Chi Yao walked to his side, his gaze falling on the beast-mutated Alpha. He chuckled lightly. “Shouldn’t you be the one to think carefully before you speak?”

Jing Xi’s brows furrowed slightly, and he simply changed the subject. “Where did you get the gun?”

“I just grabbed it on the way here,” Chi Yao said.

Jing Xi examined the 9mm small-caliber pistol in his hand. Its design was sleek and powerful.

However, both its structure and feel were very similar to the military’s “God of Hell,” a patent monopolized by the military, which made it impossible for the technology to have been leaked.

“Help me!”

Chen Yao called for help again from over there.

After being injured and saved, Brother Zhao did not run away. Instead, he attacked even more fiercely.

Chi Yao’s gaze fell on his neck.

The bumpy area of the skin became hard, and it shone like fish scales in the light.

The large bumps on both sides cracked from the bottom, revealing crimson flesh.

They were gills.

Chi Yao’s face darkened, and he strode over.

Chen Yao was injured from being saved, and he had several more cuts from Brother Zhao. He fled in a panic amidst the laser beams.

“Ah—!”

Seeing the sharp claws in front of him, Chen Yao instinctively closed his eyes.

He suddenly heard something fall. The imagined sharp pain did not come. He opened his eyes and saw a tall Beta pinning Brother Zhao against the wall with one hand.

His eyes widened abruptly.

This Beta was so damn handsome!

Chi Yao grabbed the beast-mutated Alpha’s collar and lifted him up.

Up close, the changes on the Alpha’s body were even more obvious.

A milky-white film covered his crimson eyeballs. His nose was degenerating, a ring of yellowish-brown things appeared around his mouth, his original teeth became thin and sharp, and tiny, barb-like teeth grew densely from his gums.

Was it a small yellow croaker?

Chi Yao ignored his struggles and pressed the muzzle against his chin.

“All suffering ends here,” Chi Yao whispered. “Go home.”

Whoosh!

The bullet instantly pierced the beast-mutated Alpha’s skull.

“Wait!”

Jing Xi rushed over, but he was a step too late.

The Alpha, named Brother Zhao, lost Chi Yao’s support and fell to the corner of the wall.

The film on his eyes receded, and a drop of bloody-red tear flowed out.

It was a coagulation bullet again.

Jing Xi’s heart was in turmoil. The thought that that person might also be shot and killed at will made it impossible for him to calm down.

He grabbed Chi Yao’s wrist and said in a cold voice, “He might still have been saved!”

Chi Yao struggled free. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly heard a commotion on both sides of the corridor.

In just a minute or two, the number of AI patrols had increased dramatically.

“Do you want to continue discussing with me whether he deserved to die?” Chi Yao sneered.

Jing Xi glanced at both ends of the corridor, pulled the distraught Chen Yao, and followed Chi Yao.

The corridors here were arranged in circles, with ten circles from the inside to the outside. Each circle had ten intersections, and there were many asymmetrical dead ends, like a maze. If they weren’t careful, they would get lost and couldn’t get out.

Jing Xi unsuitably thought of the maze on the second floor of Zone C in Extreme Shadow.

The path they were taking now was exactly the same as the one in that maze.

“Xiao Lang Tou.”

Chi Yao strode forward with his long legs and activated his terminal’s AI.

[I’m here.]

Chi Yao: “Scan the AI distribution on this floor.”

[Scanning… Scan complete…]

A map was enlarged in front of Chi Yao. It was covered with thousands of small red dots, gathering in clumps toward them.

Seeing dozens of AI patrols approaching at the end of the intersection, Chi Yao cursed under his breath. As he passed a room, he shot the sensor, kicked the door open, and it opened.

“Get in.”

Jing Xi dodged a few laser beams and fired two shots at the back.

Before entering the door, his peripheral vision saw a large number of AIs flooding into the corridor. He threw Chen Yao into the room and casually took off his thermal goggles and threw them out.

Flying to the middle of the corridor, the goggles quickly transformed into a bell-sized loudspeaker and began to play a military song uninhibitedly.

[We are all excellent marksmen, and every bullet eliminates an enemy—]

The AI patrols on both sides of the corridor detected the sound source at the same time through their sound systems and all fired laser beams at the loudspeaker.

Boom!

The AI patrols on both sides were directly hit by the opposing laser beams. Hundreds of AIs were all blasted into pieces.

The explosion triggered a powerful air wave, and countless metal fragments flew everywhere.

Chi Yao pulled Jing Xi inside.

The moment the door closed, the entire floor shook violently.

The pungent smell of burning metal filled the air.

“You look honest, but it turns out you’re so exciting when you go crazy.”

Jing Xi was pressed against the door, and he heard Chi Yao’s playful voice.

He pushed the man away, his expression cold. “No matter how crazy I am, I can’t be as crazy as you. At least I don’t kill people at will.”

Chi Yao: “Are you jealous?”

Jing Xi: “Why would I be jealous of someone who is destined for prison?”

“Ahhhhh—! Big shot, help!”

The two of them turned their heads to look at the room at the same time.

Chen Yao, who was distraught because Brother Zhao was killed, was being chased again.

Jing Xi quickly glanced over.

The layout of this room was identical to Chen Yao’s. The Alpha attacking Chen Yao was wearing a sleeveless vest. His body was strong, and he had a scar of a “2” on his upper arm.

This person’s head was severely deformed, his mouth protruding, and his cheeks were very narrow.

His neck and exposed skin were bumpy and covered with a rash that looked like fish scales.

“What the hell are you all attacking me for?!” Chen Yao ran around the table with his disabled leg, crying as he ran. “Why don’t you go attack the big shot! You only know how to pick on the weak!”

Unable to catch him, the Alpha roared in a low voice, leaped onto the table, and pounced on Chen Yao.

Whoosh!

Before he could land, a bullet pierced his forehead.

Chen Yao couldn’t run anymore. When he was pounced on and fell to the ground, he thought he was really done for this time.

He looked up and saw that the Alpha was staring at him with dead eyes. There was a black, hollowed-out blood hole between his eyebrows, but not a single drop of blood flowed out.

“Ahhhhhhh—!”

Chen Yao was scared out of his wits. He thrashed with all his limbs but was held down so tightly that he couldn’t get up at all.

Chi Yao said unhurriedly, “If you make another sound, I’ll kill you.”

Chen Yao suddenly choked on his scream. “…”

Chi Yao checked the map.

Jing Xi’s move was too ruthless. It had eliminated all the AIs near this corridor.

He roughly looked at the route. He had to leave quickly before other AIs came chasing after them.

The corridor was a mess, and the air was filled with dust and a pungent smell.

Chi Yao opened the door, casually took a purifying mask from Jing Xi’s pocket, and put it on.

“Hurry up.”

Jing Xi, who was about to grab a mask: “…”

Chi Yao tilted his head to look at him. “What? You want a mask?”

He fumbled for a mask in his pocket and threw it over. “Just say so if you want one. Why are you shy?”

Jing Xi put it on with a cold face, not bothering to speak.

If he didn’t share the same name as that person, he would have beaten this person up, kicked him into a prison cell, and forced him to practice “silent meditation.”

In the ruins, the red bean-sized Xiao Hong flew back to Jing Xi’s wrist.

“B-big shot, I don’t have a mask—”

Chen Yao weakly raised his hand, but no one paid attention to him. He could only cover his nose with his clothes and hurriedly follow them.

When they reached the sixth circle, a door on one side suddenly opened. A figure flickered, and the person inside pounced on Jing Xi, who was closest to them.

Jing Xi was holding on to Chen Yao and couldn’t dodge in time.

Whoosh!

The person’s head shook and fell to the ground.

Chi Yao: “Don’t get distracted when you’re running for your life.”

Jing Xi heard a faint sound next to him and raised his gun.

Bang!

The AI that had just flown around the corner behind Chi Yao fell to the ground.

Jing Xi: “You should worry about yourself.”

There was such a big commotion outside, but the thousands of rooms were terrifyingly silent.

When they reached the eighth circle, Chi Yao saw a row of open doors at the end of the corridor from a distance, and his expression changed slightly.

Almost at the same time, a beast’s roar came from behind.

“Get out of the way!”

As he said that, Chi Yao raised his gun and aimed at the back.

Several figures flashed by, and they were instantly surrounded by a group of Alphas.

“Oh, crap!”

Chen Yao was so scared he wanted to crawl into the cracks in the wall.

These people had bizarre appearances, as if they were wearing some kind of twisted animal masks.

Jing Xi’s eyes darkened.

The things in front of him were more like beasts than people, only with some human body parts.

The way they looked at him had no human emotion at all, only murderous intent.

Chi Yao had just dealt with the first one to attack, and more Alphas immediately flooded into the corridor from behind.

If this continued, they would be dragged to their deaths here.

The beast-mutated Alphas sensed Chi Yao’s danger and all pounced on him.

Chi Yao shot them one by one, retreating as he fought. He threw away the empty clip and quickly replaced it.

“What are you hesitating for?”

Jing Xi swept his long leg, knocking a beast-mutated Alpha to the ground. Another beast-mutated Alpha attacked him.

He subconsciously raised his gun, but he couldn’t pull the trigger.

He didn’t know what was wrong with these people. He couldn’t easily kill them as if they were mutated beasts.

The number of beast-mutated Alphas was still increasing, and the AI patrols were also chasing after them.

Chen Yao tried to hide behind Jing Xi but saw that he was hesitant to shoot, which made the situation increasingly dangerous.

He looked in Chi Yao’s direction.

It was safer over there, but he had to get through a group of Alphas to get there.

An idea flashed through his mind, and Chen Yao’s heart quickened. The look in his eyes became fierce as he looked at Jing Xi.

Although he couldn’t shoot, Jing Xi could handle them without any pressure.

It was just that there were too many of them, constantly emerging, so he had to get out of here quickly.

“Chen Yao, you—”

He was just about to make a path for Chen Yao to go to Chi Yao’s side when his body was suddenly pushed into the pile of beast-mutated Alphas.

Chen Yao gasped. Seeing that they were all focused on Jing Xi, he immediately ran toward Chi Yao.

But after only two steps, he felt a sudden chill in his heart.

“Ugh—!”

He lowered his head in disbelief. At the location of his heart, five sharp claws had pierced through from behind him. His chest was already soaked with blood.

The beast-mutated Alpha’s claws gathered, and he ripped out Chen Yao’s entire heart. He grabbed the bloody lump of flesh and put it to his mouth to chew on it.

Jing Xi lost his balance. The blade-like claws came at his eyes and body.

He didn’t have time to think. He drew his military knife and swept it, using the force to twist his body and stand firm.

An AI patrol suddenly flew over at an extremely high speed, knocking over a large group of beast-mutated Alphas. This gave Jing Xi a free hand to deal with the ones closest to him.

He heard Chi Yao’s cold voice next to him.

“Is that the kind of thing you’re looking for?”

Jing Xi gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Chi Yao glanced at the lifeless Chen Yao on the ground, his expression cold.

He could have killed the beast-mutated Alpha that attacked Chen Yao, but he didn’t want to.

Such trash did not deserve his intervention.

In a moment, Jing Xi got out of the pile of beast-mutated Alphas.

A hint of admiration appeared in Chi Yao’s eyes.

Putting aside personality and principles, his rival’s fighting stance was truly beautiful.

His moves were fast and ruthless, without any unnecessary flair.

Especially that narrow waist and long legs. Very nice. It would be even better if he wasn’t disguised.

It was worth taking a picture and rewatching it repeatedly.

He suddenly looked forward to their next body-swap.

Without the baggage, their escape speed increased significantly.

When they reached the exit of the tenth circle, Chi Yao stared at the oncoming AIs and beast-mutated Alphas and held out his hand to Jing Xi. “The thing.”

As he spoke, Jing Xi had already taken out Xiao Hong from his terminal.

Chi Yao snatched it and looked at it in front of his eyes. He pressed the sensor area on the red bean-sized device.

As the AIs and beast-mutated Alphas rushed into the last corridor, he threw the red bean in and quickly closed the metal door.

A loud boom.

The floor shook violently.

A moment later, the now thin Xiao Hong slipped out from the gap in the metal door.

Chi Yao picked it up and put it in his pocket. “Such a good boy. You’ll follow me from now on.”

Xiao Hong: “…”

The two of them waited for the shaking to stop and immediately headed toward the stairs.

“Wait!”

Jing Xi grabbed Chi Yao. He called Xiao Hong with his mind and had it turn into an infrared sensing lens.

Through the lens, the staircase in front was full of laser beams.

“The defense mechanism has been activated,” Chi Yao said, putting the gun back in his leg holster and rubbing his wrist.

Although the laser beams were dense, it was still easy for them to pass through.

When they reached the second floor, they suddenly heard roars of beasts.

Jing Xi looked through the exit on the second floor.

All kinds of strange-looking people were wandering in the corridor. They all seemed to be Alphas.

The shaking might have stimulated them.

Chi Yao’s steps paused, and he waved. “Xiao Hong, come here.”

Jing Xi looked at him as if he were an idiot. “It’s my robot.”

How could it listen to someone else’s commands?

Chi Yao stroked his chin, lost in thought. “If you help me, I’ll take you to where Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei are.”

Xiao Hong wobbled and flew in front of Chi Yao. The lens displayed a few words.

[Then hurry up]

Jing Xi: “…”

This robot was useless.

Chi Yao took it with a smile. “Don’t worry, it’ll be quick.”

He walked to the second-floor exit and threw Xiao Hong in like a discus.

A loud military song quickly sounded in the corridor, accompanied by the AI’s alarm and the beast-mutated Alphas’ roars.

The ground shook violently again.

Jing Xi: “There might be normal people inside—”

Chi Yao: “Those people won’t come out.”

The laser beams couldn’t penetrate the metal walls of the corridor, so the rooms were the safest places to be.

Jing Xi understood the logic, but he still couldn’t help but retort.

“How do you know?”

Chi Yao scoffed. “As long as you can afford the price, I can know anything.”

Jing Xi: “…”

He couldn’t talk without mentioning money. Was he a miser?

He only wanted to take someone out, but he ended up blowing up two floors and causing such a big commotion.

When they escaped the first basement level and saw the security outside, Jing Xi was not surprised at all.

All the AI patrols in the three basement levels added up to no less than three thousand. Ordinary contestants couldn’t escape, and the AI’s shared vision function was more efficient than human surveillance, which meant there wasn’t a single security guard inside.

The outside of the venue was surrounded by security guards with weapons, and an electric net was added to the original transparent protective shield above.

Chi Yao grabbed his arm. “Come here.”

The two of them went around to the garage and got into a ground-level off-road vehicle.

“Whose car did you steal?” Jing Xi fastened his seatbelt and lightly tapped the car window glass with his finger.

The special hardened glass could withstand ordinary bullets and small shells.

“The car that picks up the black-masked man,” Chi Yao said, starting the car and stepping on the gas pedal. “I’m not like some people who don’t prepare a fallback plan when saving someone and just rush to their deaths.”

Jing Xi: “I had a way to get the person out.”

Chi Yao scoffed. “Oh, but their heart was ripped out.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Chen Yao’s betrayal was something he didn’t expect.

Although he didn’t know much about the person’s character, in that situation, he shouldn’t have made such a stupid choice.

After rushing out of the garage, bullets grazed the car windows, clanging.

Chi Yao floored the gas pedal and drove straight toward the security team.

The security guards saw that the car wasn’t stopping at all and hurriedly dodged to the side.

They thought the car would just drive away like that, but it turned back and crashed right into the crowd.

“Everyone, get in the car!”

The security captain was forced to shout.

Chi Yao controlled the steering wheel with one hand and held the gear shifter with the other, constantly changing direction to hit them.

“So useless.”

Jing Xi: “That’s enough. At this speed, they’ll really be killed.”

Chi Yao raised an eyebrow. “I’m trying to kill them. Did you think I was playing?”

Jing Xi: “…”

Weren’t you?

With Chi Yao’s disruption, the security team’s formation was completely in chaos.

The AI patrols couldn’t exert their maximum attack power outside. If a large number of AIs opened fire, this underwater casino would be reduced to ruins. They could only hope that the security personnel could stop them.

All the security personnel got into their cars. When they saw the off-road vehicle crashing toward them, they instinctively retreated.

Chi Yao laughed out loud.

His goal had been achieved. He turned the car around and drove away.

Those people followed and shot at them, but they didn’t dare to get too close.

Jing Xi leaned back in the seat, rubbing his temples in exhaustion.

“I can’t believe I’m running for my life with you.”

Chi Yao paid attention to the situation behind him, drifting between various buildings.

“What, do you have a misunderstanding about your own position?”

For some reason, Jing Xi suddenly chuckled.

“I should be with them, arresting you.”

Chi Yao tilted his head and barely caught the smile on his lips that was about to disappear.

His heart suddenly felt like several ants were crawling on it.

“Everything tonight was your doing. Arresting me?”

Jing Xi looked out the car window. After a long time, he muttered to himself, “Forget it, just this once.”

He used his mind to control Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei, which were stuck on the security captain, and activated the radio wave interference mode.

Chi Yao drifted into an intersection through a bend. Through the car window, he saw that the line of cars behind them suddenly broke down, swerving and crashing into each other.

Inside the car, the security captain heard his subordinate report.

“The car is being affected by an unknown radio wave. The safety mode is activating!”

The security captain watched Chi Yao’s car drive away and gritted his teeth. “To get there, they have to pass through Intersection Z8. Prepare in advance to interfere!”

Subordinate: “Yes!”

Chi Yao drove at full speed and saw a giant signal jammer at an intersection in front of them.

He was about to make a turn when he heard Jing Xi say languidly, “Xiao Hong, activate anti-interference mode.”

Xiao Hong flew out of the terminal, turned into a bell-sized loudspeaker, and blasted radio waves at the giant signal jammer.

The giant signal jammer buzzed inside and smoked after a while.

Chi Yao laughed at the sight.

This anti-interference mode was simple and brutal. He liked it.

“You don’t have to pay me back with your body for saving you tonight,” Chi Yao said, tapping his finger on the steering wheel, in a good mood. “Give me these three little things.”

Jing Xi: “No.”

Chi Yao: “Then make me new ones.”

Jing Xi: “How do you know I made them?”

Chi Yao: “I was guessing before, but now I’m sure.”

Jing Xi: “…”

After three turns, Chi Yao had completely shaken off the group of people.

They were now close to the exit.

Jing Xi looked around and didn’t see a submarine.

It had been almost an hour since midnight. The submarine had probably already come and gone.

In this deep sea, there was no way to leave without tools.

“We need to find a place to hide for the night,” Jing Xi said.

Chi Yao: “Are you sure the submarine will come tomorrow?”

Jing Xi: “Then what’s your plan?”

Chi Yao parked the car behind a small garden and took a shortcut with him to the exit.

The exit had three sets of double gates to prevent seawater from flooding in.

They walked through the entire hall and into the eastern warehouse area, where some emergency escape equipment was stored.

Chi Yao walked through the huge warehouse area and finally saw the diving suits on the far side.

These diving suits looked like spacesuits. They were made of tough material and supported by a special steel structure to prevent them from being crushed by the deep-sea water pressure. They were usually used by deep-sea workers.

Chi Yao tore off two sets and threw one to Jing Xi.

“Put it on.”

Jing Xi looked at it. “This suit isn’t suitable for long periods underwater.”

Chi Yao said as he put it on, “Are you trying to go see the underwater world in this suit?”

Seeing him frown, Chi Yao smiled. “Don’t worry. Big brother will get you home.”

Jing Xi opened the metal buckles and put the suit on. “Only young people call themselves ‘big brother’ all the time.”

Chi Yao: “…”

Just as he put on the suit, he heard faint footsteps from the entrance.

Chi Yao’s eyes changed. He put on his helmet and casually grabbed a long-handled wrench from the tools hanging on the wall.

Jing Xi took a hammer, tried it out, and gestured to Chi Yao with his chin, telling him to go to the exit.

But Chi Yao either didn’t understand or pretended not to, and he didn’t move.

Hearing the footsteps approaching in the distance, Jing Xi bumped his helmet against Chi Yao’s helmet.

“Hurry.”

Unfortunately, the helmet was so well-sealed that the other person couldn’t hear him at all.

Seeing the other person bump him, Chi Yao bumped back with his helmet.

“Behave yourself.”

Jing Xi saw that he still wasn’t moving and bumped him with his helmet again.

Chi Yao was listening to the commotion outside, wanting to deal with it before leaving, but Jing Xi kept bumping him.

He could only bump back.

Back and forth, the two of them got into a contest. Their helmets clanged loudly against each other. By the time they came back to their senses, the footsteps were very close.

Jing Xi: “…”

Chi Yao: “…”

What were they even doing?

Chi Yao held out his hand, his thick fingers clumsily making a five, then a four, three, two—

When he got to zero, the two of them rushed out with their tools.

The first group of people who followed them was not large, only about thirty. They were knocked back by the wrenches and hammers.

From a distance, a group of cars drove over.

Chi Yao pulled Jing Xi as they fought and retreated to open the gates.

The three sets of gates slowly rose one by one.

The two of them quickly rolled inside, went to the central drainage area, and pressed the close-gate button.

The security guards kept shooting inside but didn’t dare to get close.

If they chased them into the drainage area, and the three external gates opened, seawater would rush in, and they would be waiting for death.

The gates were halfway closed when a few security guards wearing the same protective suits as Chi Yao and Jing Xi rushed over.

When they got to the third gate, there was only a small gap left. They pounced on the ground, trying to roll inside.

Chi Yao strode over and kicked one of the security guards, sending him flying back through two gates.

Jing Xi stood by the switch. When the internal gate was completely closed, he immediately pressed the button to open the three external gates.

As soon as the external gates opened, seawater rushed in.

With the help of the propulsion system, the two of them were shot out into the deep sea.

Outside the exit, the black-masked man got out of his car, and the security captain stood in front of him, reporting.

“Sir, I’m sorry. They got away.”

The black-masked man looked at the gates that were closing again and was silent for a while.

“Prepare the mobile base.”

The security captain was stunned and replied, “Yes!”

Outside the base, Chi Yao and Jing Xi were like dust in the universe, pushed by the rolling seawater toward an unknown abyss.

In the rapid rotation, Jing Xi activated the power systems on his back and feet and managed to stabilize his body.

When he came back to his senses, it was pitch black and eerily quiet. Chi Yao was nowhere to be found.

He waited in the same spot for an unknown amount of time, but nothing happened.

An unknown anxiety surged up, becoming stronger and stronger.

He didn’t know what he was looking forward to. Maybe it was just because the other person had the same name as that person, and it was a simple transference at play.

His waist was suddenly pulled backward. He snapped back to reality and turned around to look behind him, but he couldn’t see anything.

Feeling something pulling at his waist, he reached out to touch it.

The buckle on his waist was hooked to someone else’s—