?! Didn't Alphonse say that the Origin of Life was safely locked in a room that was absolutely inaccessible? What's the deal with this Task Four then? The Aberrant Progenitor hasn't appeared yet. The System wouldn't make players destroy the likewise absent Origin of Life within the remaining twenty minutes, all while under the threat of a nuclear detonation countdown, would it? Unless... the System is forcing the players to start killing each other.

The six players exchanged a look of tacit understanding. Now, by killing just one more opponent, they could immediately choose to teleport and escape. However, the defeated party would be required to complete two tasks: destroying the Origin of Life and eliminating the Aberrant Progenitor, all while remaining wary of the twenty-minute nuclear detonation countdown.

Eliminating an opponent first would grant an immense advantage. Conversely, if one of their own was eliminated, a comeback would be nearly impossible—the enemy team could simply choose to teleport away, making it impossible for the remaining team members to score points through kills. Not to mention, an unknown number of aberrations were already rushing toward them at this very moment... If they delayed any longer, they would either be worn down by the aberrant monsters or backstabbed, leading to the entire team's annihilation.

The two parties had only been cooperating temporarily. Now, pushed to the brink, they were naturally at each other's throats.

Alphonse, completely unaware of the players' disputes, was still using the loudspeaker beneath the ceiling's Mycelium Carpet to address them. "There are only twenty minutes left. Hurry up and run for your lives. I don't want to hurt you."

Zhuang Pengpai ignored the sound of rushing footsteps from around the corner at the end of the corridor and looked coldly at the ceiling's loudspeaker. "You lied to us. The Origin of Life isn't locked up."

"It was a white lie."

Alphonse said calmly, "When the disaster struck, I had indeed placed the Origin of Life into the hidden room. However, a single hair that fell from me transformed into an aberration under the Origin's influence and jammed the door lock. By the time I discovered it, the Mycelium Carpet had already pried open the door and connected to the Origin of Life. It continuously drew power from her, forming an unprecedented monster around the Origin. The power of that monster is far beyond your imagination. If the Origin of Life itself didn't lack self-awareness, it probably would have burst through to the surface long ago and, like God, reshaped Junlin, reshaped the entire world."

Alphonse paused, then said with sincerity, "Knowing there are still human survivors on the surface is immensely significant to me. Every human represents hope for rebuilding civilization. You don't have much time. Really, hurry and escape."

Before his voice faded, a dense patter of approaching footsteps, like raindrops, echoed from the end of the corridor.

Too late... Alphonse thought, clenching his fists in regret and sighing deeply.

In the rather narrow corridor, all sorts of grotesque aberrations brandished their claws, spat venom, opened their sharp maws, and let out shrill, furious roars. They surged forward like a tide. The aberrations at the front were shoved and knocked down by the aberrant monsters behind them, trampled in a chain reaction, and crushed into pulp.

One end of the T-shaped corridor was now filled with aberrations, while the other remained empty, as if an escape route had been intentionally cleared for Li Ang and the others.

GURGLE—

The sound of viscous, slithering footsteps came from the other empty corridor. The Flesh Fungi Blanket beneath the players' feet receded towards the walls on either side, like a withdrawing tide.

The air seemed to solidify. Even the aberrations that had been madly rushing forward halted, then retreated in unison, silently falling back.

They were voluntarily withdrawing from the Progenitor's hunting ground.

The Stonemason, standing in the T-shaped corridor, felt his neck stiffen as if frozen solid. He rigidly turned his head to look at the source of the unhurried, pacing footsteps.

It was a monster that seemed to have emerged from the most chaotic and disordered nightmare. It possessed a long, flat body like a centipede's, covered in a dark-red carapace resembling thick rust. This carapace was segmented, with breaks every meter. Its head was a grotesque, terrifying, spherical mass of red flesh. The surface of this mass was studded with a dense array of biological carapaces, metal shards, and broken bones. As the monster writhed forward, these fragments continuously tore into the fleshy sphere, causing blood to gush relentlessly. Below the spherical head was a compound mandible formed from several curved bones. This hideous maw snapped open and closed uncontrollably at high speed, like a wildly operating grinder.

Unlike a centipede, this monster had no legs. Instead, thick, short octopus-like tentacles took their place. These powerfully muscled tentacles supported the creature's enormous weight, propelling it forward with alternating, anemone-like writhing movements—seemingly slow, yet deceptively fast.

Embedded in one of the segments in the middle of the monster's body was a grayish-brown, slate-like object, resembling a small blackboard, swaying as the creature advanced.

This is it... the Aberrant Progenitor, carrying the Origin of Life...

The thought had barely flashed through the Stonemason's mind when his body was involuntarily sent flying. The seemingly clumsy and slow Aberrant Progenitor, in a Flint Stone flash, had whipped out a tentacle like a long lash. It struck the Stonemason squarely in the chest with pinpoint accuracy, shattering all his ribs and caving in his entire chest cavity. Broughttoyouby

thefolksat*.

With a THUD, the alloy wall was smashed, leaving a human-shaped indentation. The Stonemason slid down from the wall to the floor, violently vomiting a mouthful of blood mixed with viscera...

The Black Holy Son, who had been standing beside him, vanished the instant the Stonemason was launched into the air.

The next second, he reappeared behind Wanli Fengdao. The tip of his Thin Sword gathered a cold, sharp glint and, empowered by a whistling Gale, thrust straight at Wanli Fengdao's back.

[Skill Name: Gale Backstab]

[Type: Fighting]

[Special Effect: Predetermine the number of thrusts. Channel for 1 second. Flash behind an enemy and execute several forward thrusts. The speed and damage of each thrust will stack. During this process, the player cannot voluntarily perform other actions unless the move is interrupted by an external force.]

[Consumption: 20% of total Stamina Points]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes]

[Note: To the grass beneath my feet, a breeze is already a storm.]

The Aberrant Progenitor's strength far exceeded everyone's imagination. Perhaps if all six of them had worked together, they might have stood a chance against it, possibly even defeating or killing it at a certain cost.

But in the current predicament, with both sides mired in suspicion and distrust, the Stonemason's critical injury had already shattered the delicate balance between the two teams.

The Black Holy Son, formerly known as Cui Zaixi, would never entrust his life to the conscience of others...

CLANG—

The Thin Sword, which should have pierced Wanli Fengdao's spine, was instead parried by a plain, unadorned Eight-Sided Han Sword. Wanli Fengdao's body remained motionless, but his head swiveled 180 degrees like an owl's. His hand, reverse-gripping the Longsword, had easily blocked the Black Holy Son's backstab.

Wanli Fengdao gazed at the Black Holy Son, whose eyes were practically bulging with fury, and said in a low voice, "It seems I've been underestimated..."