In the plaza next to Haiwu Avenue, a large crowd of people had gathered, dressed in various cosplay outfits.
Boom, boom, boom!
The bass vibrated, and the gathered crowd swayed their bodies to the music.
Behind them was the rear of the mall currently under construction.
Bang!
Suddenly, the corrugated iron fence enclosing the mall collapsed, and the Butcher stepped out, covered in blood and dust.
It turned its head toward the gathering crowd ahead, a bloodthirsty gleam in its eyes as it walked toward them.
“Wow, bro, is that a Butcher cosplay? It looks so realistic!” Before it had gone far, three people dressed in blue fursuits appeared in front of the Butcher.
They looked at the nearly seven-foot-tall Butcher. The smell coming off it, in particular, actually carried a thick, metallic stench of blood.
One of the fursuiters even went up to touch the Butcher's abs, grinning at his two companions. “Hurry up and take a picture of me! This is so badass!”
“Sure thing, hold still.” Just as the other two pulled out their phones to take a photo...
The Butcher reached out its right hand and placed it on the head of the fursuiter standing close to it.
Crack!
With a slight squeeze of its right hand, the person inside the fursuit convulsed and died without even letting out a scream.
His companions watched as the mascot's legs buckled. Confused, one of them said, “Hey, stand up straight. Your legs are giving out.”
A savage grin spread across the Butcher's face. It raised the straight sword in its left hand and suddenly slashed downward diagonally.
Splat!
The two furries opposite didn't even have a chance to react; they only felt a sudden, agonizing pain rip through their bodies.
Thud!
The next moment, their bodies fell sideways in a heap, blood spraying everywhere.
A few meters away, a passerby stared in a daze, until the pungent smell of blood hit him and internal organs spilled onto the ground.
Only then did he snap out of it, staring at the Butcher in sheer terror. “Murder!!!”
Bang!
A chain whipped through the air, breaking the sound barrier with a sharp crack as it struck him. His body instantly exploded into a mist of blood.
Boom, boom, boom!
Only a small fraction of the people at the back noticed what had just happened. The vast majority remained completely absorbed in the music.
Right at the front, a green-haired woman wearing a black cheongsam with a slit up to her waist was livestreaming with her phone.
The female streamer spoke coquettishly to the camera, “Big brothers, please double-tap and give me some likes. I'll go up and perform for you guys in a bit.”
Although there were only a few hundred people in her stream, those few hundred simps instantly grew excited upon hearing her voice.
Superman Doesn't Wear Underwear: “Streamer, streamer, please talk in that voice again! I can't take it!”
Friend of Women: “Streamer, you look so beautiful today! By the way, what's going on behind you? Is that a Butcher cosplayer?”
Mother-Child Flower: “Streamer, can you do a high kick for us again? Looking forward to it!”
In the livestream, the chat wasn't moving very fast. The streamer asked in confusion, “A Butcher cosplayer? Where? I haven't seen one here yet.”
“Ah!”
“A monster!”
“Run! Someone's killing people! Someone's killing people...”
By now, the screams behind her were growing more frequent, and the crowd was starting to panic.
The female streamer turned her head to look, only to see a scene dozens of meters away.
A nearly nine-foot-tall Butcher, bare-chested and incredibly muscular, was hacking people down.
With every swing of its blade, it sliced seven or eight people standing in front of it in half.
Behind it lay a path paved with blood and severed limbs.
Seeing this, the streamer's face drained of color, her voice trembling. “The... Butcher... What's going on...”
She had turned her phone along with her head, broadcasting the scene directly to her livestream.
The hundreds of viewers watched the Butcher's straight sword relentlessly hacking away, sending flesh and blood flying. The chat fell into a brief, stunned silence.
In the next second, the chat exploded.
God of Sun and Moon: “Holy shit, that really is the Butcher!”
General Radish: “Streamer, run! You're going to die!”
Hell: “Quick, record the screen! I have a feeling this stream is getting banned any second.”
The Butcher's appearance caused the viewer count to skyrocket, surging from a few hundred to a thousand, then three thousand, five thousand, and it was about to break ten thousand when...
Zap!
Within seconds, the livestream was banned, and everyone who had joined was kicked out.
Inside a hospital in Ningcheng.
Wang Pingcheng's phone rang incessantly.
Zhang Yi turned to look at him, his expression grim. “It seems the real show has begun. The secret investigation team has failed.”
Lu Senyu had just sent him a message, informing him of Zhang Shuling's situation.
Upon hearing this, Wang Pingcheng answered the call with a heavy expression and put it on speaker. “Chief, something's happened! A monster resembling the Butcher from the supernatural chronicles has appeared at Ningcheng's Haixin Plaza. It's killing everyone in sight! A lot of people are already dead!”
Listening to this, Wang Pingcheng couldn't help but look at Zhang Yi, his face pale. “Group Leader Zhang, your prediction was spot on. What do we do now? The Ningcheng inspectors probably can't handle a monster like this.”
“The military has already deployed. Those measures were originally meant to deal with that guy, but I didn't expect the Butcher to show up. You and Peng Fei should head to the scene to maintain order,” Zhang Yi said, looking at the two of them.
Earlier, they had looked into the Butcher's lore again. This thing was absolutely not something ordinary weapons could deal with.
They would need heavy-duty explosives.
“I understand. Peng Fei, let's get moving,” Wang Pingcheng said, stepping out with long strides.
Peng Fei followed closely behind him. As he walked out the door, he turned back to Zhang Yi. “I'll head over first. If anything happens, call me immediately.”
He was worried someone might still come to assassinate Zhang Yi. Without him around, Zhang Yi might actually be killed.
“I know. Go on, they need your strength over there,” Zhang Yi said, looking at Peng Fei.
The man's physique had grown even bulkier, and he was wearing black gloves on both hands.
Since Zhang Yi had been admitted to the hospital, Peng Fei had spent all his time outside of visiting hours consuming various animal organs. His physical fitness was improving day by day.
Inside the attic of the Liu family residence.
The father and son, Liu Wen and Liu Jiyun, had also received news about the Butcher's appearance at the plaza.
Liu Wen held his phone, which was displaying a video of the Butcher's massacre in the plaza.
“Dad, that person actually brought out the Butcher. His methods are getting more and more terrifying,” Liu Jiyun said, his face twitching as he stared at the bodies littering the plaza.
Yet Liu Wen's eyes remained fixed on the Butcher, a devious smile spreading across his face. “Heaven is truly on my side!”
“Dad, do you have another plan?” Liu Jiyun asked, puzzled by his old man's expression.
Liu Wen stood up and looked out at the pitch-black night sky. “This time, your father is going to play the hero. As long as I defeat this Butcher and display my strength to the authorities, both the matters of the Church and the trust of the government will be mine!”
Hearing this, Liu Jiyun was startled. “Dad, this is that person's doing. Wouldn't it be bad if you interfered and ruined his plans?”
“Don't worry. If that person was worried about his plans being disrupted, he would have notified us long ago. Since I haven't received any word from him, he clearly doesn't mind if I make a move,” Liu Wen said, quickly walking out.
He had his own channels of information. Right now, the authorities were absolutely furious about what was happening in Ningcheng.
If he took the initiative to join forces with the government now and used their resources to grow, his strength would reach a whole new level.
Meanwhile, inside a certain villa.
Tang Yongyun closed his eyes. High above the city plaza...
...a crow looked down at the Butcher below. 'How lively. Previously, he only acted in the dark, but now he's come directly to the city center. It seems Mr. Zhao has plans to make a big scene.'
Click!
The villa door was pushed open, and Buck and Jiang Nan walked in, their faces flushed with excitement.
“Boss, you have no idea how crazy it is outside! Mr. Zhao is seriously badass. He actually threw that monster right into the city center,” Buck said, his expression filled with excitement.
This ability to casually cause such massive chaos made him look up to Zhao Jin with a touch of reverence.
Jiang Nan looked at Tang Yongyun, whose eyes were tightly closed. “It seems Boss found out even earlier than we did.”
Tang Yongyun opened his eyes and looked at the two of them expressionlessly. “Buck, come with me. I want to see this monster up close.”
“Boss, what about me?” Jiang Nan grew anxious when she saw that Tang Yongyun wasn't taking her along.
She didn't want to miss such an opportunity to observe the monster up close.
Tang Yongyun glanced at her. “Your strength is too weak; it's not suitable for you to go. Besides, there's a high chance we'll encounter others like us this time, and a battle might break out.”
With that, he walked out, taking Buck with him.
Rate on N.U.
