Nightmare Despair

Chapter 98 Appearance
"Where the hell did this come from? Is it still in China?"

Cold sweat trickled down Niu Ancheng's forehead, down his cheeks and neck, and into his clothes. The muzzle of his gun remained firmly pointed forward, and he dared not relax for a moment.

His eyes were filled with incomprehensible terror.

If this is the "mirage," then he finally understands why some old guys in the system would rather go to remote mountain villages to help with official duties than stay in the city.

Li Xiangqian turned his head and said in a low voice, "Come closer! Don't touch anything, don't move around, act like you're made of wood..."

Mirage? A plural mirage? No... none of those.

The wall was seeping black water, eerie and illogical. Countless fragments of information in Li Xiangqian's mind pieced together a word that sent chills down his spine.

"A nightmare in real life."

He had never seen this word in any official document; the only time he saw it was on the way back with Ding San.

Ding San mentioned it to a mysterious person on the phone.

Only now did Li Xiangqian realize how much fear Ding San had hidden behind his cold face.

"So, those terrifying dreams can actually come true? Why has no one ever told us?"

Unease, confusion, and fear.

Besides the immediate deadly threat, Li Xiangqian also felt a sense of helplessness, as if the sky were falling.

'A seemingly stable life may have been on the verge of collapse all along...'

He couldn't help but think this, but he wouldn't say a word out loud.

The veteran policeman's experience told him that in times like these, it's even more important to put on a show of optimism.

He composed himself and said calmly, "We are definitely still in the industrial park, so don't worry, the support will be here soon."

Hearing the veteran detective's calm voice, the employees who were on the verge of collapse grasped at a straw and nodded in agreement.

But the next second, the already dim light tubes overhead began to flicker wildly, emitting crackling sounds of electrical bursts.

"what!"

A girl in the crowd screamed in fright at the noise.

Before she could finish speaking, she realized she had done something incredibly stupid, covered her mouth tightly, and tears welled up in her eyes.

But the shrill sound had already pierced the deathly silence of the floor, echoing deep into the corridor.

Everyone's face turned deathly pale instantly. In the crowd, the muzzles of several pistols swept around, guarding against anything that might be attracted by the screams.

Time passed by, and everyone was in extreme agony and feeling terrible.

Fortunately, it seems they were overthinking it.

Nothing happened.

"The monster didn't spot us."

"Keep quiet and keep going."

We must move; staying still is tantamount to waiting to die.

With that thought in mind, Li Xiangqian quickly glanced back, before he could even clear anyone's face.

A strange, sharp pain suddenly pierced his forehead.

Immediately afterwards, he froze on the spot, unable to move.

……what happened?
Li Xiangqian was sweating profusely, his neck felt like it was rusted, and it made a stiff creaking sound as he twisted it. He finally managed to lift his head.

However, at just one glance, a horrifying scene made him gasp.

The ceiling had somehow risen several meters higher, and a huge, gelatinous monster was stuck to it, resembling a piece of melted amber wriggling around.

Several translucent tentacles drooped down from the monster, precisely covering the head of its prey below.

Of the dozen or so people in the group, half of their heads were gradually covered by the gelatinous substance.

The first one to be caught was the girl who had screamed earlier.

Her face was melting at a visible speed, with skin and fat dripping down like wax, revealing the cheekbones beneath which covered parts of human tissue.

"Hold!"

Startled, Li Xiangqian let out a low growl and, with all his might, fired three shots at the gelatinous mass.

Gunfire erupted, bullets pierced the monster's body, creating ripples, and then... nothing happened.

The bullets disappeared without a trace, but the gunshots did wake up the others who were stunned.

They struggled to break free from a kind of mental oppression.

Niu Ancheng stretched out his hand and forcefully pulled two employees who were not yet fully covered out from the gaps in the tentacles.

But the police academy student under his command, who had only recently joined the force, could never be saved.

In an instant, Niu Ancheng's face twisted into a more grotesque expression than a monster's, as he watched helplessly as the young policeman's head was ripped off by tentacles, like tearing off a doll's head.

boom! boom! boom!
He emptied the magazine in one go, then rushed under the tentacles like a madman, reaching out to grab the gelatinous tentacles, trying to drag out his subordinate's corpse.

But the sticky, slippery substance was impossible to grasp.

Within seconds, a layer of skin and flesh was corroded off Niu Ancheng's hands, and the exposed muscle tissue sizzled and oozed a disgusting, syrup-like liquid.

"Old Niu! Let's go!"

Li Xiangqian fired all his bullets, but seeing that it was ineffective, he gritted his teeth and smashed the pistol like a brick.

He had already escaped the attack range, but at this moment he turned back and rushed back, grabbed Niu Ancheng's shoulder, and dragged him back with all his might.

"No...no! I promised his mother I'd take good care of him! Damn it! Damn it!"

Niu Ancheng wept uncontrollably. The excruciating pain in his hands brought him to his senses, but he couldn't suppress the devastation in his heart.

He struggled to rush back, his strength astonishing, and Li Xiangqian couldn't hold him down for a moment. Just then, Zhou Qing's flashlight, crackling with electricity, snapped into Niu Ancheng's lower back.

Just touch and leave.

The weakening electric current didn't make him faint, but it made his whole body go numb, leaving him completely powerless.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

Li Xiangqian glanced gratefully at Zhou Qing, hoisted Niu Ancheng onto his shoulder, glanced around, and then rushed towards the only direction in the distance that still seemed relatively bright.

In the face of life and death, everyone pushed their speed to the limit.

Of course, this may also be because their numbers have decreased by two-thirds.

Just as she was about to turn a corner, Zhou Qing couldn't help but look back.

The gelatinous monster was still stuck to the ceiling, with ten straight human figures hanging from its tentacles, like a group of eerie teru teru bozu dolls.

They should all be dead.

……

The nightmarish factory was like a maze with no exit. The remaining seven people dared not stop, but always unknowingly circled back to the starting point.

This seemingly endless cycle plunged the survivors into utter despair.

"What the hell is this thing? Why did we run into this... Are those people up there just sitting around doing nothing?!"

A man who looked like a clerk suddenly collapsed to his knees, covering his mouth and cursing under his breath, his voice trembling with sobs.

He couldn't run anymore... He couldn't even lift a finger.

Li Xiangqian opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word. He was equally bewildered by the situation before him.

After a deathly silence, he finally spoke in a hoarse voice.

"It'll be soon... reinforcements are coming soon, just wait a little longer."

But by this point, no one had any hope of receiving any support.

Even Niu Ancheng genuinely felt that they were doomed.

Because, through repeated cycles, they discovered that something in this area seemed to be gathering towards them.

Darkness surged in like a tide, and the nightmares wouldn't even leave them the last glimmer of light.

In the darkness, shadowy figures moved about, and footsteps sounded intermittently, as if someone were stepping on broken glass.

Zhou Qing gripped the stun flashlight tightly in her hand, but watched helplessly as the zinc alloy casing was easily crushed and shattered in her grasp.

The erosion has reached its limit.

Within minutes, even if they weren't caught by those monsters, they would still die.

Zhou Qing's lips were chapped and her eyes were blank.

If she hadn't experienced it herself, she would never have imagined that just working a regular night shift would lead her to this desperate situation where she had no one to turn to.

'Xiao Kai, A Die, Yan Zi... I don't want to die.'

The faces of her younger brother, family, and friends flashed before her eyes, and Zhou Qing clenched her fists tightly, filled with resentment.

Just as everyone's spirits were at rock bottom, Niu Ancheng, having recovered, roared and once again stood at the forefront.

"Damn it! Come on, I'll fight you to the death!"

He picked up half of the broken metal fragment from the ground and waved it wildly in the darkness, like a trapped beast.

Under his influence, Zhou Qing and the others also got involved.

Zhou Qing picked up a section of stainless steel water pipe, her hands trembling, but not entirely out of fear.

"I want to leave here... What kind of life is it to die without knowing why?"

Not only her, but everyone in dire straits felt a desperate, ruthless urge to fight to the death rise in their hearts.

However, no matter how desperate an ordinary person's last stand is, it is all in vain.

They don't even have the right to trade one for one.

boom!
With a muffled thud, a sharp claw covered in mottled scales emerged from the darkness, easily sending Niu Ancheng flying. Judging from the sound, it seemed as if his body had hit a wall and slid to the ground.

No more sound.

The nascent will to survive among the crowd was instantly extinguished.

"Why haven't the people from the Bureau of Extraordinary Events arrived yet...?"

Even the usually composed Li Xiangqian completely broke down, his voice filled with despair.

Darkness crept closer, and everyone retreated step by step.

Soon, even that last glimmer of hope vanished.

Everyone closed their eyes in despair.

But at this moment.

boom! !

The wall behind them shattered with a deafening roar, and a blazing, fierce orange flame, in an unusual manner, penetrated the darkness through a gigantic figure.

Is it a rescue?
Do not!
When everyone saw the figure in the light, the despair that had just been extinguished in their hearts was rekindled, and even intensified.

That was a monster that looked more terrifying than all the previous monsters combined.

Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!

(End of this chapter)