The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 242 The Slaughterhouse (20)

Although he was unclear about the specific situation on the Star Alliance side, he understood that even if the Star Alliance was completely wiped out, they would only lose a maximum of six people.

In this contest, whether in terms of intelligence gathering, seizing the initiative, or actual tactical execution, the Star Alliance has fallen into a complete defeat.

Qian Rujin felt the biggest failure was that even without the Star Alliance, the Star Alliance might not have lost. Their existence might have only made it less easy for the other side to win.

The little girl who single-handedly killed the mutants in the thunderstorm has now become a dazzling new star that no one can ignore.

The word "narrow victory" was deeply etched into Qian Rujin's heart like a brand, and he suddenly felt a strong sense of resistance.

He regretted choosing to enter the contaminated zone despite the prophecy. Knowing full well the outcome would require the sacrifice of so many lives, why did he still come? What is the point of a contest whose outcome is already predetermined?
But he was just a teacher in the Star Alliance and had no right to interfere with the decisions of the higher-ups. Since the alliance had made its decision, he could only obey.

The moment Zhaopiku was brought back by Qirui, the entire slaughterhouse shook violently. The walls began to crumble, and the headless men, who had been wandering aimlessly, fled in panic, disappearing into the darkness.

Another muffled, deafening roar followed, and a massive crack appeared in the slaughterhouse floor, tearing the entire space in two. Su Ninglong and her group happened to be on the edge of the crack.

Fortunately, they were prepared and quickly retreated to the edge of the corridor.

The windows were now free of curtains. Without that protection, they could clearly see that the windowpanes were crawling with grotesque and twisted creatures.

The window frame groaned under the strain.

They clung to the windowpane, their twisted limbs digging into the cracks, their flattened bodies stuck to the glass.

There was no sound, only distorted, intertwined outlines, clinging together, watching.

It was only then that they realized the entire slaughterhouse was surrounded by the Mystic Realm.

The Filthy Spirit went to great lengths to prevent its prey from escaping.

Well, it's also possible that it wasn't the work of the Filthy Spirit. Only humans truly understand each other, and the struggles between people of the same race are even more bloody and cruel. The factory manager is more likely to be the culprit.

No one dared to look up anymore. Everyone could clearly feel those gazes on the back of their necks, heavy and sticky, as if they were being physically pressed down on them.

They dared not stop, nor could they stop. Their breathing was suppressed to an extremely low level, emitting hoarse sounds in the deathly silence.

As they moved, the things outside the window turned their heads as well.

The glass rattled softly as it was squeezed, but all they could do was watch...

The SAN value is dropping rapidly.

They quickened their pace and finally retreated to the area near the factory manager's office. The short, narrow dead-end alley was just right to block the view from the windows.

Xuanxi's face was covered in cold sweat; a quick wipe with his hand could almost fill a spoon.

"That's really dangerous!"

Hiding in this corner is not a long-term solution.

Just then, a roar came from the crack in the center of the slaughterhouse.

The roar, carrying overwhelming negative emotions, spread rapidly.

A replicated black shadow appeared before everyone.

The one in front of Su Ninglong had the same outline as her, except that it was completely black and had no reflection at all.

They did not attack; they simply stood there quietly, making it difficult to discern their purpose.

If the enemy does not move, I will not move.

Empty your mind and never make any associations. If they attack, fight back. If you do nothing, do nothing, and do not flee, that is the best way to deal with the unknown spirits.

After a stalemate lasting a while, one of the dark figures suddenly changed.

It gradually emerged from pure blackness, slowly acquiring color, and eventually transformed into a pig-headed man wearing a suit.

"Factory Manager!" Xuanxi's usually clear voice seemed to be blocked by something. His throat, which had been injured and bleeding, had not fully recovered, and he could only make a hoarse sound.

The factory manager seemed dazed, as if yesterday were reliving the past. The employees called out his name, having once regarded him as their savior.

He took in too many poor and disabled people, but his initial purpose was simply to help his boss reduce taxes.

As the factory director, he always followed orders.

Faced with the sincere gratitude and feedback from his disabled employees, he ultimately made a management decision that did not align with the principle of "maximum benefit."

Later, more disabled people were accepted.

Even if he were a brilliant businessman and managed to turn the slaughterhouse into the largest on the planet.

After reviewing the accounts, the boss still decided to lay off those "redundant people".

He began to rebel, as if he had transformed back into the upright young man he once was.

Amidst the daily conflicts, he grew increasingly gloomy and repeatedly engaged in heated arguments with his boss.

Until the final argument, he was fired, along with all the disabled people he had hired as extra.

He was unwilling to accept this. He also had shares in the slaughterhouse...

Those disabled people simply want to save more money to buy themselves a more flexible mechanical prosthetic limb.

Ultimately, the working class cannot resist the manipulation of capital. As a hidden spiritualist, he voluntarily branded himself with the mark of a secret spirit at the desperate pleas of his disabled employees.

He decided to slaughter these people and put pig heads on their heads.

What's the difference between an employee and a pig waiting to be slaughtered? Since the outcome is already predetermined, why not turn the tables and become the butcher wielding the knife?

The boss died, and the insubordinate management also died, but their bodies were forever imprisoned here, becoming garbage beings eternally dominated.

“I’ve already given you a chance…wouldn’t it be better if you resigned voluntarily and left?” the factory manager murmured, looking at Su Ninglong.

He didn't care about those stamps at all. He just wanted the slaughterhouse to keep going and "protect" those vulnerable people.

Su Ninglong found his self-talk utterly ridiculous: "After killing so many people, stop pretending to be a good guy. Otherwise, why would you specifically want to let us go?"

Outside the window lies the Mystic Realm, a dangerous world where once you step inside, you will be assimilated into a Mystic Spirit.

Was his statement about "letting them go" truly sincere?

The factory manager's face showed genuine confusion.

yeah why?
"You... you've disrupted our normal operations." The shadowy figure behind the factory manager gradually revealed its color, transforming into the appearance of the other five people besides Su Ninglong. "Since you don't want to live a good life, then you can only die."

Before the factory manager could finish speaking, his figure gradually disappeared, transforming back into a black shadow. Song Hu immediately made his move:
"The Barrier of Truth. Nothing illusory can change its form, nothing non-human can pass through the barrier, everything..."

The young Word Master was well-prepared for this duel. His tone was as steady as reciting Buddhist verses, each syllable clear and melodious, calming the surrounding air. They had suffered losses twice during their investigations of the factory manager's office, but a third time was the limit.

The shadowy figure that had just transformed into human form was completely imprisoned and could no longer change its shape.

"You are the last layer of protection of the Filthy Banquet Spirit, aren't you?" Before the factory manager could respond, Su Ninglong swiftly swung out the Returning Void, aiming straight for the factory manager's heart.

The factory manager raised his hand to brace against the tip of the umbrella, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw that his clone was being held tightly by four other people.

Although those clones possessed the exact same strength as them, they were ultimately just shadows and didn't understand what cooperation meant.

In a short while, one of the dark figures was shattered by the lightning in Zhaopiku's hand;
Tong Zi was even more decisive, directly bombarding the other clone's limbs, while Xuan Xi quickly moved the broken remains away and tore them into pieces;

Eagle Bone's bubble bombs completely engulfed the last dark figure, and the continuous explosions blasted it into pieces.

The combined force of six people is formidable.

The factory manager's face grew increasingly pale, clearly at his last gasp.

Gui Xu struck again, this time piercing his heart directly, unlike the previous situation where he was cut in two but could still regenerate.

Within the barrier of truth, he was merely a mortal being.

The pale, thin hand gripped the handle of the Guixu umbrella tightly. The factory manager knelt on the ground, his voice hoarse: "No matter how we live... we are all just trying to survive. What's wrong with that?"

"You're not wrong, so everyone else must be wrong?" Su Ninglong was born in the information-exploding interstellar age and has seen too many different people's ideas. She has long since formed her own set of rules. "No matter what your reasons are, no matter how much you have no choice, you are already dead and should not have been left in this world long ago. Instead, you should be clinging to your obsession and continuing to maintain this slaughterhouse."

"I'm not dead! We're just living on in another way..."

"Oh? You call this living?" Su Ninglong retorted coldly, "What happiness can becoming a slave to a secret spirit bring you? Have you ever truly satisfied your emotions? You've long lost your seven emotions and six desires; you're nothing but a walking corpse."

With a twist of her wrist, she connected telepathically with Xiaosun. The umbrella suddenly unfolded, instantly penetrating the factory director's entire body.

The factory director's head rolled off silently.

No flesh crawled out of his body. He was an appendage of the Mystic Spirit, a part of it.

The mysterious spirit had been lurking behind him, drawing power and waiting for its chance.

When the smaller one dies, the larger one will naturally appear.

The death of the factory manager shook the entire slaughterhouse once again.

The crack suddenly widened, and a terrifying aura descended from the abyss as a huge black shadow slowly crawled out.

At that moment, the loud crash of the wall tearing suddenly stopped, and a lower, deeper hum pressed down on everyone's chest, so muffled it was suffocating.

It rose from the deepest darkness of the crack.

It was no longer a shadow, but a form condensed from something denser than darkness, constantly writhing and stretching... one could barely make out a twisted and enormous human silhouette.

But just one more glance and my eyes sting and tear up, my brain instinctively refuses to comprehend that illogical structure—the Filthy Feast Spirit.

It had no eyes. But every team member clearly felt that they were locked on, utterly pierced by a pure, cold malice.

My throat feels tight, and my fingers are cold.

No one moved; their legs seemed welded to the ground.

The instincts developed through countless training exercises shattered into dust at that moment.

The filthy spirit "flowed" forward an inch, and the air seemed to be sucked away instantly.

The biting cold didn't come from the temperature, but rather from penetrating directly into the bone marrow.

The nearest Star Alliance member suddenly bent over and began to retch, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.

Another team member's gun clattered to the ground; his fingers were cramping and he couldn't grip it properly.

Its mere existence is enough to shatter a person's will completely.

"All two-star hunters, retreat to the protective barrier!" Qian Rujin shouted. The Star Glory Alliance quickly deployed a protective holy artifact, which was maintained by several three-star hunters in shifts.

The protective barrier that the sacred artifact deployed was very thin, a translucent flesh color, but after the two-star hunter hid under it, he was finally able to catch his breath.

Qian Rujin and several other hunters, each holding a sacred artifact, cautiously approached the rift. "Don't be reckless."

“Old Jin, you’re overthinking it,” one hunter said casually, though his furrowed brows betrayed his nervousness. “We certainly won’t rush in and steal it.”

"In a competition, whoever steps forward first is more likely to become a stepping stone."

"We're actually hoping that Zhaopiku and Tongzi will make the first move... so we can take the opportunity to probe their strength. It would be best if we waited until they weakened most of the Mystic Spirit's power before we took it in."

After saying only a few words, a sharp pain shot through my chest.

The powerful, oppressive aura around me squeezed my lungs, hindering my breathing, and my head began to throb.

"Let's say less." Qian Rujin suddenly felt that her teammates were being somewhat petty and judging others by their own standards. At least Tong Zi and Zhao Piku had always been upright and open-minded people.

Su Ninglong has always been arrogant, so it's hard to imagine that she would be willing to wait for others to make the first move before contacting the Mystic Spirit.

As for the other three, they still need time to grow and are not a threat at present.

They slowly approached the area where the Filthy Spirit was located and finally saw the whole scene clearly. The Filthy Spirit had actually broken through the barrier between the Secret Spirit Domain and the subspace, using itself as a bridge to forcibly create a passage.

It has been absorbing power through the marks, and now that the important marks are disappearing one after another, it naturally has to come and check it out in person.

Since the subspace was not specially reinforced and could not fully support its body, it had no choice but to tear open the space and extend part of its body out from the Secret Spirit Domain.

This hasty decision resulted in the Filthy Spirit being truly trapped inside the slaughterhouse.

If the spirits understood human language, they would have already used every curse word to vehemently condemn humanity's cunning.

In fact, it was indeed startled by the scene before it, like a silly roe deer that, knowing there was danger, still couldn't suppress its curiosity and insisted on stepping into the trap to see what was going on.

Of course, this also stems from its absolute confidence in its own strength and its inability to relinquish its source of power.

It will never find another exclusive contaminated zone like this, where it can catch a sheep and keep it shearing.

Su Ninglong stood at the edge of the crack, gazing at the indescribable, enormous spirit. She did not flinch in the slightest; instead, the terrifying aura ignited a strong fighting spirit within her.

Tong Zi said, "Zhao Piku and I will lead the attack, you guys will provide support. Be careful of the Star Alliance."

“No, I’ll do it.” Su Ninglong’s tone was resolute. “I’ll lead the attack, and you guys will support me. I’m going to make Little Bamboo Shoot swallow it.”

The little bamboo shoot had just conveyed a strong desire to her; it wanted to devour the monster. This being, radiating an ominous aura, seemed almost indestructible to outsiders; the best approach was simply to contain it.