Extinction

"I hope everything goes smoothly at the front. I'd rather not run into any troublesome characters," Ren Yi said, seemingly in passing.

His last few words were barely audible.

Gawain was taken aback. "Surely we won't be that unlucky."

Ren Yi glanced at him thoughtfully.

So you do know.

Unfortunately, this time, I'm specifically aiming for "bad luck."

Without further questions, Gawain quickly assembled a small team. The three of them boarded the same pickup truck, though the Pope wasn't with them this time.

Their convoy sped toward the southern district of the City of Stars.

Along the way, Ren Yi could already hear the deafening sounds of explosions echoing from the distance.

The pickup drove deep into the heart of the City of Stars, stopping before a stretch of ruins plowed over by artillery fire.

As the Son of God, Ren Yi certainly didn't need to go to the front lines. His job was primarily to clear the battlefield.

Looking out from a distance, the Holy City's clearing operation was nearing its end. The roar of heavy weaponry gradually faded, leaving only the shouts of soldiers organizing the battlefield.

The ground was covered with mutant beasts stunned by shockwaves. Centipede-like bodies lay twisted among the rubble, while spider-like crawlers were curled into balls, showing no signs of even the slightest struggle.

Ren Yi got out of the car and walked straight toward this "hunting ground," with Gawain following closely behind.

WhatAreYouLookingAt trailed behind them lazily, her two-and-a-half-meter frame standing out sharply among the ruins.

Many soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield; the Holy City had paid a significant price here.

Ren Yi ignored the reverent gazes of the surrounding soldiers. Without stopping, he walked over to the largest centipede-like mutant beast and thrust his blade into its skull.

The sparse light motes on his arm began to slowly increase once more.

His movements were crisp and efficient. He killed as he walked, never hesitating.

Each time his blade fell, it was accompanied by the sensation of energy entering his body. The light motes on his arm grew denser.

WhatAreYouLookingAt wasn't idle either. Whenever Ren Yi's blade fell, she immediately leaned in.

Ren Yi tried to sense the surroundings. Perhaps because his abilities weren't related to souls, his perception of them wasn't very clear.

However, through WhatAreYouLookingAt's active gathering and collecting, he could vaguely feel that "there was something here."

One harvested energy, the other devoured souls. They worked together with surprising chemistry.

Although it was a one-sided slaughter, the sheer number of mutant beasts was overwhelming. Ren Yi walked and killed with his blade for a long time.

There were some minor incidents along the way. Occasionally, a mutant beast stunned by artillery would wake up early, struggling and flailing in an attempt to resist.

But they were either pinned down by soil raised by Gawain or knocked unconscious by a couple of punches from WhatAreYouLookingAt. Combined with the surrounding Holy City soldiers closing in, those sporadic resistances couldn't even cause a ripple.

Ren Yi glanced at WhatAreYouLookingAt. The "brawny man" was holding a mutant beast's corpse, an unmistakable grin on her face. She was clearly enjoying the feast.

Sensing Ren Yi's gaze, she looked up and bared her white teeth in a grin.

Come to think of it, I take the emotions, she swallows the souls... if we added an Anomaly that devours flesh, would that maximize the utilization rate?

Ren Yi ignored her, raising his hand to finish off the last mutant beast before slowly sheathing his blade.

Just then, a figure appeared like a ghost, flickering across the distant ruins before coming to a steady stop in front of them.

The newcomer wore a divine robe embroidered with dark patterns and carried a longsword at his waist. Judging by his attire, he was a general of the Holy City.

"General Finn," Gawain stepped forward to greet him.

"Gawain." Finn nodded slightly, his gaze falling on Ren Yi. "A pleasure to meet you, Son of God."

His eyes swept over Ren Yi and then drifted inconspicuously toward the eye-catching WhatAreYouLookingAt behind him. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Ren Yi nodded back. He noticed that General Finn's expression wasn't great. Anxiety was etched between his brows; clearly, something troublesome had occurred.

Sure enough, Finn spoke apologetically in the next second. "My apologies, Son of God. We sent people to clear the mutant beast nests ahead of schedule as planned, but... there was a bit of an accident."

Well, he had felt that the operation so far had been a bit too smooth. As expected, a variable had appeared.

"What's the problem?" He maintained his calm, unruffled expression.

At the same time, he communicated with WhatAreYouLookingAt via the Anomaly Web.

【Slime Flight Edition: Where is the target? Is there a reaction from your mark?】

【WhatAreYouLookingAt: It's very close, right around here. But I can't pin down the exact location; the range of this mark is a bit large.】

【Slime Flight Edition: A large range? For such a difficult task, your mother gave you a nerfed tool?】

【WhatAreYouLookingAt: ...You know how it is. They're pretty hands-off.】

Ren Yi sighed helplessly. It seemed that being "raised with a hands-off approach" by Parents was becoming a common bond among these Anomaly Cubs.

Over there, Finn was explaining the situation with a heavy heart, his tone tinged with self-reproach.

"It's 'Extinction.' This was my oversight. I didn't expect that fellow to be hiding near this area. While we were busy fighting the mutant beast swarms outside, it took the opportunity to slip into the nest."

"Huh?" Gawain looked stunned. He rubbed his head, his face darkening with a strange expression. "Why is it that guy?"

This attitude was a bit odd. "Extinction" sounded like such a dominant name. He had thought it would be some powerful special mutant beast leader, or even someone related to the Instance Clearer.

In his imagination, Gawain should have "tightened his expression" and "tensed his whole body."

But what was with this tone?