Chapter 30: Soul Dancer (Sixth Update)
Inside the seventh layer, Su Xiao sat cross-legged on the throne, watching the images Bubu Wang had relayed back. The abilities of the Revenge Baron and the Mummy weren't actually the unsolvable type. These two abilities were quite common—one was regeneration, the other was the ability to hide in the crevices of alternate space while inducing hallucinations in others.
When these two individuals' abilities were combined with the terrain of the second layer, along with the Revenge Baron's acting skills and intelligence, it became an entirely different matter. If the enemy was reckless, they could all end up trapped here.
Su Xiao's task was simple: wait. He didn't need to participate in the battles on the lower layers for now.
At this moment, outside the Holy Temple, Rage Dog was so frustrated he nearly wanted to smash the walls. If the enemy faced him head-on in a deathmatch, he was confident he could tear them all apart. But facing the current situation, he didn't have a good solution.
After a tense standoff, the Revenge Baron inside the first layer smiled and spoke:
"Everyone, I'm actually a very ordinary seventh-rank contractor. My partner, Mr. Mummy, is very powerful. He can reverse time and arrange insertion points within the fault lines of time, like this."
The Revenge Baron took out a firearm. Seeing his movement, the tank-type contractors outside immediately raised their shields.
"No need to be nervous. As I said, I'm not strong. Next, I'll demonstrate Mr. Mummy's ability for you all."
As he spoke, the Revenge Baron pressed the gun muzzle against his own head and pulled the trigger. His performance and deception had begun.
With a bang, the bullet pierced through the Revenge Baron's skull. The light in his pupils gradually dimmed, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Everyone, no need to be tense. I'm not dead. This is a breakpoint in time."
The Revenge Baron walked down from the stairs, tapping his temple with a finger.
"Time is a very mysterious thing. Mr. Mummy has 'offset' my time. The me who just died is gone, but an hour ago, I was still on the second layer. By pulling apart these two time points, the past me returns to the present, and death is erased."
Hearing the Revenge Baron's words, the group of contractors outside was stunned. The enemy's abilities were absurdly strong, even touching on the concept of time.
"Time-type abilities... do such things really exist?"
"They're right in front of us! How the hell are we supposed to fight this?"
"This isn't a time ability. It's a trick."
Hai Yizuo sneered coldly and stepped into the first layer: "You survived through your regeneration ability. You already hid part of your body on the second layer earlier. The other person has space-type + illusion-type abilities."
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant."
The Revenge Baron clapped his hands. He made a gesture, signaling the Mummy to retreat.
"Everyone, the Mummy and I indeed don't have time abilities. But... what if I lure the Black Demon over here? Remember this for your next life: don't listen to the enemy's nonsense."
"Roar!!"
A roar came from the distance. Rage Dog's anus tightened. As one of the ten strongest seventh-rank fighters, he had recently developed a phobia of the Black Demon. That thing was just too damn unsolvable.
Black fluid surged from the distance. Seeing this black fluid, the contractors from Apocalypse Paradise and Death Paradise all charged into the Holy Temple. With so many people, running elsewhere now would only increase the chance of attracting the Black Demon. It was better to seal the temple.
"Everyone, pick up the pace."
The Revenge Baron smiled, his gaze as if watching a monkey show. Although he carried explosives, the enemy wouldn't give him a chance to use them, and using them now would be wasteful. As for the Mummy, he had already retreated to the upper layers of the temple. There was no way to escape now—the temple walls couldn't be penetrated by space abilities.
The Revenge Baron's head was shattered by a contractor rushing past.
All the contractors charged into the first layer of the hall. Various detection methods were deployed, worried that explosives might be hidden inside.
With a bang, the temple doors were closed. Ice and liquid metal sealed them, along with seals, barriers, and other defenses—nearly a hundred layers in total. Even the Black Demon couldn't get in now.
"We're safe."
In the first layer, Molei let out a long breath. He didn't doubt at all that the Revenge Baron could lure the Black Demon over. That one person had managed to fool all their hundreds of contractors.
A kilometer outside the temple, amidst the ruins of the ancient capital, black fluid surged. A contractor stood near this black fluid. This wasn't the Black Demon at all. It was something he and the Revenge Baron had agreed upon: 20 seconds after the explosion in the temple, he would create a pile of black sludge and make it thrash around menacingly.
"Roar!!"
A large-headed summoned creature let out a roar. It was ugly-cute, about the size of a pug.
...
On the second layer of the temple, the enemy contractors rushed through. Fifty had already been pulled into one-on-one fights. Of the remaining 469 contractors, 100 stayed on the first layer, all from Apocalypse Paradise.
A total of 369 contractors passed through the second layer and charged toward the third. The main tank running at the front stopped. Someone was on the third layer—just one person.
"Why did the front stop?"
Molei jumped up from behind. Among the group of contractors, she was on the shorter side. She, Rage Dog, and Hai Yizuo hadn't gone to fight one-on-one. They were the leaders, responsible for commanding the battle ahead.
"There's an enemy on the third layer."
"Good. I've been holding in my anger."
Rage Dog strode forward. Finally, he had reached the head-on confrontation he'd been longing for.
"The third layer... only has one enemy."
"..."
Rage Dog stopped. His fierce eyes actually showed a hint of confusion.
"Again? Are you kidding me?"
Molei was about to cry. She really wasn't afraid of a group of enemies on the third layer, but she was terrified of just one.
Hai Yizuo, Rage Dog, and Molei crouched at the top of the stairs. They slowly rose, their heads gradually leveling with the third layer's floor. The scene was somewhat comical.
A contractor so thin they looked sick stood at the inner side of the third layer. Sensing the gazes, they slowly looked up. Because of their extreme thinness, they resembled a scarecrow.
At the same time, on the fifth layer of the temple, their side's 105 contractors were sitting or standing around. A projection on the front wall was broadcasting the scene on the third layer in real-time.
Ascension Brother held a can of beer, grabbed a handful of peanuts from a teammate beside him, and kept his eyes fixed on the wall projection.
The smell of cigars, cigarettes, and alcohol filled the fifth layer. Their contractors looked relaxed, as if they weren't the ones about to risk their lives.
"I bet 30 Soul Coins the Scarecrow kills more than 30 people."
"I bet 50 coins the Scarecrow kills fewer than 25."
"Book's open, book's open. No limit on bets."
The atmosphere grew lively. Ascension Brother, holding his beer can, smiled. In truth, he was under a lot of pressure. He felt that if these lunatics realized he wasn't one of them, he might get screwed over. He hadn't noticed it before, but this time their side had an extreme number of old schemers. Take the Revenge Baron, for example. In Ascension Brother's impression, he was someone who always smiled, was polite, and even a bit cowardly. Now, Ascension Brother realized he had been dead wrong.
On the third layer, the Scarecrow stood still. Seeming to notice Molei's group's gaze, the Scarecrow actually started dancing—a somewhat mechanical modern dance.
"My dance partner... where are you?"
The Scarecrow emitted a mechanical voice. She reached out a hand, looking as if she were inviting Hai Yizuo to dance. The Scarecrow was female, not the imagined male. Of course, judging her gender by appearance alone was difficult.
"Without a dance partner, I have... no reason to live."
The Scarecrow pressed the blade that replaced her fingers against her neck.
"Big brother! I beg you, please don't kill yourself!"
Molei was genuinely terrified. The Little Fatty had been killed, releasing the Black Demon. The Revenge Baron had killed himself, taking out over 20 contractors. Now the Scarecrow was about to kill herself...
"I need... a dance partner."
The Scarecrow emitted a mechanical voice, looking at Hai Yizuo.
"Hai Yizuo, go! If you don't satisfy something like this, who knows what it'll do."
Rage Dog chose to ignore his teammate's feelings. He had figured it out—the enemies they faced this time were all bizarre in their own ways.
"Why don't you go?"
Hai Yizuo glared at Rage Dog. Rage Dog laughed and said, "It didn't choose me, did it?"
"Dance partner, dance partner, dance partner dance partner dance partner!"
The Scarecrow's body trembled, red light emanating from her eyes.
"Go!"
Rage Dog flung Hai Yizuo out. As soon as Hai Yizuo landed, the Scarecrow calmed down.
"You are my dance partner, aren't you?"
The Scarecrow extended her hand. Amidst Hai Yizuo's extreme vigilance, the two completed a dance.
"You actually... believed me."
An electronic voice came from the Scarecrow's mouth. She lowered her head, tears dripping down.
"Be careful. They're all on the fifth layer. The fourth layer has killing mechanisms. Don't speak—they're watching. I'm transmitting to you through soul voice. I am a soul dancer."
After saying this, the Scarecrow walked toward the upper layer.
"Hurry and rush through the fourth layer. They only need a few seconds to kill me."
The Scarecrow walked with a strange gait toward the fourth layer. Hai Yizuo looked at his palm. He didn't believe a single punctuation mark of her words.
On Hai Yizuo's palm was an image showing the Scarecrow on the fourth layer. After reaching the inner side of the fourth layer, the Scarecrow punched and shattered a semicircular crystal ball behind the wall. A very short time later, several Reincarnation Paradise contractors appeared near the Scarecrow and blasted her to pieces.
"The Scarecrow defected?"
"It's rare to find someone willing to dance with her. She's like us—she does whatever she wants."
"Prepare for battle. The fourth layer's mechanisms are destroyed. I thought she could kill a lot of enemies."
Seeing this, Hai Yizuo nodded to his contractors. The group searched the third layer thoroughly but found no mechanisms.
The contractors charged toward the fourth layer. They couldn't understand the thinking of madmen, but the fourth layer's mechanisms had indeed been removed. Everyone received a notification and even earned merit rewards.
Rage Dog, Hai Yizuo, and Molei successfully passed through the third layer and reached the fourth. They saw the Scarecrow, now shattered into pieces, lying at the inner side of the fourth layer.
Just as Hai Yizuo was about to approach for a closer look, the Scarecrow's broken body suddenly reassembled. She stood up in a twisted posture, colored beams of light appearing in her eyes. Her expression seemed to be smiling.
Hai Yizuo quickly scanned the surroundings. Nothing had changed. The mechanisms should have been destroyed. The third layer had also been checked. Unless the mechanisms were inside the walls—there was no way around that. The temple walls were nearly indestructible.
The situation was that they couldn't stop just because of suspicion. Once their momentum was broken and they became hesitant, the battle was already lost.
However, the contractors from Apocalypse Paradise and Death Paradise were very cautious. They passed through the third layer in batches.
Zzzt!
Beams of solar light appeared on the third layer, sweeping wildly. The enemy contractors there couldn't react, couldn't even scream, before their bodies were sliced open. The cut ends were carbonized by the high heat, sparks still flickering.
Meanwhile, on the fourth layer, the Scarecrow was dancing gracefully, performing a dance of slaughter. When her pose froze, the third layer fell silent. Ash and sparks floated in the air.
On the fourth layer, Rage Dog tore off his shirt. The enemy was on the fifth layer—he was certain of that. This meant his slaughter feast was about to begin.
Time remaining until Su Xiao could leave the seventh layer: 4 hours and 15 minutes.