Gacha games can't save this bizarre world.

Before leaving, however, Old Mr. Li handed Li Tie several thread-bound account books, sighing, "Young Li, I'm old and really can't remember. Lately, I've become increasingly confused and can't even remember the dates. These are the town's registers; everyone born in the town has their name recorded in them. You should find the person you're looking for here..."

Zhao Hao and Li Tie returned with a large stack of books and began searching separately.

Zhao Hao even called out Ju Zuo to help with the investigation. Ju Zuo grumbled as he flipped through the book, envying Xiao Ruan for being illiterate.

I searched all night but found nothing.

There are too many names, and the records are very casual. Judging from the handwriting, at least a dozen or twenty people have handled it, recording births and deaths for at least several decades.

The next day, as dawn broke, Zhao Hao was still checking names, while Li Tie had already collapsed and fallen asleep at the table.

At night, Zhao Hao sensed an unusual surge of spiritual energy. The strange spiritual energy in the town began to surge, and the anomaly in Linshui Town intensified at night.

Zhao Hao even had to set up a barrier in the inn room to prevent a wall or table and chair from suddenly becoming distorted.

He was anxiously searching through the roster when suddenly the braying of a donkey came from outside. Zhao Hao felt a sudden unease, as if he had forgotten something!

The donkey that could travel a thousand miles had been placed next to the fool... Oh no!

He quickly opened the window and saw the donkey braying loudly in front of the window.

Zhao Hao immediately realized that something had happened to Sha Dan!

Zhao Hao jumped out of the window and landed on the donkey's back. "Quick, take me to find Sha Dan!"

At this moment, Li Tie, who was inside the house, was also awakened. He quickly leaned over the windowsill and asked, "Brother Zhao, where are you going?"

"You keep investigating, I'm going to rescue them!"

The donkey took off running at top speed. But Zhao Hao felt a gaze fixed on him from behind!

He jumped off the donkey at the corner of the alley, letting the donkey continue running, while he hid to the side to observe the inn behind him.

Sure enough, a man crept out. Half of his face had swollen and mutated into a bizarre fish head, and one hand had turned into a long, narrow crab claw. Saliva dripped from his mouth, and he would occasionally twitch as if by nerve reflex.

Instead of following Zhao Hao, he turned to enter the inn.

Could the target actually be Li Tie?!

Zhao Hao made a ruthless decision. Seeing that it was just dawn and there were few people on the street, he threw out Xiao Ruan.

"Eat this monster!"

Zhao Hao tossed Xiao Ruan aside and didn't look back, hurrying to catch up with Qianli Donkey. Things are probably going badly for Sha Dan too!

Zhao Hao rode his donkey, letting the donkey lead the way towards the Yao River.

The number of people on the road suddenly increased, and most of them were severely mutated, with blank and numb expressions, gathering towards the river like zombies.

Ignoring these people, Zhao Hao spurred his horse onward and soon saw a small ferry crossing on the banks of the Yao River surrounded by layers upon layers of mutants.

On a small platform, there was a pig cage belonging to the editor-in-chief, and the little girl was locked inside crying! On the other side, the silly guy was tied to a pillar and struggling!

Is this some kind of sacrifice for the little girl?!

"Holy crap! Put him down!"

Enraged, Zhao Hao disregarded everything else and rode his donkey straight into the crowd. The donkey, true to its reputation, carved a path through the horde of mutants.

Zhao Hao leaped onto the stage and kicked a strange man whose entire head had turned into a crab off the river, yelling, "Go to hell! Get the hell away from me!"

Then he ripped the ropes binding the idiot and went to tear apart the pig cage that was trapping the little girl.

At this moment, the mutants below the stage began to riot, roaring as they charged forward...

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Chapter 76 The Culprit!

This group of severely mutated people charged forward like crazed zombies, each one incredibly strong, fast, and utterly irrational.

Zhao Hao stood on the stage and kicked out a series of flying kicks, sending the demonized mutants who tried to climb up flying.

At this point, there was no time to hold back; they went straight for the kill, breaking bones and tendons. After all, these guys couldn't really be considered human anymore.

As for whether it can be recovered, Zhao Hao thinks it's unlikely.

Zhao Hao broke a wooden pole about the thickness of a duck egg with a single punch. Holding it in his hand, it was like a giant scythe in the hand of the Grim Reaper. The more than three-meter-long pole whistled and swept around, knocking back and sweeping away the mutants like a peerless mowing machine.

However, the mutants at this time were painless and fearless, with incredibly strong bodies. Even after being knocked to the ground and breaking several bones, they quickly got up and continued charging forward.

At this moment, Zhao Hao's donkey finally showed its value, kicking, stomping, and biting, running wild in the frenzied crowd and clearing a space.

Zhao Hao grabbed Sha Dan and Xiao Ni'er, one in each armpit, and launched a spiral flying kick with both legs!

"Lazy Donkey Spiral Kick~"

Zhao Hao spun wildly like a spinning top, kicking repeatedly until he managed to kick his way out.

The little girl is alright, but that idiot is about to throw up from all the talking!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhao Hao leaped onto the donkey's back and shouted, "Giddy up!"

The donkey kicked two mutants away with its front hooves flying, roared and snarled, knocking down more than a dozen mutants before taking off running!

Zhao Hao's worst fears came true: these severely mutated and demonized beings had begun to exhibit aggressive behavior. And it seemed someone was orchestrating this from behind the scenes!

Otherwise, these mutants, whose minds have been damaged, would never have made the act of sacrificing Little Nier!

Moreover, there are mutants tracking and stalking him!

Zhao Hao didn't care about anything else. He grabbed the silly little girl and rushed into the town. By this time, more than 80% of the people on the road had started to mutate, and more than 40% of them had mutated severely. Their behavior started to become strange. They would either bang on the wall, roar, or stare at others and drool.

Zhao Hao was starting to despair; it was too late!

Rushing back to the inn, Zhao Hao jumped off the donkey and found the innkeeper, whose chin had turned into three lobes covered in tentacles, still numbly and blankly fiddling with an abacus made of his eyeballs in the lobby.

The waiter, whose face had sprouted an eyeball, placed a platter of red insects and water fleas on the table.

The diner with a few scales on his face and a pair of shrimp whiskers began to eat heartily...

"Sir, sir, what would you like to order?"

Zhao Hao pushed aside the waiter who came forward and quickly went upstairs to his room.

There were signs of a fight, but neither Juzuo nor Li Tie were there.

"With Orange and Little Soft here, Li Tie couldn't have been killed or captured by these mutants. He must have escaped! Yes, he must have escaped..." Zhao Hao activated his demon-hunting senses and began analyzing the traces in the room.

It was as if two outsiders had barged in and been dealt with by Orange. Zhao Hao even saw traces of Little Soft crawling around, suggesting that the two intruders had likely become Little Soft's meal.

Finally, Zhao Hao found traces on the windowsill. Li Tie and Ju Zuo must have climbed onto the windowsill and escaped from the outside onto the roof!

Chase!

After chasing each other on the rooftop for a while, and then on the ground for a while, Zhao Hao found himself back at the home of the old Mr. Li.

From afar, he saw the small, soft object lying on the ground, turning yellow to blend in with the ground. Zhao Hao knew he had found it.

Upon entering, Zhao Hao saw Li Tie wiping away tears. Li Tie cried out to Zhao Hao, "Brother Zhao, Uncle is gone!"

Zhao Hao strode into the house and saw that Mr. Li was slumped in a chair, already dead.

Zhao Hao found bruises on his face; he had suffocated to death by having his mouth and nose covered!

Zhao Hao realized that he was responsible for this. The person tailing him must have discovered he had visited Mr. Li and killed him. Just like that morning when someone tried to kill Li Tie, who was always with him!

At this moment, Li Tie wiped away his tears and, holding back his sobs, said, "Brother Zhao, I've found Wang Youde!"

"What? Who is it?"

"Mayor, your father was named Wang Youde! Wang Youde died twenty-six years ago!"

Tang Xiansheng died twenty-six years ago?!

Damn it! Zhao Hao shook his head, dismissing the irrelevant thoughts.

He felt he needed to quicken his pace; his aimless, random thoughts were a sign of his distraction.

The worsening anomalies within the strange realm have already begun to affect him!

"Li Tie, you'd better come with me right now to find that old bastard, the town mayor! We're going to get to the bottom of this today!"

Li Tie, his face pale, said, "Brother Zhao, wait a moment, I'll go get something." With that, he ran into the house.

Zhao Hao stood there pondering for a long time, guessing the relationship between the dragon-eel in Wolonggou and the town mayor, and guessing the relationship between everything in the town and the town mayor.

If the high-ranking mayor is the mastermind behind everything, whether it's a water demon, a sacrifice, or something else, then it all makes sense!

"That old bastard!"

Zhao Hao gritted his teeth, impatient, but Li Tie still hadn't come out.

"It's been over a minute, what are we going to do? We're about to die!" Zhao Hao stormed into the house, only to stand there dumbfounded.

Li Tie actually stabbed himself in the chest with a sharp knife; he was already dead.

On the ground were the three words "Kill the Water Demon" written with his finger dipped in blood!

Zhao Hao saw a large patch of fine silver scales growing on his chest...

The fool tried to pull the little girl inside, but Zhao Hao blocked him at the door, saying, "Wait for me outside, don't come in."

Zhao Hao unconsciously clenched his fists, his eyes red as he asked Orange, "You should have smelled it, right?"

Orange nodded. "After arriving here, he discovered scales growing on his chest. He first tried to scrape them off with a knife, but more scales quickly grew back. He told me he couldn't be a water sprite..."

Zhao Hao nodded and took a few deep breaths.

"Let's go!"

He went out and helped Shadan and Xiaonier onto the donkey's back, then led Juzuo and Xiaoruan towards the mayor's house.

From now on, these two children cannot leave my side.

Just now, Zhao Hao suddenly realized that these two children were the key.

Why have all the others started to mutate and become demonic, but these two children haven't? Why must Little Nier be sacrificed?

The answer to all of this lies with the mayor!

……

The roads are no longer safe. Those with severe mutations have begun attacking others, while those with milder mutations are passively attacked, oblivious to the danger.

Corpses lay on the streets and alleyways, blood splattered on some walls, being licked by tentacles and mouths...

The town was now in complete chaos! It had become a mad hell!