Doomsday police, please show your god/demon ID card.

the other side.

Ten minutes ago.

Outside the supermarket, at evacuation point number two.

The narrow alleyway entrance was piled with the wreckage of abandoned vehicles, leaving only a gap wide enough for one person.

The butcher's massive body was stuck at the entrance and was frantically trying to squeeze in.

"roar!"

The giant hooks of flesh and bone, carrying a stench, slammed into the wreckage on both sides again and again.

Bang bang bang!

The car window shattered, and shards rained down.

An abandoned car was completely blown away, tumbling through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

Wang Hu rolled out from under the car in a disheveled state, half of his body covered in mud and bloodstains.

"Cough cough... Damn it..."

He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and looked up.

The butcher stood at the alley entrance, like a demon emerging from the flames of hell.

Although the flames on its body had been extinguished, large patches of charred, calloused skin were still sizzling and emitting blue smoke, constantly dripping melted, foul-smelling grease.

The only intact eye was staring intently at the three of them through the billowing smoke and dust, its gaze filled with madness.

"Old Wang! Are you still alive?" Liu Qiang poked half his body out from behind a pile of tires, his voice hoarse.

"I won't die!" Wang Hu roared back, changing to a new magazine. "Old Luo, how's it going?"

"My leg is ruined, but I'm not dead yet!" To his side and behind, Luo Yongchao leaned against a section of broken wall, his left trouser leg stained red with blood. He was gritting his teeth as he stuffed the last magazine into his pistol, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

"This guy...he's got his eye on me..." Luo Yongchao gasped for breath. "You guys go first, I'll hold him off!"

"Bullshit!" Wang Hu cursed without turning his head. "Our mission is to hold it off! To buy time for Captain Tang and the others! Not a single one can be lost!"

He leaned forward abruptly and pulled the trigger.

Da da da!

The entire magazine of bullets was emptied, exploding into a series of blinding sparks on the butcher's charred chest, but leaving not even a white mark.

"roar!"

At the entrance of the alley.

The butcher roared and his two charred claws plunged into the gaps in the frame that were trapping it. With a tooth-grinding metallic tearing sound, he ripped the gap twice as wide!

Half of its body was charred black, and it squeezed into the alleyway.

Boom!Boom!Boom!

The heavy footsteps felt like they were treading on everyone's hearts, causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"Old Liu! Hurry!" Wang Hu's pupils shrank, and he shouted urgently.

Without wasting a word, Liu Qiang suddenly stood up from behind the cover and threw the last Molotov cocktail from his backpack with all his might!

The Molotov cocktail traced an arc in the air, striking the butcher squarely in the chest.

boom!

The glass shattered, and sticky fuel was instantly splashed all over the butcher's upper body.

boom!

Crimson flames shot skyward, completely engulfing the butcher's upper body.

The terrifying heat caused the air at the alley entrance to distort violently, and the heat wave hit him so hard it almost ignited his eyebrows.

"Well--!!!"

The butcher let out a piercing roar, swinging his giant hook wildly, smashing it against the walls and the ground, sending shards of stone and sparks flying everywhere.

The remaining mycelium on its body was the first to carbonize, making crackling sounds, followed by the skin, muscles... A thick smoke mixed with the smell of burning and a strange sweet smell billowed out.

"What the hell is this monster?!" Wang Hu's scalp tingled with fear. He grabbed the nearly exhausted Luo Yongchao and yelled at Liu Qiang, who was not far away, "Let's go! To evacuation point number three!"

Without hesitation, Liu Qiang put away his pistol, rushed over, and blocked the other side.

The three of them ran frantically toward the last designated evacuation point deep inside the alley.

however.

However, they had only gone less than 10 meters.

All the struggles and roars behind him came to an abrupt end.

Wang Hu turned around instinctively.

The butcher's head, burned beyond recognition and reduced to a mere skeleton, suddenly turned towards the supermarket.

An indescribable rage and panic erupted from it.

It ignored Wang Hu and his two companions in the alley and instead turned around and rammed into the already crumbling brick wall on the side of the alley!

Boom! ...

The wall collapsed inward as if it had been blown up, and bricks and dust shot into the sky, revealing a huge hole in the wall.

The butcher's massive figure vanished in the blink of an eye.

"???"

The three of them stood frozen in place, somewhat at a loss.

Despite the pain in his leg, Luo Yongchao's face was filled with disbelief: "No way! What's going on?"

Liu Qiang was also stunned for a moment: "This... they went back?"

Only Wang Hu suddenly realized what was happening.

"Oh no! Captain Tang and the others!" His expression changed drastically, and he rushed out without thinking.

He picked up the walkie-talkie and started frantically calling out.

"Calling infiltration team! The killer... the killer has gone mad! He's on his way back!"

Seeing this, Liu Qiang gritted his teeth and followed.

Luo Yongchao collapsed to the ground, clutching his injured thigh. Watching the two men's retreating figures, he cursed, "Damn it! You should have taken me with you!"

Wang Hu ran in the lead, with Liu Qiang close behind.

Just as the two were about to crawl through the hole the butcher had smashed open in the wall,

Inside the hole in the wall, a huge shadow scorched by flames tore through the smoke and dust and roared out!

It's that giant hook made of flesh and bone!

Wang Hu's pupils suddenly contracted. He didn't even have time to react; his body simply pushed Liu Qiang away instinctively.

puff!

The giant hook slammed into his chest.

The bulletproof vest dented instantly, and the sound of breaking bones could be clearly heard.

Wang Hu was sent flying like a tattered sack, crashing into the wall on the other side of the alley before slid softly to the ground.

He coughed up a large amount of blood, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

"Wang Hu!"

"Old Wang!"

……

Let's rewind to the present.

The supermarket's basement is a den of flesh.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Tang Long knelt on the ground, scratching his head incessantly with both hands, his fingernails filled with blood and hair, and letting out screams of agony.

He felt like his head was about to explode.

The throbbing sound of the fleshy cocoon was no longer an external sound, but a chaotic, resounding noise directly inside his skull.

It's as if a person's entire consciousness is being violently torn apart, reassembled, and polluted.

It seemed that every throb was urging him to give up, break down, merge, and become part of the fleshy cocoon.

Not far away, Chen Ming kept shouting at Tang Long.

"Tang Long!"

"Officer Tang! Wake up!"

He gritted his teeth, about to rush over to help, when he was held back tightly by a cold hand.

"Don't go there! That...that magnetic field...will tear you apart!"

He turned around and saw Su Yan leaning against the wall. Her eyes were full of blood and tears, and she couldn't see anything. Her ears were also full of blood, and she couldn't hear anything.

But she seemed to be able to "see" everything that was happening here.

"Drone...use drones...to interfere with it!" Su Yan's voice was broken and intermittent, each word extremely difficult to utter.

Chen Ming snapped out of his daze and hurriedly grabbed the tablet.

"Yes! Yes! Drones, drones..."

He was sweating profusely and frantically tapping his fingers.

Om-!

The drone hovering around the basement entrance once again emitted a piercing high-frequency noise.

The dark red light that had been steadily pulsating on the surface of the cocoon suddenly became erratic for a moment, flickering violently like a television signal that had been interfered with.

And in that very instant.

Su Yan suddenly opened her bloodshot eyes.

The last vestiges of his spiritual power coalesced and shaped into a cold, precise "surgical knife," which he then plunged into Tang Long.

"Tang Long! Wake up!"

"Tang Long!"

"wake up!"

"..." With each word Su Yan uttered, her face paled further, and her body swayed precariously.

the other side.

Beneath the enormous fleshy cocoon.

Tang Long's curled-up body trembled violently.

His throat was so hoarse that he could no longer make any sound, only his hoarse gasps.

The torment stemming from his consciousness made him wish he could die in the next second.

However, just as Tang Long's mind was about to completely collapse.

The omnipresent sounds of chewing and roaring suddenly disappeared, and everything seemed to fall into a state of absolute silence.

He vaguely heard someone calling his name.

"Tang Long".

"Tang Long".

The voice was initially weak, but gradually became clearer and more distinct, like sunlight piercing through thick ice, seeping in bit by bit.

My muddled mind seemed to clear up a little at this moment.

Tang Long's expression grew calmer and his breathing slowed down. He vaguely felt that he had heard the voice somewhere before.

That is...

Su Yan!

It was like a thunderbolt cleaving through the fog in my mind.

"Holy crap!!!"

Tang Long let out a gasp that sounded inhuman, and his unfocused pupils suddenly contracted and focused.

"I...I...What's wrong with me?" Tang Long supported himself on the ground, breathing heavily, his whole body drenched in sweat.

At this time.

A voice suddenly rang in my ears.

"Officer Tang... Officer Tang, hurry! There's no time!"

Tang Long subconsciously turned his head—

It crashed straight into a pair of bloodshot eyes.

It's Su Yan!

Her face was so white it was almost transparent, and the bluish veins beneath her skin were clearly visible, like cracked porcelain glaze.

Blood seeped continuously from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, leaving several shocking dark red streaks on her pale cheeks.

Tang Long's pupils contracted sharply as he instantly recalled everything that had just happened.

He glanced up at the enormous fleshy cocoon that was so close, trembling slightly and throbbing wildly due to the disturbance.

He gritted his teeth and, almost without hesitation, staggered to his feet.

He then collapsed beside the explosives, and following the steps Liu Qiang had previously instructed him on, his fingers trembling as he inserted the fuse, connected the circuit, and finally—disarmed the mechanical safety.

drop!

A soft electronic sound.

On the side of the explosive charge, a small LCD screen glowed with an eerie green light.

30.

29.

28.

Countdown, start!

Without pausing for a moment, Tang Long turned and rushed towards Su Yan and the others almost the instant the countdown began.

And at the same second.

Boom!!!

The outer wall of the basement was as if it had been hit by a giant cannonball, and a huge hole with a diameter of more than two meters was blown open!

A butcher, his body charred black, billowing smoke, and with a single blood-red eye, burst in!

His body was still covered with unburnt mycelium and emitted a foul stench of burnt flesh, making him look like a demon from purgatory.

The final moment!

This terrifying mutated zombie is the guardian of the cocoon nest.

I finally made it back.

"Walk!!!"

Tang Long's roar echoed in the basement.

He scooped up the barely breathing Su Yan and tossed her onto his back, while roughly grabbing the terrified Chen Ming with his other hand. Like dragging a heavy sack, they ran frantically back the way they came!

"roar--!!!"

The furious roar stirred up a foul wind, causing the mycelium on the ceiling of the entire basement to fall in a rustling sound.

The butcher's one eye instantly locked onto the three figures running wildly through the passage, and with his charred legs, he was about to give chase.

however.

drop!drop!drop!

The countdown to the explosives grew increasingly rapid.

22.

21.

At that very moment, the cocoon itself reacted violently like never before!

All the hyphae on its surface flashed and transmitted wildly and chaotically, forming a complex and disorderly storm of light signals!

The butcher's pursuit abruptly halted.

It glanced at Tang Long and his two companions, who were about to disappear at the end of the passage.

He turned back to look at the fleshy cocoon, which was flashing with light and trembling violently.

A hint of struggle and frenzy flickered in his single eye.

"Roar...woo..."

A low, agitated, and struggling sob escaped the butcher's throat.

In the end, it dragged its charred and broken body back to the flesh cocoon.

The shimmering light of the mycelium on the cocoon became increasingly rapid, no longer flickering between light and dark, but evolving into complex, ever-changing patterns and frequencies.

The butcher's remaining facial muscles contorted; he could sense that the mother hive was filled with fear and was crying for help.

His simplistic thinking makes it impossible for him to understand the message the other person is trying to convey.

It could only let out low, confused, and anxious sobs, its steps faltering in place.

.....

"Don't look back! Run!!!"

The first floor of the supermarket.

With Su Yan on his back and Chen Ming dragged along, Tang Long rushed out of the passageway leading to the basement. The oppressive gray light from outside shone through the broken shop window.

"How much longer! Put me down! Take me with you, you can't run away." Su Yan's voice was broken and intermittent, each word laced with blood.

"Shut up!" Tang Long roared, his eyes bloodshot.

He silently counted down in his mind.

10 seconds!

9 seconds!

8 seconds!

7 seconds!

The broken shop window was right in front of me.

6 seconds!

5 seconds.

Chen Ming tripped over a twisted steel bar and fell forward.

Tang Long grunted and almost used his shoulder to push him out of the shop window with brute force!

4 seconds.

The three rolled outside the supermarket onto the sidewalk, which was covered in broken glass and dust.

"Find cover!!! Lie down—!!!" Tang Long roared.

3 seconds.

Tang Long shielded the weak Su Yan tightly beneath him, while Chen Ming curled up in a ball, covering his head.

2 seconds.

Tang Long closed his eyes.

1 seconds.

Time stood still at this moment.

......

boom--!!!!

Everything happened without any buffer.

First, the ground beneath my feet suddenly arched upwards, as if a giant object was turning over underground.

Immediately afterwards, a blinding white light burst forth from all the gaps in the supermarket's doors and windows, instantly engulfing everything in sight!

The blast wave carried with it debris, glass, and scalding dust!

I don't know how much time passed, maybe a few seconds, maybe even less.

The crashing sound of falling gravel and the crackling of something burning gradually seeped into my ears, and faintly, I could hear a piercing scream coming from deep underground.

Tang Long shook his groggy head, shook off the dust, and looked up.

Before our eyes, the main building of the supermarket is tilting and collapsing, with flames erupting from inside.

Chen Ming struggled to his feet, looking in the direction of the supermarket, his voice trembling slightly.

"You...you won?"