Chainsaw Man, starting contract to cut down the Demon Line

"In my opinion, he is definitely not the kind of person who would give his life for teammates like us."

"I don't care what he talked about with you, but please don't completely believe him. Don't be foolish and jump into a fire pit with him, okay?"

Hayakawa Aki remained silent under the tree. His eyes were lowered, making it impossible for Hime to guess what he was thinking.

Ji Ye sighed. She knew that her words were somewhat inappropriate, but she had no choice but to say them.

She gave a self-deprecating laugh at the night sky, suppressing all those messy emotions back into her heart, and Ji Ye put on her usual lazy expression.

"Alright, that's enough for today..."

"I know that if I say too much, you'll find me annoying."

After speaking, Ji Ye stood up on the rock, dusted off his bottom, and was about to return to the hotel.

Unexpectedly, the hotel's sliding door was suddenly opened from the inside.

Hime and Hayakawa Aki were stunned for a moment, then turned around at the same time, and Yan Liang's calm face appeared in front of them.

He had already dressed at some point. His gaze swept over Hayakawa Aki under the tree before returning to Himeno's astonished face.

"Captain?" Hime subconsciously took a half step back, her cheeks flushing slightly from the embarrassment of being gossiped about behind her back.

Did he hear it?

When did you hear that?

While Ji Ye was still pondering to herself, Yan Liang ignored her thoughts and coldly spoke:

"I can't control you two flirting and arguing outside."

"However, before that, could we at least lay a foundation..."

"……what?!"

Hime's heart skipped a beat. Reminded by Yoshikazu, Hayakawa Akito realized something was wrong. Almost simultaneously, the katana on his back was drawn and pointed at the dense forest.

"Dada, dada, dada..."

Only then did Himeno belatedly realize what was happening—

From the dark forest outside the inn came a series of orderly footsteps.

Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Strange Villagers

"Dada, dada, dada..."

At first, the sound sounded like the muffled thud of night rain hitting broad tree leaves, but as time went on, the sound became clearer and clearer.

Hayakawa Aki gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and Hime quickly adjusted her stance as well. Hime put the embarrassment of being caught by Yan Liang behind her back, jumped off the rock, and got into a fighting stance at any time.

“…What the hell is this?” Hayakawa Aki muttered to himself, but no one answered him, because those things had already emerged from the dark forest.

The first thing that caught everyone's eye was a foot.

It was a bare foot, stepping into the muddy ground, completely unaware of its surroundings.

Immediately afterwards, figures emerged unsteadily from under the dense canopy of trees.

Under the pale moonlight, Hayakawa Aki finally saw the true faces of these uninvited guests and gasped for breath.

They are villagers.

Those villagers they had seen on the street during the day.

But at this moment, they have completely changed.

The villagers at the front were completely naked. Their arms hung limply at their sides as if they had lost all feeling, and their empty eyes stared blankly at Himeno and Hayakawa Aki. Behind them were even more naked villagers.

There were many villagers, and an even larger group remained hidden in the forest.

Their faces were blank, and they approached in unison towards us. They didn't speak, they didn't pause, they just silently advanced.

The sight before him sent a chill down Hayakawa Aki's spine. He could tell that these villagers were practically walking corpses, having lost their own consciousness.

Is it being controlled by someone?

"Hey--"

With the crowd less than ten meters away, Hayakawa Aki hesitated for her next move. But Himeno spoke first, tentatively calling out before asking the crowd:

"Are you all out for a walk in the middle of the night? If you need anything from us, why don't you come back tomorrow morning..."

This is a necessary probe. It is both to confirm whether the other party still retains their rationality and to buy time to observe the enemy's weaknesses.

But before Ji Ye could finish speaking, Yan Liang interrupted her from behind.

"Save your breath, Himeno."

Yan Liang, hands in his pockets, stepped past Ji Ye and Hayakawa Aki to stand at the front. The night wind ruffled his clothes. Looking at the strange villagers, he couldn't help but coldly remind them:

"Stop wasting your breath. Are your eyes just for decoration?" Yan Liang said coldly. "What are you doing, dawdling like this?"

“I felt during the day that those people weren’t normal, and now… they’re coming here at night without sleeping and without any clothes on. It’s not something a human being would do.”

"In other words, these people may look like humans, but they are no longer human."

Ji Ye choked for a moment, looking at the approaching villagers, he gritted his teeth and wanted to say something: "But, what if they are just being controlled by demons? What if we attack them directly..."

Seeing Ji Ye's dawdling, Yan Liang was also a little annoyed. He hated complicating simple things, so he simply sighed.

"alright."

Yan Liang pretended to speak softly to the approaching group of people.

His voice was so soft that only Himeno and Hayakawa Aki could hear it:

"Is any of you being coerced? Speak up, or we'll take action against you."

As expected, the group of zombies on the other side did not react at all and continued to approach.

"Look, no one is saying a word."

Yan Liang sneered, then raised his right hand, his thumb resting on his middle finger.

Even so, he didn't immediately go for the kill, keeping his eyes fixed on the ankles of the villagers walking in the front row.

"Snapped."

A crisp snap of the fingers rang out.

"Hey—!"

It sounded like flesh being sliced ​​open by a sharp blade.

A line of blood spurted from the ankle of the villagers at the very front. Losing their support, they all collapsed forward, crashing heavily onto the muddy ground.

Even a normal person, even one being controlled, would instinctively scream at the excruciating pain of having their legs severed.

But no.

The villagers who had fallen to the ground did not utter a single groan. Instead, like worms, they dragged their broken bodies and continued to crawl toward Yan Liang and his two companions!

"See that?" Yan Liang looked down at the crawling chunks of flesh on the ground. "If those villagers during the day could still be considered human, now, no matter what happens to them, they are no longer human."

There was no more hesitation.

Yan Liang raised his hand again, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Snapped."

The second snap of the fingers rang out, and this time, Yan Liang held back no longer.

"Hey—!"

At the same time, apart from the first group of people he had killed.

Whether they were lying on the ground or following behind, blood lines appeared on their waists. Their upper and lower bodies were misaligned, and they collapsed to the ground.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Half of the body lay on the ground like a tattered sack, its internal organs mixed with dark red blood, covering the open space in front of the hotel.

The smell of blood was carried by the night wind and rushed into everyone's nostrils.

With just two snaps of his fingers, dozens of villagers were killed.

So fast! So strong! And ruthless!

Hayakawa Qiu and Ji Ye were shocked.

Yan Liang's decisiveness once again reshaped their perception of the team leader.

"So... that's it?" Hime swallowed, looking at the chaotic scene that was now a mess.

However, Yan Liang did not withdraw his hand; he frowned.

Something's not right.

“They’re not dead yet.” Yan Liang stared at the pieces of flesh on the ground.

Hayakawa Aki and Himeno stared wide-eyed as they saw the wounds of the villagers who had been cut in half at the waist begin to wriggle.

The torsos that had fallen to the ground all began to melt like living mud.

The flesh, now devoid of human form, resembled clumps of fermenting dough, devouring and merging with each other on the ground before coalescing back together.

They stood up again, albeit unsteadily.

This time, however, the villagers were even more distorted than before. Half of their bodies were stuck together, and swollen, tumor-like lumps of flesh appeared at the cuts.

The strange footsteps sounded again, and the villagers continued to stare at Yan Liang and his companions with empty eyes, silently pushing forward.

“Dada…Dada…”

"What is this..." Hime gasped, "Not only can I not feel pain, but my body can even connect with someone else?"

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Dongshan Xiaohong, are you a pig reincarnated?

Yan Liang stood there, and by the pale moonlight, he could clearly see dark red granulation tissue in the wounds of the villagers.

The granulation tissue tangled around the wound, eventually swelling into tumors of varying sizes, connecting the mutilated body together.

For some reason, Yan Liang suddenly thought of Nakamura, the tumor demon.

That guy was also able to withstand one of my own slashes.

"These villagers... could they all be related to the tumor demon?"

Yan Liang pondered to himself. It was not surprising that such a powerful life force appeared in the tumor demon, but the problem was that the tumor demon had already been killed by the electric shock.

They died so badly that not even ashes remained.

If that's the case, then who's behind the strange changes in these villagers?

Was it the strange cult leader from the daytime? Or some mysterious person he didn't know?

Yan Liang's mind raced, but after only a second, he cut off his thoughts.

"Stop, now is not the time to think about these things..."

Standing still and bewildered when you are unaware of the enemy's situation is something only a fool would do.

At this moment, as the team leader, he only needs to consider two things—

Either fight or leave.

Considering the need to find clues to get home, Yan Liang originally planned to stay here for one night and leave the next day after getting the wooden sign.

Unfortunately, things happened suddenly, and the other party had already come to his door. He had to consider his own safety first.

Thinking of this, Yan Liang quickly surveyed the surrounding situation.

Hayakawa Aki and Himeno are considered elite combatants who can be used. But the enemy in front of them is obviously more troublesome.

First of all, this is their home turf.

Leaving aside the dozens of villagers at the front, just listening to the dense footsteps coming from the darkness, one could tell that there must be many more similar monsters lurking in the forest behind, continuously surging towards them.

Although they didn't know why these villagers had become like this and were targeting their group, the mastermind behind it all must have a purpose, given the scale of the operation.

This means that they have been tricked and have fallen into a trap.

Even more critically, his killing ability is not very effective against enemies with extremely high regenerative abilities.