The brutal scene in the corridor immediately came into view for Wei Jun and the others. After a brief moment of shock, some of the Mutual Aid Association members’ faces twisted in extreme terror.

The scene was simply too gruesome, and it was happening so close. They feared they would be next.

Their first thought was to flee. They ordered their security guards to hold the line while they scrambled to find an exit.

Besides the roll-up door at the front, the factory had two conspicuous side doors. A battle was still raging near one of them due to the Combat Spider, so they all instinctively chose to flee through the other.

These people were Wuyi’s students, after all, and they were fast. Not one of them took the stairs; instead, they leaped down from the upper level, sprinting for the side door. In moments, they were nearing the exit.

But just then, a loud THUD echoed from above the walkway. A figure leaped down, landing squarely in front of them and blocking their path forward.

Chen Chuan flicked the long blade in his hand and slowly raised his gaze to look at them. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and began to back away slowly.

"Chen Chuan, if you dare to kill us, you’ll die too!" one of the Mutual Aid Association members blustered, his voice betraying his fear.

Chen Chuan said calmly, "And when you killed others, did you ever consider that you might die as well?" He slowly raised his blade, holding it horizontally in front of him. A cold glint seemed to flow along its edge.

The next moment, his eyes reflected a blur of rapid movement, shifting angles, and the fierce glint of his blade. When the world snapped back into focus, he was standing behind the group. And behind him, not a single person was left in one piece.

Meanwhile, on the platform above, Wei Jun hadn’t fled downstairs with the others. As the organizer, he knew all the building’s entrances and exits. There was a corridor behind the factory that led directly outside, but he doubted they could outrun Chen Chuan.

So, he had no choice but to retreat to a secure room just a short distance behind him. He turned to the two black-robed figures at his side and snarled, "Your ritual didn’t work! You will take responsibility for this, or you know the consequences!"

The two black-robed figures exchanged a glance, drew curved blades from their waists, and walked out.

Wei Jun immediately ushered the remaining Mutual Aid Association members into the secure room and yanked the reinforced steel door shut. The moment it closed, the gunfire and screams from outside were silenced.

One of the men was trembling, stammering in terror, "That kid’s insane! He’s completely insane! How dare he attack us..."

Wei Jun’s hair was a mess. He didn’t have time to ponder whether Chen Chuan was insane; he had to save his own life! "Where is it?" he urged. "Bring it out! Now!"

Several security guards who had followed him in scrambled to pull two large cases from a cabinet against the wall, placing them in the center of the room.

"Jiang Wei, how does this work?" Wei Jun asked anxiously.

Jiang Wei was the calmest one there. He stepped forward and knelt, first flicking open the latches with both hands, then yanking hard on the lock. "This is from Molan Company," he said as he worked. "It’s my first time using one, too. But even if it can’t kill Chen Chuan, it should be able to hold him off for a while, giving us time to escape. Once we’re outside, we can mobilize enough manpower to kill him."

Someone else urged him on. "We know, we know! This isn’t the time for explanations! Hurry up!"

They had no idea how long the men outside could last. The image of Chen Chuan’s single horizontal slash instantly leaving the floor littered with limbs and body parts had utterly terrified them.

Jiang Wei turned the combination lock a few times. With a soft CLICK, he threw open the lid. Inside lay a thick, white, sealed bag, roughly half a meter square, with something wrapped within it.

He picked up a High-Energy Nutrient Tube embedded in the side of the case and jabbed it into the package. After injecting the entire contents of the High-Energy Nutrient Liquid, he felt the object begin to twitch. He quickly stood up and backed away.

With a loud RIP, the thick bag was torn open from the inside by a pair of sharp, blade-like legs. Something unfurled itself and slowly rose to its feet.

Everyone in the room involuntarily shrank back against the walls. It was a giant, grayish-green mantis with an almost metallic sheen to its body.

Its powerful mandibles flexed and contracted. As the spiracles on its abdomen opened, modified tracheae pumped oxygen throughout its body. With its vitality surging, its bulging compound eyes fixed on everyone in the room. Its bladed forelegs shifted slowly, emanating an aura of danger.

Jiang Wei said, "A Combat Mantis. It’s a biological combat weapon Molan Company acquired from another corporation. This should be able to keep him busy for a while."

"Wait, there’s another case here! Quick, release it too!" someone urged from the back.

Jiang Wei ignored him. He first made a few hand signals to the Combat Mantis. Only after it slowly relaxed its aggressive posture did he walk over and kneel to work on the second case.

"It’ll be ready in a second."

Back in the main factory area, after clearing out another group of people, Chen Chuan sensed something. He turned and saw two black-robed figures walking toward him.

The two were like mirror images, perfectly symmetrical. Each wore a robe imprinted with half a face; if brought together, the two halves would form a complete visage.

’This is like an abstract representation of the bizarre vision he had just witnessed. These two must be connected to the Esoteric Rituals here.’

The two split apart, then charged him from opposite sides. Their steps and rhythm were identical, their coordination flawless.

But... they were too slow.

He lifted his long blade slightly. With a simple slash to the left and right, both their heads flew from their necks. Their bodies hit the ground almost simultaneously. Besides falling in different directions, even their posture as they collapsed and the spray of their blood were nearly identical. This wasn’t their doing, of course, but the result of his precise control over his blade’s power and angle.

With a flick of his blade, he looked toward the other side of the factory. The shrieks and agonized screams from that direction had also fallen silent.

He had eliminated everyone in sight within the factory’s central area, but he knew that a group had retreated into the room on the upper level right from the start.

It made no difference whether they ran or not. Unless someone who could match his speed arrived to stop him, he could catch them in moments no matter how far they fled. It would barely be a delay.

He considered for a moment, then made a hand signal. The Combat Spider clinging to the factory ceiling immediately scurried away to lay a web across the exit on the far side.

The web’s high-tensile strength would only last for about ten minutes before it became weak enough for a breeze to tear, but that was more than enough time.

Carrying his Snow Monarch Blade, he ascended the metal staircase and walked along the steel-plated walkway, heading step by step toward the room where Wei Jun and his group were hiding.

Just as he neared the room, he sensed something. He raised his Snow Monarch Blade to block. CLANG! CLANG! Something shot past with a WHOOSH.

He turned to look. The creature had perched on a metal railing. It was over half a meter long, with a triangular head, a slender neck, and a long, flat body. Its massive, blade-like raptorial forelegs were aimed at him. As the hooked tips of its abdominal feet scraped against the steel, they produced the screech of metal on metal.

His eyes flickered. ’A mantis?’

But a mantis this large, with the speed it had just displayed, was clearly another biological combat weapon.

And there wasn’t just one...

He could sense another one moving in the shadows, waiting for an opening.

Back in the secure room, a security guard returned to report that the Combat Mantis had engaged Chen Chuan. Wei Jun immediately bolted for the door. "While that bastard is tied up, let’s get out of here!"

The entire group surged out after him in a frantic rush.

As Jiang Wei headed out, he paused, then threw an unused High-Energy Nutrient Tube onto the floor in the distance. It shattered with a SMACK, its contents spilling across the ground.

The others didn’t understand his actions, but he had no time to explain. ’It seems Chen Chuan didn’t come alone; he brought something similar to the Combat Mantis. Those things run on high-energy nutrition. It’s not guaranteed this will attract it, but it’s worth a try.’

The group was fast. In moments, they reached a long, narrow corridor. At the far end, they could see a red-painted steel door—the exit!

One impatient Mutual Aid Association member sprinted ahead. But after only a few steps, his head and torso silently fell apart into several pieces, scattering across the ground before him.

"What is this..."

The people behind him stopped short, horrified.

Jiang Wei examined the clean cuts on the body parts, then looked around. He took a knife from a nearby guard and cautiously probed the air in front of him. He gritted his teeth. "There are gaps. We can get through."

The others exchanged glances. Jiang Wei looked back at them, pushed his glasses up his nose, and said, "I’ll go first. Follow me."

He lifted one leg and slowly stepped through an unseen gap. Then he bent down and carefully squeezed his body through. Once his other leg was clear, he used the knife to probe ahead again. There were more strands, but there seemed to be a clear space near the floor. He dropped to his stomach and began to crawl forward, slowly covering ground.

Seeing him succeed, the others followed suit, removing their weapons and gear before crawling after him.

In the factory, the two Combat Mantises stared at Chen Chuan. They had their own combat style; they wouldn’t initiate an attack. If Chen Chuan moved to confront one directly, it would immediately retreat. Yet if he tried to leave, they would follow, constantly seeking an opportunity to strike.

Chen Chuan’s eyes flickered. ’These two mantises are tricky. I’m not afraid of them, but finishing them off won’t be quick. They aren’t as fast as me, but they can fly, ignoring the terrain, and they coordinate their attacks.’

Still, they were just biological weapons. With no one to command them, they would only adhere to a rigid attack pattern.

He slowly raised his blade, and then... closed his eyes.

Following their inherent attack patterns, the two mantises leaped at the exact moment he shut his eyes, their bladed legs descending upon him from either side!

Chen Chuan took a sharp breath. The Furnace Breathing Method flared to life for an instant, flooding his body with power. He executed a spinning slash on the spot, a flash of his blade glinting for a fraction of a second before vanishing.

The two mantises leaped past him on either side. While still in mid-air, their bodies slid apart. A single, clean cut diagonally bisected each of them from top to bottom. The two halves of their bodies fell to the ground one after the other, internal fluids and organs spilling out. Their limbs and severed torsos continued to twitch uncontrollably.

...

...