Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Zhao Hao asked, "Has anything strange happened in this area recently?"

Old Tracy stroked his slightly graying, unkempt beard. "Oh, you mean this place? Telsey Street? The things that happen here every day are so strange! What's normal here?"

Zhao Hao shrugged. "Okay, what I wanted to ask was whether anyone died, like several people died."

“Yes, yes!” Old Tracy nodded repeatedly. “Yesterday, in the alley behind, a poisoner died, his clothes were all stripped off. Three days ago, Beast Cook and Hard-Bone Carol led a bloody battle, and six people died in total. Oh, by the way, poor Anna died of her illness a couple of days ago. She held on for eight months but still couldn't make it. After all, syphilis is incurable…”

He talks incoherently and fast, like he's rapping.

It sounds like people dying here is quite normal; it would be strange if no one died. But this is not what Zhao Hao wanted.

What Zhao Hao wanted was something special...

Gou Quan couldn't stand it anymore. "Move aside and let me talk to him!"

This unique social model is difficult for outsiders to adapt to. However, those who manage to survive do so with ease.

Zhao Hao returned to the car, where the fat man was staring at several black guys whose eyes were gleaming as they looked at their car.

“I’m always surprised when I see this. They say it’s the most developed country in the world. But this place is much worse than the Song Dynasty. No matter how much the officials exploit, they still have to give the common people a way to survive. But here, they’re pushing them to their deaths. And even these people don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. It’s like they think it’s their own fault for not being able to survive, or that it’s just how it is. Isn’t that strange?”

Zhao Hao nodded, but didn't say anything.

There is no heaven; it's all the same everywhere. You may think your home is bad, but the outside world is actually worse. It's a world where everyone is trying to outdo each other in terms of how bad things are.

A short while later, Gou Quan returned.

"How is it?" the fat man asked. Lawrence, inside the car, also perked up his ears to listen.

"I'm not entirely sure yet, but I found someone. We can go ask them..."

Zhao Hao's five stabs were wasted; Gou Quan was much better at deceiving people.

The four drove to a remote scrap metal collection station.

This place is very remote, with many abandoned buildings.

The car drove into the scrap yard surrounded by iron fences. Everywhere was junk: metal, paper, debris, and discarded tires.

Soon a chubby boy heard the engine sound and walked over hesitantly.

"What do you want?" The chubby boy was short and had a pitiful expression on his face, making him look like someone you wanted to bully.

"Ughhh~~~" Lawrence suddenly let out a low growl in the car; he smelled rats.

Zhao Hao also noticed the chubby boy's elongated mouth and several whiskers. His high-level vision allowed him to see another side of the chubby boy.

It's a rat-man! To be honest, the rat-man's shifty-eyed appearance is actually better-looking than a human's sullen face.

The chubby boy suddenly spotted Lawrence in the car and recognized him as a werewolf. He turned and ran! And he was quite fast.

Unfortunately, Zhao Hao had already caught him around the waist with a mage's hand. "Come back here."

"Please, please don't hurt me," the chubby boy pleaded.

Gou Quan, standing to the side, was displeased. "Damn it, do you guys even know anything about social interaction? Why do you resort to violence at the drop of a hat? Get out of the way, let me talk to him."

“I’m telling you, brother. We mean no harm and we didn’t intend to hurt you. Calm down…” The socialite intervened.

The chubby ratman was calmed down by Gou Quan, but in reality, he had no other choice.

The ratmen's combat strength was already low, and even their strongest ability to escape was suppressed by the opponent, so they had no choice but to obey.

He invited the four men into his tin shack and resigned them to their fate.

The chubby rat-man is named Jim. He was introduced to him by the well-informed old black man, Tracy, who runs a stall.

That's right, that's one of the ratmen's strengths. They're exceptionally good at gathering intelligence and also adept at escaping. It's instinct, it's their nature.

Hey, now that you mention it, "survival of the fittest" also applies! 乛?乛

The hut was small and cluttered with miscellaneous items, showing that little Jim's living conditions were not good.

Zhao Hao asked, "Jim, do you know if anyone has died here recently? Quite a few, not the kind of gang fights. Are there any strange deaths, with unknown causes?"

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Chapter 129 The Missing Tramp

After being comforted by Gou Quan, Little Fat Mouse Jim felt much more at ease and began to stammeringly communicate with Zhao Hao and the others.

Jim was also a little puzzled by Zhao Hao's question; it was quite normal for one or two people to die here. At the nearby autopsy center, people who came less than five times a week felt like they were on vacation.

However, upon learning that Zhao Hao was asking about that strange way of dying, Jim, after all, was also a member of the underworld. Although he was a recluse and not very sociable, he still considered things primarily from the perspective of an extraordinary person.

As soon as Zhao Hao spoke, he understood. Was he asking if there were any supernatural events?

Rats are naturally perceptive and keenly aware of any activity within their habitat. Therefore, they typically make excellent spies and informants, possessing a thorough understanding of all events, big and small, in their area.

From minor incidents like a wife having an affair or a husband beating his child, to major incidents like conspiring with an adulterer to poison a husband, secretly growing hemp, or hiding a large number of firearms at home.

They don't need to pay special attention; they can naturally discover clues from the slightest hints.

This is the Ratman's talent. Extraordinary races in the Underworld generally possess amazing talents and are born extraordinary beings.

So, Jim the chubby mouse knows a lot of things.

He pondered carefully, erasing any ambiguous or minor changes caused by the psionic tides, trying to figure out what could possibly attract the attention of Zhao Hao and his group.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "There is indeed something unusual. But I can't be sure, because it's a bit dangerous, and I dare not go and investigate..."

“Starting four days ago, I noticed that some familiar homeless people in the neighborhood had disappeared. Although homeless people move around a lot and often change places, those people were all acquaintances who had lived here for more than a year. I asked other people, but they didn’t know where those homeless people went either.”

"And it's not just the familiar faces; quite a few of the new homeless people have disappeared too. Even one of Fang Solis's henchmen is gone. People assume he ran away and moved on. But I know he's always had a secret safe house here. If he wanted to run away, he'd definitely have to take something with him..."

After a somewhat verbose explanation, Zhao Hao understood. People had been disappearing from this neighborhood since a week ago.

It's just that because the people in this neighborhood aren't exactly respectable, they rarely notice when someone goes missing or dies, which is why it hasn't attracted much attention.

This aligns with Zhao Hao's speculation.

If the vampire Lestat wants to drink human blood, fresh human blood, then he must "hunt" for it.

But isn't this food a little too good?

The fat man had heard that, for survival, a vampire could last about half a month after drinking one dose. And that wouldn't even kill a person.

Even with normal eating habits, once a week is enough. The one who sucks someone to death is someone who can't control their blood-sucking urges and appetite, which is considered overeating.

This is really something! In less than a week, it ate the food of more than ten people, more than one a day?! It's practically becoming a spirit!

Zhao Hao wondered, could it be that Lesta wasn't a ghost? Did he have henchmen by his side?

It's hard to guess yet, but Zhao Hao had Jim take everyone to the area where homeless people often disappeared.

There are very few homeless people left here now, less than ten.

It's said that at its peak, more than thirty people huddled together here for warmth. But while others didn't know, they themselves knew there was something wrong here. Although they didn't know why, most of them had already run away.

When Zhao Hao arrived here, he indeed felt something was different.

He activated his Fate's Eye: "Abnormal psionic energy concentration; the barrier between here and the inner world is too thin. There's an anomaly here. It seems many people have died tragically here..."

Zhao Hao felt something was off; this didn't seem like a description of vampires.

However, there are indeed some abnormalities.

Lawrence the werewolf sniffed frantically, recognizing the same scent. Jim the ratman, hiding behind Gouquan, peered around cautiously, sensing danger.

Zhao Hao took a more direct approach, activating his Demon Hunter Senses to search for traces and the direction of psionic energy.

The psionic energy here is definitely not right. It is much more concentrated and darker in the abandoned factory not far away, like a drop of ink spreading outwards.

Moreover, Zhao Hao noticed some strange marks and footprints.

It's about 20 centimeters long. I don't know what kind of animal it is, but it's definitely not small.

"It seems we've come to the wrong place. But there really is something here eating people. Let's just kill it while we're at it."

Lawrence was somewhat dissatisfied; he didn't want to waste time on this trivial matter. The dead homeless men had nothing to do with him. After all, he was a werewolf and lacked empathy for humans.

Zhao Hao and the others couldn't just stand by and watch a monster wreak havoc. Even though they were going in the wrong direction, they had to take action once they encountered it.

Zhao Hao found a large block of concrete with steel bars in this abandoned factory area, casually poured a bottle of psionic potion produced by the witch Carrie on it, and then consecrated it.

With the blessing of the psionic potion, the transformed Shangtong Divine Weapon became even more magnificent.

It had all its facial features and limbs, and was holding a long steel spear. Zhao Hao then had Xiao Ruan follow behind the concrete machine gunner before leading the group into the dilapidated factory.

The further they went, the more tracks they saw. Even Lawrence and the fat man started to notice them. Sometimes there were drag marks, sometimes a few drops of blood, and sometimes pieces of clothing or small scales left on obstacles.

Upon entering the factory, the light became dim, and the windows were almost completely covered in dust.

There was a faint stench of decay and an unusual fishy smell. People with keen senses like Zhao Hao and Lawrence could smell it.

Suddenly, the concrete mixer truck ahead seemed to have startled something. Its large size and loud movements had the effect of alerting the enemy.

Zhao Hao activated his Demon Hunter Senses and suddenly spotted a dim, yellowish shadow flashing past a corner in the factory filled with machinery. He quickly gestured for everyone to be on their guard.

Lawrence and Jim have an advantage over him; they both have night vision, although it's not as obvious as Zhao Hao's demon-hunting perspective, they can see very clearly.

Suddenly, with a loud "boom," a giant beast more than four meters long pounced down from the steel walkway in mid-air.

The creature pounced on the two-meter-tall, two-ton concrete machine gun, its massive jaws, like those of a crocodile or a dinosaur, snapping shut on half of the machine gun's body. Its claws tore at it frantically.

However, the divine weapon is truly hard; it is incredibly hard. Although it emits psionic energy in a psionic perspective due to the psionic potion, making it indistinguishable from a human, its hardness is beyond description; it's almost as hard as pig iron.

With that bite, sparks flew, and half of the monster's teeth shattered on the ground, leaving the divine weapon riddled with holes.

"It's a Butcher Beast!" Lawrence shouted as he saw it clearly.

This Butcher Beast is a Black Iron 4-star transcendent creature from the Inner World, the deadliest hunter in the forest. It can grow up to five meters long, possesses exceptional hunting instincts, and can stealthily move at night. They often hunt in pairs, a male and a female, at night, frequently taking down Black Iron 5-star transcendent creatures more than twice their size.

In the wild, even extraordinary races like demi-humans and elves are threatened by this thing.

I just don't know how I ended up in the surface world.

Since it's a butcher beast, fighting is inevitable. This monster is extremely ferocious; it will kill any prey it encounters, and often devours them whole.

The fat man was prepared; although it was originally designed to deal with vampires, it was suitable to use now as well.

A flare was fired with a "bang".

Instantly, most of the abandoned factory building, which stretched for dozens of meters, was illuminated.

Meanwhile, the Butcher Beast was still entangled with the divine weapon, tearing each other apart.