The wound on her arm was being corroded by a black mist, and the pain was growing more intense as the corrosion spread.
"The fire of sin will slowly consume you."
The Leviathan clones all turned to face Ning Yu.
The one with a discernible expression shifted positions again, mocking Ning Yu with a sneer.
Now Ning Yu was certain—this creature could instantly swap places with its clones, which was why she had been tricked earlier.
Her blood continued to flow from the wound, and under the influence of the fire of sin, it seemed the wound would never heal.
With no other choice, Ning Yu placed the Blood Kite near her wound, letting it absorb her blood. She couldn’t let it go to waste.
Aside from the pain, her arm also felt numb.
The flesh beneath the skin affected by the fire of sin seemed to be changing color.
"Not good, he’s carrying a high-level T-virus."
The Leviathan’s abilities were bizarre. Though it had a human form, it didn’t change the fact that it carried the T-virus.
"You’re going to become Miss Arrogance’s servant too."
Leviathan’s lips stretched to its ears, revealing a smile that was anything but human. It seemed to already know Ning Yu’s fate.
Ning Yu’s mind raced. There was only one option left—escape.
Use [Mist Walk] to flee to safety, then trigger [Death Resistance] by ending her own life.
She sighed softly. It seemed the 200,000 points weren’t going to be easy to earn.
If Leviathan was this difficult to deal with, adding Morning Star to the mix would make it nearly impossible to win.
Was she destined to live a life of constant escape from now on?
To keep Shen Yiyue from being dragged into this, would she have to wander and hide alone forever?
Her killing intent locked onto Leviathan, her crimson eyes reflecting the countless clones surrounding her.
She wanted to kill him.
She wanted to kill Morning Star.
She wanted to kill all these mutated zombies.
"Boom!!!"
Another deafening explosion, this time right beside her.
Ning Yu turned her head and saw the bodies of zombies being blown away, the intense heat and shockwave, and the familiar, blazing orange flames.
It was a thermobaric bomb!
[You killed a regular zombie, +20 points]
[You killed a regular zombie, +20 points]
[Ding! You killed a low-level mutated zombie, Glutton, +500 points]
[Ding! You killed a low-level mutated zombie, Greed, +500 points]
...
Countless notifications of points earned from killing zombies flooded Ning Yu’s mind.
But she felt no joy.
In fact, her heart began to pound violently.
Because there was only one explanation for this.
No way... How could it be...?!
Ning Yu raised her arm and looked at the smartwatch on her wrist. The two familiar dots were still on the far side of City A.
"Clink!"
The sound of a grappling hook embedding into the wall echoed from the rubble beneath her feet.
She slowly turned her head, her eyes widening in disbelief. This was perhaps the most uncontrolled expression she had ever shown since arriving in this world.
From the other end of the grappling hook, the figure she had been longing for came flying toward her.
Her jet-black hair, adorned with a similarly colored hairpin, fluttered in the wind as she moved.
She wore a white-based JK uniform with a faint gray-purple skirt and collar, a small gray-purple bow at her chest.
On her back was a weapon case, her left hand holding a pistol, while her right hand had just stowed an RPG back into the case.
Her fair, delicate face bore a determined and focused expression, her soft eyes reflecting only Ning Yu.
It was Shen Yiyue.
"How did you..."
Ning Yu was stunned. She never expected Shen Yiyue to cross all of City A to reach her.
Yes, she had missed her, but she didn’t want her to appear here, not now.
"Who’s there?!"
Leviathan’s expression turned impatient, and his clones shot out toward Shen Yiyue.
Ning Yu quickly raised the Blood Kite, but Shen Yiyue had already acted. She had just reached Ning Yu’s side when she raised her pistol.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Like playing a shooting game, every Leviathan clone that charged at her was hit by the bullets, a testament to Shen Yiyue’s terrifying accuracy from her [Future Reading] ability.
Ning Yu noticed that the bullets had purple patterns swirling around them.
The Leviathan clones that were hit seemed to freeze in mid-air, as if someone had pressed a pause button.
It looked incredibly bizarre.
All of Leviathan’s clones were blocked by Shen Yiyue’s attack, an ability Ning Yu had never seen before.
When did she gain this power?
It had only been a few days.
"Silly Yu, your hero has arrived!"
"Well... minus the seven-colored clouds."
Shen Yiyue turned to Ning Yu, giving her a sweet smile that almost made her forget the pain in her arm.
A strand of Shen Yiyue’s hair brushed against Ning Yu’s face, carrying a familiar, soothing fragrance.
Seeing the terrible injury on Ning Yu’s hand, Shen Yiyue reached out and gently held her wounded arm.
"Don’t touch it! I’m infected..."
Ning Yu tried to stop her, but she immediately felt a strange change in her arm, which had been severely damaged by the T-virus and the fire of sin.
The fire of sin receded and disappeared, and the flesh discolored by the T-virus returned to its healthy hue.
In just a moment, her arm was completely healed, with no trace of discomfort.
"Did it hurt?"
Shen Yiyue tenderly stroked Ning Yu’s now-healed arm, her eyes filled with concern.
Ning Yu stared at Shen Yiyue in a daze before suddenly snapping back to reality and urgently asking:
"Why didn’t you stay at the base? Why did you come here? It’s dangerous!"
"Because someone wanted to leave me behind and face the danger alone."
Shen Yiyue pouted, leaning closer to Ning Yu and staring at her.
"You’re such a big, fat liar."
Ning Yu was at a loss for words. It was true—given the current level of danger, it might have been days, or even longer, before she could see Shen Yiyue again.
Shen Yiyue suddenly raised the pistol, which seemed to be enchanted, and showed it to Ning Yu.
"Yu, remember? I said, ‘Maybe one day I’ll use this gun to protect my Yu.’"
"See now, isn’t your big sister super cool? Don’t you want to marry her right away?"
Shen Yiyue playfully winked at Ning Yu.
Ning Yu looked at her, feeling that the smile on her face was the most beautiful thing in the world.