"Awooooooo——!" The Slaughterer's roar was like a steamship's horn, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. This next-generation flagship biological weapon, developed by the Zade Family, towered nearly four meters tall and was downright terrifying—stomping forward like a prehistoric T-Rex. Its ferocious presence exploded forth as if tangible—even through the screen, viewers felt their hearts skip a beat, let alone those actually on the scene.
In that instant, everyone felt their scalps tingle—a wave of savage, bloody energy barreled toward them like a runaway train, leaving the crowd momentarily blinded.
On the surveillance screen, the Slaughterer's stats fluctuated around a four-digit number, far surpassing Rachel Luo and Chainsaw Girl. Even Li Yuncong, who'd held the highest score so far, was a whole digit behind.
With numbers like that, its raw strength and speed were enough to crush the competition. If it decided to go berserk, the threat level was off the charts.
Crunch! The ground split open into craters as the Slaughterer charged forward, a massive crimson blur.
In the first split second, it swept past a Knockoff Ironclad who just happened to be in the way.
In the next instant, it grazed Rachel Luo, who was standing not far from the knockoff Ironblood.
In the third instant, the Knockoff Ironclad erupted with five massive lines of blood—flesh and gore sprayed everywhere as it was sliced into several chunks, dropping to the ground with a wet splatter.
In the fourth instant, Rachel Luo's palm split open in a burst of blood, her sword shattered into a dozen fragments and went flying. Chainsaw Girl rushed in to catch her, but couldn't handle the force—they both went flying, slamming into a massive White Block and spitting out mouthfuls of blood.
Such an unstoppable charge made Patrick Zade's lips curl into a smirk. He glanced at the unmoving Jill Young on the screen, thinking: [Judging by what happened before, this woman probably has some kind of defensive power—must be pretty high-level, since bullets can't even scratch her. But that probably means she doesn't have much else, otherwise she'd have taken someone down by now...]
Thoughts move fast, but the Slaughterer moves faster. While Patrick Zade was still processing, in the fifth instant, the dark red blur that was the Slaughterer suddenly swerved and slammed straight into a pile of stacked White Blocks.
[...A bioweapon soldier—now that's a perfect test subject...]
In the sixth instant, the mountain of White Blocks came crashing down, burying the Slaughterer underneath.
[...Wait a sec... What just happened? Did I see that wrong?] Patrick Zade was stunned for a moment, then widened his eyes to take a closer look. Sure enough, under the pile of white blocks, a thick arm was sticking out, limp on the ground—it was the Slaughterer!
"Hold on!" Patrick Zade sprang to his feet, his confident face finally turning sour. "Rewind it—what just happened?"
Pafis worked the controls, the screen cut back, and replayed the scene in ultra-slow motion. With this high-quality footage, the Slaughterer and the White-Haired Bandit Queen finally moved at a speed normal people could follow.
The White-Haired Bandit Queen turned to look at the Slaughterer—she'd been calm as a rock, but now something had caught her interest. As the Slaughterer lunged with its claws, a classic combo move unfolded.
Swaggering with her back to the incoming beast, the White-Haired Bandit Queen stepped aside and swung her arm, trapping the Slaughterer's head against her side. She was so relaxed, it looked like the Slaughterer had volunteered its head. At that moment, the Slaughterer hadn't even realized what was happening—its face was still frozen in a snarl.
Then, the beatdown began.
"Wadadadada!" The White-Haired Bandit Queen mouthed the words, then, like a street brawler, raised her fist and started pummeling the Slaughterer's head. One, two, three, four—four punches snapped off four horns, as easily as if they were foam cosplay props. The Slaughterer's face still held its habitual snarl, but now it was a mess of dents and craters.
Next, the White-Haired Bandit Queen drove her knee right into the Slaughterer's face, sending it flying, petals of blood blooming across its cheeks in slow motion—so slow, the blood spurting from its wounds was both horrifying and comical.
The final move was an epic Dragon Tail Kick—the White-Haired Bandit Queen spun her back foot and side-kicked the Slaughterer right in the ribs. Its muscular, dark red body caved in, bone shards stabbing deep into its own organs. The recording gear wasn't fancy enough to catch the sound, but the sight of that dent was enough to make everyone wince.
No need for slow-mo after that.
"Wha—how—how is this possible..." Patrick Zade wasn't your average guy, but even he couldn't help blurting out his disbelief. Still, his strong will kicked in—he whipped around to check the fresh data. Right next to the white-haired woman's portrait, a new stat popped up: four digits, double the Slaughterer's score.
That stat made Patrick Zade's expression go through the whole rainbow.
"Yo, grinding mobs now, huh? This Diablo lookalike finally puts up a fight." In EDEN, Jill Young cracked her knuckles and turned to ask, "Chainsaw Girl, you good? Rachel Luo, nice reflexes—your Prajna training paid off, that's worth some praise."
"I-I'm fine!" Chainsaw Girl wiped the blood from her mouth and struggled to her feet. "I can handle it!"
"Th-thank you, Martial Uncle." Rachel Luo steadied her breath, spat out some clotted blood, and felt a lot better. She'd blocked with her sword and retreated to avoid the brunt of the attack. Jill Young had noticed, which was why she didn't rush to help. In the end, Rachel's sword shattered but she survived—a textbook defense.
Bang! With a loud crash, the mountain of White Blocks exploded, and a thick arm punched through from below. With another boom, the blocks flew everywhere, and the Slaughterer stood up again. It grabbed its dislocated shoulder and snapped it back into place with a crack. Then, with a deep breath, its chest swelled, bones crackling as its broken body rapidly healed.
"ROOOAAARRRR——!!" With an earth-shaking roar, the Slaughterer grew even taller, its muscles swelling and its ferocity reaching new heights.