Chapter 1 Twenty People

A group of twenty people swaggered into the tenement building.

Several veterans had participated in many such events. Before entering the dilapidated building, Sam loudly explained the precautions to the newcomers.

"Check your ammo! Put your spare firearms in an easy-to-reach spot..."

"Be careful, aim well before you shoot. Don't throw grenades unless absolutely necessary. We don't want to kill ourselves instead of the monsters!"

"Also, keep your gun pointed at the ground, and don't point it at the person in front of you. Don't put your finger on the trigger, or you might get scared and accidentally shoot someone. It's against gang rules!"

"Don't speak loudly inside. The mutated monsters in the dark are very sensitive to sound."

"..."

Suren listened carefully. It was all practical combat experience. No wonder Kai wanted the newcomers to train here.

He glanced at the tenement building not far away, frowning slightly. The isolated, dilapidated building looked like an ugly toad monster lying there. The dark, gaping windows were like fleshy tumors on its back.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Suren felt as if something was watching their team.

"A person, or a monster?"

Suren couldn't figure out the source of the throbbing in his heart.

He knew what this feeling meant. Certain clues in his mind were causing his unease, but they weren't enough to form a clear picture, so it came and went.

But he didn't say much, because even if he didn't tell everyone to be careful, they would all be on high alert in this environment.

Before he could think further, the team had already entered the tenement building.

...

The interior of this tenement was very large, somewhat like a shopping mall from Suren's previous life.

The house completely blocked the outside light.

The gas lamps in the team provided ample light, but even so, everyone felt like they had entered a dark world, with the light only illuminating a small area.

Suren, however, felt fine. After advancing to a professional, his "night vision" ability had also greatly improved.

Even without wearing the simple night vision goggles, he could clearly see the general outlines of distant objects.

But the other newcomers seemed a little uneasy. The dark environment made them feel a fear of the unknown, afraid that some man-eating monster would suddenly emerge from the darkness...

Just then, a gunshot suddenly rang out beside them.

"Bang!"

The flash of light illuminated the area for a moment, and everyone watched as a dark shadow fell from the beams not far away.

Looking closely, it was a large white rat.

The sudden movement made all the newcomers flinch. No wonder Sam told them not to put their fingers on the trigger, or many guns would have gone off in that moment of fright.

Up ahead, Sam's hearty laughter rang out: "Yo... not bad luck. The [White-Haired Rat's Ear Bone] is a cursed material worth three thousand Leso. I didn't expect to get a material from just shooting one..."

Monsters living in mutated environments had a chance of producing "cursed materials" inside their bodies, but the probability of ordinary monsters producing materials was very low. Usually, only elite monsters and beast kings had a higher probability.

Suren listened, a thought flashing through his mind.

The first monster produced a cursed material. Was it a coincidence, or something else?

The veterans looked at the nervous expressions of the newcomers and laughed: "Hey~ everyone, don't be so nervous. The [White-Haired Giant Rat] is just the most common monster in the sewers. One shot to the head will kill it. But you also have to be careful, they will jump up and bite off your little bird..."

"Hahaha..."

The veterans seemed to be used to it. This kind of operation was much safer than wasteland hunting.

After all, this was Old Lundon City. There wouldn't be swarms of monsters. Even the mutated humans were just one or two.

With more than twenty people, they had an absolute firepower advantage, so there was no need to be too careful.

Kai slung his gun over his shoulder, his expression relaxed. At this time, he also said, "Everyone get ready, the monsters in this building should be coming."

After the gunshot, the sound immediately attracted the monsters in the dark.

But as the veterans had said before, a few scattered monsters didn't pose much of a threat to the team.

The subsequent journey turned from monster hunting into a shooting game.

The gunshots would attract the monsters in the dark, which saved everyone the effort of searching each room.

Before long, two [mutated humans] who were probably seen by witnesses appeared in the darkness and were also blasted into a pile of mud by the concentrated fire.

Suren had seen this monster twice outside the city. At that time, he was alone, and the surrounding environment was complex, making it difficult to deal with. But a lone monster was a sitting duck for a team.

Except for one unlucky guy who tripped and broke his leg, everything went smoothly.

Moreover, the harvest was good.

They found that the probability of monsters in this tenement building producing "cursed materials" was indeed much higher than outside the city...

...

In less than an hour, the Green Street gang cleared the tenement building and arrived at the entrance to the "catacombs" that the old man had mentioned.

This was not a collapsed cave entrance, but had obvious architectural features.

It looked a bit like a subway station entrance from Suren's previous life.

This cleanup operation was so smooth that it was almost boring. Perhaps feeling that they hadn't had enough, looking at the cave entrance, a veteran asked, "Captain, should we go down and take a look?"

Kai looked at the entrance to the catacombs, frowning slightly: "I remember the last large-scale cleanup of these catacombs was ten years ago. There were a lot of casualties that time. I don't know what the monsters down there look like now..."

Obviously, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memories, and shook his head: "Going down into the catacombs requires stronger equipment and more manpower. We are not prepared this time, there is no need to go down..."

Today's harvest was far beyond expectations, which also gave Kai a bad feeling.

Suren mingled in the crowd, not being too conspicuous.

He didn't have many opportunities to shoot during the entire cleanup process. Often, as soon as a monster appeared, it was blasted away by a round of concentrated fire. Regardless of shooting skills, dozens of gun muzzles firing at the same time would always hit something. This was the benefit of having a large group.

Now, listening to Kai say that they were going back, he also felt it was good. The faint throbbing in his heart also made him feel that if they explored further, something bad might happen.

Just then, as if what he thought about came true.

Suddenly, his eyes caught a humanoid black shadow darting out of the subway station entrance.

Suren's pupils shrank suddenly, and he cried out in his heart: "So fast!"

A mutated human?

No, this was definitely not the speed of a normal [mutated human]!

Moreover, that thing could actually climb walls!

"Be careful!"

Almost at the same time, Kai also shouted urgently.

Obviously, he had also discovered the black shadow that had darted out.

Before he finished speaking, there was a gunshot, followed by a burst of concentrated fire.

Although the monster was fast, it was still hit in the leg by the scattered bullets. Then, another round of fire coverage rendered the wall-climbing monster immobile.

However, before everyone could rejoice, a scream filled with horror suddenly came from the crowd: "Ah!"

Hearing the scream from behind, Suren turned around and fired his musket in one smooth motion.

Bang!

The shotgun hit the long proboscis that had swung down from the ceiling, and the gang member who had screamed fell from mid-air.

Everyone looked at the smoking musket in Suren's hand, their eyes full of shock, probably surprised at how quickly he reacted. But everyone's attention was instantly drawn to something else. Looking at the half of the proboscis on the ground, writhing like a severed snake, everyone's faces turned pale.

This was a bowl-sized, thick, scarlet proboscis, with circles of dense, sharp teeth wriggling in the red flesh, causing some people to have a severe case of trypophobia.

Sam steeled himself and approached, using his gun to flip over the proboscis, whose nerve endings hadn't completely died yet. He swallowed and asked, "What kind of monster is this?"

The veterans all looked puzzled, no one recognized it.

"I've never seen it before either."

Kai's face became very serious. He looked at the mangled corpse and the half of the proboscis, and frowned: "This monster is definitely not simple. Even a runaway professional wouldn't have such speed."

If Suren hadn't been quick with his gun just now, one of them would have been dragged away alive by that monster.

Kai's expression was slightly solemn, and he looked at the "catacombs entrance", and said: "Something's not right. This kind of monster has never appeared in the city's sewers before... I think we'd better leave here first."

Suren's All-Knowing Eye gave him super vision, and the monster's name appeared the moment he saw it.

[Mutated Abomination]

Details: A mutated human affected by a special environment; its weaknesses are the same as humans, a hit to the head or heart can quickly kill it.

But at this moment, he was not interested in guessing what caused the monster's mutation. Since two monsters had appeared here, it also meant...

There might be more in the catacombs!

"Let's go!"

Kai obviously realized that they couldn't stay here for long, and was about to call everyone to leave.

But just then, suddenly, a series of ear-piercing screams rang out.

"Chirp~", "Chirp~", "Chirp~"

In the next moment, several Molotov cocktails lit up around them.

The intense light illuminated the entire tenement space. The monsters hiding in the shadows seemed startled and hid in the various holes, big and small.

The Green Street gang took a closer look and saw that a group of guys with various mechanical prosthetics had surrounded them.

Sam recognized the newcomers and roared angrily, "The Steam Party! Damn it, we've been ambushed!"

Seeing this, Suren's expression turned cold. He realized where his previous sense of crisis had come from.

It wasn't the monsters, but these guys from the Steam Party!

He glanced at the "catacombs" entrance, then at the blocked tenement exit, and muttered in his heart: "They've chosen a good place for an ambush..."