Leviathan's exposed eye suddenly contracted its pupil as he sensed an ominous aura.
The drone trembled violently the moment it detected Leviathan, emitting a high-pitched buzzing sound.
His avatar at the altar quickly transformed into a doll, followed by his distant true body being replaced by the avatar, which then turned into a doll and was discarded on the ground.
Leviathan was retreating at an incredible speed.
"Boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!"
The drone exploded instantly. It only emitted a small spark, but that tiny flame, upon touching the black liquid, immediately triggered an immensely violent explosion.
The towering flames, like a fire dragon devouring everything, roared outward from the altar, engulfing the surroundings. The intense heat and shockwaves swept through several nearby altars.
The zombies and mutated zombies that had gathered earlier, now drenched in the black liquid, were blown apart into burning chunks of flesh.
Soon, the passage above, affected by the explosion's shockwave, began to collapse. Rocks tumbled down, delivering a crushing blow to the zombies still struggling in the flames.
The protective barrier around Chen Xing flickered as she quickly moved through the light screen, already reaching the outskirts of the explosion and escaping significant harm.
Leviathan, beside her, had also escaped the epicenter of the explosion using his avatar replacement technique.
However, her subordinates were not so fortunate. Ordinary zombies near the explosion center were almost entirely wiped out.
Nearly half of the mutated zombies were also injured, though the wounded ones could recover on the spot, creating a temporary stalemate.
Chen Xing looked up, now fully aware of Ning Yu's location, her eyes radiating a cold, sharp light.
Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue stood atop a pile of rubble, breathing air that was infinitely fresher than the stifling underground.
Although the air had carried a faint stench of corpses since the apocalypse, it was still far sweeter than the heavy, murky air below ground.
In Ning Yu's hand was a small controller—the device that had just detonated the drone.
Her mind was flooded with notifications of points gained. This explosion had been far more satisfying than the last cycle's destruction of a building to crush zombies.
This time, unlike their first encounter with Chen Xing in an open terrain, the battle had taken place in the confined underground.
This was thanks to new discoveries after the cycle and the memories they had retained.
Chen Xing was unaware that Ning Yu had already figured out her plans, nor did she know that Ning Yu had uncovered the purpose of the zombie horde.
Ning Yu, on the other hand, had a clear understanding and could exploit both the information gap and the terrain advantage to severely damage Chen Xing's zombie army, using them recklessly to farm points.
As the zombies began to surround them, they had already set up high-concentration liquid explosives at various altars around the area, then moved to the surface through maintenance tunnels.
They then used the drone to detonate the explosives, creating a spectacular fireworks display of flesh and blood.
Hearing the rumbling sounds from below and feeling the ground tremble, Ning Yu could almost imagine how livid Chen Xing must be.
But Ning Yu remained aware that while such an ambush could cripple the zombie horde, it would hardly deal a significant blow to Chen Xing and Leviathan.
The real enemies would soon come to find them.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly exploded, and a dark gray beam shot straight up from below, piercing through the entire surface.
Two enraged beings smashed through the surrounding soil and rocks, widening the gap created by the explosion.
A blood-red throne slowly floated up from below, with Chen Xing sitting on it, her lips pressed together and her expression calm as still water.
Leviathan, resembling a butler or attendant, followed closely behind her, standing at her side.
"Who told you about my plan? Was it Lacy?"
Chen Xing looked down at Ning Yu with a condescending gaze, crossing her legs and propping her chin on one hand, exuding an air of arrogance.
"Miss Chen Xing,"
Ning Yu smiled.
"I'm here to negotiate."
"Is this how you negotiate?!"
Leviathan, standing behind Chen Xing, pointed angrily at the mutated zombies crawling out of the ground, their bodies still covered in unhealed burns.
Chen Xing glanced back at him, seemingly reprimanding him for overstepping.
Leviathan immediately lowered his voice but continued to glare furiously at Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue.
"Let's hear it,"
Chen Xing said, her tone dripping with curiosity.
"You see, your goal is to stop Leon's ritual,"
Ning Yu began, spreading her hands to emphasize their shared objective.
"And my goal now is also to stop Leon's ritual."
She was considering the possibility of whether it was truly necessary to engage in a life-or-death battle with Chen Xing.
There are no eternal friends, only eternal interests, and in this regard, the two of them were actually aligned.
Ning Yu, for the sake of her and Shen Yiyue's lives, and Chen Xing, for the sake of her kind, even if countless conflicts between humans and zombies might arise in the future.
But at this moment, the primary conflict should be Leon's apocalyptic magic.
"We might be able to cooperate to destroy the ritual together,"
Ning Yu proposed, her eyes fixed on Chen Xing, observing her reaction.
But Chen Xing merely scoffed, clearly disdainful of Ning Yu's proposal.
"I don't know how much Lacy has told you,"
she said.
"But for me, the fastest way to stop the ritual is to kill you."
"And do you think I would allow a human with unknown powers like you to continue existing?"
She pointed at Ning Yu with her index finger from her throne, and in that instant, Ning Yu felt a surge of power.
"So, there's no room for negotiation?"
Ning Yu raised her right hand, and as her fingers clenched, the Blood Kite slowly materialized, its blood-butterfly decorations swaying.
Seeing the tension between the two, Leviathan stepped forward from behind Chen Xing, holding the "Love-Hate Ecstasy" scythe.
Shen Yiyue retrieved various weapons from her arsenal, including the time-resetting bullet.
The zombies below, sensing the tension, began to roar at the sky, and more of them crawled out of the pit, ready to ambush Ning Yu and Shen Yiyue during the fight.
"Don't regret it, though you won't have the chance,"
Ning Yu said, her silver hair fluttering in the desolate autumn wind atop the ruins. Shen Yiyue's eyes were filled with determination.
"Then show me what you've got!"
Chen Xing stood up from her throne.