Suddenly, a beast’s roar echoed throughout the entire space.

The staff members, who were forced into a corner by Jing Xi and the others, suddenly began to transform.

Lu Meng stood up with a swoosh, his eyes wide. “What is this?!”

A sharp claw rushed toward them. Jing Xi pulled Li Yuan back.

“Take them and go first.”

Li Yuan cursed under his breath. “These few are easy to deal with. I’m just afraid that the rest of the defective products will follow.”

Jing Xi frowned. “Defective products?”

But before Li Yuan could answer, the beast-like staff members attacked again.

Their expressions were already numb. Now, they didn’t even have a single human trait left. They looked like human-shaped beasts.

The people hiding and resting inside couldn’t stop screaming.

The killing game and being hunted down were already beyond their ability to endure, and the appearance of the beast-men was beyond the limits of what they could imagine.

“Mon… monsters, ahhhhhh—!”

“Help! I don’t want to play anymore. I want to quit!”

“I don’t want the prize money anymore! Let me out!”

Chi Yao’s ears were ringing from the noise. He picked up a stun baton that had rolled to his feet and banged it against the wall.

“Shut up!”

The wailing stopped abruptly.

Seeing Jing Xi fighting and retreating, Chi Yao grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward himself. He casually used the stun baton to hit the keratinized skin of the beast-man.

In just a few minutes, the black spots on their skin had rapidly spread and hardened, turning into a texture similar to crocodile skin.

One hit from the baton only created a dent, but it didn’t cause any damage.

Li Yuan picked up a chainsaw and started the motor, sweeping it to try and force them back.

But the beast-men weren’t afraid at all. One of them grabbed the high-speed rotating saw blade and pinched off a large chunk of it as if it were a cracker.

“Damn it!” Li Yuan threw the chainsaw away and retreated. “These guys are enhanced!”

Chi Yao: “Go.”

They didn’t have any weapons. The only lethal chainsaw they had was useless against them. If they stayed, they would only be waiting for death.

Seeing that even Chi Yao and Jing Xi couldn’t hold them off, the others ran away in fear.

Jing Xi and Chi Yao stayed behind to deal with the beast-men.

“How’s the network?” Jing Xi asked.

Chi Yao: “It’s connected.”

Jing Xi snapped his fingers, bringing up the control page. He had Chi Yao’s terminal and the three miniature robots connect to the network here at the same time.

As soon as the connection was successful, Xiao Hong’s control page sent back the number and location of all the sensors in the maze.

Jing Xi held the terminal to his mouth and gave a low command. “Xiao Hong, track the path of the AI’s main control system. Xiao Lan, destroy the sensors. Xiao Hei, hijack the voice-activated system.”

Xiao Lan: [Destroying—Sensory neuron program replaced—]

Xiao Hei: [Hijacking—35% controlled—68%—100%—]

Xiao Hong: [The similarity of this voice to the master’s is 0%—]

Jing Xi: “…”

You’re a handful.

Chi Yao had just knocked over two beast-men. He saw the line of text from the corner of his eye and smiled.

Just as he was about to speak up for Jing Xi, he heard Jing Xi say to the terminal with a serious face, “Your master has been hijacked by me. If you want him to be okay, you’ll listen to me.”

Xiao Hong: [T^T I’m already working. Don’t bully the master.]

Jing Xi breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up and was met with Chi Yao’s teasing gaze.

Chi Yao: “Is this how you bully my Xiao Hong?”

Jing Xi fiercely kicked a beast-man in the face and calmly retracted his leg. “It’s my Xiao Hong.”

“Ahhhhhhh—!”

Screams suddenly came from the front.

The players who had just run ahead quickly retreated.

“Th-there are some in the front too!”

“What should we do, Master? Where should we run?!”

“Can we go through these doors?”

Jing Xi scanned the prompts on the control panel.

Xiao Hong: [The old man Cyberin is so powerful. I’m almost no match for him.]

Jing Xi: “…”

If it could call the AI here an “old man,” then it seemed like this amusement park had been built for a long time.

Xiao Hong: [If you let me hear the master’s voice, I’ll have motivation.]

Jing Xi: “…………”

The beast-men in front had already rushed around the corner. They were only a little over 300 meters away. Fifty meters in front of them were two passages leading to the left and right.

If the beast-men passed this distance, they would have no way to retreat.

Jing Xi patted Chi Yao’s shoulder and handed him the terminal on his wrist. “Hey, say a few words.”

Chi Yao: “Isn’t it your Xiao Hong?”

Jing Xi: “…Are you going to say it or not?”

Chi Yao: “Are you being mean to me?”

Jing Xi glanced at the beast-men in front and said in a low voice, “Do you want to see me with my chest hair outside?”

Chi Yao: “…”

Damn it.

Just imagining that scene made Chi Yao’s fists harden.

He held on to the last bit of time and said to the terminal in a low voice, “Be a good boy. I’m not dead yet.”

On the virtual screen, Xiao Hong’s feedback immediately appeared.

[Master!]

Jing Xi urged, “Hurry up.”

When they got back, he had to downgrade Xiao Hong’s intelligence system.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Hong gave a prompt.

[AI Cyberin has been hijacked~]

Jing Xi: “…”

Chi Yao scanned the line of text. He banged the stun baton on the wall. When the others turned their heads, he pointed in a direction. “When the light goes out, run this way. Understand?”

Everyone was confused but they saw that the stun baton was pointing to the left.

Chi Yao: “Turn off the lights in this area.”

The already dim lights suddenly went out.

In the darkness, the beasts’ roars were even more eerie and terrifying.

“Run!”

They didn’t know who yelled it, but everyone ran forward like crazy.

Chi Yao had timed it perfectly. It was just enough time for them to run in. Lu Meng and Li Yuan were bringing up the rear.

“Here’s a stun baton for you.” In the darkness, Chi Yao looked at the beast-men approaching from both sides. He and Jing Xi stood at the fork in the road.

Jing Xi: “No need.”

Although there were no lights, it was strange that his vision wasn’t affected much.

His night vision was not bad, but it was far from Chi Yao’s.

Chi Yao: “What I mean is, it’s for you to protect my body.”

Jing Xi: “…”

Without the AI’s all-encompassing visual aid, their physical vision was also obstructed. The beast-men’s movements began to slow down.

After attracting their attention, the two of them ran into the right passage at the same time.

As soon as they ran in, a holographic map of the maze scanned by Xiao Hong appeared in front of Chi Yao. This was an image automatically fed into his brain by the terminal’s control chip.

The beast-men who had entered the maze were currently scattered. The direction the others went in would not be dangerous for a short time.

But the path they had just run into was a dead end.

Soon, a white wall appeared in front of them.

Jing Xi turned around and stood still. He rubbed his wrists. “One half each?”

Chi Yao squinted and scanned the beast-men.

The most transformed ones were close to 60%. Their heads, hands, and feet had all been transformed, and they had even grown a short tail.

For every 10% increase in transformation, their combat power doubled.

Just as Jing Xi was getting ready for a fight, Chi Yao opened the nearest door and pulled him inside.

This was not the first time he had been pressed against a door by Chi Yao. Jing Xi frowned and looked up, trying to push him away.

“Don’t move.” Chi Yao leaned against the door and listened.

It was very quiet outside. The expected sounds of them smashing the door didn’t happen. Jing Xi also found it a bit strange.

Are those beast-men’s eyesight that bad?

They couldn’t find them even though they were hiding right under their noses?

After a full minute, there was still no movement outside.

Jing Xi came to his senses. He was about to turn his head to talk to Chi Yao when he bumped into a mouthful of hair.

When he realized it was the fake beard on Chi Yao’s face, his body stiffened. He quickly moved away and realized that they were too close.

“Hey, aren’t you going to move?”

Chi Yao’s gaze swept over his slightly flustered expression. He teased, “Who was it that just kissed me?”

Jing Xi: “It was an accident. Don’t make it sound so disgusting.”

“Disgusting?” Chi Yao scoffed. “Shouldn’t I be the one who’s disgusted? Do you know what it feels like to kiss yourself?”

Jing Xi’s embarrassment vanished. He said with a blank face, “Didn’t I also kiss myself?”

Chi Yao: “Do you think you can kiss me for free?”

Jing Xi frowned impatiently. “What do you want?”

Chi Yao waved his hand in front of his eyes. “What do I want? Fifty pictures.”

Jing Xi retorted. “Are you a robber?”

Chi Yao smiled and backed away. “Is this your first day knowing me?”

Jing Xi came to his senses. “…”

He was indeed a robber.

The leader of the robbers, at that.

The holographic map automatically appeared in front of him again. Chi Yao squinted at it.

The dense red dots showed that the beast-men outside hadn’t left. They seemed to have instantly lost the motivation to move and were just wandering around.

There were only five minutes left until the free activity time ended. As long as they maintained the current situation, they would be able to make it to the end safely.

“Meow~”

A tiny cat sound was heard. Jing Xi was startled and looked inside.

His attention had been focused on the door. He had thought that the door on this wall should just lead to a very small room, but he didn’t expect it to be very spacious.

Are all the walls in the maze hollow?

“Meow~”

Another weak cat sound was heard.

Jing Xi had been raising cats for many years. He could somewhat distinguish the meaning of different cat sounds.

This cat was very weak.

He thought for a moment, turned on the light on his terminal, and tentatively walked in.

The door led to another maze.

Just as he took a step, his wrist was grabbed.

“Don’t go over there,” Chi Yao said in a cold voice.

Jing Xi gently struggled free. “I know my limits.”

It was unusual for a cat to be meowing in a place like this, especially a place where beast-men had just been chasing them.

Although he thought this rationally, he couldn’t just ignore it.

The cat’s meows came intermittently.

Jing Xi turned two corners along the passage and finally saw a skinny child in a corner.

He looked no older than three. He was half-human, half-cat. His hands and feet had all been transformed. His eyes were clear and bright in the light.

When he saw Jing Xi coming, he was startled and shrank back into the corner, his whole body trembling.

Even a child this small…

Jing Xi clenched his back teeth. The hand hanging at his side tightened and loosened. He carefully approached him.

“Don’t be afraid.” Jing Xi tentatively reached out his hand to him.

The beast-like child shrank until there was nowhere else to go. After waiting for a few minutes and confirming that Jing Xi wouldn’t attack him, he poked his head out and sniffed Jing Xi’s palm.

Jing Xi understood. He took out some yogurt from his pocket, poured some into the bottle cap, and handed it to him.

The child smelled the scent and tentatively moved over. He licked the bottle cap, and then licked it again. Then, he held the bottle cap with his two claws, hid in the corner, and began to eat.

Jing Xi squatted in front of him and watched him lick the bottle cap clean in small sips. Then, the child looked up at him.

“Do you want more?” Jing Xi shook the bottle in his hand. “Then come over here to me.”

The child didn’t know if he understood his words. Maybe he was just attracted by the bottle. He crawled over on all fours.

Jing Xi gave him the bottle and took the opportunity to pet the soft fur on his head.

The texture was no longer human hair at all.

Was he also—

“Meow~ Meow~!”

In that moment of daze, he heard a sharp cat meow. A black shadow flashed in front of his eyes.

Jing Xi instinctively retreated and raised his hand to block. The back of his hand felt a sharp pain.

He was about to stand up, but his vision suddenly blurred, and a familiar feeling of dizziness came over him.

A swap at a time like this?

Jing Xi steadied himself.

The empty yogurt bottle fell to the ground. The child was gone.

He looked around and saw the child crouching on the wall in the back, his eyes glowing.

When the light shined on him, the child screamed and pounced at him.

Jing Xi’s vision blurred again.

Was this caused by the child’s meowing?

Just as he was about to dodge, the child, who was halfway through his pounce, was forcefully pressed against the wall by a hand.

Chi Yao’s expression was impatient. “I told you not to come over. You just don’t listen.”

Jing Xi rubbed his throbbing forehead, his voice hoarse. “Be careful of his voice—”

“Meow!”

The child was attacked, and his voice became even more shrill.

Being so close, Chi Yao was hit head-on. His forehead throbbed with a dull pain, and his heartbeat began to accelerate abnormally.

“Level five mutation?” Chi Yao’s face darkened, and his eyes were cold. “What a pity. He’s still a baby.”

“Meow—!”

Chi Yao tightened his grip, but his vision suddenly blurred.

He immediately felt the abnormality and looked up. He was back in his own body.

The swap was so sudden that Jing Xi’s hand loosened its grip, and the child broke free.

The child was full of killing intent. His extended claws stabbed toward Jing Xi’s neck.

Everything happened in a flash. Jing Xi was still adjusting to his body. He barely dodged but was still scratched on the shoulder.

Blood immediately seeped out of the broken white jacket.

“Ugh—!”

Jing Xi covered his shoulder and leaned against the wall.

With so many years of combat experience, he could judge the approximate depth of the wound without even looking.

The wound wasn’t deep, but it was very painful.

Something was wrong.

After the child jumped to the ground, he turned back to attack Jing Xi.

But just as he jumped up, he was caught by Chi Yao again.

Chi Yao grabbed his neck. There was no emotion in his eyes. “I’ll let you go.”

Crack.

The sound of bones breaking was amplified in the space.

The child’s struggling hands fell limp.

Chi Yao threw him into the corner and took off his white jacket. It was just enough to cover the entire child.

“He… he really can’t be saved?” Jing Xi’s eyes swept over the white jacket. His voice was hoarse.

Chi Yao didn’t say a word. He squatted in front of him and pulled his jacket open to check the wound.

There was a five-centimeter long wound above his beautiful collarbone, close to the gland. It wasn’t bleeding much, but the blood had turned black.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

He didn’t know if it was because his night vision had gotten worse after the body swap, or for some other reason, but Jing Xi’s vision was turning black, and he couldn’t even see Chi Yao’s face clearly.

Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, Jing Xi pressed him, his voice a little breathless. “Can’t he turn back like Iron Bear?”

“When the transformation exceeds 30%, the gene mutation is irreversible. There’s nothing that can be done.” Chi Yao’s fingertip rubbed the blood flowing from the wound. His eyes were filled with killing intent. “Not just any child can be compared to Iron Bear. He’s a special case.”

Hearing the words “nothing that can be done,” Jing Xi’s heart jumped. “Maybe there is a way, and you just don’t know it?”

Chi Yao looked up and gestured to his eyes. “Are you trying to save that child, or someone else?”

Jing Xi looked at him. His lips were paler than usual, which made his eyes look even more moist and pitiful.

“You don’t know?”

Chi Yao expressionlessly put his arm around Jing Xi and pulled open his collar.

“If this continues, the person you want to save won’t be saved, and you won’t make it.”

Jing Xi noticed his intention and tried to push him away, but he found that he didn’t even have the strength to move his fingers.

“What are you doing?”

Chi Yao held his head and tilted it slightly to the side, fully exposing the wound.

“Don’t move.”

He lowered his head and leaned close to Jing Xi’s neck.

The black blood entered his mouth. A strong, metallic smell filled his entire mouth. Chi Yao’s eyes flashed, and a golden light began to appear in his black pupils—