Ling Cage, pick up Lu Mingfei at the start.

"Lu Mingfei! Lu Mingfei! Look at me!"

Xu Tong's voice was like a chisel, violently cleaving through the chaos frozen by fear in Lu Mingfei's mind. He gripped Lu Mingfei's trembling shoulders tightly with both hands, his gaze piercing, fixed on the other's unfocused pupils.

"Listen up! It's normal to be afraid! But if you're so afraid that you break through the Origin Realm, we'll all be buried with you!" Xu Tong's voice was extremely low, yet every word struck Lu Mingfei's heart like a hammer. "Stay calm! Think of yourself as a stone, as a piece of rusty iron here! Those monsters below rely on life essence to find people; if the essence doesn't fluctuate, they're blind!"

Xu Tong's heart was in his throat. No matter how fast Lu Mingfei learned the Return to Origin technique, he was still a boy from a peaceful world who had never seen a real meat grinder.

The roars of the Devouring Beasts outside were like death knells, while the horrific scene of the Breath of Earth devouring the living had just unfolded below. Under this double shock, it was highly likely that this kid would have an emotional breakdown. Once his life essence shone like a lighthouse, everyone would be doomed.

"Lu Mingfei, breathe with me," Mai Duo leaned closer, her voice trying to stay steady as she guided him, "Inhale...slower...exhale...yes, just like that." She exchanged worried glances with Xia Dou and Sui Xing.

They all knew that Lu Mingfei had been hunted down by the Devouring Beasts and had barely escaped with his life before being rescued by Boss Bai. The roars of the beasts outside were like a tidal wave, bringing his deepest nightmare right before his eyes.

Lu Mingfei was indeed overwhelmed by fear. The roars outside were more intense and frenzied than he remembered, seemingly endless. The image of the mortal struggling and solidifying into flesh and soil in the Breath Soil below overlapped repeatedly in his mind with the ferocious maw of the Devouring Beast.

It's over... This time, there's really no escaping this fate... A chilling despair spread down his spine, almost robbing him of his ability to think.

But the force from Xu Tong's hand, the rhythm of his breathing guided by Mai Duo, and the anxious yet unwavering gazes of his companions, like several tenacious vines, bound his consciousness as it slid towards the abyss. He couldn't break free! He absolutely couldn't break free!

A voice, born of the instinct for survival, roared deep within his soul. "If I break this, I'll die! Maiduo, Xutong, Xiadou, Suixing… I'll kill everyone! I don't want to die! I absolutely cannot die!"

An almost tyrannical willpower suddenly erupted from the depths of his heart, like a drowning person grasping at the last straw. He was no longer passively "soothing" the source essence, but with unprecedented force, he issued a command to still the energy within him that was restless due to fear!

Miraculously, the life essence that was on the verge of spiraling out of control was actually calmed down quickly under the suppression of this powerful will, and returned to the calm ancient well.

Seeing that Lu Mingfei's pale face had slightly recovered, his breathing had become long and steady, and although there was still a trace of fear in his eyes, his return to his original state had stabilized, Xu Tong and the others finally felt a great weight lifted from their hearts. As long as they remained hidden in the shadows, they would be safe bystanders.

However, the hunters' position below had been transformed into a purgatory of blood and flames.

"It's snake dogs! Damn it, there are too many of them!" Mo Cheng heard the roars outside, which were like a tsunami advancing layer by layer, and his voice trembled slightly.

"How could they gather so quickly?! It's like they were lying in ambush all along!" Ran Bing gripped the submachine gun tightly, her fingertips losing color from the excessive force.

Mark's calm yet incredibly urgent voice came through the communicator to every hunter: "Attention everyone! Massive attack by the Devouring Beasts! Heavyweight teams, hold the entrance at all costs! Buy time for evacuation and retreat! The rest of you, take cover and provide crossfire! I repeat, this is not a drill, prepare for a fight to the death!"

He abruptly turned his head, looking at Ran Bing and Mo Cheng with eyes as sharp as knives: "Come with me to the front hall and set up a defensive line!"

The three of them shot off like arrows, rushing towards the center of the battlefield where gunfire was already exploding.

At the entrance to the main hall, Erica, piloting her "Fire Shield" heavy machine gun, stood like a rock against the broken door. The heavy machine gun spat out tongues of fire half a meter long, and spent shell casings cascaded down like a waterfall. Together with the heavy machine gun piloted by Afu beside her, they formed a metallic storm that instantly tore the Devouring Beasts attempting to rush in to shreds. Blue blood mist and severed limbs flew everywhere, and the pungent stench almost solidified.

"Come on! You filthy beasts!" Erica's excited shout came through the external loudspeakers, and the powerful firepower temporarily suppressed the beasts' frenzied charge.

But the Devouring Beasts displayed a chilling tactical intelligence. The sensory antennae atop several smaller snake-dogs flashed blue light rapidly, as if transmitting some kind of encrypted message. In an instant, some of the Devouring Beasts abandoned their frontal assault and instead began frantically spitting highly corrosive saliva at the concrete walls on either side of the gate!

"Hiss—hiss—"

A series of teeth-grinding corrosive sounds rang out, and thick white smoke billowed from the heavy walls at a visible speed. The bricks and cement seemed to be devoured by an invisible giant mouth, rapidly melting and peeling away to reveal the twisted steel bars inside.

"Report! They're corroding and damaging the walls!" a hunter shouted a warning, his voice filled with panic.

"Ah Fu! Go block that side! I'll handle the main gate!" Erica reacted swiftly. She manipulated the Matrix to slam the massive solid shield into the ground, creating an iron barrier, and then forcefully dragged over the wreckage of a twisted and deformed alloy door, wedging it tightly into the gap in the doorway. After completing all this, she immediately activated the Matrix, its heavy footsteps thundering as it turned towards the rapidly crumbling wall.

When Mark and his team arrived, they saw the weathered wall collapse with a groan of despair! A huge hole, large enough for a large Devouring Beast to pass through, appeared, and outside were countless pairs of eyes flashing with bloodthirsty red light!

"All armored vehicles! Move towards the breach! All firepower units! Cover the area! Hold them off!" Mark roared like a wounded lion, and he charged toward his heavy machine like a black lightning bolt.

"Fire!!"

The moment the order was given, pent-up fear and rage erupted into a raging torrent of metal, pouring towards the breach. However, the Devouring Beasts moved faster than anyone could have imagined! Like ghosts from hell, they roared as they surged through the breach, braving the hail of bullets, and pounced on the unsuspecting crowd with an aura of annihilation.

The battle instantly escalated into the most brutal close-quarters combat phase.

"Ah—!" A hunter had just emptied his magazine and hadn't had time to change it when a snake-dog pounced from mid-air and pinned him to the ground. Its sharp claws easily tore through his protective suit, and blood instantly stained the ground red.

On the other side, a bony tail, like that of a scorpion, shot out like lightning, precisely piercing the chest of a commoner who was throwing a grenade, sending him flying into the air, the grenade rolling helplessly to the ground.

Further away, a Devouring Beast opened its blood-red maw and snapped its jaws shut on the head of an upper-class citizen. The sturdy helmet shattered with a teeth-grinding cracking sound, and blood gushed out from the gaps.

Screams, the roars of the Devouring Beasts, the clanging of guns, the rumble of heavy engines... all combined to create a concerto of death. Blood flowed freely on the ground, pooling into small streams, and severed limbs were everywhere. Lives that were just moments before turned into cold corpses or twisted pieces of flesh in an instant.

Mark piloted the black heavy machine, like a war god descended to earth, wielding a massive chainsword as he charged into the densest part of the beast horde. The sword flashed wildly, and a Devouring Beast was cleaved in two, blue blood spurting out.

However, just as he turned to face another one, a devastating scene unfolded—several Mana flowers nearby, emitting a ghostly blue light, seemed to be infused with energy, their light suddenly becoming blinding, pounding violently like a heart.

Those Devouring Beasts that were knocked down by bullets or even cut in half by heavy swords had their flesh buds at the wounds wriggling and intertwining at a speed visible to the naked eye, and were almost completely restored in the blink of an eye, and pounced on them again with bloodlust!

"Damn it! It's Mana Flowers! They're rapidly charging these monsters!" Mo Cheng screamed desperately as he fired his rifle in bursts, his voice tinged with despair.

The hunters' lines were collapsing rapidly, and casualty figures were rising sharply. Every attack by the Devouring Beasts meant the loss of a life, becoming yet another silent tragic sculpture in these apocalyptic ruins.

From the high platform, Lu Mingfei witnessed the entire bloody massacre. His stomach convulsed violently, a strong urge to vomit kept pounding in his throat, and his face was deathly pale.

He watched helplessly as those in combat uniforms were killed and drained of their life force in gruesome ways, turning into lifeless, grayish-black flesh and dust. Was this the weight of true apocalypse? So naked, so savage, so undeniable.

His hands gripped the cold rifle so tightly that his knuckles cracked slightly before relaxing again, a repetitive motion. Finally, he couldn't bear it any longer, his voice dry and hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against sandpaper: "Can't we... really... do something? They... are human after all..."

Xu Tong's gaze remained as still as a frozen lake, cold to the point of cruelty. He said in a low voice, "Lu Mingfei, put away your untimely sympathy. Every settlement has its own survival creed. You believe that as fellow human beings, we should lend a helping hand, but what about them? If they knew of Dragonbone Village's existence, would they share the fire with us, or would they see us as variables to be eliminated, resources to be plundered, or... slaves to be consumed at will, like those Dust People below? Don't gamble your kindness on the conscience of a vast and cold machine. Not making contact is the greatest responsibility we can have towards our own people."

Lu Mingfei closed his eyes in pain. Xu Tong's words were like a cold dagger, piercing his soft heart. He couldn't find the words to refute them.

But looking down at those figures struggling in despair and falling one after another, his conscience screamed wildly and wept blood.

Just as the remnants of the Hunters team were fighting and retreating, struggling to get closer to the roaring armored vehicles, Lu Mingfei's gaze suddenly fixed on a figure—it was the purple-haired sniper, Feixue.

She was kneeling on a broken platform on the second floor, her body as steady as a statue. The sniper rifle in her hand roared rhythmically, each bullet hitting the head of a Devouring Beast with precision, providing crucial long-range support for her teammates who were retreating in chaos below.

She was completely focused on the world in her scope, and her sniper instincts shielded her from most of the surrounding noise. However, she failed to notice that a treacherous snake-dog was stealthily sneaking up to her side and rear, using the shadows of the supporting pillars and abandoned equipment as cover!

The bony tail spike, gleaming with a cold light, slowly rose, its muscles taut, ready to pounce like a venomous snake and pierce her slender figure completely!

No! Absolutely not!

Lu Mingfei's mind went blank. The battle was about to end, it was about to end, how could he die at this last moment!

At this moment, Lu Mingfei was completely overwhelmed by a more primal and pure instinct. He could not bear to watch someone who was trying to protect his companion die such a tragic death in this way!

Almost instinctively, without even a conscious command from his brain, his arm was already raised, and the rifle was firmly against his shoulder.

Without precise aiming or calculating the trajectory, relying entirely on his extraordinary shooting talent and his urgency to save lives, his finger had already pulled the trigger!

"Bang!"

The roar of the sniper rifle and the boom of heavy firepower masked the lone gunshot, but the bullet was incredibly accurate! It cut a brief line of death, striking the Devouring Beast directly from the side into its relatively vulnerable neck, destroying its central nervous system!

Feixue had just taken out a target that threatened her teammates and was about to move to a new position when she heard a dull thud from beside her.

Startled, she quickly turned her gun and saw a snake-dog lying limp on the ground with a clear bullet hole in its neck, from which blue blood was gushing out. It wasn't the caliber of the ammunition she was familiar with!

Who was it? Who saved me?

The thought had barely formed in her mind when Feixue looked around and saw that no one was on the same floor as her. Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.

She looked up sharply, her sharp gaze sweeping like a hawk towards the general direction from which the bullets came—a region shrouded in thick shadows, higher up in the building!

Is someone there?!

This discovery shook her to her core. Was it some new type of Devouring Beast that could use firearms? No, impossible! Devouring Beasts attacked purely out of biological instinct.

Could it be...?

"Feixue! Evacuate immediately! Everyone get in the vehicles! Quick!" Mark's anxious roar blared through the communicator, interrupting her momentarily chaotic thoughts.

Feixue forcibly suppressed the turmoil in her heart, and took one last deep look at that mysterious shadow, as if she wanted to engrave every detail of it into her mind.

Without hesitation, she leaped off the second-floor platform, nimbly rolled on the ground, and quickly rushed towards the last armored vehicle whose hatch was about to close.

The vehicle's engine roared dully as it smashed through the few obstacles and lurched its way out of the research institute filled with death and mystery.

Inside the armored vehicle, the atmosphere was oppressive and heavy, filled with the smell of blood and the gasps of survivors.

Feixue leaned against the cold cabin wall, her face behind the mask expressionless, but her heart was churning like boiling water.

She closed her eyes, vividly replaying the terrifying scene in her mind. The angle at which the Devouring Beast fell, the trajectory of the bullet... all the clues pointed in one direction—from above, from that shadowy area in the upper levels that they had never explored and thought there was no need to explore.

It wasn't a stray bullet, it wasn't a coincidence.

It was a precise rescue with a clear purpose.

A bold, almost absurd, conjecture, like a flash of lightning in the darkness, suddenly illuminated her thoughts.

Besides the hunters, besides the slumbering flesh and earth and the raging Devouring Beasts in the research institute... there was another force in those ruins!

Are they friend or foe? Who are they? Why did they rescue her? And why do they remain hidden in the shadows, avoiding contact with the lighthouse?

Countless questions instantly filled Feixue's mind. This conjecture was too astonishing, too far overturning the Lighthouse's conclusion of "no humans on the ground" that had been established for over twenty years; even she herself found it hard to believe.

She could even imagine how many skeptical or even mocking looks she would attract if she voiced this conjecture now.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked through the observation window at the desolate scene rushing past outside. A seed of doubt had already been planted in her heart: perhaps there really was a secret hidden beneath the ground.

"Feixue, are you alright? You're not moving at all." The teammate next to her noticed her silence and asked with concern.

Feixue gently shook her head, her voice coming through the mask, slightly hoarse: "I'm fine, just... a little tired."

She temporarily buried her conjecture, which was enough to shake the lighthouse, deep in her heart.

On the high platform, Lu Mingfei slowly lowered the rifle, which still carried a hint of gunpowder, his arm trembling slightly from tension and lingering fear.

He turned around, somewhat unable to meet his companions' eyes, and whispered, "I...I just..."

Xu Tong walked over, but instead of the expected scolding, he punched him hard on the shoulder. The force was not light, but his tone carried a complicated meaning: "You brat, your marksmanship is damn accurate!" He gave him a thumbs up.

Maido looked at him, her eyes filled with worry and understanding: "We understand that you want to save people."

Xia Dou added in a low voice, "It's just too scary..."

Even the usually aloof Sui Xing glanced at him, her eyes seeming to say, "You didn't do too badly."

Seeing Lu Mingfei's still-shaken state, Xu Tong sighed, his tone becoming serious: "Lu Mingfei, the fact that you have this intention shows that the boss wasn't wrong about you; you're a warm-hearted guy at heart. But remember, in this messed-up world, kindness is a luxury. You saved someone today, but tomorrow that person might bring annihilation to our Dragon Bone Village. Next time you pull the trigger, think more about the people behind you."

Lu Mingfei listened intently, his gaze once again turning to the desolate battlefield below.

The embers of the fire had not yet died out, and the smoke of battle still lingered. The newly added flesh and earth remained in the painful postures of their impending death.

He saved a person, but felt little joy in his heart. Instead, he was almost suffocated by the heavy reality in Xu Tonghua's story.

In this perilous apocalypse, the laws of survival are far more complex and brutal than pulling the trigger. And he has only just begun to touch the edge of these cold laws.