Chapter Eighty-Eight: Heretic

The gap between ordinary zombies and the Butcher was like that between a giant rat and a lion. Even if numbers could sway the outcome, the several dozen zombies before him were plainly far from enough to defeat it.

Fan Li witnessed a true slaughter. The Butcher, broad blade in hand, stood invincible. Each time the staggering zombies drew near, it swung its weapon. In less than ten minutes, the ground around it was carpeted with severed limbs.

Countless human-faced beetles crawled out of the zombies’ mouths and clung to the Butcher’s body.

If one beetle meant one surge of pleasure, then the dozens that burrowed in at once plunged the Butcher into a state beyond simple ecstasy.

Dozens of wounds appeared across its body, and then the beetles vanished from sight. The Butcher stood there with its broad blade planted on the ground, its body twitching in spasms as if struck by lightning, even its inhuman fingers curling involuntarily.

Favorability plus five.

Fan Li: "..."

As expected, for monsters, nothing could not be solved by eating. If it could not be solved, it only meant there was not enough food.

Because the Butcher ignored faction alignments, Fan Li had never summoned it before, which meant their favorability remained at the initial state.

Compared with Ellie, the Butcher was far more taciturn. It seemed to care only for slaughter and darkness, and Fan Li had once thought there would be no chance for their bond to grow. Yet seeing the crimson words appear before him, he could not help smacking his lips in secret. It seemed no one could escape the law of true fragrance.

"Then next, we begin exploring inward," Fan Li muttered to himself as he stepped forward and stood before the Butcher.

The square was strewn with countless severed limbs, and beside Fan Li stood a bare-chested figure with a broad blade in hand, an eerie being that bore no resemblance to any human. If an ordinary person saw this scene, they would likely take Fan Li for some kind of wicked heretic.

The only trouble was that the petrified skin was difficult to cut with a small knife, so Fan Li had no choice but to bite his tongue again.

He could not possibly bite himself every time he summoned it. That was no long-term solution.

Compared with women, men were still somewhat at a natural disadvantage in this regard.

Fan Li thought that if he had the chance, he should still collect a small vial of blood to carry on him, just in case.

Within a radius of half a meter was a safe zone. The Butcher clearly followed the rule of noninvasion, keeping all its attention on the zombies.

Hostile, unfamiliar, friendly, intimate.

Fan Li also understood that, at most, his relationship with the Butcher was only at the unfamiliar stage. Of course, that was still with the bonus effect granted by the inverted cross hanging over him.

No faction, unable to command.

In matters of battle, the Butcher had its own mind. Fortunately, the feast it had just enjoyed did not seem to have satisfied it. Heavy footsteps sounded, and it dragged its broad blade step by step into the factory building.

Suppressing the urge to summon Ellie, Fan Li followed behind the Butcher. Fighting evil with evil, the Butcher was undoubtedly more educational when dealing with a creature like the zombies.

Once inside the factory, Fan Li looked around. There were no lights here; it was pitch-black, and from time to time one could hear hoarse growls. For an ordinary person, this was truly hell itself. In no time at all, they might have their neck bitten through by a zombie bursting out from nowhere and become miserable prey.

The zombies hiding in the dark knew the routine for killing humans. They would suddenly charge out from around corners to attack. Unfortunately, they were facing an upgraded Titan. Before they even got close, they were either smashed into the wall by a single punch or split in half by the broad blade, left to wait miserably for human-faced beetles to crawl from their mouths and end their dark lives.

Fan Li kept a certain distance from the Butcher, fearing accidental injury when the broad blade swung. Along the way, he occasionally spotted lone zombies, which he conveniently cut down, increasing his kill value a little.

260/500

After walking for nearly ten minutes, the number of zombies gradually began to decrease. Fan Li frowned at this point. From his previous experience, when this happened, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that an advanced form, or even a monster, was lurking nearby.

After turning a corner, a long corridor appeared below them. The deep passage was swallowed in darkness, flanked by two walls, and at this moment only a few fluorescent "Exit" signs hung on the walls, shedding a faint glow.

Yet in a place utterly black and devoid of any other light, those green lights looked exactly like lanterns hanging on the walls, giving off a bizarre, uncanny feeling.

The Butcher was not affected at all. However, since no new zombies appeared, it grew a little anxious, and even the pace at which it dragged its broad blade quickened.

Fan Li continued following behind, but after a few steps he suddenly sensed something was wrong. There was a soft feeling underfoot, unlike the hard floor he expected. It was more like stepping in sludge. Though he did not sink, it still made it difficult to keep absolutely steady.

"I don't want to die!"

"Help me... help me..."

"Can anyone get me out..."

A series of shrill cries came from deep within the passage. Those voices were filled with terror and longing for life. They seemed to come from the far end of the corridor, yet also from beside him, and even from behind.

In Fan Li's night-vision, countless scarlet streaks of blood suddenly began to flow down the originally gray-white walls. The hard surfaces visibly softened, even began to writhe, and then, in an instant, dense arms too numerous to count stretched out from the walls.

Male and female, thick and thin, they were like drowning people fallen into darkness, desperately trying to seize Fan Li. Yet their arms were bulging with veins, taut to the limit. They were calling for help, but at the same time committing a crime.

In the struggle for survival, drowning people, driven by fear, will disregard the rescuer’s life and often drag them into the water as well, killing both.

Everything before his eyes was absurd. The Butcher was huge, and some of the arms had even seized its body, trying to rise from the “drowning.”

However, the Butcher clearly had no intention of giving them that chance. With a forceful yank, several arms clinging to it were torn off directly.

Unfettered, the Butcher raised its broad blade and, from top to bottom, followed the wall to sever a whole side of reaching limbs.

More than a dozen severed arms fell to the floor like curled earthworms, an sight that felt... exceptionally satisfying.

With no more sudden arms jutting out, the wall returned to a smooth surface again. For Fan Li, who had a certain tendency toward obsessive neatness, it was undoubtedly much more pleasing to the eye.

"Run... don't mind me... run, hurry!"

"Dad, where are you?"

"I don't want to die, no... don't come near me!"

The unbroken, piercing cries rang in his ears once more. At the end of the corridor, a heavy set of footsteps sounded, as though burdened by a great load.

Plap.

Plap.

The steps were slow and weighty, accompanied by cries for help that made one frown.

The heavy footsteps crossed into the five-meter radius of Fan Li's night vision.

The moment Fan Li saw the figure, he gripped his samurai sword tightly by instinct. Only then did he finally understand why those footsteps sounded so heavy...

It was a giant over two meters tall, nearly reaching the ceiling, and upon its body there were actually one face after another, each full of expression, adhered to its skin.

Just as Fan Li had suspected, it was indeed carrying a heavy burden, but not cargo. They were human heads.