Chapter 73: [Survival 2] Begins

“Everyone, be careful. Once we’re inside, keep your breathing light, understand?”
The crowd naturally nodded in agreement.

They were all Level 1 Evolvers. Lu Shaohua had promised them that after the task was complete, he would unlock their Level 2 Gene Locks for free. Now, fifty of them gathered together, cloaked in a thin, translucent veil of darkness, their bodies hidden within the shadows.

This ability was, in fact, a branch of dark powers. The one who commanded it was Liu Si, the very man who had conspired with Lu Shaohua the night before.

Yet from the very beginning, their movements had been observed.

Outside Qin Hao’s villa, Zihui saw through their tricks with a single glance. The power of the mind could sense disturbances in the surroundings, and since Zihui herself possessed dark abilities, she could easily see through their use of darkness. Still, the effect was unique—clearly an innate power belonging to their side.

Though Zihui lacked this specific skill, she could sense their every move with clarity.

She was about to speak when she felt a current of mental energy sweep over her.

It was Qin Hao.

“Leave them be.”

Zihui opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing. Besides, she was not adept at using mental powers to “speak,” and thus could not reply to Qin Hao.

At this moment, the time silently crept closer to eight o’clock.

The countdown for “Survival 2” had begun.

Others did not know the exact time, but those with the Hero System could perceive it. These people, following Lu Shaohua’s instructions, entered early and arrived just in time.

Among them, one possessed the power of clairvoyance and saw Qin Hao sitting in the villa’s main hall, before whom, one by one, black holes suddenly opened.

At that moment, excitement surged through them all.

“They’re here! Hurry, let’s go! Even if we have to run for it!” Liu Si shouted, withdrawing his power for fear that the spatial black holes could not detect their presence.

They burst from their room, their eyes fixed on Qin Hao with a thrill, as if pranksters eager to ask him, “Are you surprised? Is this what you expected?”

Qin Hao swept his gaze over them, but his face remained expressionless—devoid of emotion.

The black holes continued to widen. With a swift glance, Qin Hao counted: twelve black holes had appeared.

Four on the ceiling, and two each on the front, back, left, and right walls.

The black holes had almost completely surrounded Qin Hao.

Then, from within each black hole, a creature began to crawl out.

From the black holes in the ceiling, four different creatures emerged.

From the first black hole came an Iron Skewer Demon, its five-meter-long form enough to make one’s hair stand on end, every segment as sharp as a scythe.

From the second black hole crawled a massive, crocodile-like beast, its gaping maw bristling with dagger-like teeth.

From the third, a mass of liquid resembling a caterpillar oozed out. As it hit the ground, it began to stretch and morph, finally taking on Qin Hao’s own shape. Yet this imitation was entirely blue-black, its clothing the same stony hue—it looked like a statue, but its body remained liquid.

The fourth black hole unleashed a being that even Qin Hao had not anticipated.

A monster, fully two meters tall, crashed down. Its head was enormous, bearing a single orange eye, its body stony and glowing with fire, its form reminiscent of a great ape.

At the sight of it, Qin Hao’s heart tightened.

“A Flame Demon!”

A creature from the Ancient Demon Civilization.

He had never expected the Ancient Demon Civilization to join the invasion so soon.

“This can hardly be explained away as the butterfly effect.”

The Ancient Demon Civilization was considered an advanced power among the Invasion Alliance. The strength of a civilization could be measured by the caliber of its hunting beasts—and the Ancient Demon Civilization spawned nothing below Level 2 Gene Lock.

Even so, this Flame Demon was smaller than Qin Hao recalled, and much weaker. It was likely a juvenile.

But even as a juvenile, it was still a Level 1 evolutionary beast.

A Flame Demon’s power surpassed that of the other creatures present.

The four creatures stepped out from their spatial black holes, their bodies enveloped in starlight energy as they adapted to the environment of Blue Star. Yet Blue Star’s gravity immediately pulled them down, and they crashed to the floor of the hall.

A thunderous boom.

The four massive monsters almost instantly encircled Qin Hao.

Meanwhile, from the eight black holes in the walls, eight more monsters emerged.

The four invading civilizations—Sharpclaw, Kaya, Night Titan, and Bone Demon—each dispatched three hunting beasts.

A total of twelve creatures now filled the villa.

Their first lunge was for Qin Hao, but the room held not only him, but fifty other Evolvers as well. Though the villa was large, it suddenly felt oppressively crowded. Two Iron Skewer Demons emerged from the black holes nearest the Evolvers, immediately crawling forward, darting past them with incredible speed.

A series of whistling sounds.

The Iron Skewer Demons brushed past the Evolvers. Several among them felt a chill at their feet, then their bodies buckled and collapsed to the floor. Only then did they register the pain.

A scream tore out.

It was only at this moment that the Evolvers realized—their lower legs had been severed.

The Iron Skewer Demons circled back, slashing again at the Evolvers.

It was as if pork had been fed into a meat grinder; the Evolvers were shredded where they stood.

“Retreat! Get out, now!” Liu Si shouted in terror.

But he had been at the front; now, as he tried to retreat, there were more people behind him, making escape impossible.

An Iron Skewer Demon spun back towards him. Heart pounding, Liu Si leapt up, his body cloaked in shadow, vanishing from the vision of the hunting beasts.

He avoided the Iron Skewer Demon, then struck out at it with the poison spider limb in his hand.

A dull thud.

The Iron Skewer Demon staggered back.

Liu Si’s heart leapt with hope. These monsters were fiercer than poison spiders, but as a Level 2 Evolver, he did not fear Level 1 hunting beasts.

But just then, a chilling cold swept through the air—an icy force that crept into every crack and pore, freezing Liu Si in place.

In horror, his eyes rolled toward the center of the hall.

Qin Hao was completely surrounded by ten monstrous beasts, his figure obscured. Yet Liu Si sensed, with chilling certainty, that all of this was under Qin Hao’s control.

And he was not wrong.

Qin Hao’s mental power unfurled. As a Level 3 Mental Evolver, he held absolute dominance over these Level 1 evolutionary creatures.

In an instant, a wave of extreme cold radiated outward, enveloping every living thing in the villa.

Freeze.

Twelve hunting beasts, fifty humans whose lives hung in the balance.

Not a single creature could move.