Chapter 11: The Upright Xia Zhuyi
Bones in Xu Mingsong’s body emitted fine cracking sounds, and the shadow of the youth on the ground twisted unnaturally.
The sensations at this moment were peculiar.
His mind was clear, fully aware of what he was doing. Yet it felt as if someone had bestowed upon him a series of buffs—“ferocity,” “berserk”—his left arm hung loosely but he felt no pain, and in his mind, there was no reverence for “pain,” only a fervor born from the instinct of his demon blood.
“Ming?”
At some point, Ming had fallen silent.
But the battle was nearing its end, and Xu Mingsong no longer needed Ming’s guidance. Receiving no response, he temporarily set aside his doubts and moved toward the head pinned to the wooden table.
“Ah... gu…”
The head no longer bore a ferocious expression. Instead, it gazed at Xu Mingsong with sheer terror, uttering weak, strange murmurs beyond mere screams.
The youth before him was no longer the scent of “prey” but rather a “kindred spirit,” a more brutal, blood-soaked terrifying monster.
He drew his bronze sword. As the insect-headed creature tried to flee, he grabbed the long, disheveled hair. He slammed the monster to the ground, pinned it beneath his foot, and raised the bronze short sword. Like slicing tofu with a knife, he cleaved open its skull and pulled out the fat, worm-like creature that had replaced its brain.
He devoured it.
One after another, he picked up heads—some missing jaws—from the ground. Whether alive or dead, he cracked them open and tore out the worm-like creatures inside.
The air was thick with a pungent metallic stench, overwhelming even the scent of rain. Xu Mingsong’s nose twitched abruptly.
No high-pitched shriek sounded, yet he sensed the air being displaced by an alien presence, something lurking in the shadows, poised to dive toward him along a familiar slithering path.
Reinforcements?
Xu Mingsong’s reaction was no longer timid as it had been the previous night. His boiling demon blood had yet to subside; his left arm healed amid the intense cracking of bones. A wild, arrogant grin spread across his lips. He gripped his blood-stained bronze short sword tightly, his arm muscles as hard as stone.
Pure madness!
Even if the King of Heaven himself came, he would still be the greatest here!
Boom!
But this assault was different from before; the shockwave was mixed with bullet-like flying gravel, blasting an entire wall to rubble!
A boss fight?!
Xu Mingsong snapped to full alert, assuming a defensive stance.
Through the collapsed wall, a figure clad in a yellow raincoat strode forward with determination.
Dragging a massive, imposing long-handled battle axe, the figure calmly asked, “Where are the other five?”
At that voice, Xu Mingsong’s eyes widened.
“Xia Zhuyi?”
The boiling blood within him instantly cooled.
His gaze cleared.
He hastily wiped the mist of water from his cheek, smearing the bloodstains further with each wipe.
From Xia Zhuyi’s side, the hood of the yellow raincoat was pushed back, revealing a remarkably calm young woman’s face.
She still wore round glasses, appearing refined, quiet, exuding the aura of a literary girl—if one ignored the huge axe slung over her shoulder. The double-edged blade was stained with glaring blood, a sickly blend of yellow and white, reeking intensely.
Had Xu Mingsong not looked, he might not have recalled his own frenzied behavior moments ago. He pressed his lips together, trying to control his expression.
“Xu Mingsong?”
She murmured softly, her right hand loosening its grip on the axe’s handle. The axe head clanged heavily onto the ground, the weight making Xu Mingsong’s eyelid twitch as he swallowed nervously.
Such a heavy battle axe—if it struck him, he’d be bruised all over.
His fleeting joy at meeting an old acquaintance faded. His beast-like instincts sensed a powerful oppression from this girl, one he could not overcome. The wind fluttered the boy’s clothes; he tightened his grip on the sword, his eyes scanning the nearby glass curtain wall, thinking that if he couldn’t win, maybe he could flee by jumping from the second floor.
But Xia Zhuyi did not attack as he had imagined.
She scanned the surroundings, searching for someone. After a moment, she asked,
“Are you the only one here?”
What else?
Should he have called for a cinematic trio?
Xu Mingsong nodded.
She said, “Step aside.”
Boom!
The battle axe swung with majestic force, as if cleaving mountains and valleys. Xu Mingsong instinctively dodged, watching as Xia Zhuyi’s axe struck the pile of rotting flesh and blood, igniting flames that consumed the already fragile mass.
While Xu Mingsong was stunned, Xia Zhuyi pressed on without pause, moving to the next bloodstained site left behind from his fierce struggles with the crazed women.
Even the boss desk missing two legs, where Xu Mingsong had pinned the insect-headed creature with a sword, was split into wood chips by a single strike of her axe.
Fire spread.
But when the flesh dried, the flames died out on their own.
This woman! Such destructive power!
Her single axe swing could cleave steel in half. Walls crumbled where she struck, piles of rubble and craters filled the scene, and sparks flared up like stars gone wild. Witnessing this terrifying scene as if a beast had rampaged through, Xu Mingsong gasped sharply.
He stepped back and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Just a bunch of little monsters. There wasn’t much material to collect anyway, and now you’ve destroyed it too thoroughly...” Xia Zhuyi’s lips moved softly. “At this point, better to destroy it completely, so it won’t become a source of contamination.”
She was willing to answer, showing little hostility.
Xu Mingsong breathed a sigh of relief, the swirling doubt about whether she was friend or foe settling down.
“But Leader Xia, I have an objection!” Xu suddenly raised his arm.
His group leader looked over, the axe on her shoulder immediately sobering him up. “What’s the matter?”
He swallowed and said, “May I ask how I should address you? Miss Hero? Leader? Or Dragon Squad’s Elite Soldier—”
“Call me Xia Zhuyi.”
“Alright, Leader Xia.”
Xia Zhuyi pressed her hand down, signaling him to swallow those flattering words.
She pointed outside the factory. “Follow me.”
“W-what for?”
“To answer your questions.”
She opened a walkie-talkie in front of Xu Mingsong and communicated, “Mission accomplished.”
Xu seemed to realize.
So they were government officials...
Without looking back, Xia Zhuyi walked outside. Xu hesitated for two seconds, sighed silently, and hurried after her.
Outside, a fine drizzle fell, and the thunder and lightning made the tiny electric scooter all the more absurd.
You rode a little electric scooter to a dungeon run?
Before he could react, Xia Zhuyi was already seated on the scooter. Where she hid the axe, Xu couldn’t tell—it was nowhere in sight.
She put up her raincoat hood, becoming the only bright spot in the gray rain.
She reached out to Xu Mingsong, gesturing to the scooter’s rear seat. Xu suddenly felt an irresistible urge to complain—this looked like a quirky, well-funded VIP’s strange outfit mix, ending with inviting a newbie to ride on the back of her scooter.
Sit!
Is there any chance to upgrade to a luxury car?
Compared to the backseat of a high school girl’s scooter, he’d much rather have the passenger seat of a rich woman’s luxury car.
The poised high school girl coolly said, “I’ll explain everything later. You don’t need to hide anything; just say you killed five insect-headed creatures, and I killed the last one. That’s enough.”
“Mm-hmm.” Xu nodded obediently and asked, “Are we going to join the Dragon Squad now?”
She glanced at him with a hint of puzzlement. “What exactly is this Dragon Squad you’re talking about?”
He hesitated. “It’s an official superpower organization that appears often in ancient web novels, hidden behind the world’s scenes. Over time, people stopped using the term; it became a meme.”
He suddenly felt like a walking encyclopedia of memes, having to explain to these serious, straightforward people who couldn’t banter.
“Oh.” She pondered for a few seconds, then nodded coldly. “That sounds about right.”
Xu Mingsong’s interest flared instantly.
He thought of civil servants, job security, housing funds, pensions, and even a game called “The Happy Life of the Official” that his grandmother once played. Clearing his throat nervously, he asked, “Any precautions? Why not tell me now?”
After the catastrophe, the government’s authority had risen again, and its control over society had been upgraded without limits.
Consequently, the social status and welfare of civil servants also surged once more.
For common folk like Xu Mingsong, the ultimate goal was to become embedded in the civil service system, happily following official benefits—ah, no, following official directives to make human civilization better!
“Precautions...” Xia Zhuyi looked up, thinking for two seconds. She heard the sharp, clownish jeers in her mind urging, “Pin this guy against the cement wall and wall slam him!” but she completely ignored them.
She then lifted her raincoat, revealing a pistol holstered at her waist. She removed a dazzling silver bracelet and showed her credentials to Xu Mingsong, completing the formalities.
Click.
Xu Mingsong stared dumbfounded at his right hand, deeply bonded to the scooter’s trunk, before hearing Xia Zhuyi say:
“You are temporarily under arrest.”
“Ah??”