Chapter 649: The Hunter Sequence
"Yaaaah——!"
Ding Dong lifted her head high, eyes bloodshot, veins bulging around her eyes from sheer exertion, making her look utterly terrifying.
From her mouth, a sharp, furious roar erupted.
Her left hand was gone.
Just moments ago, her left hand had been brutally shattered by a fist from this "person" who looked almost identical to her.
But even so, she could still fight.
Her freshly torn-off left hand lay on the ground beside her, covered in dust.
The severed fingers still twitched involuntarily.
Without hands, this woman used her head to unleash the Mountain Shatter strike.
The speed was so great that her forehead tore through the air, creating a massive white shockwave around her head.
The "person" opposite her was utterly horrified, screaming in terror: "No——!"
This replica "Ding Dong" had never dreamed that the woman before her, even with both hands gone, could still launch such an attack.
Before the words even faded, Ding Dong's head smashed into hers like a hammer, bursting it like a watermelon.
Then, the "person" dressed almost identically to Ding Dong crumpled limply to the ground.
She twitched twice on the floor, then slowly grew still.
In Room 8522,
The Anomaly Ding Dong encountered was unlike anyone else's.
She met "herself."
She met the version of herself with both arms intact, and she was already at Sequence 3, the City-Destroying Realm.
Ding Dong had asked herself countless times: if her right arm hadn't been crippled, if she hadn't poured so much energy into the Ideal Grain Seeds, would her Sequence path have advanced further?
Room 8522 gave her the answer.
Yes. If her right arm hadn't been broken, if she hadn't focused on the Ideal Grain Seeds, she would definitely be at Sequence 3 by now.
The Fist Master Sequence was a powerful combat Sequence to begin with, its fighting strength no weaker than the Titan Sequence, and even matching Jiang Rou's ancient martial artist path.
If she hadn't devoted all her energy to the Ideal Grain Seeds, maybe she would have already touched the threshold of Sequence 4 by now.
Chu Che had advised her countless times.
But she had chosen this path regardless.
Whenever Ding Dong saw the Ideal Grain Seeds, a thought always lingered in her mind: if she could cultivate them further, so that everyone in this world could have food and eat their fill, what kind of effect would that have?
Could it end this apocalypse?
Ding Dong didn't know the answer. She had even asked Professor Liu from Divine Elephant Village, but he couldn't give her one either.
Professor Liu simply said, if they had to die at the hands of Anomalies, dying on a full stomach was better than dying hungry.
Ding Dong didn't see it that way.
Why were people always thinking about death?
If everyone could eat their fill, wouldn't they have the strength to fight those Anomalies?
She loved that saying, from some unknown source: "Some people just have to do what they're supposed to do."
Ding Dong believed her most important contribution wasn't her fists, but those Ideal Grain Seeds.
That was what she was meant to do.
When she pushed open the door to Room 8522,
Ding Dong saw the path she should have taken.
The version of herself who had fully trained in the Fist Master Sequence was truly powerful.
Before that "herself," Ding Dong was almost helpless.
Even her left hand had been punched apart by that "herself."
But that other self wasn't really her.
That was just a facade.
The real her was the one who could think to use her head for Mountain Shatter.
Staring at "herself" lying on the ground, the strength in Ding Dong's body ebbed away like a tide.
One more room left. She was afraid she wouldn't survive to leave this place.
It was a pity about those Ideal Grain Seeds, though.
Without her, no one in the Fair Convoy would tend to them so diligently.
"Hey, hey... Sister Ding Dong, are you okay?"
A concerned voice came through the earbuds.
It was Sun Xixi.
That guy Chen Ye wouldn't be so caring.
She had to admit, Gong Yong's Bluetooth earbuds were really useful.
Even after that fight, the earbuds were still in her ear.
"I... I'm fine!"
"Maybe we should pull out for now. It's getting late!"
The Pink-haired Girl's voice carried genuine worry.
"I'm fine. I can still keep going!"
"Sister Ding Dong, we still have time..."
Sun Xixi only got halfway through her sentence.
"It's okay, Xixi. Since we decided to do this, let's see it through. I can still hold on!"
Just like Chu Che had advised her countless times, urging her to focus more on training,
Ding Dong had never listened.
Now, Sun Xixi was telling her to stop if it was too much.
She still wouldn't listen!
This stubborn woman always had her own ideas.
She wasn't Chen Ye.
If it were Chen Ye, he would have backed off by now.
But Ding Dong wouldn't.
Even without both arms, she refused to retreat.
This was her—foolishly persisting in what she believed was right.
...
Second floor.
The Punk Girl moved like a civet cat, darting through the entire second floor.
Her earlier battle had directly opened up the whole floor.
Now, it looked like a massive indoor training ground, just littered with piles of construction debris and destroyed furniture.
Only Rooms 8222 and 8223 still stood isolated in the distance.
Behind her, two humanoid creatures chased wildly.
Several more humanoid creatures lay on the ground, green blood oozing from them, their bodies trembling slightly.
These humanoid creatures weren't much different from humans.
But they were completely hairless, their heads bald.
And they moved on all fours, crawling on the ground.
They were very similar to the Crawlers Chen Ye had simulated.
But there were subtle differences in the details.
For example, these creatures had mouths full of sharp teeth, and not only that, but their hands also had several mouths packed with teeth on the backs.
If these things caught you, the mouths on their hands would bite into you, making it impossible to break free.
If you looked closely, you'd find that it wasn't just their hands—their legs and backs also had these tooth-filled mouths.
In short, once these things got close,
the mouths all over their bodies would latch onto their prey.
And the door to Room 8222 was wide open.
Countless humanoid creatures were still pouring out of it.
It was as if Room 8222 was a monster hive.
The girl from the Hunter Sequence moved with a speed beyond normal human capability. Even vertical walls were like flat ground to her.
She could even run and leap across the ceiling.
This ability of hers effectively evaded the encirclement of those humanoid creatures.
These humanoid creatures were actually weaker in combat than the Anomalies from other rooms.
But the tricky part was their numbers, which seemed endless.
The girl's Scarlet Hunt was an excellent Wonder. Every time she drew the bowstring, a flesh-and-blood arrow would automatically form on it.
This was also why she had been able to keep fighting until now.
The bowstring of Scarlet Hunt was made from the muscle tissue of some unknown creature, unbreakable by ordinary blades.
And combined with her archery combat arts, in close-quarters combat, this Scarlet Hunt acted as a large blade, with the bowstring as its edge, while the scaly back of the bow served as her shield.
Paired with her civet-like movements, few Anomalies could get close to her.
The creatures behind her still roared in pursuit.
The girl swung her long legs, taking two quick steps up the wall before stepping onto the ceiling.
She hung there as if on level ground, showing no discomfort.
Then, she drew the bow and nocked an arrow.
The flesh-and-blood arrow formed on her bow again.
On the arrow's shaft, several small mouths had also sprouted.
This was Scarlet Hunt's ability.
After killing a target, it absorbed some of their energy and traits.
These humanoid creatures had no special energy—their only trait was the tooth-filled mouths covering their bodies.
So, from the Anomalies she had killed earlier, Scarlet Hunt had gained this trait.
The tiny mouths on the arrow kept opening and closing, as if trying to bite something.
The Punk Girl wasn't startled by the change; she simply twisted her waist lightly and released the arrow.
The arrow seemed to have eyes—no matter how the humanoid creatures dodged, the arrow pierced through their heads.
With two consecutive shots, she killed the pursuing creatures behind her.
Any body struck by the arrows quickly shriveled up.
The mouths with sharp teeth would clamp down tightly on the creatures' flesh.
The creatures tried to pull the arrows out before they died, but they failed.
As their bodies grew more shriveled,
Scarlet Hunt gained new trait supplements.
The girl finally stopped, panting slightly.
But her eyes grew exceptionally sharp as she stared at the door to Room 8222.
There was definitely a hive inside.
Just as she fixed her gaze on Room 8222, the door was pushed open.
Three more humanoid creatures burst out, their mouths all over their bodies gaping wide as they charged.
The girl narrowed her eyes slightly. This couldn't go on.
She drew the bow again.
This time, the arrow was different.
An eye had grown on the arrow, and at the same time, an eye appeared on the bow itself.
The tip of the arrow was aimed squarely at Room 8222.
"Swish!"
She released it.
This arrow with an eye shot forward.
The girl closed her eyes.
In her mind, all the images the arrow passed through appeared.
Everything the arrow's eye saw, she could see.
As long as she held the bow, she could see.
The arrow pierced through the wall of Room 8222.
That seemingly indestructible wall had blocked her arrows in previous attacks.
But this time was different.
The arrow with an eye went through the wall like paper.
When the arrow passed through the room,
the girl saw everything inside.
The room was very ordinary, with its furnishings unchanged.
The only difference was the red sticky threads covering the open space.
These threads connected the ceiling, walls, and floor.
In the center of the room, amid those threads, was a massive hive.
The hive was pink, beating like a heart, constantly contracting and expanding.
It looked deeply unsettling.
"Aaaah——!"
A piercing scream rang out.
The girl's arrow with an eye had pierced into the hive.
The hive writhed in pain.
More humanoid creatures were forced out of it, and in an instant, at least a dozen newborns covered in slime fell to the ground.
In a flash, these newborns began to grow wildly.
In just a few seconds, they were the size of normal humans.
Seemingly following the hive's command, they rushed madly out the door, heading toward the girl.
The girl murmured softly: "Found you!"
She stood on the ceiling, her short hair hanging down, like a war goddess.
Several humanoid creatures roared furiously below her.
With the new arrivals,
these creatures actually formed a human bridge beneath her.
If they could stand upright, they might be able to attack her.
But their hind legs seemed weak, unable to support their weight.
The girl drew the bow again.
This time, a full nine arrows formed on Scarlet Hunt's bowstring.
Each arrow was identical to the previous one.
Their shafts also had tiny tooth-filled mouths.
"Swish!!!"
The sound of nine arrows leaving the string merged into one.
In the blink of an eye, the nine arrows struck the wall of Room 8222.
The girl wasn't disappointed that not a single arrow had killed any creature.
Instead, she drew the bow again.
Nine more arrows appeared on the bowstring.
This time, the arrows didn't have tooth-filled mouths.
"Swish!"
The nine arrows hit the wall again.
After a few breaths, before the creatures could reach her, the girl had fired nine times.
Now, eighty-one arrows were stuck in the wall of Room 8222.
But they hadn't dealt any damage to the hive inside, except for the first eye-arrow.
The girl was drenched in sweat, her short hair soaked.
But a relaxed expression was on her face.
She raised her thumb and middle finger,
and gently snapped.
"Boom——"
Something seemed to vibrate in the air.
Then...
The eighty-one arrows on the wall suddenly drove forward, piercing through into the room.
All eighty-one arrows aimed at the hive.
"Aaaah——!"
The piercing scream echoed through the second floor.
Some arrows pierced the hive, while others lodged in the wall, seemingly missing their mark.
Was that all?
No.
The arrows stuck in the wall quickly formed a crimson domain, roughly five meters in diameter.
Each arrow created a five-meter patch of crimson.
Large areas of the room turned that color.
Then, from within the crimson, dozens of spikes instantly grew.
These spikes pierced the hive again.
The hive screamed once more.
One of the Hunter Sequence's abilities—Trap—combined with Scarlet Hunt's trap ability, formed a double trap, directly killing the hive in Room 8222.