"What the fuck?!" Wenzhi’s voice rang out sharply.

Right in front of his face were two massive jagged horns.

One wrong movement. One slight difference in timing. And his brain would have been impaled brutally.

The impact sent the vehicle violently sideways. Metal screamed as the truck overturned, the monster’s horns snapping off in the collision.

Wenzhi’s heart pounded hard against his ribs.

Before he could react properly, Shao Xinyuan tore the entire passenger seat free and dragged Wenzhi straight into his arms like the twisted metal meant nothing.

At the same time, Jiang Zhaohe kicked the opposite door open and climbed out with Nuo.

Xinyuan, meanwhile, cupped Wenzhi’s face with both hands, his warm brown eyes wide with panic as he checked him over like he’d break apart at any second.

"Are you okay? Do you feel pain anywhere? Are you dizzy?" His gaze swept rapidly over Wenzhi’s body. "There’s no blood or scratches. That’s a relief."

Wenzhi stared at him flatly and inhaled slowly.

"I think we should get out of the truck," he said. "You know. In case it explodes. I don’t think I can survive that."

"Oh. Right."

Xinyuan immediately kicked the damaged door beside him clean off its hinges, sending the metal flying across the road.

Then he stepped out while still carrying Wenzhi against his chest.

"Is everyone alright?" Zhaohe asked from behind the overturned truck while checking on Nuo. The two of them had already started pulling supplies from the wreckage.

"Yes," Wenzhi grunted as he peeled himself away from Xinyuan’s grip.

He walked toward the broken horns embedded deep in the truck’s metal and unconsciously touched the side of his head, blinking rapidly.

"Shit feels like Final Destination."

"Final Destination?" Xinyuan repeated as he leaned over Wenzhi’s shoulder.

"That’s a Craxisis," he added. "A D rank monster from small rifts."

Wenzhi already knew that from memory.

His gaze narrowed.

A thick reddish vein pulsed visibly beneath the broken horn.

"...Wait." He leaned in, studying it. "Since it lost its horns, it should need at least ten minutes to regenerate before attacking again. How did the tracker fail to detect it?"

Wenzhi looked up slowly. "Are they evolving because of the increased corruption?"

"That... actually makes sense," Zhaohe said as she approached.

Nuo handed Wenzhi his supply bag, but Wenzhi immediately passed it to Xinyuan, who took it without complaint. Zhaohe was already carrying Nuo’s.

"But if they’re evolving..." Nuo’s expression shifted. "Does that mean even higher rank monsters won’t show up on the trackers anymore?"

Silence fell for half a second.

Then Zhaohe tapped her earpiece, her expression turning cold and focused.

"Is anyone online?" she said sharply. "We have a code red. The monsters are evolving. Signal trackers can no longer track them."

All she received in response was a sharp crackle from the earpiece that made her beautiful face tighten with discomfort. "It seems the comms are jammed."

Xinyuan sighed. "We should leave first."

They quickly gathered the remaining supplies and started moving away from the wrecked truck.

"Something doesn’t make sense," Nuo said as she walked beside them. "If the monsters here have been evolving, why didn’t any of the Espers deployed earlier report it? Why wasn’t it added to the official records?"

"Because the government and the researchers probably chose to hide it," Wenzhi replied easily. "Just like they’re hiding the actual condition of the shelters near the red zones."

At that, Jiang Zhaohe stopped walking and turned toward him.

"For your own sake, Mr. Lin, you should focus on following orders without resistance or unnecessary questions," she said calmly. "You are a guide. Your responsibility is to guide your Esper. You do not need to concern yourself with anything else."

Wenzhi scoffed openly.

"I’m a guide with a beating heart and functioning eyes, not some guiding robot." His expression darkened. "The fact that you can say something like that so casually just proves how badly they’ve conditioned all of you."

His voice sharpened. "They’re killing guides and nobody speaks up. They’re neglecting survivors and nobody speaks up. Now suddenly asking questions is considered resistance?"

Zhaohe watched him with surprising calm.

"The world is cruel, Mr. Lin. We are living through an apocalypse." Her gaze remained steady. "A careful man survives longer. You should avoid making enemies of people in higher positions."

Wenzhi smiled. A sharp smile that reached his dull grey eyes. "Too late. I already have plenty of enemies."

For the first time, Zhaohe’s lips twitched with amusement.

Then a deep growl echoed through the ruined streets.

Everyone stopped immediately.

Shao Xinyuan moved closer to Wenzhi without hesitation, interlocking their fingers together.

The next second, a Craxisis burst through the fog and charged past them.

This time, Wenzhi saw it clearly. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

It looked like a mutated rhinoceros, far larger than any normal adult rhino, its massive body covered in corrupted flesh with four enormous jagged horns protruding from its skull.

A burst of dark mist exploded outward from Shao Xinyuan’s body.

His grip around Wenzhi’s hand tightened instinctively.

But Wenzhi didn’t pull away. Not when his brain was still replaying different ways a Craxisis could have split his skull open minutes ago.

They quickly collected the supply bags from the Espers.

The dark mist swirling around Xinyuan suddenly solidified into a massive black scythe, his preferred weapon.

Then he released Wenzhi’s hand.

Almost immediately, three more Craxisis burst through the red haze.

Nuo and Wenzhi moved back together while their Espers reacted instantly.

Xinyuan vanished into dark mist and reappeared effortlessly between the monsters, teleporting through the space with terrifying ease.

At the same time, Jiang Zhaohe summoned a glowing blue firearm into her hand.

The weapon shifted forms continuously.

A Gun. A Blade. A Heavy Cannon. A Spear.

The glowing construct transformed fluidly between weapons as she fired and struck with overwhelming precision.

The Craxisis didn’t even manage to reach them properly.

In less than a minute, every single one was dead. Not one slipped past.

Once the fight ended, they moved toward the corpses.

"They’re definitely larger now," Zhaohe said as she tied her hair into a loose ponytail. "Can these things even still be classified as D rank?"

Xinyuan tapped against his watch.

A scanning light spread across the creatures before the data was absorbed directly into the device.

"I guess we’ll find out."

The two Espers returned to Wenzhi and Nuo, who had been checking the remains nearby.

The moment Wenzhi turned to hand Xinyuan his supply bag, Xinyuan abruptly stepped into his space.

His chest pressed against Wenzhi’s back.

He lowered his head onto Wenzhi’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist before exhaling deeply.

Wenzhi grimaced and let his arm holding the bag fall slightly.

...So much for keeping his distance.