Chapter 44: We Were Once Friends, But Ultimately Became Enemies!

In the dark and murky underground world, a figure dressed in a stark white sweater stood out like a sore thumb.

With each step he took, a bolt of lightning, darker than the surrounding darkness, flashed from his body, instantly killing the mutated ability users who attempted to attack him.

Corpses littered the ground.

He cut through the underground like a god of slaughter.

The unmutated people watched in horror as the black lightning crackled past them. Their bodies trembled with fear.

Only when he had walked past did they dare to speak.

“It’s the City Lord! How does he dare to come here?”

“So this is the true strength of the City Lord—effortlessly killing these B-rank mutants!”

“It’s retaliation! The City Lord’s counterattack! The boss’s men tried to steal supplies and provoked him!”

“When dragons fight, the small fish suffer! We should run!”

“Run? To where?”

“Let’s go near the City Lord’s domain… We may live underground and have eaten ‘meat patties,’ but we only did it to survive. The City Lord shouldn’t be too harsh on us…”

“That’s right. Even the ones who attacked him weren’t all killed—those who labored got to eat a bowl of porridge.”

“Let’s go, all of us.”

The underground dwellers fled in droves.

Having lived in darkness for so long, their eyes struggled to adjust to the light.

Once they did, they saw a strikingly beautiful yet imposing woman waiting for them.

Bai Shuang commanded with authority:

“Come on, now that you’re out, register yourselves!”

These people had never been officially recorded in the system; they were “ghost citizens.”

Once registered, they could be monitored and controlled.

Seeing the well-equipped, highly disciplined armed patrol behind Bai Shuang and the weapons they had set up, the underground people wisely chose to comply without resistance.

As Bai Shuang completed the registration, she turned to look at the underground passage, both admiring and worrying.

Is the City Lord alright? Can he really eradicate the Bright Group, this parasitic tumor in the base?

He must return safely!

Meanwhile, the battle underground raged on.

Zzzzap!

A mutated snake-man led the last squad of mutants, surrounding Song Lufeng.

His body was covered in scales, his head was hairless, and when he spoke, his tongue flickered like a snake’s.

“Song Lufeng, what you stand for is wrong. We are the ones who are truly right!”

“Only by fusing our genes with the powerful DNA of the mutant beasts can we survive in this world!”

“You have no idea what true power feels like! You’re only standing in the boss’s way—standing in the way of the advancement of New Humanity!”

These mutants called themselves the “New Humans.”

Aside from the snake-man, the others had mutated beyond recognition, barely retaining a human form.

A rat-faced mutant with long, sharp claws and matted fur.

A fly mutant with grotesque wings and a proboscis mouth.

A shell-covered mutant, his back encased in hardened armor…

Song Lufeng stared coldly at them.

“You dare to call yourselves human?”

These mutants were cruel and ruthless, raising humans like livestock and feeding on them.

How were they any different from the beasts outside the walls?

They had lost their humanity. They were no longer human.

“You are stubbornly ignorant! You’re courting death!”

The snake-man opened his mouth and spewed a cloud of toxic mist.

Suddenly—

A silent, razor-sharp black disc spun through the air, slicing through the snake-man’s head.

His severed head hit the ground with a thud.

The rat-mutant shrieked and hurled a barrage of earthen spikes.

Before they could reach Song Lufeng, they were cut down mid-air.

The disc spun again.

Another mutant fell.

The fly-mutant opened his mouth to spray corrosive acid—he was slain before he could.

The shell-covered mutant turned his back confidently toward Song Lufeng.

“My shell is tougher than steel—no weapon can pierce it.”

Shing!

The mutant collapsed, lifeless.

After eliminating the mutants—

Crash!

The sound of glass shattering echoed through the underground lair.

More blood-red eyes gleamed in the darkness.

Rustle… Rustle…

Shadows shifted, an overwhelming stench filled the air, and wild, uncontrollable energy stirred the stagnant underground.

Song Lufeng cast a sweeping glance over the grotesque figures blocking his path.

These creatures bore traces of human DNA, but the forced fusion of incompatible species had turned them into nightmarish monstrosities.

His eyes flickered with disgust and pity.

Then, he concealed those emotions just as quickly.

His gaze locked onto the white-haired, eerily elegant man seated upon a throne of bones.

“Zhan Bai, what exactly are you trying to do?”

Zhan Bai covered half his face, his fingers barely concealing the eerie red glow in his eyes.

Beneath his chest, the tattoo of a Nine-Headed Beast slithered across his skin.

He stared enviously at the warm sweater Song Lufeng was wearing.

“That sweater… it must be warm, right?”

“You must cherish it deeply, don’t you? You’ve killed so many of my ‘human-beasts,’ yet not a single stain taints it.”

“Does your so-called Savior know your true nature? Does she know that you and I are no different—that you are just as ruthless, just as merciless?”

Song Lufeng frowned.

“I am not the same as you.”

Zhan Bai laughed like a madman.

“Oh? My dear childhood friend, do you remember? Back then, you wished for everyone to die. You were colder than I ever was!”

“And now, you stand against me? Wouldn’t it be better if we changed this despairing world together?”

His voice carried an almost hypnotic charm, an allure that could easily drive weaker minds into fervent worship.

“Your abilities don’t work on me.”

“Neither does your rhetoric.”

Song Lufeng’s eyes were like a deep, endless sea.

“I crawled out of the abyss of despair, but you drowned in it.”

“The moment you chose this path, we became enemies.”

Zhan Bai’s eyes widened. The Nine-Headed Beast tattoo slithered violently across his pallid skin.

As if Song Lufeng’s words had struck a nerve.

He slowly stood up.

The beast tattoo surged downward, materializing behind him into a monstrous nine-headed creature, its presence suffocating.

“Song Lufeng, then prove it to me.”

“Prove that this world still has hope.”

“Defeat me, and I will tell you the truth about this world.”

Song Lufeng met his gaze, facing the demon-like figure before him.

“Fine.”

He took off his white sweater, carefully folded it, placed it into a compression capsule, and tucked it into his chest pocket.

A jet-black combat suit now covered his body.

His entire aura transformed from refined and composed to razor-sharp and overwhelming.

Zhan Bai could not bear it.

“Kill him!”

The fusion mutants surged forward, unleashing their mutated abilities.

Each attack was as powerful as an A-rank ability.

Metallic spikes!

Binding vines!

Quicksand traps!

Crushing water pressure!

Blazing poison flames!

And more—wind, venom, psychic assaults, gravitational manipulations…

The army of aberrations attacked relentlessly, their abilities stacking into a chaotic storm of destruction.

Behind them, Zhan Bai’s nine-headed beast grew more solid, its presence more overpowering…

Song Lufeng was engulfed by the monstrous barrage.