit is really a security guard, we’re not without options. Before I came in here, I left a mark over there,” Tong Zi said. “However, this means I’ll have to permanently occupy a mark.”

Her marking ability is not unlimited. Even with the improvement of her powers, she can currently only maintain a maximum of a dozen or so marking points at the same time.

One security room, one temporary safe zone (rest area), and the rest must be used flexibly in battle to compensate for the lack of her attack methods.

……

Tong Zigang had just finished dealing with the monsters he had checked on, but Su Ninglong on the other side had not disturbed the headless beings that were still greedily consuming the food.

She turned and walked deeper into the factory, trying to find other hidden areas.

As she passed through the livestock pen, she noticed that all the individuals referred to as "livestock" were staring intently in the same direction, their eyes vacant yet stubborn.

Su Ninglong followed their gaze forward and finally found a door she had never seen before in a dimly lit corner.

Is this door present during the day?

She thought carefully and confirmed that she did not remember this entrance. It seemed that this was a passage that only appeared at night.

Without hesitation, she pushed the door open.

Behind the door was another slaughterhouse, smaller in scale but even more suffocating.

The animals being processed here are not live pigs, but human bodies. One after another, still slightly twitching human bodies are fixed to the cutting board, and pig heads are precisely cut off and soaked in a culture solution that smells of medicine.

The scene wasn't bloody, but it was incredibly disgusting. Because these bodies weren't bleeding, they looked like disassembled parts.

(End of this chapter)